Heathen Q&A

[TaiganPagan]

Re: Heathen Q&A

I agree about that the notion of purity to practice Heathenry is meaningless in the 21st century.
My ancestry is also very mixed: French, English, German, Iroquois....

[Maythe]

Re: Heathen Q&A

I'm not bonded to any one particular god but I do have particular affection for Freya and Thor.

[Sin]

Re: Heathen Q&A

Ooooooh I seee cool

so how do you guys worship these gods/goddesses you have preference to?

[Thjoth]

Re: Heathen Q&A

Oaths, sacrifices, that sort of thing. Oaths can pretty much take any form and they're sworn before the gods, so breaking them is very, very serious business. Some oaths also take the form of deals, IE if desirable outcome X comes to pass, I will do Y for you in Z timeframe. The sacrifices these days are usually libations of ale or mead. They were traditionally animal sacrifices, but we generally only still do animal sacrifices for special occasions, for obvious logistical reasons. Its actually kind of hard to think of all the different things we do offhand, im sure someone else will fill in what I've forgotten.

[TaiganPagan]

Re: Heathen Q&A

We have events called Bloats, which varies from 6 to 14 a year depending on the system. Basically, it's an invitation and/or spontaneous gather based party or solemn rituals.
Amongst the common rituals are:
The sharing of alcohol between the people and a part is given to the Ancestors, and Gods, by dripping it on the ground.
Some make a meal for the Gods and Ancestors which food is left an a altar, which later can be burned, earthen or sent to the water.
Some make sacrifices to Gods, Ancestors, or Nature itself, of animal (blood sacrifice, and it's rare), raw grain throwing, seasonal fruits or nuts throwing.
The example of an animal sacrifice we do at The Day of Spirits aka Ancestor's Day, we (Nature Heathens) take a chicken or a turkey, and the one who holds the Bloat holds the animal, and let one of the invites chop it's neck off. The animal of course is then defeathered, prepared, cooked and shared amongst us, our ancestors and our gods. (If you were a modern Christian, you would think it's a sadistic form of Thanksgiving Celebration)
The parties aka big Celerations are like:
Yule (Equivalent of Christmas for Christians)
Midsummer (Equivalent of St-John's Day)
Harvest Day (Celebrated in August or September depending on the system).

[Maythe]

Re: Heathen Q&A

I make offerings of food or booze. Several times I've made something for a god - a necklace for Freya, a small figurine for Thor and two raven figurines for Odin (although I felt the latter two symbolised him, rather than that I did them for him).

[Sin]

Re: Heathen Q&A

I'm kinda liking what I'm hearing actually

Does your belief hold a particular moral coding.. as in.. does it dictate to you whats right or wrong OR is you're moral understanding picked up from society in general rather than your belief?

[Grim]

Re: Heathen Q&A

Like most groups our morals are picked up from our lore and then clouded by society.

[Crimson Horizons]

Re: Heathen Q&A

[quote author=Sin link=topic=92.msg11929#msg11929 date=1289477069]
I'm kinda liking what I'm hearing actually

Does your belief hold a particular moral coding.. as in.. does it dictate to you whats right or wrong OR is you're moral understanding picked up from society in general rather than your belief?
[/quote]

I would define heathen morals as always doing what is good for kith and kin (read: friends and family) and from there doing what is good for the folk (read: community). Now, while I would say that this moral code is more or less universal, how every individual heathen and kindred/folk goes about doing this is going to vary case by case. What may be good for me and mine might not be good for Thjoth and his kin.

Does society have an influence on this? Sure. What might be good for someone in Lubbock could be bad for someone in Austin, let alone someone in another state (or country, for that matter), all because of the society one lives in. Also, as heathens generally strive to abide by the law of the land, this will also affect how one views what is right and wrong by societal variance.

[TaiganPagan]

Re: Heathen Q&A

We have virtues and charges, see Grim's signature
http://www.paganforum.com/index.php?topic=307.0
and Odinic Rite
http://www.paganforum.com/index.php?topic=128.0

[Crimson Horizons]

Re: Heathen Q&A

[quote author=TaiganPagan link=topic=92.msg12302#msg12302 date=1289537786]
We have virtues and charges, see Grim's signature
http://www.paganforum.com/index.php?topic=307.0
and Odinic Rite
http://www.paganforum.com/index.php?topic=128.0[/quote]

My rebuttal to the above virtues and charges is unchanged. And while I love Grim's signature, I would not call the things highlighted within "charges". Sure, they are generally (again, societal viewpoints change many things) nice things to have, but I wouldn't say that they qualify as a moral code.

[Sin]

Re: Heathen Q&A

So on an ordinary daily basis how does being Heathen affect your routine or daily activities?

[Crimson Horizons]

Re: Heathen Q&A

[quote author=Sin link=topic=92.msg16762#msg16762 date=1290604006]
So on an ordinary daily basis how does being Heathen affect your routine or daily activities?
[/quote]

Not at all or quite a lot, depending upon the way you look at it. I never look at or prepare to do something and then think "ya know, I'm a heathen; I probably should/n't do -X-". Heathenry isn't so much a religion as it is a worldview. Thusly, I don't choose my actions according to my heathenry, it's the actions I choose that make me a heathen. For example, I don't take care of my elderly grandmother because I'm heathen; taking care of my grandmother is part of what makes me a heathen.

That probably makes more sense in my head than in print. Hope it helps, Sin.

[Grim]

Re: Heathen Q&A

Most people I have talked to that have become heathen did not look at Heathenry and say that they like this way of life and will follow it. Instead they look at it and and say," Wow that is the way I believe."

It is rather nice to find our gods and our people that believe the way we believe. That we do not have to bow before society and believe the way it is socially expected to believe. We do not have to feel foolish when we act with honour and people give us strange looks. We live our life the way we want.

[TaiganPagan]

Re: Heathen Q&A

I second what he says!