A Frequently Asked Question about Asatru is: "Should I be doing devotional practices every day?"
My answer: "Should" doesn't get one very far, in my experience. If what you feel like doing is the standard holidays, do that. If you feel like doing no more than occasionally thinking about the gods and other powers, do that, then-- and if 30 years later you suddenly are excited about sharing joyous times with them, then there you go, change to that. "Should" makes things into church-on-Sunday boredom and obligation, and who wants to be somebody's boring chore? Not the gods, as far as I know.
A Frequently Asked Question in the group I manage, the Asatru Facebook Forum, is: Where can I find a kindred or other Asatru and / or heathen people in my area?
Several sites and organizations have maps and locators for the members. Although the American Asatru Association no longer exists, the kindred locator map is still on the old wordpress site:
Frequently Asked Question: Why do some American heathens hate Loki?
My Answer: Most Loki-haters hate him because other people taught them to. Of course that begs the question, how did the original teachers of Loki-hate decide to hate Loki? Some of them had bad experiences with Loki or Lokeans, some of them based their opinions of Loki on lore, some of them based their opinions of Loki on a mistaken impression that every pantheon has a Satan figure in it, and some have other reasons. Recently at least some hatred toward Loki and his followers is because of a perception that they are Marvel fangirls and therefore are not serious about heathenry.
This is a story about a personal experience I had recently, in which I honored 3 goddesses by wearing colors that represent them.
Before my recent trip, I had gone to my local Renfaire. Every year I trade something I made for a braid. I started doing that back when I sold my hand dyed fabrics from a booth. Some years I am not vending and some years I am, but I always make something out of my hand dyed fabric or yarn for the braidy lady. This year I was vending my hand dyed scarves as part of the Haven Craft booth. The braid booth has the customers choose ribbon colors, typically 3 colors. This year, I chose lavender to honor Sigyn, rose to honor Freya, and gold to honor Sif.
For real this time! The publisher has fixed the error and the Heathen Calendar 2018 is now ready to order.
The calendar contains heathen holidays from various traditions such as Asatru, Theod, Urglaawe, Forn Sed, etc., and heathen related holidays still celebrated in their countries of origin in northern Europe. For example, April 30th is May Eve in England, Walpurgisnacht in Germany and Austria, Valborgsmässoafton in Sweden, Valborgsnatten in Norway, Maitag Vorabend in Switzerland, and Valborgsaften in Jutland, Denmark. That is one of the holidays that falls on the same date every year, but other holidays shift depending on moon phase and other reasons.
Thesseli
You should post on Substack too, where you won't have to worry about being deplatformed or kicked off the site for your views. (Also, I've archived th...
David Dashifen Kees
I feel it necessary to state, unequivocally, that anti-trans points of view are not an essential part of Paganism. As a trans Pagan myself who helps ...
Thanks!
Love this! Having a drink with spirits is my favorite way to initiate and deepen relationships with them. I also love the emphasis
