The 23rd is the day before Christmas. We celebrate the eve here in the Nordics. The 25th is the relaxing day after Christmas when you eat leftovers and do fuck all all day.
I love the stories about Atalanta, and how it culminates in her and Hippomenes both being transformed into lions as punishment for shagging in a temple, because at the time people believed that lions couldn’t have offspring together.
The story of Thor dressing up as and pretending to be Freyja in order to get his hammer back from some giants is also pretty sick.
And Amaterasu forever shunning her brotherhusband for in disgust decapitating a lady who invited them to a party she was too lazy to go to.
Odin kidnapped children and set them to be chased by wolves for all eternity because of how their father named them.
No hailing Oden, please. He’s a cunt.
This bit is tongue in cheek, specifically the “no hailing Oden” bit. It is a joke. I don’t actually care if someone worships Oden or not, you’re free to do as you please. I apologise if my phrasing came across as more serious than was intended. My apologies to you, @Delphia, and anyone else whom I’ve offended.
This…
Odin kidnapped children and set them to be chased by wolves for all eternity because of how their father named them.
…is a reference to the story of the children Sol and Mani, whose father loved them so much he decided to name them after the sun and the moon. Oden took offence to this, and whisked the children away up into the skies to drive the carriages of their namesakes, and just to ensure none shirked their duty, he set Fenrir’s two children, Hati (Hatred) and Sköll (Treachery) to chase them until the end times when the twin wolves devour their targets.
No matter how you look at it, that’s a shitty thing to do. It’s not the children’s fault that their father gave them that name. Suppose father was punished too in that he lost his beloved kids, but the children really drew the short end of the stick.
It’s not the first time he’s a bit of a shithead either. The way I’ve always understood the stories having grown up with them, his treatment of Loke’s children is what drives them to oppose him in the end times. He creates a lot of problems that could be fixed would he be open to properly communicate, but Oden isn’t the type to do that. He’s too prideful.
And this…
He’s also co-opted as a symbol for nationalism and white supremacy so there’s that part too.
…is sadly also true. I welcome people rekindling Asatro. I think that’s delightful. However, sadly there’s a bunch of people that have co-opted these stories and group together under Odin as a symbol of hatred and xenophobia. I obviously don’t think the person I initially responded to is one of these people, nor do I think they’re seriously practising asatro.
So, if you do decide to openly worship Oden, or carry imagery associated with him - that’s really cool, but it’s also worth noting that sadly in modern society at least here in Scandinavia, there are some unsavory connotations with it.
Finally this
If you’re going to choose a god to praise, why choose an easily insulted one-eyed old fart with a self-confidence problem? Go with someone with more pizzazz, like Freyja. Goddess of love, beauty, sex, war, magic. Is there anything she doesn’t do?
…is also tongue-in-cheek, though I do unironically think Freyja is many times cooler than Oden and I will (figuratively) fight you on that.
If you’re going to choose a god to praise, why choose an easily insulted one-eyed old fart with a self-confidence problem? Go with someone with more pizzazz, like Freyja. Goddess of love, beauty, sex, war, magic. Is there anything she doesn’t do?
I visited a friend in Massachusetts a few years ago, and we made pumkin pie. Just because I was curious, I bought cool whip.
It’s not whipped cream, nor is it really similar to it. It’s essentially made similar to how you’d make mayonnaise, but instead of being savoury/sour it’s sweet. It’s also aerated so it’s not as dense. But yeah, it’s basically aerated dessert mayonnaise.