One of my favorite strains of Neopaganism is the Germanic strain. While I am not most knowledgeable in it and it's not the strain I use most, I have a great interest in Norse cosmology, mainly because I have a great interest in Scandinavian culture. :) This strain of Neopaganism is often referred to "Heathenism". To Christians and other people who are somewhat ignorant (and when I say I ignorant, I mean it's objective meaning of not being knowledgeable in a subject) to the origins of the word, you think of a pejorative. You think of the nasty person who does "bad" things. But it is speculated that the word originates from the Old English "hthen" (I couldn't put in that little "p" symbol that stands for the "th" sound in Old English. :( ), meaning a "dweller of the heath". There are several other speculations on the origins of the word, but it certainly does not mean a person who is bad because they happen to not worship your god. Usually the people who use this strain of Neopaganism come from the Northern European countries or descendents of people from those countries, but it can be used by anyone who simply has an interest in it. It's just another mask that the Great Ones use to appeal to us humans who have silly attachments to our areas of birth. ;) (Of course, that can be argued by all kinds of Pagans, but that's a story for another blog.) Heathens can be split into many factions such as those who practice Ásatrú (worship that focuses on the Aesir), Vantrú (worship that focuses on the Vanir), Rökatrú (worship that mainly focuses on the Jotun, or other cthonic deities in this pantheon) and a whole lot of other factions which I will focus on in detail whenever I get around to it. :) Like most Neopagans, Heathens use a lot of the same practices, one of the most unique being the use of Runes in a spell or to tell one's fortune. Unfortunately, it was indeed this strain of Paganism which Hitler used to inspire Nazis with "Aryan Pride". :/ But please realize that this was an example of an evil person using a good thing for evil. We Neopagans are a very peaceful, nonviolent people who respect the Earth and humanity. We cannot speak for the things that our ancestors did in old Pagan religions and practices. That's why we are Neopagans. We honor the practices as old as the good Earth, but without the violence or human sacrifices that our ancestors were accustomed to doing. That's right. I'm admitting that my religion used to do evil things, too. In this blog, I won't cover up our past or try to victimize us. But, I will educate you on who we are as well as who we used to be. Besides that, if you were interested in this strain of Neopaganism, stick around for more as I tell the stories of the pantheon, elaborate on the practices of worship and explain more about it's history. :)
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| Neopagans who practice the Germanic strain use Mjöllnir (Thor's hammer) as their sacred symbol. |
