But there's a backstory and now I need to burden you all with the knowledge thereof.
See, first thing you need to know is that there's a theory that UFOs aren't physical, and that they're a psychic phenomenon that has accompanied humans throughout the ages that takes the form of whatever is in the popular conciousness. That's why we used to see demons and shit, and now it's aliens.
This is the "Interdimensional hypothesis" as opposed to the "extraterrestrial hypothesis" with which most people are already familiar.
Even if you think demons are about as real as unicorns, you have to admit that the fact a guy who did everything he could to summon a demon and said it looked like a stereotypical picture of an alien is kind of creepy.
I've heard the skeptic community make this claim, too. Well, more or less; they don't claim that aliens and demons are real and also the same, but some of them do claim that whatever gives rise to the "alien abduction" phenomenon also gave rise to the "I saw a demon/ I saw a fairy" phenomenon of Ye Olden Days. I want to say there were even some scientific studies which found, under the right set of circumstances, evidence for the existence of at least
some form of psychological propensity towards nutjobs 'seeing' big-headed creatures. It's been ages since I read any Skeptic™ literature on the subject, so don't quote me on that. But I know at least some people in the scientific community have drawn the same aliens=demons=elves connection; the difference being, these skeptics interpret such creatures as a product of hallucinations, rather than as actual beings that literally exist.
Cottage core is just saying that you really want a vacation in a rural area instead of the beach.
There's actually a lot of historical precedent for that. Thoreau, for example, is often held up as one of the great luminaries of the American Transcendental Movement (basically the 19th century version of Rugged Individualism/ Cottage Core). What a lot of people don't realize is that the iconic Walden Pond - his remote sanctuary away from the modern world - was actually just outside Thoreau's hometown, little more than a mile away from his normal house. The cottage at Walden Pond was owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson's family, and Thoreau was able to walk to get groceries and newspapers from downtown Concord every week. He also displayed the classic hipster condescension towards actual backwoods, blue collar folk, that you see from many Cottage Corers (like towards the woodcutter guy, whom some argue that Thoreau - again in classic Cottage Core fashion - wanted to gay-fuck).
Time is a flat circle.
Yeah, it makes sense in retrospect.
I got interested in Wicca, Paganism and Heathenism from an angle of trying to connect with the past. In light of all the hysteria around cultural appropriation and "white people: stay in your lane", I kind of wanted to learn more about the nebulous spiritualities MY northern European ancestors (pre-Christianity). There's little concrete to work from, other than learning the Old Norse stuff like the language, runes and Eddas.
I admit that the subject fascinates me a hell of a lot, especially because as I get older I'm learning to appreciate life a bit more (as I lurch closer and closer to old age, disease, pain and death). So trying to "stop and smell the roses" in a personal way. Nature is a frightening, uncaring force that will infest you with parasites and devour your children, so there's a weird respect in acknowledging one's place in it, whether you believe in Heaven or not. What happens after is of no consequence: the Here and Now is what matters (do unto others etc...).
But, just like any other sub-culture nowadays, it's poisoned by toxic, malignant narcissists and bullies. I'm glad that I stayed away from those people.
I've mentioned this guy in other threads, but if you're interested in reconnecting with northern European myths and spirituality, I'd heartily recommend
Jackson Crawford. He's a published academic, and one of the world's leading experts on Old Norse language and myth. He's also got a Youtube channel! Where he uploads videos! Hundreds of them, for free.
He's
not a spiritualist. But he has done interviews and collaborations with people connected with Asatru etc., if that's your sort of thing. And as he is a serious academic, he's usually quite careful to point out what we have evidence for, and what we don't; what is speculation, and what the counter-arguments are, etc.
He's the perfect starting point, if this is your thing. And if you ever wanted to take it deeper, his community can certainly put you in touch with more resources.
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