Formation of an Association of Heathen Priests or a Church

[sirz345]

Re: Formation of an Association of Heathen Priests or a Church

HAHA! Yes I believe an organization that formalizes and identifies the sects varying beliefs would be excellent, just as it would be excellent for the other sects to come together to condemn the white supremacist sects. Given that there is evidence the Norse used doors in their temples, and that there are plenty of nonlethal but irritating (nonpermanent of course) ways to keep wild animals away I think there wouldn't be too much of a problem. Perhaps we could simply build two temples or build the exact same temple within the same building twice, one identical section is for nonsacrifice heathens, the other is for sacrifice heathens. (I am overgeneralizing that all who are ok with meat offerings are sacrificial but I think you get the idea :P)

[Wardruna]

Re: Formation of an Association of Heathen Priests or a Church

I'm a very recent convert to Asatru, but I seem to find it difficult, if not impossible to find folks around to talk about the God(ess)s with. I think a temple would be an amazing place to meet people, and a wonderful opportunity to make a sort of pilgrimage to visit & honor the Gods, Goddesses & spirits. I hate.. absolutely hate referencing "Vikings" for stuff, but sort of how they had their temple that they traveled to & payed tribute to, it would be freaking awesome to see something like this. It could be the center for traditional worshiping services, and could be a great place to hold annual festivals (like a main festival on one of the main holidays) where people from across the whole country could meet one another, and make new connections. I think it could help the Heathen faith (Asatru, Odinism, etc) grow, and would be a powerful place to honor the ones we hold dear.

However, having an established "church" doesn't seem necessary, or even good. I think the temple would be plenty.. that, coupled with an organization of Heathens, would do well in its intended message & mission.

[Norse_Angel]

Re: Formation of an Association of Heathen Priests or a Church

Hail!
Great news relating to this topic has emerged. The Icelandic pagans have commenced the building of the first Asatru temple the world has seen in the last thousand years. Yes, all the hype was true, they have started the building process. Very excited, I will be visiting when the construction is finished. Time will tell how well they fair. Go ahead and google the topic for more information

[Ullr's Chaote]

Re: Formation of an Association of Heathen Priests or a Church

Personally I'm more in favour of the loose associations of priests/esses than anything more formal such as a church. Bring in anything more structured would open up the floodgates of increased elitism (Certain heathen groups claiming they are superior because the Heathen church supports them/they have a church). It could potentially lead to standardization which would cause more issues between revivalists and reconstructionists and those stuck in between. Another potential issue would be exploitation through which certain more prominent members could push their beliefs upon others using their status to seem more accurate when really it would mostly be UPG. My main concern though is, as we all know, the skinhead groups and Folkish Heathens are quite, well, vocal in their beliefs. If they are vocal enough they could potentially become the most known factor or group of Heathenry. Think of it as if when someone thought of Christianity all they thought it was is the Westboro Baptist Church. It would be terrible. There would be widespread public condemnation of the faith and the belief system as a whole. I propose a loose association of loose federation of Kindreds and priests with no central authority or hierarchy outside of the individual groups so as to preserve the nuances in faith while allowing groups to come together to have discussions on different topics to get different points of view and better access o resources and religious recognition from governments and other such institutions. Now this is not to say I don't want temples erected but I think it would be best to allow a non standardization for them. Allow different Kindreds to reserve them for certain times (For things like Yule just have a communal gathering as for the most part rituals are practiced the same) and aside from common iconography and commonly accepted things require the group using the temple to bring their more individual pieces. That way we can have a physical place of worship without a standardisation of faith.

[Munin-Hugin]

Re: Formation of an Association of Heathen Priests or a Church

As many have said here, I think the biggest issue with this sort of thing would be the various "sects" and variants of Asatru, Heathenism, Northern Tradition, Rokkatru, and the like. I'm not sure that an Asatruar would feel very comfortable visiting a location with an altar dedicated to Loki or the Jotnar, and I cannot see a Rokkatruar wanting to visit a place where those concepts are NOT represented.

[sirz345]

Re: Formation of an Association of Heathen Priests or a Church

Personally I'm more in favour of the loose associations of priests/esses than anything more formal such as a church. Bring in anything more structured would open up the floodgates of increased elitism (Certain heathen groups claiming they are superior because the Heathen church supports them/they have a church). It could potentially lead to standardization which would cause more issues between revivalists and reconstructionists and those stuck in between. Another potential issue would be exploitation through which certain more prominent members could push their beliefs upon others using their status to seem more accurate when really it would mostly be UPG. My main concern though is, as we all know, the skinhead groups and Folkish Heathens are quite, well, vocal in their beliefs. If they are vocal enough they could potentially become the most known factor or group of Heathenry. Think of it as if when someone thought of Christianity all they thought it was is the Westboro Baptist Church. It would be terrible. There would be widespread public condemnation of the faith and the belief system as a whole. I propose a loose association of loose federation of Kindreds and priests with no central authority or hierarchy outside of the individual groups so as to preserve the nuances in faith while allowing groups to come together to have discussions on different topics to get different points of view and better access o resources and religious recognition from governments and other such institutions. Now this is not to say I don't want temples erected but I think it would be best to allow a non standardization for them. Allow different Kindreds to reserve them for certain times (For things like Yule just have a communal gathering as for the most part rituals are practiced the same) and aside from common iconography and commonly accepted things require the group using the temple to bring their more individual pieces. That way we can have a physical place of worship without a standardisation of faith.

I'm actually proposing a loose association, rather we as a whole association will make decisions with donations and the other thing, the group will mainly serve to just give us some kind of unifying body that curious people can use to find info on heathenism as well as (after a democratic vote among the kindreds) give donation money to the winner of the election on the agreement it is used to fund construction of a temple or other democratically approved heathen needs (maybe even donating a statue of Thor to a park (just spit balling here)).

[Ullr's Chaote]

Re: Formation of an Association of Heathen Priests or a Church

I'm actually proposing a loose association, rather we as a whole association will make decisions with donations and the other thing, the group will mainly serve to just give us some kind of unifying body that curious people can use to find info on heathenism as well as (after a democratic vote among the kindreds) give donation money to the winner of the election on the agreement it is used to fund construction of a temple or other democratically approved heathen needs (maybe even donating a statue of Thor to a park (just spit balling here)).

That sounds very agreeable. I would definitely be in for that.

[Teletzia]

Re: Formation of an Association of Heathen Priests or a Church

I don't mind the idea of temples - I would quite actually enjoy the fellowship - just don't let the term "folkish" anywhere near one of them.