It does seem to me that not inviting Loki somewhere would be more likely to "invite" him.
I am curious though. Within Norse traditions Loki is still bound and tormented until Ragnorok, no? What is the belief surrounding this, and his ability to manifest and whatnot?
Well last time they didn't invite Loki somewhere he showed up anyways and it didn't go so well. Banning a God of chaos and michief from something? Hello.
Anywho that's a complex question simply because it depends who you ask, so I'll give you some varied responses. For one, a good majority of us do not take the Eddas as literal- especially because of some of the translations. There's also those who see all time as being "here and now", so to them Loki would be "bound/unbound" depending on which aspect you are working with. Also, keep in mind Loki is supposedly adept at magick and a skilled shape-shifter. It isn't unlike him to move around in one form or another.
Here's a good article.
http://flamehair.weebly.com/about-loki.html
I believe most people see it as, Loki although bound, can still be reached and reach out. As a higher being, his consciousness would be far more expanded than an average person.
Due to the varying stories concerning Loki, I believe that he has always been a controversial god/giant.
He was bound, but not just bound but has venom dripping onto him. That in itself should show that just being bound isn't enough, he has to be distracted too. If I'm not mistaken, this venom is being held back from his face by his wife until she had to dump it out, which would in fact, allow him to have more of an ability to focus.
Since writing in the area wasn't established until well after Christianity settled in the culture, the Eddas are merely one version of the oral traditional stories/poems. And worse than that, has probably been tainted by Christian influences. So although the stories help to paint a picture of the deities and their personalities and key points about the beliefs surrounding them, we should take into consideration these factors. Loki's entire persona of being "evil" and mischeivious could have very well been Christians recreating Satan through a darker deity.
As I understand it the runic inscriptions date back that early, but documented history of the region appears after christian missionaries moved into the area.
It's entirely possible earlier histories were destroyed as well, but... hard to say without more such documents.
Thank you for the points of view on Loki. I was just curious as to the perspective on that.
I was just pointing out that the best written record of Norse mythology and the one that speaks of Loki being bound (the Eddas) was written after Christianity had steeped into the culture, therefore the stories could have been influenced by Christian views, causing Loki to appear as a villian due to his darker nature. His imprisonment is resonant of (Greek) Prometheus and the consistent habit of "sinners" being imprisoned and tortured in Christianity, and the idea that the dead sit in their graves until the apocalypse.
It seems out of place to me from the rest of the Norse mythology. Baldr could be a sort of "Jesus" and Loki taking the place of Satan/Devil/Hades has him killed. Then for his deeds, Loki is trapped and tortured until the end of the world where he will be released and fight against the gods, and then die. It doesn't seem like Loki to desire to permanently hurt his brother Odin by killing Baldr and preventing him from being brought back. He was a trickster, not a great evil warrior. He ran from them when he knew they were coming after him so why stand up and fight against them all later? He is of intelligent chaos, a trouble maker for sure, but not an adversary. And I definitely don't think he would desire to fight a battle he knows he will perish from.
I believe Loki's story was altered over time and isn't 100% what it was when the culture was still pure. Most mythology remains consistent with personality but the Eddas seem to take a different direction towards the end. And Loki was thrown under the bus at the end. I like to take into account the stories where Loki isn't the center of attention. I believe those are less likely to have been altered over time.
I do hope they discover older texts that explain the mythologies of the Norse people. I would be incredibly interested to read such a thing. Unfortunately, for now, we can only go off of what we have and use our own personal experiences working with the deity/archetype to decide for ourselves what Loki is all about.
I personaly believe that human mind tainted all the holly books of all nations and cultures either with purpuse to fit their agenda or either someone just got the things wrong in translation .Then another folks take a stand declaring the scriptures for absolutely authentic and coming from the Divine forcing them stubbornly and rejecting any other interpretation of them .Reasonong with such people is extremly hard because they have taken over the authority to say what is wrong and what is right to be done .I find outrageous that human being put a ban of honoring a Deity in certain events .We as humans should have known better and looked what happens when we try to ban our own darkness by hiding in under the carpet .Hiding from and putting ban on "dark " and chaotic things only create opposite effect than the desired .I am sure Loki himself had good laugh on entire story it is rather ridiculous .It is also arrogant to decide you have the right to tell people that they can not honor or worship whatever they need to honor or worship .
The entire situation with this ban is rather puzzling to me .
I have an update for those who care:
The troth has officially announced that at the Trothmoot Grand Sumbel,blots and certain KAP events- Loki is not to be honored on the grounds and those events will remain Loki-free. Private shrines may be made to Loki, outside of troth related events, and personal devotion at ve shrines may be done in privacy.
Im a little upset with all of this, to be honest. If Lokeans and Loki-supporters wanted to honor Loki in private we would simply do so from our homes and not bother with the troth at all. This is a giant step backwards. The troth has now drawn a clear "black and white" line where previously there had never been one. They claim to be keeping the "frith" within the organization- but the way they are doing this is by cutting out devoted members of the community. Sad day for Heathens.
