Norse Paganism

Posted by Sephira in Heathenry, Paganism, Reader Question, Resources and tagged with , , , ,

Anonymous asked: I’ve been interested in Norse mythology for a long time, and feel that Norse paganism may be the path for me, but I have no clue where to start. Is it anything like Wicca, or is it completely different and if so where do I find more information on it?

Completely different! It’s polytheistic rather than ditheistic, its rituals are much more simple and centre around the sharing of offerings (often in the form of alcohol such as mead), and there’s a much greater cultural depth to it* because it is a religion with a historical basis – although even the most hard reconstructionist forms of it will necessarily be different from the palaeo-Paganisms.

We recommend the books “Essential Asatru” by Diana S Paxson and “True Hearth” by James Allen Chisholm to start with, and “Our Troth” I and II if Heathenry looks like the thing for you. Also the books of Hilda Ellis Davidson, particularly “Gods and Myths of Northern Europe”.

Most of all there are the Eddas and Sagas, many of which you can read in older translations online. The ethical system is mostly related to what one might consider the honourable action to take, and based on the advice of the Havamal. (Some Heathens shorten it down to “the Nine Noble Virtues” – but not all of this list of virtues are particularly stressed in the Havamal, and some particularly important ones are left out… not to mention such a list is not particularly “reconstructionist” so many Heathens don’t have much time for it and just use the Havamal and so forth as their guide when they need it.)

Here are some more links for you:

Viking Answer Lady

Ravenbok

DIY Ritual Kit

That’s all for now, but this may be edited later to add a little more. Good luck!

*Not to say Wicca doesn’t have depth – it does, but it’s less cultural and more related to its ritual and Mysteries.

TIP: Expanding Our Horizons

Posted by Sephira in TIPs and tagged with , , ,

This week’s TIP comes via a recent rant. It is a perfectly legitimate rant, because it‘s something that happens all the time, it’s frustrating to see when it does, and really, it lessens all of us when it occurs. Especially, when you consider the wealth of knowledge on different cultures and practices that we are missing out on because of it. I think (except for those that it affects directly), we’ve probably all done it at one time or another, but this doesn’t make it right. It just means that we all need to be more careful and actively make the effort to try to change the way we think when it comes to those we are interacting with.

This doesn’t apply to everyone (to be sure), however there seems to be a tendency within the Pagan community to assume that everyone is Wiccan, or on a Wicca-based path, and that we all celebrate the same Sabbats around the same time, and in generally the same way. There is a bit of “tunnel vision”, often forgetting that there are many different paths, all who have their own various holidays and celebrations. Not all of them are Sabbat related (or called Sabbats) – even if some of them are celebrated on, or around the same dates.

It’s also very frustrating to see how many people forget entirely that the Northern Hemisphere is NOT the only Hemisphere that exists. Many tend to ignore completely those Pagans who live on the “flip-side” as it were. Which means that even if they do happen to celebrate the Sabbats (which again, not all do) they will be doing so on a schedule that is completely opposite to what would be done in the Northern Hemisphere. It wouldn’t make any sense to celebrate seasonal holidays, outside of the season that they occur in, but for some reason, we often assume that those in the Southern Hemisphere do, if we even consider them at all.

So this week’s TIP is a reminder to expand our horizons just a bit. While clearly if you are discussing something with your local coven or group, it might not be such an issue, but in larger gatherings, and especially if you are participating in an online Pagan community or discussion, it’s worth the extra effort to remember that not everyone does things exactly in the same way. Nor would we want them too… imagine how boring it would be if we did.

TIP: Cults

Posted by Sanna in TIPs and tagged with , ,

Over the years the word “cult” has gotten a bad rap. People tend to think of cults as a group that has been brainwashed by the twisted leader to do anything and everything. And indeed, this is one definition of the word “cult”. It’s also one of the most popular uses of the term. However, within comparative religion, one may come across the term used in a more positive way; for example, Gardner referred to his religion as a “witch-cult”.

But not all cults are like that. One of the dictionary definitions of the word cult (see below) is a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols, or even, simply, formal religious worship. Under that definition, many religions can be considered cults. Another definition of cult is an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing; we use this colloquially in the context of “cult films” and so on as well as in relation to religions.

The term “cult” can also refer to the external or observable aspects of a religion, and a religion for which the neglect of these aspects would be considered impious.

Though there is often cause to bristle with indignation if one’s religion is referred to as a “cult”, it is important not to leap to the defensive when the word is used. The person using the word may not have intended any offence after all. The definition being used may not be apparent from context, so check before flaring up.

As an aside – it is wise to familiarise oneself with the signs of a dangerous cult. Not every group that identifies itself to you as, for example, Wiccan, is in fact a Wiccan group. The Cult Danger Evaluation Frame linked below should help you ascertain whether a group is a cause for worry, and if you don’t feel comfortable, stay away.

The OED on “cult”

Merriam-Webster on “cult”

Wikipedia on “cult”

The Advanced Bonewits Cult Danger Evaluation Frame (with the pleasing acronym of ABCDEF)

Choosing A Path

Posted by Sephira in Paganism, Reader Question and tagged with , , ,

This is a question we received a while ago on Tumblr, intended to repost here and then forgot about. Whoops.

hey i really interested in paganism, but i dont know what path to choose, i may be an eclectic pagan, what are some different beliefs/simple spells/rituals from different pagan religions to get me started?xxxxxxxxx

 

Ooo, big question. The term Paganism at its very widest refers to any religion that is not Abrahamic. Even the much more narrow “Neo-Pagan” is so broad an umbrella it’s difficult to know where to start. People want to leap into rituals right away, and rituals can be fulfilling, but if you don’t know what you believe or what direction you want to go in, you may end up leaping in with both feet to something that isn’t really for you.

So to start with, write out somewhere what you believe at the moment. I find writing or typing gets my mind working, but it may not be the same way for you; you may do your best thinking while jogging or whatever, but once you have it worked out write it down as well, because it’s an interesting thing to refer back to in years to come.

As far as beliefs go, Pagan religions span the range of theistic interpretations (though pantheism and hard and soft polytheism may be the most popular). Not all Pagans believe in gods, and some that believe in them do not worship them. Many Pagans recognise spirits of the natural world to some degree, and some honour or worship these spirits. Beliefs regarding the afterlife (or lack thereof) vary; some believe in reincarnation, some in an Underworld, some that your spirit is absorbed back into the universe, some that there is no afterlife.

Many rituals held to honour gods tend to involve an offering of some kind, such as food or drink. Rituals can be elaborate and involve a lot of tools, lines to learn and preparation, or they can be as simple as lighting a candle. If you’re wanting to get in touch with your spiritual side and the world around you, I’d recommend something quite simple, like going out into the garden or a park and sitting somewhere that appeals to you. Take some deep breaths, listen, observe, enjoy.

Things to consider when choosing a religion to look into might be the gods or culture you feel drawn towards, your theistic beliefs, your beliefs in the afterlife, and the morals you personally consider important. These things may well change and evolve as you learn and research – I know mine certainly did – but at least they’ll give you some clue on where to start.

You might also find the following article of some use.

I hope that was of some help!

How do I Switch Religions?

Posted by Sanna in Paganism, Reader Question, Resources and tagged with , ,

Hello, I have been doing alot of studying, and I feel that becoming a Wiccan is the right path for me. My question is that since I was raised as a catholic, how can I “switch” religions? Do I have to do something to change to become a Wiccan?

You do indeed!

Wicca is an initiatory religion. If you are interested in becoming a Wiccan, you do have to track down a legitimate Wiccan coven from a legitimate Wiccan tradition. These traditions include Gardnerian, Alexandrian and Central Valley among others. Once you find a coven into which you feel you fit well, and they decide to take you on as a student, eventually you will be initiated into the coven.

Here are some links to help you out in searching for a coven:
Amber and Jet
New Wiccan Church
We also focus on finding a group or coven in our answer to this question.

Finding a Wiccan coven that you mesh with well can take a long time, and you may have to travel some way to meet with them. I know Wiccans and students of Wicca who drive or take a train for hours to meet with their coven for each Sabbat. And of course Wicca isn’t for everyone; it’s a pretty small Pagan religion, and you may end up pursuing either another specific Pagan religion or a form of eclectic Pagan witchcraft, as many people do.

If it turns out Wicca isn’t the right religion for you – and many people do decide against pursuing Wicca for one reason or another – other Pagan religions may have particular initiation or dedication rites for you to perform, either to bring you into the religion or into a specific group. If you end up studying as a solitary (possibly eclectic) Pagan, you may wish, once you are certain, to perform some sort of dedication ritual for yourself. As you are leaving another religion that does have a form of dedication itself, you may wish to renounce that dedication also, either as a part of the same ritual or as a separate ritual.

How you perform your dedication is up to you; you may want to follow a basic dedication ritual from a book or you may want to write your own. It could just be a simple statement, or involve a ritual rebirth. You may choose  a special day to perform it, such as a holiday or particular phase of the moon, or a day that is special to you personally.

Some ideas if this is the way you choose to go:

* Wrap yourself in dark cloth, spend some time in contemplation, and unwrap yourself

* Light a candle signifying your old life, snuff it, then light a new candle for your new life (or light the new candle with the old one)

* Go to a body of water such as a lake or ocean and immerse yourself entirely

* Draw or create a line from a ribbon, stick etc. and step over it from your old life to your new life

Of course, you don’t need to perform a dedication. It’s a personal choice. If you feel in yourself that this is what and who you are now, a dedication may be unnecessary. Many forms of religious witchcraft and eclectic Paganism do encourage it, but if you’re not interested or consider it a bit redundant, and it’s not a part of the specific religion you follow, you don’t have to perform one.

~~~

As a bit of a discussion point, readers, if you have been initiated into a group or religion, or performed a dedication for yourself, what did you do (if you can tell us) and do you have any extra ideas for those who are considering a dedication themselves?

TIP: Beyond the 101

Posted by Sanna in TIPs and tagged with , , ,

So, these are meant to go out on Fridays but we sort of slacked off and then forgot about it. So. It’s late. *cough* Seeing as it’s only the third one that’s a bit sad, haha.

This week’s tip is about the point where you’ve read a bunch of “Neo-Paganism 101” books and you’re ready to move on to the next level of information. But when you get to the library or bookstore, you can’t find anything except more entry-level books. The more you read, the more you feel like something is missing; these books are grazing the surface of something but you can’t manage to get any deeper. What happens now, and how do you move beyond this basic information to a deeper level of practice if you don’t have a teacher?

The reason many of these books are so limited is that they’re based on Wicca. Wicca, as you may know, is an initiatory religion; there’s only so much that can be written about it, first because much is secret and second because much is experiential and can’t be accurately taught in words. Books about Wicca will necessarily be limited to a bare outline, and to get the full experience of Wicca, one must seek initiation. Many basic books on Paganism are based very much on this model and will have a lack of depth that may only become apparent once you start reaching out into other areas and realising how much information there is.

When you reach this point, therefore, there are several actions you can take. These aren’t exclusive:

The first is to branch out. Most 101 books on Paganism will be focused on a very narrow subset, usually related to witchcraft in some way or another and with a strong Wicca flavour. They will talk about circle-casting and two deities and eight Sabbats and so on. But of course, there are dozens of Pagan religions, many that have totally different holidays, different ritual forms, and far more than two deities. Some religions will have more introductory books than others, and some won’t have any, and they may not be in the same section as the books you have been reading so far. You may end up going to the myths, the history, the archaeology for your information.

The second is to find a teacher. Some Pagan religions, often religious witchcrafts, can only be properly taught in person, or in a coven, or via ritual. Not everyone is able to, or even wants to, find a teacher, but there are particular Pagan religions where this is a necessity. If this isn’t your thing or it’s not possible at the moment, it will put certain religions out of your reach.

The third is introspection and personal practice. Sometimes depth and understanding come from regular practice, particularly if you start incorporating daily or weekly exercises. Get up to watch the sun rise every day for a week, dig into the lore for prayers you can recite daily or write your own, spend time in meditation, write down all your thoughts and ideas.

The fourth is community. Discussing things with people – even if they are of a different Pagan religion to yourself, or you disagree on major issues – can give you new ideas and unlock new understandings. People can recommend websites, books, exercises, meditations; introduce you to groups and teachers; help you with difficulties you’ve been having. If there are no Pagans nearby, or you happen to dislike all the Pagans in your area, the internet is a great help.

Keep searching! There’s always more to be learned.

TIP: UPG

Posted by Sanna in TIPs and tagged with , , , ,

Many reconstructionists will be familiar with this term, but it doesn’t seem to be used as often in other Pagan religions. It’s a fantastically useful concept, so it’s our Weekly Tip. (Although at this point it looks like it’s becoming our Weekly Word Definition or something. Ah well! Forward!)

UPG stands for “Unverified Personal Gnosis”, though depending on who you ask, the U may stand for “Unsubstantiated”. Either is fine and acceptable. It refers to understandings you have of the gods (as well as concepts and situations related to your religion) that aren’t backed up by the lore (that is, mythology and so forth). For example, your interactions with Venus may have led you to believe that she likes the colour pink and offerings of sparkling grapefruit juice, or that Oðinn is not a fan of peach schnapps. There’s no mention of these things in lore (…to the best of my knowledge…), but because of some experience you’ve had in ritual or meditation, you have come to this conclusion. It may even have been a direct teaching.

UPG is a great thing, and something we should all take heed of, but it should always be understood that this is your UPG, and not something anyone else is required to accept. In discussing a deity etc., it’s always wise to alert people when something you mention is your UPG. “This is just my UPG, but I’ve always felt that….” is a good way to start. This way everyone knows where they stand, and understands what you’re saying; while they may not agree with you, many people will respect that you don’t expect them to agree with you. It also means people won’t sit there thinking “Gosh, I’ve never heard that before. I wonder where it’s written?” and spend three days going through all the lore they can find in vain.

What’s wonderful is when you have an item of UPG and you are reading through the lore and you come across the very same idea. Your UPG is now Verified. (Hooray!)

On the other hand, you may come across something in lore that directly contradicts your UPG. In this situation, you may want to reassess what you have come to understand. Hold up the two contradictory ideas and let them percolate for a while. An example of this is the apparently wide-spread feeling that Hekate is a crone goddess, while Greek lore and art portray her as a maiden.

Occasionally some conclusion you come to via UPG will be shared by others. This is SPG – Shared Personal Gnosis – or PVPG – Peer Verified Personal Gnosis. Examples of this are the Unofficial Lokablót date of April 1st and Freyja’s apparent enjoyment of strawberries. These ideas have been reached by worshippers completely independently of one another, and because they are shared by so many people they carry more weight than just your average UPG. However, they still don’t carry as much weight as lore.

Lore will always carry more weight than UPG. You don’t have to accept it over what you have come to believe, and lore isn’t necessarily gospel, but don’t expect others to trust you over the lore. On the other hand, you don’t have to accept anyone else’s UPG, either.

 

(Disclaimer: Mercury is in retrograde. Please forgive us if this is a bit confused.)

TIP: Deosil

Posted by Sanna in TIPs and tagged with , ,

In a few books recently I have seen the word “deosil” refer to clockwise motion, but these books are ignoring half of the world. “Deosil” does not simply mean “clockwise”; it refers to the direction in which the sun travels in the sky. This is clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, but anticlockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. This may seem strange to some, as of course the sun will always move from east to west – but below the equator the sun is in the northern half of the sky, and from this viewpoint its passage is anti-clockwise.

The word “Widdershins” can mean both anticlockwise and against the path of the sun, though in Pagan religions that use the word it tends to mean the latter.

Bonus factoid: the spelling “deosil” is rather modern and doesn’t appear in the Celtic languages. You may prefer the term “sun-wise”.

What Am I

Posted by Sephira in Paganism, Reader Question and tagged with , , , , ,

It took me a while to figure out what the lines between Trad Wicca, Eclectic Wicca and Eclectic Paganism were. Knowing when you’re no longer a solitary eclectic Wiccan but a Gaelic Polytheist (or any other distinct form of paganism) would be helpful to newcomers, I’m sure.

Making it more widely known that Wicca is a religion that cannot be eclectic (simply because of the level of structure the religion has and the way it is taught and practised) and how wildly different forms of Eclectic Neo-Paganism can be (both from one another and from Wicca) are things we feel strongly about and will touch on.

That point where you realise you’re no longer an eclectic but following a specific Pagan religion is a pretty great one, and it would be a good subject to focus on. Thinking about it now, not sure how we’ll go about it, but it’s important so we’ll definitely put some thought into it and get a couple of things written on that topic. Thank you very much for your ideas! We appreciate them!

Finding a Group or Coven

Posted by Sephira in Paganism, Reader Question and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

I am currently trying to find a group with whom to interact and study in Charlotte, NC area and am having difficulty doing so. Could you help me?

The first (and probably most important) question you need to ask yourself, is “What exactly are you looking to study?” Because there are different resources that might be better than others, depending on what you are looking for. Without knowing any specifics, I’m going to gear my response towards Wicca and Eclectic Neo-Pagan Paths. If you are looking for something else, please reply and let me know, so I can provide those resources as well.

My first suggestion would be to check out the WitchVox site. They provide a place for various groups and organizations advertise, and it is divided up by city/state (there are drop down lists on the left side of the page). You can go to the North Carolina page, to see what is over in the Charlotte area. Which just looking at the page, seems that there are at least some good choices in your area.

The other thing to remember as well, is that sometimes you might have to travel a bit to find the right group, so if there isn’t something that fits in your local area, and it is something that you really feel strongly about, it might not hurt to widen your search a bit. I know people who travel several hours one way to meet with their covens, and others who fly across country. Clearly that’s not something that we all can afford to do (time or money-wise), but it’s something to consider.

From there it can take a bit of detective work, because even though something might say “traditional” or “Wicca”, etc… in many cases what that particular group defines that as can really vary, so you really have to ask a lot of questions, especially if being in a lineaged coven is important to you. If you are just looking for an eclectic group then, it’s just a matter of checking out profiles and finding one that seems to suit what you are looking for, and then contacting them for more information.

Groups that are open to new members should be willing to at least discuss basic information (even if the majority of their practices are oath-bound). If someone seems annoyed that you are asking questions, or they get defensive or evasive, then it’s probably a good idea to run quickly in the opposite direction. Listen to your own instincts – if something doesn’t seem right, the it probably isn’t.

If you are looking for a Traditional Wiccan coven, your next resource would be the Amber and Jet Yahoo list. While they have discontinued their “official” seekers list, it is still the best place to get more information on if a particular coven is properly lineaged. Not only that but their archives contain a wealth of information on Wicca, and if you have any questions on anything you can always ask, as there are a lot of wonderful members (consisting of both Elders, Seekers and other Initiates) who are more than willing to help.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask! 🙂