The original Heathens were the pre-Christian North European peoples who
lived a thousand and more years ago in the lands around what is now called
the North Sea. These included the peoples from the areas of modern day
England, Scotland, Iceland, Scandinavia, Western Germany, Belgium and the
Netherlands.

There are literary sources that tell us how it was practised before the advent
of Christianity such as the medieval Icelandic Eddas and sagas, Anglo-Saxon
poetry, the works of the 8th century monk Bede, and the Germania by the
Roman historian Tacitus. Only a few of these were written or composed by
Heathens, the great majority being written by Christians over 300 years after
Northern Europe was converted; but they still kept a record of the culture of
their ancestors and some of their religious beliefs and practices.
Archaeological evidence continues to be discovered which supports much of
this picture of Heathen culture and it’s religion as portrayed in the literary
sources.

Like all ancient European pagan religions Heathenry was polytheistic and
worshipped a large number of gods and other spiritual entities. Although the
Heathen Gods are best known today from Norse mythology, and by their
Norse names, the same deities were honoured by many of the people
throughout Northern Europe, though by many different names depending on
locality. For example the God known to early Germanic tribes as Wodhanaz
became Odhinn in Old Norse, Woden in Anglo-Saxon and Old Saxon, and
Wuotan in Old High German, now most commonly known as Odin.
Some of the most well known Heathen Gods are enshrined in our English
days of the week. Sunday after Sunna (Sun), Monday after Máni (Moon),
Tuesday is after Tiw (Tyr), Wednesday after Woden (Odin), Thursday after
Thunor (Thor) and Friday after the Goddess Frige (Frigg). There was
strangely no deity for Saturday (which was the Roman name); it was known
as ‘Wash-day’ (i.e. Laurdag, Lørdag) throughout Northern and Eastern
Europe.

There are also some place names across the country named for Heathen
Gods. For example Wensley – Woden’s glade, Wednesbury – Woden’s fort,
Thundersley – Thunor’s clearing, Tuesley – Tiw’s clearing, Tysoe – Tiw’s hill,
as well as many landscape features.

In addition to the better known & major Gods, the names of several dozen local
or tribal Gods are also known through medieval literature, runic inscriptions,
and votive stones.

Modern Heathenry.

Modern Heathen groups around the world are reviving these old practices
under various names including Ásatru, The Northern Tradition, Odinism, Forn
Sed, Forn Siđr (old ways), Germanic Pagan Reconstructionism or, simply,
Heathenry. In Iceland, which did not convert to Christianity until the 11th
Century, Heathenry again became an official (nationally recognised) religion
in 1973; this has also now been achieved in Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
Spain, and there are groups and individuals working for the same level of
recognition in many other countries.

Here in the UK the Defence Pagan Network and the Police Pagan
Association has ensured that Heathenry is recognised alongside other forms
of Paganism by the Ministry of Defence and the Police.
Heathens aim to build healthy relationships with their Gods and Goddesses,
their ancestors, spirits of the land and of their homes and also with the people
in their communities. They do this both through holy rites and through their
day to day actions.

In addition to their Gods, Heathens recognise and relate to a wide variety of
spiritual entities. These include the Norns - who are three female entities who
weave the web of Wyrd (the fates of people and countries), and the Dísir -
who are female ancestral spirits attached to a tribe, family, or individual.
They also interact with the housewights who live in their homes and often with
the landwights who occupy features of the landscape such as streams,
mountains, forests or fields. Having a relationship with wights/spirits of a
place, indoors or outdoors, is an important feature of Heathen religion; when
Heathen rituals are held away from the home, whether in a building or
outdoors, most Heathens will call on the local spirits at the start of the ritual to
ask for their pemission and cooperation, offerings will be given to them to
show them respect, and they will be thanked before leaving.
Another characteristic of Heathen religion is the respect given to ancestors in general. These may be a person's literal forebears, or may be friends or
people now dead who have inspired them in some way. When seeking
guidance most Heathens will often first look for help from their ancestors, who
are more likely to have a vested interest in their wellbeing, before consulting
the Gods, who may or may not be interested in their predicament.
There are no central authorities in Heathenry and no single organisation to which all Heathens belong, though there are national and international
organisations created to facilitate networking between Heathens. In this
country Asatru UK is the largest organisation and most of us in LHK are also
members of this group; it is open to Inclusive Heathens across the UK and
has a membership of about 4000 people.

London Heathen Kindred is a member of another large group, The
Confederation of UK Heathen Kindreds; this is an umbrella organisation of 35+ different kindreds around the country, set up to aid Heathens to find
accredited groups in their area and to work together for common goals.
Like most modern Heathens we in the London Heathen Kindred regard our
faith as a spiritual path open to all, commonly known as Inclusive Heathenry;
we do not tolerate discrimination against anyone on the basis of race, gender,
sexuality, or disablement. There are those who use Heathenry as a mask for
racist and discriminatory beliefs; they claim that Heathenry is an “indigenous”
religion only open to those of Northern European descent and they have
discriminatory beliefs towards women and members of the LGBTQ+
community; these are commonly known as Folkish Heathens; our
experiences have shown that, unfortunately, groups describing themselves as
Odinist or Odinic have most often proved to be like this.
In London Heathen Kindred we accept that Heathenry means different things
to different people and is practiced in different ways. This group has members
who are also practitioners of Wicca, Witchcraft, Druidry and other traditions or
none; we do not see this as being a bar to being Heathen as it never was a
monotheistic or exclusionary religion but one in which our ancestors would
add or absorb new deities or practices when it suited them.

For this reason we also discourage the mocking or discriminating of other
religions. Our ancestors defined themselves, who they were, by their
relationship to others as part of a community and it is considerate and
respectful communication that is the foundation of a healthy community.
We also want to ensure that members can be confident they are able to meet
with each other in a safe and peaceful environment, whether that is at one of
our events or online.

How we do Heathenry.

Many Heathens belong to small local or regional groups made up of Heathen
friends and family members. These groups are sometimes called hearths, kindreds & kiths; and meet for religious rituals, discussion and socialising in
member's homes, outdoor spaces, pubs etc. Some hearths and kindreds
have a formal structure others are entirely egalitarian.
In LHK we have a Committee of 6 people who established this group and who
have worked together in several other groups before; we currently share the
work out between us on an informal basis, depending who has the time and
ability, so do not have any formal roles at present.
There is no widely recognised priesthood in Heathenry, although sometimes
individuals may be recognised as Goði and Gyðja (priests and priestesses)
within their own communities. There is no qualification & and no Heathen is
obliged to recognise anyone as a Goði or Gyðja. Some groups do not have a
recognised spiritual leader at all, and share the role between all their members.

Within LHK the Committee organises the ceremonies and will ask
members to help with them where needed.
The main rites celebrated in Heathenry are called blót and sumbel. Heathen
groups and individuals hold feasts and celebrations based around blót and
sumbel for seasonal celebrations, rites to honour Gods or ancestors and rites
of passage (such as weddings etc.) and to ask for success or favours for an
enterprise.

Historically a blót would usually include the ritual sacrifice of an animal to one
or more Gods or ancestors, followed by a communal feast at which the meat
was shared amongst the participants.
A modern blót centres around the offering of food and drink or other items to
the Gods followed by communal eating and drinking. It may be a simple rite
or a more elaborate one depending on the purpose of the blót and the
number of participants. It is common to have an altar where ritual items are
laid out and images of Gods are displayed. These will include plates and
bowls where offerings of food and drink will be given to the Gods and spirits
by people attending.

Sumbel is a ritual drinking ceremony in which a drink (usually mead, beer
or/and apple juice) is blessed and then used by those participating for
toasting the Gods, ancestors and local spirits and sometimes also for people
to boast about the goals they have achieved and of goals they intend to
achieve. This is based on a number of descriptions of ritual drinking as
described in the early Scandinavian literature.
The most common version consists of 3 rounds of toasting. The first round to
the Gods, the second to the ancestors, and the third to local spirits,
housewights and landwights. The person conducting the Sumbel will give the
first toast and then each person in turn, going clockwise around, will make
their own toast then take a drink or pour out an offering, onto the ground or
into a bowl, and say “Hail” and the rest of the assembly will then say “Hail” to
show their approval of the toast.

There are a number of variations of this ceremony depending partly on the
number of people involved, but mainly on the person conducting the Sumbel,
as to the number of rounds and the order and frequency of drinking.
As well as major offerings to the Gods or ancestors Heathens like to leave
gifts for their domestic hidden folk, the wights/spirits who live in their garden
and house. For this purpose many Heathens keep a special bowl to leave
offerings of food and drink (i.e. cakes and ale) in a special place in their
house and may also have a small garden altar for offerings. Some Heathens
will give offerings to their housewights whenever baking or brewing as these
things can easily go wrong, and so it is important to have the housewights
favour. It is also important when dealing with wights to be respectful of their
space. In the case of a housewight this can be done by keeping the house
clean and tidy.

Different Heathen communities and individuals celebrate different cycles of
seasonal holidays based on their cultural affiliations, local traditions, and
relationships with particular Gods. There is no fixed or standard calendar of
Heathen festival dates. The three Heathen festivals most commonly
celebrated in the UK are Winter Nights - usually celebrated in October or
November, Yule - a twelve-day festival that begins around the time of the
winter solstice, and a festival for the Anglo-Saxon Goddess Eostre in the
spring.

One of the central concepts in Heathenry is wyrd, the force that connects
everything in the universe throughout space and time. Heathens believe that
all of their actions can have far reaching consequences through the web of
wyrd. They understand that who they are, where they are, and what they are
doing today is dependent on actions they, and others, have taken in the past
and that every choice they make in the present builds upon choices they have
previously made.
With an understanding of wyrd comes a great responsibility. If we know that
every action we take (or fail to take) will have implications for our own future
choices and for the future choices of others, we have an ethical obligation to
think carefully about the possible consequences of everything we do. Thus,
one of the principal ethics of Heathenry is that of taking responsibility for
one's own actions.

Another Heathen value is frith, the maintenance of peace and friendship
within a social group. Obligations towards friends, kin and community are
taken seriously by Heathens. Like many peoples living far apart in a harsh
climate, pre-Christian Heathens put great stress on hospitality, and this is still
valued by modern Heathens. A related concept is the giving of gifts, though
both gift-giving and hospitality are bounded by reciprocity, a principle that
Heathens consider important.

Plain speaking, honesty and forthrightness are also important to Heathens.
This may be seen as part of a value system based upon personal honour,
which eschews deceit and dishonesty towards members of the social group.
Thus, Heathens place great value on the giving of their word, and any form of
oath-taking is taken extremely seriously. This often means that Heathens will
not sign their name to something unless they can assent to it in both letter
and spirit. Breaking an oath is one of the worst social taboos a Heathen can
commit and has the potential to destroy one’s reputation.

 

Heathenry is a living religion that is based on literary and archaeological
sources for the religious practices of a pre-Christian culture and is extended
by the relationships of modern Heathens with their Gods. It provides its
followers with a more meaningful relationship with the world around us and an ethical framework for living, giving a sense of purpose and stability to people.