wiccatru Archives - The Rational Heathen

Wiccatru — Or Should We Take Another Look at the Other Pagans?

September 17, 2017 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

I ran across this rather interesting post on Patheos entitled Wicca: A New Major Religion, and yeah, it got me thinking. If Wicca could be considered a major religion, are we doing Heathenism a genuine disservice by not occasionally courting it? Here are my thoughts and why we may want to consider a bigger tent when it comes to our religion.

The Article and Why the Numbers Might Be Important

If anything, the article reaffirmed my belief in the big tent model when it comes to Heathenism. If the numbers are correct (and I suspect they might be), we need to treat our pagan brethren with a little more respect. The tl;dr version is that Wicca may have, by low estimates, around 2 million practitioners in the United States, making it the third largest religion in the US, after Judaism. (Atheists and agnostics make up a larger percentage than Judaism, but since they are not a religion, they aren’t factored in.) Now granted, when compared to more that 300 million people, that may not seem like many, but the reality is that 2 million votes can sway an election quite handily. Which brings us to Heathenism.

Heathenism by the Numbers

I’m not going to tell you that the numbers I give you are definitive. For one thing, no one has done a completely accurate census and counted every single Heathen on the planet. The current census counts were done on a strictly volunteer basis and most required some sort of participation in social media. That being said, the Norse Mythology Blog came up with a number 16,700 in 2013. This seems a little low to me, undoubtedly because I suspect that some Heathens, for whatever reasons, don’t bother answering polls. I suspect the number is bigger because the piece I wrote, The Gods are Not Your Bitches, got a whopping 13,062 views. Now, granted, some folks may have gone back and reread it, and some folks may have read it who were not Heathen, but the idea that one of my posts reached nearly all Heathens is ludicrous.

I’ve seen likes on various Heathen groups on the web, and have seen numbers in the 60K to 100K. That to me seems more likely with a guessimation of maybe 150K to 200K total Heathens in the world at the top end, when you count crossovers from Wiccans and goosestepping moron Odinist Nazis.

Why We Need to Ally Ourselves with the Wiccans, or My Big Tent Belief

So, for argument sake, let’s say we have about 100K to 200K Heathens worldwide. Personally, I think it is around 100,000, but let’s go with that bigger number, for argument sake. That means that we maybe have a tenth of the numbers Wiccans have, if Wiccans have a conservative 2 million in the United States alone. And our numbers are worldwide, not the United States, alone. So, we have 2 million people who could easily be on our side because they’re polytheistic. Granted, they worship all sorts of gods and goddesses, but the reality is that they could strengthen Heathenism if we let them.

I’ve proposed this big tent belief in an earlier post which has met with some derision from the recon segment. Wiccans are not our enemies here. In fact, you’re likely to find allies from Wiccans who worship Freyja and Freyr, or any of our other gods and goddesses. We can find more Heathens there who will help us politically when it comes to issues we have. Plus, if we’re inclusive, we have a lot more Heathens who can help shape Heathenry.

To Those Who Want to Exclude Wiccans

Those who want to exclude Wiccans, even though they worship our gods, are being shortsighted. Heathenry should be open to bringing in others, not just those who are willing to do the homework and speak the gibberish some Heathens do. We need the Lokeans, the Rokkatru, and yes, even the Wiccatru.

Why? you may ask.

Do you really want Heathenry to stay small? Do you really want it to be taken over by racists? Do you really think it’s a good idea to stay exclusive and not inclusive? Look at the Wiccans. They really don’t have a lot of dogma, and thus have big numbers. Maybe Heathenry could learn something from Wiccans. And Hels bells, I don’t even believe in magic.

Choosing a God or Goddess from the Northern Pantheons

July 17, 2017 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

If you’re new to Heathenry (or even if you aren’t), maybe you’re wondering which gods and/or goddesses are your main go-to deities, or (dare I say it?) patron deities. I’ve been reading some blogs about this and I figured, as the Rational Heathen, I’d weigh in on the subject. As usual, your mileage may vary (YMMV) and any advice I give may not fit your circumstance.

But I Already Have a God/Goddess!

If you’re a newly arrived Heathen, chances are you’ve chosen one of the more media-prominent gods/goddesses such as Odin, Thor, Loki, or Freyja. That’s all well and good, but they aren’t the only ones out there, and they may not fit you. Also, they’re not a “I’m substituting Odin for the Christian god”-type of gods. Odin isn’t the only creator-god, nor is he entirely benevolent. All the gods have their dark sides, just like human beings. But they also have their good sides, which can be wondrous and amazing when you are on the receiving end.

If you’re a Heathen with some years in Heathenry, you may have found a god/goddess that you like, but maybe are looking for more than one go-to god, or maybe you just don’t feel the fit is right. After all, there’s a reason why we’re polytheistic, and not monotheistic, right? All of these are good reasons to explore the pantheon and see if there is another god or goddess whom we can add to our altars.

My Own Experience

Long time readers will know that I didn’t choose becoming a Heathen. Rather, I got pulled in by Tyr and Thor. While Tyr is my main god, I have several gods and goddesses I show respect to including Thor, Freyr, Freyja, Skadi, Odin, Zisa, and, oddly enough, Loki. But they didn’t just show up all at once and talk to me. No. As a matter of fact, some, like Skadi, were very cool to me (pun intended). Skadi and I did have a bit of an introductory period. I had known her years before I became a Heathen, but it is my experience that she doesn’t always come knocking on your door the way other gods and goddesses may do. Freyr did not approach me, either. I simply opened myself to him. So, I do have some experience choosing new gods and goddesses.

How Should I Discover a New God/Goddess?

Unless your experience is similar to mine, you’ll probably be charting your own course, so to speak. Finding a new god/goddess may be difficult if you don’t have a god grab you by the scruff of the neck and shout, “You’re Mine!” (This can be a really disconcerting time in your life, if this does happen.) If you’re looking for a deity, you should first do your homework and find out what you can about each god. Learn what you can from the myths and Eddas. Does any one appeal to you in some fashion?

The downside to research is that we don’t know as much about certain gods and goddesses within our pantheon. Yes, we know quite a bit about the main players, but there’s a lot of guess-and-by-golly when it comes to less-known gods. Also note that there are some gods who cross over ethnic groups and have different names, but are essentially the same god. Thor comes to mind. He’s Thorr in Norse culture, Thunor in Anglo-Saxon culture, and Donar in German culture. But he’s also Perun in Slavic culture, Perkunas in Baltic culture, and Perendi in Albanian culture. If you’re culturally close to those who worshiped the northern gods, you may want to see if there are gods within your ancestors’ cultures that fit, or seem to resonate with you.

Mediation is immensely helpful in this search. You may hear one or more god or goddess as you practice mindfulness meditation. In this case, feel free to explore the communication. You don’t have to choose the god who shows up, but chances are there’s a reason they choose to talk with you while you were receptive. Be cautious, too, during mediation. You’re receptive to more than just the gods. Avoid those that give you bad feelings or harmful requests. Believe it or not, there are spirits that do take delight on waylaying people.

You’ll have to choose by what feels right. This isn’t a particularly rational suggestion, but religion is seldom rational in nature. In the end, you must trust you gut-feelings and maybe you’ll get rewarded for your efforts with a UPG or maybe even some communication.

Avoid Popular and Simple Explanations for Deities

I hate to be the party-pooper on this, but the gods aren’t the Marvel heroes. If you’ve been drawn to Heathenism because of the Marvel tropes, that’s okay, but don’t expect Thor, Loki, and Odin to be much like the comic characters. These are gods who have many dimensions to their personalities, and although we have limited writings about them–many of them colored by Christianity–enough of us have had UPGs to the point where we’ve seen other aspects of the gods.

For example, Freyja isn’t just the goddess of war and sex, (although she is that, too). She has a very complex role as a goddess. She takes half the fallen before Odin, thus probably taking the best warriors. She is a strong goddess who fights, but is still very feminine. She is the goddess of the Seidr, and may be linked to Frigga as the wife of Odin. She is certainly the most powerful of the goddesses. Your dealings with her may bring certain insights into her personality that you would never find in popular culture.

What About Other Pantheons?

Should you mix and match gods and goddesses from other unrelated pantheons? What if Freyja and Bast appeal to you? What if you worship Jupiter, Heimdall, and Wu Xi? What if you have altars to Christ and Odin?

Seriously?

Some Heathens will call you out on this as being Wiccan and not Heathen. They may even give you the sarcastic name of “Wiccatru” for your efforts. Even I am a little taken aback by the mixes. (It’s really not the same as mixing some Eurasian religions with our Norse gods because they’re alike in a lot of ways.) I’m somewhat hesitant to say “yes, you can,” because I don’t have a warm feeling about mixing very different religions. That being said, if you truly feel the calling between two different gods from two different pantheons, who in the Hel am I to tell you what you should do?

However, some religions by their very nature aren’t up to the task of “Mix-N-Match” gods. Our gods couldn’t care any less who or what you worship, but the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim god isn’t keen on other gods in the playbook. Something about “Thou shall not have other gods before me…” springs to mind here. While I don’t believe in that god, I do believe that the followers would have something to say about it. And seeing as the words are in their holy text to not worship any other gods, it seems disingenuous to worship a Judaeo-Christian god and a Norse god. But again, that’s your business.

I hope I’ve given you some ideas about the gods and how to start your journey into finding a god or goddess you have a special connection with.

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