I have been noticing in lots of body cam footage cops have viking rune tattoos. Obviously not all of them, but enough that it has sent me searching the internet for answers.

Are rune tats on cops a dead give away for support of white power or is there a more innocent explanation?

I should mention this is strictly in the USA I am talking about.

Hey yall I am looking to meet and learn from others. I am in chimacum Washington are any of you near by and willing to meet up or know of local resources I can tap into.

​

I started worshipping Frigga a while ago and this is a little statue I got for her :3

If you feel safe to do so I'd like to see where you all are from. Looking for local pagan/ heathen friends to talk with. I'm from Wilson North Carolina.

Since I'd rather not spam the subreddit with a bunch of individual posts, here's one single post with some questions I have:

• Are all myths true? Or just some?

• I'm a minor, is Loki okay with working with younger people?

• Why do people work with Loki? As in what does one wish to change about themselves for the better when working with Loki?

Thank you!

So I was wondering what you all do when you feel like you need to feel a spiritual connection with the gods or ancestors or landvættir? I go through phases where I feel connected and at ease and then I have moments where I feel empty and disconnected. I very much dislike feeling disconnected and am looking for possible solutions.

I've practised Heathenry as my main pagan path for a while now, and this whole time I've treated Norse and Anglo-Saxon approaches to it as the same, except for calling the same deities by different names. (I've always thought that Odin and Wodan were names for the same deity, for example.)

How accurate is this approach? To use my example, are Odin and Wodan really the same deity or are they different deities?

And how did the Norse and Anglo-Saxons practise their religion differently from each other before becoming Christian?

I have a BURNING question. How does Loki feel about the Marvel series Loki? I haven't started working with him just yet since I'm still researching a few things, but I just can't get this question out of my head. Does he find it disrespectful, or hilarious? Maybe he just doesn't care? I need to know!

A person from r/Norse made some research and background lookings into the way Loki is portrayed in Norse mythology and delivers a pretty neutral and scientific insight into the way he was seen during the times this was written (can also recommend all his other substack articles and his podcast "Norse Mythology: the unofficial guide"

https://norsemythology.substack.com/p/loki-gender-and-sexuality-in-norse

Is Loki alright with beginners? If so, will he be willing to help/be patient with me? I haven't learned to communicate super efficiently with deities, but I'm pretty alright at oracle. Thanks :)

Hello! Just wondering if Loki accepts and/or works with trans people? I'm very new to paganism in general, so please be kind. Thank you.

Hi there! I’m sort of new to Heathenry/Norse Paganism and was wondering if there is a “true” look of the pendant? I see them with lots of different carvings in them and was wondering if there’s a difference?

i was raised an eclectic pagan, and a shaman. i am still a practicing pagan and shaman, and in doing research on offerings, stumbled upon this subreddit. can someone/people explain it a bit of detail what heathenry is? this looks very interesting and similar to alot of beliefs i have

Hey, everyone! Long story short, as the title says, I'm new to all of this and was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of some reliable information on Norse paganism. I've done some basic research, but there's so much out there, and I'm not exactly sure where to start, what the basics are, etc. Please help 😅

Edit: Thank you! I went down a quick rabbit hole on The Longship--I think I like it here.

Welcome to our weekly r/Heathenry Discussion & Questions thread! If you want to share something Heathenry-related or ask a question about Heathenry, but don't want to make a whole thread about it, then share or ask it here!

New to Heathenry? Then check out the stickied Statement of Purpose post to learn what this subreddit is all about. Also, please check out the resources in the sidebar, especially The Longship, our beginner's guide.

Finally, feel free to join our Discord server.

Still have questions? Ask them below!

Hey! So i am primarily Hellenistic in my polytheism and in that tradition we have some guidelines about when one should avoid giving offerings (i.e. 7 days following a birth or death, or while on your period) and it occurred to me that i never looked into if the heathen gods had similar rules while giving offerings to loki yesterday. Does anyone have sources on this i can look into?

Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to get ALL the details in. There's a tl;dr at the end.

So I'm a solitary Heathen and have been for over a decade now, and have been dedicated to Frigg for 5 years. While I admit I am far from an expert, I have done a lot of research and am always seeking new information. I have my own view point on things, but those views have changed over time in light of new learning or just changing as a person over time.

My best friend has started dating a dude who is also Heathen and part of a larger Heathen community. While there doesnt seem to be an organization to it (no leader, no regular meetings, no membership, etc), it is very networked, everybody seems to know everyone else in a festival circuit that seems to include hundreds of people if not more. And they all share a lot of the same viewpoints. I dont always agree with these viewpoints, but I dont really care about people practicing Heathenry slightly differently from me. Its a folk religion. Do what you want.

The problem is whenever I am passive/neutral about a difference, he takes it as an opportunity to educate me. For example, he witnesses me take even the mildest of oaths (an "I promise to keep doing something I'm already doing and is already a high priority for me" type of oath), and instead of going "Oh, interesting to see an oath done differently! This is how I normally swear", he says, "Oh, this is how you swear an oath. 😁" in a manner where it's clear he thinks hes being helpful. And I'll say something mild like, "Oh, that's interesting," and he seems to interpret it as "Wow, I had no idea I was doing it wrong! Thanks for the guidance!" 🙃 And I just really dont know how to say "You're not my spiritual leader, so stop acting like it" in a non-confrontational way?

I've noticed others in his inner circle are also like this. I suspect it comes from 1) most people who are new to socializing with them are also new to paganism in general, so they're used to giving advice all the time, and 2) the entire circle is neurodivergent, predominantly autistic, so I really dont think he's as neurotypical as he thinks he is. Being neurodivergent myself and also having a largely neurodivergent social circle, I know it can be hard to pick up when you're misstepping.

I especially am looking for advice on how to approach this/what to say because I LOVE the diverseness of religion and LOVE talking to people about different beliefs and different approaches to the same belief. I would love talking to him about why he does some things differently. But I need him to understand that being open to discussion is NOT me being open to being told what to do.

Tl;dr: Need advice on how to tell a friend to stop telling me how to do my own faith, but in a way that is not confrontational and doesnt shut down discussion.

Edited: mistyped word

Now, I'm the very last person to interpret the strange and coincidental as messages from the gods, but this one is just weird.

So, I went to check on the altar today (please don't mind the mess, I'm trying to let the decaying foliage turn into soil) and at first, everything seemed ok. Then I did a double take and saw this fellow.

At first I wasn't sure if he was sleeping or if he was off to Hel's hall, but the latter ended up being the case. My question is, what is going on here?!? I mean, I've always felt some kind of...something, with Ratatoskr, but this is new.

Is this a divine message? There were quite a few other squirrels about as well, that have anything to do with it? If a message, from whom? I've noticed seeds being placed there lately, could this have been his den? (doesn't seem safe, half meter off the ground and exposed) Lots of thoughts about my own death lately, are they related?

I'm telling you fellow heathens, I'm more than a little confused right now. Any goðar or squirrel experts out there want to share their input?

Even with the posts I've seen and the posts Ive seen, I struggle to find what I am looking for. I almost settle on a book and then find out about inaccuracies or some other nonsense going on.

I am wanting a book that is an intro into modern heathen practice, but I wish for a book that is more historically accurate and where any UPG is clearly stated. I am fine with UPG, as long as it isn't the bulk of it and it is clearly stated.

I've been recommended books like 'Essential Asatru', 'Asatru for Beginners ', 'Fire and Ice' but then I find out it's full of garbage or that the UPG isn't clearly stated.

So Im Sorry for making another "gimme book" post, but I just want to basically read a book by a modern heathen about modern heathenry, which includes details on practice, ritual, the gods, landvaettir, ect.

Edit: I also am slowly collecting and reading academic and scholarly historical stuff, which I find valuable. I do wish to have a deep understanding of the history, but for now I also want something to help me jump into the "religious" aspect and practice of modern heathenry.

Thank you dearly. :)

I did something that my brother (not biological) sees as betrayal. I do not see it as betrayal. We have not spoken for 9 weeks. I miss the brotherhood between us very much. We are both Norse Pagans. He learned his behind the fence, I did not, even though I have learned much from him. He is a goði. This was a title given to him behind the fence and he has the knowledge and wisdom that goes with it. I am here for advice. How do I make this right. What should I do? What should I say? Basically, in short, how should I proceed? I need this brotherhood in my life.

I'm currently at a loss for what to offer Skadi. I know what I can offer to Odin but what about Skadi? I've only started working with her to connect with her as I would like to work and honour her throughout the future, so I'm a little confused and I want to offer something acceptable.

I don't mean just food and drink but devotional acts or something like this.

Hi everyvody! Today I asked the spirits of the fish in my lake to teach me to fish, and bite my hook. Many did so and I'm very proud, as its my first time fishing! I want to thank the spirits however (they took one of my spinners as well lol).

Any ideas to how I could thank and honor them?

How do you go about rationalising faith with science?

Forgive me if this offends anyone, but some background. I've been a staunch atheist my entire life. Only recently have .....events...... happened that have drawn me towards AS Heathenry. It always annoyed me when for example people would thank God for their child surviving surgery or something. Like, no. The surgeon doing 8 years of medical school and gaining 20 years of experience is what made your child survive surgery.

Like, I know what the Northern Lights are. I know how the water cycle works. I know the sun rises because the earth spins, I know the earth spins due to the conservation of angular momentum from the solar accretion disc all those billions of years ago.

However, I have watched a few Ocean Keltoi videos and the thing that stuck out to me is he mentions that whilst a reciprocity with the gods exists, humans must do their part too. Like the rain comes, but people need to have been tending the fields for the rain to be useful.

So in my previous example of the surgeon, the gods granted the surgeon the ability to absorb all the relevant information and build up the skill to correctly perform the surgery, but it was the surgeon who actually went to the effort to learn everything is how I would interpret the influence of the gods.

So, despite not previously being religious, I do believe the ideas of the christian god - having been brought up in a western society - have corrupted my interpretation of how the supernatural works, as in the christian god directly influences events, which I believe the old gods don't do.

So I guess my question is this: in my attempt to rationalise faith with science, would you say my interpretation of things is correct? The gods don't directly influence the outcome of this surgery, but they grant a person the ability to learn to undertake it successfully. The gods don't create the Northern Lights directly, but they were ultimately responsible for the circumstances that create them, I.e. big bang, sun forms, solar flare belting atmosphere.

Like I say, things have happened recently that have pushed me towards a belief in the old gods, but I can't just ignore my knowledge of science.

Hopefully this isn't too ramble-y, but this is something I've been ruminating on recently.

Edit: perhaps as the years have progressed they have granted humanity the ability to understand stuff more and more, so the "barrier" of the unknowable gets pushed further and further back? We still don't know what was before the big bang for example.

So the subject of Anglo-Saxon Heathenship came up a few days back, I thought I would post this here since it may prove useful to some folks who are interested in that tradition.

The 24th of April will be the night for most of us, when the sun goes down and the Full Moon of Éostre-monaþ is already visible. This is a great time (roundabouts) to have a feast in honor of Éostre!

https://ingwine.org/lorehoard/easter-freolsdaeg/

​

Does anyone go to Bilskirnir in the afterlife? If you can go there is there a requirement like being a great warrior that dies in battle to go to Valhalla?

I was flipping through some of illustrations in The Viking Age Volume one, and noticed a majority of weapons found, especially those in urns, were destroyed before being placed with the dead. Do you reckon this was done to kill the spirit of the weapon so it can accompany it's owner to the afterlife? Somewhat pointing to the animistic side of ancient people, or am I way off?

Welcome to our weekly r/Heathenry Discussion & Questions thread! If you want to share something Heathenry-related or ask a question about Heathenry, but don't want to make a whole thread about it, then share or ask it here!

New to Heathenry? Then check out the stickied Statement of Purpose post to learn what this subreddit is all about. Also, please check out the resources in the sidebar, especially The Longship, our beginner's guide.

Finally, feel free to join our Discord server.

Still have questions? Ask them below!

can i dedicate a candle by burning a peice of paper with the rune for a god(ess) with the flame of the candle, or would they see that as destruction of their rune and of something that represents them?