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This has been contributed by a North Devon heathen, Siegrune. To contact her further, please look on the Devon Pagans site or email me, and I will further your enquiry.

 

Heathens

Heathenry has as its basis a belief in the gods of the Northern Tradition – Odin, Frigga, Frey and Freya, Tyr, Heimdall, Eir and many others. We have many different names for our path, some preferring Asatru, meaning followers of the Aesir, the gods like Odin, others Vanatru or followers of the Vanir, the earth-based gods such as Frey and Freya. Yet others prefer to call themselves Odinists, as they see Odin as the chief god of all of them. Some  just stick with Heathen, a name which comes from the idea that those who follow this path are unsophisticated heath-dwellers, going their own way without relation to any central authorities. Naturally this one has a lot of appeal, especially since it began as an insult! It also has the merit of encompassing the whole range of beliefs and systems within the tradition.

 

The basic unit of Heathenry is the hearth, since it is held that in the past people would have belonged to a group like the Scottish clan system, with a leader, his family and everyone else associated with them, be they warriors or farmers, poets or philosophers. The hearth is the place where everyone gathers, not only to honour the gods but to sort out disputes, pay respect to the ancestors, and learn the stories and ways of the group. If you belong to a hearth which is affiliated to a larger group, there might also be an Althing – an annual gathering for much the same purposes as the regular hearth meetings, but on a bigger scale.

These days, there are also solitary hedge heathens, just as there are hedge witches and druids. This is because of inclination or because there are no other heathens nearby with whom to form a group. But there are websites, or groups like the Kith of Yggdrasil (in England) or The Troth (based in the USA), which produce magazines and provide a source of contact.                                                                                             NEXT