Caveat Emptor 3: This time it's personal!

Okay, so now comes the time when I finally explain the semi-pretentious title for this series of posts. "Caveat Emptor" is latin for "buyer beware". It is a warning to take heed of what is being offered from third parties and how it might differ from what they claim it to be.

Essentially, what I am getting at is, there are a lot of people out there in the heathen community who will plain lie through their eye teeth about what they are, what they offer and what they have done. Heathenry is a fairly small community, but growing rapidly - thanks in no small part to the fact that Vikings appear to be very much in vogue at the moment. This means many people see an opportunity to gain some undeserved power and influence. Get in on the action early doors and you might find yourself the chief of a thousands strong viking clan in a few years, yes? Well, no. What these people fail to realise is that heathenry isn't just something that appeared the first time Travis Fimmel strapped on his axe and sword. It has been around long enough for something of a heirarchy to begin to appear. Amongst the pre-Fimmel heathens, generally it is known who knows their onions and who is spouting bullshit and bile. This means arriving in a new group or forum and claiming to be the chosen of Odin will only gain you the aforementioned taint to your reputation.

Now the pre-Fimmels wouldn't really be bothered by this at all, as those types of new arrivals are very transparent and easily dismissed. However, to genuine new seekers looking to set out upon a heathen path for the first time, some of what these guys say can seem attractive. Problem is, 99% of what they claim is usually very, very wrong.

As I've said in a previous post, the future of heathenry will be determined not by the leaders, but by the choices made by the laity. The average workaday heathens have the real power and they decide what heathenry will become. If they follow the charlatans, then heathenry is doomed to be a pale, cheesy imitation of what the entertainment industry says vikings are about.

The best way to avoid this, is check the sources of all claims and cast a critical, even skeptical eye on everything shared in heathen groups and media.