if your a heathen, why are you working with nimphs? arent they greek?
I can't tell if this an attempt at trolling or not.
But assuming it's a genuine line of questioning and not a weird way of questioning my Heathenness or being a way to try poorly troll me, the short answer is: nymphs are cool.
The long answer is... Well, longer.
Okay, basically, I'm not "pure" Heathen. My practice is a syncretic mix of Heathenry and Brittonic Polytheism, with a dash of Roman (basically Venus because Venus is also cool, especially her psychopomp and funerary aspects). So, one of the deities I venerate/worship/work with/Whatever term you want to use, is Brigantia. In one inscription in Northern England, she's called "Deae Nymphae Brigantia", which can be translated to either "divine nymph Brigantia" or "goddess-nymph Brigantia". She's one of three Roman-British goddesses that have that epithet. I wrote about them here:
Bas-relief of Coventina with inscription I’ve recently begun work on two books in relation to “water cultus” — One is a general introduction
Anyway, it was that epithet got me interested in nymphs in the first place, hence why they've become a part of my practice.
I would also state that nymphs are Heathen spirits or deities (depending on how you want to view them in terms of gods and spirits), purely based on two inscriptions found along Hadrian's Wall:
For the Nymphs and the Genius of the Place. Marcus Hispanius Modestinus, prefect of the First Cohort of Batavians, on behalf of himself and his family, willingly, deservedly.
— RIB 3316
To the goddess-nymph Coventina Maduhus, a German, set this up for himself and his family, willingly and deservedly fulfilling his vow.
— RIB 1526
So, yes, nymphs originated in Greek traditions but became very widespread, with cults around them appearing as far as Roman Britain, Gaul, Syria, and even a very minor nymph cult in Egypt (there's like two mentions of nymphs at a site in Egypt that I can't remember the name of off the top of my head, but basically, the father of a girl states in one of the inscriptions that the girl has become a nymph).
So, I hope that answers your question.










