Vidar's Gothi

From time to time, I recommend books that are not from our religion. I do this because I believe the book to have information that can benefit our people. This is one of those occasions. The book is called The Anxious Generation, by Jonathan Haidt.

Some people are not sure what to do with their lives. They can't figure out their purpose, or if they even have one. On the other hand, some people believe they have a path to greatness ahead of them. There are folks who want nothing more than a simple, pleasant life. The modern world makes it difficult to figure things out. The trick is to remember that you really do have a purpose.

It is Mother Night, the first night of Yule (Jul)! This is a time to celebrate the cycle of the year, the fact that you've made it this far, and that the days will soon be getting longer! In addition to the traditional feast, what other things can you do on this glorious holiday?

In the last posting, Google Bard, a Large Language Model (LLM) AI, to compose a blöt to Vidar. It did a fairly good job despite some limitations. This brought up questions about how else Asatru shows up in these models. Along that line, I have asked a couple more questions. The responses surprised me a bit.

The news is full of stories of Artificial Intelligence (AI), in particular Large Language Models (LLMs). People are using them for many different kinds of tasks, with mixed results. Curiosity led to the question: what can an AI say about Asatru?

In June 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned a 1973 ruling that allowed for legal abortion throughout the entire country. Regardless of your stand on abortion, this should be worriesome for all non-Christians in the U. S. because it is a victory for the Christian religious extremists. If they continue rolling back previous decisions, it can get a lot worse for us.

As you may have heard, Ukraine is accepting foreign volunteers in their fight to drive off Russian invaders. For those either passionate about defending the underdog, or just wanting a chance to prove themselves, this sounds like a promising opportunity. The question becomes, should you go?

Due to the popularity of the Nine Conversations, it is now available in a pocket-sized print book. This will make it easier to take the advice with you. You can get your copy at Barnes and Noble or at barnesandnoble.com.

Another Rune book caught my eye, so I bought it. The book is called Runes Plain & Simple by Kim Farnell (ISBN: 9781571747495). Having read through it, I found there are some very good things, and a few questionable. I'll explain.