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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in vanatru

Posted by on in Paths Blogs

b2ap3_thumbnail_candles.JPGIn the Northern Hemisphere, and particularly in New England where I live, the leaves are starting to turn, the temperature is cooling off... soon enough the leaves will be falling off the trees, frost will cover the ground, and it will continue to get colder.  But right now, where I live, it's still warm for this time of year and there's some green on the trees still.  The dark half of the year is here, but it's more like "twilight" than full-on darkness.  Still... time to start lighting candles, asking the Powers to guide the way into the dark night.

When Samhain/Halloween approaches, many Pagans remember the dead, and the Pagan blogosphere will often get into the topic of ancestor veneration.  A couple of years ago, I was not in the habit of this practise because I have abusive family members, and the abuse was generational, and I felt highly uncomfortable reaching out to these people's spirits; I also believed there was no point in reaching out to people who have probably since reincarnated.  But my views on this have changed considerably over the last two years, and today, I not only honor the dead - and my ancestral dead among them - but I also believe that honoring the dead is an important part of my practise.

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Posted by on in Paths Blogs

In 2001, I moved to a house where I could get internet access at home. I had been using the net at the public library, but the time rationing system meant I never had time to learn much. Search engines like Google didn't exist yet, but there was a search capability within the MSN Groups website, and one of the first things I did with my home net connection was join MSN ASATRU.

It was exciting to be able to connect with other heathens, and for the first time I encountered other heathens who lived outside of the USA. An Icelandic Asatruar joined the group and told us we were using Icelandic words wrong and we sounded ridiculous. American Asatruars had been greeting each other with "hailsa" for as long as I'd known any other Asatruars, but now we learned it was grammatically incorrect. Although it was hard to break a habit of using a word I'd been using for over a decade, I started using terms in my own language instead, and adopted the traditional "hail and well met."

Among my other early internet experiences was encountering the word Vanatru for the first time. I considered using it myself because of my dedication to Freya, but ultimately decided to stick with the word Asatru to describe my path because I consider all the gods who live in Asgard to be my gods. I'm very happy with that decision, as since then Vanatru has become its own sect very different from Asatru, and I have broadened and deepened my relationships with the gods of Asgard and have remained firmly committed to Asatru.

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b2ap3_thumbnail_away-207525_640.jpgThis post is for Week 2 of The Pagan Experience, on Personal Practice: “Share your favorite spiritual/magickal practices."

On the Vanic side of my spiritual life, one of the most meaningful and nourishing things I do is also one of the most simple, something that may not look outwardly like a spiritual practice: going for walks.

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs

While my spiritual path is Hellenic and I primarily honor Greek Deities, I nonetheless am fascinated by the many, many different traditions out there that fall within the large Pagan tent (or set up camp right next to it). As a result, I have a pretty sizable personal library of books on other-than-Hellenic traditions. 

Northern Traditions, and especially the Goddesses honored by those traditions, are a particular favorite subject.* I am always on the lookout for new books on Frigga or Freyja or Epona or Skadhi or Medeine.**

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Rebecca Buchanan
    Rebecca Buchanan says #
    "Roles of the Northern Goddess" is the only book by Ellis-Davidson that I have read, to date, so I included it in my list. Are the
  • Jön Upsal's Gardener
    Jön Upsal's Gardener says #
    Alas, HR Ellis-Davidson is a wonderful author, but you've listed her last and least fact-based book. I'd put anything else she's w
  • Rebecca Buchanan
    Rebecca Buchanan says #
    @Kalyca: I love hearing from librarians! There are surprisingly few really good books out there about the Norse Goddesses. Please
  • Kalyca Schultz
    Kalyca Schultz says #
    Thank you for this book list! I look forward to dipping my toes into some of these, especially the ones about Freyja. Just publish

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