No tithe like the present - There's no subscription fee to be heathen

 Something that bothered me when I first began on my heathen path was the concept of "being heathen".  Once I'd proudly announced (online, naturally) that I was now a heathen there was a period afterward that asked a lot of questions.

"Now what?"

"What makes me heathen?"

"What is different about me now compared to before?"

So, I'd made the monumental decision to be heathen (rather than the nihilist I'd been in my twenties) and this was a big deal for me.  So why didn't I feel any different?  I knew I wanted to be heathen, so what could I do to make myself more heathen?

As we all have grown up in a capitalist. materialist society, the temptation is strong to ascribe heathen value to products and services.  If I buy this mjolnir pendant, that will make me more heathen.  If I buy this drinking horn, that will make me even more heathen.  Perhaps if I spend £100 on this, I'll be more heathen than if I only spend £10 on that.

Don't get me wrong, it is nice to see our heathen path reflected in what we wear and how we decorate our living spaces, but those things are just outward signs.  There's nothing inherently heathen in owning them.  If the Archbishop of Canterbury bought a mjolnir pendant, it wouldn't make him any more heathen - or any less christian.

With the advent of the information superhighway, we now have the opportunity to connect with other heathens across the globe.  Joining websites, facebook and chat groups allows us to identify with other heathens with a few clicks of a mouse.  But that can be a double edged sword, too.  Seeing other people post and chat about their heathen path can lead to feelings of inadequacy - as our heathen lives seem to pale in comparison.  This is a problem with the internet in general, not just for heathens.  Its important to bear in mind that the internet gives a very distorted view of reality. 

After a while, I began to realise, from under my mountain of viking paraphenalia, that what I knew and felt was far more important in defining what kind of heathen I am.  Furthermore, there was nothing to be gained from comparing my version of heathenry to anyone else's beliefs or deeds.

 

 

It is often said that heathenry is the religion with homework.  I can hear the groans now.  Who wants to spend hours poring over source texts by candlelight?  Noone has to spend years gaining a doctorate in early medieval history just to be a heathen. 

Gaining a cursory knowledge of the main stories and mythology can help to feel more secure in the state of "being heathen", though.  Many of the stories are very relatable and can give us the means whereby we can reflect on our own lives as heathens.  They also make for very interesting discussions when disparate heathens get together around the campfire.  Whether that fire is virtual or not.  A favourite icebreaker I have when meeting new heathens is "What's your favourite story from the eddas?"  It's a good way to get talking about how we each relate to the gods and other beings from the mythology.

2023: The Year of Aun

If you're a heathen of my ilk, you'll be engaged and excited by "The Year of Aun", as explained by the Nordic Animism channel.

The rebirth of the 8-year-cycle of festivals and celebration is a momentous occasion for all heathens.  Add to that the goal of healing the world of the various toxins of modernity and it becomes a recipe for creating hope in a time of bitter darkness.

Most of the online content relating to #Aun2023, though, is the work of highly educated and very knowledgeable individuals.  Each with vast knowledge in related and Aun-adjacent subjects; animism, anthropology, history, sociology linguistics.  

While the online content from many of these experts is very accessible and entertaining, I can't help but feel under qualified when I try to engage or join in.

So, in this post (finally getting to the point), I'll be listing my plans and goals that I hope will serve as my modest observance and contribution to the #Aun2023 phenomena.

1.  Educate myself.  Reading up on subjects that I feel will enhance my appreciation of #Aun2023.  Animism, Norse mythology, history, world politics, ecology & green issues, decolonisation and indigeneity.

2.  Hiking and exploring my local area.  The northwest has some beautiful landscapes.  I want to explore these and also learn the history of the places I visit.

3. Gardening. Reconnecting with nature and my own spirituality through the simple toil and natural interaction of working in my garden.

4.  Art.  I'm not much of an artist, but I want to practice my bass more.  Then, perhaps, in another 8 years I might compose some Aun-inspired music.

5.  Physical Culture.  Using martial arts and meditation - through practising baguazhang - to improve myself, my understanding and my connection to the universe 

6.  Interactions with friends, neighbours and family. Connecting more widely with my fellow humans being just as important as reconnecting with other then humans.

So, this is my "2023 Year of Aun for Dummies".  Watch this space for updates as to how it all goes.

Asatru UK Althyng, July 2022 - Reflections

Last weekend was the Asatru UK Althyng. In a last-minute, spur of the moment decision back in June, we decided to buy a day ticket for the Saturday. It meant we missed out on the fun later in the evening, but still provided us with a great, family day out.

In the Facebook group for our heathen hearth, "Salgofnir's call", I wrote a little mini-review, an edited excerpt of which I'm reposting here:

Well, the weekend saw us attend the #asatruuk #althyng at Sentry Circle campsite, Northallerton. We only had day tickets for the Saturday - mostly cos our decision to attend was a bit of a last-minute thing.

It was a great event. Loads of heathens, traders offering really nice wares and interesting talks and events. We especially enjoyed Pete Jennings' talk on the subject of Valkyries.

It was exceptionally family-friendly, there were lots of activities aimed at kids. Freyja took part in the kids' rune workshop. The whole event was a very comfortable place to be as a family. Lots of other kids there of various ages. More importantly, the traders and organisers spoke to Freyja directly, involving her in the conversation - which, for us, is the keystone of a family-friendly event. Otherwise, it just feels like you're dragging your kid around and leaving them out.

Saw some fellow NW Heathens, which was nice - a shame we didn't make it to their camp to catch up with everyone together, though. We were either socialising with the wider heathen community around the stalls or in the bar - both worthy enterprises, I'm sure you'll agree.

Very impressed in general with the whole events, it's organisation and implementation. All the organisers and assistants deserve hearty congratulations. It has very much inspired us to want to attend anything #asatruuk organise for next year - especially as it will be the Year of Aun! #aun2023

As though in response to an earlier Sons of Heimdall post about moving away from the current viking trend, I recall an example, from the Althyng weekend, why this is something I'm keen to do.

We had just completed the ceremony for raising Freyja's godpost in the ve. The ceremony had been very chilled and, for some, was emotional and touching. Atop the hill, surrounded by standing stones and afforded with a beautiful view of the surrounding Yorkshire countryside, it was a moment that called upon all present to feel their connection to the land and its wights. Communally, we sang songs in honour of "Golden, shining Vanadis" and made offerings and toasts to the godpost.

Once this was done, we all slowly headed back down the hill toward the camp. It was then that some post-Fimmel heathens elected to start singing a certain popular song from a notorious tv franchise. While I accept the lyrics to "My mother told me..." have a historical provenance, the raucous, full-voiced nature of the song, really destroyed the relaxed, positive, connected vibe that we had, up to that point, been enjoying in the afterglow of the ceremony.

Now, I'm not a big fan of the Vikings tv series when used as a source for informing a heathen path, but I accept that the popularity of the series has done a lot to boost the ranks of the heathen community. Post-Fimmel heathens do bring a youth and vibrancy to the group that, it could be argued, had been previously lacking. I would ask, however, that maybe those newer heathens of that ilk learn to read the room a bit. There is a time for boisterous, viking-like behaviour and just after a really relaxed, spiritually rewarding ceremony is not really it. All this is purely, IMHO, obviously, I'm sure I wasn't the only one who felt this way as we all processed down the hill, though.

Ironically, the bar tent, where such behaviour would have been more than appropriate, had been practically empty all afternoon and continued to be so, even after the slightly Brosatru, viking-wannabes had made it down the hill.

Lateral shift: Explaining the change of direction for Sons of Heimdall

Perhaps I should take a little time to explain the thinking and motivation behind moving this blog away from the popular vikingness of some aspects of heathenry. It is less a rejection of that side of things than it is a recognition that a more generalised pre-christian or even pre-capitalist focus fits in with my other interests, notably ecology, left wing politics and, well, hippiness.

The world is in a really bad state at the moment. It could be said that in the west, at least, we are collectively enduring an economic and political, as well as ecological Ragnarok. Politics and the establishment are moving further and further towards fascism, especially in America and the UK. Billionnaires and their corporations amass huge wealth and enjoy unprecedented profits, while the workers whose labour creates that same profit languish in poverty. Corporations who produce the vast majority of pollution refuse to accept that action needs to be taken by them to mitigate climate change. Instead, they boost the signal of misleading advice stating that individual families can somehow save the planet by sorting waste into different coloured plastic boxes while corporations themselves pollute and ravage the environment indiscriminately.

It is my train of thought that supposes that simply replacing the Christian religious orthodoxy with a more pagan spirituality will not be sufficient to stem this tide of fascism and ecological disaster. Swapping out Yahweh for Odin and his companions does nothing to affect the underlying problems - most notably the world-denying christian attitude of superiority over the environment and the capitalist emphasis on capital and profit as the only true values.

So it is that my focus has shifted toward the reawakening of pre-christian, non-capitalist views of our animist ancestors, as espoused by Rune Hjarno Rasmussen and explained on his Nordic Animism YouTube channel (amongst other places).

It also allows me to move away from a history-focused "wouldn't everything be nicer if we were more tenth century in our outlook" and toward a more positive, "This is how we can be inspired by our own past and other cultures to carve a better future for the world". As I alluded to before, it also means I get to rail against capitalism and contemporary religious dogma. Which is something I quite like doing. Powerful corporations and churches with lots of resources and undue influence need taking down a peg or two. The power has always lain with us, the people. We simply forgot that for a while. If we come together and demand better from our politicians and service providers, we can make the world a better place - through repairing the damaged connections we have with the environment and other cultures.

I personally think that my brand of heathenry is inextricably linked with my belief in left wing politics, universal acceptance and tolerance, ecological activism, a love for the world and its eco-systems and my hatred of injustice. The worst of these injustices being 1% of the world's poopulation living in the lap of luxury and obscene wealth while a huge proportion of the world starves and lives in terrible poverty. Our heathen ancestors treated slaves better than our society treats supposedly free people.

Distance over Time: Rebranding the Sons of Heimdall blog

Of late, what was previously a minor annoyance has grated on my nerves and begun to irritate me beyond my tolerance. I am speaking of the "Vikingisation" of heathenry and other forms of nordic... well, nordic anything really. You can't express an interest in the history of Europe - northwestern Europe in particular - without someone bringing up the pesky raiders.

It has become abundantly clear that I am somewhat more viking-averse than a large proportion of heathens. Not for me the dressing up like Floki or Lagertha. Face paint doesn't make my heart flutter in anticipation of runic inscriptions across my less than angelic face. My personal brand of heathenry demands only civlian dress (often combats and a heavy metal band t-shirt) and my path is focused very much in the here and now.

The "viking age" gets way too much attention for what it is. A couple of hundred years in which some criminal-minded psychopaths decided to go stealing stuff from across the water. I appreciate the romanticised image of violence appeals to some people - but it's not like it's the only violent period in European history. Further, it's not even the most violent period. The crusades were pretty horrible. Innumerable wars have been fought in various places. What is so special about vikings? They wouldn't have looked like underwear models, like they do in certain popular tv shows. Spirituality existed prior to the viking age and evidence from the iron age and roman times arguably tell us more than evidence from the limited period in which those pirate raids were ongoing.

So, what I am half proposing to myself in my head, is to reduce the viking footprint in this site. Remove all reference to this as a "viking blog". That's not to say I won't mention vikings now and again. I won't forbid myself from referencing the viking age and its sources, either. But this will be a heathen/"pre-christian, indigenous European spirituality and culture" blog. Providing I can find a more catchy label.

Fear not, though! This will still be essentially my place to discuss heathenry, my path and everything else. The aesir and vanir, landvaettir and ancestors are as much a part of my path as they ever were. I'm just distancing myself from the whole "heathenry is the viking religion" fallacy.

Watch this space.

Connections

Having read Tyson Yunkaporta's "Sand Talk", upon recommendation by Rune Rasmussen, the topic of connection has been at the forefront of my mind for quite some time now.

I take after my father and his father. While they were both very affable, they both enjoyed their alone time. Their favourite method of getting away from it all (including the rest of the family) was to spend all day gardening. Time alone tending to what was their pride and joy was their favourite method of relaxing and getting away from it all. I, too, enjoy my alone time practicing baguazhang on my own. My brother is similarly minded, too - his escape is found through carp fishing. I guess it is a family trait.

That said, connection to my wider family has always been important to me - that is one way in which I differ from the other males in the family. My late mother was eldest of ten children and my childhood weekends were spent at my Nannie's home, with sometimes as many as a dozen adults and associated children all spending the day together in one small house. That obviously stayed with me as I managed to score some valuable family brownie points by taking time to speak with all my aunts and uncles at our wedding reception.

Still, though, I'm stuck between that need to connect to wider family and wanting some alone time. Families are noisy and boisterous and can be demanding - which is part of the fun, I guess. The best part of me has been distilled from the crucible of familial interaction. Interactions with friends were a whole different kettle of fish for me - less wholesome, more self-destructive. Friendships have been just as valuable, though in a different way.

Similarly, connection to nature for me has been influenced by my childhood. I grew up in a very rural part of the already rural Lincolnshire. My childhood home was set in the midst of a large garden (just under one acre). To my youthful mind, nature was all around me and part of everything I did. As a consequence, perhaps, I don't quite have the same views as most other people. A lot of other people seem to post online about hiking up abc hill to connect with nature, or visiting xyz forest to talk to the gods. For me, the gods are just as close when I'm sitting in my armchair watching tv as they are when I'm hiking up Rivington Pike. Having said that, gods seem to be less important to me than most other people. For me, ancestors and wights play a larger role in my heathenry than do gods of the aesir or vanir. After all, ancestors and wights seem closer to me somehow. Ancestors share my family bonds and wights are in the same physical location as me. Gods and goddesses seem somehow more distant in comparison.

I love getting out into nature/away from the suburbs as much as anyone. But I can't help wondering why people feel that they need to go somewhere else to feel a part of nature? Just cos our species built things like cities and houses to make our lives easier, doesn't mean we stopped being part of nature. Sure, our connection to nature is in a ropier state than it has been for some time - but that is more down to capitalism's belligerent attitude toward the environment that has seeped into our own understanding. Why are termites in their city-like mounds a part of nature, yet our cities aren't. How come mammals and birds using tools is a part of nature, but our using more complex tools is not? How is a bee working for the collective of the hive a part of nature, but my working for the collective of an insurance company is not?

I'm trying to rewire my understand to one that recognises I am always a part of, indeed in the midst of, nature and use that understanding to improve my connection to nature and the wider world in general (family included - as they are a part of nature, too).

Nature, family, friends, ancestors, wights, gods and myself - all reciprocally connected. That is the goal.

Reading around the subject - Heathenry is more than just vikings

When I was a schoolkid, living in one of the more rural parts of England, my friends and I developed an interest in certain areas. We loved fantasy novels, my friends having introduced me to JRR Tolkien. This went hand in hand with a love of history, myths and archaeology. I carried these interests around with me long before I came across the idea of heathenry as a spiritual path. It is easy to forget that all these fields were already familiar to me and probably contributed to my curiosity about this reconstructed religion based on the history of various germanic peoples. Had I not already been interested in history prior to discovering heathenry then I likely wouldn't have been interested in it at all. If that happened, I wouldn't be a heathen today and you, dear reader, would be reading me waffle on about something else. Probably.

So, sometimes, I'm so kean to further my interest in and knowledge of heathenry that I forget to indulge my old passions. Sometimes, just to remind me how I got here, little connections crop up. In this case, I came across some interesting discussion of anglo saxon farming practices while indulging my other interests in the culture of the countryside and folk history.

In this video, the late Jack Hargreaves touches upon some anglo saxon history while cataloguing one of his walks through the Dorset countryside. I always find Jack Hargreaves easy to watch as his programme would often be on the television around the same time as children's tv shows when I was enjoying the summer holidays from school.

YouTube link: Jack Hargreaves tells how a Dorset river lost its name

Feeling like you're "doing heathen right"

When I was a kid and I hadn't really thought too much about the subject, if someone asked me what religion I was I would have answered, "Church of England". It didn't really occur to me to ask what that meant. All I knew was my curiosity had caused me to ask my mother what religion we were and that had been her answer. I lived in what was, I suppose, still ostensibly a christian nation back then. I attended a Church of England school and lessons that depended upon them included morality and culture that was influenced by the christian church. Looking back, there wasn't really anything that I did or thought that made me christian, much less Church of England specifically. As a family, we didn't pray or attend church on Sundays. The only time we saw the inside of St Mary's church in our village was for weddings and funerals - or if the local primary school decided to hold a harvest festival service there.

As I moved on to secondary school and mixed with an only slightly more diverse peer group, I came across friends who also called themselves christian. However, their families did attend church every Sunday. Some were even a different denomination - usually catholic or methodist. As I became aware of the impact that their religion had upon their lives it occurred to me that perhaps my family - and myself in particular - weren't very religious at all.

Later, I would go on to identify as atheist, nihilist, existentialist and a number of other similar labels. The point I'm gradually marshalling into place, though, is that to identify as anyone one or more of these labels was enough. Despite the fact there were other kids going to church, attending Sunday school and singing hymns much more enthusiastically than me, I was still more than justified in calling myself christian. Identifying as such was enough.

It's the same with heathenry. Identifying as heathen is the first and only necessary step in being part of this burgeoning community. There is nothing you can do, no book you can read that will make you more heathen than you are when you first start to realise that the spiritual path you've been reading about is precisely the one you've been on or the one for which you've been searching.

You can blot every day of the week and, while there are benefits to doing so, it doesn't really make you any more heathen than someone who has never blotted. The Archbishop of Canterbury could take part in a blot, and he would be very welcome to do so, but it wouldn't make him heathen.

Similarly, you could read a thousand books on the subject. Doing so would undoubtedly increase your knowledge of heathenry immensely. But it wouldn't make you any more heathen than if you'd spent the time watching Great British Bake Off instead.

There are as many different routes around the heathen spiritual landscape as there are heathens themselves. Once you've identified as heathen, how you actualise that is completely up to you. If you want to be the heathen who blots every day and reads every scrap of text you can find on the subject then do that. If you want to create artwork to honour the gods, wights, ancestors, landscape or even Travis Fimmel, then do that. If you just want to devote some time thinking about heathenry and discussing as much over drinks with friends (preferably around a campfire), then do that. Each of these is just as valid a means of "doing heathen" as any others that could be mentioned.

Heathenry online can sometimes come across as being very heavily weighted towards certain kinds of heathens. Academics, artists and craftspersons seem to account for 95% of heathen content. To my mind, though, that says more about the nature of the internet. If you have something to say, or show then webpages, galleries and video servers cater very well to you. Within heathenry, though, all kinds of people are needed. If you can lend an ear to a story, chat with a fellow heathen and add your voice to songs and laughter, then you are just as valid a part of the heathen history being made today.

Mental health and Heathenry

Mental health is very much at the forefront of the news at the moment. This is due, in the main, to the unprecendented departure of Simone Biles from the Tokyo 2020/2021 Olympic games. Citing concern for her own mental health, Simone took the brave decision to remove herself from the tournament, due to her concerns that continuing would negatively impact her own mental health.

This highlights exactly how poorly society and the media deal with mental health issues in the normal course of events. In putting her own mental health first in this manner, Simone has garnered more media attention than those athletes who competed at world class level and won medals. So rarely do we hear of the psychological struggles of sports personalities and celebrities, that the very idea of someone putting their own mental health first, above fame, success and potential accolades, is normally unheard of in the mainstream media.

Similarly, within heathenry, there is a similar lack of information regarding mental health. Looked at in a particular way, heathenry doesn't measure up very well in how it deals with mental health. Role models are strong vikings, brosatru and heroes from the eddas and sagas. None of whom, to my knowledge, overtly discuss their struggles with self image, or their concerns whether they are doing the right thing. Female role models fare no better. The expectation being they will be strong sheild-maidens, with fiery personalities and unshakeable confidence.

Thankfully, the reality of the average heathen is very different. Those people who have been brave enough to admit confidence issues, misgivings or inner turmoil usually meet genuine support and advice - in the groups to which I belong. Were I enrolled in any of the more folkish or brosatru groups, then my personal experience with this might be very different.

There can be a lot of pressure to socialise as a heathen. After all, I've said myself that heathenry is all about community, yes? Well, yes, but that doesn't mean a heathen has to force themselves into real world social situations with which they aren't yet comfortable. Being a solitary heathen is perfectly valid. I was one myself for the longest time - and still err toward staying at home most of the time. Historically, Berserkers were usually left to their own devices as they had a tendency to react violently in inappropriate situations. An extreme example, perhaps, but arguably a historic example of heathens being left alone when they needed space.

Personally, I'd like to see/hear examples of heathen heroes struggling with their mental health. Or, at least, presenting something other than unshakeable confidence all the time. The Vikings tv series had some moody moments of staring into the distance. But this never seemed to evolve into dealing with mental health as an issue. More simply to make the characters seem edgy, brooding or interesting.

Please comment, if you come across any heathen interest stories with characters that deal with mental health. Preferably in a positive way, but negative examples could also be good for discussion.

Plans for a Salgofnir's Call Heathen Hearth Moot (June 2021)

Plans have been made to host a moot for our hearth in June. Hopefully, that will give time for some semblance of normality to return and socialising to have tentatively recommenced.

Full details here: https://salgofnir.blogspot.com/2021/03/plans-for-new-normal.html

Coming soon: Heathen Book Nook

So, rather than railing against whatever post or comment has aggravated me recently, I thought I'd add some proper meat and potatoes content to this blog. Something that actually has some heathen information and/or advice to offer, rather than just grumbling.

Now, while I've read a few of of the sources - something I'd recommend to all heathens - I don't really have the kind of brain that retains that kind of knowledge in any useable format. I know a few things, but generally with my mind - well, it's a mess in there. So, I've decided to try to offer what help I can to the aspiring heathen by putting some long awaited content into this here blog.#

Coming soon, I will be taking a book from my modest heathen library and giving a review of what I liked, what I disliked and what I learned from each book.

I've got about a dozen or so books that are appropriate for this kind of thing. Then, if all this proves fruitful, then I have several .pdfs that I found on various sites that could also perhaps benefit from the Sons of Heimdall treatment.

Watch this space!

"The cautious guest who comes to the table speaks sparingly. Listen with ears, learn with eyes. Such is the seeker of knowledge."

Again, the havamal provides us with our subject heading. I've been paying more than my customary attention to online heathen groups and fora of late. They're becoming quite active with speculation regarding when meatspace moots, festivals and gatherings might be possible again, as well as mostly conjecture about the forthcoming 2021 census.

Something I have noticed, though, is a lot of people coming to these groups with preconceived notions about the nature of other heathens. "All heathens do x" or "All heathens think y" commonly features in their body of their posts and messages. Some of these heathens even get upset when people respond with their own experiences which contradict.

Now, it is easy to come across as saying "sit down and shut up" with this, but that is not what is required at all. Online groups benefit when everyone feels comfortable and able to add their own beliefs, opinions and experiences into the mix. It is possible to do this, however, and still be inclusive and open to the experiences of others. None of us know everything there is to know about heathenry. None of us are "doing heathen" 100% correct. One of the ways we can be better heathens, though, is to listen to other heathens, be open to their experiences and thoughts and, where appropriate, incorporate them into the foundations of our own paths.

"...For Man is the joy of Man."

For a change, the subject is actually heathen today. Coming, as it does, from the Havamal. I'm not normally a big fan of the Havamal. It is a bit piecemeal for my liking and comes across as a dumping ground for dozens of odd snippets of quotes, probably taken out of context.

I have a friend who is quite a solitary person. He doesn't really keep in touch with his family. I'm not sure what his relationships with his other friends are like, but we only indulge in occasional, superficial interaction these days. So, I've come to think of him as a bit of a loner, you might say. The other thing about him is that he sometimes has trouble dealing with life. Emotionally, he can be quite fragile. Like me, he too has a long and bitter history with the black dog of depression. Like me, he shares issues with self image now and then.

As a heathen, I have a tendency to link those two aspects of his character. The only reason I feel I handle life's tests better than he does is that I keep in touch with my extended family. I also have a network of friends with whom I am very close. So, when life bowls me a googlie, I have them to fall back on. Not really in the sense of sharing my woes with them or using them as a sounding board for my feelings. Just knowing that I am a part of their lives and they are a part of mine helps me get through most trials and tribulations with fewer emotional upheavals than he suffers.

Heathenry is about being part of a community. Even solitary heathens are only solitary in the sense they don't have other heathens with whom they associate. They still have family and friends who support them. At least, I hope they do. No man is an island. Nor are women.

As I have always contended, my family is a big part of my heathenry, despite not being heathen themselves. I know some heathens have issues with their families which preclude the kind of relationships that I enjoy with mine. But people do say that the families of the twenty first century are made up of friends - that is very true. We all need that support network. They also provide a greater whole to which we can offer our strength, fealty and toil.

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.

Caveat Emptor 2: The Revenge

Okay, so part one mentioned how it can be tempting for new heathens to invent some heathen credentials to help them assimilate into their chosen heathen group. We all can sometimes be a little too eager to join in and show our commitment to the cause. After a little rant, we got down to some more helpful advice for new heathens.

Anyhow, on with part two of the post.

The Havamal

26.
The unwise man thinks all to know,
while he sits in a sheltered nook;
but he knows not one thing, what he shall answer,
if men shall put him to proof.


27.
For the unwise man 'tis best to be mute
when he come amid the crowd,
for none is aware of his lack of wit
if he wastes not too many words;
for he who lacks wit shall never learn
though his words flow ne'er so fast.


28.
Wise he is deemed who can question well,
and also answer back:
the sons of men can no secret make
of the tidings told in their midst.


29.
Too many unstable words are spoken
by him who ne'er holds his peace;
the hasty tongue sings its own mishap
if it be not bridled in.


The Havamal has a lot to say about not running your mouth off in public fora. Best advice I can give to new heathens is to join a good heathen online group, introduce yourself and then simply listen (or, more correctly, read). The best online groups have several active members how have been heathen a long time and know a lot about the faith, history, archaelogy, the lore and many other subjects. These are the wise elders of whom young heathens would have been encouraged to take heed in the past. Listening to them and adapting their wisdom to suit your path is the best action, short of studying the eddas, that someone new to heathenry can undertake.

This applies to engineering/relating suspicious "divine intervention" stories as well. You don't need to prove to anyone how viking you are to have them respect you. Everyone starts from the same place. We all start with very little knowledge and then gradually, over time and with some study, we learn about heathenry and teutonic mythology (as well as dozens of other disciplines to a greater or lesser extent). In fact, broadcasting an obviously-invented supernatural story can often have the opposite to the intended effect. Heathens, for whom reputation is a very important trait, will find that being known as someone who makes up some spurious bullshit story to get attention is far from desirable. In fact, it is the kind of thing that may end up haunting you in a way you really come to resent. Five years down the line when you're trying to make a name for yourself as a gothi or skald, do you think it will help for people to remember you as the person who made up a story about Thor giving you a cuddle to help you feel better when you'd broken up with your partner?

The annoying thing about such posts is, it essentially is a little arrogant and/or self-centred for the new poster to think that no-one in the group will have the wisdom to see through the bullshit. That, somehow, a fresh faced newbie with only minimal knowledge of heathenry and teutonic mythology will someone find it easy to pull the wool over the collective eyes of heathens who have university degrees in appropriate subjects and decades of experience in heathenry. Even more annoying to me, as they seem to put so little thought into the stories of divine contact - most involving actions quite out of character for all the gods involved. Hence this anger-infused blog post.

On the subject of made up vs believable divine contact stories, here is some of my own, personal UPG to illustrate how transparent some of the tales of new heathens can be to older heathens such as myself. This isn't really intended to be "this is how you should see the gods", but instead an example of how many heathens see the gods and how these stories don't correllate with that view.

Odin
I have heard lots of tales about Odin. Understandably, he is a favourite - especially among new heathens. The thing to remember, though, is that Odin is not Yahweh. He is as different to the christian god as Lemmy is to Justin Bieber. With that in mind, try not to ascribe christian feelings and motivations to the Allfather. I have heard stories about him saving someone from a potentially fatal accident and even giving someone a cuddle when they were feeling down!

The thing to remember with Ol' One Eye is that he is a god of death and is renowned as being "a bit of a bastard". He regularly seduces unsuspecting women to get what he wants, he steals, betrays and even breaks oaths. As a god of death and a necromancer, he is not gonna save your life - he is more likely to be the god that put you in the life-threatening situation in the first place - just to see how you handle it. He definitely isn't gonna give you a hug - he is not the christian god and he certainly isn't the White Christ. Anyone who takes on Odin as a patron should be ready to see their life become much harder with many more obstacles. That is kinda his thing - he likes to test the mettle of heathens who are brave enough to accept him as a patron.

A good thing to bear in mind is his character in the book "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman, and its tv adaptation. In it, Odin is respected for his wisdom and power, but no one really trusts him. Everyone knows he has his own agenda and that he considers everyone else to be little more than pawns in his plot to get his own way. Does this sound like a loving, compassionate god figure?

Now, in recent years, there has been some pushback to this view of Grimnir. The general gist of which is the argument that there is no point in creating or worshipping a god that won't help you and will even make things harder for you. To me, though, that argument smacks of carrying a little christian baggage along with it. People pray to Christ/Yahweh to be bailed out of whatever situation is plaguing them. They submit utterly to the god and he protects them. That is the deal. I can't think of a single heathen god who would be happy to save you from your trials and problems without any work from you. To my mind, heathen gods aren't quite like that - and especially not Odin. He was originally a kind of Wild Huntsman archetype who gradually evolved into a god of nobles and kings. What this means is, he is not a god of the people - at least, not the common man. That is more the realm of his son. Odin does give boons to his followers - but they aren't touchy feely hugs, kisses and pleasant feelings. Additionally, they are all temporal. They don't last forever. Many are the tales of the chosen of Odin being betrayed and abandoned to die on the battlefield. What's more, Odin is pretty damn busy at the moment, what with impending Ragnarok - he's not really got the time, inclination, or the crayons to send messages to every Tom, Dick or Harry who wants to impress their new heathen buddies.

Thor
Okay, so Thor helped you in your dispute with your neighbour, did he? The one who borrowed your secateurs and didn't give them back? Again, Thor is a quite busy god. He is more concerned with common people and especially their protection. But he isn't gonna intercede on your domestic dispute with your neighbour. To my mind, he would only take sides in cases of actual oppression, where blame could be attributed 100% to one side or the other. Let's face it, most of the spats that we mortals get involved with are, at best, 30% our own fault. He may get involved if your neighbour happens to be a frost giant. But in that case it would be for his own reasons, and not really because he had any particular affection for you. He's got better things to do - like smash Hel out of those aforementioned frost giants.

Tyr
Tyr is conspicuous by his very absence. Likely to have been chief god of the pantheon originally before being usurped in popularity by other gods, he is very rarely chosen by new heathens as a source of inspiration, strength or justice. Admittedly, we don't know as much about him as we do about Odin and his son, but that shouldn't prevent him from trying to get in on the divine manifestation party, should it?

I could go on all day talking about my UPG regarding Tyr and how he often goes misrepresented amongst heathens, but I think I will leave that for another post.

Another thing to watch out for in disreputable stories is how the gods involved tend to be reduced to two dimensional, flimsy characters based around the popular conception of the god in question. Odin is essentially the christian god, Thor is big and strong, Loki is a fool/trickster, Freyja is a slut, Frigg is a housewife. That also kinda goes hand in hand with movie/tv tie-ins. Recently, Loki has begun to be seen as more of an attractive god. Due, in no small part, to his portrayal by Tom Hiddleston at the cinema in recent years. Any reference to how these gods look is now polluted by Marvel movies and tv adaptations of books.

As I said before, it is okay to start a heathen path without having had any kind of contact (real or imagined) with any gods or goddesses. Far more important are the following:

- Study. There isn't a central church that we can all go to for guidance. All us heathens each have to find our own path. This means studying what others do or have done in relation to their path or religion. There are a lot of books on the subject. Some are very good and some are very bad. The one recommendation that all heathens agree upon is to read the eddas. The Poetic Edda and The Prose Edda are easily found in online bookshops. Read them, then read them again as, while most heathens don't consider them canon or "the word of the gods", most do agree they are the groundwork upon which most heathen paths are and should be built.

- Beware fakers. There are plenty of heathens out there at all levels who talk the talk but can't or don't walk the walk. No matter what other heathens say, you are responsible for your own actions and beliefs. As such, you should cast a critical eye on everything you learn from whatever source (including the eddas) and decide whether it is true, relevant and/or appropriate. This also extends to books and websites. Just cos something has been published (I'm looking at you, Llewellyn!) or appears on a professional-looking website, that doesn't mean it's true.

- Unverified Personal Gnosis. UPG is fine, but don't blow it out of proportion. You can use whatever hunches or feelings you like to inform your heathenry. But remember two things. First, your UPG is yours and yours alone. No-one else is likely to understand it quite the way you do. More than that, they don't even have to respect it. Just cos it is important to you, doesn't give it any value to anyone else. Secondly, our minds have a tendency to play tricks on us. Nothing says that the gods have to be trying to communicate with you. Not every thing you observe has to be "a message". Now you're on your path, you will likely take notice of ravens a lot more. Odin kept ravens and they were very important and significant animals to the heathens of a thousand years ago. That said, ravens are a common sighting across the UK. Seeing one or more ravens in your daily travels doesn't mean the gods are trying to contact you. That's not to say that ravens are never a sign. But seeing them in their natural habitat behaving naturally isn't it. If you're in a library and one flies into the building to sit near you, that's a more unusual circumstance. But ravens outside in the UK? That's not enough of an event, frankly. The same goes for any sign. Kirk Douglas starring in "The Vikings" on UKTV Gold isn't a sign, either. It just boils down to using common sense. It is similar to the old adage, "If something seems too good to be true, it probably is...". Perhaps that should be in the Havamal? "If something lends itself to a mundane explanation - well, that's probably it."

- Desire to contribute. As I said, sometimes the excitement of having newly joined a heathen group and/or recently joined the faith can be overwhelming. The strong urge to commit ourselves and show how we belong can motivate us but also cause us to act questionably (e.g. the aforementioned divine contact stories). If you really are frothing at the mouth with enthusiasm, why not volunteer to work for whatever groups, kindreds or hearths you have decided to join? Not all tasks require in depth knowledge or experience and many organisers would really appreciate some of the day to day admin being taken off their hands. It's all important work and might even help you to make new friends, interact with fellow heathens and learn more about the faith while "on the job".

Caveat Emptor: Divine contact and spiritual experiences

Note: This started off as a cathartic little rant about people making up bullshit stories to try to score points in heathen groups online. It started to get quite verbose, however and by the end it was looking too long to post in a single draft. So, I'm going to split it into three parts and post each part over the next few days.

I appreciate some of this is quite derogatory and not hugely respectful to new heathens. I would encourage people to bear with it, though as nestled in all that wordage are some few little pieces of advise that I would have benefitted from greatly, back when I was a new heathen at the start of this millennium.


Contemporary heathenry is populated by a wide range of people with an equally wide range of world views and spiritual experiences. From atheists to polytheists and skeptics to believers. Surprisingly, and testament to the good will present in the subculture as a whole, this has yet to cause much in the way of strife - as far as I am aware. A fondly held tenet of online interactions being a robust tolerance for the views of others (excepting bigotry, obviously).

In general, though, online discussions stick to the material plane. The lore, history, archaeology and white supremacist groups being hot topics in most of the heathen communities of which I have been a part. In discussions, divine/spiritual experience and UPG is rarely mentioned. UPG is Unverified Personal Gnosis. Essentially personal experiences that inform our own paths, but shouldn't really mean anything to others. Remember that time you thought you saw the Wild Hunt in the sky as you were leaving your work's Xmas do? That's UPG. May or may not be real, but felt real/important enough on a personal level to inform your path.

My personal opinion is that UPG should be left out of online discussions, unless the topic specifically calls for it. If one person believes from the very cockles of their heart that they're Thor's human lover, that has no bearing on anyone else's path whatsoever. The person claiming that may be mentally ill, may have been tricked, might have been under the influence of drugs, or might just be plain lying. All of those are more reasonable explanations than a god with no record of having ever taken a human lover, has gone against all reason and his own character to play hide the sausage with some random whose only been heathen since the start of the second season of "Vikings".

I am not denying that spiritual experiences and/or divine contact can and do occur. I have had an experience that, at the time, felt spiritual myself. What I am saying is, that such things are personal and not really appropriate fodder for discussion in an online, public(-ish) heathen forum. It kind of equates to being introduced to your mate's friend for the first time in a pub and opening with "My uncle Trevor showed me his winkie when I was eight years old...". It's too personal, not at all appropriate and, frankly, how is the other guy supposed to react? What possible conversation or social activity will blossom from that? Spiritual experiences are the kinds of of things that should, to my mind, be reserved for relating only very rarely and in hushed, reverential tones over ale/across a campfire to very close and cherished friends. Not used in some lame attempt to score "Viking points"[TM] with lots of strangers over the internet.

Now, spiritual experiences are kind of subjective, nebulous and hard to adequately describe by their very nature. Looking back upon them, we can be forgiven for perhaps embellishing the event a little to suit our desire to make it an example of "heathen divine contact". First of all, though, it is not necessary to have some kind of special event or blessing from a god to be a bona fide heathen. Self identifying as heathen and working toward understanding the faith and carving your own path is more than enough. Secondly, even accepting that gods do exist as entities in their own right and that they do, on occasion, take on physical form, there are certain things we need to get out of the way. First of all, there are heathens in the world today who have been on their heathen path for over four decades. They have dedicated their lives to one or more of the gods and goddesses, written books about them, held public blots and symbels and been an example of how a disciple of their chosen god should speak and act over years in many public fora and in real life. With this in mind, please ask yourself why this particular god would appear to you when you have only been self-identifying as heathen for a couple of years? The gods don't care that you once dropped a 250UKP order at GrimFrost. If anything, they are gonna judge you by your actions. What have you done recently to show how heathen you are?

To be continued...

No lamb for the lazy wolf. No battles won in bed.

So it is that a deal has been struck with the powers. I have committed myself to working harder to establish myself as a good heathen and to likewise raise my profile on the internet. I will promote my view of heathenry out to the wider world, in return for protection and fortune for my family and loved ones.

What form this will take I am as yet not completely sure. At first, likely I will take inspiration from what other heathens are broadcasting into the ether. Maybe comment upon my take on what they have to say. Then, gradually, I hope my own style will emerge and I can start to be more proactive in the online heathen community.

I am, of course, always happy to hear from any readers and field any questions they may have. Who would like to offer a comment?

Vikinging for vikings who want to show how vikingey they are

This is another post inspired by threads and conversations on various heathen and pagan fora that I've frequented through the years.

Seeing as most heathens - at least those of my age - were born and raised in an ostensibly christian nation to parents of varying degrees of christian piety, we have all been required to build our heathen lifestyles from scratch, so to speak.

For better or worse, the viking age ended and heathen society gave way completely to christianity. What I mean by that is that there was a long period of history during which heathenry no longer existed. For the UK, that is pretty much from about 1000AD until, at the very earliest, the revival in interest of all things Teutonic and mythological in the nineteenth century.

All contemporary heathens are working paths that either they created for themselves probably sometime in the last 50 years or so, or they have been given their path by someone who did so. Some of these paths have been based purely on the historical and archaeological record, some have been influenced by personal gnosis (UPG) and I imagine some have even been influenced (consciously or unconsciously) by fiction (films, literature and, perhaps others).

A part of that establishment of a heathen path is deciding what values, beliefs and activities are intrinsically heathen or what such things are required to make the practitioner heathen, rather than simply spiritual, pagan or, indeed, any other denomination.

One of the traps that we, as heathens, can fall foul of during this process is falsely attributing values, beliefs or activities as "heathen" purely because they were prevalent around the time period known as "the Viking age". One example of this is people who use Old Norse or Anglo Saxon as a liturgical language. There is no evidence that the original heathens used any special language or turn of phrase when referring to or dealing with their deities, ancestors, wights or any other aspect of their heathenry. They used the same everyday language that today for us, would be English. A better modern interpretation might be to use poetry as a form of heathen spiritual language - as we know that the composition of poetry was highly regarded in the age of our heathen forefathers.

Some might argue that speaking Anglo Saxon or Old Norse might help those involved get into the right frame of mind for dealing with their heathen faith. Much in the way that many people take to dressing up in period garb. I think with both these cases, though, that the danger is that the ancient/dead language and/or the anachronistic clothing draws the focus away from more important matters. It also delineates the time in ritual or when speaking of heathen concepts as being separate to the comparative mundanity of daily life. This is something which wouldn't have been obvious originally. The gods, ancestors, wights and worldview were all a part and parcel of daily life.

I think it is important for me and my heathen path, that rather than trying to mindlessly replicate the actions of my heathen forebearers, I instead need to understand their values and worldview. This will allow me to understand the reasons why they did what they did. Why they saw the world the way they did. Why they valued certain traits and disapproved of others. Then I can take this knowledge and attempt to construct my own, contemporary version of heathenry for application within the modern world.

I hope that the following posts in this blog will help clarify my train of thought as I try to evaluate which aspects of heathenry can be successfully and meaningfully adapted to the modern world.

Call yourself a heathen?

When you choose to eschew the normal rituals and paraphenalia of the heathen path, it is liberating on one hand, but can be demoralising on the other. When you don't blot every day, talk to the gods, make offerings, etc it can make times like these - where we are limited in what we can do (i.e. lockdown) difficult. After all, what parts of my daily life at the moment are actually heathen?

I wear a mjolnir pendant. I have a tshirt with odin on it in my wardrobe. I have norse gods as usernames for some of my favourite websites.

Doesn't really seem enough, somehow.

Then again, if I were blotting every day and making offerings to the wights in my local area on heathen feast days, why would those things make me more heathen?

Maybe it is enough to be heathen in your heart and mind - where it counts?

Start the day with some positivity!

"Hail, day!

Hail, sons of day!
And night and her daughter now!
Look on us here
with loving eyes,
That waiting we victory win.

Hail to the gods!
Ye goddesses, hail,
And all the generous earth!
Give to us wisdom
and goodly speech,
And healing hands, life-long."

~Sigrdrífumál (Bellows translation, 1936)