The oldest traditions tell not of a human who bowed cringingly before the gods, but of one who knew their place within a living cosmos. Sky, earth, sea, and fire were not separate worlds, but expressions of the same great order from which the gods themselves emerged. They did not stand apart from nature—they were its most powerful figures, its voices, and its faces.

It was only in later worldviews that concepts such as fear, sin, punishment, or blind obedience were imposed upon the relationship between humanity and the divine. Yet the ancient myths reveal a different understanding. There, the relationship is defined by honor, reciprocity, and responsibility. The gods were honored not out of fear of retribution, but because their presence was recognized in the forests, rivers, mountains, and thunderstorms. Offerings were not acts of penance, but gifts that renewed the bond between the worlds. Those who gave, received; those who received remembered to give in turn. Thus, the cycle of life kept turning.

The Hávamál does not ask its audience to profess faith in Odin. It offers counsel on reciprocity, reputation, friendship, prudence, generosity, and honour. When it speaks of sacrifice and prayer, it does so in the language of exchange and obligation. Belief was certainly present, but it remained embedded within a way of life rather than standing above it as the defining test of religion.

The gods demanded no submission. They demanded character. Courage mattered more to them than obedience, truthfulness more than blind piety, and wisdom more than empty words. Even Odin did not gain his insight through power alone, but by paying a price. Týr sacrificed his hand for the sake of a higher justice. Thor repeatedly confronted the giants—not out of hatred, but because order can only endure where someone is willing to stand as its guardian. The gods themselves were not exempt from fate; they, too, were woven into the great tapestry of becoming and passing away.

Thus, the divine was never distant. It spoke in the wind brushing through the treetops, in the rushing of water, in the flight of the raven, and in the first light of morning. Those who lived attentively could discern its traces everywhere. Nature was not human property, but a sacred community in which every being had its place and every action elicited a response.

In this worldview, humanity was neither the ruler of creation nor a sinful being yearning for redemption. Humans were part of an infinite tapestry—guardians of their word, their kin, and the land that sustained them. Honor meant preserving this balance. Wisdom meant reading the signs of the world. Strength did not mean ruling over others, but remaining true to oneself, even as storms and darkness gathered.

Perhaps therein lies the timeless power of the ancient myths. They teach not fear of the divine, but reverence for life. They remind us that humanity does not stand above nature but was shaped by the same forces as the eagle, the river, and the lightning. The gods are not judges of the world; they are part of its eternal breath. To encounter them, one need not lower one’s gaze, but rather learn to walk through the world with open eyes.

For the sacred does not dwell beyond life. It lives in the wind that stirs the forest, in the fire that grants warmth, in the water that connects all things, and in the earth from which every being emerges and to which it eventually returns. Those who recognize these connections encounter the gods not as subjects, but as conscious parts of the same great order—sustained by honor, wisdom, and the ceaseless cycle of existence.

The conception of humanity, too, differs fundamentally. While ideals such as forgiveness, love for one’s enemies, and turning the other cheek hold a central place in the Christian tradition, we encounter a different ethos in the ancient pagan traditions. There, it was considered a virtue to stand up for what had been entrusted to one: family, kin, homeland, and one’s word. Yielding was not an ideal in itself. Where an injustice occurred, it was right to confront it with courage, determination, and a sense of responsibility.

Peace was a precious good—yet not at the cost of honor or the abandonment of what had to be protected.

The old gods were not teachers of submission. They embodied qualities that humans were meant to cultivate within themselves: wisdom without arrogance, strength without cruelty, courage without hubris, and generosity without the expectation of a return. It was not blind obedience that led to closeness with the divine, but rather a life lived in harmony with the natural order and one’s own obligations. Honor was not a gift from the gods, but something each person created for themselves through their actions.

Roth Note: If one considers the founding of America – the mountain men, the pioneers, the cowboys – one would have a difficult time suggesting they weren’t following The Old Ways, regardless of their religion and who or what they prayed to or thought of as gods. My point in all this? The Virtues. We need to return to the Virtues. Virtuous men built American civilization. Only virtuous men can restore it.

Related at Zerohedge …

Roth Note: No need for an audit. Trust me, he says. Well, I guess this means there is no gold, since everything they say is a lie. And even if there is 1 trillion in gold, we’re 39 trillion in debt. Sigh …

The movement to liberate Americans from changing their clocks twice a year cleared a key hurdle on Tuesday, as the US House of Representatives advanced the Sunshine Protection Act by a lopsided 318-117 margin. While many Americans would like to stop the spring and fall time changes, not all of them are on board with the Sunshine Protection Act’s specific approach, would would make daylight saving time permanent. 

Some Capitol Hill proponents aren’t enthusiastic about its prospects. “I’m kind of digging the fact that we’re going to fix it, I hope,” Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett told NBC. “See if the Senate takes it up. They probably won’t, but we’ll see.”

From Zerohedge …

From Grok:

Next steps for it to become law:

1. Senate consideration — The bill is now sent to the U.S. Senate. The Senate will debate it, potentially amend it (or consider its own version of related legislation like S. 4784 for the NDAA), and hold a vote. This often requires overcoming procedural hurdles, such as a 60-vote threshold for cloture to end debate.
2. Reconciliation (if needed) — If the Senate passes a different version, a House-Senate conference committee will negotiate a final compromise bill.
3. Presidential approval — The final bill goes to the President to sign into law (or veto). If signed, it becomes law and funds the relevant programs for FY 2027 (starting October 1, 2026).

Current context (as of July 15, 2026): The House passage happened today. Senate progress on defense-related bills has faced delays, with recent reports of Democrats blocking advancement of the NDAA (requiring broader bipartisan support). Appropriations bills like this one are time-sensitive ahead of the new fiscal year.

A senior Iranian official said Tehran privately told Vance the pair were exploiting the negotiations for financial gain. The Trump administration says it never happened.

During the U.S.-Iran talks in Lake Lucerne, Switzerland in late June, Iranian negotiators sent a private message to Vice President JD Vance through an intermediary. The Iranians warned Vance that the continued presence of President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner would undermine the chance of turning the June 17 framework into an enduring deal, a senior Iranian official told Drop Site.

The Iranian official spoke to Drop Site on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly. In the message, according to the official, Iran conveyed to Vance that the pair were more interested in exploiting insider knowledge of the negotiations to profit in financial markets than they were in reaching a deal. Iranian negotiators also expressed concern about repeated leaks from Kushner to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (A U.S. official told Axios that since the negotiations began, Witkoff and Kushner “talk almost every day to Netanyahu” and the head of Mossad.)

In the weeks leading up to the signing of the memorandum of understanding, the official said, Iran presented written documentation to mediators of what it characterized as evidence that “individuals close to President Trump” were abusing the Iran war and diplomatic developments to manipulate financial markets. “Even before the Islamabad talks kicked off [in April], we had already sent multiple messages to Trump through the Pakistanis, warning them about [Witkoff’s] overall destructive role in the previous negotiation,” the Iranian official said.

In June, Iran calculated profits from such alleged manipulation had reached $9 billion and formally requested, in writing, that Iran should share in the proceeds. “We have conveyed through intermediaries that $4.5 billion of this sum should also be allocated to the Iranian side,” the Iranian official said. “The exchanged texts will ultimately become part of the historical record.”

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US President’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in Lake Lucerne, Switzerland. Photo by URS FLUEELER / POOL / AFP via Getty Images.

Read the entire Drop Site post …

Roth Note: Surprised? I’m not. Two Jews with no diplomatic credentials. What would we expect?

It appears that diversity in South Africa means diversifying non-blacks from the country. Sounds racist to me.

I could not find this coin on the usmint.gov website. Not an issue since I would not consider buying gold at the inflated prices that the government is charging.

Pagan’s don’t exist.

Pagan is a term placed upon something that didn’t bother to really call itself anything because it was the default state of how people lived their life. You weren’t Pagan you were Athenian, You were Frankish, You were Rus, You w… you get my point.

No one from the time would’ve thought of their beliefs as such. It was just what they were, who they were, who their community was. The Gods were something else.

-For shorthand I will use the term “Pagan”, for Pre/non-Christian beliefs of various peoples for the duration of this article because typing “Pre/non-Christian Beliefs of insert group” is going to get old fast.-

One could be what we call a “Greek Pagan” and functionally venerate no Gods. The Cult of Poseidon, of Apollo, of Artemis, was something else.

This is the fundamental flaw of all modern pagan revivals. Because the function of Paganism is not the veneration of the Norse Gods, Hindu Gods, Shinto Gods, Greco-Roman Gods. Those were and are aspects of incredibly complex and varied cultures. Who had/have a “Way of Being” that was distinct to them.

Most modern pagan faiths skip this entirely, they have none of the foundation that allows one to be pagan, they only wear the skin of doing so.

This is where the grand third element of the culture comes into play. That of Secularization, Modernization and Deracination. After immense advancements, great movements of population, the splitting up of families by geography, work, school etc. What was once a default way of being is now comprised not of a shared life or cultural inheritance but of Pop Culture, Dogmas Dictated from the Classroom Slideshow and an arrangement of beliefs ranging from the pseudo-religious to downright anti-religious.

People of substance are often made up of two major components: knowing where they came from (Heritage) and knowing what they’re capable of (Experience). People who have never been challenged or have always defined themselves by what other people think of them are simply wearing religion as a ready made personality, no different from the likes of Harry Potter Fanboys or Crypto-bros. A deracinated individual can make up for their lack of a strong foundation by dealing with experiences that force them to come into their own, but this too is less common in the modern world.

So is hope lost for any sort of “Pagan” Revival?

Yes.

Because as I said at the beginning “Pagan” isn’t a thing. An “Irish Pagan” Revival is just an “Irish Revival” with or without Jesus Christ in tow. Most people are Christian for the same reason most people were once Pagan Cultists, it was just what you do. It is the normal, the same mentality that perpetuated tradition in Ancient Greece, Alpine Tribes and Irish Warbands is the same mentality that keeps Christians practicing. Keeping the flame of tradition lit, or less poetically habit.

As this ceases to be the Norm, as the One True God’s Will becomes “The Universe has a Plan for Me” and that too shall pass and the extra bits will shed like leaves on a tree and things will return to mean. As they always have. I guess you could call that a “Pagan Revival” if you wish. I’m sure at least some of the Gods will be along for the ride.

Read the entire post …

Roth Note: Jesus taught his followers a way of being – The Way. He wasn’t building a religion. This default state of how people lived their lives that he was encouraging was no different than the way the Germanic people lived theirs – shared life and cultural inheritance. The point I get from this post is that perhaps we should be more intent on living our lives as traditional Americans (what we were, who we were, who our community was – say early 20th Century?) than worrying about what each other believes about religion.

An interesting series of reports have shone light on China’s ‘quiet’ but revolutionary preparations for conflict with the US.

China has mastered the art of the silent observer. Legions of commentators spent years criticizing China for not being more active and involved in the global geopolitical theaters, such as the Russia-Ukraine war, particularly when tilting those conflicts in its own favor would have greatly benefited China.

But now portions of China’s strategy are finally coming to light, and revealing the country’s uniquely furtive approach to maintaining a semblance of balance while in actuality making unprecedented hidden preparations for the worst case scenarios.

This description summarizes the developments best:

Russian analysis: China has accelerated construction of a comprehensive national-resilience system intended to withstand sanctions, blockade, supply-chain collapse, natural disasters and potentially major war.

In effect, what is happening is that China is quietly watching and learning from the mistakes of all its counterparts, particularly Russia and Iran, and is restructuring its own internal policies and protective apparatuses toward avoiding the exact kind of traps that Russia had fallen into in Ukraine.

What “trap”, precisely, do we mean? One word suffices—it is the trap of vulnerability.

Read the entire Simplicius post …

Roth Note: One can hate on the CCP, but one also has to hand the Chinese credit for thinking long term and preparing for Western aggression. Looks like the PTB are intent on pushing everyone into WWIII. The question is … why?

Essentially, Trump has plunged into an escalatory trap, seemingly in part out of pique at his collapsing polls at home. He did, however, directly put himself in this situation by trying to “act cute” during the Khamenei funeral pre-occupations in order to try to gain a “quick win.”

How long will this escalatory episode last? Certainly, it will not lead to the opening of the Strait; nor bring a return of the status quo ante that preceded the war. As long as Iran maintains its ability to exert control over Hormuz, there is no basis to assume that the situation will return to what it was.

On the contrary, and more likely, the crisis will accelerate the onset of looming global economic crisis that could last until the economic pain becomes acute, as the drawdown on sour crude continues – and as the effects on the real economy in the West become visible.

With shortages of munitions and the drawdown on air assets from the Middle East already beginning, Trump probably lacks the wherewithal to go full “Iran War 3.0.”

At some point, the Iranian leadership seemingly came to the conclusion that Iran was being played by the US; that the MoU was a deception –

…and that the entirety of events since the announcement of the MoU reflected a US strategy based on the view that in the previous round of the war against Iran – [that the US and Israel] failed to achieve their objectives – necessitating a halt to the confrontation, albeit temporarily, in order to regroup and prepare “more thoroughly” for a new round when the right conditions arise.

And finally, a “black swan” now can be observed swimming in increasingly sunlit waters – Eric Katz writing in Notus writes that, “a draft report inside the US Treasury Department is set to warn of the risks posed by the artificial intelligence market, likening key aspects of it to the dotcom bubble that upended the US economy when it burst in the early 2000s.”

Treasury analysts wrote –

Career Treasury analysts found that AI firms are more deeply entrenched in the US economy than their dotcom predecessors and pose significant risk to the entire system if financial conditions change, productivity goals are missed or various choke points stymie growth.

A downturn in the AI market would send shockwaves throughout the entire economic ecosystem.

A market downturn in the US – exacerbated by an energy crisis – could spell disaster for Trump’s midterm hopes.

Read the entire post …