Longship- pan-Germanic guide to Heathenry- info, forum- Discord
Angles, Saxons
Ingwine Heathenship- North Sea Germanic- revival of the religion of the the Ingvaeonic Germanic language speaking peoples including Old Frisian, Old Dutch and Old English
Fyrnsidu- Anglo-Saxon Heathenry- this includes most of the links I was going to add!
Wandering Blackbird- Anglo-Saxon, British & Irish polytheism
the Wind's Eye- Cunning Wif's ASH blog
Continental Germanic
Allodium Francorum- Frankish Heathenry- org, info
Blomid Frankisk Aldsido- Frankish Heathenry in Florida
Keeping the Flame- Frankish Heathen blog
Ingwine Heathenship- North Sea Germanic- revival of the religion of the the Ingvaeonic Germanic language speaking peoples including Old Frisian, Old Dutch and Old English
Ostriuwi- Continental Saxon Heathenry (or Old Saxon)
Using epithets is a good way to connect to specific aspects of a deity and better understand them. Creating and using new ones is also a great way to create modern and localized forms of worship. These are partly notes from a post I read that I can't find, as well as some of my own ideas and a few resources I found. The specific examples are from Greek and Norse mythology, and one about Anglo-Saxon heathenry that is inspired by Norse traditions.
Article on Greek epithets by Hearthstone
Kennings- poetic metaphors in Norse epic poetry- kennings for deities are specifically called heiti
Binaman- A Distinctly Fyrnsidu Approach to Divinity- a great explanation of epithets, as well as how they can be useful especially in traditions where there is limited information
Loki's Roads- Dagulf Loptson suggested that as in West African religions, different epithets of a god can be seen as different ways/roads
Examples of concepts that could be used for epithets-
Geographic- city, river, mountain
Animal, plant associations
Patron of activity, profession, description of deity's skill or interest
Mythic reference, relationship to other deities or beings
Cult title- instead of using secret & holy true name, indirect (Frey/Freyja- Meaning Lord/Lady
Local names of churches- saints, titles for Mary- ex: Our Lady of the Rockies
It would be cool at add links to anyone's descriptions of new epithets, or exploration of old ones. If you can get more than one Pagan/polytheist to use the epithet, or even come up with stories about the deity or being that would be even cooler!
As I work out who to include and what role ancestors/the dead play in my local cultus, I decided to make this glossary for study and comparison of different cultures and traditions- this is not implying that these cultures should all be combined or borrowed from, as the boundaries of those traditions will vary.
I've decided to included house spirits in this list, as they often overlap a lot with ancestor cults, household worship. Or I may put them in a different list.
apotheosis- Greek- elevation of a human soul to godhood
Dii Manes- Roman- Divine Dead
disir- Collective of Norse female divine ancestors- cognate with the German idises (see also matronae)
euhemerization- the view that deities were once historical people. So we have myths explaining that a human was deified or became a bodhisattva. There's a lot of Chinese and Japanese deities that were deified humans, some in Greek myth.
infant dead- stillborn babies, babies/children that died very young. The German/Austrian folkloric figure, Frau Holle, who is honored as a goddess by some Heathens is said to care for the souls of unbaptized infants, so I associate her with infant dead.
hero (fem- heroine) Greek- a legendary person known for great deeds. Sometimes deified, often seen as semi-divine or a demigod/dess that is more powerful than a regular ancestor spirit.
folk saint- a saint that is venerated but not officially recognized by the Roman Catholic or an Eastern Orthodox church.
kula devata- in Hinduism, the guardian/patron deity of a family, clan or village. Sometimes an aspect of one of the major Hindu deities.
martyr- Greek- someone who died for their beliefs (religious and/or political) While typically associated with Christians there are a number of polytheist, pagan & heathen martyrs.
Matronae- Celto-Roman- associated with fertility, childbirth, dead, often depicted with fruit, grain, cornucopias, distaffs, spinning wheels. Some specific goddesses that may be related to the matronae include the Frisian/Dutch Nehalennia, the Gaulish Rosmerta.
Mighty Dead- used for spiritual leaders, clergy, founders of traditions honored in modern Pagan and Witchcraft traditions (I'm not sure of origin of this term- I recall it first being used in British Traditional Witchcraft (BTW) but not positive.
A reader asked why I honor Anne Boleyn, so I thought I’d elaborate a little on that, and on the concept of the Mighty Dead. As all of you ar
restless dead- Spirits of those that died angry, with unfinished business, trauma. In some traditions they may be approached with caution and calmed with particular rituals, offerings and prayers so that they can move on to the afterlife, and bless descendants. They also may cause harm.
transcestors- modern portmanteau for transgender/transsexual ancestors/dead coined/used by some Pagans, polytheists, witches etc. especially for honoring folks on Trans Day of Remembrance. (TDoR)
Wild Hunt- legend/belief in a procession of spirits and other beings riding horses led by a deity, hero or legendary being. Legends of the Wild Hunt are found all over Europe and have many regional variations.
Did you hear that? It was the sound of another series being pooped into the world. This time I'm looking at ancestor cults and ancestor vene
(Braton to Farwater for coaching me on this piece as well!) While the focus of Belgic tradition has been on both Gaulish and Germanic praxis
House Spirits
In the previous piece we spoke of the basics of doing a simple ritual at home. That involved the invocation of deities in such rites. Howeve
Devo, a Kemetic (that is Egyptian polytheist!) made a great guide to making a calendar based on one's local ecology. It can be used for any cultural focus.
Creating a Calendar Based on Local Ecology: Gathering Information
Building the Backbone of Your Calendar: Weather Analysis
Satsekhem (another Kemetic's) blog post about the backbone
From Devo's page:
Rain patterns: do you have a rainy or snowy season? When is it? Does your rain or snow typically come from a particular direction or location?
Here are the average weather statistics in Minneapolis from 2010 thru 2022, as measured at the MSP Airport weather station
January- coldest, cloudiest month
February- driest month
4 March- colder season ends, rain (alone) season begins
20th/21st- Spring Equinox
10 April- wetter season begins
22 May- warmer season begins
June- rainiest & sunniest month (lots of rainbows for Pride month!)
21st- Summer Solstice
July- hottest, muggiest month
17 Sept- warmer season ends,
20th/21st- Autumn Equinox
4 Oct- drier season begins
26 Nov- colder season begins, 28 snow (alone) season begins
Theory of Practice Building- Simple concepts for building your own practice
Daily Devotions- a Hellenic polytheist's suggestions for each day of the week. On the main blog page, she posts each day the day of the week activities as well as hymns for deities/spirits associated with that day of the month, festivals etc. This can be easily adapted for other traditions.
The Hearthkeeper's Way- Ar nDraiocht Fein's guide to committing to a regular Druid practice. A free e-book with prayers and short rites for daily, weekly, lunar and solar devotions. You can also register your hearth as a non-member or as an ADF member by filling out a form to be connected to a broader community of Hearthkeepers.
Prayer Beads & Prayers
Pagan Book of Hours- Calendar of Prayers. Includes rituals for holidays from a variety of traditions. (Norse, Irish, Roman, Greek)
Hearthfire Handworks- Beautiful polytheist prayer beads and prayers (links to journals for different pantheons) and her books-
Hearth & Field- by Hester Butler-Ehle this is the Heathen one
Fieldstones: New Shoots from Stony Soil (Celtic and continental Germanic deities) This is a new edition.
Worshipping Olympus- includes both prayers from previous publications- Devotion and In Praise of Olympus
Basics for Specific Traditions
Org- specific joinable, public organization
Info- Collected info about a tradition
Blog- personal blog
Forum- online community
Indo-European Polytheisms
Roman Polytheism/ Religion Romana by Golden Trail- blog w/ info
Ancient Roman religion is very useful to learn about and draw some inspiration from if you are in any part of the so-called "Western" world, because there is so much influence, and some of the information we have on other European polytheisms was written by Romans, and knowing about the Romans and their worldview and culture is helpful when reading those sources. And there is a syncretism between Roman religion and many different kinds of polytheism. So if you are new to Paganism and polytheism and aren't sure what tradition to go into, it's at least worth looking into.
Albion and Beyond- Brittonic/Brythonic Paganism- info, forum
Germanic Polytheism
Ingwine Heathenship- North Sea Germanic- revival of the religion of the the Ingvaeonic Germanic language speaking peoples including Old Frisian, Old Dutch and Old English
Longship- pan-Germanic guide to Heathenry- info, forum
Skald's Keep- Norse Pagan Heathenry- info
Allodium Francorum- Frankish Heathenry- org, info
Baltic Prussians/ Old Prussians- ethnic group related to the Latvians & Lithuanians- info
Other Polytheist/Animist Traditions
Natib Qadish- Canaanite/Phoenician polytheism- info
Kemetic/Egyptian Starter Guide- by Devo- blog w/ info
It's hard to find my own posts in the main tumblog so I started this one to keep track of my spiritual progress and collect resources (some of which were initially gathered by other folks but many of the links need updating) So brief intro- I'm mainly a Irish & pan-Germanic polytheist, a neo-Druid by affiliation in Northern Roots Grove, an eclectic independent grove in the Twin Cities metro area (which I helped found!) . The name "Boar's Eye" is a cool medieval-y way of saying an old name for Saint Paul, Pig's Eye a nickname for one of the earliest European settlers, whiskey smuggler whose actual name was Pierre Parrant. The boar is an animal that was revered by both Celtic and Germanic peoples as a symbol of strength, much like the wolf and the bear were identified with warriors, as well as prosperity and fertility. In addition the twins deities Freyr and Freyja both had golden boars that they rode on, which connects nicely with the "Twin Cities".
