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    Getting Started as a Heathen

    So I've been familiarizing myself with the runes, but I'd like to take my practice to the next level and I'd like to get tips and maybe leads from the kind folks here.

    As a heathen, how do you incorporate the concept of Asatru into your everyday life? Rituals? Prayers? I'd love to hear them all.

    #2
    ishlautbolUnverifed/unverifiable/unsubstantiated Personal Gnosis). Just don't pass off UPG as fact, realize it's your own UPG otherwise it becomes MUS (Made Up Shit). Because there is so much UPG, others will have different things to say, possibly including the infamous "You're doing it wrong".

    That's pretty much it as far as ritual. The most important aspect, many Heathens say, is the idea of living for your community and tribe, and keeping frith. Some say it's more important to focus on the ancestors, but I feel closer to the gods.
    śivāya vishnu rūpaya śivaḥ rūpaya vishnave
    śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Getting Started as a Heathen

      Familiarizing oneself with Runes is not enough. In depth study of the Runes will greatly help with your understanding and different aspects of the Norse spiritual lore that are usually overlooked by most. I'd suggest reading the Havamal, that'd be a great start.

      Also, whenever you're ready, set up your altar. If you feel/identify certain connection with a particular deity, you can dedicate a shrine for him/her and decorate it with appropriate items that relate to them. There you can perform your sacrifice and prayer.

      I meditate on runes daily and do sacrifice as well, which consists of food and alcoholic beverage. However, as you form your relationship with different gods and goddesses of the Norse Pantheon, you'd realize that honoring your patron/patroness can be done in various ways.
      For example, I honor Odin by seeking knowledge and thank him for gaining new understanding, I honor Tyr by being firm and just when I pass judgement and take actions, I honor Thor by giving the physical pain I feel as an offering and thank him for the strength I have to endure the pain. The list continues and it would manifest in different ways in your life.

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        #4
        Re: Getting Started as a Heathen

        Originally posted by Thorbjorn View Post
        Just don't pass off UPG as fact, realize it's your own UPG otherwise it becomes MUS (Made Up Shit). Because there is so much UPG, others will have different things to say, possibly including the infamous "You're doing it wrong".
        I'm borrowing this for a blog post on information discernment...you are my acronym hero of the day!
        Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
        sigpic

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          #5
          Re: Getting Started as a Heathen

          Originally posted by thalassa View Post
          I'm borrowing this for a blog post on information discernment...you are my acronym hero of the day!
          I found my calling.
          śivāya vishnu rūpaya śivaḥ rūpaya vishnave
          śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Getting Started as a Heathen

            I was very impressed by this book (not all the Llewellyn list is fluffy!)
            A practical heathen's guide to Asatru, by Patricia Lafayllve
            You get three chapters on rituals, for example. Patricia is down-to-earth, practical, and tries to avoid controversy and UPG. For example
            In its simplest form, a blot can look something like this. You can grab a bottle of beer from the fridge, pop the cap, go outside, make the hammer sign over the bottle's mouth, say "hail", drink a bit of the beer, pour the rest onto the ground, and go back inside. That's a blot.
            From that simple beginning, she works up to a harvest festival, a wedding, and even a funeral.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Getting Started as a Heathen

              Originally posted by Thorbjorn View Post
              Every morning before going out I go to my altar
              If it's alright to ask, what is the nature/appearance of this altar of yours?

              - - - Updated - - -

              Originally posted by Niall_Leppu View Post
              Familiarizing oneself with Runes is not enough. In depth study of the Runes will greatly help with your understanding and different aspects of the Norse spiritual lore that are usually overlooked by most. I'd suggest reading the Havamal, that'd be a great start.

              Also, whenever you're ready, set up your altar. If you feel/identify certain connection with a particular deity, you can dedicate a shrine for him/her and decorate it with appropriate items that relate to them. There you can perform your sacrifice and prayer.

              I meditate on runes daily and do sacrifice as well, which consists of food and alcoholic beverage. However, as you form your relationship with different gods and goddesses of the Norse Pantheon, you'd realize that honoring your patron/patroness can be done in various ways.
              For example, I honor Odin by seeking knowledge and thank him for gaining new understanding, I honor Tyr by being firm and just when I pass judgement and take actions, I honor Thor by giving the physical pain I feel as an offering and thank him for the strength I have to endure the pain. The list continues and it would manifest in different ways in your life.
              I've just gotten hold of a copy of it and the Eddas. I'll start reading them right away. Thanks!

              - - - Updated - - -

              Originally posted by DavidMcCann View Post
              I was very impressed by this book (not all the Llewellyn list is fluffy!)
              A practical heathen's guide to Asatru, by Patricia Lafayllve
              You get three chapters on rituals, for example. Patricia is down-to-earth, practical, and tries to avoid controversy and UPG. For example

              From that simple beginning, she works up to a harvest festival, a wedding, and even a funeral.
              Would it be possible or proper to reference UPG then when dealing with people other than myself who wish to practice the same faith too? Like if we were to set up a kindred?

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Getting Started as a Heathen

                Originally posted by Cynica the Ageless View Post
                Would it be possible or proper to reference UPG then when dealing with people other than myself who wish to practice the same faith too? Like if we were to set up a kindred?
                Multiple UPG is generally referred to as SPG (shared personal gnosis)...

                this might be a useful convo to read
                Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
                sigpic

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Getting Started as a Heathen

                  Originally posted by Cynica the Ageless View Post
                  If it's alright to ask, what is the nature/appearance of this altar of yours?
                  I don't mind at all, nothing secretive about a shrine. Mine happens to be in a corner of the dining room. This picture is a bit outdated, I've since changed it a bit. I move things around, add a few things. Heathen altars tend to become a bit busy over time. But they need not be, I happen to be plagued with OCPD (obsessive compulsive personality order) and GAD (generalized anxiety disorder). An altar really can be nothing more than a picture of a deity, a candle, and a bowl and drinking cup for a toast. It's whatever one's means allow. The only things I bought were the statue, horn, seax and hammer. I printed the pictures myself from the internet and framed them. I found the other stuff around.

                  Altar.JPG

                  Pictures on wall: Odin, Thor, Freyr. My little homage to the temple at Uppsala. Two small wood plaques I burned, thurisaz and
                  śivāya vishnu rūpaya śivaḥ rūpaya vishnave
                  śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Getting Started as a Heathen

                    There is one little thing I'd disagree with, on a slight level, and that is the role of runes. At least for me, much of my learning and connection to the divine has come through the study and exploration of the runes themselves and how the relate to each other. Runes are sound, sound is vibration, vibration is energy, and energy may change form but can never truly disappear. Therefore, the energy of what created everything is the energy of the runes themselves. They represent the gods, give insight into the culture, explore the practices, and even show the progression of existence.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Getting Started as a Heathen

                      Originally posted by Thorbjorn View Post
                      I don't mind at all, nothing secretive about a shrine. Mine happens to be in a corner of the dining room. This picture is a bit outdated, I've since changed it a bit. I move things around, add a few things. Heathen altars tend to become a bit busy over time. But they need not be, I happen to be plagued with OCPD (obsessive compulsive personality order) and GAD (generalized anxiety disorder). An altar really can be nothing more than a picture of a deity, a candle, and a bowl and drinking cup for a toast. It's whatever one's means allow. The only things I bought were the statue, horn, seax and hammer. I printed the pictures myself from the internet and framed them. I found the other stuff around.

                      [ATTACH=CONFIG]4228[/ATTACH]

                      (snip)
                      Your altar is very nice!
                      Army of Darkness: Guardians of the Chat

                      Honorary Nord.

                      Habbalah Vlogs

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                        #12
                        Re: Getting Started as a Heathen

                        Originally posted by habbalah View Post
                        Your altar is very nice!
                        Thank you.
                        śivāya vishnu rūpaya śivaḥ rūpaya vishnave
                        śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Getting Started as a Heathen

                          That altar is pretty rad! And what a wicked seax you have :=o::=o::=o:

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Getting Started as a Heathen

                            Thanks. The seax is about 17" long.
                            śivāya vishnu rūpaya śivaḥ rūpaya vishnave
                            śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Getting Started as a Heathen

                              Thank you all for the very insightful input!

                              Next question. Would you guys say that knowledge of the creation myths in the Norse Polytheistic Tradition is necessary for practice? And what's your opinion on Norse Magic? I've been reading that although seidr was practiced back then by shamans and the like, it was somewhat frowned upon and viewed as unmanly.

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