Stay Wild!

I’m Bree. Pagan witch. Follows from warpy

[queenlua]

Everyone who plays around with Tarot cards long enough winds up with a “bad” card that they love. I just barely persuaded my husband not to get the Ten of Swords tattooed on his body; traditionally, it shows a corpse with ten swords stuck in their body and means “utter ruin,” but he thought that if it took ten swords to kill you, then you must have put up a pretty good fight.

honestly this is the most badass ten of swords interpretation i've ever heard.  i'm stealing this

[broomsick]

List of interesting ressources pertaining to norse paganism, scandinavian folklore and history, and nordic religions in general

These are sources I have personally used in the context of my research, and which I've enjoyed and found useful. Please don’t mind if I missed this or that ressource, as for this post, I focused solely on my own preferences when it comes to research. I may add on to this list via reblog if other interesting sources come to my mind after this has been posted. Good luck on your research! And as always, my question box is open if you have any questions pertaining to my experiences and thoughts on paganism.

Mythology

The Viking Spirit: An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion

Dictionnary of Northern Mythology

The Prose and Poetic Eddas (Online)

Grottasöngr: The Song of Grotti (Online)

The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes

The Wanderer's Hávamál

The Song of Beowulf

Norse Mythology: Myths of the Eddas (Online)

Rauðúlfs Þáttr

The Penguin Book of Norse Myths: Gods of the Vikings (Kevin Crossley-Holland's are my favorite retellings)

Myths of the Norsemen From the Eddas and the Sagas (online) A source that's as old as the world, but still very complete and an interesting read.

The Elder Eddas of Saemung Sigfusson

Pocket Hávamál

Cassell's Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend (Online)

Cassel's Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend

Myths of the Pagan North: Gods of the Norsemen

Lore of the Vanir: A Brief Overview of the Vanir Gods

Anglo-Saxon and Norse Poems

Gods of the Ancient Northmen

Gods of the Ancient Northmen (Online)

Norse Mythology - The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook: From Vikings to Valkyries, an Epic Who's Who in Old Norse Mythology (A vulgarized and fun read for for newbies!)

Two Icelandic Stories: Hreiðars Þáttr and Orms Þáttr

Two Icelandic Stories: Hreiðars Þáttr and Orms Þáttr (Online)

The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson; and the Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson (Online)

Sagas

Two Sagas of Mythical Heroes: Hervor and Heidrek & Hrólf Kraki and His Champions (compiling the Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks and the Hrólfs saga kraka)

The Saga of the Jómsvíkings

The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise (Online)

The Heimskringla or the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway (Online)

Stories and Ballads of the Far Past OR Stories and Ballads or the Far Past - Translated from the norse (Icelandic and Faroese) with introduction and notes

Stories and Ballads of the Far Past: Icelandic and Faroese

Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway

The Saga of the Volsungs: With the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok

The Saga of the Volsungs (Online. Interesting analysis, but this is another pretty old source.)

The Story of the Volsungs (Online) Morris and Magnusson translation

The Vinland Sagas

Hákon the Good's Saga (Online)

The Saga of Hervör and Heidrek (Online)

The Saga of the Jómsvikings (Online)

History of religious practices

The Viking Way: Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age Scandinavia

Nordic Religions in the Viking Age

Agricola and Germania Tacitus' account of religion in nordic countries

Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions

Tacitus on Germany (Online)

Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs

Scandinavia and the Viking Age

Viking Age Iceland

Landnámabók: Book of the Settlement of Iceland (Online)

The Age of the Vikings

The Vikings (Online. Mind the year of publication, this source is pretty old!)

Gesta Danorum: The Danish History (Books I-IX)

The Sea Wolves: a History of the Vikings

The Viking World

The History of Iceland

Guta Lag: The Law of the Gotlanders (Online)

The Pre-Christian Religions of the North (This is a four-volume series I haven't read yet, but that I wish to acquire soon! It's the next research read I have planned.)

Old Norse Folklore: Tradition, Innovation, and Performance in Medieval Scandinavia

Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings

The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings by John Haywood

Landnámabók: Viking Settlers and Their Customs in Iceland

Nordic Tales: Folktales from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Denmark (For a little literary break from all the serious research! The stories are told in a way that can sometimes get repetitive, but it makes it easier to notice recurring patterns and themes within Scandinavian oral tradition.)

Old Norse-Icelandic Literature: A Short Introduction

Saga Form, Oral Prehistory, and the Icelandic Social Context

An Early Meal: A Viking Age Cookbook and Culinary Oddyssey

Runes & Old Norse language

Uppland region runestones and their translations

Viking Language 1: Learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas and Viking Language 2: The Old Norse Reader

Five Pieces of Runic Poetry

Old Norse-Icelandic Literature: A Critical Guide

Eddic to English: A survey of English translations of the Poetic Edda

Catalogue of the Manks Crosses with Runic Inscriptions

Old Norse - Old Icelandic: Concise Introduction to the Language of the Sagas

A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture

Five pieces of runic poetry translated from the islandic language: Quotations

Nordic Runes: Understanding, Casting, and Interpreting the Ancient Viking Oracle 

YouTube channels

Ocean Keltoi

Arith Härger

Old Halfdan

Jackson Crawford

Wolf the Red

Sigurboði Grétarsson

Grimfrost

(Reminder! The channel "The Wisdom of Odin", aka Jacob Toddson, is a known supporter of pseudo scientific theories and of the AFA, a folkist and white-supremacist organization, and he's been known to hold cult-like, dangerous rituals, as well as to use his UPG as truth and to ask for his followers to provide money for his building some kind of "real life viking hall", as supposedly asked to him by Óðinn himself. A source to avoid. But more on that here.)

Websites

The Troth

Norse Mythology for Smart People

Voluspa.org

Mimisbrunnr: Developments in Ancient Germanic Studies

Icelandic Saga Database

Skaldic Project

Life in Norway This is more of a tourist's ressources, but I find they publish loads of fascinating articles pertaining to Norway's history and its traditions.

Germanic Mythology

Stories for all time: The Icelandic Fornaldarsögur

[broomsick]

I've somewhat updated this list, in case some of you were interested in checking out new ressources!

[broomsick]

My newest finds in messy order! (Definitely will make another post when I get the time).

Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia (online)

The Enigma of Egill: The Saga, the Viking Poet, and Snorri Sturluson (online)

The Specter of Old Age: Nasty Old Men in the Sagas of Icelanders (online)

Penguin Classics Egils Saga (Pálsson & Edwards)

Viking Society for Northern Research web publications index (Database! Check date of publication, some of the documents are outdated.)

The Laxdæla saga translated from the Icelandic with an introduction by Thorstein Veblen (online)

Viking Age England

Erik Bloodaxe: His Life and Times: A Royal Viking in His Historical and Geographical Settings

River Kings: The Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (online)

Norse mythology: legends of gods and heroes (a pretty old ressource, but still an interesting read) (online)

Three Icelandic Outlaw Sagas (online)

Frey's Offspring: Rulers and Religion in Ancient Svea Society  (online)

The Role of Rulers in the Winding Up of the Old Norse Religion (online)

Nordic Culture

Heimskringla Vol. 1 - Viking Society for Northern Research (University College London), Vol. 2, Vol. 3. (online)

Dumézil's works, original tongue:

Mythes et dieux de la Scandinavie ancienne (Myths and Gods of Ancient Scandinavia)

Mythes Et Dieux Des Indo Européens (Myths and Gods of the Indo-Europeans)

The Sea Wolves (audiobook version on YouTube)

[replanting]

from the inhabit manifesto

[al1gned-spirit]

who were you in a past life? (pac)

paid reading options: paid offerings enjoy my work? support me by tipping on paypal. your generosity helps me continue to create more.

my pick a card masterlist, yes they are timeless

(start from top left - pile one, the top right is pile two, bottom left - pile three, bottom right - pile four)

take a deep breath, clear your mind, and look at the images below. which one draws you in the most? trust your intuition. the number below your chosen image is your pile.

if more than one catches your eye, there may be additional insight meant for you. feel free to read both.

this is a reading of the current energy. take what resonates, leave what does not. if you seek something more personal, my bookings are open.

pile one

there is an air of reverence surrounding who you once were. your soul carries the weight of wisdom, discipline, and leadership, a past life where you were not just a participant in the world but a force that shaped it. you were someone of importance, authority, or sacred knowledge—a scholar, a philosopher, a strategist, a high priest or priestess. people looked to you for answers, for guidance, for understanding beyond what the average person could grasp. you were not just respected, you were feared and admired in equal measure.

your past self was deeply intellectual, deeply spiritual, or perhaps both. you did not seek power, yet it was granted to you because of your unshaken presence and unparalleled insight. you were the kind of person who could speak once, and entire rooms would fall silent, hanging onto every word. there was a calmness about you, an ability to see beyond surface reality, to understand the intricacies of human nature, politics, and the divine.

perhaps you were a scribe, a keeper of knowledge, someone entrusted with sacred texts and prophecies. or maybe you were a strategist, an advisor to rulers, someone whose mind could navigate complexities others would fail to comprehend. there is something timeless about the wisdom you once held, something that continues to follow you in this life. your instincts now—your ability to read people, to see the hidden layers of situations, to intuitively know what must be done—are remnants of who you once were.

however, with such knowledge and influence, there was also solitude. you may have walked a path few could follow, burdened by the expectation to always know, lead, or guide. you may have been someone who sacrificed personal attachments for the sake of your purpose. love, relationships, or a simple, peaceful life may have been sacrificed for duty, for knowledge, for the greater good.

in this lifetime, your soul remembers. you may feel a natural resistance to authority, not because you dislike structure, but because you were once the one creating the rules, not following them. you may find yourself drawn to hidden knowledge, ancient wisdom, or philosophical pursuits, feeling as though there is something you are meant to uncover, something just beyond reach. you may also feel an underlying sense of isolation, as if you have always been on the outside looking in, an observer rather than a participant.

this past life taught you great discipline, patience, and responsibility, but it may have left wounds of loneliness or the weight of always needing to be the one in control. now, in this lifetime, you are being called to balance wisdom with experience, knowledge with connection, and power with vulnerability. your journey is no longer just about guiding others, but about allowing yourself to be fully human—to feel, to love, to live without carrying the burdens of an entire world.

your past self was a master of the mind, and now, you are being asked to master the heart.

pile two

you were a wanderer, a free spirit, a soul untethered to one place or one way of life. the concept of belonging may have always felt strange to you in this lifetime because in a past life, you were someone who could not be contained. whether by choice or by circumstance, you lived a life of movement—perhaps as a nomad, a traveler, a rogue, or even an exile.

your past self was someone who sought experience over stability, someone who thrived in the unknown. you may have lived among different cultures, walked foreign lands, and found home in places most would never dare to go. your soul remembers the thrill of the open road, the mystery of the stars above, and the endless possibility of the next destination.

you may have been a merchant, an explorer, a sailor, or even an outlaw—someone who defied convention and lived beyond the boundaries of what was considered “acceptable.” the world was not something to be owned, only discovered, and you embraced that fully. where others sought comfort, you sought adventure. where others feared change, you welcomed it with open arms.

your relationships in that life may have been fleeting yet unforgettable. people loved you, admired you, but could never keep you. you may have been someone deeply charismatic, leaving a mark on everyone you encountered, but never staying long enough to belong to any one person or place. attachment was a luxury you did not allow yourself, not because you did not feel, but because you knew that your path was never meant to be stationary.

this life was filled with excitement, risk, and boundless curiosity, but it also carried a shadow—the loneliness of never truly belonging, never feeling fully settled, never having roots. in this lifetime, you may find yourself still seeking something that feels like home, but struggling to define what that truly means. you may be drawn to travel, to new experiences, to constant reinvention, always feeling like you need to keep moving.

your challenge in this lifetime is to find balance between freedom and stability. your soul craves movement, but it also longs for a sense of connection that was missing in your past life. you are being asked to learn that home is not a place, but a feeling, that belonging does not mean being trapped, and that love does not have to come at the cost of your freedom.

you were a soul of the wind, untamed and wild, and now, you are being given the opportunity to choose where you land.

pile three

there is something hauntingly beautiful about your past life, something that lingers in the energy you carry even now. you were someone deeply connected to nature, mysticism, and the unseen. a healer, a seer, a guardian of ancient wisdom. whether through herbs, divination, or spiritual guidance, you were a bridge between the physical and the divine.

you may have been a witch, a shaman, a priestess, or a mystic, someone who saw beyond the veil and held knowledge that others both feared and revered. your energy was sacred, and because of that, it was both sought after and persecuted. you may have lived on the fringes of society, either by choice or by force, dwelling in forests, mountains, or isolated places where your magic could remain untouched by the corrupt hands of the world.

people came to you in secret, seeking cures, prophecies, and protection. to some, you were a miracle. to others, a danger. your life was one of both solitude and power, walking the delicate line between acceptance and exile. your knowledge of the earth, the stars, and the energies beyond made you a keeper of lost wisdom, a soul who was trusted by the universe to carry truths that few could comprehend.

but with such power came betrayal, loss, or persecution. in your past life, you may have been hunted, cast out, or forced to hide who you were. the world may not have been ready for your gifts, and you may have suffered because of it. there is an ache in your soul, a deep wound from being misunderstood, from being punished for what was simply your nature.

in this lifetime, you may find yourself drawn to the occult, to healing practices, to intuitive work without fully understanding why. you may have an instinctual connection to herbs, the moon, tarot, astrology, or divination, as if you are remembering, rather than learning. your soul still carries the whispers of that past, still holds the echoes of a life where your power was both your blessing and your curse.

this time around, you are being called to reclaim your magic without fear. to know that the world has changed, and this lifetime is not meant to be one of hiding, but of embracing. the wisdom you once carried is awakening again, but now, it can be shared, nurtured, and protected. you are meant to break the cycle of exile, to stand in your power without apology, to heal the wounds of the past by living in your truth without fear of persecution.

you were the keeper of sacred knowledge, the guardian of mysteries, the one who understood the language of the universe. and now, your time has come again. this time, no one can take your power away.

pile four

you were a warrior, a survivor, a force that refused to be broken. your past life was not one of ease, but of struggle, resilience, and triumph. you carried a fire inside of you that could not be extinguished, a willpower that set you apart from those who merely existed. whether you were a soldier, a rebel, a protector, or a leader, you fought for something greater than yourself. you stood against oppression, injustice, or danger, unwilling to bend even when the odds were against you.

your soul has known battle—not just physical, but spiritual and emotional. you were someone who carried the weight of others on your shoulders, someone who put themselves at risk to shield those who could not protect themselves. your strength was not just in your body, but in your mind, your strategy, your ability to see the truth when others were blinded by fear. you did not wait for permission to act. you made your own path.

there is a restless energy within you even now, a feeling that you must always be ready, prepared, watchful. this comes from a lifetime where danger was always present, where survival was something you fought for daily. you may have been a military commander, a revolutionary, a warrior from a long-forgotten empire, or even a lone wanderer who survived against all odds.

but with this strength came sacrifice. in that life, you may not have known peace. you may have lost people you loved, faced betrayal, or had to choose duty over personal happiness. you may have carried the guilt of surviving when others did not, or the burden of being the one who had to keep fighting when all you wanted was rest.

in this lifetime, that warrior spirit still lingers. you may feel protective over others, instinctively stepping in when someone is being mistreated. you may struggle to let your guard down, always waiting for the next battle, even when there is no enemy in sight. you may find yourself drawn to justice, activism, leadership, or protecting those who cannot protect themselves, because your soul remembers what it means to fight for something worth defending.

but now, you are being called to learn something new—how to exist beyond the fight. this life is not meant to be another war, another battle of endurance. you are here to heal, to build, to find the softness that was once denied to you. the world no longer asks you to carry the weight alone. your lesson in this lifetime is to understand that strength is not just in fighting, but in knowing when to rest, when to trust, and when to let love in.

you were a warrior once, and your fire still burns. but this time, you are here to live, not just survive.

© al1gned-spirit 2025

[broomsick]

I want to quickly tackle a topic that I've kind of been putting off for a few years now. On social media, I've seen people throw around the idea that personal gnosis (emphasis on personal) is exclusively legitimate when it's attained by means of some deep, transcendent state of meditative trance. It's never stated but it's always implied. Now look. Sure, history shows that drug-induced trance could have been commonplace among the völva, who were indeed considered messengers of the divine. I'm not denying this. However, it doesn't mean that experiencing the divine is reserved for a spiritually inclined elite made up of those who master trance and deep meditation. What I've seen is people saying that if you've experienced the divine by this or that means, then your experience was in fact not divine. That if you've felt divine presence through the mundane, then that's just your brain playing tricks on you. Wishful thinking, at best.

But listen to me: during the Iron Age, you would look up at the sky during a storm and hear Thórr beating his anvil, or riding his chariot through the clouds. You would notice a tomb devoid of any snow during the winter and know this was Freyr protecting a deceased devotee. You would listen to music during a gathering and feel that the Gods were singing along. Who's to say that there's no divinity to be found in the mundane? Who's to decide what's "truly" divine and what's not? There is no "verified gnosis". So when you feel in your heart that what you've experienced is divine, you might as well assume it was.

[fairy-3vil]

🩷✨

[friend-crow]

I was trying to explain the concept of animism to a coworker today (this came up because she names her cars, so the ensuing conversation is technically @upthewitchypunx's fault), and another "witchy" coworker interrupted to say "except for white bread."

"What?"

"White bread doesn't have a spirit. It's too processed by humans."

"Lots of things are processed by humans. I don't really believe that matters."

"It's the bleaching process. The chemicals."

"Okay... I think we're just operating under different systems of belief."

"It's in like every kitchen witch book I've read."

"Okay but the vast majority of witch books are horseshit. And the good ones also have some horseshit. It's a requirement."

"Yeah, I mean it's all just stuff people made up. You have to figure out your own beliefs."

"Exactly. My belief system doesn't include anything about white bread being excluded from animism."

[stagkingswife]

If white bread is too processed to have a spirit, but cars aren’t that means there’s a very weird scale where the ends are “too processed to have a spirit” and “so processed that we’ve wrapped right back around to having a spirit.” I’d love to know what the middle point is.

[cunt-force-therapy]

I just think bleach expels all spirits including the benign ones

[friend-crow]

Maybe it expels the spirit of the flour, but then the rising and baking process imbues the bread with a new spirit (it's yeast, the spirit is yeast).

[jasper-pagan-witch]

So bleached bread is just Yeast Spirit Squared?

[friend-crow]

It is also kissed by the spirit of fire, which changes it from a regular yeast spirit. It becomes like a whole new spirit, okay?

[stagkingswife]

Have I ever talked to you guys about my compound spirit theory? I hadn’t really thought about it before but bread is 100% a compound spirit.

[jasper-pagan-witch]

Ooo, do go on! I wanna know how many spirits get turned into Bread Spirit.

[stagkingswife-services]

This is a theory that I came to from my work with the spirit of New York City, and then I found more examples the more I thought about it - a lot of my techo-animism work is with compound spirits.

A compound spirit is a spirit made up of other spirits, but it really is more than just the sum of its parts. Using bread as an example, there’s the spirit of the grain, the yeast, the water, the salt, all of the ingredients, but then there’s also the spirit of the oven that comes into play. They all form together to make a new spirit - bread - while still existing in their component parts.

[friend-crow]

Ah, so something akin to the collective Spirit of Sage (as opposed to the spirit of the sage plant in my back yard)? Or perhaps more like the collective spirit of a murder of crows, as opposed to its component individual crows.

Explain it to me like I'm crows.

[jasper-pagan-witch]

The vibes I'm getting is that it's like the spirit of all of your organs and bones but also the entirety of you. Which is hella neat and I need to add that to my practice immediately.

[stagkingswife]

Very much so! You have your spirit, but then there’s Heart, Lungs, Liver, Stomach, Femur, Tibia, and all of the gang as independent spirits who come together to make you.

[friend-crow]

Your blood is made up of blood cell spirits, all working together... or failing to work together, as the case may be.

[stagkingswife]

Now you get it! It’s spirits all the way down!

[creature-wizard]

High Quality Witchcourse :3

[halloweenherbivoreart-deactivat]

I updated my Yule tarot spread from last year. Feel free to tag me if you use this spread!

1. What needs my attention the most in the coming year?

2. What has pushed you forward this year?

3. What has held you back this year?

4. What gifts do you carry?

5. How can you best use those gifts?

6. A message of guidance from your deities/ancestors.

[something-to-believe-in]

As I’ve gotten into deity worship and have been more open about it with friends the number one response I get is ‘but you don’t really believe in that do you?’

and yes, I do, but if you MUST argue with me about it

I grew up non religious and described myself as agnostic for a long time, and I do still hold truth in that. I think it’s arrogant to say we know for sure whether there is or isn’t some higher powers. But if there’s really just nothing

WHO CARES

it’s fun to believe, it’s motivating, it’s energizing. Even if the gods aren’t ‘real’ in a scientific sense, they are real in my mind.

Even if when I die it’s all been nothing but a placebo effect, that’s okay!!

it’s helped me get by, it’s helped me be happy, and that is enough

[stormwaterwitch]

Spell of ‘This Book Writes Itself’

::A Spell for Writers::

Ingredients:

+One (1) You

+One (1) Novel Idea You’ve Been Putting Off

+Your preferred method of writing

+One (1) Beverage of your choice

+One (1) Summoning Circle and proper offerings to The Old Gods

Pre Ritual Prep Work:

+Have an Idea and a Thought of “HMM! I SHOULD WRITE A BOOK!” 

+Spend hundreds of hours developing the world, playlists, characters, backstories.

+Once all that’s done you can move on to the ritual part of the spell

Ritual:

Step 1: Decide you’re actually ready to write the book.

Step 2: Open blank word document

Step 3: Suddenly all the other chores you’ve been putting off become the most pressing and urgent thing to have ever happened on earth.

Step 4: Now that you’re done cleaning return to your open word document

Step 5: Man you’re really thirsty there aren’t you? All that hard work of cleaning worked up quite a thirst. Good thing you were prepared already and don’t have to get up again. Too bad your tea is cold since you went to go clean…

Step 6: Stare at your blank word document

Step 7: Type one sentence

Step 8: Type one more sentence

Step 9: Repeat steps 7 through 8 as many times as possible

Step 10: Save your work and close your word document.

Extra steps for those who are inclined to go above and beyond:

Step ???????: Have a sudden epiphany that the book won’t write itself without you sitting there to write it.

Step ???????: Sell your soul to the gods of writing and pray they make your work coherent.

Step ???????: Make a new cup of tea

[skaldish]

Pet peeve of mine: When it's assumed Norse polytheism works like Greek or Roman polytheism, when it really does not.

[theoneandonlyqueen]

Ill -educated, curious eclectic pagan here. Could you clarify that a bit? Is it that the pantheons aren't treated the same? The practice itself is very different or something else?

I'm looking to be educated so I can understand

[skaldish]

Absolutely! I love talking about this stuff.

The short answer is that, the Old Norse religions were structured very differently from Greek and Roman ones.

The long answer requires a little bit more anthropological and historical context:

Religion is ultimately a product of culture. The way a given religion is structured emerges from the worldviews, sensibilities, experiences, and priorities of its people.

All of these ancient pagan religions started more or less the same way; they emerged out of people perceiving things about the world and telling stories about it. However, a religion doesn't really centralize until a society grows and develops things like agriculture and cities. Only then do we start to see a "canon" of myths and orthopraxy and orthodoxy emerge—that is, "how to do the religion."

Regardless of any similar features they may have, all religions have their own unique architecture or "operating system" that they run on. What determines the OS of a religion, is based on what factors shaped the development of the culture it comes from.

Take Rome, for example. Rome was shaped by the environment of conflict pretty much since its conception. Rome's neighboring societies constantly threatened invasion due to Rome's coveted position in the dead-center of the Mediterranean peninsula, which meant Rome started to value control over the land as a result. Religio Romano reflects this: All of the Roman gods are characterized as lords (read: land-owners) of the different "domains" of the world (i.e. "that which you hold dominion over"). A society that did not develop conquest as a value would not have a pantheon of gods that reflects this model.

Now here's where it gets interesting with the Norse people: Their society never actually got to the point where their religion could centralize, before Christianity swept through. Despite having multiple named gods, its overall structure was and is still mostly animistic, because it was only just starting to develop the characteristics of polytheism by the time of the Christian conversion. However, this late conversion means what remains is not as garbled and corroded as it could have been, giving us this impression that it was more centralized than it actually was.

There's still an issue of USAmerican pagans making the mistake that we almost always make when approaching old European form of paganism: Assuming that we can restore what has been lost by modeling them after Roman/Greek polytheism.

Why we have this assumption is pretty simple: Whenever our nation doesn't know how to do something, we turn to models of antiquity to guide us. After all, our entire democratic republic is based on Ancient Greek and Rome, so the structures found in Grecco-Roman societies are what feel the most familiar and sensible for us.

Unfortunately, this unchecked assumption is the mechanism behind the Imperialization of a lot of these old pagan practices. It's not something we're intentionally doing, of course, but it's something that emerges due to lacking methodology for switching religions; we think switching religions is just a matter of switching gods, rather than a process of changing our entire patterns of thinking.

Rome was very good at giving people the impression that everything about it represents the baseline default for "how to do society," including religion. This is evidenced in the way we discuss religion as a whole, using terms that derive from Grecco-Roman models: Theology. Religion. Cosmology. Pantheon. Deity. Orthopraxy. Orthodoxy. These are all Latin words, and truthfully they only accurately apply to Latin-derived belief-systems.

Heathenry is not one of those, and let me give some examples why:

Take the Old Norse word that we commonly translate into "god" in English: Ás. The actually implied meaning of this is "member of the Æsir." The Æsir are a family of people who live on the other side of the veil—in what we'd call "the Astral" or "the Otherworld" or "the Heavens", etc.—in a sphere called Asgard. But they are not the only kind of people there, for there's also the Vanir, who live in their own sphere called Vanaheim. (If you want to complicate things further, these spheres were not seen as separate from the material world, but rather nested within it, and how this works would take me too long to explain for the scope of this post.)

The names "Æsir" and "Vanir" do not actually describe different "species" of divine powers, but describe affiliations, similar to how we say "the Bloods" or "the Crips" when identifying those gangs. As far as I'm aware, there isn't a word like "god" in Old Norse because the Norse people did not identify these beings as anything other than people. We just gloss these terms as "god" in order to make it clear what their function is to Western readers, who are coming at this from a Latin paradigm.

Same goes with the word jötun, which is often translated as "giant" in English. At first we'd assume jötnar are similar to "titans" by virtue of this descriptor, but they're not. It's more accurate to say that they are "the powers that dwell in environments human beings can potentially visit, but not stay in forever."

Jötnar live in the "countries" we can't tame, such as on the peaks of mountains, in the depths of volcanoes, in the torrential oceans, etc, but this also applies to more abstract countries: For example, the god Loki is also a jötun, but he typically dwells in the "country" of parties, mischief, and entertainment. This is a realm we adore visiting and often invite into our lives, but just like how we invite fire into our lives, it needs a specific designation and cannot engulf our entire lives without harming us.

Compare this to, perhaps, Frigg's hall, which is the "hall" we visit whenever we work on fibercrafting and textile arts. Frigg is not jötun, but she also wouldn't be one because her hall emerges from domestic life, vs. being a wild thing we invite into the domestic sphere.

"Giant" is typically accepted as a gloss for jötnar because it's not exactly inaccurate—jötnar have energy that feels noisy and big compared to the usual hum of our lives—but this word is once again a gloss.

So...yeah. It's more complicated than we typically want to admit, because honestly a lot of people coming into paganism are looking to get a foundation beneath their feet as fast as possible, and so they reach out for the most accessible paradigm they can find. But just because a tool is accessible doesn't automatically make it the right tool for the job.

Many people end up recreating the Latin and Imperial structures of religion they were trying to get away from this way, and are left wondering why they do not feel fulfilled.

[theglitchclub]

yall realize you can criticize religion without like. making fun of people for having things that are sacred and holy to them right.

[theglitchclub]

not to be that guy but theres a huge difference between "this religion and it's practitioners has aspects that warrant criticism" and "lmao look at them believing in things" . its one thing to call out the toxicity and spread of dangerous information in, as an example, pagan communities. it is an entirely separate thing to make fun of pagans for what they find sacred and important to their lives, even if it doesnt make sense to you.

[skaldish]

Oh my god holy shit...

Holy shit, I fucking understand the impact the Norse myths have...oh my god, I'm sobbing. 😭

I get it now. Like actually.

[sten-och-norrsken]

I would love details!! ♥

[skaldish]

Imagine that you are three years old, living on an Iron Age farm nestled deep within the mountains of Scandinavia. Each night when your mother tucks you into bed, she tells you a story about the gods and their farm, called Asgard.

You learn that the gods have a big tree protecting their farm just like the one protecting yours. It's called Yggdrasil. It's got snakes beneath it just like your tree has.

You learn how Odin and Frigg are wise like every grandpa and grandma are. You learn Odin got his wisdom from exploring the world. You also learn he's a badass chief because he wins every battle he fights and his warriors always come out victorious.

You learn how Thor keeps the frost giants away with his hammer, so whenever you hear thunder in the distance, you know it's because Thor smashed a giant that may have otherwise eaten you. You have no fear of the frost giants getting you because Thor's hammer never misses.

You learn how Loki is always causing everyone problems (and solutions) with his clever antics, and the reason why is because he's the mover of stories—stories would be boring without him. He becomes your favorite playmate.

You live in the Iron Age. It is a violent time. But you learn that if you die in battle far from home, Odin—the Allfather, who is everyone's grandpa—has room for you at his table.

These stories would have been the things that shaped the Norse people's understanding of the world, back in a time when information about the world was unknown. All of it was designed to make children feel safe, courageous, and like they belonged in the fabric of all things. And it's not like Santa Claus, where you're expected to stop believing in the gods after a certain age. They would be with you your entire life.

When you think about it, the mjolnir pendant is ultimately a symbol of love; a reminder that "whenever you're afraid, just say Thor's name, and in an instant he will be here to protect you."

[saltmarshsparrow]

Notes: Sacred Sites in Continental Germanic Paganism

A good amount of our knowledge on ancient paganism comes from its critics and conquerors. I'm reading this article on a possible Woden temple in Bavaria/Franconia; the author included this local Christian interdiction (prohibited actions) from medieval times:

Did you come to pray to any other site than a church or a place consecrated by a bishop or a priest, in  particular to springs, rocks or to treed and also to crossroads, and if you took along a light or a torch and you alighted them for the veneration of the site, or if your took bread or other offerings and ate them there, or any other sacrificial meal, or if you sought anything for your salvation of body or your soul – if you did or you agreed to it you shall do penitence for three years.

This "don't you dare" list gives us some key insights on germanic ritual practices:

Features/sites specifically mentioned: springs, rocks, woods/tree groves, crossroads

Bringing torches or other light for site veneration

Sacrificially eating bread or other offerings

So here's some new (to me) things to apply to continental germanic neopaganism:

Crossroads. Along with natural sites of streams, boulders, and forest groves, crossroads were used ritually by the local pagans, and while we don't know exactly what they were used for and whether it differed from the natural features, we know that crossroads had some sacred significance. Offerings. The germanic pagans ate their food sacrifices/offerings! In neopaganism, whether we consume offerings or find some way to dispose them with respect is pretty up in the air with most general sources advising the compost bin or leaving the food with nature. Kemeticism advises eating offerings, but I haven't seen this in most modern European traditions, so it's really interesting. Light. If we're visiting a sacred site, honoring the land, or if we're seeking out ones of these natural features to get up to good old witchcraft or deity work, we may like to bring a candle in a lantern (fire safety) to venerate and honor the landscape. Since the text doesn't say why light was brought, if the light was for the land or for gods, just that torches and light were lit in veneration, inferring is needed. Text source: "On traces of a sanctuary of Woden, possibly of Gefion and Ing, on the Shepherds’ Chapel in Altdorf, east of Nuernberg." Klienhemphel 2014. On Academia.edu

[breelandwalker]

Traveler's Luck Powder

Intent: To keep one safe and free from mishaps on long trips.

Ingredients:

Irish Moss (aka Carrageen)

Comfrey Root

Feverfew

Black Cohosh

White Oak Bark

Nutmeg

Materials:

Mortar & Pestle

Funnel

Mesh Strainer

Collection Dish

Container

IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not use the Black Cohosh if you are or think you might be pregnant. If need be, you can substitute Basil. Note: Powdered versions of most herbs are available online. I recommend such sites as Starwest Botanicals and Penn Herbs for the quality products at reasonable prices. Also, if you can get your hands on a good spice grinder, you can make your own powder from dried herb products.

Grind each ingredient separately for several minutes to produce fine powder. Sieve the material through the mesh strainer into the collection dish; this removes the larger ungrindable pieces and gives you cleaner powdered herb. (Pro-Tip: Putting a funnel under the strainer helps reduce lost material.) Retain the leftover large pieces that don’t make it through the strainer. You can use this for loose incense or charm bags later. Remember, witchlings: waste not, want not! (For the Nutmeg, supermarket spice works just fine.) Combine the component powders in the collection dish, mix well, and bottle immediately. Fold a few pinches in a paper packet containing your travel details. Tuck this into your luggage or the glove compartment of your car. For more travel general protection, you can sprinkle a few pinches in the footwells of your car, or just keep a few blank paper packets around if you frequently travel on short notice.

For more recipes to fill out your potion kit, you can check out Pestlework: A Book of Magical Powders & Oils. (Available on Amazon and in my shop!)

If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊

[breelandwalker]

A collection of some of my original magical powder recipes. All-Purpose Cursing Powder Bree's Banishing Powder Clean House Powder Come Hithe

[allisdone]

every cent i spend comes back to me tenfold, in blessings, opportunities, and abundance ✨🖤

[creature-wizard]

"How can I be a witch/pagan without falling for conspiracy theories/New Age cult stuff?" starter kit

Posts & Articles

Check your conspiracy theory. Does any of it sound like this?

Check your conspiracy theory part two: double, double, boil and trouble.

QAnon is an old form of anti-Semitism in a new package, experts say

Some antisemitic dogwhistles to watch out for

Eugenicist and bioessentialist beliefs about magic

New Age beliefs that derive from racist pseudoscience

The New Age concept of ascension - what is it?

A quick intro to starseeds

Starseeds: Nazis in Space?

Reminder that the lizard alien conspiracy theory is antisemitism

The Ancient Astronaut Hypothesis is Racist and Harmful

The Truth About Atlantis

Why the Nazis were obsessed with finding the lost city of Atlantis

The Nazis' love affair with the occult

Occultism in Nazism

Red flag names in cult survivor resources/groups (all of them are far right conspiracy theorists/grifters)

The legacy of implanted Satanic abuse ‘memories’ is still causing damage today

Why Satanic Panic never really ended

Dangerous Therapy: The Story of Patricia Burgus and Multiple Personality Disorder

Remember a Previous Life? Maybe You Have a Bad Memory

A Case of Reincarnation - Reexamined

Crash and Burn: James Leininger Story Debunked

Debunking Myths About Easter/Ostara

Just How Pagan is Christmas, Really?

The Origins of the Christmas Tree

No, Santa Claus Is Not Inspired By Odin

Why Did The Patriarchal Greeks And Romans Worship Such Powerful Goddesses?

No, Athena Didn't Turn Medusa Into A Monster To Protect Her

Who Was the First God?

Were Ancient Civilizations Conservative Or Liberal?

How Misogyny, Homophobia, and Antisemitism Influence Transphobia

Podcasts & Videos

BS-Free Witchcraft

Angela's Symposium

ESOTERICA

ReligionForBreakfast

Weird Reads With Emily Louise

It's Probably (not!) Aliens

Conspirituality

Miniminuteman

Behind The Bastards