Culture
The Mighty Thor and the Failure of Masculinity
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There are plenty of options for pushing back on this culture of weak man-children using anger to puff themselves up. One of them is to turn to myths of mighty Thor.
The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/tag/asgard)
If we really believe in practicing world-affirming religions, then we should affirm the world we live in by working for the good of the planet and all that live upon it.
Here is the lesson. Without positive action, comparative mythology is (at best) a dry academic amusement and (at worst) an exercise in colonialist cultural appropriation. Rather than taking from Hinduism and calling it Heathenry, I suggest that we learn from a closely related tradition that has much to teach us.
I’ve known about Darkseid at least since he appeared on the cover of the first issue of DC Comics’ Super Powers in 1985. Since then, I’ve read dozens of comic books featuring the dark master of Apokolips and all the associated New Gods created by Jack Kirby. When the latest reboot of Superman comics introduced Lex Luthor’s Apokoliptian armor and use of a Mother Box, I realized that I’ve never really had a particularly clear grasp of Kirby’s whole DC mythology. I know who the characters are, I know about the strange melding of mysticism and technology, but I’ve never really felt like I fully understood what all the fuss and bother with these strange figures was all about. I decided to pick up a used copy of the first volume of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus to start at the beginning and see if I could get a better understanding of the weirdness.
International columnist Lyonel Perabo recounts his experiences at the fourth annual Asgardian Festival in the United Kingdom.