Hammerhof

I have spent the greater part of the past 30 years community building in the Heathen community. I have learned that community building with Heathens has its ups and downs. Sometimes the dam bursts and you are overwhelmed by support and Heathens coming out of the woodwork. Other times you are alone in the woods praying to the gods and considering going it alone. Most of my years as a Heathen have been going it alone. It seems that is just the way it goes in the modern Heathen world, most of the time you are alone. I have my kids, they were raised Heathen and have known nothing else. At one time we hade a big tribe, 4 families and a about ten individuals. In the modern world that was short lived. People move about for work, school, or just out of wander lust. It is the way of the world. I have gone back and forth on going it alone and community building many times in my years in the Heathen realm. Even now as I contemplate building a temple, for Heathens, I still doubt that I want to i...

 No Picture Available There has been some discussion on an Asatru Facebook group about what happens after death. The comments and responses have been interesting, but not at all inline with Heathenry.   Many of the comments have been about becoming a light force, spiritual entity, or a simple who knows comment. As A heathen I have to say I am a bit shocked. Despite fact that traditions varied form tribe to tribe and region to region, the concept of death and the afterlife have been pretty much the same. Basically, all who die descend into Hel, some stay some move on to other realms. So, Hel. Not your Christian realm of fire, brimstone, and torcher… the pre-Christians were not so evil (for lack of a better word). Hel was basically this world on the other side. When you die you go to Hel. There is no transference of a soul or spirit, you go to Hel. You become a “non-Human being” and you go to Hel. Did I mention you go to Hel? You continue your life in Hel as you did in the rea...

I have been watching a lot of videos on YouTube about Yule and what Heathen Yule is, when it is, and how it should be celebrated. As usual, a lot of criticism towards the old guard and Asatru. Believe me I am with them on that, and I was to some extent a part of it. Over the past 40 years my beliefs, practices, and ways of worship have altered and changed. There are a few schools on Yule and the Heathen holydays in general. What it comes down to is the sun, the moon, and historically accurate or not so much. If we look at the historically accurate group, they will tell you that the moon dictated when Yule was held not the solstice. This puts Yule in January or February, and they site the Sagas, Eddas, and history. They are not wrong. The modern traditionalists Asatru types state that Yule is on the Solstice in December and is roughly around the 21 st or 22 nd . So, when is Yule? Yule was defined as a 12-day event (i.e., the 12-Days or Yule/Christmas) and other state that the facts...

Throughout my Heathen life, I have tried to have daily routines that I do to bring spirituality to the world around me. We do not, and probably cannot, see the world the way The Ancestors [1] did. Our world is mundane, full of science and explanations to “why” things are. Seeing mysticism and magic doesn’t come easy. I sated that I “try” to have a daily routine. This does not always happen. In fact, most of the time it does not happen. Why? Well, because I let the modern world get in the way. Got to make coffee, get the kids up and off to school, go to work…and so on. By the time I think about a morning bede (prayer) I’m in the car and halfway too the office. I have read in several books, a few websites, and countless blogs that as Heathens we should have a daily ritual routine. I have read that The Ancestors did this and we should too. I amgoing to make an educated guess here and say that the idea that pre-Christian peoples, namely the Indo-European Tribes may have had some sort of d...

I have given a lot of thought to the cycles of the moon and lunar calendars. We know that the pre-Christian Anglo-Saxons and other Germanic Tribes lived their lives by the cycles of the sun and the moon. We know that the months started and ended on the full moon and not the new moon. Contemporary written evidence shows us that the moon was used determine months in pre-Christan England.   The ancient English people […] reckoned their months by the course of eh moon, just as they were named from the moon just as they were named from in Hebrew and Greek. Accordingly, they called the moon móna, the month was called mónaþ. – Bede, De Mensibus Anglorum The archeological and written evidence that exists today shows us that t the sun, moon, and solstices all played a role in the everyday lives of the pre-Christian Anglo-Saxons as well as their religious lives. The religious celebrations or holytides were placed throughout the year not by a calendar date for a lunar, solar, or seasonal cyc...

  I believe there is a guilt complex going about in Pagan/Heathen circles. Let’s face it the vast majority of Norse Pagan/Heathens or Germanic pagans are whit. This is not a lie but a fact. In my thirty-seven years of practice I have met, in person or on the internet, one person who practiced Germanic Paganism or Asatru that was not a white Norther European. One. Let that sink in. We are not a culturally or racially diverse group. I did a bit of research when I started writing this. I looked at the member makeup of Asatru groups on Facebook, groups that consider themselves inclusive or universalist. I looked at profile pictures, names, and even reviewed some of the profiles. I found there are a whole lot of white people in these groups and that’s about it. So, why is that? Historically, what many call Asatru today started as a white thing. I am not saying that people of color were excluded, I am just saying white people were interested in the platform. I am guessing this is bec...

That’s right I said it, Asatru is not for everyone. Asatru is an organized religion much like Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. The modern Asatru movement is comprised of a lot of different national groups all who have acquired their 303c papers from the government establishing them as an official religious organization. They then set up their own rules and regulations, theological ideas about how they want their members to worship and practice and create dogmas. Some of you might be saying, “Wait a minute here. That not how it is!”. Sorry, yes, it is. I have been around tis national Asatru group scene for thirty-seven years. In my early years coming out of the organized Christian church I thought that this is the way. You Leave one organized church for another. I could not have been more wrong. Most of these groups are run by a select few, usually founding members who intentionally or not create a template for membership and worship. This template is a one size fits all method. The p...