Man Against Time

Often, you will hear "get with the times!". This is usually when you speak a traditional idea or promote a philosophy that isn't politically correct. These people will automatically shut you down for your heretical view, and declare that you are not up to the standard of the 21st century.

Yet you are a Heathen. Can a Heathen really be "with the times"? And should a Heathen care? What is the Heathen reaction to the "It's 2013, get over it" mentality?

Let us take a look back about 1000 years. In Scandinavia, Christianization accelerated after stiff resistance. Converted Christians bore their death pendants (also known as the crucifix) to display their faith in adverse to the Heathens. Now, Scandinavia remains an anomaly - not only did Christianization take very long, it also occurred at the dawn of the late Middle Ages, a period where historical documentation due to literacy was increasing. Moreover, the Heathen Scandinavians stood like stones in the ground against the tide of Christianity and donned their Mjolnirs in reaction to the crucifix.

What did the Christians say to them? Now, we do not know exactly of course, but as a historian, my guess would be something along the lines of "Get with the times".

The times were changing in Scandinavia, Europe and the world. Christianity had come and all European Kings would bow to the Pope for the next several hundred years. The last of Scandinavia to hold out would be Sweden - but they too would become so Christianized that they would "Crusade" in neighboring Finland and convert all of the Finno-Ugric folk that they could. The old ways never truly died of course - old Gods continued to be worshiped in the forms of spirits, Saints or even still called Gods in very rural areas. The more important myths would be recorded and preserved, a great deal of folklore would remain folklore whilst myths embellished it. But that's the upside, if there can be an upside to this story. The temples were converted into churches, the 'idols" were smashed, anyone who refused to convert was murdered, the old way was taught to children as something evil and a great mistake of their ancestors (original sin).

Yet some Heathens did stand up to this, even for a short while. They bore their Mjolnir's with pride. They were men against the times.

And here we are today, commemorating their effort. Thus they are immortal, because we honor them, the nameless many, of who's graves we dig and find their Mjolnirs and other remnants of Paganism (such as ring with inscriptions). We honor them, though we must honor all of our ancestors. But their effort had not been in vain. We again are Heathens. Our folk return to our Gods, and not just our Scandinavian folk, but all of European folk. The Volga's tied to stakes at low tied and left to drown have been vindicated.

Again, we stand as men against time. Just how many Heathens are there? Sure, it's steadily rising, but just how many of these people are Heathens? How many are hobbyists? How many are Wiccatru? How many are wishy-washy fluffy bunnies? How many weave in and out of Heathenism and Christianity? How many act more like Christians than Heathens? How many don't take it seriously and are more akin to role players than actual Heathens? How many are just metal heads wearing a Mjolnir because their favorite band does?

Worse, just who are we up against? Who must we compete against? Christianity is still alive, in all of its tendrils, constricting our folk into a superstitious death cult for 1500 years now. For every Heathen, how many Christians are there? Hell, what about Islam? By Gods - Christianity has somewhat preserved our Paganism, our indigenous European traditions, since Europe Europeanized Christianity - but Islam is a different beast. Islam is Arabic cultural imperialism. Islam demands you pray in Arabic. Islam demands you smash all idols. An Islamic world would erase all traces of indigenous faith of all peoples. Worried about the pyramids in Egypt? What do you think will happen to Stonehenge if Britain was a Muslim domain? Do you think you'd be allowed to celebrate your summer solstices there then?

Moreover, why should we be concerned with "getting with the times"? "The times" dictate that everything and everyone, groups and individuals, have the same potential because we're all born as blank slates (tabula rosa), disregarding all biological evidence on the contrary. "The times" tells us that a man can become a woman if he chops his genitals and ingests some drugs, despite all common sense. "The times" is what is poisoning us with fluoride in the water and GMOs and we're called "conspiracy theorists" if we point out this may not be a good idea. "The times" demands that it's better to not defend yourself if you are attacked, but beg for them to stop and then hide and call the police. "The times" has turned men into emasculated, soft, hairless, shy, awkward, TV-friendly lap-dogs that would die in days if they were dropped off in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. "The times" has turned women into sad, miserable parodies of men. "The times" makes hundreds of millions of dollars off of turning the Gods of our ancestors into comic book characters. "The times" thinks it's perfectly OK to spy on each and every citizen of its country as if we are all criminals. "The times" insists that Heathenism is outdated and that we should be Christians, Muslims, Atheists/Nihilists or some bastardized, white-washed version of a Buddhist.

If that is what 2013 is, then I am proud of standing against such a degenerate, depraved, loathsome time. I will stand against it until my legs fall out from under me.

A Heathen does not care what "the times" dictate, or that you are supposed to act a certain way or believe in a certain something in 2013. A Heathen is a free man. A Heathen is in tune with his ancestors. He is their descendant whether this is 2013 or 1013 or 2013 BC or 20013 AD. We Heathens stand against the times, like a mountainside:  immovable!

When Islam shouts it will dominate the world, we bare our Mjolnirs. We are men against time.

When Christianity gloats it destroyed our Gods, and we shout our Gods have never died, because we are men against time.

When they say that your ideas are outdated or you are just a romanticist, we are men against time.

When they demand us men must not be men because "gender doesn't exist", we laugh, because we are men against time.

When they insist violence is not the solution from one side of their mouth and sell us violent video games, television shows and movies. We are men against time.

When they tell us we should be ashamed of our heritage, we shout we are prideful, because we are men against time.

Do not fret. We are Europeans, and we are Heathens. We have been through much worse. Heathenism never died, it had been dormant in us, and we have reawakened it. We must also reawaken the European within us. We are Western European Pagans, we have a glorious civilization granted to us by our Indo-European ancestors, who gave us a culture we still possess today. Victory will come from our re-awakening  to our Gods. Remember who you are, and remember your Gods. Nothing is more fearsome and ferocious than a man who knows who he is and what he believes in. May Woden give you fury on that day.

"Confidence is the key to victory." - my late father, a Pagan-Atheist.

And if we fail, then may our descendants in 1000 years remember those men who stood against time.

Thor's Hammer excavated from Yorkshire, circa 10th century. These men who wore these did so in defiance of the times. Their grandchildren or great-grandchildren probably were buried with crucifixes  I am sure their grandchildren thought Thor was gone forever and no one would ever wear his hammer again. Yet here we are, a millennium later, as Germanic Heathens, wearing Mjolnir and worshiping Father Thor.