Journeys for Knowledge

For those who are unaware, today is Shivratri, a Hindu holiday celebrating the god of destruction Shiva, who is very important to my family. In the past I would celebrate this holiday with good food and reciting prayers with my family in front of our altar, but this time I will have make do with a proper Indian meal, as ordered by my mother. Tonight’s meal is more than just good food, it is a reminder to respect the culture that has defined my family for hundreds of years. In the end, it’s not so much the actual rituals we follow, but the intention we hold as we do them that matters.

This past weekend there was some discussion as to whether or not a very different occasion was upon us, the Norse event known as Ragnarok, where the world is destroyed and remade from scratch. In reality what actually occurred was the Norse festival of Jolablot, typically celebrated at the end of winter, yet winter in England has been so bizarre it has been compared to Fimbulvetr, the 3 year winter precedes Ragnarok and the end of all things.

Why am I mentioning all this? Well I’ve always been a fan of Norse myths, even when I was young I liked the Norse gods to the Greek ones. So when I heard of Jolablot and the rumors of Ragnarok, I decided to build something in celebration, Thor’s hammer Mjolnir and his helmet. Yes this means I took apart my costume for the end of term party, but building the helmet taught me a lot about how to design a piece of headgear with K’nex. Now that I have to rebuild the witch-king crown and sword, I know I will be able to build a more comfortable and study set of equipment.

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