Gnosis Diary: Life as a Heathen

My personal experiences, including religious and spiritual experiences, community interaction, general heathenry, and modern life on my heathen path, which is Asatru.

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Erin Lale

Erin Lale

Erin Lale is the author of Asatru For Beginners, and the updated, longer version of her book, Asatru: A Beginner's Guide to the Heathen Path. Erin has been a gythia since 1989. She was the editor and publisher of Berserkrgangr Magazine, and is admin/ owner of the Asatru Facebook Forum. She also writes science fiction and poetry, ran for public office, is a dyer and fiber artist, was acquisitions editor at a small press, and founded the Heathen Visibility Project.

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Las Vegas Pagan Pride Day is Back

I'll be signing my book Asatru: A Beginner's Guide to the Heathen Path at Las Vegas Pagan Pride Day, November 11, 2023, at Paradise Park. I'm really excited! This is the first time my local PPD has been back since the pandemic started. It's an outdoor event so it's among the safer choices for pandemic safety, but because it's outdoors Las Vegas holds our PPD in November rather than September like most other cities do. I've been wanting to sign my book at my local PPD since my book came out, but since my book came out in 2020 I didn't get a chance to do that before now. I'll also be making a short presentation about Asatru and answering questions as part of my booksigning. 

My new book is a longer, updated version of my out-of-print book Asatru For Beginners. Asatru: A Beginner's Guide to the Heathen Path is available in print, ebook, audiobook, and audio CD.

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When I perceive the gods' presence in nature, sometimes I feel that it is a sign as in an omen and sometimes it's just a sign of their presence as in a way that one detects them. When we talk about whether something is a sign, I think a lot of us talk past each other because someone will call something a sign and mean it as in the signs and symptoms of the presence of x thing, and other people will think they are talking about being the chosen one of a novel.

I've heard people say not every thunderstorm is Thor, but to me, every thunderstorm is definitely Thor. Sometimes he's showing up for me and sometimes he's just doing his thing. And either way, thunder is a sign-- of his presence. It's how we detect him. It doesn't necessarily mean anything else, unless there is some context in which his presence would be the answer to a question, but that would be highly unusual to the point of nearly unheard-of. Which is why I think people misunderstand when I say he's in every thunder roll. They misunderstand when I say he will sometimes show up for me. And sometimes he would show up for my mom, even though she was an atheist. 

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In the news: Accused criminal brings up Odinism as a defense. 

This post is a summary of recent media coverage of terms of interest to Asatru, Heathen, and Pagan readers. These terms include Odinism, Norse Paganism, Asatru, Heathenism, Runes, Odin, and other terms. One source only mentions Odinism and Runes, the two terms used by the accused criminal.  Another source also mentions other Heathen and Pagan religions, pointing out that Odinism is condemned by other Heathen religions.

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Coffee with Odin

Recently, it occurred to me that when I speak with the gods, and they speak back to me, they are using my brain to communicate with me, so they use whatever they find in my brain. I speak to them in my native language, English, and they speak back in English. Or, they might speak in symbols with which I am familiar, and therefore may understand. They speak in the sounds, sights, and smells that have meaning for me. For example, I might see an animal I associate with a specific god, such as a butterfly for Sigyn. The gods don't really need to communicate with signs, since I have time set aside every day for communication with them. But they send them sometimes anyway, because it brings me joy, awe, and wonder.

Daily ritual anchors the gods in my life each day. There are rituals meant to be unique and only done once and there are rituals meant to be the same every time, and both have value. My small daily rituals are meant to be similar to each other every time. 

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The Animate World is the Normal World

I happened on a scientific paper saying that believing in or sensing the spirit in an "object" was abnormal. How sad it must be to live in a world full of dead things, where everything is inanimate. Worse to evangelize it and say animist religion and fairy tales are pathological.

Animist religion is not something from the dusty past. Many modern religions have animist components, not only modern revivals of pagan and heathen religions, but continuous religions too.

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Asatru and Heathen Friends and Communities

Both online and in person, having friends, groups, kindreds, forums, communities, and events specific to Asatru and Heathenry can be important for modern heathens. It's also great to meet up with other heathens at pagan events such as Pagan Pride Day, festivals, events sponsored by bookstores, etc., and at non-religious events that have local pagan or heathen groups participating such as local renfaires, heritage days, etc.

Some events and groups have returned to in-person gatherings even though the pandemic is not over. Some groups, events, and individuals have decided to stick with online participation, which opens up events to international, disabled, people who can't take the entire time off work, and others besides those avoiding communicable diseases. Some groups and events do online only or online plus in-person options. 

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We've come a long way. There's more to do, but let's take a moment and look back at how well we've already done. We should be encouraged, because things we thought would be hard or impossible turned out to be doable and we did them. That means we can do other things. I'm not even talking about magic but of course if you want to do magic to save the Earth, of course do that too! It's almost like we're all superheroes, yes? Saving the world and all. Here's how I started thinking about this recently. 

Recently there has been quite a bit of rain at my house. We had an unusually wet winter and spring this year and it looks like we might have a wet summer too, which is very welcome here in the desert. Several different times in the same week, rain fell from what looked like a sunny sky, or from a cloud that looked wispy and not like a raincloud. I photographed the rain edge phenomenon and posted it on my social media. As usual, every time it rained, I lifted a toast to Thor, mostly with coffee. One time when it was raining, after I made my toast, I asked Thor if there was anything I should be doing. He said he wanted me to convey his message to humanity again, and I said I would relay his message again, and so, here it is once more: save the Earth, his mother, and especially avoid the GMO wheat and corn, for the sake of his wife Sif. 

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Erin Lale
    Erin Lale says #
    oh goats and coffee! awesome! that does sound like him! "cleanse" can mean a few different things. depending on what is actually d
  • Anthony Gresham
    Anthony Gresham says #
    Over on Reddit I read a post by a young man who's family was going to bring in a priest and cleanse his alter to Thor. He was not

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