Heathenism?

[Curious Wanderer]

Hey folks!

I'm not that new to Heathenism, but I'm no pro. I've been studying and researching for a while, but I've recently halted that due to school.

So I was wondering if anyone knows good sources on basic stuff. Good building blocks. Because I think I just dove right into it and some of it confuses me.

Also, I'm a bit self conscious about my race. I know that heathenism isn't really meant to be racist and only for a certain group of people, but a lot of people do, and those people are the loudest. I'm Asian by the way, hello! But ya, it worries me because what if one day I run into some guy or girl who is a heathen and I strike up a conversation and then they or someone overhearing me bombards me with the whole "Whad'you know 'bout dis stuff, you no Heathen, you can't be no Heathen cuz you ain't white bruh. You ain't got da genes. Yo ancestors be wimps yo. Dem gods ain't be happy with yuh. Nuh uh." ... sorry, got carried away... but ya, something like that... or... idk... it worries me that's all I'm saying (I'm fine with my race, but I'm worried about the opinions of others). It also worries me because I don't want to be getting my information from a source that supports racism and white supremacy.

[Rae'ya]

Re: Heathenism?

Some Heathen groups are racist, but most aren't. In the Heathen communities, the term that indicates a group is likely to care about race is 'folkish' or sometimes 'volkish'. You wont find much of that here, thankfully.

In terms of sources etc... a great place to start is the Heathen Board here at PaganForum. We have all sorts of discussions, Q&A threads, resource lists and booklists in there. I'd head over and read as many of the threads as possible, then post up any questions or discussion points you have.

[Varga]

Re: Heathenism?

It's quite common that people are interested about traditions their ancestors have practiced (i'm Finnish so i have one foot in Heathen traditions and other foot in Fenno-Ugric traditions), but i don't think that Deities care about peoples race or where they come from. This is just my opinion, but i believe that Deities are more interested about characteristics people have, and they choose and call their followers based on those characteristics. So if you feel that Heathenism is right thing for you - go for it, and don't give a toss about those people who are trying to give you that "white supremacy" crap.
Unfortunately, there are always people who believe that their way of practice a religion is the only right way, so the criticism cannot be avoided. (Despite the fact that "i have right genes for my religion", even i have had some crap from true Heathens and true Fenno-Ugric believers. It seems that i'm heretic because i'm mixing these two religions together - just like my ancestors did.) :devil: Just try to keep in mind that what you believe in is the matter between you and the Deities you serve.
Most websites where i gather information about Heathenism are written in finnish, but here is one site written in english and is free of racism: http://www.theasatrucommunity.org/?cat=789

[Rick]

Re: Heathenism?

http://www.paganforum.com/showthread.php?115-Heathen-Resources

This thread is all about websites, books, etc pertaining to Heathenism... good luck!