On ritual, the sacred past, and changing the future

Different ways of thinking about time, and particularly the past, have been one of the most profound changes in approaches for me as I deepen my understanding of heathenry and animism. Photo by Alexey Savchenko on Unsplash

Key to the heathen worldview is the cosmology centred on the World Tree and the Well of Wyrd which feeds it. As elucidated by Paul Bauschatz [1], the Well represents the sacred past – as they occur, all deeds pass into the Well, laying down layers or strata of wyrd which become the unchangeable orlæg all wights must live within. But the past is not “dead”, it is not “over” – it is ever-growing, it waters the World Tree.

Some personal reflections on my devotional relationships

Prepare for the word “devotion” to stop looking like a word. You have been warned. Photo by Ilse on Unsplash

From the start, heathenry was for me about devotion. In the summer of 2012, deciding to take steps away from generic neo-Wicca and toward polytheism, I began making offerings to Óðinn. One of these very early rituals became an ecstatic hierophanic experience that catapulted me into a close, passionate devotional relationship with Him that would characterise the next six-and-a-half years of my life.

On abundance, blessings, and ānanda

The cornucopia: blessings enough to feed not just oneself, but a family, a community. Photo by Brad West on Unsplash.

Recently, I’ve been focusing on Gods traditionally associated with ideas of abundance, wealth, and prosperity, such as Fulla, Geofen and Ingui. For me this is a sphere that I’ve often felt uncomfortable with or unsure about, and as I deepen my understanding of these Gods, I’ve been deepening my understanding of this area, and accordingly wanted to unpack a little.

Swords & Plough-shares: reflections on the Wild Hunt

Deer, especially stags, are a key element of Wild Hunt imagery for me. Photo by Vincent M.A. Janssen from Pexels

The Wild Hunt is one name for a folkloric/mythic motif that crops up in different guises across North & Western Europe: a phantom hunt that rides through the night sky, often seeking out evildoers and dangerous to behold. A full explanation of the Hunt and its various forms and leaders is beyond me; for a quick introduction see Wikipedia, for a full treatment see Lecouteux’s Phantom Armies of the Night. Suffice to say that from a poly-centric polytheist perspective, there are many possible interpretations of the Hunt, all of which are valid, and in this post I will only be discussing my own interpretation and experiences.

On “empaths”, Barnum statements, & coping strategies

The web of wyrd connects us all: humans, Gods, Ancestors, wights. Photo by Jack van der Spoel on Unsplash

A while back I was scrolling my Instagram feed and came across an infographic-style post by a popular (hundreds of thousands of follows) witchcraft/occult account I follow, entitled “Empath Signs”. I’ve had what you might call problems with the way the witchcraft/occult and adjacent spheres discuss “Empaths” and I’m going to use the six signs given in this post (which has over 9.5k likes at time of writing) to discuss why.

Disclaimer: this is not intended as a denunciation or personal attack on the Instagram user whose post I’m addressing, or indeed anyone else. I happened to see this specific post on my feed but there are countless others on any social media platform. I am more interested in discussing what I think are harmful ideas and discourse in the community than I am in condemning individuals. If anyone has the urge after reading this to harass anyone making these kinds of posts, don’t. Now with that out of the way let’s get into it.