Selfless Service & Gift Giving – How To Act Like The Divine

At the heart of the ancient Indo-European worldview lies a simple but profound truth: the universe is an endless cycle of giving and receiving. To interrupt this sacred gift-giving cycle is to invite stagnation and chaos; to uphold it is to align with the eternal order that sustains all things. You are about to step into this ancient current. In this challenge you will practice acts of selfless service. In doing so, you don’t just help others; you participate in the sacred work of upholding the cosmos itself.

The Indo-European cosmology and worldview is based on the World tree – whose roots, stem and branches constitute the cosmic order, and the waters that surround it is chaos. The World tree grows because we feed it with our actions, intentions and thoughts. Our lives, just like all things that happen, are feeding the cosmos, by falling into the waters of chaos, which the World tree drinks to live.

The Gift-Giving Cycle: The Engine of Order

In return the tree drops its life-giving and ordering seeds and fruits down in the water, and the water transforms it into nutrition and incorporates it back into the tree. The seeds and fruits are all the actions, causes and events taking place in the universe. The universe is a web of gifts. There is an exchange occurring at the very heart of the universe, and this divine rhythm of exchange is the foundation of both the cosmos and human society. Reality is about exchange, it lies in relationships. And those relationships are beautiful only if reciprocal. This is what makes life flow. This flow of generosity upholds not only society but also the cosmos per se. The reciprocal pattern of giving and receiving is a reflection of the All and the gods themselves. ”A gift always looks for a return” Odin says in Hávamál.

To our Indo-European ancestors, to give was to live. Gifts were given not to settle accounts but to create bonds that kept on giving. This is not greed, but balance: a recognition that life flows where generosity flows. “A man should be a friend to his friend, and give gift for gift”, Odin continues.

Nobility Obliges

A noble and honorable person is measured by how freely they give—bread to guests, wisdom to the young, offerings to the gods, and even their own time and strength for the good of the community. He or she bleeds first and eats last. The shield of the weak, the feeder of the hungry, the supporter of poets and priests, the builder of the commons. Kings, chieftains, and household heads measured their greatness not by how much they hoarded, but by how much they gave away. The Germanic lord was called a ring-giver because he distributed wealth to his warriors and kin. The Homeric king hosted great feasts for his people, redistributing food and plunder. The Roman paterfamilias kept the household hearth burning for gods and guests alike.

Generosity, offerings and (self) sacrifice is not mere kindness nor about ego, but a sacred duty; a repetition of the cosmogony, and by it, we ensure the continued newness of creation. We create the world every day, we keep the great wheel turning. Every ”gift” sets a chain in motion.

When humans gave offerings to the gods, the gods in turn blessed them with fertility, victory, and abundance. When kings gave gifts to people, the people gave loyalty, protection and labour in return. When hosts gave food and shelter to guests, the guests gave honor, stories, and news in exchange. The fire god accepts offerings and carries them to heaven, bringing blessings back in return. Throughout the Vedic scriptures the gods themselves are shown as givers and receivers. In Homeric Greece, even Zeus, king of the gods, is called Zeus Xenios—protector of guests—because hospitality sustains divine favor. Celtic kings performed rituals marrying the land goddess, binding themselves to her fertility.

To Hoard is to Kill the Flow

The gift-giving cycle must never stagnate. A lord who hoards gold instead of sharing it, a farmer who eats all his seed grain instead of planting it, a householder who slams his door to the hungry—all of these are breaking the sacred circuit. The mythology, stories and ancient texts are full of characters who try to stop the universal and existential flow. The people of Tyana (except Philemon & Baucis) refuse to invite and feed the ”poor wanderers” Zeus and Hermes. Fáfnir sits on his gold and becomes a serpent of death. The Vedic serpent/demon Vritra hoards the waters of life in his cave. (The striker Indra slays him to release the rivers and restore life to the land.) It’s not until the Norse/Germanic world serpent Jörmungandr releases its tail from its mouth that change is invited. The Kauravas in the epos Mahabharata refuse to give, and trigger a cosmic war. Paris (and the Trojans) take without giving when they abduct Helen, sparking the whole Trojan war and laying the foundation of the Iliad and Odyssey. Roman tyrants who ignored pietas (duty to gods and people) saw their cities fall to ruin.

The message is clear: To hoard is to stagnate; to give is to flow. To step out of this cycle is to invite disorder and ruin. If the gift-giving stops, the world begins to unravel. The flow dries up and we’d create dead ends in nature, and that goes against the eternal natural order. On the other hand; when you give where you can, freely and selflessly, you join the ancient rhythm of the cosmos. You help uphold the cosmic balance, you join the flow that sustains life.

Us who want to live nobly and honorably, and who want to follow a natural path have to understand that the gift-giving cycle and the cosmic law of reciprocity is at the very core of Indo-European paganism. We also need to take in the very essence of the ancient Greek proverb A society grows great when old people plant trees in whose shadow they know they shall never sit.

This challenge is not just about doing good deeds, it’s also meant to start awakening you to the sacred cycle of giving and receiving. So you can take the first steps towards becoming a channel for the great circulation of life, as your ancestors once were.

A Reflection Before You Begin

• What have I received from the world that I did not earn or deserve?
• What can I give back to the cycle of life and community?
• Am I a flowing spring—or a stagnant pool?

Time to act!

You have reflected on the sacred cycle. Now it is time to act. In the coming days, you will take on a series of simple but meaningful actions designed to awaken the ancient rhythm of giving and receiving in your own life. Each challenge asks you to step outside yourself, to give freely without expecting anything in return. Some tasks may feel easy; others may push you beyond your comfort zone. That is part of the work. (If you can’t do them 10 days in a row, then do the next in order whenever you can.)

As you do them, pay attention to your thoughts and feelings. Notice what resists, and notice what opens. The goal is not perfection, but participation in the sacred flow—becoming a host to the world so that, in time, you too may be welcomed as a guest. Approach each act with care and intention. Even the smallest gesture, done in the right spirit, can send ripples through the world and the unseen.

P.s. Before or during doing these tasks, we highly recommend you also listen to the Hamingja Podcast episode nr 5, on the reciprocal Ghosti principle. You’ll find it here! (And below)