Ongoing Research: Ásatrú/Heathen

Rose-Red (The Moon's Daughter) by Woodland

With Each post I thought I would include some of my favorite Pagan and Folk music.

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An essential part of any Pagan tradition is ongoing learning. No matter how long you have walked the path there is always something new to learn. I feel it's very important to study all backgrounds, even ones you may think you would never follow. There is something to learn from everyone. As I read, study and experience certain paths I'll post about them here.



A Brief Introduction

Ásatrú literally means "faith in the gods". It is Germanic in origin. This includes Germany as well as the modern day Scandinavian countries and parts of England. It also included many cultures that have since intermixed into other societies. Ásatrú is also referred to as Odinism but this is based upon the preference of the individual. Ásatrú does not focus on just the god, Odin, but follows a whole pantheon of Gods and Goddesses who represent different aspects of the world, life, and culture. The Gods and Goddesses belong to two families Ǽsir and the Vanir. Ásatrúar (followers of Ásatrú) practice by a set of nine virtues: courage, truth, honor, fidelity, discipline, hospitality, industry, self reliance, and perseverance.

Ásatrú emphasizes personal experiences, however, groups do exist and are generally called félagið (small groups), lagur (larger groups), kindreds, goðorðs, hearths, and other historical based names. A priest is referred to as Goði, priestess Gyðia and plural as Goðar. In Old Norse this means chieftain.

Magic does not play as much of a major roll within Ásatrú as it does, for example, Wicca but many do practice. I will be going more in depth into the more commonly used magic of modern Ásatrú and that of the Germanic peoples later.

What is Heathen

Heathen, mistranslated from its original form, became a term used when referring to anyone not of an Abrahamic religion who worshiped many gods. Christians historically used this term to describe those who had different belief systems as barbaric, godless and irreligious. In the modern day revival of the religion of the Germanic people, some followers have chosen to be known as Heathen.

Religious Holidays

• January 31: Disablót
• March 21: Ostara
• April 30: Valpurgis
• June 21: Midsummer
• July 31: Freyafest
• September 23: Haustblót
• October 31: Winter Nights
• December 21: Yule
  
  

Upcoming research topics

I'm hoping to do more in depth posts on the following:

• The history of Ásatrú & the Germanic peoples
• The rituals of Ásatrú
• Runemagic
• The Gods and Goddesses of Ásatrú
• The Edda
  

Reading List

If you are interested in learning more about Ásatrú here are a few suggestions that I found to get started and learn along with me:

• Essential Ásatrú by Diana Paxon
• The Poetic Edda translated by Lee Hollander (poetic and adapted translation)*
• The Poetic Edda translated by Caroline Larrington (literal translation)*
  *Based upon a review I have read
  

The Essential First Post

I was never very good at keeping blogs. I can't decide if it's because I simply ran out of time and forgot about them or because of the pressure of keeping it active and interesting, not that I have really kept too many blogs. Fret not though, dear reader who has happened upon this page, for I have no plans what so ever for this blog. Yes, for I thought the lack of planning ahead is the true path to success. If there is such a thing as success when keeping a blog. Enough of my rambling.

What is this blog about?

Well, as you may have guessed, I am girl who happens to be following the pagan path. Besides writing in my own tome, I thought it would be interesting to keep a public blog of my experiences or lack there of. To keep it completely open I also wanted to keep it anonymous. Not because I am locked away in the proverbial broom closet but because my spiritual way matters not about my given name, profession or picture. What matters is how I walk the earthen path and what I learn along the way.

Aren't we all modern?

By modern I mean I'm a typical web surfing, social network tweeting, Facebooking, iPhone toting, gamer, techie nerd. I like to consider myself the third generation of the neopagan population. First generation being the likes of Gerald Gardner and Ross Nichols, second being the current leaders or elders of their Orders and third being me and others like me, the young adults.

A little about me

As I previously said, I am a young woman who is walking the pagan path. I happened upon this path when I was just a young girl and despite all of my experiences, road blocks and detours, always seem to find my way back to it. Being about midway through my 20s and making my way out of yet another detour I have found my way back home into the loving arms of my Lord and Lady. Finding Paganism on my own and being terribly shy, I have never had a formal mentor. I have learned everything I know from my own experiences and research thus far. I am interested in the ancient history and traditions of paganism and tend to favor the traditions of Western Europe such a Druidry and the Celts but I also have an interest in Native American traditions. I supposed then it wouldn't surprise you to learn that I am American and as such come from a myriad of backgrounds such as Irish, Scottish and Ojibwe.


Thank you for visiting my blog and please feel free to leave comments and visit again in the future. If you have a pagan based blog of your own please do leave me a link and I would love to follow your posts!

Cheers!