The fact is, we never stop learning.

A recent conversation with my wife made me realize how much our personal beliefs can evolve, can grow and change as we follow our path longer. Our religion is as complex as they come, and not growing up with a tradition can often leave gaps that take decades to fill.

However, that does not mean that these things, these facets of our belief, these facts of our world are not there. We see them, we try to interpret them as best we can and sometimes we give them names until one day, if we're lucky or have the right folk and teachers, we learn what they are.

Case in point are the Fylgja and Hamingja. These, to put it simply and not go into too much detail (maybe later in the thread...) are the personification of personal and family fortune or luck. They are the spirits that look after us, that facilitate our luck and sometimes help us out with it.

The thing is, the family luck has moved with me for years. I knew it was there, I knew it was personified, but I hadn't learned the facts yet, had not learned the words, or the details. So, I did what I could, based on what I knew, what I already knew to think of something to call it. And what I called (as a nickname) it was 'House Elves'. I worked for years under the assumptions that they were spirits of the house, of the hearth. I put up a small altar, made offerings and such. And this worked well. As I learned more over the years, figured out what they were I realized that I didn't need to change. I was doing it right already, I just had learned that I was doing it right by accident, or by instinct. Maybe even the family luck helping me along, as it was my fate to bring my line back to the old gods.

This evolution of my belief and knowledge got brought to my attention the other day when my wife mentioned my recent inattention to them and she called them house elves. She's not a Heathen, but has always tried to understand my beliefs and facilitate them, and that conversation made me realize that I had never gotten around to explaining that new knowledge to her!

I guess I just wanted to post this to remind us all that we are part of a new breed, one who are part of a tradition as old as civilization, but lost in the dark. Our 1000 years in the shadows has robbed us of our heritage, but we are reclaiming it. And as we reclaim it, even the most educated of us learn new things every day. And with that, no matter how new you are, or how long practicing, we are all looking for the same thing. We all have things to learn and to teach.