Sunday, February 14, 2010

I'm a Heathen, Not a New Ager




I wrote a list of twenty salient facts about Heathens that separate the majority of them from the mainstream of the "new age" movement. You can see it here:

I'm a Heathen, Not a New Ager
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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is useful. I will be sure to circulate this link.

Though I do think a comment on something to the effect that the Celtic and Norse gods aren't the same. The biggest problem I have with New Agers is that whenever I say that I worship the Norse gods they tend to assume those words are synonyms. Grr.

Great article. :)

5:10 PM
Gingerspark said...

Fantastic list...

While my beliefs do differ somewhat, I am frustrated by popular culture/media constantly blurring the lines between heathan/pagan/wiccan/new age and those who are "spiritual".

I shall pass this along.

Question: 19? why not 20? *just kidding*

8:35 AM
Alfarrin said...

Aerinndis and Nariane, thank you for your comments. I think the conflation of Norse and Celtic Gods is partly annoying, partly understandable, as the Celts and Norse culture-groups were cousin cultures.

That doesn't mean that the Gods are all the "same", but it does mean that some Gods might have been held in common, under different names. I say "some", and that's where I draw the line. But- if you're Asatru or Heathen, that shouldn't matter; in my opinion, you shouldn't be worshiping Celtic Gods alongside (at the same time) as the Gods of Heathenry.

If you wish to respectfully worship the Gods of Celtia on different occasions, I see nothing wrong with that, especially if you're of Celtic ancestry or cultural heritage, and wish to honor them, too. Many of us in the US and Europe are certainly of Celtic extraction, far back enough.

Being "cousin cultures" at least makes it less annoying if someone says that your Heathen Gods are "the same" as their Celtic ones, rather than someone saying that your Heathen Gods are the same as their Aztec ones. There's at least a historical blood relationship between the Northern European cultures, and some of the Gods may have sprung from the same root-source that informed both Teutonic and Celtic cultures.

Nariane, I might just have to make it twenty things, and discuss the "I'm not religious, I'm spiritual" thing, because that annoys me, too.

9:49 AM
Jeannette StG said...

I am not done yet, with all the info you porsted, but the 19 point list is well laid out and logical -I can accept that (I'm not a New Ager).

1:16 AM
GabrielWithoutWings said...

In regards to 19 and the comment of 'there is no heathen congress', would you consider a Thing to be a congress of sorts?

4:53 PM
Linnorm said...

Well stated and what you've said certainly resonates with me. There is a new Heathen near and dear to my heart who will benefit from reading this.

9:47 AM

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