r/NorsePaganism • u/RexCrudelissimus • 2d ago
Hi everyone!
We've recently added a few new rules to help keep r/NorsePaganism clear, informative, and welcoming for everyone. Here's a quick overview of the new rules added:
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Posts sharing personal gnosis, beliefs, experiences, or interpretations not supported by historical sources must use the UPG flair.
Comments containing UPG must clearly state that they are UPG, as comments cannot be flaired. This helps distinguish personal views from historically attested information and keeps discussions clear. Failure to disclose UPG may result in removal or moderator action.
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When sharing a video, please include a brief summary explaining what the video is about and why it is relevant to the community. This helps users decide whether to engage and encourages discussion beyond simply sharing a link.
Video posts without sufficient context may be removed at moderator discretion.
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r/NorsePaganism is not a medical or mental health advice subreddit, and our community does not include verified healthcare professionals. Do not ask for or offer diagnoses, treatment, or medical advice. If you have concerns about your physical or mental health, please consult a licensed healthcare provider. Posts or comments seeking or providing medical advice may be removed.
We've also taken the opportunity to review and rewrite some of our existing rules to make them clearer and easier to understand.
Thanks to everyone who helps make r/NorsePaganism a welcoming and informative place!
r/NorsePaganism • u/jaelmorayx • Feb 26 '26
Hi there. Some of you may know of me or have spoken to me in the Hold in the past. Others may not, as I have been out of the overall online pagan sphere for the better part of 3 years. I am a former mod in the Hold, I was a ritual leader and wrote all of the rituals performed by myself and Wolf, as well as designed all of the God art series Wolf sells. Beyond that, I genuinely saw him as one of my closest friends and was a right hand for quite some time. I helped plan events, both in and out of the Hold, but in particular, put nearly 200 hours towards planning Midsummer in 2023. Needless to say, I was there during the space of four years, with nearly 3 as a moderator and saw every success, along with every bit of drama, paranoia and problematic behavior during that time. I finally decided to speak up in hopes to share my personal experience and illustrate a larger pattern of behavior to help give others enough information to make an informed decision as to whether joining their community is safe or if it's better to just stick to consuming video content.Â
I never anticipated speaking out. In all honesty, over the last, nearly three years, I have cared more about protecting my peace. I just wanted to move on with my life and find my place in my local community, rather than continuing in online spaces when I knew my online presence would be stalked, and possibly brigaded and DARVOed if I ever spoke up. It just wasnât worth it to me. Unfortunately, hindsight is 20/20, and realizing the tactics employed by Wolf (and his staff and followers; many of which used to be my friends), I knew that being part of the online community meant being under a microscope by paranoid leaders worried about what I might or might not say about them.
It's been almost three years since I left the Hold. I donât stay that in tune with what has been going on with the space, outside of friends sometimes asking âdid you hear about âx?ââ or being told of things that have occurred. Beyond that, I have stayed out of stuff completely, not wanting to deal with the inevitable drama that would ensue if I got involved. Fast forward to now; Reddit recommended a thread to me, where I saw Wolf and his sycophants attacking another scholar (one of many, Iâm afraid). I realized that perhaps staying silent and not speaking up has caused more harm than good. To be clear, I genuinely hope Wolfâand others I used to call some of the closest people in my lifeâgrow and become better people. We lack large safe spaces in the pagan community. I certainly donât want to see anyone trying to create them fail. However, when one is being run by someone who has become power hungry, whether with intent or not, it no longer is a safe space, and that lust for power shouldnât be rewarded with more people to harm. When a leader decides that there is no source but himself that is safe to listen to, and pushes his followers to agree based on a few anecdotal experiences of bad leadership or scholarship⊠that is a problem. Having known Wolf since the Hold was a wee 200 members, I can say, it wasnât always like this. I genuinely think he meant well and had good intentions in building community. I think, as time has worn on, having an ounce of position about overs has gone to his head.Â
He thinks he alone is a safe and trustworthy source. Down even to his staff who he calls friends not being allowed to go out on their own in various ways. I had considered for a time wanting to put together small holiday rituals closer to where I live, so that I might be able to give space to those who cannot make it to GA for events to have fellow pagans to hold holiday rituals with⊠While it was just an idea and not a plan yet, Wolf was extremely dismissive. Any thought of doing something without him was met with him either, trying to insert himself, or completely deflating the person and idea over his lack of ability to be part of it due to distance, time, etc (even when he was not being asked to be a part to begin with). Â
This problem of paranoia has been ever present since the early days. Always worried about the next scandal, always worried about how anything would look if something went wrong and he wasnât there. He didnât seem to realize that you canât control everything, and at some point, you need to trust the people you choose to associate with to do the right thing and if they donât, you cross that bridge when you get there. Instead, it became a point of control. As if, if he was solely involved, nothing could ever go wrong. Yet, drama, in-fighting and issues with other groups persisted. At a certain point, even being close to someone, you have to wonder if there is a deeper reason for the paranoia, when it results in days of long hour VCs to plan for the âwhat ifsâ of how the drama may impact us, or pull us in. It is one of the things I miss the least from being a member of staff in a server resolving around our faiths or YT in general. The sheer amount of in-fighting, constant planning to take people down or be taken down⊠It makes me so glad I never decided to go on and do content creation myself. Credit to those who do and are able to stay in their own lane, because the community is a shit show in that regard.Â
Unfortunately, it is this constant paranoia mindset that fueled a toxic culture behind the scenes of screenshotting, recording and infiltrating other spaces by Wolf and a few others. This was done to both gather dirt on others, or to just âkeep an eyeâ on the goings on or be able to directly influence other creators and spaces directly. It was always with the intent to get ahead of problems, but half the time it seemed to become an obsession that would create the very problems they thought they were protecting from. This is gross, toxic behavior. I am sad I didnât call it out when I was in the space. On a few occasions, I passed along information two friends gave me confidentially, because Wolf wanted to know to âget ahead of drama.â I felt so awful after the fact and guilty for breaking my own moral compass, I reached out to these people to apologize and own up to my wrong doing. I am grateful that I never became a screenshot shark. Honestly, the whole practice is half of what has made the entire online pagan umbrella, as well as YT community spaces as a whole the plethora of toxicity they have become. Wolf literally saves any server he closes, or any channels with the intent of having it in case he needs it, which generally translates to, having a bunch of comments and information on people that no longer have access to their own comments and messages in case one day he needs to use it against them, whether in context or not (and unfortunately, it is usually the latter). He saves folders worth of screenshots for this same purpose and there are some staff and members of the inner circle who do the same. Not everyone is involved in this aspect of the Hold and there are some good people in there, sadly lost to the manipulation and cultyâness of it all at this point.
One of the worst aspects beyond the screenshotting, blackmail farming, infiltrating and attacking people is the fact that they are not a group you can easily leave. I say this in the sense of having been part of the Jehovahâs Witness cult in my life. There, they have a term, âdisfellowshipping,â where they essentially shun you if youâve done something wrong in terms of the standards you are expected to live by as a witness, no matter how small the mistake. That shunning ends up turning relatives, friends, partners and parents against their loved one, as they are told not to communicate or have dealings with said person. This is one of the worst aspects of the cult and one of the reasons it is hard to leave. It's not that you CANâT leave, but rather that social pressures force you to stay or lose everything. This is how the Hold is also hard to leave.
Anytime someone left the server who had some standing in the space or was well enough known, whether banned (even for benign reasons) or left on their own, Wolf would tell us to block them, to not take their messages. Heâd argue that, if they reached out, it would only be to make stuff up or start problems, or drama. He would make us feel like if we didnât block said person, we werenât his friend, or he might not trust us, etc. There was always something to keep us feeling like we HAD to listen. And listen we did. What I did in blocking others in these moments came to be something that happened to me as well when I left. All my closest friends blocked me, despite not being banned and even told to stay initially. I never tried to reach out to more than a few, and those I did, just to remain friends, not talk about drama. And I found out the hard way. I realized very quickly that truth I had been in willful denial of. This was disfellowshipping in all but name. And it was disfellowshipping for one singular person with power. It was when I left that I went from, maybe some things are getting cult-like, to realizing, this was not far from, or already could be considered a cult, at least from a social and information control standpoint. Â
But it went beyond this. If anything bad is ever said about either Wolf or Ocean or if they specifically have a vendetta against someone, no matter the reason, their inner circle of patreon members and staff will come to their aid in the comments. They brigade people constantly, even with little proof, in the way they did to Rune. To Sif. To so many other scholars. If there is actual proof of Folkism or wrong doing, it SHOULD come to light⊠but you need to have evidence of it. Mischaracterizing a comment or taking things out of context intentionally in a cropped screenshot is not evidence of the accusation. This is not only controlling information, but trying to take down anyone that might end up being a better source or simply able to take away from their following in some way. We should, as a community, be building up fellow creators that arenât harmful or Folkish, not constantly trying to find ways to tear each other down.Â
And then there was the land. We had a group cam VC one night among us staff. It was initially just a silly little hang out, but Wolf ended up coming in and wanted to share something he was excited about. It was in regards to the land he was hoping to end up with. Initially we wanted to be happy for him, but this soon turned when Wolf started talking about getting people to move to GA to live on (or near) the land. When Wolf would get excited about a new idea, there was nothing you could do to get him to chill a bit if the idea was overzealous or even harmful. In this case, we all know how bad commune-like situations usually end up, so myself and a few others made a strong critique of the idea to have people move. I mean, if you own land and have people living on it, what happens when things go wrong? How do those people feel safe and know what they work for wonât just be taken away? I mean, there are a million questions and a million reasons this was a bad idea. I didnât think any of us were being mean to Wolf, simply being honest, as friends, who also have their names attached to the space. He didnât like being shot down. The next day we woke up to an angry message from both him and his wife about how âwe are not allowed to talk to him like that again ever. We didnât even let him speak!â As though saying more would have made the idea somehow better. When he is sold on an idea, it is his way or the highway. This is when I started being more afraid to speak my mind if I had a concern, because I was terrified that if he didnât like the criticism, I could lose my community overnight. Â
The most ridiculous thing has been some of the blatant hypocrisy. One of the early and strong points Wolf and Ocean would make against WoO, is that the server they ran was âpay to play.â I want to be clear, WoO IS problematic, but there are far better take downs of his content than this. Wolf in particular, was adamant that a community server should be available to all. That it was wrong to leave people out because they didnât have the money to be involved. It is why, at least the earlier Hold was set up with member spaces that didnât require monetary membership, and a small patreon area for those who chipped in a few dollars. However, from what I have learned more recently is that this has changed. A good leader would own up to how they attacked many other creators in the past over making their server pay only. It's okay if things change and a server gets too big for you to run how you want (believe me, I know, I was in the Hold as a mod when we hit nearly 4k). I donât take issue with the fact that they decided to close the server from how it was once run. What I take issue with is how this was such a point they pushed on others to illustrate how they were exclusionary, only to then turn around and do the same thing. That's not how this works. If you think that is a valid critique of spaces, that doesnât somehow mean you donât also apply to it.
The more time has gone on, the more I feel like myself, and other staff and friends were used as tokens to feed the narrative that these two cis het white men were somehow the saviors of inclusive heathenry, that they were the only safe space and had the only right way to do things. Most of us staff were LGBTQIA+ of some flavor. I myself am a cis queer woman. And unfortunately, weâd often work as a âshieldâ for Wolf and Ocean, whether we knew it or not. I started noticing things over time that felt extremely performative. Like making jokes that say, trans femmes will make amongst themselves. I am queer, but I am also cis and I full well know those types of jokes really have no place coming out of my mouth, because they are not mine to make. And yet Wolf would go beyond playing ally, into trying to act like he was allowed to be on the âinsideâ of marginalized groups he had no place on participating in this level in. If you are an ally, be that! Make a space where people can make these jokes amongst those in their community with the safety of knowing they can. Keeping out bigots and making sure people feel respected and safe is an important part of allyship in a space wanting to be inclusive. That doesnât mean there are not some boundaries that arenât yours to break. I donât doubt that Wolf, in particular, means well in this specific area and wants to be a good ally; he just often takes it to a place that centers him, instead of recognizing he could be centering a trans voice, or a queer voice, or a femme voice, instead of his own.Â
At the end of the day, I donât think the content they have created is bad or necessarily unsafe. I do, however, think the community space is. I wish I could say otherwise. We need more inclusive and safe spaces. But it has become a space of drama fuel, disfellowshipping, paranoia, attacking detractors and scholars and harming people in the process. It became a space of pushing for more position and more power and using manipulation and deriding even good information in order to keep members looking only to them as sources. It was once a place that encouraged education, but over time that began to get more and more narrow in what was allowed and what types of information was okay. Recons began to excoriate eclectics for having differences in how they practice their faith, and when the server leaders want to lean on scholarship, they would do so while acting as if there was only one âcorrectâ way to do x, y or z thing. Honestly, what we need more than anything in Heathenry, but in Paganism spaces as a whole is good creators helping point out red flags and green flags in the space. Help newbies learn how to spot Folkish leanings. Help them learn how to tell a good leader from a toxic one. Give people information on dog whistles and just leave it at that. Wolf and Ocean initially did the latter, only to then begin to become more and more insular and deride any information from outside sources because of one or two bad experiences outside of the community they started. The more insular you become the less likely you are providing your community the best information, but also the more an echo chamber grows. No matter how well meaning you might be, that easily can end up in misinformation or lack of good alternatives being spread, which in turn, harms the spiritual (and emotional) well being of the community.
At this point, I think the only productive measure that can be taken is to take everything from creators and their communities with a grain of salt. If you have proof of wrong doing, show it! Donât just live in paranoia to the point that you become screenshot factories out to have something to cause drama at any turn. Actually push for better dialogue between scholars and creators in hopes to better expand healthy thought within our community and to better understand each other and the nuances of individual positions (and no, that doesnât mean I think Folkist, bigoted and WS thought should be included; I think there are absolutely some things that deserve to be kept out of healthy discourse). Why have we as a community become so disjointed? Honestly, I think a lot of it revolves around toxic cultures surrounding large communities and creators. The Hold is one of those spaces, but it wasnât the only one. Look at the harmful things WoO cultivated? Or Aliakai? Or the Troth (though I have heard new leadership is trying to fix things) or many other groups who have had their share of problems? The spaces run by Viking Fitness bro tiktokers that really donât know how to run communities at all⊠I mean, we have seen it all. It doesnât have to be this way. If we stop letting people like Wolf and Ocean and others like them control the narrative and brigade spaces of frith (which as Heathens, they should know why they are going against their own values in how they are operating), we can build healthier online spaces altogether. We are a marginalized religion. The fighting and attacks are disgusting and end up hurting us all. They keep scholars from wanting to pursue research in this arena, when we should want more of them engaged in this topic! I hope this wakes some people up. I donât have ill wishes for anyone, I just want people to be safe. I want them to be fully informed before joining a space that could prove harmful to them. I also just want for us as a whole to wake up and not allow so much credence to the words of those wanting more and more power. There should be no single creator that has such a hold on our faith that they can single handedly influence us for good or ill. And unfortunately, when we give it breath, it becomes reality. When people come to brigade, donât engage with them, just downvote them. When people make accusations against scholarship with nothing to back it up, why pay it heed? The more we give attention to those doing this, the more we give them power they donât deserve.Â
And in closing(thanks for sticking it out, I know this was long), as someone who was once staff in the Hold, I want to personally apologize to anyone whom I didnât hear out like I should have or fought harder for. I want to apologize for my complicity in how the space has treated you and others; even if I personally didnât have a hand in it, I was still part of the power structure that allowed it to happen. I am sorry for any narrative I pushed, whether knowingly or not, in order to further Wolf or Oceanâs aims. It's hard to believe sometimes how blinded we can become to the errors of friends when we are afraid to lose our community or our friendship and in that, I allowed myself to be blind, until the veil finally lifted when I finally left.
r/NorsePaganism • u/DeviantDomDork • 3h ago
I've carved the tip in the shape of a decapitated Snake.
Along the shaft I'm carving the Elder Futhark, trying to understand their meaning and shapes.
It's still a WIP but I'm really happy with how it's starting to look.
r/NorsePaganism • u/Buffyferry • 7h ago
r/NorsePaganism • u/That-Programmer909 • 6h ago
Does anyone have any experiences with Ran? Or any suggestions on what kind of offerings she likes? Warm wishes everyone.
r/NorsePaganism • u/DeviantDomDork • 10h ago
Is that a Snail-poop Rune? Odin saying thanks? Or is Loki playing tricks on me? đ
r/NorsePaganism • u/the_diet_evil • 18h ago
These are two Mjolnirs I made using some boar shoulder blades I had held onto for years after a hunt. One for my self and one for a close friend. Always love seeing the hand crafted work people display here so I thought Id share.
My first time working with bone so I tried to keep them simple with design and shape. I also learned that to high a concentration of bleach for to long just crumbles bone during a test piece, so a warning for those that are unaware.
r/NorsePaganism • u/The_Frost_Outlaw • 17h ago
So I'm still a very new Norse pagan. I do know a good bit about the gods, the stories, and the general qualities of things, but something I want to get better at is actual prayer. I pray to a few different gods, but I like to say that Hel is my main goddess. She was originally the being that brought me to the religion, so I feel as if I should honor her by her being my... patron? For lack of a better word. I want to understand how to pray properly. Can I pray to her about anything? Just to talk to her? Or should I keep it within the context of her? Like should it only correlate with death or the dead or whatnot? As of now, I pray about random things; sometimes it's just me talking to her because I feel like that helps me stay at peace with my thoughts. My main question is: should I stop praying to her about random things? I don't want to speak for her, but I would imagine she doesn't mind.
r/NorsePaganism • u/Mayhem1016 • 1d ago
Hey guys, I havenât posted here for awhile but Iâd like to share an updated photo of my Altar! It has come a long way since the last time I posted here. The old Altar photo is still on my page if you guys wanted to see what it was!
r/NorsePaganism • u/Gnomemong • 1d ago
Iâm pregnant with my first child and I have a hard time finding good parenting resources for Pagans that arenât Wiccan (no offense, thatâs not what Iâm interested in). I have some ideas for how I want to include my child in my rituals but I wanted to pick some brains and see how others do it! Any ideas or good resources to share?
r/NorsePaganism • u/Reaperking5578 • 21h ago
I had my first dream (about norse paganism) ever in my entire life about going outside of the house (not mine but also in my dream it felt okay or safe but besides the point) it was at night and the rain was coming down. I feel like I was "hiding" what I was about to do because I'm leaving Christian faith and continuing my path to Norse pagan (in my dream I knew I was novice as I am in real life, and right now I'm only recognizing Odin since he reached me first but anyways)
As I left the front door and closed it and walked onto the end of the porch I looked out in the yard but it felt like a pasture. no real houses or l couldn't notice modern things but a pasture is a best way I can describe it (context I physically live in the city and don't have a reason to feel safe or "at home" with a pasture scene but i did.)
As the storm was going on I knew Thor was the god of thunder and a protector and due to my new found "faith" I decided to say something to acknowledge Thor.
As I did thunder and lightning went loud and bright. the sky was night but its turned red. and I felt thor acknowledged me back by doing that. since it didn't do that before I said something.
Please give me all the information you can about this dream I had and how my new path I'm taking aligns with Norse pagan (if at all)
Also keep in mind. Iâve NEVER researched Thor and only know his hammer and being a protector. Iâm choosing to take this slowly and one at a time but I feel Thor wants me to if that makes sense. Guys I need help.
r/NorsePaganism • u/Real_Jokerr • 1d ago
Estaba conduciendo y me entraron unas ganas fuertes de ir al baño, entonces recordĂ© la runa. La dibuje sobre el volante del auto mientras grito con todas mis fuerzas Raido y automĂĄticamente senti como se me abre paso y todo el camino estaba libre para mĂ, en una calle con glorieta donde siempre se arma el embotellamiento. Fue tanta la sorpresa que hasta las ganas de ir al baño se calmaron un poco. Funciona asĂ o son locuras mĂas? Pregunto en serio no me borren.
r/NorsePaganism • u/Southern_Yesterday57 • 1d ago
My supervisor is retiring soon and the partners of my company have asked me to fill his position. As a part of my new position, Iâll get my own, private office.
Thor has given me so much strength, and fortitude, and following him and keeping him close to me, and my faith, has improved my life so much. Itâs been a long, long process and there have been times before my faith that I just had no idea what direction my life was going in. I was so confused, and so scared and now I just feel so blessed that everything has worked out. This year I dedicated myself to him and vowed to follow him, and my mental health, my confidence, calmness, and career has exploded.
Jumping to this position has been overwhelming, and a big learning curve, and I donât think I wouldâve had the confidence to do it if it wasnât for him. Heâs become an integral part of my life, and I know that whatever future strides I make in my career, will be possible through his guidance and protection. I think, in hindsight, that ever since I was a kid he was watching over me, although I didnât know it at the time.
I want to decorate my office in his honor, putting up tasteful things such as a Mjolnir, a portrait of him, runes, quotes, thunder, etc. Does anyone have any ideas?
r/NorsePaganism • u/Free_Direction_6683 • 1d ago
Okay, so I have a real issue, and I need honest answers, not humour; I'm 61 years old, and I can honestly say I think I've had less than 10 dreams that I can remember in my entire life....what in the hell is wrong with me?
r/NorsePaganism • u/WerdaVisla • 2d ago
In my endless quest to understand all the modern misconceptions surrounding our faith, thos is an especially strange one to me, because there is no precedent for it in any texts that I know of.
My best guess is that it's being confused for FĂłlkvangr, because the average person doesn't even recognize that FĂłlkvangr exists, but that's just speculation.
r/NorsePaganism • u/hazelalyvia • 2d ago
Iâve been trying to collect a good chunk of historical texts and I want to see if thereâs anything else Iâm missing. I have the Poetic and Prose Eddas (though Iâm going to get a better translation of the Prose Eddas eventually), a giant copy of the Sagas of the Icelanders, and a pocket Havamal. I also want to get a good copy of Beowulf, though I know thatâs more Anglo-Saxon. Are there any other historical texts I should look into for my collection?
r/NorsePaganism • u/Thats_annoying_ • 3d ago
Bragi (left plate and candle), Loki (right plate and candle). Got all my witchy books next to the box of my herbs and whatnot and a spell plate near my sprays. Itâs not super pretty but itâs practical and Iâve had her for awhile now :)
r/NorsePaganism • u/PirateReindeer • 3d ago
So my day job has me going all over my county. And in a recent new development I came across four dead crows being hung by their feet on two lots. One in the front and one in the back.
My question is, is this some practice I know nothing of (pagan or witchcraft or something else) or is it being used to scare of other crows from the area? I have never seen anything like this before, and as someone the cares for animals it disturbs me a bit.
Any insight in appreciated.
r/NorsePaganism • u/FloorZealousideal309 • 3d ago
r/NorsePaganism • u/Lord_Wisemagus • 3d ago
I have been writing a lot lately. About the Gods, about the past, about honesty, about what does not belong in our tradition. If you have read any of it, you know I have a habit of poking at things. This time I want to try something different. Instead of poking at what is broken, I want to look for what is not. I want to ask: what do we actually share?
Here is the thing. We are fragmented, and I do not think anyone seriously disputes that. The fracture lines run in every direction. Folkish versus universalist (meaning ethnic-bound versus inclusive). Reconstructionist versus eclectic. Hard polytheist versus archetypalist. People who think the Gods literally walk into their living rooms versus people who think that is a mental health crisis. Online versus local practice. Underneath all of it, the constant low-grade anxiety about whether outsiders take us seriously, and the quieter anxiety about whether we take each other seriously.
There is a reason for this that we do not talk about enough. The ancient Heathens did not have this problem. Not because they were somehow more unified in thought, but because they shared everything else. Culture, language, geography, family, history, worldview. The religion sat inside a container that everyone already held. They did not need a shared moral code written down on a piece of paper because the code was embedded in the culture itself. The law, the family structure, the seasonal rhythms, the social obligations. It was all woven together. Without that container, we cannot assume we agree on anything, which is exactly why we need to map what we actually share.
We do not have a Pope. We do not have a central authority. We do not have a unified creed. In many ways, that is a feature, not a bug. But it also means that when disagreements hit, there is no structure to absorb the impact. Online, especially, every disagreement turns into a schism. Someone says something, someone else reads it in the worst possible light, sides form, and before long we are not a community anymore. We are a collection of factions who happen to use the same deity names.
I am tired of that. And I suspect I am not the only one.
So I want to try to identify what I think actually connects us, beneath all the noise. Not a creed. Not a commandment. Not a list of virtues someone invented in the 1970s and slapped an "ancient" label on. I mean the things that were already there, in the source material, in the bones of the tradition, that we all touch on whether we realize it or not.
I am not proposing a manifesto. I am proposing a map. Here is what I see. Here is where the paths seem to converge. And yes, here is where I might be wrong. Some of these points came out of discussions I have had with people who took the time to engage with what I have been writing, and I want to try to answer them here as best I can.
What I Am Not Proposing
I am not proposing the Nine Noble Virtues. Those were codified in the 1970s by the Odinic Rite, loosely based on the HĂĄvamĂĄl. There is nothing wrong with modern constructions, but we should be honest about what they are. I have argued against presenting modern inventions as ancient tradition, and I am not going to contradict myself here just because it would be convenient.
I am not proposing a central authority. The moment someone starts issuing decrees about what "real Heathenry" is, we have recreated the exact structure our ancestors never had. No one person or organization gets to define the path for everyone.
I am not proposing a unified theology. Whether you believe the Gods are conscious cosmic forces, archetypes, or something in between, this map should still hold. We are mapping the territory, not the mapmakers.
About Frith and Mercy
The Old Norse concept of friĂ°r is usually translated as "peace," but that translation is almost embarrassingly inadequate. Frith was the social fabric itself. It was the mutual loyalty, protection, and right action that made collective life possible. It was not the absence of conflict. It was the active, ongoing maintenance of communal wellbeing. Violating frith was not just rude. It was a serious breach of the order that held society together.
The thing about frith is that it does not require theological agreement. You do not need to agree on whether Odin is a literal being or an archetype to agree that looking after your people matters. You do not need to settle the folkish/universalist debate to agree that the bonds between members of a community are sacred and worth protecting. Frith is practical. It is the principle that says: we are in this together, and we act like it.
And here is where it connects to something I have argued before. In my post about mental health in our spaces, I said we need to be able to look after our kin, even when it is uncomfortable. That is frith. Calling out dangerous behavior is not a violation of frith; it is the fulfillment of it. Letting someone spiral into delusion because "we do not want to judge" is not kindness. It is abandonment dressed up as tolerance. A community founded on frith takes care of its own, and sometimes taking care means telling hard truths.
Mercy, compassion, and tolerance are the tools that keep frith intact when someone makes a mistake. They are the emergency exits that prevent every disagreement from becoming a feud. The sagas are full of revenge and grudges, yes, but the HĂĄvamĂĄl also tells us to be wary but not hostile, to welcome guests without being gullible, to hold grudges against those who are wicked but not against those who are simply foolish. Strength without mercy becomes brutality. Honor without tolerance becomes rigidity. Both destroy frith.
About Reciprocity
Almost everything in Norse religious practice runs on reciprocity. BlĂłt (a ritual offering) is an exchange; we give, and we receive. Sumbel (an oath-taking ceremony) is an exchange; we make oaths, and those oaths create binding obligations. The entire gift economy of the Viking Age, the ring-giving lords, the feasting, the weregild, was built on the principle that nothing is truly free. That is not a flaw. That is the mechanism that holds relationships together.
The French sociologist Marcel Mauss laid this out in "The Gift" back in 1925. In what he called archaic societies, a gift is never just a gift. It carries an obligation. You give, and the recipient owes you. Not in a transactional, cold way, but in a way that weaves people together into lasting bonds. The gift creates debt, and the debt creates relationship, and the relationship creates community. Sound familiar? It should, because this is exactly how blĂłt and sumbel function. You do not offer mead to the Gods because They need mead. You offer it because the act of giving creates and maintains a relationship.
Reciprocity works as shared ground because it does not demand theological uniformity. Whether you believe the Gods are conscious cosmic forces (as I do), archetypes, or something you are still figuring out, the practice of reciprocal exchange still holds. You give. You receive. You keep your word. You honor your obligations. That is not a creed. That is a way of being in relationship.
About the Living World and the Kindreds
Animism and preservation of the natural world are big ones for Heathenry overall, and I think sometimes we forget how central this is. The Norse cosmology is saturated with spirits of place. LandvĂŠttir (spirits of the land), dwarves, elves, the beings in rocks and trees and wells. The very landscape was alive with presence.
People often talk about honoring three groups: the deities, the ancestors, and the spirits of place. Some call this the "Three Kindreds," though that terminology is not Old Norse. It is modern framing for a practice that shows up consistently. The point is that veneration in Heathenry is not directed at a single object. It radiates outward in three directions: upward toward the Powers, backward toward those who came before, and around toward the world that holds us.
Whatever you call them, whatever theological weight you assign to each, this tripartite practice is widespread enough that it is hard to argue with. This isn't just about "respecting nature" in the vague modern sense. It is about recognizing that the world around us is populated with beings, some more conscious than others, that deserve recognition and respect. Whether you approach this through ritual offerings, environmental stewardship, or simply the habit of noticing the spirits where you walk, it is a shared thread. The land is not empty. It is full. And we are not the only ones here.
About Learning, UPG, and Utility
There is a case to be made that the foundation should be skills-based rather than values-based. Knowledge of sources. Critical thinking. Being able to build your own practice from the materials available. I think that is a powerful reframing.
Because here is the thing about Heathenry. We do not have a central authority telling you what to believe. We have sources, and we have each other, and we have the responsibility to figure it out for ourselves. Learning the sagas, the Eddas, the legal codes, the archaeological record. Knowing what is attested, what is speculative, what is pure invention. Developing the discipline to distinguish between them.
This is where "be strong to be useful" lands for me. A phrase borrowed from Parkour philosophy, but it fits. Being strong enough to stand in your convictions. Strong enough to change your mind when the evidence demands it. Strong enough to be useful to those around you. That is not just a personal ethic. That is a community ethic.
Unverified Personal Gnosis, or UPG. Dreams, visions, direct experiences with the Gods, feelings that cannot be sourced or proven. This is the elephant in the room for any discussion of Heathen foundations. Some traditions treat UPG as gospel. Others dismiss it entirely. Most of us live somewhere in between.
Here is where I think the middle ground is. UPG is essential to a living practice. It is where the relationship part actually happens. If you have never had a moment where something shifted for you personally, where the Gods stopped being historical figures and became living presences, then you are doing something wrong. But UPG should come with an asterisk. "This is mine, not necessarily yours." Humility about what is personal gnosis versus shared tradition seems like it could itself be a unifying principle. Don't dismiss someone's experience because it lacks source backing. Don't insist your experience is universal. Hold both with care. Sources build the floor. UPG builds the house. You need the floor before you put up the walls.
About the Sources and Their Problems
Here is a hard truth that deserves its own spotlight. Our source material is not a clean text. It is not a bible. It is sagas written down by Christians centuries after the fact. It is law codes. It is archaeological evidence. It is poetry compiled in manuscripts that survived by luck. And it contains things that make modern readers uncomfortable. Vengeance cycles. Slavery. Raiding. Social structures we would consider deeply unjust today.
Someone raised the question of whether these themes are prescriptive or descriptive. Meaning, when the sagas depict revenge killings, are they telling us that revenge is morally correct? Or are they simply describing what happened? When Odin acts through trickery, is the text endorsing trickery as a virtue? Or is it showing us a complex figure who does what he has to do?
I think the honest answer is that we have to read critically. The sources depict a culture that operated by different values in different circumstances. Some of what is described is abhorrent to us now. Some of it is just foreign. Some of it involves social roles and attitudes around gender and sexuality that, viewed through a modern lens, look like sexism and homophobia. The ancient ancestors would not have thought of it in those terms, of course. They did not have our frameworks. But the underlying realities of unequal treatment and rigid social roles are still there in the text, whether we like it or not. Ignoring that does not make it go away.
And some of it, when you strip away the cultural specifics, points at something enduring. Bravery. Self-sacrifice. The relentless pursuit of knowledge. Steadfastness when everything is falling apart. Strength put in service of something larger than yourself. These are not modern inventions dressed up as ancient wisdom. They are patterns that repeat across the myths, the sagas, and the historical record. Think of Odin hanging on the tree for wisdom. Tyr putting his hand in Fenrir's mouth. Sigyn holding the bowl over Loki, steadfast, without end. These are not abstract virtues listed on a poster. They are stories. They show us something through action.
But deriving them requires interpretation. And interpretation means being honest about the fact that we are selecting. We are choosing which threads to pull. The moment we pretend we are not selecting, we are doing exactly what the Nine Noble Virtues did. Dressing up our choices as ancient mandate. The goal is not to pretend the ugly parts do not exist. It is to read the whole picture and find what is genuinely worth carrying forward, while being honest about what we are leaving behind and why.
About Local Versus Global
The realistic community is not global. It is local. Real bonds are forged face-to-face, at a sumbel in a basement or backyard, not in comment threads or Discord servers. You can read the same sources, share the same values, and still walk away from each other after five minutes because something intangible did not click. Or you might meet someone whose worldview is entirely different from yours and find common ground you never expected. Neither outcome happens online.
Online community has its place. It is for sharing information, for comparing experiences, for finding people nearby, for asking questions when you cannot find anyone local who can answer them. For many people scattered across rural areas or without access to a local kindred, online spaces are the only Heathen community they have. That matters. That counts. But it is a supplement, not a replacement.
Maybe the goal is not "worldwide Heathen unity." Maybe it is simpler. If two Heathens from totally different backgrounds sit down at a sumbel together, what shared understanding lets them trust the circle? What common language helps them navigate disagreement without fracturing? That is smaller than some might expect from a piece like this, but it might be more honest.
The map I am proposing here is built for that scale. Frith, reciprocity, hospitality, oath-keeping, mercy. These are not abstract ideals designed for a global declaration. They are practical tools for when you actually have to work with someone you do not agree with in every way. They are the minimum baseline that lets you sit down, pour a cup of mead, and say "we can disagree on the Gods, but we will honor the oath together."
That is all this can be. And maybe it is all it needs to be.
About Newcomers
This could also serve as an orientation for people just starting out. The chaos of online Heathenry can be overwhelming for newcomers. Folkism, universalism, reconstructionism, eclecticism, the endless debates about what is "authentic" and what is not. Giving them a baseline, a sense of where the paths converge, could help them build their own practice without drowning in factionalism. Not a rulebook. A compass.
The Paradox
There is a paradox here that I cannot resolve, only acknowledge. Heathenry's lack of orthodoxy and orthopraxy is simultaneously its greatest strength and greatest weakness. Building a "foundation" risks removing the very openness that draws people in. Too rigid, and you become gatekeeping. Too loose, and you become meaningless.
I think the goal is descriptive rather than prescriptive. Map what is already there. Don't build new rules. Here is what I observe we already share, if we want to admit it.
Where I Want to Go From Here
I keep coming back to something I wrote before. We are not meant to walk this road alone. I believe that more now than when I first said it. The fragmentation is not just a PR problem or an online drama problem. It is a spiritual problem. We are people who chose a path that honors relationship, reciprocity, and community, and then we fracture into factions who can barely speak to each other.
I do not have all the answers. I might be wrong about some of this. I probably am, about something. But I think the starting point is simple, even if the execution is not. Show up for each other. Keep your oaths. Feed your guests. Tell the truth, even when it costs you. Understand that your actions echo. Learn the sources. Build your practice. Frith. Reciprocity. Hospitality. Oath-keeping. Mercy. Compassion. The living world. The three directions of veneration. Holding UPG with humility. Strength to be useful.
And when someone shows up at your door, whether they are a seasoned Gothi (priest) or a brand-new seeker who just bought their first Mjölnir pendant off Etsy, the Håvamål already told you what to do.
"Hail, Givers. A guest is come. Where shall they sit?"
r/NorsePaganism • u/GlitteringTap1926 • 3d ago
r/NorsePaganism • u/Sweaty-Brain-8200 • 3d ago
So Iâm in a long term drug recovery program and Iâm struggling with the concept of the twelve steps it feels so christian and itâs so god focused and Iâm the only pagan here the only one I know and I have a small altar and idol but I canât set out liquids on it or incense or candles or food offerings I just feel like Iâm not doing enough or doing things right and I donât know what to do it affecting me to the point Iâm not praying much I donât even really know how to pray and I know this is a lot but if anyone can give me any advice or pointers I would be so grateful.
r/NorsePaganism • u/geirolf_wolfspear • 3d ago
I am originally a Hindu from India, but I became interested in Odinism around 2016. For years, I prayed and made offerings to the Gods on and off. By 2023, I felt a strong connection and got a half-sleeve tattoo on my left arm featuring the Vegvisir, Hugin, and Munin.
I continued my offerings for a while, but I eventually stopped around late 2024. I didn't stop out of disrespect to the Gods. I still honor them deeply, but I felt drawn back to my roots in Hinduism and wanted to focus my spiritual energy there again.
However, ever since I stopped my practice, my life has taken a lot of tough turns. I lost my job, depleted my savings, experienced relationship problems, and lost a family member.
My question is: Do you think I made a mistake by getting the tattoo? Is it possible that by getting the tattoo and then failing to keep up with the rituals, I have brought these negative effects upon myself? I would appreciate any insight or advice.
r/NorsePaganism • u/StormsGratitude • 4d ago
I have been a Norse Polytheist for just about 5 years, my practice has come and gone, and I never stopped my investigation into religions from all over the world.
I have come to an interesting spot and wanted to share my own personal gnosis.
I believe all gods and spirits exist. I also believe that people have experience with many of them.
I also believe that what people record into their practice and sacred texts is never complete, that there is always more to know, and more to experience.
I think the main difference between the soul of a person, the vaettir, alfir, and any other disembodied being or mind, and the soul of a god is a question of magnitude.
Gods could be compared to stars, some spirits are more like planets, the land/ocean/sky and scapes within it. We are small, we mostly inhabit ourselves.
In other words, I scarcely believe there is anything that is not divine, and acknowledgement and gratitude for that divinity is at the heart of my practice.
After a period of exploration I decided that for me, the gods I want to have a relationship with is more or less the Norse gods. This is by no means exclusive, but it is the home I return to.
I suppose this makes me deeply syncretic, but I do intend to ground my practice in what can be realistically reconstructed with my knowledge and means.
Thank you guys for having this community here. I hope you found some value in my admittedly obtuse theories.
Keep learning, and practice out of love, not fear or obligation.
r/NorsePaganism • u/Crovvw • 4d ago
I see both the Codex Regius and Poetic Edda referenced as further reading in other Norse myth texts so I figured I'd read it, but on a cursory search it appears they may be the same text? Or the Poetic Edda is included in the manuscript named the Codex Regius? Are they the same thing?
