Hild's Hof @hildshof - Tumblr Blog

This is a sub of my main Tumblr which is about a very different topic. I want to separate the two very clearly, so I’m moving this blog onto a new account.

Come follow me there: : https://hildshall.tumblr.com/

I won’t be posting here any more.

I’m done with “Easter”

My parents weren’t especially religiously observant, but Easter was always a big *family* holiday of gathering, so I did the same thing with my children as they grew up. I have an elementary-school age child and when we converted, I didn’t think I wanted to change the tradition. This was with the rationale that the “Easter Bunny”, lots of candy, eat a big meal secular family side of things was always more important to us (and IMO, is very “heathen”), and hey, soon it won’t really be an issue in terms of baskets and egg hunts and whatnot anyway (she’s going to grow out of it eventually, as my older child has).

For some reason, this year... I hit my limit.

I am done celebrating Easter in any way.

Maybe it’s the aftermath of having celebrated our first Sigurblot in a small, private ceremony this year on April 7. Maybe it just took this long for the Christian over-culture to seep further out of my mind and heart and worldview, and my slow, slow, slow attempts to Heathenize myself seep IN.

I don’t have a good reason for this, but as this holiday approached this year, it just started to feel more and more... wrong. Acutely wrong. Today the feeling solidified and became almost like a pain in my stomach, or a feeling of anxiety that just really wants to get past this.

We can debate its origins but the fact is that this holiday, Easter, is thoroughly Christian. It’s not like Christmas, where it wasn’t even a super-big Christian thing until relatively recently in history (and its Pagan origins are much more obvious and attested), and it’s easily celebrated by non-Christians all over the world.

Easter is different.

Easter is probably THE big holiday for the Christian faith. I can’t imagine Christians are keen on us non-believers taking part in their thing. So it’s not just because I do not follow or worship their deit(ies) or wish to participate in marking the event that going by their mythology marks his divinity.

It’s that this feels... disrespectful, and while I definitely am still processing my Abrahamic baggage (and get VERY FRUSTRATED with them at times), I don’t want to deliberately disrespect their highest, most-holy day.

I know, I know, they crap all over us and our stuff but I can’t think that two wrongs make a right here, y’know?

But today, the day before Easter, as my kids are getting ready to color eggs, I looked at my husband and said, “I’m done. This is the last year.”

Am I going to continue Sigurblot and make it a bigger thing? Probably. Our first small observance felt right. I’d like to make that a bigger thing, and maybe I can incorporate what I liked about the Christian holiday into that. Make it a real “victory feast” and celebrate!

It’s the right time of year, and the right kind of action, both in my new faith as well as my family tradition, even if it’s at slightly different day of observance (depending on how the solar/lunar years coincide).

So how are you guys handling this, whatever Pagan/Heathen path you’re on? I’d like to know.

#heathen #heathenry #pagan #paganism #norse pagan #germanic pagan #norse heathen #germanic heathen #easter #ostara

nightfrost-art

“There is one abode called Hliðskjálf, and when Allfather sat in the high seat there, he looked out over the whole world and saw every man’s acts, and knew all things which he saw.” - Snorri Sturluson, Prose Edda

geronimo-babey

Reminder to pray to Eir in this coronavirus era! She is a goddess of mercy and healing. As a valkyrie, her role is not to chose the dead, but those who will recover to fight another day. You can dedicate what precautions you take to protect yourself and others. Wash your hands regularly, be conscious of touching your eyes, face, and mouth. Cover your cough/sneezes! It’s safest to aim into the sleeve on your shoulder. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure :) stay safe!!

pluviobrew

north-of-annwn

Different Types of Heathenry

Hey y’all most of you have heard of Norse Heathenry, but did you know that there are actually many different religions under the umbrella Heathenry?

Heathenry Meaning “from the Heath or Heather” referring to an undeveloped area of land. Similar to how Pagan means “country-dweller or rustic.” Both were derogatory words for those who refused to give up the beliefs and practices of their land.

Norse Heathenry The beliefs and practices held by the pre-Christian cultures that were known as the Old Norse, encompassing the land that’s now Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. Anglo-Saxon Heathenry The beliefs and practices followed by the Anglo-Saxons between the 5th and 8th centuries AD, during the initial period of Early Medieval England. The Norse were invading and colonizing areas of England at this time and it was common for beliefs and cultural traditions to blend together.

Germanic Heathenry The beliefs and practices followed by Pre-Christian Germany and German-speaking regions such as Austria, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Liechtenstein, Hungary, etc. Germanic Heathenry still has some crossover with Norse, but there are greater differences than Norse and AS. The names of deities are different, and they have some deities not present in the Norse. Their traditions are also more distinct.

Slavic Heathenry or Rodnovery The beliefs and practices from Slavic regions which include modern Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. Rodnovery is definitely the most different from Norse Paganism in my opinion. There is still, a little crossover but not as much as the others Their deities are all very unique, as are their practices. A note about modern native Rodnovery: Nationalism is a modern cultural staple in Slavic countries and this is sometimes represented in the modern revival of pre-Christian beliefs.