Yes, We DO Bow to Our Gods

May 22

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Here’s a link (posted by request) to an article I posted in Walking the Worlds journal several years ago. It discusses Loki, veneration, bowing before the Gods, and the divisiveness of marxists like Rhyd Wildermuth and various atheists and other non-entities on the developing praxis in our community. As some of these people attempt to rewrite recent history, it’s important to know what happened and why. Also, I’m seeing bullshit about not bowing to the Gods coming up again (always from lore thumpers who ignore the numerous citations in lore, starting with Tacitus that Heathens prostrated in their sacred spaces). Always, always, mediocrities attempt to drag sacred things down to the lowest common denominator. Resist this, always.

About ganglerisgrove

Galina Krasskova has been a Heathen priest since 1995. She holds a Masters in Religious Studies (2009), a Masters in Medieval Studies (2019), has done extensive graduate work in Classics including teaching Latin, Roman History, and Greek and Roman Literature for the better part of a decade, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Theology. She is the managing editor of Walking the Worlds journal and has written over thirty books on Heathenry and Polytheism including "A Modern Guide to Heathenry" and "He is Frenzy: Collected Writings about Odin." In addition to her religious work, she is an accomplished artist who has shown all over the world and she currently runs a prayer card project available at wyrdcuriosities.etsy.com.

Posted on May 22, 2024, in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 10 Comments.

  1. Cairns | May 22, 2024 at 4:49 PM

    I’ve been taking an elderly relative to mass the last few weeks, as she can no longer drive or make her way through the service on her own.

    I was a bit shocked to find that they no longer kneel for most of the prayers. Standing during prayer is now the standard practice. I found it bewildering. I never realized before how much the physical actions of kneeling to pray, sitting at rest to listen, and standing to praise or sing grounded and focuses the whole experience.

    I asked a friend who is confined to a wheelchair what he thought of the change, and he said he also found it disorienting. Although he could not stand or kneel himself, he took his cues from the movements of the congregation, and now that aspect is gone.

    Thank you for bringing up Tacitus. All the sources I have found seem to reference bowing or prostrating oneself. More than not, anyway. I struggle to recall any that mention our pagan ancestors only approaching the gods on their feet. That seems to derive more from early twentieth century fictions about the Norseman all being bloodthirsty viking raiders, both lawless and godless, and from political tracts like “Might is Right” that played fast and loose with history.

    Liked by 3 people

    • ganglerisgrove | May 22, 2024 at 5:52 PM

      If I were Catholic, at this point, I’d probably be a sede-vacantes. I think the liturgical reforms after Vatican II were heresy and don’t even get me started on this current pope who is attacking traditional mass where ever he finds it. AS someone tasked with restoring tradition, seeing the head of another tradition shitting all over his really hurts.

      It’s like this current administration wants to do everything he can do to destroy the liturgy he’s tasked with protecting. They even re-translated the mass and it’s an awful translation (more accurate to the Latin, I will say, but what works in Latin doesn’t in English. they took the poetry out). I often take an elderly member of our local congregation to mass too and just sit through it and take her home again afterwards and …. I’ve seen a priest use fucking puppets during a mass where there were children. it’s blasphemous. They have a mystery to protect and nourish and if they can’t do that, they oughtn’t be clergy.

      Oh, and seeing lay people raise their hands like priests during the Pater Noster…drives me *batshit*. it’s liturgically incorrect.

      I hadn’t thought about the standing — but yeah, an awful lot of it is. Give me the traditional Latin mass any day (I actually got my friend going to one as regularly as I can drive her. after all, if you’re going to do something, do it right. TLM versus novus order isn’t just a matter of change of language. it’s a completely different rite). I have opinions lol.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Wyrd Designs | May 22, 2024 at 5:41 PM

    Bowing/prostration and the concept of sacred boundaries were such things. We have examples of blasphemy too, there were clear cases of laws and criminal offenses related to failure to uphold heathen praxis.

    Plus part of the never bowing/kneeling thing is being pushed by white nationalist fringes (Wotan Network, allied with Defend Europe who was busted for human trafficking). WN is the current roost of Steve McNallen, an influencer for over 50 years now (Viking Brotherhood, Asatru Free Assembly, Asatru Folk Assembly). As such even those who aren’t racist asshats may not even realize the historical accuracy of bowing versus what they were taught. Some of those fringes including McNallen were at the Unite the Right “rally” in Charlottesville.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Wyrd Designs | May 22, 2024 at 6:22 PM

      oh and to illustrate how the kneeling thing is viewed by WN, here’s an excerpt quoted from a larger statement released on their since removed Facebook post:

      “After the last fire is put out and the last glass from shattered windows is swept up, after the last wounds are bandaged and the last body buried, the politicians will move in. More “diversity training,” more white-shaming, more job programs for minorities.

      Worst of all, however, is the psychological conditioning to believe that we are guilty of a sort of “original sin,” of which ONLY WE can be guilty…RACISM! We see our Folk literally on their knees, the traditional posture of submission, of the loser, of humiliation.

      NEVER take a knee!”

      They focus too much on their feelings, instead of right relationship with the holy powers.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Cairns | May 22, 2024 at 7:50 PM

        I wonder how many of these men if you asked them would proudly and gladly claim descent from the ancient Germanic tribes…and yet..

        Among the Suebi, to enter one of their sacred groves a man must have his limbs bound by cords “to show his inferiority and the power of the deity”

        If the man falls while in the grove, he must roll and crawl on his belly instead of rising.

        That is a whole different attitude, a culture that values religious obedience, piety, and humility.

        Liked by 3 people

      • ganglerisgrove | May 24, 2024 at 9:22 AM

        most people these days focus too much on their feelings instead of right relationship with the Holy Powers. It’s a hard habit to ease them out of. well said though. very well said.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. she111958 | May 22, 2024 at 7:55 PM

    Reverence. That’s the big one for me. Why I bow or prostrate is my inner feeling of humility and gratitude for all that I receive out of these relationships. Reverence.

    Susan Hintz-Epstein susan.hintz.epstein@gmail.com (518) 989-2018 home • (518) 719-6437 cell

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Ryan | May 22, 2024 at 10:45 PM

    People who go on and on about how important the lore is while refusing to bow or kneel to the Gods are a special kind of stupid I just can’t be nice about anymore. That or they’ve got ulterior motives that are at completely opposed to actual Heathen values. Either way, I have no time for them.

    Liked by 3 people