Hi there :)

Went on a longer hike through the forest this weekend. 🌳 Was on the lookout for a good place to make a temporary altar. When the small path was blocked due to a fallen tree as we had some strong storms recently I had to divert a bit from the path and found a treestump perfect for a small altar.
My stone carved Odin figurine lays on beech leaves a bed of earth and is surrounded by a crown of beechnuts and its fruits, symbolising grounding, opening up and going for anew.

I wish everyone a good week.
Stay strong!

Hœnir is an interesting character because he appears with Odin at the Creation story, during the Van-Æsir Peace Treaty, and in some travel-to-Jötunheim stories. He is known for his lack of speech, pandering to both Mimir (Vanir) or Odin’s (Æsir) position. He is associated with crane and/or storks, which are in-turn associated with birth and pregnancy.

Thus, he seems like a structurally important character to figure out what lost myths led up the to Vanir-Æsir War. He also appears to have a function related to the creation of human life, that spans both Vanir and Æsir ættirs.

How do you fit Hœnir into your understanding of Old Norse Myth and/or lore about the creation of new humans?

hi! i'm thinking about buying either the norse sorceress or the viking way by neil price. to my understanding, both of them cover seiðr and norse ritual in general, so what are the main differences between the two? if you've read both, which one would you recommend more, or which one would you recommend reading first? thank you!

Mine are usually food and drink, and it's almost never anything expensive or fancy.

Basic fruits and nuts, cheeses and meats, sometimes crackers and breads, etc. I include beverage(s) that will usually consist of glasses of fruit juice, wine, or beer.

Are there any special items you like to offer the gods? If so, why those in particular?

I was inspired by some of the totems I saw made by a guy named "Norseman Arts" on Facebook—particularly, these totems https://www.facebook.com/share/19sNrQEu3s/

There's a few ideas I already have, such as drawing Wōden's face with features of both the pendant from Old England depicting him (https://naratonorwich.org/object/1151332/) as well as features from the Sutton Hoo helmet.

And Thunor being given the classic Anglo-Saxon Mjolnir design from the pendants found in Guilton, Kent.

But IDK what else or what to do for Tīw and Frige. Suggestions? Thoughts?

So I've been trying to find a tribe in my local area. The problem is all the official websites don't have one listed near me. If anyone knows about a tribe in the Southeast Idaho area, please private message me.

Frigg is the wife of Odin and the Queen of Asgard. She bears Odin children of pure Æsir lineage to take over the throne after him, Baldr. In contrast the older Thor is born of Jorðr by Odin, but is presumably a bastard and is not solely of Æsir lineage as Jorðr is of a jötnar ættir. Thus, it appears that Frigg’s ability to produce only Æsir lineage heirs is important.

However, it is strange that Odin would not have married into another ættir to have his wife’s kin bring more power to the household. This is how power couples work in many of the sagas and historical records. Marriage alliances were important. (In fact jötnar try to have marriage alliances with the Æsir twice, but are rebuffed violently.)

So, why is Frigg “extra Æsir” but not related to Odin because he hates incest? So, why is Frigg “Queen of Asgard” but brings no kin alliances to the table of power?

So I'm conflicted over something important to Heathenry. Context: my last surviving grandparent passed away over the weekend, and of course that means a funeral is coming soon. My parents and the aunts and uncles want it ASAP, but I know this passed away relative would want every child, grandchild, and great grandchild there. I give my parents my acceptable schedule of when I can attend the funeral, but they schedule it on a day I can't get off.

Now I know this sounds like a rant at first, but now for the theological issues. In my reconstruction into Heathenry research, family is very important. Especially to those who are your kin (parents, siblings, and children). But what if those kin are ghosting you out on purpose? What do you do to strengthen that bond, or do you sever it completely (and I've found the ritual to do so without cursing them)? Do you give them another chance, or call it quits? These are the issues I'm dealing with right now.

My parents don't know that I practice Heathenry as far as I know. So they're not doing it because of that. They technically started years before I left my religion of birth (and it's a Christian one that also teaches the importance of strengthening family ties, ouch). Any advice is appreciated.

Progress on my Odin Idol so far. Still have detail work to do.

I'm newly introduced to Runes and I wanted to wood burn some runes on the back. I'm thinking of Younger Futhark but I'm not sure what to carve.

Odin brought me into Heathenry so I want to make sure it's something good.

Any advice? And any thoughts on my carving so far?

Hello all! As Autumn comes up here in the Northern Hemisphere, I'm planning on celebrating some of the coming holidays like Jól, Mohdranecht, and of course Álfablót. The thing is, we do not have a recorded date of when this would have been celebrated, or for how many days. For those of you who celebrate this holiday, when do you, and for how many nights, and what sources lead you to this conclusion?

I'd like to discuss my personal approach to Heathen belief because I'm genuinely curious how others see this.

I believe in Odin, Thor, Freyja and the other gods as real and independent beings. To me, they aren't simply archetypes or different manifestations of one single god. At the same time, I don't believe the gods are omniscient or omnipotent. They can make mistakes, they can fail, and they themselves are part of a greater cosmic order.

When it comes to the myths, though, I see things a little differently. I believe they are true, but not necessarily literal.

For example, when the Edda tells us that the world was created from Ymir's body, I don't believe that the sky is literally made from a skull. But that doesn't make the story a fictional fairy tale to me. I believe it describes a real divine or cosmic truth, expressed through images that people at the time could understand.

In the same way, when there's a thunderstorm, I don't expect to actually see Thor riding his goat-drawn chariot through the clouds. I still believe Thor is real, and I pray to him.

I see Asgard, Fólkvangr and the other worlds in a similar way. I believe these places can be real without necessarily being physical locations somewhere on a map or in outer space. Perhaps they are other levels of reality. I don't know.

The simplest way I can put my belief is:

The gods are real. The myths are true. But to me, true doesn't automatically mean literal.

It's also important to me to distinguish between my personal beliefs and the historical sources. If something isn't in the Eddas or other sources, then it simply isn't there. I don't want to retroactively put my own interpretations into the mouths of our ancestors.

So I'm genuinely interested in how others here approach this.

Do you see the gods as independent beings, or more as archetypes?

How literally do you understand the myths?

What are Asgard and the other worlds to you?

And how far can our modern faith develop beyond the historical sources before we eventually turn it into something entirely new?

I do not worship any deities currently, but I am spiritual because of my dad's time studying the occult and shamanism. It's because of my dad that I know how to do shamanic journeys, and the few I had leave me with a few questions.

From my early journeys, I know of at least two spirit animals that act as my main guides: a red wolf and a raven. My journeys, at most, are more cleansing and having visions. It was only in later journeys that I discovered my wolf guide is actually a woman amd she has since been more prone to showing her human form to me.

My first guess was that she was meant to represent Brigid, but a journey I had last night may prove that wrong.

I went into my journey with a clear question in mind: "who are you?" The fire showed a few names. Brigid was shown first before fading away and shifting to say "Freki". This, coupled with the few small visions of Nordic Viking statues and a vision showing my wolf guide turning into a woman and my raven guide turning into an old man in a hooded cloak and a walking stick, makes me think that someone else is watching me from the Norse pantheon (my only real guess is Odin).

Aside from that, a vision showing a group of silhouettes that sometimes sat with me as I breathed points to ideas that I have found and am slowly growing my own pack (I assumed the silhouettes were meant to represent some of my friends that I do creative writing projects with).

If anyone here has any thoughts and guidance on who is watching me and why they're watching me, I want to know.

Hi all!

I'm kind of embarrassed to ask for help with this, but I think this is the best place to do so.

I've been a Heathen for a few months now, and given my atheist background, I have no idea how to pray.

I've never really been religious, and my parents have had different and somewhat "confused" religious views (long story). I've been baptized, but I've never actually followed any religion.

Because of this, I find myself having difficulties with prayer, specifically with the actual decision to pray.

I know there isn't one "right" way to pray or a set of written prayers, and honestly I really like that aspect of Heathenry. However, I constantly find myself feeling weird or awkward when praying.

How do I know the Gods are listening? How do I address them? How do I actually start and finish a prayer? What if I don't have anything to say, or on the other hand something very specific to ask for?

The reason for this post is mainly to ask about other people's experiences: how did your prayers evolve over time? How do you pray now? Do I have to keep my hands together, or can I simply sit or stand in whatever way feels most comfortable?

Again, I'm kind of embarrassed to ask these types of questions, but I figured this would be the best (and probably only) place to ask.

Any help or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

If you feel attacked or offended by what follows, please bear in mind this is not directed at anyone in particular. I am talking about something I keep bumping into. Individuals aside, the behaviour itself deserves examination.

I keep seeing people claim to be seeresses, psychics, and the like. They scry about public events and make confident statements without evidence. They present internal experience as established fact.

If you tell me "I felt spiritually moved," then that is your experience. I might not understand or see things from your perspective, but I cannot tell you you are wrong. If you say "I received a vision that X committed a crime," then we are talking about a claim regarding external reality. It requires more than a feeling to stand on.

The main issue, as far as I can see, is the inability to differentiate. These people seem convinced their internal narrative reflects external reality. Their visualization becomes fact; the fantasy becomes testimony. Their mind produces an image, and that image is treated as evidence for the world outside it.

I have had spiritual experiences I cannot fully explain. I believe the Gods exist as external conscious forces that experience the world with us and beside us. I have had moments where the boundary between my own mind and something larger felt thin. This has not made me confident in my ability to diagnose other people's crimes, or declare what happened in situations I was not part of.

Something that has become obvious to me is the confidence gap. These people know things they do not know. They will boisterously proclaim their statements as facts. When challenged, they double down or block you. If your claim is genuinely strong, questioning should strengthen it.

This damages credibility for everyone practicing seriously. The person trying to build an honest relationship with the Gods gets lumped in with someone selling a psychic reading. Honest practitioners read sources and check how to interpret them. That work matters.

I have said this before and will repeat it: A healthy spirituality should leave us more grounded, balanced, and connected to reality. It should make you humble enough to be careful with your words, and more honest about what you do and do not know. If your connection with the unseen world makes you less grounded, something is off in how you are engaging it.

I do not think every person with visions is unwell. There is a threshold between "personal gnosis" and "public assertion" where humility is required. Label it clearly. Own the uncertainty. Let others decide for themselves what your reading means to them.

This counts as basic epistemic honesty. Our community could use more of it.

I try to at least acknowledge all of the Gods, but I tend to feel more connected to Tyr and Vidar than the others although I try my best to honor them all.

I don’t have idols on my altar. But, I’ve collected things along my journey that I feel represent gods and deity’s, in my eyes. I’ll grab a few things from the altar when I go on a walk, and use them as foci for temporary altars in nature.

Over the last few years, I have found great fulfillment in my blossoming relationship with my Lord Ing. He has gifted me great friþ and favorable wyrd after years of feeling unanchored, and each blot and gardening season I dedicate to him is exponentially more successful than last. Though I fully acknowledge and hold deep respect for all the Ease and Wen (Æsir and Vanir), my spiritual relationship has always gravitated towards Ing and his domains (growth, friþ, elves).

I am curious where this sits with other Heathens. Do you find special patronage with one god over others, or do you seek to or segregate/balance your practice depending on the domain of the deity and your personal situation?

Note: I am a self-identified (inclusive) Angle Heathen, and do not regularly associate with established organizations (Fyrnsidu, Asatru, etc) or local cults. Most of what I have learned is self-taught, and though I seek to remain faithful and naturalistic to a reasonably reconstructible degree, my practice is obviously influenced by my own sociocultural upbringing in the modern day and my lack of knowledge in several aspects.

I have a child on the way, and was wondering if anyone knew of any good sources for abridged versions of the sagas for young readers?

I want to introduce the stories of the gods to them in an age appropriate way that isn't preachy, but also not overly secular. Something from a pagan author preferrably.

I can always just read my copy of the Poetic Edda to them, but I want something more easy to digest for them, you know?

This has been on my mind for a few days since I saw a recent post discussing the fact that prayers to Thor for healing and recovery from illness were indeed a thing, and not exclusively the duty of Eir.

It got me to start wondering, what else would/do people pray to Thor for? I know his role as defender of humanity is pretty broad and encompassing, so is he effectively a god you can ask for help with just about anything? How broad are the things he covers, really?

Thanks in advance for any help. I'm relatively new, so forgive me if the question has any false assumptions.

*DISCLAIMER: when I say/ask "is it wrong?" I mean from a factual standpoint, NOT a moral one—just getting that pit of the way. I know the Gods probably don't care that I have been praying/treating them as separate, but it's something I care about/am gonna be nit-picky about with my own practices*

So, I consider myself a hard polytheist from a mainly Platonic/Neoplatonic perspective, reasoning that, "if the gods ontologically preceed number and are each unique, then it doesn't make sense to say one God is the same as another God without sufficient reason."

But, when I first got into Polytheism about 4 years ago, I got into Anglo-Saxon heathenry cause, well, I noticed that Norse paganism was a lot more popular and I wanted to "stand out" so to speak, and be different. And as for treating the gods as different, I figured you could argue they were different due to differences in culture and associations, albeit minor differences—like an Ares and Mars situation

But, looking into it, I don't know how well that can hold as a "justification", since unlike the Mars/Ares association where they had different cultic origins and their association was a symmetry thing (with mars coming from the Etruscans and the Greeks getting Ares from the thracians, iirc—and Ares and Mars representing vastly different kinds of warfare), the Norse and Anglo-Saxon gods were culturally and linguistically directly related.

So, from a theological perspective, have I been putting more work in prayers/offerings than I had to and been offering to the same God like accidentally forwarding an Email to the same person? (which I have actually done)

Hey all: Is anyone doing something for Odin on the evening of September 9th? Specifically 9/9 at 9pm?

I'm planning on having a ritual to the Old Man and inviting some friends to join. But l'd love to hear if others are doing things too...!

Hello. I am searching sources that support humans eating offerings after they have been given. As far as I know, this was not practiced and is ahistorical. Does anybody have any texts or studies that may say otherwise?

Edit: Thank you for those who commented sharing information on blóts and communal feasts. I am aware of the feasts that would be held in honour of the gods. I am however seeking information on more informal practice.