The origin of this blog was inspired in part by Nietzsche referring to himself and his philosophy as a Northwind. For more details see my google document here where I provide excerpts from the 2012 research paper Nietzsche and the North by Filip Lucian, that covers how Nietzsche was seeking to revitalize the ancient vitality of the Indo-Europeans and their heroic physiological natures and life-affirming mythos.
I am ancestrally from the North, i.e. I am Indo-European of Nordic or Scandinavian ancestry, being mostly Swedish. I wanted to appreciate my Nordic and/or Indo-European ancestors.
I see many similarities in the mythological energy and utility of Greek mythology and Norse mythology because both are at their core what I call solar-pantheons. For example, this video, by a YouTuber begins by saying that
[Anceient] Greek and old Norse religion...although separated by about 1,500 years ... I would not exactly call them two separate religions. They were far more similar than they were different and they both have the same Indo-European roots; if we go back far enough to proto-European times, 7, 8, thousand years ago, we were all one and the same. But by the time the Greek and North peoples migrated and evolved they developed two separate belief systems.
So the North-wind energy is a reference to Nordic/Hyperborean spirit of vitality that descends from the common ancestors of the Norse, Celts, Greeks and Indian-Hindu peoples, etc., who are known as the Proto-Indo-Europeans. So what we find is that this ancestral cultural energy or Northwind has been funneled through the physiologies and mythologies of the Indo-European ethnolinguistic branching ancestral family groups, from the Norse to Greeks to Hindus. For these groups are all basically the same in spiritual energy and vitality as they descend from the same ethnolinguistic and mythological source (the Proto-Indo-Europeans). For we can trace them all back to the same Proto-Indo-Europeans and a likely original Proto-Indo-European mythology from which all these groups grew separate yet similar ethnolinguistic mythologies.
Note as well that according to this university page:
Seen genetically, Indo-European heritage encompasses all peoples of Germanic or Scandinavian or southern Mediterranean or Persian or Russian or northern Indian descent, any of a wide range of national groups stemming from India to Iceland.
The Proto-Indo-Europeans basically branched out into different groups and mythologies, from the Scandinavians and Norse mythology to the Indian-Hindu mythology.
One reason for this blog is to honor and respect my own Germanic and Scandinavian (Swedish) ancestry and heritage as an American. For it was my ancestrally Germanic Norse grandfathers and grandmothers, their unique lives and creativity, which formed the Norse mythology. So by appreciating and respecting their mythology I am connecting with my genetic roots and my ancestors as an American.
The second reason is like unto the first. I realized that every ancient people produced a cultural mythos from their own life experiences and pre-conscious psychology and physiology as a people and culture; much like seeds and soil producing a particular kind of plant that's either healthy or unhealthy. So that from out of my Germanic Scandinavian ancestry their grew up from cultural memory a vitally alive mythology of gods and monsters, great heroes and deadly adventures. This mythical storytelling energy has inspired recent movies and TV series like Conan the Barbarian, The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, and the 2013 series Vikings, etc.
On Heathenry & Racial Ideologies
To avoid any confusion, I want to be clear up front in this introduction that I don't identify as a "heathen" like some others refer to themselves. I am not a practitioner of Heathenry. Unfortunately, I have to make this crystal clear. For having mentioned my desire to respect and revere my Indo-European Scandinavian ancestry, I need to separate myself and distance myself from various fraternal organizations attempting to return to the literal worship of Thor and Odin. Many of these types of groups (note: no, not all of them) often unfortunately practice controversial ideas regarding race. In this regard, to be clear I am not in any way interested in any kind of racist ideology.
My views are somewhat similar to Nietzsche's vision of future Superhumans. This was Nietzche's vision of the ideal next stage in human evolution: which he believed could be accomplished through any mix of races or ethnicities, and not just one so-called "superior race" (ethnically speaking). In other words, the natural process of evolution throughout thousands of years has mixes traits from various human genomes toward growing new, healthy, functionally successful and thriving organic forms of hominids. I do not believe in any version of "white supremacy." Instead, similar to Nietzsche, I believe in the growth of a healthy future humanity and even potentially a future hominid species evolving beyond humans in the next stage of evolution.
I don't completely agree with everything Nietzsche wrote but I find his vision of focusing on the future by envisioning the best version of a healthy future humanity -- and even a future post-human hominid species (which he called the Overman or the Superhumans, meaning those-beyond-mankind) -- to be a reasonable method of grounding our "spiritual" need to hold up an ideal (to live up to and revere) in the form of a future god-like future form of humanity at its highest and healthiest form imaginable. This view can even be treated as a healthy alternative form of belief, as a naturalized kind of God-belief. In that instead of projecting into the sky an invisible, inaudible god we can't prove exists -- the god of most Christian Creeds: a god without bodily parts or passions, which Thomas Jefferson said such "immaterial existences is to talk of nothings" -- Nietzsche instead offered a practical way of grounding our "spiritual" impulses in the real world of biological evolution and our human potential for greatness; envisioning a possible future god-like human species we could evolve towards over time. So that the future Superhumans could replace current "god beliefs" with instead the concept of the Superhumans as more realistic ideal: in that we could in fact evolve toward the Superhumans in biological reality, rather than culturally devolve into what Nietzche called the Last Man.
From this bio-realist perspective, any ethnicity can come together and intermix with others, with the most healthy among each ancestry producing the next stage in human evolution in a natural and organic process.
This type of "Nietzscheanish spirituality" has nothing to do with eugenics or racist ideologies, but is simply about each individual person living their most life-affirming and healthiest life possible, like a man living his most heroic and noble life possible as a free spirit; and procreating with women of any race or ethnicity he chooses, who will provide him with healthy offspring. In other words, what I am talking about has nothing to do with racism or eugenics or any such thing.
I coined the term solar-pantheonism to refer to a universal spiritual philosophy found in nearly all ethnically indigenous religions, from African pantheons to the Aztec pantheon (which is the ancient indigenous religion of many Spanish speakers). A good example of seeing how there are various indigenous religious gods as a product of each ethnic people, is this clip Hall of the Gods, from the television series American Gods, Season 2. This clip illustrates how each of the gods has a clear and obvious cultural and ethnic component based on a particular people and their lives which is projected onto the formation of their gods.
The word solar refers to the Sun which is a common source of inspiration in most religious mythologies; even in Christianity which is also solar religion. For note that
historians argue [that]...Sol Invictus, a ... Sun god whose role in Roman society was eventually supplanted by Jesus Christ .... Rome’s transition from polytheism to monotheism isn’t about Christianity replacing the cult of Sol Invictus so much as it is about non-Christian Romans accepting Christ as the replacement for the Sun god." (Source: Sol Invictus: The pagan Sun god that helped Christianity conquer the Roman Empire).
Greco-Nordic Americanism
Norse and Greek Gods as Metaphorical Archetypes of our Pre-Conscious Instincts & The Heroic Ideal
This heroic adventurism in Norse mythology is connected to my genetic roots, as the myths and stories are intertwined with my own ancestral memory as a people and culture. The Norse gods and sagas were forged from the actual experiences of my very own ancestors which were molded with artistic creativity into tales of elves and giants, dragons and wolves, Thor's hammer and Odin's spear. For example see the video, Sources on the Norse Gods as REAL Living Humans by Norse Magic and Beliefs YouTube Channel. At the start of the video the author explains that for him the Norse gods are only symbolic: representing aspects of nature, our Universe, and parts of our own body and psyche. He then goes on to say that it's possible that the Norse gods and myths are not only metaphorical, but also, to paraphrase him, they could also be exaggerations as mythologized legends based on real humans and their heroic status and valorous accomplishments. I agree with this assessment.
So to clarify upfront, I am not in any way attempting to return to a literal practice of the worship of pagan gods. I have seen some people on YouTube literally offering forms of sacrifice to gods like Thor and Odin. I personally think this is silly and superstitious, but to each their own. So I do not consider myself "pagan" because that is a loaded term which can include superstitious practices. If anything I would be promoting secular or naturalistic "paganism."But even there I still cringe at the term "paganism" even with the term secular in front of it, because I often think of New Age woo nonsense and pagan Wicca, all of which I completely reject for many reasons.
Another term I've seen thrown around is European Paganism, like on The Ark (Heroic Ideal) YouTube Channel, which is probably closer to what I would find value in. In other words, I'm not promoting a literal belief in pagan gods or returning to pagan sacrifices! I am instead seeking to revitalize the pro-instincts psychology of the heroic ideal embedded within the Norse and Greek mythologies.
I think a better way to describe what I find value in is not "paganism," which again has religious connotations; but what I would maybe call Heroic Instinctualism.
After reading the Pauline ideology in the New Testament, I have realized that it's an impractical guide to life in the real world. For it's impractical ethos of voluntary suffering and decline as the ideal, is a recipe for defeat in today's competitive capitalistic American environment. As I see it, the New Testament is not even meant for me as a Germanic Scandinavian. I think Dr. Paul's Mind OS (PDF here), the Norse Havamal, and the Sayings of Musonius Rufus are better philosophical and psychological replacements for the New Testament.
I have been influenced by not only Nietzsche's revitalization of Greek mythology but also the work of Dr. Paul Dobransky: who also unitizes Greek mythology. Dr Paul's Pro-Instincts Psychology, utilizing Greek mythology, is in my opinion a better alternative to the Pauline New Testament, for it better integrates our human instincts with our common American ethical ideals. So that it's a synthesis of the best of self-empowerment and personal and group psychology. For example, see this article on Power Imbalances and the Equation of Power, where Dr. Paul Dobransky discusses the Zeus Instinct and the Hephaestus Instinct and physics' equation of power. Also see his article Discovering the Passion and Generativity that Drive Men’s Happiness. He also wrote two books specifically to help women but men might find them useful as well, which can be found on Amazon here.
- A Blog Teaching Mind OS (to help handle the death of a loved one)
Mythology as Genealogy
Growing up as a Judeo-Christian, there is much I still appreciate and value to this day about the biblical tradition. But the suffering and subjugation of the Jewish people by the Persians, Babylonians and Romans throughout history (as contained in the Bible), is simply not part of my own ancestral or cultural memory. For it was that particular cultural memory as a people that unified and solidified the Jewish/Israelite identity: leading to specific beliefs and rituals directly connecting them in the present to their Jewish ancestor's experiences in the past. The Israelite's particular mythology was forged from their unique suffering as a people under the rule of foreign empires; and this unique set of historical experiences led to specific mythological stories about their people, like Moses helping the Israelites escape from Egypt. So in my view, the religion of the Bible is interwoven with the memory of their specific ethnic experiences as an ethnoic culture and an Israelite People.
This Israelite cultural memory led to an ethic of how one treats strangers is very important to their national god. This ethic of not mistreating strangers and instead being welcoming and kind as "morally good," is what scholars call biblical hospitality. So that Judeo-Christian mythology contains within it a spirit of resilience and welcoming hospitality: which has qualities that are unique to their particular Israelite experience due to their experiencing centuries of ill treatment by foreigners enslaving them and mistreating them as an ancestral people. Note that it is a mistake to think that this concept of hospitality cannot also be found in the Indo-European religions (see here). But the Israelites definitely put the concept of hospitality at the forefront of their ethical code.
Even though I am not Jewish, I can still incorporate aspects of the Israelites' ethical vision of hospitality, which grew out of their unique cultural memory. Again, note that the Norse religion also emphasized hospitality, as well as trade, which is the hallmark of a civilized society. So I can appreciate the Jewish concept of hospitality, but I can do so without identifying with it ethnically as it is based on their specific cultural memory as Israelites. Being Scandinavian I can appreciate this specifically Israelite ethical adaptation, but it's not my cultural memory. But that doesn't mean I can't use it in my own tool belt of ethical thinking.
The Israelites also had a specifically Jewish national god which, as I see it, that god was specifically the god of the Israelites. For their Old Testament deity was a specifically Israelite-oriented deity as a patron god of war for the Israelites, not the Greeks or Scandinavians (who had their own ancestral gods). Again, I see all these gods and religions as mythology. The point I'm making is that all tribal religions have specific genealogical and cultural roots with the gods being "conceptual packages" containing the cultural memory of an ancestral tribe's heroes and values, etc. As I see it, the gods act as archetypes of the tribe's collective ideals, stemming from each tribe's specific cultural memories.
What this means for me personally, is that when I read the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) for example, I do not read about my people (the Germanic Norse tribes), i.e. my own genealogy of the Germanic Scandinavians; I am instead reading about another people's ancestry and cultural memory that is different from my own.
Now of course I can appreciate and respect the mythical artistry and psychological utility of the biblical myths, like Jordan Peterson does; but I can do so without personally identifying with their specific national god or the Israelite religion. For it's simply not based on my own ancestral cultural identity.
I also don't see why this kind of thought process should be controversial, when if things were reversed, and a Jewish person were asked why they don't identify with the Scandinavian gods and Norse religion, their answer would likely be that they have their own culturally ethnic identity and religion as an Israelite. Jews have their own specific Israelite-formed rituals like Yom Kippur, Shavuot, and Hanukkah, that is tied to their unique experiences as an ethnic tribe. Instead of those uniquely Jewish rituals based on the specific experience of Jews, as an American of Indo-European descent, as I see it my Germanic ancestors' celebration of Yuletide contributed to the formation of the mythology of Christmas as an American holiday. Many other American holidays are based on my Germanic ancestors. Furthermore, I think it was the germanization of Christianity that contributed to the Enlightenment and eventually the American Deism of the Founding Fathers.
There is a certain beauty in a people celebrating their ethnic unity through ritualized memory. All ethnic cultures have done this throughout history. For every ethnic tribe has uniquely specific cultural traditions connected to their ancestral cultural identity. I am not Jewish ethnically nor religiously, and thus the fact is that these Israelite ritual practices like Hanukkah are just not part of my tribal lineage or my ancient ancestral cultural memory. Studies like this one on the history of the origin of most American holidays, leads one to realize that America is largely based on Germanic and Scandinavian influence (which is part of what I call Americanism).
The reality is that it was not my ancestors who escaped from the Egyptians in the Bible story. Furthermore, when the Bible says Yahweh (or Jehovah), the patron god of the Israelites, chose the Jewish People (a genetic lineage) to be his people, it was not my Indo-European people/lineage. In other words, the Bible is about another people's ancestor's oppressed losses, and their triumphant wins, and subsequent religious developments as an ancient Jewish tribe. The core message of the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) is that the Israelite deity wanted to maintain a pure ethnic lineage in order to maintain the uniquely Jewish identity as a genetic lineage and cultural identity. I don't have a problem with that actually, as I would expect a book written by Jews and for Jews to be pro-jewish: with a Jewish god demanding his "chosen" lineage to maintain Jewish homogeneity. I can respect Judaism, and I do. I can learn about it and even choose to practice some of its ethical ideals (which I do actually); but at the end of the day, the fact is the Hebrew Bible is about a different ethnolinguistic ancestral history, that is different from my own Indo-European ethnolinguistic ancestry.
So when I read the Bible I am reading about someone else's genetic lineage and religious culture. However, when I read for example the Norse Eddas and Sagas, or the Iliad, I am reading something closer to my Indo-European ethnolinguistic tribal heritage: passed on through the various Indo-European Solar-Pantheons.
To use an analogy, its like sitting down in someone's living room and looking at someone else's photo album and listening to them reminisce about their great great grandparents and them telling stories about their family history. There is nothing wrong with appreciating someone's genealogical photo album when visiting their home. But, to extend the metaphor, what if you were then expected to ignore your ancestral photo album and family stories in your home (or even told to throw them in the trash); and instead you were expected to place only someone else's family photo album in your living room and treat it as your own, and to only tell their ancestral family stories. What would you think?
I have a very similar perspective when it comes to the Pauline mythology in the New Testament, which grew out of the Israelite Maccabean martyr tradition: wherein certain Israelites used the specific strategy of martyrdom to deal with the suppression of their Israelite dietary laws by the Romans. So again, this Maccabean influenced martyr-centric mentality -- which is at the core of the apostle Paul's mythos -- is not a part of my Indo-European ancestral cultural memory. My people were instead warriors who fought back and won battles: from the ancient Scandinavians to the formation of America.
The specifically Pauline ritual mythos of ultimately rejecting Life as a kind of "spiritual escapism" -- through the ideal of celibacy (in 1 Cor.7 and Matt. 19:12) and voluntary martyrdom (rather than the American Dream) and men taking on the emasculating identity of an inseminated / seeded male-bride of a Messiah Husband -- simply does not appeal to me as an Indo-European heterosexual male. It is all foreign to me personally actually, and rather off-putting and unappealing both mythologically and psychologically.
I can understand why a woman would find it meaningful and "intimate" to be mythically engaged to be married to a god-husband and seeded with his divine seed (DNA) mythically. But for me personally, I find such ideas to be kind of insulting and well emasculating. As an American male of Norse ancestry, I don't like the idea of being manipulated into thinking I must have my Swedish genes supernaturally replaced with Semitic genes (as a follower of the apostle Paul). I have my own genetic lineage I am proud of thank you very much!
Rather than the mythology of a "low-status demanding" Messiah god as preached by Paul, where turning the other cheek and being meek, and suffering is holy; my Swedish ancestor's had gods like Thor and Odin who instead promoted working towards a higher status and winning in life by gaining territory, health and power as a People. A worldview philosophy which was forged from the memory of my own ancestors; that is far more appealing to my masculine sensibilities as mythological archetypes of my healthy male instincts. The Norse gods, as mythological archetypes of the collective unconscious and male instincts, are also likely based on my very own great grandfathers; and thus I have a connection to them ancestrally. In contrast, the Pauline idea of seeing myself as a seeded male-Bride of a suffering Messiah-husband (an idea made in the image of the Macbean martyrs and Paul's negative view of the material world and the biological body), is not in alignment with my own ancestral Norse mythos that is pro-body and world-affirming; and the Pauline view is not exactly inspiring in the competitive world of capitalist America (where a suffering is good and willful victim mentality, can often be a harmful ideology).
I should note here however, that the Pauline version is only one version of Christianity. You also have the more pro-Gentile Luke-Acts, and the view of the Johannine Community that don't mention demons and contains far less apocalypticism (with heaven being more of a current state here and now). I am also aware that Christianity morphed into a more Indo-European form after Constantine, which I discuss here. Thus I consider myself, practically speaking, "Christians Adjacent" as an American: since most of American Christianity is a more Indo-European form of Christianity, meaning it is to a large degree based more on my own European ancestor's "energy" and values.
Americanism as Greco-Norse Adjacent
As an ancestrally Nordic American, I have my own quasi-religious holidays, customs, and practices like Christmas and Halloween, which have been influenced by Norse culture. Rather than America being based on Maccabean-Pauline ideas, American culture is much more in line with the heroic cultures of the Greeks and Norseman.
The reason why I emphasize Americanism is because being American is a philosophy of life, which is at odds with the Pauline New Testament as an ism. I discuss this in the documents on my Google sites here and here. The philosophy of Americanism is largely based on American founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin, who were not perfect, they were flawed for sure, but they were definitely heroic and masculine men. They didn't embrace the idea of being supernaturally seeded by a god-husband as a male bride. Although Jefferson, as a Deist, did consider certain aspects of the ethical teachings of Jesus to be beneficial for forming an ethical American society, he completely rejected the Pauline ideology, as did Ben Franklin.
What this means for me as an American, is that the Bible is not about my ancestors and nor is it in my view a practical mythos to live by. Instead, I prefer to learn more about the cultural memory of my own Norse ancestry and their religion, and many North American holidays and customs are based on my own ancestral traditions. For example, much of our theatrical culture is based in Norse mythology. In my opinion, American Sports are basically a celebration of the heroic spirit, reminding one of the battleground of the Gods in the form of sports athletes in competition seeking greatness and heroic glory on the field of battle. Gym culture is a celebration of the athletic and muscular aesthetic culture of the Norse and Greek Gods and Heroes: through building one's physique like a sculpture, sculpted into a body like a muscular Greek God.
Heroic Adventurism versus Leveling Docile Utopianism
I see the Proto-Indo-European and Greco-Norse heroic adventurism, being at odds with Pauline leveling utopianism. Paul, as an apocalyptic Israelite, was a utopianist who believed his national god and messiah was going to fly down from the sky very soon and force equality on everyone and end all biological reproduction and competition. In this new world utopia there would be no more gender, nor earthly biology, but everyone would be non-biological and "angelic" with men becoming like a genital-less ken doll basically. This end-times apocalyptic fantasy squelched the Greco-Norse spirit of adventurous heroism and replaced it with a more docile and weak energy of leveled complacency awaiting the quick arrival of the Messiah-husband as an obedient docile bride. Just compare that to the more enlivening Viking Spirit and Greco Vitality, and the choice today of which myth to live by becomes clear, at least for me.
Paulianity as Anti-Life or Anti-Instincts
I find the Pauline ideas deeply problematic for many other reasons as well. For example, part of the Israelite's unconscious survival mechanism, according to Nietzsche, was the development of a priestly caste that sought to demonize their stronger oppressors. This dualism was influenced by Persian Zoroastrianism. This priestly caste evolved and separated into two basic groups: today's Rabbinic Judaism and Pauline Christianity. Nietzsche spoke favorably of the ancient Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) religion and modern Judaism while he despised Anti-Semites. But he was very critical of Pauline Christianity when taken literally, which he saw as the priestly caste evolving into a resentful revenge-seeking pity party in Paulianity; which he described as mostly a product of being angry at and demonizing biological Life itself, and seeking to escape this world for a fantasy world.
I think this Pauline negation of life was in part based on the cultural memory of his people being under subjection by foreign powers. Rome was the latest empire subjugating by the Israelites in the first century. Some Jews revolted with a Greco-Norse type (or ancient Semite) warrior-god energy, fighting back and seeking to gain their own independence and sovereignty as a nation. In other words, like the American Founding Fathers who fought for their freedom and independence, these first century Israelites were willing to fight and die for their own freedom and independence. Paul on the other hand, had a different plan.
Paul was part of the school of Apocalyptic Judaism based in the Maccabean martyrdom tradition. Whereas some Jews believed their messiah was going to come back and restore peace through war efforts, Paul reinterpreted the Hebrew scriptures so that his messiah was the cosmic Jesus, who instead died as a Maccabean style martyr; which ushered in the final apocalyptic end-times. Paul's message was that his followers did not need to fight Rome because Jesus was going to fly down soon and fight for them any day now.
The Pauline message was pacifist as an interim ethic: be ultra nice and passive now, because the Romans will get what's coming to them very soon when our sky messiah flies down to punish them. "We," he basically said, "are not to fight Rome, but to be docile, and ideally die as martyrs." This was all based on the Pauline expectation that his messiah was going to come and conquer Rome and establish an Israelite theocracy very soon. This we know did not happen.
Paul was wrong. So this means that the first and second century Pauline disciples who practiced willful poverty, celibacy and martyrdom -- giving up their normal lives for the expectation of the immediate return of the messiah in their lifetime -- ended up repressing themselves and suffering and dying horribly: based on the false expectation of the soon return of their messiah who would destroy the Romans and set up a communistic Utopia which never happened.
I think this was all based on Paul's own unconscious resentment of the strong and powerful Roman empire that was surrounding him with what he considered to be unholy Indo-European temples: with Gentile gods and statues which he thought were "demon possessed." In fact, in his mind the whole biological world was controlled by a force called Sin; and the god of this world was Satan, who commanded a hoard of demons flying around causing disease and chaos. This resulted in Paul's apocalyptic revenge fantasy and a Life-despising worldview: ending in an anti-Nature, leveling, communistic utopia When A Jew Rules the World (this is an actual book title by a Christian). Note that this book was actually written to combat antisemitism among Protestants. For the record, I don't want or expect a Scandinavian to rule the world either. I'm not interested in any form of dictatorial communism or what Christopher Hitchens described as a celestial North Korea.
Note again, that I am aware that Christianity morphed into a more Indo-European form after Constantine, which I discuss here. So I am Pro-Christian in this sense.
Honoring One's Own Ancestral Heritage & Mythos
As we can see, the whole New Testament mythology is an ancestral mythos based on the specific cultural memory of Israelites like Paul, Peter and James, and John of Patmos, etc. This is quite frankly not my heritage or cultural memory as a Germanic Scandinavian, nor as an American. It is simply not my cultural heritage.
Why abandon my own cultural memory and physiological DNA represented mythically in Norse mythology? Wouldn't that be like an American rejecting the cultural memory of their American ancestors, who bled and died for them and instead identifying with communist China? What does China have to do with me as an American? I can appreciate the health effects of mindfulness mediation without becoming a Buddhist or becoming a citizen of China. So too, I can find value in Jesus' ethical teachings like Thomas Jefferson did without believing the Pauline idea that I should be seeded by a male messiah as his bride.
The fact is the story of the Bible is not the story of my Indo-European ancestry, but is about the Jewish people and Pauline ideology. I would never expect a Jew who practices Judaism to join the Pauline New Testament religion. So too, I do not expect the Jewish people to adopt any Indo-European mythos as their own, even if only metaphorically as archetypes of the collective unconscious. For they have their own mythology that grew out of their own specific experiences as a people. So if they have the culturally respected right to want nothing to do with my ancestor's mythology as their identity, why should I be expected to only embrace the ancestral story and mythology of the Bible (in the form of either Judaism or Pauline-Christianity)?
Now, if somebody could convince me that the "belief system" of the Bible was the "only true religion," then that would make sense to identity with it; but I see all religion as mythology. So if a religious mythology is as much a product of the ethnic memory of a people's evolved culture -- that morphed into a life orienting mytho-philosophy -- then why would anyone want to reject or disparage a life orienting mythos that is connected to that person's own ancestral cultural memory and heritage? Wouldn't that be like asking the person to "spit in the face" of their great grandfathers and reject their own genetic memory in their genes, from out of which their own ancestors' mythology developed?
Now, I'm not here saying that just because I am Germanic Scandinavian and an American, that I should not consider Judaism or Christianity as a worldview option solely based of my ancestry or nationality. The truth is, my moving away from Paulianity had nothing to do with my ancestry (which I actually discovered later after rejecting Christian Fundamentalism). For I simply find the mythology of the New Testament ultimately impractical and disempowering psychologically when taken seriously and literally. I realized that Paulianity ultimately made me feel less empowered as it oriented me in the world in a negative way that depleted my vitality. I then, later on, found that my own ancestral mythology and American Deism made me feel more empowered and better oriented in the real world of America.
Now if I thought that Paulianity was true or even practically useful or empowering, I likely would have clung to it but unfortunately it was none of those things. So, when I realized that Norse mythology was not only part of my own ethnic identity and cultural heritage -- but that it was useful for generating within me personal power and vitality -- the choice to move more toward the energy of the Northwind (see Nietzsche on the Northwind by Lucian Filip) became a natural path forward as it was already built into my very nature as a Germanic Scandinavian.
Norse Vitality & The "American Spirit"
And I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me
(Source)
The way I see it, a religious mythology can either exude a psychological energy of empowering vitality, freedom and adventure, or form an oppressive, life-squelching and "controlling vibe." From this perspective, I see a distinct difference between the cultural energy in the mythologies of the Greeks and the Norse, which is different from the more depleting nihilistic energies of Buddhism and Pauline Christianity. Instead of hiding in a Buddhist or Christian monastery, being celibate and praying or meditating your life away, there is instead in the Proto-Indo-European ethnolinguistic mythological traditions (like in Norse mythology), an energy of heroic adventurism and overcoming chaos with creativity through poetry and art and a warrior spirit.
This Northwind vitality, or "aliveness," is also in my view the energy of the foundations of America: which was based on this Greco-Nordic Spirit of breaking free from any oppressor and charting your own course with a spirit of adventure with an appeal to Nature's God: which "God of Nature" had more in common with the Greco-Nordic mythological traditions which are based on the personification of the natural forces of nature; with the Gods representing the drives and instincts of the body in rational harmony with the forces of the Universe.
When I study the lives of the main American Founding Fathers, in particular Ben Franklin (who was a Deist), I find him embracing the energies of the body and the joy of living: with a more "Epicurean Spirit" instead of a Pauline life-renouncing anti-sensual attitude.
When Nietzsche and Dr. Paul utilize Greek mythology, they are simultaneously promoting and endorsing the same energy of Nature, which is simultaneously found in Norse mythology. Meanwhile, America was largely built off of the philosophy of the Greeks, the Romans, and the adventurous spirit of the Norse as a symbolic Northwind.
Rather than a religious dogma or set scripture, in Deism the reality of Nature we experience all around us becomes our hymnal and scripture, our temple dome the sun shines upon.
As an organic being not a platonic form, you grow within and through life as a part of life. In my view, there isn't one true religion or tradition, only subjective perspectives based on ancestry and geography.
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