A New Set of Virtues?

January 19, 2011 by Galina Krasskova

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Essentially, piety is the thorough, all-encompassing expression of ongoing and evolving devotion. At its best, it is quiet and forthright. True piety does not rest in broad, conspicuous gestures or flamboyant, seemingly "religious" behavior. Such things would be caricatures of this virtue. Rather, real piety lies in making one's heart open to the Gods and striving every hour of every day, as best we can to allow that awareness to govern our every deed. And we do this knowing that in our imperfection we shall fail, we shall have set backs, and we shall have to get up, retrace our steps, and forge onward again and again and again. Piety involves the grace of ongoing perseverance. It is this virtue that both informs and flows from ongoing devotional practice. (from Sigyn: Our Lady of the Staying Power)

Humility. I think humility both goes hand in hand with piety and flows from it. It's also something that takes tremendous courage. This is the courage to say "yes I will bow my head and go down on my knees before the Gods because it is the right thing to do." Even before that, it's understanding and accepting that this is indeed the right thing to do. It is the understanding that the Holy Powers are bigger than we are and worthy by Their very nature of a modicum of respect. It is understanding one's place in the scheme of things, and not being afraid to embrace the vulnerability inherent in that acceptance. Like piety, we have plenty of examples of this within the Heathen corpus, from Tacitus to Ibn Fadlan's accounts of his travels in Northern lands. Sadly, it's all too easy to interpret the humility out of the lore, and we do that all the time, to our detriment.

The idea of showing that degree of respect for the Holy Powers is hugely controversial in Heathenry. Over and over I have heard "I'm not going to kneel before my Gods! I would never debase myself in that way." Personally I rather think our ancestors would have been appalled at such hubris and very likely backed away from the speaker, making signs to ward off ill fortune! I also know that if the presence of one of the Holy Powers is particularly palpable and strong that one will indeed hit the ground. It's almost an automatic response to mortality being confronted with that degree of sacred Other. That being said, if one has never, ever had clear and indisputable experiences with the Gods, if They are really no more than ideas to a person (and we all start out that way) then I can well understand why the concept of kneeling might be difficult. We do associate it (unjustly I think) with subservience in our culture. My colleague Elizabeth Vongvisith, gythia of Ironwood Kindred in MA put it this way:

If one has never been in the actual living presence of the Holy Ones, kneeling to Them might be hard to swallow, but once one has met Them on Their terms, one can better understand the feeling that motivates others to such acts and that, coming from the heart, it is not "debasing" ourselves but an act of awe and respect. Even if one lives mostly in this world, there are times and places where the realm of the gods touches it, which is why we're religious in the first place. And that kneeling is, in a sense, an act of trust. (personal correspondence with E. Vongvisith via email on January 7, 2011)

Sometimes, really, we just need to get over ourselves and do what is right and proper to honor the Holy as it manifests in our lives. If that is a struggle, then all the more merit is gained from overcoming it. No one ever said engaged spirituality was easy after all, which brings me to the next virtue.

Moral courage. To my mind, this virtue is the true underpinning for all the others. Can you stand up and do the right thing when everyone is telling you it is wrong? Moral courage demands that we take as our rubric of behavior something other than the accepted status quo. It demands that we look harder and deeper into what it means to be honorable, spiritual human beings. It demands that instead of traveling down roads well worn by the fumbling steps of others, we take a moment to determine whether or not those roads are ones we should be following, whether they lead to the creation of the type of character that would best serve the Gods and our dead. Moral courage means putting nothing, not even one's honor or reputation, friends or family, above properly serving the Gods, however that service may be defined for each individual. It means living by a hard code of conduct that accepts no easy answers, no pat justifications of lore but instead requires constant, ongoing work in the development of one's own character and the seeking out of one's spiritual answers. That is huge and whether one wants to have deep spiritual experiences or whether one just wants to be a good person and live rightly, honorably, and well in Midgard, this virtue is key to doing it well.

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1/19/2011 5:00:00 AM

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About Galina Krasskova

The author of several books on the Northern Tradition, Galina Krasskova is a Heathen priest, shaman, and devotee of Odin. She blogs at Gangleri's Grove.

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