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Heathenry is a modern Pagan new religious movement that has been active in the United States since at least the early 1970s. Although the term "Heathenry" is often employed to cover the entire religious movement, different Heathen groups within the United States often prefer the term "Ásatrú" or "Odinism" as self-designations.
The Æsir are the gods of the principal pantheon in Norse religion. They include Odin, Frigg, Höðr, Thor, and Baldr. The second Norse pantheon is the Vanir. In Norse mythology, the two pantheons wage war against each other, resulting in a unified pantheon. Unlike the Old English word god, Æsir was never converted over to Christian use.
Blót and blōt or geblōt are terms for "blood sacrifice" in Norse paganism and Anglo-Saxon paganism respectively. A comparanda can also be reconstructed for wider Germanic paganism.
The Odinic Rite (OR) is a neo-völkisch Heathen organisation named after the god Odin. OR is a reconstructionist religious organization concerned with Germanic paganism, Germanic mythology and folklore, and runes. As a neo-völkisch organization, the Odinic Rite limits membership to white individuals, holding the belief in Heathenry as the ancestral religion of the Indo-European race.
Ásatrúarfélagið is an Icelandic religious organisation of heathenry. It was founded on the first day of summer (Iceland) 1972, and granted recognition as a registered religious organization in 1973, allowing it to conduct legally binding ceremonies and collect a share of the church tax. The Allsherjargoði is the chief religious official.
Heathenry, also termed Heathenism, contemporary Germanic Paganism, or Germanic Neopaganism, is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religious studies classify it as a new religious movement. Developed in Europe during the early 20th century, its practitioners model it on the pre-Christian religions adhered to by the Germanic peoples of the Iron Age and Early Middle Ages. In an attempt to reconstruct these past belief systems, Heathenry uses surviving historical, archaeological, and folkloric evidence as a basis, although approaches to this material vary considerably.
The Troth, formerly the Ring of Troth, is an American-based international heathen organization. It is prominent in the inclusionary, as opposed to folkish sector of heathenry. The organization was founded on December 20, 1987 by former Ásatrú Free Assembly members Edred Thorsson and James Chisholm. Chisholm remains associated with the organization as an Elder Emeritus. The current Steer is Lauren Crow.
The European Congress of Ethnic Religions (ECER) is an organisation for cooperation among associations that promote the ethnic religions of Europe. The primary goal of the ECER is the strengthening of pre-Christian religious traditions of Europe, emphasizing and fostering their ties with Modern Pagan movements.
Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost is a Norse neopagan organisation in Norway. It was founded in 1996 and acts as an umbrella organisation for a number of local groups in Norway.
The Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA) is a white supremacist international Ásatrú organization, founded by Stephen A. McNallen in 1994. Many of the assembly's doctrines, heavily criticized by most heathens, are based on ethnicity, an approach it calls "folkish". Once headquartered in Grass Valley, California, with chapters worldwide, the AFA is recognized as a 501(c)(3) non-profit religious organization.
Religion in Europe has been a major influence on today's society, art, culture, philosophy and law. The largest religion in Europe is Christianity, but irreligion and practical secularisation are strong. Three countries in Southeastern Europe have Muslim majorities. Ancient European religions included veneration for deities such as Zeus. Modern revival movements of these religions include Heathenism, Rodnovery, Romuva, Druidry, Wicca, and others. Smaller religions include the Dharmic religions, Judaism, and some East Asian religions, which are found in their largest groups in Britain, France, and Kalmykia.
Stephen Anthony McNallen is an American proponent of Heathenry, a modern Pagan new religious movement, and a white nationalist activist. He founded the Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA), which he led from 1994 until 2016, having previously been the founder of the Viking Brotherhood and the Asatrú Free Assembly.
The Community of Forn Sed Sweden, formerly the Swedish Asatro Community is a heathen organization founded in 1994.
In the modern Pagan movement of Heathenry there are a number of holidays celebrated by different groups and individuals. The most widely observed are based on ancient Germanic practices described in historical accounts or folk practices however some adherents also incorporate innovations from the 20th and 21st centuries.
Modern paganism in Scandinavia is almost exclusively dominated by Germanic Heathenry, in forms and groups reviving Norse paganism. These are generally split into two streams characterised by a different approach to folk and folklore: Ásatrú, a movement that been associated with the most innovative and Edda-based approaches within Heathenry, and Forn Siðr, Forn Sed or Nordisk Sed, a movement marked by being generally more traditionalist, ethnic-focused and folklore-rooted, characterised by a worldview which its proponents call folketro. Forn Siðr may also be a term for Scandinavian Heathenry in general. Vanatrú defines the religion of those individuals or groups in which the worship of the Vanir dominates.
The Odinist Community of Spain – Ásatrú, also known as European Odinist Circle, is a Germanic neopagan organisation in Spain, founded in 1981, for followers of the denomination of modern heathenism known as Odinism, and is also accepting of broader Ásatrú and Vanatrú neo-heathenism. The community bases its ideology on the Visigothic, Suevian and Vandalian Germanic heritage of modern Spain, Portugal and Occitania, dating to the 6th century. It was legally recognised as a religious institution by the Spanish government in 2007, and performed the first legal pagan wedding in mainland Spain since the Visigothic era, in Barcelona on 23 December 2007. In Albacete in 2009, COE completed the first temple to Odin believed to have been built in over 1,000 years. A less Odin-focused group split off in 2012 as the Ásatrú Lore Vanatrú Assembly (ALVA).
Heathenry as it is expressed in Canada is used as a universal term to describe a wide range of Germanic Neopaganism. Those who practice the religions or folk-ways of Ásatrú, Forn Sed, Odinism or Theodism are all considered part of a greater Heathen umbrella. In Canada, Heathenry takes a socially liberal standing in its philosophy. The exclusion of adherents on the basis of ethnic origin, sexual orientation, other group affiliation as well as other discriminatory factors is opposed by most Canadian Heathen groups, although there are, as in the United States a small number of racially minded groups that limit their membership to those of "Nordic ancestry".
The Forn Siðr — Ásatrú and Vanatrú Association in Denmark is a Danish nationwide religious organisation of the followers of Forn Siðr, the contemporary revival of Norse paganism and culture. The Forn Siðr association was established on 15 November 1997.
Heathenry in the United Kingdom consists of a variety of modern pagan movements attempting to revive pre-Christian Germanic religiosities, such as that practised in the British Isles by Anglo-Saxon and Nordic peoples prior to Christianisation.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 About Forn Sed Norway (slide presentation), Forn Sed Norge, 2018, retrieved May 21, 2021.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Geir Winje, "Foreningen Forn Sed", Store norske leksikon , December 30, 2014, retrieved May 21, 2021 (in Norwegian).
- 1 2 "Forn Sed Norge: Org nr 983 227 562", PROFF.no, April 27, 2002, retrieved May 21, 2021 (in Norwegian).
- 1 2 3 4 Elise Kruse, "Den sammensatte viking", Vårt Land , July 31, 2017, retrieved May 21, 2021 (in Norwegian).
- ↑ Egil Asprem, "Heathens Up North: Politics, Polemics, and Contemporary Paganism in Norway", The Pomegranate 10.1 (2008) 42–69, doi : 10.1558/pome.v10i1.41, p. 50 (registration required).
- 1 2 Geir Uldal and Geir Winje, "Paganism in Norway", in: Henrik Bogdan and Olav Hammer, eds., Western Esotericism in Scandinavia, Boston: Brill, 2016, ISBN 978-90-04-30241-9, p. 371.
- ↑ Silje Rognsvåg, "Åsatru-folk tar avstand fra Breivik", Dagen , November 20, 2015, retrieved May 21, 2021 (in Norwegian).
- ↑ "Antall tilskuddstellende medlemmer i tros- og livssynssamfunn i 2022" (PDF). www.regjeringen.no. 13 May 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ↑ Svein Nordal, "Ravn Villtokt etterlyser tilskotsbrev frå Ørsta", Møre-Nytt , February 27, 2021, retrieved May 21, 2021 (in Nynorsk).
- ↑ "Are slo Klaus: Avslutter med norrønt blot", Adresseavisen , October 28, 2014, retrieved May 21, 2021 (in Norwegian).
- ↑ "About ECER", European Congress of Ethnic Religions, retrieved May 21, 2021.
