Hammerhof

TO I watched this video ( The Future of Heathenry and the Field of Dreams - YouTube ) and I first I was a bit hurt. In the first few moments of the video, he speaks about private property temples and communities, what he calls the field of dreams concept. Basically, this is the idea of building a private property Hof and then building a community around it. Sort of something I have thought of doing. He goes on to talk about the current state, nature, of modern heathen communities. on these issues I agree. Watch the video, then come back. In the past I have written about this and said that if I build it when you come? I have also spoken about community building, the big nationals or "umbrella groups", and I written about solitary practice. Over the decades I have been involved in Heathenry I have gone back and forth between solitary and communal in my practice. I have also gone back and forth on if community building is really all that great at all. I have also said, act local...

Dæggehwilc sidu is Old English for a daily custom or ritual. I have had some sort of religious daily ritual for many years, sometimes it lapses and others I do it religiously (I crack myself up!).  A lot of heathens do his, some do it by the book and other have their own style. I tend to do a little of both. In the morning I get up and I go about my business. Once I wash and I feel ready to actually start the day, I take a walk to a little spot on my property, and I hail the day. A Some heathens recite the hail straight from Sigrdrífumál ; Hail, day! Hail, sons of day! And night and her daughter[9] 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 . I tend to go a bit different and make my morning béde more personal. I face the east, raise my arms to the sky and say; Hail Sunna! Hail th...

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 ...

Unverifiable Personal Gnosis is dismissed by some Heathens because it cannot be verified by some written source. UPG is when an individual gains an understanding of a god, spirit, myth, or ritual by means of intuition or the experience of communication with a non-human entity. Therefore, it cannot be verified by the sources, it is a personal experience. I can see why some would doubt this knowledge and reject it a s a BS. However, take the source. Is the person who has had his experience trustworthy, honorable, truthful, and wise? Do you trust them? The Lore Be afraid, be very afraid! The reconstruction of ancient Heathenry has put a lot of emphasis on The Lore . Making his the be all end all of knowledge. First, the lore is important in understanding and recreating the spiritual and religious practices of the ancient Heathens. However, it was transcribed by Christian monks and has been interpreted by a lot of people with different ideas. Pick up a few copies of Hávamál , go the s...

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 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 to 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 am going 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 dail...

  Eclecticism in Heathenry is the idea that the Heathen has taken what he knows from the lore, history, and archaeology and basically filling in the missing parts based on instinct or other religious practices. Often eclectics borrow from other religions and traditions that feel right. This includes things like burning sage, drumming, and even holytides and even gods in some cases. The problem with this is that reconstructionists and orthodox Heathens have a real problem with this. They feel that tis is a “corruption” of the “true” faith. I look at myself as a liberal reconstructionist. That is, I feel it is ok to filling the blacks based on a gut feeling. I have a Anlo-Saxon gods and Norse gods all together and I draw from the Saxon and Norse traditions for a lot of my practices. I also incorporate drums and incense (sage) in my ritual. One reason for this is that when I found Asatru it was simple a Norse system. As I grew and became educated, my belief system evolved. I do not ...

 Take a look at the various Asatru organizations and groupings out there on the web there is a likelihood they will have a link to Heathen Holidays. You can also do a Google search and find a lot of links about heathen holidays and Wikipedia has a complete breakdown of Heathen holidays and days of remembrance.  From source to source you will see some similarities and some differences. In Some cases, the names are different, in others the dates. These holidays are different between Heathen sects as well. Anglo-Saxon Heathens and Theodish Heathens have different holidays by name and date. Essentially there is no standardization in the Heathen holiday schedule. Heathen holidays ten to fall all over the place. On the solstice, a full moon, a new moon, a date recorded by some scholar monk in the way back days… It is pretty much open to interpretation by whatever person, or a group wants to do. I’m betting some of you are doubting me on this. I have seen list of Heathen holidays r...