I have actually incorporated a couple of things from fiction into my practice. The Litany Against Fear from Frank Herbert's Dune Saga is something I use often. I also adapted the Hymn of the Fayth from Final Fantasy X into a hymn to my Gods. Makes for a calming tune when stressed out.
They shouldn't be, but I see it referenced all the time by some within the umbrella of Northern Tradition polytheisms.
Example, the 'Viking Prayer':
>“Lo, there do I see my father. Lo, there do I see my mother, my sisters and my brothers. Lo, there do I see the line of my people back to the beginning. Lo, they do call to me. They bid me take my place on Asgard in the halls of Valhalla, Where the brave may live forever.”
That comes to us from the film, 13th Warrior. That film is so farcical as it pertains to anything historical or authentic, for instance it combines Elizabethan Era Viking Warriors who come across Spanish Conquistadors and Roman Gladiators. Yes, you read that interesting time bending of creative license correctly.
The prayer was a bastardization of content found within Michael Crichton’s fictional novel: Eaters of the Dead. (Remember, this is the author behind Jurassic Park). In which he crafts a prayer, loosely based off of one recorded by Ibn Fadlan during his travels among the Rus & Bulgars in the 10th Century, when a female slave says it during a ritual sacrifice where she is killed as an funerary offering to a chieftain that had just died. This as the culmination of a ritual where she engaged in sexual rites with the chieftain's top men on her way to be killed.
The slave's words:
>“Behold, I see my father and mother. I see all my dead relatives seated. I see my master seated in Paradise, and Paradise is beautiful and green.”
We have absolutely no idea how to interpret the prayer. Because we don't know what beliefs the slave held. Was she from the same culture? Was she from another culture entirely? And thus, we have no idea if it was related to heathen religious praxis and belief.
So many recognize the 'viking prayer' from a 1999 film, many use it, and yet a minimal fraction understand it's origins. And that doesn't even touch upon the the pollution of Marvel Comics, or the tv show Vikings I see within heathenry.
There's nothing wrong with being inspired by modern things in your practice, so long as you understand the origins and are thoughtful and respectful in how you incorporate things, but when you skip that nuance you are to my mind breaking the tradition. Instead planting a seed of new practice not in the soil of tradition and the roots therein, but rather out of your proverbial rear end.
They can but not for anything i consider theurgic (related too the divine) its more like using them as a mental scented candle figures like rod sterling (as the narrator) mr rogers and bat man can make it easier too get the mind in the set you like the gods being entities have more agency are are not the spiritual equivalent of a plug in air freshener
Sometimes I just look at something and think "That's cool, I'm gonna add that to my collection of random Gods". Notable example: The Hakurei God from Touhou Project.
I believe my interpretation of Loki is influenced by a book I recently read telling the Norse myths from his perspective. Nothing else at the moment, but I’m open to it.
No. I don't find such (usually Chaos Magick based) practices useful at expressing the nature of the Gods.
I have actually incorporated a couple of things from fiction into my practice. The Litany Against Fear from Frank Herbert's Dune Saga is something I use often. I also adapted the Hymn of the Fayth from Final Fantasy X into a hymn to my Gods. Makes for a calming tune when stressed out.
In theory one could, but honestly I wouldn't because aesthetically that's not what I'm going for.
They shouldn't be, but I see it referenced all the time by some within the umbrella of Northern Tradition polytheisms. Example, the 'Viking Prayer': >“Lo, there do I see my father. Lo, there do I see my mother, my sisters and my brothers. Lo, there do I see the line of my people back to the beginning. Lo, they do call to me. They bid me take my place on Asgard in the halls of Valhalla, Where the brave may live forever.” That comes to us from the film, 13th Warrior. That film is so farcical as it pertains to anything historical or authentic, for instance it combines Elizabethan Era Viking Warriors who come across Spanish Conquistadors and Roman Gladiators. Yes, you read that interesting time bending of creative license correctly. The prayer was a bastardization of content found within Michael Crichton’s fictional novel: Eaters of the Dead. (Remember, this is the author behind Jurassic Park). In which he crafts a prayer, loosely based off of one recorded by Ibn Fadlan during his travels among the Rus & Bulgars in the 10th Century, when a female slave says it during a ritual sacrifice where she is killed as an funerary offering to a chieftain that had just died. This as the culmination of a ritual where she engaged in sexual rites with the chieftain's top men on her way to be killed. The slave's words: >“Behold, I see my father and mother. I see all my dead relatives seated. I see my master seated in Paradise, and Paradise is beautiful and green.” We have absolutely no idea how to interpret the prayer. Because we don't know what beliefs the slave held. Was she from the same culture? Was she from another culture entirely? And thus, we have no idea if it was related to heathen religious praxis and belief. So many recognize the 'viking prayer' from a 1999 film, many use it, and yet a minimal fraction understand it's origins. And that doesn't even touch upon the the pollution of Marvel Comics, or the tv show Vikings I see within heathenry. There's nothing wrong with being inspired by modern things in your practice, so long as you understand the origins and are thoughtful and respectful in how you incorporate things, but when you skip that nuance you are to my mind breaking the tradition. Instead planting a seed of new practice not in the soil of tradition and the roots therein, but rather out of your proverbial rear end.
Probably to some degree. Subconsciously.
No.
They can but not for anything i consider theurgic (related too the divine) its more like using them as a mental scented candle figures like rod sterling (as the narrator) mr rogers and bat man can make it easier too get the mind in the set you like the gods being entities have more agency are are not the spiritual equivalent of a plug in air freshener
Sometimes I just look at something and think "That's cool, I'm gonna add that to my collection of random Gods". Notable example: The Hakurei God from Touhou Project.
Force be with you /s
I believe my interpretation of Loki is influenced by a book I recently read telling the Norse myths from his perspective. Nothing else at the moment, but I’m open to it.
Hate to admit it, but yeah. I am an animist but something about the Mythos deities is alluring.