2026-08-19
When authors use the label Óðinn, what are they referring to? Do different authors use the label Óðinn to refer to the same 'thing'? I do not believe that. The label Óðinn is used for very different 'things'. That is what the title is saying: the label Óðinn at one place does not refer to the same 'thing' as the label Óðinn at other places.
According to scholars, the continental Woden is 'the same' deity as the Icelandic Óðinn. The Norwegian language has lost the letter 'V' or 'W' in front of many words. And Icelandic is derived from Norwegian. When you put a 'W' before Óðinn you get Woden. So it seems reasonable to assume, that the Icelandic Óðinn is similar to the continental Woden. But were the emotions, thoughts and feelings of the Icelandic authors around Óðinn similar to the emotions, thoughts and feelings of the continental tribal peoples around Woden?
The name Óðinn is derived from Woden. Scholars have tried to explain the etymological origin of the name Woden from words with the meaning of 'possessed, inspired, delirious, raging'. This is just a theory of linguists and nothing more. I believe that Woden refers to the origin of Woden: the woods. See: Woden woody as deity of the woods.
Tacitus wrote, that the Germanic peoples sacrifice humans to Mercury, and it is assumed that Mercury was the Roman name for Woden. According to Adam von Bremen and Thietmar of Merseburg the Germanic people held a festival every nine years with human sacrifices. In Icelandic writings Óðinn has become known as Hangatyr, the god of the hanged. In Hávamál 138 there is a reference to 'hanging on a tree'. Because of these writings it is often assumed, that Óðinn / Woden was worshipped with human sacrifices. I doubt this and I offer a different interpretation. I believe, that people were initiated by hanging them in a tree in a leather sack made of the hide of a horse. That is why the tree of worlds is called Yggdrasil (The horse of Yggr). After hanging for nine days in that sack, the ropes were cut and the initiated shaman fell down. That is why Óðinn is often called 'Valföðr' (Fall-father, Father of the fallen).
When I read books of scholars on old Germanic peoples, I see a lot of cultural bias. Scholars usually see Óðinn and Woden as mental constructions. They try to describe how pagans saw Óðinn or Woden and how they worshiped these deities. For modern pagans Óðinn is not 'just a mental construction'. They usually have an emotional, sentimental and spiritual connection with 'the thing' that the word Óðinn refers to. For Christian authors in medieval Iceland and continental Europe Óðinn was often an object of fear and was often the equivalent of 'the devil'. And we can only guess what Woden meant for prehistoric pagans. Óðinn was 'the civilized version' of Woden. The continental Christians had a deep fear for Woden, much more than average educated modern people can understand. (Most likely psychiatrists that have terrified patients can understand this.)
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This is a description of a model of the cosmos. A new cosmology. This model has nine three-dimensional layers. Several forces connect these layers through the fourth dimension.
Most people believe, that they can see the physical world, but that is not possible. Our senses perceive an abstraction of the physical word. What we 'see' is a mental image of the world.
A modern vision of man and god.
Anima Mundi is the soul of the world. Individual people can be seen as 'nerve cells of the earth'. Humanity can be seen as 'the nervous system of the earth'. Is the totality of humanity causing a higher consciousness? Is Anima Mundi self-conscious?
According to the Gaia hypothesis, the earth is a living being. Anima Mundi is the world soul, who gives life to the earth.
We can compare individual people with individual nerve cells in the human body. And humanity as the nervous system of Mother Earth.
Questions: Does Anima Mundi have self-awareness? Does humanity collectively form a self-conscious being? Do we as humanity enable the self-awareness of Anima Mundi?
You can solve problems together with others!
Don't be a green frog that lets itself boil because it doesn't dare to jump out of its comfort zone. Jump out of your pan and become a fully human!
Materialism is the attachment to possessions, status or wealth. Spiritual materialism is the attachment to spiritual status, attachment to a particular belief. The idea that you are higher because you have a certain faith, or follow a certain spiritual teaching, is an expression of spiritual materialism.
Spiritual materialism is also the use of spiritual means to achieve selfish earthly goals.
Today (2018) there are many non-physical epidemics. One epidemic of madness and/or idiocy is not over and the next is already on its way.
Non-physical epidemics arise from lack of:
There is nothing wrong with the world
Change yourself
The world is changing
How do you save yourself?
According to old Germanic believes there is a group of beings, that is not manifested and they steer the evolution of 'the whole creation'.
According to the oldest Zoroastrianism there is a group of beings, that is not manifested and they steer the evolution of this solar system.
Moses brought a distorted form of the old Zoroastrian religion to a group of foreign laborers in ancient Egypt and started a new cult with the idea of absolute good and absolute evil.
