Man Against Time

Often, you will hear "get with the times!". This is usually when you speak a traditional idea or promote a philosophy that isn't politically correct. These people will automatically shut you down for your heretical view, and declare that you are not up to the standard of the 21st century.

Yet you are a Heathen. Can a Heathen really be "with the times"? And should a Heathen care? What is the Heathen reaction to the "It's 2013, get over it" mentality?

Let us take a look back about 1000 years. In Scandinavia, Christianization accelerated after stiff resistance. Converted Christians bore their death pendants (also known as the crucifix) to display their faith in adverse to the Heathens. Now, Scandinavia remains an anomaly - not only did Christianization take very long, it also occurred at the dawn of the late Middle Ages, a period where historical documentation due to literacy was increasing. Moreover, the Heathen Scandinavians stood like stones in the ground against the tide of Christianity and donned their Mjolnirs in reaction to the crucifix.

What did the Christians say to them? Now, we do not know exactly of course, but as a historian, my guess would be something along the lines of "Get with the times".

The times were changing in Scandinavia, Europe and the world. Christianity had come and all European Kings would bow to the Pope for the next several hundred years. The last of Scandinavia to hold out would be Sweden - but they too would become so Christianized that they would "Crusade" in neighboring Finland and convert all of the Finno-Ugric folk that they could. The old ways never truly died of course - old Gods continued to be worshiped in the forms of spirits, Saints or even still called Gods in very rural areas. The more important myths would be recorded and preserved, a great deal of folklore would remain folklore whilst myths embellished it. But that's the upside, if there can be an upside to this story. The temples were converted into churches, the 'idols" were smashed, anyone who refused to convert was murdered, the old way was taught to children as something evil and a great mistake of their ancestors (original sin).

Yet some Heathens did stand up to this, even for a short while. They bore their Mjolnir's with pride. They were men against the times.

And here we are today, commemorating their effort. Thus they are immortal, because we honor them, the nameless many, of who's graves we dig and find their Mjolnirs and other remnants of Paganism (such as ring with inscriptions). We honor them, though we must honor all of our ancestors. But their effort had not been in vain. We again are Heathens. Our folk return to our Gods, and not just our Scandinavian folk, but all of European folk. The Volga's tied to stakes at low tied and left to drown have been vindicated.

Again, we stand as men against time. Just how many Heathens are there? Sure, it's steadily rising, but just how many of these people are Heathens? How many are hobbyists? How many are Wiccatru? How many are wishy-washy fluffy bunnies? How many weave in and out of Heathenism and Christianity? How many act more like Christians than Heathens? How many don't take it seriously and are more akin to role players than actual Heathens? How many are just metal heads wearing a Mjolnir because their favorite band does?

Worse, just who are we up against? Who must we compete against? Christianity is still alive, in all of its tendrils, constricting our folk into a superstitious death cult for 1500 years now. For every Heathen, how many Christians are there? Hell, what about Islam? By Gods - Christianity has somewhat preserved our Paganism, our indigenous European traditions, since Europe Europeanized Christianity - but Islam is a different beast. Islam is Arabic cultural imperialism. Islam demands you pray in Arabic. Islam demands you smash all idols. An Islamic world would erase all traces of indigenous faith of all peoples. Worried about the pyramids in Egypt? What do you think will happen to Stonehenge if Britain was a Muslim domain? Do you think you'd be allowed to celebrate your summer solstices there then?

Moreover, why should we be concerned with "getting with the times"? "The times" dictate that everything and everyone, groups and individuals, have the same potential because we're all born as blank slates (tabula rosa), disregarding all biological evidence on the contrary. "The times" tells us that a man can become a woman if he chops his genitals and ingests some drugs, despite all common sense. "The times" is what is poisoning us with fluoride in the water and GMOs and we're called "conspiracy theorists" if we point out this may not be a good idea. "The times" demands that it's better to not defend yourself if you are attacked, but beg for them to stop and then hide and call the police. "The times" has turned men into emasculated, soft, hairless, shy, awkward, TV-friendly lap-dogs that would die in days if they were dropped off in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. "The times" has turned women into sad, miserable parodies of men. "The times" makes hundreds of millions of dollars off of turning the Gods of our ancestors into comic book characters. "The times" thinks it's perfectly OK to spy on each and every citizen of its country as if we are all criminals. "The times" insists that Heathenism is outdated and that we should be Christians, Muslims, Atheists/Nihilists or some bastardized, white-washed version of a Buddhist.

If that is what 2013 is, then I am proud of standing against such a degenerate, depraved, loathsome time. I will stand against it until my legs fall out from under me.

A Heathen does not care what "the times" dictate, or that you are supposed to act a certain way or believe in a certain something in 2013. A Heathen is a free man. A Heathen is in tune with his ancestors. He is their descendant whether this is 2013 or 1013 or 2013 BC or 20013 AD. We Heathens stand against the times, like a mountainside:  immovable!

When Islam shouts it will dominate the world, we bare our Mjolnirs. We are men against time.

When Christianity gloats it destroyed our Gods, and we shout our Gods have never died, because we are men against time.

When they say that your ideas are outdated or you are just a romanticist, we are men against time.

When they demand us men must not be men because "gender doesn't exist", we laugh, because we are men against time.

When they insist violence is not the solution from one side of their mouth and sell us violent video games, television shows and movies. We are men against time.

When they tell us we should be ashamed of our heritage, we shout we are prideful, because we are men against time.

Do not fret. We are Europeans, and we are Heathens. We have been through much worse. Heathenism never died, it had been dormant in us, and we have reawakened it. We must also reawaken the European within us. We are Western European Pagans, we have a glorious civilization granted to us by our Indo-European ancestors, who gave us a culture we still possess today. Victory will come from our re-awakening  to our Gods. Remember who you are, and remember your Gods. Nothing is more fearsome and ferocious than a man who knows who he is and what he believes in. May Woden give you fury on that day.

"Confidence is the key to victory." - my late father, a Pagan-Atheist.

And if we fail, then may our descendants in 1000 years remember those men who stood against time.

Thor's Hammer excavated from Yorkshire, circa 10th century. These men who wore these did so in defiance of the times. Their grandchildren or great-grandchildren probably were buried with crucifixes  I am sure their grandchildren thought Thor was gone forever and no one would ever wear his hammer again. Yet here we are, a millennium later, as Germanic Heathens, wearing Mjolnir and worshiping Father Thor.

On Embracing Life and the Necessity of sacrificing to Hel

Hel by an unknown artist. She is both life and death because both are two aspects of something inseparable. Though she is not depicted with a baby in the Eddas, I feel that her carrying a baby is an appropriate metaphor. The baby will replace the parents when the parents die. In order for newborn children to live, the older must die to make space and allow the child to consume limited resources. Thus an infant is symbolic of both life and death, as is Hel. 

In order to fully understand our ancestral faith, we must take on the philosophy that our ancestors followed. While we do have to adapt our Germanic religion into the modern world, we also have to adapt their philosophy in order to appreciate our religion and our Gods in their entirety.

This is no easy task. Unlike the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans, we do not have philosophical works by our ancestors until well into the Christian eras. Moreover, our philosophers were oral philosophers - they passed down their wisdom from adept to adept, father to son, teacher to pupil through oral traditions, often in the form of poetry. The Druids are a famous example: they studied the arcane arts for 20 years before having the title of Druid bestowed upon them. And everything they learned (philosophy, theology, medicine, warcraft, politics, et cetera) was orally passed down. Our European brothers - the Greeks and Romans, and our Indo-European cousins, the Persians, Indians and others (Hittites) had a natural literacy develop where their oral traditions were gradually turned into written works (Homeric poetry). Barbarian Europe, on the other hand, had literacy forced upon it when Christianity was forced upon it, thus our earliest Germanic literature is largely the Bible or heavily Christianized, with some exceptions (the Poetic Edda). As a result of this cultural upheaval, the majority of the wisdom of our bards, scalds, and Druids have been lost.

The philosophy of life for our ancestors has not been lost, though.

Keep in mind when I say philosophy, I do not necessarily mean Greco-Roman philosophy, where educated men think and discuss all aspects imaginable. When I speak of the philosophical life of our ancestors, I speak of their outlook and view on the world around them. This is discernible from the way they viewed their Gods.

Our Gods and Goddesses are every aspect of the world around us.

When we worship life, we worship "Rosy-fingered Dawn" or the Divine Crone/All-Mother (Hera, Frigga...). We worship fertility in the form of both male (Freyr) and female (Freyja), and their mother manifested as Spring itself (Eostre). We worship the Sun (Sunna or Sol Invictis). We worship the All-Father (Odin) and Sky-Father (Tyr). We celebrate life through festivals, marriage, games, feasts, and through sacrifice (where we give a part of us - our time) to the Gods in thanks.

We also, as a result, must celebrate death.

To celebrate life is to embrace all aspects of life. When the ancient Greeks made libations to Ares, the "blood-stained God", they did not because they thought war was a good thing. They did not worship Ares, but they recognized him and made sacrifice to him, because he represented a natural part of life - war. Our ancestors accepted war as a part of life, and recognized it for what life is, and thus embraced Ares and war. They did not "pray for world peace", they did not pray against Ares or wish for Ares to go away. The ancient Greeks understood that hopeless dreaming in life is pointless. They accepted that war is part of life, and thus war must be embraced. So they sacrificed to Ares, even though they did not worship him.

The ancient Greeks also made libations to Hades. Though the Romans did worship the War God (proudly declaring themselves Mars's descendants through Romulus), no Greco-Roman actually worshiped Hades. Yet Hades received a libation - with the conductor's head turned away to the side for the libation. Because in order to celebrate life, death must also be celebrated.

Today, we still celebrate death. The modern European and European-diaspora funeral, shelled in a Victorian casing, superficially Christian and fringed with modernity, is a testament to the European celebration of life. Yes, there is mourning - crying, wailing, screaming, perhaps even guilt or fighting among the guests - it still is a celebration of the life of the person who died. And in order to have that celebration, that person must die, thus death is celebrated.

Think about the modern Catholic wake and funeral. Family, friends and even acquaintances gather together in the room of the body. Kin that have not spoken in years are brought together, friendships are rekindled and bonds are strengthened. When I was a teenager, mired in atheism and degeneracy, I scoffed at this - I said once "People are mingling, but there's a corpse in the room!". But it's not a corpse. The person in the casket is a reminder of life. We are celebrating that person by "mingling", by laughing, joking, and later and traditionally, by feasting and drinking. I remember at one funeral, at the procession afterwards, we tossing around the children between the tables, vaulting them up into the air and catching them. It was a joyous outburst, so delightful that we probably would have started dancing had there been music! Yet someone had died, and we were celebrating their life, and their death.

Our ancient ancestors knew that, too, which is why there were not only feasting and drinking at Pagan European funerals, but also evidence that they held athletic competitions in the name of the deceased. If one were to excavate an Etruscan or Roman tomb, they would find strighe - iron blades used to scrap off oil and sweat from the skin of the athletes. For Germanic and Slavic funerals, often there would be mock fights between youths with swords and shields as the body burned upon the pyres, the warriors clashing in the smoke as women sang and men shouted in glory.

We as Germanic and European Heathens must recognize that though Christianized, we still have pulses of our Pagan past, especially during traditional processions such as funerals. A classmate of mine, a sociology major, once remarked to me, "When I die, I do not want a white [European diaspora] funeral where people talk and gab. I would rather have a non-white funeral where it's more solemn and respectful." She of course could not realize that it is in European spirit to talk and mingle at the body of the deceased (since we can no longer hold athletic games or sword and shield competitions!). Despite her ignorance and her willingness to forsake her heritage, this is our unique European heritage, and I stress, something so unique that others cannot comprehend why we would do such a thing such as talk in front of a corpse.

Thus when we celebrate at a funeral, whether by quiet talking or feasting afterwards, we are in fact worshiping death. Death is hailed and championed, whether you personify Death as Hades, Hel or the Grim Reaper, Death is being worshiped. But we do not like death just like we do not like war. But like war, death is a part of life. We must celebrate death.

Thus we have our Goddess Hel. There are no known monuments to her. There is no eponymy. Her cognates such as Hades too had no temples or busts in his image.Thus we do not worship Hel (or Hades) the same way we worship Thor, with our boasts and our bearing of his hammer. We do not worship her the same we worship Freyja, with an appreciation of all that is beauty, and our lust of beautiful, fertile women. We do not worship Hel in the same vein as we worship Odin, by pondering the cosmos and standing in awe of his power.

When we sacrifice to Hel, we take a glass of wine and we pour it into the Earth. We turn our heads away as we pour it, because death is something undesirable. We must hail Hel out of necessity and respect. We say, "And to Hel, who is Death, we recognize you as a necessity of our life. Someday we will meet in the underworld. Hail Hel, Goddess of Death." Do this in the fall after the death of summer, but sacrifice to Hel any time you feel is appropriate, since death is omnipotent.

Germanic Heathenry FAQs part 1

This is a short answer Q&A on Germanic Heathenry for newcomers. As stated in this blog preiviously, this blog is for newcomers interested in Germanic Heathenry, and thus a quick reference guide to common questions is necessary. Some of the topics mentioned here are worthy of elaboration (such as the afterlife), and I intend to elaborate on them in the future. 

What is Germanic Heathenry?

Germanic Heathenry is various parts of Germanic culture grouped together as religious beliefs. In other words, it is the ethnic religion of Germanic people. Some of these beliefs were whitewashed into parts of Germanic Christianity, evolved into folklore, or carried on status quo, other parts of these beliefs were eradicated by Christianity. The beliefs that have been eradicated is what constitutes Germanic reconstruction.

So which beliefs need to be reconstructed?

Germanic Heathenry is the practice of pure Germanic culture, and that includes practice of worship of Germanic deities. The worship of Germanic major deities such as Gods and Goddesses, was vanquished among the Germanic people between the 5th-14th centuries. Belief and worship of minor deities (beings such as elves, trolls, kobolds, wights, etc) was never uprooted.

So what Gods are we talking about here?

The major Germanic Gods are best known by their Old Norse names: Thor, Odin, Freyja, Freyr Njodr, Balder, Heimdall, Tyr, Loki are a few you may have heard of.

So this is Norse Mythology?

Yes and no. Norse mythology is a subset of Germanic Paganism. All Norse mythology is Germanic, but not all Germanic mythology is Norse. The Norse people, linguistically, culturally and ethnically, are Germanic. On a greater level, they are European, and an even greater and more older identity, Indo-European.

The reason why Norse Mythology is central to Germanic Heathenry is because Norse Mythology had been recorded the most extensive in the form of the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. Though there are other sources on Germanic mythology, such as Beowulf, the Eddas have ensured that Norse Mythology receives the most attention by Germanic Heathens.


But mythology says Thor literally flies through the air riding a chariot pulled by goats! How can you believe this?

We, as Germanic heathens, do not take our mythology literally. Taking mythology literally conflicts with science. Since Germanic Heathenry, and indeed, Indo-European Heathenry never called for dogmatic belief, and historically never contradicted itself with science, there is no reason for us to disbelieve science due to our religious beliefs. Moreover, our cousins and fellow Indo-Europeans, the Greeks and Romans, recognized mythology as mythology (see Plato's The Republic, for example).

What is the purpose of mythology?

The purpose of mythology is to take it metaphorically and apply it to your daily life. Mythology is timeless wisdom.

What is the purpose of worshiping the Germanic Gods?

The purpose is to honor your ancestors and to feel as close as you can to your own heritage. This is by uprooting all foreign and alien influence. If you honor your heritage, you take your entire heritage for what it is for. You don't get to pick and choose what parts of it to honor.

The reason why we honor our Germanic Gods is because they are our Gods, as much as our grandfathers are our grandfathers. When our ancestors worshiped these Gods, they worshiped them as ancestors, and thus as extensions of themselves. In other words, to honor your own Gods is to honor your own heritage.

On a more practical side, practicing Germanic Heathenry is good for you. It conditions you for discipline, respect and piety. It keeps you in tune with your heritage, and thus yourself. A sacrifice, in Indo-European tradition, was never to empower the God being sacrificed to, but to show a willingness to give up a piece of your hard work. Put it this way: imagine everything you eat as part of the time you worked. Let's say you worked for one hour making 10$. You buy a steak for 1$. After cooking the steak, you cut let's say, 1/10th of a piece of that steak and burn it in honor of Odin. You have just sacrificed 1/10th of your time or accurately 6 minutes of your time to the Gods. This shows you are willing to sacrifice, and to sacrifice is noble. This is self-empowering.

Why not just be Christians?

Because Christianity is an alien faith for an alien people. Christianity makes demands of Europeans that is unreasonable for Europeans to meet, and thus beats them down into feeling guilty. A European is prideful - but pride is a sin. The European is warlike, aggressive and craves power - but this is a sin, and we are supposed to be pacifists according to Christianity.

Granted, there is a lot of Christianity that is indeed European due to European Pagan influence on both the ancient Israelites (Samson was probably a Semitic Hecules), the Judeans (Christ was very much a prototype of a Greek hero in some ways), The Roman Catholic Church (also known as the former Pagan Roman Empire), and the European Christians as they absorbed Pagan beliefs and adopted them into their own (such as our Spring and Winter festivals, called Easter and Christmas). But at its core, Christianity is alien and Semitic, and Semitic philosophy must be uprooted from Europeans for Europeans to be as close to their natural state as possible.

Moreover, Christianity is a universal religion. Everyone can be a Christian. Despite what some so-called Heathens say, not everyone can be a Germanic Pagan. You cannot convert to Germanic Heathenry - you are either Germanic or you are not. If you are Germanic, you are a Heathen. As Germanic Heathens, we must be weary of foreign influence and thus foreigners into our culture. Greco-Romans, Slavs, Celts, and Balts, are our cousins, however.

So wait, not anyone can be a Germanic Heathen?

No. You have to be Germanic to be a Germanic Pagan.

Who is Germanic?

The native speakers of German, Scandinavian languages, English, Frisian, and Dutch/Flemish. Germanic diaspora and Euromutts that are Germanic cultured (White Americans, Australians, South Africans, etc) are also included, for the most part.

So what if I'm half Polish, half German?

In the case of European mutts, especially in White diaspora, it is what you identify with the most. It's really on a case by case basis. For example, many Irish-Americans (or partially Irish in America) identify strongly with their Irish heritage. Chances are, they identify with it over their German or English. Therefore, these Irish-Americans are more suited for Celtic Paganism than Germanic Paganism, because they do not identify with Germanic culture. But if there is a Germanically cultured individual that happens to have some Irish blood that he doesn't really identify with, that's fine.

Again, it depends on the individual. If you are half Polish but with a German surname, you grew up speaking English in Wisconsin and you never felt like a "Polish-American", then you are Germanic. 

You must make a decision, and a sacrifice, however, if you are to be a Germanic Heathen. Identifying as Germanic means you do not identify as anything else. You do not have to dishonor any part of your heritage, but you must revere the Germanic side above all.

What if I'm insert half non-European ethnic group here and half Germanic?

Other European admixture is acceptable because they are closely related to Germanics not only genetically, but ethnically, culturally, linguistically and of course, religiously. All others are not acceptable.

But I want to be a Germanic Heathen, who are you to tell me no?

Who are you to tell us that we have to accept you? We are Germanic Heathens because we care about our heritage, and we must protect our heritage. If you are Germanic, you are a Germanic Heathen whether you raise your arms to Thor, bend your knee to Allah or proclaim yourself above all religions. If you are not Germanic, then you are not a Germanic Heathen, but you are a Heathen of whatever ethnicity you are. If you are so mixed that you have no identity, well then, it is not our fault you were born into this world, and we should not have to accommodate you.

What justification do you have to be so exclusive?

 The Germanic Gods are part of our Germanic culture. They sprang up naturally, as natural as our language or the concept of treating a guest well when he enters your home. The Gods of the Germanic people represent the Germanics firstly, secondly the Europeans, and thirdly the Indo-Europeans. They represent no one else.

There is no stopping anyone from worshiping the Germanic Gods, of course. Every individual is free to do what he or she pleases, and we do not need an inquisition. However, a Germanic man must be weary and mindful of others that try to appropriate his own heritage.

Let's put it this way. Say you are at your father's funeral. You yourself knew your father, and your bond between him is stronger than the bonds of anyone else and your father, because he is your father. Others may come and honor him at his funeral - strangers, cousins, friends, co-workers. That is fine. But the moment that your father's co-worker tells you that he has just a much of a right to honor your father's memory as you do, or insists he sits up front at the procession, is the moment he is wrong, and is appropriating what is rightfully yours.

It is the same with ethnic religions. If you are Germanic, you can only be a Germanic Heathen, or enter one of the universal religions such as Christianity or Islam. A Japanese person claiming to be as much of a Germanic Heathen as you is insulting you, and practicing cultural imperialism. Likewise, a Germanic man practicing Shintoism (the Japanese ethnic religion) is insulting the Japanese man and practicing cultural imperialism.
 
Do you have anything like the Bible? Or the Ten Commandments?

No. Germanic Heathenry is not dogmatic. There is no dogmatic beliefs in Germanic Heathenry or any Indo-European Heathenry. Law and society is for man to decide.

However, if you want a guide on how one should (note the word should) behave, I suggest the Hamaval, a poem recorded in the Poetic Edda attributed to Odin. There is also the Iliad, the Odyssey and the Riveda. Though these aren't Germanic texts, they are Indo-European texts and poetic, mythological and cultural cognates with the Germanic peoples. In other words, the ancient Greeks, ancient Germanics, and ancient Indians all descend from the same Indo-European ancestral people. Since we have such little left of our Germanic mythology, it is fine to look towards our cognates to embellish our own. Historical linguists, archaeologists and folklorists frequently do.

That is it for now. There will be more FAQs to come.