Need some reputable links to info on Heathenry for a beginner

[KarenNC]

Clearly she is, which is why she posted the request for links! ;)

 

Thank you, Karen, for posting this..  Would you be so kind to post more info, if you have it, on the Neopaganism your family practices now? It sounds fascinating and I am interested in learning more (as I am sure DS will be). :)

 

:) I'm not sure we'd be considered terribly "observant" Neopagans. As I said in another post, we're pretty eclectic (as opposed to someone who is a strict reconstructionist--someone who *does* try to recreate ancient worship as closely as possible with the knowledge we have). Being a "thread hanging off the ball on the end of the fringe" level of common in terms of religion, even among other Neopagans, we really don't have a community of theologically like-minded folks. We have had the opportunity on occasion to go to an ADF Druidic ritual (in general, Druidry is considered Celtic only, but ADF expands to a broader Indo-European focus) https://www.adf.org/rituals/index.html, but piety for us is primarily in pouring the occasional libation of water (or wine or mead or olive oil, even Diet Pepsi in a pinch) or making the occasional offering of barley or bread or service. These are usually done at our outdoor altar in the backyard (a large flat local rock we planted ferns around). We have a small herm (basically a small pile of rocks) at the edge of the property by the driveway.

 

We have several small altars around the house:

• on the mantle---ancestors on the left, with photos of our departed family members, and America/Columbia/Liberty on the right (American flag, Liberty Bell, Statue of Liberty, statue of Freedom (the figure on top of the US Capitol) made with marble that was removed from the front steps of the Capitol during renovations
• in the living room on a bookshelf--Athena, with an owl carved from olive wood from Greece, a small replica of the statue in the Parthenon (from visiting the recreated Parthenon in Nashville), a small replica of the Parthenon, and even a 2003 Princess of the Vikings Barbie (courtesy of my daughter when she was much younger--she thought this Barbie looked just like Athena :) ). This was the bookshelf in which we kept our schoolbooks initially, but that has changed.
• in the kitchen---Hestia, with a small oil lamp and bowl and a figure of a seated woman holding a small bowl, and in the pantry, a kathiskos in honor of Zeus Ktesios https://sites.google.com/site/hellenionstemenos/Home/articles-and-essays/making-a-kathiskos-in-honour-of-zeus-ktesios
• in our bedroom---one for Hera Teleia and Zeus Teleios (their aspects as guardians of marriage) with a large needle point of a peacock hung on an oak and acorn hanger, a picture of a stained glass eagle, a fan with a peacock, a seated statue of Zeus, a candle in an acorn and oak leaf decorated holder.
• we have an altar to Kuan Yin in the library that includes artwork (both bought and personally made), a small crystal tree, a largish statue of Kuan Yin with a "thousand" arms, and a tiny triptych that frequently travels with us to be a portable altar
• we're developing a collection of Torii gates and inari foxes on another bookshelf and would like to eventually have a kamidana to honor the Shinto influence.
• The screen porch has several Greenman figures, another important influence

We pretty reliably celebrate Samhain and Winter Solstice at home (keeping these separate from Halloween or Christmas, which we celebrate with friends and family as a secular cultural observance), and sometimes other points from the general Neopagan wheel of the year, sometimes with others from the general Neopagan community. 

[bibiche]

I love it. Thanks so much for taking the time to explain it, Karen. 😊 We will look more closely into neopaganism. :)

[KarenNC]

I love it. Thanks so much for taking the time to explain it, Karen. 😊 We will look more closely into neopaganism. :)

 

You're welcome. For us, academic study is a big part of our spiritual path as well (something that one group I linked, ADF, Arn Driocht Fein, supports quite well), and my husband likes to make playlists for the various Wheel of the Year celebrations, since music is one of the ways he connects spiritually. We try to stay tied into our local environment as well, so we put more emphasis on how those celebrations mark the actual turning of the seasons here rather than how they may have done so in Northern Europe or Britain, for instance (since the Wheel was cobbled together from a variety of pagan belief systems, anyway). For my husband, his aikido is very much a spiritual practice (tied in with Shinto), not sure it is as much for my daughter.

 

We're a mish-mash. :) A big difference between our path and something like Wicca is that we have no interest whatsoever in ceremonial magic, or magic of any kind. It's all about piety and reciprocity, a sacred guest-host relationship. I'm also not personally a fan of most things considered New Age.

 

"Paganism: an introduction to Earth-centered religions" by Joyce Higginbotham is a pretty good overall introductory survey to the variety of religions that get grouped under the Neopagan/Pagan umbrella. 

Edited November 14, 2016 by KarenNC

[rainbowmama]

For now, general information for both of us. She said that she is feeling more drawn to the Norse mythology at this point and wants to learn more about what's out there in that community. We know of one practicing group locally that has invited us to gatherings (my husband has been at least once, but I haven't been able to make it yet), which will be helpful. While I have attended or been involved with a number of types of ritual from different groups, I am pretty woefully ignorant about Heathenry other than a general surface knowledge of some of the mythology.

 

We do have some source material (much of which I haven't read yet, though my husband has):

Penguin Classics editions of "Hrafnkel's Saga and other stories,"Seven Viking Romances," "Eyrbyggja Saga," "Njal's Saga," and "Orkneyinga Saga."

"The Poetic Edda," and "The Skalds," translated by Lee M. Hollander

"The Icelandic Saga" by Peter Hallberg, trans. by Paul Schach

"Edda" by Snorri Sturluson, trans. by Anthony Faulkes

"Volsunga Saga," trans. by William Morris

World Classics editions of "Erik the Red and other Icelandic sagas," and "The Kalevala."

"The Sagas of Icelanders," Viking edition with preface by Jane Smiley

 

As I said, she is coming at this from more of a Hellenic and Druidic background rather than Wicca/Wiccan-esque or ceremonial magic, which I think will be helpful.

 

Not a Heathen, but two books that I liked on the subject that aren't already on your list are Gods and Myths of Northern Europe by Ellis-Davidson and Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions. I hope you connect with some knowledgeable people in your area. 

[Happy2BaMom]

Yep, there are power-tripping (insert any of the many words I would use to describe folks with this attitude but can't because of polite company) in all religions. Christianity doesn't have a monopoly on these types (ie KKK and Westboro, among others).

 

This was my BIGGEST shock when I started investigating the world of practicing pagans. Part of what drove me out of Christianity was all the legalism, attempts to gain control over other people's lives (through a wide variety of means), the pettiness over interpretations of scripture, the splintering and factions, and so on and so forth.

 

Then I discovered that ALL of these same things are also found in paganism, although I will note that I have found (overall) much less frequency of them...something about non-dogmatic religions does calm people down somewhat. However, people with all of their faults, power-hungry natures, and just-plain-pissy-ness can be found in any circle, including paganism. 

 

I'm still happily pagan, but I am more 'mature' in outlook in not assuming that any one group is 'better' than any other group. 

[Audrey]

Wait, there are white supremacist pagans? This doesn't compute for me, probably because I associate paganism/New Age stuff with the liberal end of the spectrum. (No offence intended if I used any terms incorrectly.)

 

Of course there are.  In any religion, you will find a fair amount of diversity of thought.  And, you will almost always find a subset that will co-opt a religion and twist it to align with their own perverse and nefarious agendas.  Westboro, C-FAM, Family Research Council, As-Sabiqun, Israelite Church of God, Christian Identity Church, Asaatru Folk... the lists go on and on and on...

Edited November 16, 2016 by Audrey

[Ravin]

I can't speak for everyone, of course, but in my circles "Pagan" and "Neopagan" mean pretty much the same thing if we're speaking about modern day religion. Some of us just prefer the former because Neopagan sounds sort of... I don't know. Academic?

 

AFAIK they are synonymous. Pretty much anyone else who might be derogatorily labeled "pagan" rejects the term in favor of the name of their specific religion (Buddhism, Taoism, Shinto, etc. etc.), or sometimes the term Traditional Religion is used (e.g., as an umbrella term for culturally-specific traditional religious groups, sometimes grouped by geography such as Native American/First Nations Traditional Religions, African Traditional Religions, etc.).

[Ravin]

Ravin, I listed the resources for source material we have on hand. Would you suggest any of them as a starting place, or is there another resource you would particularly recommend as a starting point for learning more of the mythology?

 

The Eddas and Sagas can be pretty dense; a retelling of the myths is a good companion to them. My favorite that's on my shelf is Kevin Crossley-Holland's Norse Myths. My kids like the D'Aulaire's, mostly for the illustrations; Our Troth vol. 1: History and Lore is quite good, and has a companion volume, vol. 2: Living the Troth that is about ritual and ethics and such, though a basic practitioner's book that is a bit less pricey and very well regarded is Essential Asatru: Walking the Path of Norse Paganism by Diana L. Paxson. 

Edited November 17, 2016 by Ravin

[Ravin]

This was my BIGGEST shock when I started investigating the world of practicing pagans. Part of what drove me out of Christianity was all the legalism, attempts to gain control over other people's lives (through a wide variety of means), the pettiness over interpretations of scripture, the splintering and factions, and so on and so forth.

 

Then I discovered that ALL of these same things are also found in paganism, although I will note that I have found (overall) much less frequency of them...something about non-dogmatic religions does calm people down somewhat. However, people with all of their faults, power-hungry natures, and just-plain-pissy-ness can be found in any circle, including paganism. 

 

I'm still happily pagan, but I am more 'mature' in outlook in not assuming that any one group is 'better' than any other group. 

 

I don't think this was ever a shock to me; I dealt with some political nonsense in the first Kindred I joined in my late teens; I have only the past year or so really gotten back into seeking community here after getting fed up with the SCA, a decidedly NON-religious group in which there was some local political BS with which I'm thoroughly fed up. I've recently joined a Druid grove, which used to be but is no longer ADF-affiliated. They went their own way in large part because of dogmatic attitudes and pressure to proselytize from the national organization.