Well, it’s been a while since I have been able to post. Life gets busy sometimes when you’re self-employed. However, after seeing this post on Odin and science, I got jealous enough to want to say something on the subject myself. I wish I’d written the post. The author covers the subject well, though, and there’s little I can add. However, because it is a subject that heathenry in general should be more aware of, I thought it appropriate to spread the word a little further.
I do relate strongly to Odin as a god of war, and warriors. The things that I have learned on this path are invaluable to me in all walks of life. But this is not the primary relationship that I have with him. Like the author of this post, I relate to him primarily as a god of science. The part I have played in the redevelopment of the berserkergang has been the part of a scientist. My primary interests in life are all scientific explorations of one sort or another. And it is Odin who guides me in these explorations.
Odin teaches understanding. He teaches being willing to make great sacrifices in exchange for knowledge. The skills that he teaches, particularly the transcendental awareness states of seidh and galdr, are of great use in the pursuit of science. His whole approach to the world is that of a scientist: exploring, experimenting, understanding. Odin is a god of the acquisition of power, and he well understands that knowledge brings power.
Anyways, read the post. It’s good.
From the Labyrinth 
>>Odin is a god of the acquisition of power, and he well understands that knowledge brings power.
(Warning: backstory necessary to provide fuller understanding.)
When my marriage broke down and ended, and I was looking for work so I could support myself again (especially hard for someone with poor physical health), the first call I got was from a McDonald’s — not as a cashier or kitchen person, but as office manager for a franchise owner with five stores. It was all secretarial work in the beginning — phones, complaints, etc. — and easy enough to handle. As things moved on, the owner decided he wanted me to start handling bank reconciliation, to limit the amount of lost profit from employee theft.
I hate math. I hate everything to do with numbers. But I learned double-entry bookkeeping anyway, figuring I’d hate this entire part of the job.
Instead, I learned I love it; it’s like detective work (disclaimer: one of my bachelor’s degrees is in Criminal Justice; it was supposed to pair with my English degree as a basis for Pre-Law so I could go into law school. Didn’t end up happening that way.)
Divination — mine, and those of several others whom I trust — has pretty much confirmed the fact that my over-reliance on my ex-husband was playing a part in emotionally and spiritually crippling me, and that it was likely that Odin had helped end the marriage to prepare me for something more. Divination led me to believe that it seems equally likely that he arranged for me to take that specific job (I had originally applied just as a crew member, even though being on my feet for as much as 20 minutes, much less 8 hours, makes me feel like my limbs are being slowly ripped from their sockets). He knew the position would expand, and it seems that He wanted me to push my limits and learn more — even in fields I hated — as a part of my growth. So I would be more useful to Him.
Your line I’ve quoted above is directly relevant to all I wrote above.
tl;dr version: Hail Odin! Yay math! Math is power!
Great post! I love the idea
Hello! Glad you liked my post.
I think it makes sense that Odin would be associated with berserkergang, poetry, and science, even though those seem like completely different things, because they all require a certain kind of passion. That feeling when you are completely absorbed in what you are doing to the point where you forget everything else around you.