Two questions...

[Albion]

Just two questions. I thought about this the other day at a funeral where I was obliged to pay lip service to "god".

1. How do Germanic or any other Heathens get married? In a church paying lip service to Christianity, a civil ceremony or are there Heathen weddings?
2. What about death? I know Hindu funeral pyres are banned in Britain so I suppose Viking send-offs in burning ships would be out of the question. So as heathens what are your beliefs on this? Would you get cremated or a burial and what where would you have burried or scattered (if cremated) your remains?

One thing that bothers me about Christianity though is the constant idolizing of "god" and how cringe-inducingly arse-licking the prayers are towards "god". If we were created by "god" then he must really have a ego problem.
Also seeing the paintings on the wall of people dressed as Arabs and Muslims dress today was also not making me feel any more positive about Christianity either, it appears very Semitic to me and that is its origins.

So as you may be able to tell I'm interested in Germanic Heathenism but don't know where to start, I want to get back to a European religion.

[Albion]

Okay, I hate to do this but.. BUMP. I want my questions answered please.

[Oreka Bailoak]

How do Germanic or any other Heathens get married?

I don't mean to offend anybody but the Heathen weddings look incredibly dorky- almost like a star trek theme marriage or something in my opinion. It looks so dorky that I think you have to be out of your mind to get married that way. I think the traditional church is the way to go for marriage if you're of European ancestry. You can view heathen weddings or asatru weddings or whatever they're called on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgFZyNFQ0tM
^Looks just like a Star Trek convention, am I right?

So as you may be able to tell I'm interested in Germanic Heathenism but don't know where to start, I want to get back to a European religion.

I bought a book about "modern Germanic heathenism" and it seems childish to me.
http://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Nort...3594022&sr=8-9
^Check it out if that's your thing. About praying, basic stuff about the gods, festivals, blot etc. etc.

For me I just like reading about Germanic Mythology.

I've just bought the Prose Edda and Poetic Edda- which are apparently the most important texts to heathens and I'm looking forward to reading those when they come in the mail.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prose_Edda
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetic_Edda

I have to admit that I cannot stand Beowulf so I hope those above Icelandic books are nothing like Beowulf (I've tried reading it 3 times throughout the years and can never finish it).

[Zephyr]

Just two questions. I thought about this the other day at a funeral where I was obliged to pay lip service to "god".

1. How do Germanic or any other Heathens get married? In a church paying lip service to Christianity, a civil ceremony or are there Heathen weddings?
2. What about death? I know Hindu funeral pyres are banned in Britain so I suppose Viking send-offs in burning ships would be out of the question. So as heathens what are your beliefs on this? Would you get cremated or a burial and what where would you have burried or scattered (if cremated) your remains?

One thing that bothers me about Christianity though is the constant idolizing of "god" and how cringe-inducingly arse-licking the prayers are towards "god". If we were created by "god" then he must really have a ego problem.
Also seeing the paintings on the wall of people dressed as Arabs and Muslims dress today was also not making me feel any more positive about Christianity either, it appears very Semitic to me and that is its origins.

So as you may be able to tell I'm interested in Germanic Heathenism but don't know where to start, I want to get back to a European religion.

Well, Heathenism was pretty much similar throughout Europe. Rome started the process of its destruction which was complete in 1386 with the christianization of Lithuania.

You are right about the newage heathen marriages. They are freakish. If you are into doing things like they were 2000 years ago, you'll have trouble finding sane people who can explain something. I found none to this date.

About the funerals, countries abiding by the abrahamic religious traditions want, of course, people to buried. The abrahamic religions are not bound to the spirit, contrary to what they preach. They are bloody and bound to the laws of flesh. Cremation is supposed to be performed in order to release the spirit from flesh, which is not in the best interest of their vile and tyrannical "God".

[Zephyr]

Funny thing, you had also put the word "God" between inverted commas.

[Odoacer]

About the funerals, countries abiding by the abrahamic religious traditions want, of course, people to buried. The abrahamic religions are not bound to the spirit, contrary to what they preach. They are bloody and bound to the laws of flesh. Cremation is supposed to be performed in order to release the spirit from flesh, which is not in the best interest of their vile and tyrannical "God".

"Abrahamic" traditions bury their dead because the body is considered an integral part of the person. Regarding the specifics of the relationship between spirit & body you will find a number of different opinions. However,
broadly orthodox Christian teaching is the soul departs the body upon death, being withdrawn by God. There is no need to "release" the soul by destroying the body because the soul is not "trapped" by the body's matter - rather the soul "animates" the body, so when the soul leaves, the body dies. There are at least two destinations possible for the soul at this point, heaven & hell, where the soul will reside until Judgement Day. Roman Catholic teaching adds Purgatory. On Judgement Day, the souls of all will be reunited with their resurrected bodies, & believers will enjoy eternal life in a renewed heaven & earth, while unbelievers will undergo eternal punishment, both in body & soul, in hell.

[Odoacer]

Also seeing the paintings on the wall of people dressed as Arabs and Muslims dress today was also not making me feel any more positive about Christianity either, it appears very Semitic to me and that is its origins.

I should think the paintings you saw probably showed Greco-Roman dress; but it is certainly possible they showed "Semitic" clothing.

[Efim45]

It depends what kind of Christianity. Catholics always worship statues and praise Mary. The only time I went in one of their churches, I was freaked out from all the statues and Jesus on the cross, with a painful expression on his face. This is what is wrong with Catholicism, Jesus shouldn't be represented on the cross, and a cross shouldn't be the symbol of Christianity. Jesus is sitting on God's right hand up in Heaven,not on the cross. They have many different images of saints, it sickens me. I am a Southern Baptist, we have no images of what's in Heaven or what used to be. We live in the present and we don't mourn Jesus' death, we celebrate his life. No Savior on our cross.

[Zephyr]

It depends what kind of Christianity. Catholics always worship statues and praise Mary. The only time I went in one of their churches, I was freaked out from all the statues and Jesus on the cross, with a painful expression on his face. This is what is wrong with Catholicism, Jesus shouldn't be represented on the cross, and a cross shouldn't be the symbol of Christianity. Jesus is sitting on God's right hand up in Heaven,not on the cross. They have many different images of saints, it sickens me. I am a Southern Baptist, we have no images of what's in Heaven or what used to be. We live in the present and we don't mourn Jesus' death, we celebrate his life. No Savior on our cross.

Well, there's a cult of mourning yes, I admit that too much stress is put on suffering. I can argue that on the other hand protestantism is extremist with guilt, over-interpretation of the bible, denial and penitence.

Those statues like the orthodox/eastern icons, are links to a heathen past, which is violently rebuked by protestantism being a denomination which links itself more with the judaic nature of christianity.

Don't take this as an offense, please, nor everything I'll say, but I know protestantism well enough to be aware that your leaders, ministers, preachers, etc, have an exorbitant preference for the old testament and the abrahamic law than the nature of the new covenant.

I have a catholic background, indeed, but I feel dettached enough to have a unbiased perception of it, since I deny their/your/our dogmas. According to my beliefs I would be considered an heretic and deemed to spend decades in the purgatory (something that pleases me ).

Allow me to say that you have a strict and biased opinion of catholicism. Had you been raised here, where I think you belong, you'd have been in contact with a completely different reality. First thing of all, we are very attached to our heritage and we have strong links with paganism. Catholic rituals were made to replace pagan rites, so the Church had to collate to them, to usurp them, while protestantism cuts all ties with our ancestors and channels everything into the realms of Palestine.

We celebrate saints in a strongly pagan-influenced processions and profane rites, while the nature of the Reformation blocks everything european from the essence of Christianity. We need those effigies (statues and icons) because that's the way our ancestors felt. We need symbols empowered with "energy", so to say.

[Efim45]

Well, maybe I do have a biased view, but I believe that everything in the bible is right. I don't believe in baptising children, they don't have a choice. There is no such thing as purgatory. Listening to every word an old German guy somewhere in Italy says is absurd. There is no such thing as a mortal sin, you can always be healed by the hand of God. We don't take crosses and kiss them and pray to them. We have a direct connection to God, not through some priest. We can confess our sins directly to God, not to some priest in a wooden box. Church doesn't have to be fancy, God hears all who call His name.