If you’re a Heathen and you’ve been online in the past couple weeks, you’ve probably noticed a new hashtag surfacing: #HavamalWitches. The sheer volume of posts on this topic has had many wondering what it’s all about or how it got started.
What is a fylgja? A fylgja can be one of two things: the animal shape a person’s spirit takes when he or she journeys, or a semi-autonomous human-shaped entity who is attached to a person’s soul.
The Gospel of Loki, by Joanne Harris is a book of fiction heavily based on the Norse myths; “the myths through Loki’s point of view” (think Wicked and Maleficent).
The old gods are multiplicitous in nature. For nearly every way of being human (or non-human), there is a god who embodies that way of being in their sacred image. How differently would we treat those unlike ourselves if our predominant cultures had so many more gods to relate them to, instead of one unattainable deity to judge them against? I see Polytheism as offering the solution to a desire I think many people hold but may not have a name for: to see ourselves in our gods.
The concept of a fylgja can be a hard one for modern minds to really grasp. An entity that has its own district shape and personality and yet is inextricably woven into an individual or family’s sou
As a farmer, it is understood that if I tend these animals and gardens I’ll gain a means to sustain myself in return. They take care of me as I take care of them. A gifting cycle of sorts. I keep th
In this day and age, it is incredibly easy to go online and find resources. It is actually amazing that so many of us have small devices in our pockets that allow us to look up virtually anything. Of course, this “virtually anything” includes a lot of opinions, especially when you’re researching a religious topic.
As a Heathen, I view public ritual through the lens of hospitality. Knowing how to act in the most respectful way in any situation was (and is) the key to avoiding many unnecessary disagreements in co
American Gods just aired its sixth episode, “A Murder of Gods.” With that many episodes in the wild, we’ve got enough material to put it through its Pagan/Polytheist/Heathen paces. This review i
As a follow-up to our“Offerings for the Gods” article series (Offerings for the Aesir, Vanir, and Jotnar), several of our readers have asked how to make these offerings. There’s no one right way to make offerings, though some ways are more efficient. Here are some of the most common ways of making offerings for the Gods. The key thing to remember with all offerings is to make them with intent and respect.