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Wisdom
Wisdom is important. The wiser a person is the more likely they are to take the actions which benefits themselves and others.
Sensitivity is the faculty of being intuitively aware of what is what. A sensitive person can hear the inner voice which guides them in the true nature of things.
Clarity is the faculty of being able to set aside unjustified assumptions and preconceptions and see clearly what is actually in front of them.
Knowledge is the rich store of patterns of possibilities that a person can harbour. Knowledge is hard to discover direct from nature but comes to us much easier from the mouths of others. With greater knowledge we can make sense of life that much quicker.
Capability
Capability is important. The more capable a person is at performing different tasks the more likely it is that when something needs doing they will be able to do it.
Are you able to?
- 1. Grow a lettuce?
- 2. Make a chair out of wood?
- 3. Make a soup out of wild nettles?
- 4. Catch a rabbit?
- 5. Knit a jumper?
- 6. Make a pair of shoes.
- 7. Tell a story that entertains and educates?
- 8. Play a tune on a cheap and portable musical instrument?
- 9. Produce paper and ink from natural materials?
- 10. Build a computer from second hand components?
- 11. Configure a home computer with open source software and install a bulletin board?
- 12. Make a lightbulb and an electric battery out of raw materials?
Food
Food is important. People need a continuous supply of food to continue living. For best health the food needs to be of sufficient variety and quality and not contain injurious ingredients.
- Can you cook a variety of palatable meals from simple raw ingredients?
- If you eat meat do you know where the animals you eat were reared and under what conditions?
- How much of the food you eat has been grown by you or somebody who knows you?
- How many months or weeks supply of food do you keep in your house in case of emergency?
- How often do you eat with friends in one of your homes?
- How often do you prepare a meal jointly with others?
- How many local farmers do you know?
- How many times have you worked on a farm?
- Have you ever kept chickens?
- Can you grow a carrot?
- Can you milk a cow?
- Have you ever made cider out of apples?
- Have you got your own stock of vegetable seeds?
Worthiness
What is the purpose of life?
Life itself is purpose - that is the full-flourishing life is its own purpose and reward. But such a life has to be striven for.
What is your Worth?
What is your significance? What good impact are you having on the world? How much are you helping to make the world a better place? To what extent do your actions create the structures of the fully flourishing life?
Heathens strive to be worthy people - people who make a positive contribution to the well-being of their communities - and are mindful of their overall impact on the world as a whole - their cosmic worth.
Cleanliness
What is Dirt?
Dirt is what gets in the way of the full flourishing of living beings.
Dirty water is not good to drink. Dirty food is not good to eat.
We can also talk of dirty actions. Dirty deeds are not wholesome. They cause harm.
Those who support dirty deeds have some of that dirt rub off on them. They themselves become unclean.
The products of dirty deeds are themselves dirty. If we take the dirty produce then we are dirtying ourselves.
Cleanliness
Heathens strive for cleanliness - for taking in what is clean - unsullied by contaminants - physical or moral. That way they support their own good health and the good health of the world around them.
Rootedness
Our roots are our connections into the processes of the world.
Heathens strive for awareness of their rootedness.
They are aware of their place in the world , the impact they have on the natural world and the impact the natural world has on them, the impact they have on future generations and the impact that past generations have had on them, the impact they have on their immediate family and community and the impact their immediate community has on them, their impact on the wider human community living on this planet and the impact of the wider community on them.