Community and Solitude

Heathens have been struggling to build communities for about five decades now. These communities are like the ocean in that they come in waves. The swell in the sea and break on the banks of the Earth. I have seen many Heathen communities grow, shrink, scatter, splinter, and simple break. There ae so many causes for these destructive forces, but the main reason is that we are a modern people and we live in a modern world. People come and go as individuals or families and simply disappear. It is just the way our society is structured.

In ancient times people moved in tribal units. The depended on each for survival. We know there were tribal customs and eventually laws about the disabled, lame, and those who were a “burden to the tribe” wherein these folks could be ritually sacrificed or simply left to die in the wilderness. These acts were for the good of the tribe, but today are unheard of in our modern world. The tribal peoples needed to stick together, be health, strong, and willing to work for the common good of the tribe. We simply do not have that kind of dedication today. We are not ass community centric as the Ancestors were, and there are simply to few heathens to have areas of high concentration of like folks to commune with.

There are Heathen communities. Many of you call them kindreds, tribes, or followships. They are more or less a few folks who get together at someone’s house for a blot or other event. Yes, some are related, some are friends, and some are just simply there to be with other Heathens. Most are loose collectives, or congregations. They show up for the services and hang around for tea, coffee, and biscuits after. I know some of you will say, “Not my tribe!” but yeah.

The hard part of community building is finding people. Its geographic. Depending on where you live there may be more, less, public, privet, or hiding in the closet Heathens. You have to find them. You might think the internet is the way to go, be careful and good luck. The problem with the internet is it is impersonal and easy to fake it. I have never found a local Heathen through the internet or social media. However, I have been connected to people on social media by people I do know. As I have said before, I live in a Heathen black hole. I know of no heathens in a 20-mile radius of my home. There are Heathens in my State and in the neighboring States that I do know and have had actual social contact with, but as far as I know none live close to me.

This brings us to being solitary. Many Heathens that have some sort of community grouping will insist that you need to be part of a community. Some will say you are not Heathen unless you are. Huginn’s Heathen Hof released some statistics years ago that say that 64% of Heathens are solitary. About half of this number said they were solitary because they new of no other Heathens hear them, other said that there was bigotry in the groups near them, other said they just could not find a group or other heathens that they fit with.

For me there are several reason I am now solitary. For one, its location. Second, would be I cannot find Heathens I can fit in with or that can get along with me for long enough periods of time to create bonds. Finally, in my old age I am just getting more solitary. I prefer to be a lone and do my own thing. That doesn’t mean I would turn down someone I liked and could be friends with. Heathen community building was once my main goal as a Heathen, but today not so much. I focus mor om me and my children, I focus on building my own thews and no so much on how other people say I should be “doing” Heathen.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The upcoming articles will be more about what I am doing and how I am doing it. This includes my Hof project, other writings, and just the way I “do” Heathen. Thanks for reading.