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skaldish · 10 months

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What is Norse Heathenry?

Norse Heathenry is a contemporary pagan spirituality derived from the beliefs, customs, superstitions, and folklore of the pre-Christian Norse people. It is one of a few different kinds of Heathenries, which include Slavic Heathenry and Teutonic (Germanic) Heathenry.

The word "heathen" means "of the heaths." However, it's not a word the Old norse people themselves used. They didn't have a word for their spiritual belief system, as they didn't distinguish this from all other aspects of their lives. Rather, "Heathen" was coined by Christian writers to refer to Scandinavian pagans (this is also why it's sometimes used interchangeably with the word "heretic").

Nowadays, Norse Heathenry is referred to by many names, which reflects different developing iterations of it. Amongst these names are Norse Paganism, Asatru, and Forn Sidr / Forn Sed.

Where does Norse Heathenry come from?

Norse Heathenry comes from the Nordic countries of Europe: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. These places are also known as the homelands of the vikings. But despite their shared origins, Norse Heathenry is not the religion of the vikings. This very large misconception has a very long, complex history behind it, owed to a combination of commercialization and fascist tampering. The Heathenry we see in America is extremely muddied from these influences. Fortunately, we now have the means to disambiguate it, thanks to increasingly accessible cultural exchange.

The following explanation is a product of ongoing anthropological, theological, and cultural research, in combination with what we know about the historical.

Norse Heathen Beliefs

Unlike organized religions, Norse Heathenry is (and has always been) a decentralized belief system. This means it has no universal doctrines, no orthopraxy or orthodoxy, no holy texts, and no religious figurehead governing it. When you hear people say "There's no 'right' way to practice Heathenry," this is generally what they're referring to.

However, Norse Heathenry does have a distinct way of thinking about and viewing the world, and it's very different from what we usually see here in the US. If you're feeling stuck trying to figure out how to "do Heathenry," this would be why.

Animism

A staple of Norse Heathen epistemology is Animism.

Usually, Animism is defined as the belief that all things have a spirit or vital essence to them. But this is only one definition of many, and not the definition that applies here.

The Norse concept of Animism is "the awareness that all things are part of an interdependent ecosystem." This changes how we engage with everything around us. We understand that when we interact with the forces of this world, they will interact back on their own merit. Our relationship with all things is a social one, and we're not spectators in our environment, but active participants at all times.

This stands is stark contrast to the way the USAmericans typically view the world: As a landscape to either test or be tested by, with the forces of the world acting as the means through which this is done.

Additionally, there's no separation between the sacred and the profane.

Immanence

Faiths that focus on spiritual ascension, enlightenment, or attaining a good afterlife are known as transcendent faiths.

While Norse Heathenry has some transcendent elements, it's ultimately an immanent belief system, which means its focus is on living life for the sake of living, as opposed to living life to receive a good afterlife. A good afterlife is already guaranteed.

(Some Heathens may strive for a specific kind of afterlife, however, which do have certain conditions for accessing. But these are elective rather than required, and different as opposed to superior. It's all a matter of preference, at the end of the day.)

The Norse Gods

Many people are already familiar with the Norse gods, such as Thor, Odin, Loki, and Freyja, but not many people are familiar with how they operate as gods.

In Hellenism and Religio Romano, the gods are divine lords who preside over different domains of society. It's a reflection of what the ancient Greeks and Romans highly valued in their civilizations: Law and political/civic involvement.

In Norse Heathenry, however, gods don't operate in a lordship capacity. Instead, they're more like celebrities in that they're celebrated figures everyone knows about.

While they don't rule over one thing or another, the Norse gods often act as allegorical representations of worldly phenomena. Thor is to thunderstorms as Loki is to "random-chance odds." SIf is to wheat-fields as Odin is to the old wandering beggar. Frey and Freyja represent masculine and feminine principles, Skadi the driven snow and foggy winter, and so on. The gods exist as worldly experiences inasmuch as they exist as ideas.

Lastly, but importantly, the Norse gods don't distribute rewards or punishments in accordance with on one's actions or deeds, nor do they tell us how we ought to live our lives. The way they interact with us depends on our individual relationships with them, which can be just as diverse as the ones we have with each other.

Myths & Folklore

What people often refer to as the "Norse Myths" are stories found in two old Icelandic texts called the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda. These texts are special because they're the oldest and largest collection of tales featuring the Norse deities.

However, these texts represent just one region's period-specific interpretation of Norse folklore. They also only represent a fraction of the tales that still circulate within Nordic oral traditions, so not only are they not "canon" in the usual sense of the word, they're also just a sample.

This is all to say that Norse Heathenry doesn't have a hard body of mythology. It certainly has a defined one, but its definition is built from local legends, fairy tale humor, songs, customs, superstitions, and family folklore in addition to what survives on runestones and parchment. The corpus of Heathenry is very much a living, breathing thing.

Spirits

Norse Heathenry recognizes a wide variety of different beings, the likes of which can be found all around us. Some of these beings are like how we typically imagine spirits, in that they're incorporeal or otherwordly, while others are physical but may play tricks on you so you can't see them.

Like many things pertaining to Heathenry, there isn't a universally-shared classification system for Norse beings. But generally-speaking, beings are defined by their natures and the manner in which they relate to the rest of the world, rather than their morphology. For example, Trolls can take the appearance of rocks, trees, and also living people, but they can also be incorporeal spirits. This is all, however, the same kind of Troll, rather than being different types of trolls.

This is also why the lines between "spirit", "god," and "ancestor" can become very blurry at times. In English use, these are all typically labeled under the category "vaetter." Sometimes "wight" is used to refer to spirits of various types, but isn't often used to refer to gods.

Typically, the way people interact with spirits entirely depends on what kind of spirit they're dealing with, as well as their disposition towards human beings. Some spirits may enjoy a personal relationship, while others are best when left unbothered.

Values & Morality

Because Norse Heathenry has no doctrine and is immanent in nature, it has no fixed value system. Just like the stories were decentralized, so were the Norse people's values.

This is a feature as opposed to a flaw, and a fact as opposed to a theory. But it also has a habit of making Americans very uncomfortable.

For this reason, Heathens sometimes choose to construct their own value system to observe as part of their practice. But what those values are is up to each individual, and individual community, if applicable.

Anyone claiming Norse Heathenry has a universal value system is either new to Heathenry, or selling something.

Veneration

Heathen veneration is not just limited to gods, but also includes ancestors and even certain kinds of spirits, such as nisse/tomte.

Like most things in Norse Heathenry, what, who, and how a Heathen chooses to venerate is their choice to make. One popular observance across the globe is to craft altars, shrines, or similar sacred spaces for the entities one venerates. If a Heathen lives in a house that has a nisse (similar to a gnome), they might leave porridge (with butter) by the hearth for him, and he'll in turn bless the house with good luck and fortune.

Oftentimes, relationships with entities are very interpersonal. Heathenry's animistic and immanent nature means entities are rarely cold and distant, including the gods.

Misconceptions!

A list of misconceptions off the top of my head:

The practice known as 'Odinism' is an invention of the Germanic Volkish movement, which was the social precursor to Nazi Germany. This is also, unfortunately, the first kind of "heathenry" to be brought to the US, back in the 1970's. It was spread through the country via one of the fastest-moving networks at the time: The US prison system.

The Black Sun is a Nazi symbol, not a Heathen one.

No, Norse Heathenry is not a closed practice.

No, you don't have to have Scandinavian heritage to practice Norse Heathenry. Blood quantum is not a thing.

The rune alphabets are old, but the method of runecasting is new.

So is the use of magical bindrunes.

Bindrunes are also different from Galdrastafir. The latter is actually a form of Jewish-Christian-Norse syncretism and needs to be taught orally since it's a mystery tradition. You can still slap the Helm of Awe on things and look cool about it though.

Norse Heathenry is not the same as being a viking, and Norse Heathens are not vikings. However, some Heathens partake in viking reenactment as an extension of their practice.

There's no good or bad gods in Norse Heathenry. All the gods are capable of great good and great bad, just like people. They're fallible, and that's what makes them relatable.

Odin and Loki aren't at odds with one another.

You don't need to wait for a god to pick you to start venerating them.

If you're interested in learning more about any of these in-depth, check out the website I've built on Norse Heathenry, located in my pinned post!

#norse paganism #forn sidr #forn sed #asatru #vanatru #rokkatru #lokean #heathenism

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fornsidramerica · 2 years

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#norse paganism #forn sidr #heathenry #roe vs. wade #reproductive rights

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thorsvinur · 1 year

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Resources for Those Wanting to Learn about Pre-Christian Time Reckoning in Northern Europe and its Application in Modern Heathen Traditions

Throughout the history of the modern Neo-Pagan movement, the calendar that has been used by most practitioners has been either the Wiccan Wheel of the Year or another calendar heavily influenced by it. The Wheel of the Year draws largely upon a mixture of Celtic (Gaelic) and Anglo-Saxon traditions, splitting the years into quarters with quarterly and cross-quarterly celebrations and beginning the year at the end of October with the originally Gaelic festival of Samhain.

The calendars that have come to be popular for the majority of the modern Heathenry movement have undoubtedly been based in this calendar, with the major changes being to the names of certain celebrations. On the calendar created by Stephen McNallen for the AFA, Lammas became Freyfaxi, Mabon became Winter Finding, Samhain became Winter Nights, etc. Other organizations such as Forn Sidr of America, The Ásatrú Community, etc. have created their own versions of the calendar as well, but at their roots they all exist essentially as a modification of the Wheel of the Year concept.

More (relatively) recent research and scholarship has brought a greater awareness of older time reckoning systems within Heathen circles as well as amongst history enthusiasts. Some of this has focused on the Old Icelandic calendar as well as the primstav tradition, and while both of these have validity to them the Old Icelandic calendar already had some changes to how it worked from the older system and the primstav used a standardized dating system based in the Julian calendar. Still, these are both useful tools in attempting to reconstruct the pre-Christian (or at least pre-Julian) calendar systems of the Germanic, and particularly Scandinavian, peoples of Northern Europe.

Why is this at all important in an age with the Gregorian calendar used most everywhere and especially for those outside of Scandinavia? Because for those trying the build an understanding of or relationship with these cultures, or even just more connected to the earth in general, the way they reckoned time helps to understand their relationship and connection to their environment, the flow of seasons, how they viewed the different parts of the year and adjusted their activities accordingly, etc. It helps to understand the "why" behind the ritual cycle, even in the names of the months themselves.

Below are a few of the primary resources that I have found helpful in learning about these topics, as well as a graphic representation that I have made based on my research so far to represent the reconstructed Old Norse lunisolar calendar. Note that I don't claim to be an expert on this topic, so I could certainly be wrong in some of the details, and some of the months also have multiple names from which I chose one to use. Also, there were multiple time reckoning systems in use during the period, including a week-counting system, so there can also be conflicting information depending on which is being considered.

Sources:

"Jul, disting och förkyrklig tidräkning: Kalendrar och kalendriska riter i det förkristna Norden" by Andreas Nordberg

- Available as a free PDF, the majority of this is written in Swedish, but it contains a fairly concise English summary at the end. It focuses primarily on Old Norse Jól (Yule) as well as the Dísaþing/Disting and Dísablót in Sweden, but it touches on other celebrations and uses these to establish the overall scheme of the lunisolar calendar system.

"The Festival Year: A Survey of the Annual Festival Cycle and Its Relation to the Heathen Lunisolar Calendar" by Josh Rood

-Also available as a free PDF, this paper expands upon Norberg's work as well as others' and goes through the overall festival year of the pre-Christian Scandinavians.

"The Lunisolar Calendar of the Germanic Peoples: Reconstruction of a bound moon calendar from ancient, medieval and early modern sources" by Andreas Zautner

-This book is sort of a dive into a number of different ancient to early modern calendar systems, but it uses all of these to reconstruct lunisolar time reckoning systems not only for Scandinavians, but for other Germanic peoples as well. It's a great read for those interested in pre-Julian time reckoning in Northern Europe as well as Medieval calendar systems in general.

"The Nordic Animist Year" by Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen

-Similarly to Zautner's book, Rasmussen draws upon a variety of Medieval calendar systems in his work, but his goal, rather than reconstructing an Old Norse calendar is to create a modern calendar based in animist traditions of Northern Europe. It undoubtedly uses the lunisolar system as a base and takes a lot from Old Norse sources, but it also incorporates later traditions which are based in animist knowledge and have value in establishing a system of seasonal animism.

And lastly, my Old Norse lunisolar calendar representation. Each month starts on a new moon, represented by a black dot, and the festivals are shown at the full moons, being white dots. You may notice the lack of Þorrablót and Miðsumar (Midsommar) on here. Regarding Þorrablót, I'm not as well researched on the origins of it and how widespread it may have been. For Miðsumar I have long refrained from including it due to the absolute lack of mentions in literary material from during or shortly after the period, but I have been pointed to some instances of it marked on primstavs as July 14th (Julian calendar), suggesting a possible lunisolar observance of it earlier similar to Jól's relationship to the winter solstice.

#heathenry #fórn siðr #asatru #forn sed #pagan #lunisolar calendar #norse #heathen #forn sidr

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w-y-r-d · 1 year

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Eir, great goddess of health and healing,

We come to you with hearts and souls revealing

The pain and suffering that we bear;

The wounds and illnesses that we must repair.

Your wisdom and knowledge, so vast and true,

Are a guiding light to help us through.

Your gentle touch and soothing words

Bring comfort to those who are hurt.

With herbs and remedies, you tend to our pain,

And help us find balance and health again.

Your power to heal is a gift so rare,

And your presence brings hope and care.

Eir, we honor you and your healing ways,

And seek your guidance in all our days.

We offer our thanks and gratitude to you

For all the work that you do.

May your blessings of health and wellness

Guide us through life's challenges and tests.

Eir, great goddess of healing and health,

We thank you for your strength and wealth.

#norse paganism #norse mythology #heathen #heathenry #norse pagan #norse gods #pagan #asatru #forn sidr #Eir #norse heathenry #norse heathen #devotionals #devotional poetry #norse deities #norse polytheism #norse pantheon #norse #chatgpt

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lockwood-metaphysical · 1 year

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New: Freyja Prayer Beads

This is an updated version of the very first full set of prayer beads I’ve ever made. It’s also one of the few sets I’ve made in which all hardware contains sterling silver (sans jump-rings). They've been blessed by Freyja herself to promote splendor, beauty, prosperity, and divine intuition for the user.

You can find the link to the store in my pinned post!

#norse paganism #norse polytheism #asatru #freyja deity #forn sidr #pagan prayer beads

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child-of-frigg · 1 year

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Modern Magic: Maintenance of Nemetons and Natural Altars.

The careful maintenance of areas used for interacting with nature and the energies of the natural world, is equally important as to what offerings are made to the Gods and Goddesses of the forest and the earth. Maintaining these areas such as Nemetons, Moon Gardens, and Wind Gardens, is vital to not only the physical health of the area and the inhabitants, including you, but to also help the flow of natural energies and vibrations.

Firstly debris is moved to maintain a clean ritual area, free from ticks and other dangerous insects(wildlife). The debris is not to be removed from the area, but to be separated into piles and left to mulch, this mulch will be used in later seasons to decorate the grove. Pathways are to be cleared of debris as well, and if desired natural oils such as mint may be used to further deter pests.

The altar, and altar area, are to be kept tidy and decoration kept minimal as this area's energy will change with each ritual. The Nemeton itself, or the center of your personal grove, is to be decorated with ornaments created from natural materials, preferably from items found within the grove or crafted from local materials. This decor should welcome and honour the spirits of the grove, as well as any spirits or deities one wishes to invoke commonly; tree dresses and effigies are encouraged additions to decor as they convey respect.

Certain ritual items, specifically those of the grove, are to be kept within the grove close to the Nemeton to maintain energetic balance. These items may include natural incense, beeswax candles, small idols or stones, and twine or cord for binding/unbinding ceremonies.

Authors note: Incense sticks, cones, salt, and paraffin wax candles can be harmful to the environment and the ecosystem of the grove and are not to be stored within the area.

#pagan #paganism #forn sidr #ancestry #asatru #druidism #Shamanism #Animism #Paganistic beliefs #pagan gods #pagan goddesses #forest energies #natural altars #altar magic #magic #offerings

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femmefurina · 1 year

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Me: hmm I wonder why I feel headachey and tired today for no reason Me: steps outside Moon: 🌕 Me: Ah thank you Mani I'll take it from here

#forn sidr #heathenry #pagan #yep #i have no idea why the moon cycles do this #maybe i'm part werewolf

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north-of-annwn · 2 years

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Witchy Asks -

15 - What was the last spell you performed? 50 - What do you do to reconnect when you are feeling out of touch with your practice? 76 - Where do you draw inspiration from for your practice? 97 - What do you think is the best time and place to do spell work?

Hey Bree! How have you been?

15 - What was the last spell you performed?

😂 You had to ask this one.

My last dork was either redoing sleep wards or placing a curse on a human trafficker. I did them both the same day and I can't remember which I did last 😅.

I take casting a curse very seriously and only do so when all other solutions have failed and when very specific circumstances are met... So I'm not going to give more details here. If you want more info, Bree, I can give more detail in DM.

50 - What do you do to reconnect when you are feeling out of touch with your practice?

LOVE this question! I start by entering a space of compassion for myself. Then I can examine the disconnection I'm feeling from myself spiritually without judgment or guilt.

What's going on internally that's keeping me from spending time on my practice?

I've also learned an amazing term from my Gudellri called "spirit play" - approaching spiritual practice from a childlike freedom and nonjudgment... to experiment, try new things, create, and just play.

76 - Where do you draw inspiration from for your practice?

Anywhere. Everywhere! As a foundation, I practice Forn Sidr- the animistic and folkloric customs that evolved around the Baltic sea. These don't so much tell me what I must believe, but rather provide helpful threads to follow so I can see the themes as they arise.

Other than that foundation though, I'll find inspiration for my practice anywhere in my experiences. If something resonates with me and I find it meaningful, I'll tuck it away in my Grimoire and there's no telling when I might apply it in my practice.

97 - What do you think is the best time and place to do spell work??

This question relies so much on a colonized perspective that it can't be answered within the context of an animistic practice- which is informed by the experiences and connections in the moment where you are.

In short, the simplest answer I can give is what my first mentor taught me- whenever your spirit feels moved to do so.

Thanks for the Ask!

This was fun! 🥰

Quinn

#witchy asks #asks #pagan #forn sidr

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langevandreren · 5 months

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Comparativism and Norse Religion (Schjødt et al)

I'm working through a set of academic papers that I thought might be of interest to my fellow *tru heathens (asatru, vanatru, rokkatru).

The intro is largely about the utility of filling in the gaps in our knowledge of Pre-Christian Scandinavian religious practice by looking to better known practices from cultures that are similar (but not necessarily in contact with ancient Scandinavia). Like how in the first Jurassic Park, they use amphibian DNA to approximate missing parts of the dinosaur genomes.

Without endorsing it in it's entirety (I have a deep seated dislike of the 'stages of evolution' analogy being applied to cultures), I will say there is a lot there that is worth reading and thinking about.

For me, right now, my question is:

What cultures do folks think might have been broadly similar enough to pagan Scandinavia that we might find useful insight in their ways and stories?

(With the usual caveats about cultural appropriate and being respectful of the cultures that we study)

Full reference (free to public)

Hermann, Pernille, Stephen A. Mitchell, and Jens Peter Schjødt, eds., with Amber J. Rose. 2017. Old Norse Mythology—Comparative Perspectives. Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature 3. Cambridge, MA: Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebook:CHS_HermannP_etal_eds.Old_Norse_Mythology.2017

#forn sidr #norse paganism #norse pagan #norse mythology #asatru #heathenry #rokkatru #vanatru #norse folklore

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laugaheim · 1 year

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Yo fellow (norse) pagans! I often see people task about "working with" the deities, and I'm honestly so confused on that topic?? What do ya'll mean with that lol. Never heard of that way of practicing asa before seeing it online

#oh and why all the altars #isn't that christian #currently i really dont do any larger sort of practice with my asatru #mostly because i'd probably look into participate in blót #but I haven't bothered #might join forn sidr in the future who knows #norse pagan #pagan #paganism #asatru #norse

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studies-in-heathenry · 11 months

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I am definitely also implicating myself when I say that heathens, especially American heathens, need to be more active in opposing racism within the heathen community. Our symbols and gods are being used as signs of hate and if we want to avoid losing the entire practice to hate groups, we need to not just say we’re anti-racist but also demonstrate it.

#norse paganism #forn sidr #norse heathenry #heathenry #american asatru #american forn sidr #anti-racist #inclusive heathenry #racism mention tw #i know this isn't groundbreaking stuff but I'm just so fed up with it #all heathens of color feel free to self promo

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skaldish · 10 months

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Do you think animism can sometimes get too close to anthropomorphizing other creatures

Not if you understand the word in the correct sense.

Most definitions of Animism you'll find online go something like this: "Animism is the belief that everything has a soul or vital essence to it."

This is often extrapolated to mean: "Animism is the belief that everything has human-like sentience."

But this is all based on how "animism" and "souls" are understood from a Christian point of view, and what Animism looks like from a Christian perspective is not going to give you much insight into how it functions.

A more accurate definition of Animism goes something like this:

Animism is any paradigm that acknowledges the interconnected nature of all things, and that all things were, are, and will continue to be defined in relation to each other. Everything both seen and unseen is part of the same ecosystem.

The "everything has a soul" bit is a rough interpretation of how Animistic paradigms don't view "the spiritual" and "the mundane" as separate things, but rather as phenomena occurring within the same ecosystem…including sub-ecosystems like individual living beings. Any lines drawn between "the spiritual" and "the mundane" are purely interpretive, because like anything in any ecosystem, removing one collapses the whole.

Whether or not this begets "everything having a soul" sort of just depends on how you want to draw those lines, and how you define the concept of "soul" or "vital essence."

Now, with that all said, let's talk about anthropomorphism.

(Note that I only speak about this within the context of Norse Heathen Animism, and that the following doesn't represent all Animistic paradigms.)

Anthropomorphism is a kind of personification, and personification in Norse Heathenry serves an allegorical function: It helps us portray what a spirit is like to a general audience.

Experiencing spirits is weird, at least for me, because the experience is built on a confluence of things: The spirit's astral appearance and how my mind interprets it, their material manifestation if they have one (it's usually commonplace, like an object or phenomenon), their apparent sentience, their accompanying vibes, information received via mental downloads, and any other "reading" I may get through various channels of perception. All these things work together to create the experience of the spirit. If that experience is human-like, then it makes sense to portray that spirit as human-like when describing them.

Personally, I don't see anthropomorphism as an issue on principle; it's a feature, not a flaw. It's only an issue when people don't understand what it's for, or misuse/misunderstand the function it serves. If you're trying to interpret it as literal rather than allegory, then the resulting confusion is going to make for a rough time.

#norse paganism #norse polytheism #heathenism #animism #forn sidr #answered

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