The Naming of Norse Folk
The naming of kids is a difficult matter. It isn’t just one of your holiday games… ~ T.S. Eliot’s A Practical Book of Cats (sort of) I’m so excited! Our illustrious webmistress and esteemed friend had a baby this weekend! Pass the Topo Chico! Mom and son are in perfect health and everything is looking...
Winter Nights and the Elf Blot
One of the big challenges of a reconstructed faith is taking a religion that varied through several centuries and creating a single system out of the mix. The faith of the Teutonic peoples was practiced for hundreds of years from Germany to Iceland and almost everywhere in between. It’s no surprise the tribes of first...
Heroes and Magic and Gods, Oh my! Recommended Readings on Heathenry
Last week in the comments a reader asked for reading suggestions for those interested in learning more about Heathenry. I realized I had a lot to say about this topic, so I made a post out of it. Please know I am not a scholar and while I have been a Pagan for a long time...
Yule 2011 – A Look Inside a Heathen Holiday
For those unfamiliar with what a Yule celebration looks like in a Heathen household (well half-Heathen anyway, TheScott being of the Catholic persuasion), GG and I decided to share with you what we did this year. Due to all the December festivities, TheScott and I hosted a (very) late Yule celebration this year. Growing up...
Oh, Behave! – Wyrd, Frith, and the Social Contract
One of the most common defenses people give for religion is that it brings order to society. People look to their faith to tell them how to be good people, and because of their fear of God, Hell, or even the punishing power of priests, people choose to behave...
Defining a Heathen
As a writer, specificity in the meaning of the words we use is important to me. I think a lot of miscommunication happens because people have a different idea of what a word means, which can lead to misunderstanding and even arguments. We should know what we mean when we use a word, and our...
A Decade of Being Pagan
It dawned on me the other day that I passed the ten year mark this summer. Though it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when I “became†Pagan, I have chosen the day I cast my first circle as my anniversary. While at the time I was still unsure of what I was doing (and wouldn’t yet...
Walpurgis Night – The Other Beltane
Walpurgisnacht (Walburga’s Night / Walpurgis Night) is a popular Germanic holiday celebrated at the same time as Beltane... Now famous for the bonfires that light the hills of Sweden, the champagne toasts in Finland, and the pranks of southern Germany it has been known as both a witch’s holiday and the feast day of a...
An Introduction to Different Pagan Paths
I’ve been searching for a site that provides an overview of the variants of paganism most widely practiced today, or at least most widely known. The Wikipedia site for Neopaganism provides great information, but doesn’t provide a useful way to categorize pagan faiths — a taxonomy of pagan paths, if you will. There are some...
Ostara: Chasing History in Myth
I’ve spent six months now actively pursuing a reconstructionist-style paganism, and it’s been both interesting and enlightening. I did it because I’ve always felt strong ties to my Scandinavian heritage, I love history and research, and I was growing a little tired of wandering through general paganism (not that there’s anything wrong with doing that,...
