“You know mistletoe is important to Druids but do you know why people kiss under the mistletoe? It’s a Norse myth. Baldur the son of Odin was the most beloved by the other gods. So much that they wanted to protect him from all the dangers in the world. His mother, Frigg, took an oath from fire and water, metal, stone and every living thing, that they would never hurt Baldur. At a gathering, they tested him. Stones, arrows and flame were all hurled at him. Nothing worked. But there was one god that wasn’t so enamored of Baldur, the god of mischief, Loki. Loki discovered that Frigg had forgotten to ask mistletoe, a tiny, seemingly harmless plant and completely overlooked. Loki fashioned a dart out of mistletoe and it killed Baldur. Frigg was heartbroken. She decreed that mistletoe would never again be used as a weapon and that she would place a kiss on anyone who passed under it. So now we hang mistletoe underneath our door during the holidays so that we will never overlook it again.”
Reblogging again because SOMEONE ASK ME ABOUT WHERE SANTA CAME FROM AND WHY HE HAS EIGHT REINDEER DO IT.
Santa? Is Odin. With a bit of the Turkish Saint Nicholas plastered over top to make him more acceptable to Christianity.
Let’s wind this back a bit.
So. In Norse tradition, Odin rose with the wild hunt on Midwinter. Children would leave out offerings of hay or root vegetables in their shoes for Slepnir, Odin’s horse. In norse tradition, all gifts create an obligation that must be returned in kind, so if Odin found the offerings pleasing he would leave treats and sweets in return.
So. We have a magical bearded man riding through the sky on a winter feast day and leaving treats for children in footwear if they pleased him. Sound familiar? Yeah.
As for Slepnir, Odin’s mount? He has eight legs. So. Bearded man with powerful magic flying through the air on an eight-legged steed on a winter feast day and leaving treats for children in their footwear if they pleased him.
Yeah.
Enter Christianity. Now, the midwinter season is important to all cultures that live in cold climates. The passing of the worst of the hard times and the beginning of the longer days and the promise of the return of life and light and fertility is a powerful thing. There were Christian festival days around the same time as Midwinter was celebrated in many polytheistic faiths. Christians found that they couldn’t get people to stop celebrating the feast days they’d been celebrating for several thousand years, so opted instead to just absorb those traditions into their OWN midwinter festivals. It was a far easier and more effective way of convincing people to convert.
However, the idea of him flying through the sky, being associated with elves, possessing powerful magic, and the eight-legged steed stuck. (reindeer, incidentally, are an animal with a lot of symbol and power in Norse tales. Ullr, the god of the hunt, had ties to reindeer, and at some point the eight legged horse became eight reindeer.)
Incidentally the image of Santa as a chubby little jolly man didn’t come around until modern advertising began depicting him that way. Before that? A tall, strong man, usually with a staff (echoing Odin’s staff or spear).
So. There you have it. Santa, the jolly bearded old man of beloved childhood Christmas memories? If you ever wondered where he came from in a ‘Christian’ holiday, there’s your answer. He didn’t. He’s the amalgamation of an ancient Norse god and a Middle Eastern saint, filtered through the lens of pop culture.
Jim Butcher actually did this very well in the Dresden Files, where Odin makes several appearances, one wearing the mantle of Father Christmas.
Christianity never really managed to make the old gods vanish.
Does Sam understand how damaging that was for Dean? No, he absolutely doesn’t. That’s pretty obvious when we look at, as recently, as 13.04 when Sam says all the drill sergeant stuff worked on Dean, when really a lot of that drill sergeant stuff was started in the first place to make sure Dean kept Sam safe.
And what a number that did to Dean–destroyed his entire sense of self worth so no, Sam doesn’t understand how Dean raising him damaged Dean.
But, Sam does seem to realise Dean sacrificed for him, at least to some extent
And it seems like he suspects Dean left Sunny’s for him,
but he doesn’t know that Dean stood up in the window and nearly sobbed
And even though he seems to realise it to some extent, he also seems to expect it as his due, as most children do with their parents, which shows us that Sam accepts Dean as his parental unit, but he probably hasn’t internalized just how fucked up the dynamic is all around. Sam asking Dean to take care of Jack recently gives us a good view of this, and how it works in Sam’s head. Dean took care of him and so of course he should take care of Jack as well, because that’s just what Dean does, you know? That’s what we would expect of our parents, to parent others who need parenting as sort of an instinctual response because that’s how Sam views Dean. As the parental unit, but that doesn’t mean he’s really sat down and dissected what that really means for both of them and that’s on my wishlist for things to be accomplished this season.
I’ve been seeing a lot of anti-Nazi ones, which is great, but I felt like we needed one to show our support for the Jewish community.
all you goyim I follow – I see you reblogging this and it warms me.
do not reblog this unless you mean it. I have dealt with so much anti-semitism in my life and the number of times I get it from “open-minded liberals” is disturbing. Remember this summer when the Dyke Marches banned people for having a rainbow flag with a Star of David on it? I was accused of playing my “Jew card” too much when I tried to get my shitty goy roommate to stop making Auschwitz jokes.
Being anti-nazi does not equal support for the Jewish community. Do not claim you support Jews just because you recognize that Nazis are terrible. Surprise, we actually have more to us than the Holocaust!
If you DO support the Jewish community, reblog the crap out of this so people can feel safe!
Please stop giving away so much personal information about yourself.
It doesnt seem like it but your blog is visited by hundreds of people with hundreds of different intentions weekly (or hell daily if ur a popular blogger). And posting your height, age, gender, privileges, all of your triggers, gives away a lot of information that you may regret posting later on.
The internet is a very scary place. Full of people who could do you harm with that sort of information.
You all have to understand that nothing on the internet is ever truly deleted or gone. So you REALLY have to be careful about what you post and say.
A lot of you are keen to posting opinions online and as we all know on the internet opinions are going to anger a lot of people.
People could potentially track and harass you. It is a very dangerous world full of messed up people. And as minors you should all be very wary of who you trust online and think twice before you post something. Just posting “please dont follow if youre _____” isnt going to help from that.
ALSO
@ 14 year old side of Tumblr
Please stop posting your skype address.
I know it’s tempting to make new friends. And I know that faceless people are easier to talk to. But it’s dangerous. And we’re not trying to parent or berate you. We just want you to be safe.
Trust me.
Down the road you’re gonna realize you made a lot of dumb mistakes trying to be friends with the world. The world isn’t made of all friendly people. And I truly adore your optimism. I’m the same way.
But I’d rather you learn in a safe setting then after putting yourself in harms way.
Love,
the 21 year old side of Tumblr.
Signal boosting the hell out of this.
Protecting your privacy is a learned skill. It doesn’t come naturally, particularly on a media designed to allow you to connect with others. And we all want to connect with others.
But it’s an important skill. Gain awareness early, make good choices, do not put yourself in a position where days, months, years, or decades down the line someone will use your own data against you.
This is not about stranger danger, this is not about the older tumblr generation “not getting it” and adopting a helicopter parenting approach to their younger tumblr siblings’ online shenanigans.
This is about the older generation having experienced rapid changes in technology first hand and knowing that none of us can know what to expect next, that none of us can predict what uses people, businesses and governments will come up with next for your data.
We don’t know. You don’t know. And in many cases, they don’t know. Yet.
Look up the term “precautionary principle” on Wikipedia and aim to apply it. Protect your data, protect yourself, protect your future self.
For any of my younger followers.
And another big thing. The fact that you mutually follow each other means nothing. By all means talk to people but you’re NOT automatically friends. They’ve done nothing to earn your trust and you don’t know what they actually want. Don’t assume that everyone is automatically good and trustworthy.
I need all of my followers to see this. I don’t want y’all hurt.
katies backup blog 