Chu vi parolas esperante?

Esperanto estas la internacia lingvo. Mi skribas esperante in mia nova 'Blog', Mi kaj katoj.

One of my hobbies in the past has been learning the Esperanto language, which is a made-up language spoken by a couple of million people around the world. I used to get up at odd hours in the hope of being able to listen to an Esperanto language shortwave radio broadcast from Poland or from China--- usually, when I did hear it, the static was so bad I could barely make out a word or two.

Nowadays one can listen to Esperanto language radio on the internet. I've found that I remember Esperanto quite well even though I haven't really used it in about a decade. So I've started a blog in Esperanto called Mi kaj katoj, which means "me and cats" which just about sums up my life right about now.

So if you are interested click over on it. I will also be explaining Esperanto a bit here perhaps, once I get a new modem or new computer.

Update

Well, I've been busy lately with National Novel Writing Month and so haven't been doing much here.

I've been thinking about merging Wyrd Thoughts (my other blog) with this blog, it will be a project though as I will move the posts from that blog to this one.

Can't do it any time soon as my modem just died this weekend. I don't have the money to get it replaced but even if I did the question arises--- should I? My current computer I bought second-hand (and I believe I've had to put in a new modem already). Maybe I should save my dough until I can get a new computer. My mom got a new Dell which is pretty good and didn't cost much.

National Novel Writing Month: A challenge to Odinists

One of the advantages that Christians have over Odinists is the amount of Christian fiction being published. Some, like the notorious 'Left Behind' series, is even on the bestseller lists.

But here is your chance, Odinist man or woman, to even things up. National Novel Writing Month. Sign up at the website http://www.nanowrimo.org and use the month of November to produce a novel with an Odinist theme. It doesn't have to be a great novel or even a good novel--- just do it! And tell all your Odinist friends about it. If enough Odinists try it, before long we will have something Heathen to read!!!

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Al Qaeda mass-murders in London:

The evil nithings of al Qaeda have struck again, killing at last count around 45 innocent people in four attacks in London, three in the subway and one on a double-decker bus.

The war that al Qaeda has started is a war for the very survival of our folk--- the people of the West.

The enemy is militant Mohammedanism. I don't call it 'Islam' because both the words 'Islam' and 'Muslim' mean 'submission to God' and thus to use these words is to confess in public that the Mohammedan religion is the one true and correct one in the eyes of 'God'. Of course no true Odinist would stoop to nithing acts like attacking a Mohammedan or a mosque. But the burden should be placed on Mohammedans to show that they condemn all terrorism--- even terrorism in Israel which only kills Jews, which many in the Middle East feel is OK since in that part of the world Hitler's Mein Kampf and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion are still best sellers.

We as Odinists need to go to war against Mohammedan terror. We need to take a clear stand against terror (and in favor of the war against terror). We need also to take action against the pro-terrorist apologists who blame the terror, not on the terrorists, but on Israel and the US. The best action to take is to shun them. Just don't speak to them--- avoid speaking OF them--- until they are willing to quit supporting Hamas and al Qaeda.

Our folk have fought for survival before. Think of the struggle of Arminius against the Roman Legions. What would have happened, do you think, if a bunch of young cowards had started carrying protest signs says 'Arminius is a war criminal; no blood for wine'? It's only in modern days that anyone has claimed the 'freedom' to turn on their own folk and nation during wartime. But we also have the freedom--- to fight the terrorists and to shun the nithings who take the terrorists' side.

May Odin aid us in our fight!

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Alfather Odin

"The first and eldest of the AEsir... is Odin. He governs all things, and, although the other deities are powerful, they all serve and obey him as children do their father." from the Younger Edda

If you have been involved in our holy Asatru faith, you already know Odin (AKA Woden, Othin, Wodhinn and the like.) In fact, some Asatruar prefer the name Odinism to describe our ancestral faith, though this causes confusion among some who strive to create a difference between Asatru and Odinism (or between Asatru and Heathenism, or whatever other name they call our ancestral faith.)

A great many Asatruar have Odin for their fulltrui (patron God). A great many others--- those of us who march to different drummers--- have an 'anybody but Odin' attitude and deal with every other God but Him.

But Odin is our Heavenly Father, and it is right that we honor Him--- though not to the exclusion of the Others.

To claim Odin as our Alfather we need to undo society's brainwashing and re-learn what a father is. Among our folk, a father was not the fellow who passed the DNA test. A father was the man married to your mother--- the man who had the decency to marry your mother first (or at least marry her as soon as it was discovered she was in a family way, to preserve her honor.)

The father's relationship to the child came solely through the relationship the father had to the mother--- marriage. Therefore the father-relationship was not competing with the mother, because it depended upon being connected to the mother.

The father, then, was the one who loved you enough not to make you choose between him and the mother who gave birth to you in pain, sorrow and personal risk. The father was not jealous of your love for your mother, but indeed that love was something you and your father had in common and was a strong bond between you.

In the same way our Alfather Odin is not a jealous God, visiting wrath on us for daring to love Frigga or Thor or Freyja. He loves them too, you see.

This day's devotion is dedicated to the memory of my father, Robert Armstrong, who passed away this past Nov. 30. Pray, Heathen folk, for his soul, and that those he left behind will find comfort.

Hail, Holy Alfather Odin! We give you honor because you are not a God jealous of our other loves, but One who loves us all the more because of them. Help us to grow in our ability to love the Gods, and to love our family members and our folk.

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Rune information, including rune poems, added to site

Click above to go to our rune rosary page, to which I have just added 3 new pages on the runes. These new pages give the text of the appropriate rune poems and charms for each of the runes in question.

The links are titled:

Runes of the first aett--- first eight runes with rune poems and meanings.
Runes of the second aett--- second eight runes with rune poems and meanings.
Runes of the third aett--- third eight runes with rune poems and meanings.

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Restoring prayer to our schools: a modest proposal

The Missing Commandment

"... in some of these Ten Commandments revisions being posted in schools and courthouses, the First Commandment, the key to understanding the whole thing, is either being beheaded--- the first portion being left off--- or in at least one case being replaced entirely by a new commandment, 'Only worship the One True God'. Now, this is a most serious issue since it is one thing to allow the posting of the actual Ten Commandments for historical/educational reasons, but quite another to allow the posting of modern Christian religious instruction mislabeled as the Commandments.

Furthermore, the real First Commandment ought to be a cherished text for every Odinist, Heathen, Pagan and traditional religionist. When translated correctly and understood in its historical context, it affirms the existence of more than one God, and supports, even commands, the worship of our own tribal Gods rather than adopting the worship of strange/foreign Gods."

Click here to read the complete article

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Odinist, or opposite-of-Christian?

Odinism is a religion which stands on its own, has its own traditions, and is much older than Christianity. Why, then, when we look at an Odinist teaching, should anyone judge it not by its authenticity, but on whether it is 'too Christian' or 'too Catholic'?

The simple answer is that some people get involved with Odinism, not because they know all about Odinism and agree with it, but because they are ticked off at their own Christian upbringing and feel that being an Odinist is a way to rebel against it.

During our baby-Odinist phase many of us are mad at the Christians. Others are rebelling against Mommy and Daddy. But by the time we get to the point where we want to start expressing opinions on what Odinism is and where it is heading, we ought to be a great deal more grown up than that.

Christianity is actually a variant form of the Jewish faith. Both Christianity and Judaism come from the ancient folk-faith of the Hebrews. If the Hebrew folk-religion is false and bad, what makes us think Odinism, the folk-faith of the Gothic/Germanic/Teutonic folk, is any more true? Either the folk-religions of the world--- Hebrew as well as Odinist--- are true enough to be worth following or they are not.

The ancient Hebraic faith stands side by side with Odinism, Druidism, Religio Romana and all the other folk-faiths. Yes, there are differences in details--- sometimes because one folk-faith is more accurate on a topic than others, sometimes because of a mere cultural difference. But all these folk-faiths, and their universalist children such as Christianity, Islam and Mormonism, have a good deal in common.

Therefore, if you choose at every turn to follow an 'Odinism' which is the opposite of Christianity, or the opposite of Biblical tradition, on every point, you will in a great many cases be doing also the opposite of true historical Odinism as well.

So--- the question is this: what are you really? Are you a follower of historical Odinism, who will follow the teachings as you know them whether they are the same as Christianity or different? Or are you an opposite-of-Christian, in every case doing the opposite of what the Christians teach (and thus allowing the Christians to rule you still)?

You need to think about this issue clearly and take a side. The Odinist/Asatru movement is clogged up with people who call themselves Odinists but are truly just in rebellion against Christianity. Is it any wonder that Odinism has failed to progress? First, because it certainly must displease the Gods when we reject parts of the holy Odinist faith just in order to spite the spiritual children of the Hebrews.

Second, because much of what is being rejected isn't Christianity, but the practical things that help a religion survive. Our ancient Odinist ancestors, for example, had temples such as the one at Upsala, and had a dedicated priesthood who were consecrated to the task, for whom serving the Gods was a life's-work and not a role-playing game. Yet many opposite-of-Christian 'Odinists' not only don't want to have a part in building modern temples themselves, but have conniption fits over other folk doing it.

Now, I'm sure my words are controversial. But if you are truly dedicated to the Gods, and won't let Christianity dictate to you how you will practice our ancient faith, then YOU are an essential part of the future of our faith. Don't let the opposite-of-Christians--- even if they are passing themselves off as Asatru leaders--- rob you of our true ancient faith.

If you agree with the sort of things you read in Nine Virtues News, tell your friends about it. If you have a blog or website you think shares the same views, do use the guestbook in order to tell me about it, and I will put up a link to your site somewhere.

Should Evil People Be Allowed to Run for Office?

from FLAME Hotline, an e-newsletter delivering updates and analysis on current issues about Israel and the Middle East conflict

June 29, 2005 Should Evil People Be Allowed to Run for Office? A few weeks ago, we posed thorny questions about what would happen if Hamas became a big winner in Palestinian elections or if Hizbollah did the same in Lebanon---both plausible scenarios. On the one hand, we Americans believe in the idea of a liberal democracy---in which every one can participate, everybody is treated equally, and any friend of a fair election is a friend of ours. On the other hand, what happens when well-meaning citizens elect totalitarians---people whose goal is to eliminate fair elections? We’ve just seen so-called elections in Iran in which hundreds of candidates (an overwhelming majority) were eliminated out of hand by ruling clerics before the election. Both Hamas and Hezbollah, like Al Qaeda and Iran’s ruling party, are dedicated to Islamic totalitarianism and the eventual overthrow of Western democracies. Does it really make sense to support elections in which these people can be elected? Or would that be a form of democratic suicide? George Bush and members of his administration, in an attempt to seem open minded and consistent with their commitment to democratizing the world, have recently made cavalier statements about welcoming Hamas to the polls and to elected office. The article below---“Can Hezbollah and Hamas Be Democratic”---by commentator Daniel Pipes, questions the wisdom of such an invitation. Pipes confronts the contradiction head on, concluding that people with avowedly evil (anti-democratic) purposes shouldn’t be allowed to participate in democratic elections. While this notion may seem strange to those of us reared in an open democracy, it has merit given the alternative---which is the possibility that a naïve populace could literally vote away their right ever to vote again. Perhaps democracy is not as simple as we once thought it was. Could it be that all comers should not be welcome? Maybe there should be a litmus test for participation in the democratic process---say, pledged allegiance to democratic institutions? While politicians have been known to lie in the past, at the very least, perhaps, a candidate should have to commit to democracy before they’re allowed to take part. In any case, to their credit, both Hamas and Hezbollah have been lucid as to their purposes: They stand squarely against democracy and squarely for the defeat of Israel and the United States. Best regards, Jim Sinkinson Director, FLAME P.S. I want to remind you to use the FLAME website as a resource---it houses more than a hundred concise articles and position papers on the most important issues surrounding Israel and the Middle East. This fact-based information can help you explain the truth about the current situation to your friends, synagogue and church members, and political colleagues. Of course, you’re welcome to reprint any of these materials and distribute them as you see appropriate. To explore this treasure trove of information, just go to www.factsandlogic.org. Can Hezbollah and Hamas Be Democratic? by Daniel Pipes, NY Sun, New York Sun, March 22, 2005 If Al-Qaeda renounced terrorism, would the U.S. government welcome its running candidates in American elections? Had the Nazis denounced violence, would Hitler have become an acceptable chancellor for Germany? Not likely, because the tactics of Al-Qaeda and the Nazis matter less than their goals. Similarly, Hezbollah and Hamas are unacceptable because of their goals. These organizations are important elements of the Islamist movement that seeks to create a global totalitarian order along the lines of what has already been created in Iran, Sudan, and in Afghanistan under the Taliban. They see themselves as part of a cosmic clash between Muslims and the West in which the victor dominates the world. Washington, trying to be consistent in its push for democracy, prefers to ignore these goals and instead endorses involvement by Hezbollah and Hamas in the political process, pending their making some small changes. These signals began last week when President Bush stated that although Hezbollah, a Lebanese group, is "a terrorist organization," he hopes it will change that designation "by laying down arms and not threatening peace." White House spokesman Scott McClellan then elaborated on this comment by specifying the two alternatives: "Organizations like Hezbollah have to choose, either you're a terrorist organization or you're a political organization." Bush himself explained further what he meant a day later, presenting elections as a method to shed the terrorist designation: “I like the idea of people running for office. There's a positive effect when you run for office. Maybe some will run for office and say, vote for me, I look forward to blowing up America. I don't know, I don't know if that will be their platform or not. But I don't think so. I think people who generally run for office say, vote for me, I'm looking forward to fixing your potholes, or making sure you got bread on the table.” Hamas a Palestinian organization, Secretary of State Rice then noted, could also evolve in the right direction once it enters the democratic process: “When people start getting elected and have to start worrying about constituencies and have to start worrying not about whether their fire-breathing rhetoric against Israel is being heard, but about whether or not that person's child down the street is able to go to a good school or that road has been fixed or life is getting better, that things start to change.” The theory implied here is that running for office – with its emphasis on such mundane matters as fixing potholes and providing good schools – will temper Hezbollah and Hamas. Count me skeptical. The historical record does not support such optimism. When politically adept totalitarians win power democratically, they do fix potholes and improve schools – but only as a means to transform their countries in accordance with their utopian visions. This generalization applies most clearly to the historical cases (Adolf Hitler in Germany after 1933, Salvador Allende in Chile after 1970) but it also appears valid for the current ones (Khaleda Zia in Bangladesh since 2001, Recep Tayyip Erdo_an in Turkey since 2002). Then there is the matter of their undemocratic intentions. Josef Goebbels explained in 1935 that the Nazis used democratic methods "only in order" to gain power. Looking at Islamists, then-assistant secretary of state for the Middle East Edward Djerejian explained in 1992, "While we believe in the principle of ‘one person, one vote,' we do not support ‘one person, one vote, one time'." Khomeini's Iran indicates that Islamists do manipulate elections to stay in power. Washington should take a principled stand that excludes from the democratic process not just terrorists but also totalitarians using the system to get into power and stay there. It is not enough for Islamist organizations to renounce violence; being irredeemably autocratic, they must be excluded from elections. In a famed Supreme Court dissent in 1949, the eminent justice Robert H. Jackson argued for the arrest of a neo-Nazi rabble-rouser in Chicago on the grounds that not doing so "will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact." The same imperative for self-protection applies also to international politics. Even if Hezbollah and Hamas promise a change in tactics, America – or for that matter, Israel and other Western states – should not accept them as legitimate political parties.

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Don't miss Hannity & Colmes tonight on Fox News at 8pm Central Time

Taking a break to work on 'way of the runes' book

I'm taking a break from blogging and other internet activities as I'm not getting anything done on the book project. I plan to work on the book for about 1 week before getting back to blogging. I will check with my 4 Yahoo groups to see if there are any pending members or posts, but that's going to have to be it.

If you're hard up for something to read, check out the link to 'Deb's Den', on the left. She's got some good stuff. Currently there's a photo of a cute dog, and other great stuff.

Ten Commandments ruling

The Supreme Court ruled that one set of Ten Commandments displays--- ones where the Ten Commandments were accompanied by the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence and such--- were illegal as displayed in Kentucky courtrooms.

I have had some involvement with Ten Commandment controversies. My position has always been that they are good as long as the Nine Noble Virtues of our Odinist faith are displayed as well and in as prominent a position.

When other people started making similar suggestions of including non-Christian religious documents in a Ten Commandments display, the 'Ten Commandments as Americanism' display was born. I feel this is much worse than the Ten Commandments alone as it implies that US law is based on the Ten Commandments (Calvinist version) and Christianity. Actually, US law is based on English Common Law, which predates Christianity and ultimately derives from the code of laws that Heimdall taught his children when he wandered the earth producing the three social castes of our folk.

CALL TO ACTION: today is the day for you to compose a letter to the editor of your local paper on the Ten Commandments issue. Talking points: we do need to have religion in public life, but as an Odinist (Asatruar, Norse Pagan) you want to see the Nine Noble Virtues of your religion put on display. Perhaps a statue in honor of Heimdall, Forseti, or some other God or Goddess should be there also. Once this is done, you will have no objection to the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, or pertinent quotes from the Scientology cult, whatever the local community cares for.

One German Who Gets It—Europe: Thy Name Is Cowardice

Another article of interest from FLAME

Aid to Israel: Does the U.S. get its money’s worth?

“American aid to Israel is a two-way street. Aid to Israel is America’s greatest defense bargain.”

Click on link to read interesting article. We as Odinists should not automatically be pushed into the anti-Israel camp just because a batch of politically correct liberals want us there. We should be open to the other side of the story.

The Ameryske Tunga/The Amerykan Language

"Amerykan (Amerysk) is a planned language (invented language) developed by Paal-Eirik Filssunu beginning in 1979. It is composed of Saxon and Scandinavian words. The language is intended to serve as a unifying cultural factor for North American adherents of Asatru, (also called Odinism and Norse Paganism), the folk-religion of Northern Europe and of those of Northern European heritage."

And now, for something really different.... I got a booklet on Amerysk from a friend, and since I have always been interested in odd and different languages, I really like this--- enough to put up the booklet as a few web pages.

It's interesting, though, that whenever I ask around among Heathens on the web about Amerysk (I'm looking for more information on it), no one is content to say, no, I don't know anything about it. They get all exercised over the existence of Amerysk itself.

Well, there are THOUSANDS of created languages out there. People create a language as a hobby, instead of collecting stamps. There is a web site you can go to add your created language to the list (I've added Amerysk). Why shouldn't there be one (or more) created languages for Heathens?

What many people don't understand is that a created language tends to be a lot easier to learn than a natural language. For example, I learned Esperanto well enough to read books in it and translate web pages into it. After studying German for many years in college, I couldn't translate my web pages into German.

The difference is that when you make up a language, you tend not to put in irregular verbs and other complications.

Amerysk is a fine language, but.... the few fragments I have of it are not enough to write things in it, really, and I have no idea what the rules are for coining new words. Also, Amerysk does have some complications of grammar it doesn't really need.

So--- I've started work on a created language of my own, Gutanisk. It's based on Gothic but has some of the simplicity of Esperanto. There will be rules for new-word creation so that if you need a word for something, you can look up a word in a Gothic dictionary and adapt that. (A few middle-eastern words are adapted from the Hebrew, such as words for camel and messiah, and Latin and Greek roots are not to be allowed)

I'm doing this purely as a hobby, but I thought of this: English, though it's a Germanic language, is filled with Latin and Greek loanwords that take us away from our heritage. It's good to learn an ancient Germanic language--- Old Norse or Anglo-Saxon--- to overcome that.

But let's face it--- unless you are a linguistic genius with a college education, you're not likely to ever learn Old Norse well enough to write a letter in it. But a simplified pure Germanic language, such as Gutanisk is going to be, would, like Esperanto, be simple enough that a less-educated or less gifted learner might be able to use it to write letters, or translate web pages into it, whatever.

I've also thought that a language like Gutanisk, if I put up pages about it in German and translated the vocabulary into other languages, could serve as an intercommunications language for some international Heathens.

To repeat, however--- fear not, I'm not expecting you to learn Amerysk or Gutanisk or Esperanto or any other language. It's purely your own choice, just like it's your choice whether to learn Old Norse, Anglo-Saxon, or both.

If you are interested in Amerysk, there is a Yahoo group, Eaglesreaches
which had Amerysk as one of its topics. The group is pretty well inactive, but I've joined and I figure that it would be a good place for those interested in Amerysk to chat.

If you are interested in my Gutanisk project, you can let me know by joining my Yahoo group, Nine Virtues News
That would be a good place for Gutanisk enthusiasts to meet up.

Chu vi parolas Esperante? (Do you speak Esperanto?) Heathen Esperanto speakers might also want to join the group. For that matter, Heathens who speak Klingon!

I figure that in time if enough folk of any one interest join this group, they can hive off and form a separate Yahoo group for their topic.

(Also, of course, the Nine Virtues News folk is for any fans of this blog, or folk who are interested in one of my characteristic topics from the blog).

Nine Virtues News new Yahoo group

(As if I don't have enough Yahoo groups)

Well, I figured that in addition to my specialized Yahoo groups (anti-Euthanasia, rune rosary) I might as well put up a general one for anyone who happens to like the Nine Virtues News.

Click on the link above to join the group.

Show our wounded soldiers how much you care!

"Join Chris Carney, Heath Calhoun and Ryan Kelly for their epic 4200 mile, cross country journey on Soldier Ride 2005. The ride begins at the Marina Del Ray "Mother's Beach" in Los Angeles, CA on May 21, 2005 and ends in Montauk, New York on July 19, 2005. These courageous men will lead the Soldier Ride National Tour Team across the heartland of America. Along the way they will be joined by fellow wounded warriors who will help them relay Soldier Ride's message of hope, courage and determination across America."

I'm sure all true Odinists will wish to help with this noble cause. Click on link to visit the Soldier Ride web site and to donate, and email all your friends about this.