Stand Together With Immigrants

We are now living in a harsh and frightening new world in which Trump is leading the way toward cruel and reckless authoritarian-Fascist-style government. This is the case not only in the USA, where Trump is now the head of the national government--or maybe co-head along with Elon Musk, who seems to have been given free reign to destroy or disable as many government agencies as possible--but also in other countries, where racist, Fascist and above all, anti-immigrant politicians and parties feel greatly emboldened by Trump's support for their Far Right causes.  It is overwhelming to even try to keep up with all the Fascistic things that Trump and his allies are doing. 

Here, I want to focus on one issue that is really key to 21st century Fascism: the relentless--and, it must sadly be conceded, to this point, very successful--demonization of immigrants. Whether it is Trump in America or Brexit in Britain or Orban in Hungary or the AfD in Germany, the immigration issue has been at the heart of their political messages, missions and successes. Due to how truly foundational this anti-immigrationism has been and remains for today's right-wing regimes, political parties and politicians, I think this is the central front on which to fight Fascism. So if you don't want Fascism coming to a country near you, support immigrants and immigration, because today's Fascist Pied Pipers believe that as long as they play the anti-immigrant tune, you will follow them right off the cliff into their Brave New Fascist World. Puncture their wildly inflated hate-dreams about immigrants, and they no longer have a leg to stand on.

Consider current public discourse and media messages. Any time an immigrant somewhere commits a violent crime, it gets HUGE media attention and supports the right-wing message that this is the #1 social problem facing societies today. The much larger number of violent crimes committed by "normal" (white) citizens is either ignored or rationalized, as are the factors of discrimination and hostility that may drive an immigrant to desperation and then violence. When a white man goes on a rampage, he is a sick person or lone wolf. No one says, "We had better deport those whites, because they are dangerous!" but if a dark-skinned or Muslim immigrant commits a violent act, many media sources and many politicians on the right side of the spectrum will say, "Enough is enough! We have to keep them out!" Every city I have lived in where there were lots of immigrants, their neighborhoods were often the most fun and interesting places in the city--great food, music, interesting goods, and kind people. So stand up for immigrants! They are not the enemy!! They enrich our world!!

This is hard, I know, because the right-wing has been building their anti-immigrant propaganda machine for decades, with the long history of anti-Semitism and anti-black racism as tried and proven models, and the voices speaking out for immigrants and immigration have all too often been too soft, too weak and too unsure of themselves. If you speak out FOR rather than AGAINST immigrants, you are going to encounter ridicule and anger. At first, many will laugh at what you saying and consider it ridiculous, but I am reminded of Mahatma Gandhi's words: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then you win." If you are on the liberal-progressive side of the spectrum, the #1 thing to do to help stop the rise of cruel and hateful, Fascistic political movements like MAGA is to speak out FOR immigrants and immigration.

I also see this as a Pagan issue, even though I acknowledge that many ethnic-oriented Pagans in Europe and elsewhere may in fact embrace anti-immigrant thinking because they want to protect their ethnic culture and identity. Pagans may claim to represent the core of their respective nations, defined in ethnic terms and ancient traditions, but in terms of numbers, Pagans today are very small minorities. Like other minorities from African-Americans in the USA to Roma or Muslims in Europe today to Jews across history, they may easily be targeted and demonized--just as immigrants are. So, there is a simple political and mathematical logic in standing in solidarity not only with other minorities, but for the principle of a liberal society that respects and protects minorities--including immigrants.

If we look to Pagan mythology, there are many stories of different families or tribes of gods, like the different generations of divine beings involved in establishing Ireland or the Aesir, Vanir and others in Norse mythology. There is no single "divine ethnicity." If we look to history, we find that many European peoples have had their times of migration and coming to new lands, all the way back to the Indo-Europeans. The English language would not even exist except for immigration of the Angles and the Saxons to Britain. What immigrants are doing today, moving somewhere new to seek a better life, is nothing strange or wrong--it is something that has happened many times in the past. 

People move: a basic fact. Also a basic fact: when new people come to a place, it often happens that the ones already there are suspicious or hostile to the new arrivals. Some classic examples from American history are the hatred shown to Irish and Italian immigrants back in the 19th c. Today those two ethnic groups are loved and celebrated, but remember--there was a time when "No Irish need apply" and Italians were considered dirty, disgusting, criminal "wops." Woud America be better today if the anti-immigrant forces of the 19th c. had been successful in expelling all the Irish and Italian immigrants?

Rarely is a society improved by erecting barriers and blocking the movement of people. Such societies can become sick places of hatred and suspicion. Open societies tend to be more successful. Now that Trump seems determined to cut off immigration to the USA--except for white South African land owners, apparently--and to deport many who have immigrated in recent decades to the USA, it is very likely that the US economy will suffer as the society is deprived of immigrant muscle and brains. Much of America's food is picked or processed by immigrant laborers on farms or in factories.  Many restaurants and construction firms likewise rely on immigrant workers.  Many of America's hi-tech companies are led by immigrants or children of immigrants. Research at many universities depends on foreign students who come to study and often decide to stay and live, contributing their talents and expertise to America. Without their continuing presence and without new arrivals of others like them, America is likely to become stupider and poorer and to stagnate in general.

So, those are some arguments in favor of immigrants and immigration. If you deeply hate immigrants and want your society to be free of the "scourge" or "invasion" of immigrants, I am sure my words must strike you as woefully misguided at best and outright evil at worst. So be it. We are on different sides of this issue. If you are on the anti-immigrant side, you may be feeling very confident right now that your side is winning. If you consider it a victory to have ignorant, hateful leaders like Trump in office, you are indeed winning--for now. But I believe that your victory is only temporary. I believe that over time, love and kindness will win out over hatred and hostility. Am I misguided? Time will tell.

For those who see the value of love, kindness and diversity, whether you are Pagan or Christian, Jewish or Jain, Buddhist or Baha'i, atheist or agnostic, let me suggest a few steps to take in support of immigrants.

1. When you hear people saying negative things about immigrants, intervene. If they are talking about an actual case of something where an immigrant actually committed some crime or offense, make the important point that it was one person who did that thing--not all immigrants. Remind them that many "normal" citizens are violent or criminal as well.

2. Be kind to the immigrants in your community. They are under pressure and worried about hostility from "normal" people like you, never knowing when they will have to deal with expressions of hatred or the threat of violence--even mob violence. Patronize their businesses, chat with them and smile. 

3. Cultivate deeper awareness and greater compassion. I think if you reach inside yourself, you will find memories of a time when you were the outsider, the minority, the weird one that people laughed at,  were suspicious of, undervalued--or worse. Remember how hard it was to be in that position. Remember that when people are under stress, as immigrants, like other minorities often are, they do not always behave perfectly, but may crack under stress and become unpleasant or even antisocial. When you see someone like that, it may seem that they are crazy or dangerous, but remember--it was a long process that led them to that point. They may be reflecting back what they have been told to believe about themselves by those who hate them without even knowing them. Show them some kindness and respect, and they may again be able to let down their guard and relax a little. Being shown a little kindness can be like finding an oasis in the desert for those living in a hostile world where it feels like everyone is looking at them with suspicion.

Keep your mind clear, keep your heart open and make an effort to tune out the siren song of hate, so loud and so omnipresent in our world today.  

Remember, remember, remember: We all suffer, and we are all connected. Awaken your compassion and find the hidden strength there. You will feel better about yourself and better about others: these two things are connected. The diversity of human beings is the design of nature. Love diversity, love nature, for as you nurture others, you will be nurtured in turn. 

Stand UP for immigrants! Stand TOGETHER with immigrants! They are not the enemy!! They enrich our world!!

 

 

Facing the Gathering Darkness

As we face the new era in America, I want to urge everyone who understands the danger of Trumpism to make an effort to communicate with others about what Trump does and offer perspective on why and how it is bad or wrong. Do not let others think this is all "normal" or "just the way it is." If our worst fears are realized to even a small extent, this will be a new situation in America that will be very depressing and harmful for many people, not to mention the environment that we all depend on. Maybe there is no way , right now, to oppose or resist, but remember that the Trump movement depends on ignorance, misinformation, misplaced anger and blame. Anything you can do to offer a counter-narrative is worthwhile. It may not have any great effect right now or bear any immediate fruit, but think of the future--plant seeds, build awareness, advocate for humane values, and above all, support compassion for the suffering and concern for our shared environment. This is the foundation for a better tomorrow.

A Season of Silence, and Why

My my my...How the time flies. I can't believe it has been more than two months since I have written in this blog. This autumnal season of silence came about partly for the reasons one might expect: work life very busy, leading to exhaustion capped by a touch of illness. Tra-la-la! There was also a more pleasant reason for my inability to find the time or energy to write here. I had a trip to Lithuania to participate in a project aiming at promoting inter-religious tourism in Lithuania and Latvia, both of which are lands blessed with amazingly rich histories of religious diversity, from their Pagan heritage to their long histories of Jewish and Muslim communities along with varied Christan contributions. This was a great pleasure but also quite exhausting.

There is however, another reason for my persistent silence. I am finding the current state of American society and politics so depressing, so frustrating, that I feel a growing sense of hopelessness for this country of my birth. The forces of obstruction and ignorance are so many and so immense in our declining, divided, self-destructive nation. I can only compare our situation to scenarios imagined in mythology and religious prophecy, like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse that usher in devastation and destruction in the Biblical Book of Revelations, or the ten plagues that descend upon Egypt in Exodus, or the dark forces that take down the world in flames and flood in Norse Ragnarok, or the dread dance of Shiva that beats out its world-crushing rhythm when humanity has become so stupid, so cruel, so lost, so impervious to guidance or wisdom that the gods decide that the world must be put out of its misery and cleared away to make space for a new world yet to come.

We today in America are facing a really sinister and powerful combination of retrograde forces. These range from carbon-based energy industries that do not want to see any movement toward a greener, healthier planet and economy, to the gun lobby that refuses to even consider very modest measures to reduce the danger of guns and gun-related materials falling into the possession of mentally imbalanced individuals who go on shooting rampages or into the hands of immature youths who are eager to settle scores with bullets. The list goes on to include the greedy, self-important minority of super-wealthy plutocrats who do not wish to see higher wages for people at lower strata of our highly unequal and unfair economy, to the Tea Partiers and libertarians who do not want the government to do anything besides putting people in prison and maintaining a grossly oversized military whose continued existence and immense expenditures can only be justified by continual conflict and crisis and propaganda inflaming our fear and hatred against whichever foreign country is now top of our enemy-of-the year list. I fear that our interlinked military-intelligence-industrial-political sectors will keep pushing us to either use or threaten to use force overseas as often as possible, even though this may only inflames others against us. Then we have the disheartening spectacle of the Supreme Court that is gutting and discarding decades of Civil Rights progress and returning us to a time when state and local politicians could enact all kinds of barriers to prevent African-Americans or other disfavored social groups from having any voice in our supposed "democracy," which the Court has also damaged terribly by allowing more freedom for wealthy individuals and corporations to dominate the political process through unlimited political advertising and financial contributions to the causes that perpetuate their interest and privilege.

In the embattled world of academia, which I know from the inside, the forces of misguided "reform" seem to be pushing us in the direction of a standardized, bureaucratized, heavily managed and number-driven form of education in which teachers will have little autonomy or job security, and in which liberal arts education, which can waken people to higher visions of life and a desire to create a more equal and less cruel society, will be pushed aside by an obsession with job-training out of a mistaken belief that training young people with the right technical skills will somehow overcome the problems of corporations seeking to send jobs overseas to lower-paid workers, or to bring lower-paid workers to America to replace highly skilled workers here, so that the majority of college graduates, even if highly trained and skilled will have to compete for low-paying jobs in corporations that refuse to share their profits with their workers. If we do not change the rules of the economic game, simply training people will solve nothing. Since the 1970s, American workers have become more and more productive, but rarely been allowed to enjoy a fair share of the profits generated by their productivity, and unless we have a revived labor movement or some other mechanism to force companies to pay better, there seems little hope for the American worker.

And as for the media's favorite pipe dream that high-tech millionaires and billionaires will show us the way, let's not forget that it was great geniuses like Steve Jobs who sent so much high-tech manufacturing to countries like China and India. Entrepreneurs will never lead the way to a more equal economy. They often make their millions and billions from the hard labor of workers who are paid as little as possible. It will require some kind of external pressure to force the high-tech folks to share much with the common man and woman. The popular adulation of high-tech entrepreneurs as economic saviors is a joke. They are in it for themselves, not for us. And since our government is increasingly at the beck and call of consummately greedy and self-interested companies and corporations, not only the high-tech toy-makers but also the oil companies, the multinational banks, the pharmaceutical industry, Wall Street financial firms and so on, I find it hard to escape the conclusion that we are entering a new Middle Ages, in which a small class of ruling elite will live in splendor, in beautiful mansions, surrounded by servants and flatterers, like kings and barons living in castles of olden times--and aren't our modern gated communities just an updated form of castle fortresses?--while the rest of us will eke out an insecure living through hard labor, deeply in debt, but unable to challenge our social superiors.

I am mentally and emotionally exhausted. That is why I am not writing much these days. I look for rays of hope, but see so very few. The advent of the Affordable Health Care Act, aka Obamacare, a modest attempt to re-structure our primarily corporate health care system to provide better care to more people, has only unleashed new ferocity among the various groups who oppose any kind of government activity apart from military action, and see any kind of social reform or even the slightest effort to provide assistance to the growing ranks of poor and needy persons in our society as a foul betrayal of freedom and liberty. I see anti-government zealots ready to cut food benefits to the hungry and who smile when 800,00 government workers are cut off from their salaries for weeks on end, and who don't even care if their actions push the international economy to the brink of financial disaster. I see the President mocked when he tries to negotiate peace with Iran.

The only comfort to me right now is the election of Bill DiBlasio to the office of the mayor of New York City. At last, a leader who speak about income inequality and rising poverty as problems that all society, and especially government, must address. His election is an answer to those who dismissed the Occupy Wall Street movement nearly two years ago as a silly, leaderless, rudderless social fad that would have no effect. It was the Occupy movement elevating the issues of financial institution greed and wealth inequality in New York that lit the spark that became the bright light of the DiBlasio candidacy. No doubt DiBlasio will not be able to satisfy all the hopes and ambitions of those who supported him, but I think he will at least try to push back against the trend toward plutocracy that is at the heart of so many of our ills. I am glad to see someone, somewhere, making some kind of stand and articulating an alternative vision.

But sadly...anyone who knows America knows that New York City is an anomaly in this country. I live some distance from NYC, and I know that many of my fellow citizens here believe the old Reaganite narrative constantly reiterated by right-wing media like FOX, but increasingly in evidence across the culture, that "government is the problem" and that cutting taxes, shrinking government, and "unleashing" business and entrepreneurship are the solutions, that the military is sacred and that we must "support the troops" and never question what the troops are called upon to do and why, nor the effects of those actions, and that if you are not a "success" in America--something measured primarily, if not exclusively in materialistic, money-making terms--that you only have yourself to blame. The alternate, liberal narrative of "we are all in this together," and that we could use government as a vehicle to share out resources to create a better life for everyone, not just the elite few, is not convincing to most people.

I am facing the reality that the things I really believe in may no longer have any place,or at the very best, only a very marginal,vestigial place in this sad, misguided, self-delusional and self-destructive country, this very dis-United States of America. The pendulum may someday swing back to more equality and compassion in this country, but I don't see it happening in my lifetime.

It is these thoughts that crush me into silence. Perhaps this will spark a renewal of my spirituality; I hope so. Maybe it is time to turn inward, and to seek refuge with other spiritual refugees in this very hard and fearful time, while no longer expecting the larger society to improve or change very much, at least not in any foreseeable future. The Buddha taught that the fundamental truth of life is suffering, and that this is the starting point of spiritual insight. Perhaps that is the crossroads that I am facing. I don't know. All I know is that it seems very dark outside indeed.

Odin and the Buddha

Watching the fine documentary about the life of the Buddha that premiered Wednesday,7th April 2010,on Public Television (PBS.org) in the USA, I was moved by many elements of the Buddha's life story and message, but by one aspect above all: the emphasis on compassion in Buddhism. This is seen not simply as an ethical teaching--that it is nice to be nice to other people and living beings--but also as a crucial spiritual practice, that helps us to feel more connected to others in the world, and to the world in general, and to thus get beyond our egotistical selves. This spiritual dimension of connectedness and compassion is something that I find missing in most modern Norse Paganism, and I suspect that it is not well-developed in other forms of Paganism too. I see this as a failing both of Pagan spirituality and Pagan ethics, but I believe it can be remedied.

There is a lot of discussion of ethics in Norse Paganism or Asatru, but much of it revolves around the idea of warrior honor and loyalty to one's family and tribe. I don't doubt that these are good values, but I still see them as inadequate in comparison to the Buddhists' larger sense of connectedness and compassion, which is also echoed in other religious traditions, and might even be said to represent a universal human value.

Is there any basis in Norse Pagan lore for inferring anything like a concept of universal compassion? Certainly there is no direct statement of any such thing. On this basis, it might be deemed justifiable to reject this whole idea, and I don't doubt that some Norse Pagans might reach that conclusion on reading my words.

The closest direct parallel to a concept of compassion is the discussion of the importance of hospitality. There were a number of thoughtful essays on this topic in the latest issue of Idunna , the Troth.org publication. The viewpoints on hospitality in Idunna and elsewhere in modern Norse Paganism tend to emphasize being a good host to visitors and reciprocity ("a gift for a gift," as this is often expressed) in relation to others within one's own circle of close and trusted associates.

Since we live in a world where we must interact and share the common social space with many others, not only people who we know well or might identify as our "tribe," I find this interpretation of hospitality intriguing and illuminating of the original medieval context of Norse writings, but ultimately insufficient both as a moral guidepost and as a spiritual practice.

Let me therefore explain how I see other possibilities inherent in Norse Pagan lore and traditions.The Norse text that probably contains the most discussion of hospitality is the Eddic poem the Havamal. There is much here about how a person should should behave cautiously as a guest and graciously as a host. The text clearly speak to a medieval world of dangerous conditions where travelers were much at the mercy of those they encountered. The text repeatedly states how good it is to find a friend, to make a friend, to maintain friendship through mutual caring and sharing. Nowhere does this poem state that one should limit their friendships to those within one's own tribe, village or kingdom. In fact, the idea of travelers relying on hospitality suggests a larger view of human relations, with the expectation that one might easily find themselves in a larger social universe and needing to behave in that larger community in such a way as to merit respect and protection. The text also says much about the need to protect oneself in potentially dangerous situations, so this is not all sweetness and light, but the focus is on protecting oneself, not attacking or provoking others.

I would therefore argue that there are thus at least two ways to interpret this text as regards social relations and hospitality. One way, which I have found often expressed among today's Heathens, is a conservative, suspicious view of the social universe, stressing the need to be on guard, ready to defend one's property, honor and person, hand on the hilt, finger on the trigger. Hospitality in this perspective is to be limited to those who prove worthy of close companionship. My own, alternative way of interpreting the text is to see it as arguing for the benefits of securing an ever-wider circle of friendly relations through behaving graciously and honorably both as guest and as host, whether at home in one's own neighborhood, or anywhere else one might travel to.

Having lived in different countries and not always been sure where I stood with those I met or broke bread with, I can certainly vouch for the practical value of this viewpoint. Beyond that, though, I perceive in this the kernel of a notion of universal compassion and self-transcendence. We are all vulnerable creatures in need of others' help from time to time; and we all have the opportunity, if not indeed the obligation, to treat well, and if possible provide assistance to those whose paths cross our own, both for the practical fact that good relations may redound to our benefit in the future, but also because it is the right thing to do by any reasonable moral analysis of the human condition that goes beyond simple selfishness and greed. Considering our mutual vulnerability and dependence can help us develop compassion, not unlike that preached by the Buddha. And, just as compassion in Buddhism serves as both moral value and spiritual discipline, this expanded sense of hospitality can connect us to a larger world that brings us beyond our everyday, limited view of who we are and who we belong to or are obligated toward.

Of course, this is just one man's view of how Norse Pagan lore MIGHT be interpreted and its meaning expanded upon in a certain direction. I would never claim this is the only meaning or "the" true meaning. We must each make of these things what we will, and I do not scorn or blame those who disagree with my thinking or sit back, shake their heads and laugh at my words. As your host on this page, I encourage you to enjoy yourselves as you see fit. Have a laugh on me if you like.

I would however offer certain additional points in favor of my "Buddhistic" version of Norse Pagan morality. It seems to me that in the mythology of Odin, there are hints that can lead us to such a broader view of morality, self and universe.
Odin is first of all a constantly wandering god who acquires much of his wisdom and abilities through interaction with other beings in the universe. He does not stay at home, sitting on his throne, safely protected behind the walls of Asgard, and close off his relations to those outside his tribe or circle of trusted associates. He is always open, always voyaging, always learning. If we take this aspect of Odin as any kind of moral signpost, it is one which points us away from closed or narrow conceptions of our place in the world.

Then there is the myth of the death of Odin's son, Baldur. Without the warrior bravado that is indeed quite common in Norse mythology, this death is presented as a terrible tragedy that is an occasion for deep mourning. Indeed, the Prose Edda version of the myth tells us that if all living beings had shared in weeping for Baldur, he might have been saved from death, but a grim giantess, the trickster Loki in drag disguise, refused to cooperate, and so Baldur stayed among the dead in hell (Hel). What is this tale if not a provocative illustration of the need for universal compassion?

Of course, the narrow-minded could argue that the myth only tells us that the death of Baldur merited widespread tears; perhaps in the case of others, their suffering or death is of no concern, and we should all just take care of our own and to Hel with everybody else. This seems to me an extremely hard-hearted, if not thick-headed view of the text, and so I prefer the alternate view, seeing this incident as another possible Norse kernel of compassion.

My third example is of Odin's shamanistic self-torture on the tree of Yggdrasil, slashing and hanging himself in nine days and nights of agony in order to receive the magical wisdom of the runes. Why does he undergo such a wretched ordeal? To get the wisdom, of course, but what, and who is this wisdom for? It is to be shared with others, to help mankind and perhaps other beings as well. Killing and then reviving himself, he transcends himself, with the ultimate goal of aiding others. This parallels both Christ on the cross, as often noted, but also Buddha under the Bodhi tree.

Similarly, his position as the master of the warrior-hall of Valhalla is ultimately for the purpose of protecting mankind. Of course, the warriors there gathered are practicing the arts of war, not chanting Buddhist sutras, but the ultimate aim is to save the world, not to win glory or goods in war. As Odin has foreknowledge of the world's destiny, it would seem he knows that the whole enterprise is doomed to failure, Odin himself fated to fall against the Wolf, but he persists in preparing nonetheless. In this, he is like a Bodhisattva who undergoes self-sacrifice for the sake of others, even if the others may be deluded, unreasonable, or self-destructive.

And in the end, the world is miraculously renewed, but it is not restored by force of arms. The great battle is unsuccessful, the greatest warriors fail, but after all who fight have fallen and all seems lost, the world reemeerges, fresh and green. There is hope beyond war. I would argue that this sequence of events might even represent a critique of war, suggesting that war can destroy the world, for sure, but it cannot save it.

On this point, I would note that most people in the Viking period were not glorious warriors, but farmers, craftsmen and fishermen, who might well have dreaded rather than glorified war and violence. They might have enjoyed Viking war poems and myths in much the same way your average Joe today enjoys watching war movies and police programs, as colorful, larger-than-life entertainments, but not necessarily as a serious guide as to how to conduct themselves in daily life. I find it quite interesting that Thor, the most macho of Norse gods, the god who is famous for crushing giants' skulls with his hammer, is also the god who receives the most mocking and humorous treatment in such texts as the Thrymskvida . His hammer is oddly short in the handle, a little bit lacking in a way that Dr. Freud might find most interesting. Perhaps this also tells us something about alternate views of violence and war in the imagination of the authors and audiences of the Norse myths. Also, laughing is known to induce a sense of common human foibles and frailty, another step on the path to compassion.

These are just a few hints that I feel suggest the possibility of a moral system in Norse paganism that was, is and can be more than just tribal ethics or a code of warrior honor, as Norse Pagan morality is often taken to be, but include a vision of the world animated by a self-transcending sense of compassion, like other great religious traditions.

I would not deny at all that my interpretations here push Norse Paganism beyond what it is commonly thought to be. This is definitely not a strict and traditionalist reading, and I do not pretend that it is such. I believe this expansion and amplification of the meaning of Pagan tradition is, however, justifiable in light of a critical historical fact: that the natural development of Norse Paganism was interrupted at a rather early point by the rise to dominance of Christianity in Europe. I believe that the strongly martial character of many Norse texts may have more to do with the social conditions of the late Pagan age, when war with Christian forces was an overwhelming reality, than an essentially warlike cast to Norse Paganism. The points in the myths where war fails, where the war gods are ridiculous, where there is laughter and weeping, suggest something more to me. I furthermore would assert the view that if Norse Paganism had been able to survive the Christian onslaught and continue to develop in conditions of peace and tolerance, it would have taken on new forms and embraced a larger view of the world, a world beyond war and conflict, in which the more spiritual and compassionate sides would have been given greater play.

Today, we have the opportunity to undertake such further development, to start imagining further extensions and directions, including borrowing from other traditions and perspectives, possibly even Buddhism. Though the more traditional minded might find this heretical, I would point out that there is indeed precedence for such borrowing. The Germanic tribes and Vikings borrowed much from the Roman world, including the runes, which many scholars believe to have been modeled on the Roman alphabet. The gods' mighty fortress of Asgard may well have been modeled on the then-impregnable fortress of Constantinople, where King Harald served in the bodyguard of the Byzantine Emperor for a time. Most interestingly, a small Buddhist figurine was found in a Viking hoard in Sweden in the eighth century, no doubt acquired through Viking trading across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Though it was most likely simply collected as an exotic bauble, perhaps there was something more to it than that?

Make of it what you will.

Peace.