I have been a follower of Loki for many years.
Before I knew his nature, even before I even knew his name, I followed him.

I had already been a Heathen for some years when I first met Loki. Until that time, I never really thought much about him. I suppose I believed in the 'Norse Satan' idea and avoided being around him. Then one day I read 'Loki: A Paeon in Progress' on the net, And I realised that there is a lot more to him than what Snorri says. In fact I realised that as far as Loki was concerned, Snorri had been spouting something that normally comes out the backside of a bull.

I also realised that I had similar traits to this God, Loki. Stagnation and the Status Quo were anathema to me, as were those who put on stuffy airs and graces and believed themselves 'better than others'. They were also Loki's traits, as Alice Karlsdottir says: 'Two of Loki's main functions seem to be promoting and causing change, particularly drastic, uncomfortable change which is nevtheless usually ultimately beneficial; and deflating the stuffy and pretentious. If you are around people who are being stuffy and pretentious and overfull of their own importance, try quietly lifting a horn or glass to Loki and watch what happens. Loki is the voice of the kid who says to the emperor, "But he has nothing on!" Loki will not put up with pompous, power-hungry people; he believes that for every foot there is a banana peel ...

Loki dislikes things that get into an unworkable, stagnant mess; he likes people who are willing to risk taking a few chances to change things that aren't working in their lives. If you remain in a bad, unprofitable, ill-functioning situation long enough, quite often Loki will decide to "help" you by bringing on the changes you are too afraid or lazy to make yourself; he likes to change things quickly and drastically. You might not really want things changed that way, so it behooves you to periodically examine yourself and your life and see if there's anything you should work on changing yourself, so Loki won't need to interfere'

Of course, there is more to Loki than just that. As the author of the Winterscapes article on Loki states: Loki is a god of chaos, and change for change's own sake. In its lighter form this means he is a god of mischief ... In its darker form this means he is god of destruction and harm ... He is simply god of chaos, god of change, in all its aspects, baneful and beneficial.

Loki is most holy, and is a necessary part of the pantheon. This is a great mystery, and needs much study to understand it. Loki is a trickster, and often betrays his friends. But actually reading his myths, every time he does things, things work out in such a way that it is ultimately to the benefit of gods and men both. This is Loki's nature. He also gets his friends out of as much trouble as he gets them into. He is the chaos and destruction necessary to preserve creation any length of time. A created thing must inevitably be destroyed, ended by the very same law that gave it form. Fires burn themselves out, consuming the very fuel they need for sustenance. Fresh new governments become entrenched bureaucracies. Customs become chains. Many of the best treasures of the gods, things the gods have that are needed for their safety and that of the worlds were derived from some betrayal or custom-breaking of Loki's that none of the other gods could do, for reasons of honor or politics. A woman of Loki once said that he is the force that breaks the dam which is blocking up the stream, stagnating the water and killing the life within. Loki is that which destroys that which needs destroying.

Even the death of Baldur was not as 'evil' as some have believed. In fact the Lokasenna does not directly implicate him in Baldur's death.

When Frigga exacted the oath that would otherwise have ensured that Baldur could not be killed, she was interfereing with the natural state of things. Everything has a beginning and an end and should Baldur have circumvented this, the whole universe could have become stagnant. It was Loki who tricked Hodur into killing Baldur (and later consigning him to Hel's domain by refusing to weep for him), thus saving us all from lives of boredom and stagnation.

Hail, Loki !

Link: Loki : A Paeon in Progress

Link: Winterscapes: Loki