Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
The Germans differ much from these usages, for they have neither Druids to
preside over sacred offices, nor do they pay great regard to sacrifices. They rank
in the number of the gods those alone whom they behold, and by whose
instrumentality they are obviously benefited, namely, the sun, fire, and the
moon; they have not heard of the other deities even by report. The Gallic War
(6.21)[2]
angel casy: Caesar's description contrasts with other information on the early
Germanic tribes and is not given much weight by modern scholars. It is worth
mentioning his note that Mercury is the principal god of the Gauls:
They worship as their divinity, Mercury in particular, and have many images of
him, and regard him as the inventor of all arts, they consider him the guide of
their journeys and marches, and believe him to have great influence over the
acquisition of gain and mercantile transactions. The Gallic War (6.17)[2]
The worship of deities identified by the Romans with Mercury seems to have been
prominent among the northerly tribes.
angel casy: Tacitus
Tacitus describes both animal and human sacrifice. He identifies the chief
Germanic god with the Roman Mercury, who on certain days receives human
sacrifices, while gods identified by Tacitus with Hercules and Mars receive animal
sacrifice. The largest Germanic tribe, Suebians, also make sacrifices, allegedly of
captured Roman soldiers, to a goddess who is identified by Tacitus with Isis.
angel casy: Another goddess, Nerthus, is revered by Reudignians, Aviones,
Angles, Varinians, Eudoses, Suardones and Nuithones. Nerthus is believed to
directly interpose in human affairs. Her sanctuary is on an island, specifically in a
wood called Castum. A chariot covered with a curtain is dedicated to the
goddess, and only the high priest may touch it. The priest is capable of seeing
the goddess enter the chariot. Drawn by cows, the chariot travels through the
countryside, and wherever the goddess visits, a great feast is held. During the
travel of the goddess, the Germanic tribes cease all hostilities, and do not lay
their hands upon arms. When the priest declares that the goddess is tired of
conversation with mortals, the chariot returns and is washed, together with the
curtains, in a secret lake.
angel casy: According to Tacitus, the Germanic tribes think of temples as
unsuitable habitations for gods, and they do not represent them as idols in
human shape. Instead of temples, they consecrate woods or groves to individual
gods.
combat with one selected from amongst themselves, each armed after the
manner of his country, and according as the victory falls to this or to the other,
gather a presage of the whole.
angel casy: The reputation of Tacitus' Germania is somewhat marred as a
historical source by the writer's rhetorical tendencies. The main purpose of his
writing seems to be to hold up examples of virtue and vice for his fellow Romans
rather than give a truthful ethnographic or historical account. While Tacitus'
interpretations are sometimes dubious, the names and basic facts he reports are
credible; Tacitus touches on several elements of Germanic culture known from
later sources. Human and animal sacrifice is attested by archaeological evidence
and medieval sources. Rituals tied to natural features are found both in medieval
sources and in Nordic folklore. A ritual chariot or wagon as described by Tacitus
was excavated in the Oseberg find. Sources from medieval times until the 19th
century point to di
angel casy: 19th century point to divination by making predictions or finding the
will of the gods from randomized phenomena as an obsession of Germanic
cultures. Or as Tacitus puts it "To the use of lots and auguries, they are addicted
beyond all other nations."
During the Migration Period, Germanic religion was subject to syncretic influence
from Christianity and Mediterranean culture.[4]
Jordanes' Getica is
angel casy: Jordanes' Getica is a 6th century account of the Goths, written a
century and a half after Christianity largely replaced the older religions among
the Goths. According to the Getica, the chief god of the Goths was Mars, who
they believed was born among them:
Now Mars has always been worshipped by the Goths with cruel rites, and
captives were slain as his victims. They thought that he who is the lord of war
ought to be appeased by the shedding of human blood. To him they devoted the
first share of the spoil, and in his honor arms stripped from the foe were
suspended from trees. And they had more than all other races a deep spirit of
religion, since the worship of this god seemed to be really bestowed upon their
ancestor. Getica
angel casy: Saint Columbanus in the 6th century encountered a beer sacrifice to
Woden in Bregenz. In the 8th century, the Germanic Saxons venerated an
Irminsul (see also Donar's Oak). Charlemagne is reported to have destroyed the
Saxon Irminsul in 772.
In the Old High German Merseburg Incantations, the only pre-Christian testimony
in the German language, appears a Sinhtgunt who is the sister of the sun maiden
Sunna (Sl). She is not known by name in Nordic mythology, and if she refers to
the moon, she is then different from the Scandinavian (Mani), who is male.
Further, Nanna is mentioned.
Sacrifices were known as blt, seasonal celebrations where gifts were offered to
appropriate gods, and attempts were made to predict the coming season. Similar
events were sometimes arranged in times of crisis, for much the same reasons.
[5][6]
angel casy: Middle Ages
those collected by the Brothers Grimm and other folk tales and customs (see
Walpurgis Night, Holda, Berchta, Weyland, Krampus, Lorelei, Nix), as well as in
medieval courtly literature (Nibelungs).
angel casy: Modern Influence
Day Origin
Monday Moon's day
Tuesday Tiw's day
Wednesday Wden 's day
Thursday unor's day
Friday Freyr's day
Sunday Sun's day
The Germanic gods have affected elements of every day western life in most
countries that speak Germanic languages. An example is some of the names of
the days of the week. The days were named after Roman gods in Latin (named
after Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn). The names for Tuesday
through Friday were replaced with Germanic versions of the Roman gods. In
English and Dutch, Saturn was not replaced. Saturday is named after Sabbath in
German, and is called "washing day" in Scandinavia.
angel casy: Also, many place names such as Woodway House, Wansdyke,
Wednesbury, Thundersley and Frigedene are named after the old deities of the
English people.
angel casy: See also
West Germanic
* Veleda
* West Germanic deities
* Anglo-Saxon polytheism
* Dutch mythology
North Germanic
* Norse paganism
* Norse mythology
* Norse gods
South Germanic
Modern
* Germanic Neopaganism
* Germanic mysticism
Anglo-Saxon paganism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Anglo-Saxon polytheism)
Jump to: navigation, search
Only a little Old English poetry has survived, and all of it has had Christian
redactors. The epic poem Beowulf is an important source of Anglo-Saxon pagan
poetry and history, but it is clearly addressed to a Christian audience, containing
numerous references to the Christian God, and using Christian phrasing and se,
the equivalent to the Norse Aesir. Most of these deities were associated with a
specific aspect of nature, for instance, Thunor was the god of the sky and
thunder.
angel casy: eing of their Germanic ancestry, the Anglo-Saxon deities were largely
the same gods as were worshipped by the Norse and other Germanic peoples.
The names vary slightly due to the differences in language among the euroGermanic tribes. For example, Thunor of the Anglo-Saxons was the same deity as
Thor of the Norse and Donar of the Germans. Likewise, Woden of the AngloSaxons is the same as inn among the Norse and Wodan of the Germans.
angel casy: The Anglo-Saxons formed statues of their deities out of wood.
However, because of this, none have survived into the contemporary period[1],
though examples that were created by Germanic tribes in continental Europe and
that have been preserved in bogs are likely to have been similar.
Major Deities
The most important deities of the Anglo-Saxons were worshipped amongst the
many tribes, as well as their ancestral tribes in continental Europe.
Chief amongst them was Woden, the leader of the Wild Hunt and the one who
carries off the dead. Woden is the Anglo-Saxon version of the Norse god Odin. He
was held to be the ancestor of Hengist and Horsa, two legendary figures from
early English history and six of the seven Anglo-Saxon royal houses whose
genealogies that we have access to, trace their lineage back to Woden[2]. The
word "Wednesday" in modern English means "Woden's day".
angel casy: Thunor, (Anglo-Saxon: unor)fot was the god of thunder, who ruled
the storms and sky. He also protected mankind from the giants. He was the god
of the common people within the heathen community[citation needed]. The word
"Thursday" in modern English means "Thunor's Day".
Frge is the goddess of love, and is the wife of Woden[citation needed]. The word
"Friday" in modern English means "Frige's Day".
angel casy: Tiw is the god of warfare and battle, and gives you Tuesday. There is
some speculation that he is a sky-god figure and formerly the chief god,
displaced over the years by Woden[citation needed]. He was the equivalent to
the Norse Tyr and Old german Zu.
Other gods venerated in Anglo-Saxon England were Ing, a god who is often
equated with the Norse Yngvi, and Gat, a deity associated with the Norse Gautr
and German Gausus.
angel casy is typing a message.
angel casy: Kathleen Herbert in her book 'Lost Gods of England' explains that the
Anglo-Saxons also worshipped a god called Ing who is equated with the Norse
god Frey. This is due to Frey being worshipped as Ingvi-Frey in Sweden, along with
the same symbolism found in Beowulf (among other sources) regarding the boar
as Frey's symbol and his role in fertility.[3] She also connects Ing to Nerthus, and
quotes the following from Tacitus:
They worship the Mother of the gods. As an emblem of the rite, they bear the
shapes of wild boars [...].[4]
Herbert discusses the goddess Nerthus recorded by Tacitus. She suggests that it's
likely the Anglo-Saxons, like their continental ancestors, worshipped Nerthus as
the Earth Mother making reference to charms and harvest festivals held hundreds
of years later.
'On September 14th, 1598, a party of German visitors was going to Eton. One
of them reported the following; we were returning to our lodging house; by
chance we fell in with the country folk celebrating their harvest home. The last
sheaf had been crowned with flowers and they had attached it to a magnificently
robed image, which perhaps they meant to represent Ceres. [...] They carried her
hither and thither with much noise; men and women together on the wagon, men
servants and maid servants shouting through the streets [...] Ab
angel casy:
About 1,500 years after Tacitus described the Nerthus rite, already
long established among the continental English, the insular English had a
goddess of the fruitful earth still riding in a wagon, making a random progress
amidst public rejoicing.'[5]
The god Seaxnat was not worshipped by all the Anglo-Saxons, but only by the
East Saxon tribe who settled in southern England and formed the kingdom of
Essex.
angel casy: Eostre, according to Bede, was a goddess whose feast was celebrated
in Spring. Bede asserts that the current Christian festival of Easter took its name
from the goddess's feast in Eostur-monath Aprilis (modern April). Another deity
mentioned by Bede but for whom we have no other information was the goddess
Hretha, whose name meant "glory".
Very little Anglo-Saxon mythology survives to us today. From what we know of it,
it revolved around the exploits of the gods, and also of great heroes and
legendary figures.
Many different supernatural creatures featured in not only myths, but also in the
beliefs of everyday life. These included elves,[7] dwarves,[8] dragons,[9] and
giants, all of which could bring harm to men.
angel casy is typing a message.
angel casy: Amongst the great mythological figures of the Anglo-Saxons was
Hengest and Horsa, who are named in historical sources as leaders of the earliest
Anglo-Saxon incursions in the south. It is possible that they were deified[citation
needed]. The name Hengest means "stallion" and Horsa means "horse"; the
horse in the Anglo-Saxon mythos is a potent and significant symbol.
Another figure who appears in Anglo-Saxon mythology was the Geatish hero
Beowulf. Whilst not an Anglo-Saxon himself (although the Geats are thought by
some to have been one of the tribes who settled in what would become England,
and the East Anglian line of kings is believed to have been founded by a Geat),
he has an epic tale, also known as Beowulf, based upon him. Beowulf told of the
eponymous hero's adventures in Scandinavia as he slew the monster Grendel,
who had terrorised the kingdom of Hrothgar, before going on to kill Grendel's
mother. He later became a king of Geatland, and lost his life in battle with a
dragon who had been terrorising the land. This story may have come from the
Wuffing dynasty of East Anglia, who originated in the areas mentioned.
angel casy: Weyland, Wayland, or Welund, was another mythological figure who
was a mythic smith. Originally, he was an elfish being, a shape changer like his
wife, a swan maiden and Valkyrie. His picture adorns the Franks Casket, an AngloSaxon royal hoard box and was meant there to refer to wealth and partnership.
[6]
angel casy: Cosmology
No firm evidence has been found about the pagan Anglo-Saxon cosmology. There
is no evidence to suggest that they believed in the same cosmological world view
as the Norse, which featured nine realms situated on a great world tree known as
Yggdrasil.
In the Nine Herbs Charm, there is a mention of "seven worlds", which may be an
indication that the pre-Christian Anglo-Saxons believed in seven realms[10].
angel casy: The Christian Anglo-Saxons referred to the realm humans live on as
Middangeard, which corresponded to the Norse Midgard (meaning "Middle
Earth"), and also to a realm called Neorxnawang, corresponding to the Christian
idea of Heaven. Whilst these are Christian terms, some scholars have theorised
that they may have corresponded to earlier pagan realms[11].
Everything that we know about the Anglo-Saxon religious festivals come from
Bede's work De temporum ratione (meaning The Reckoning of Time)[1], which
described the calendar of the year.
angel casy: Bede claimed that the greatest pagan festival was Modraniht
("Mother Night"), which was situated at the Winter solstice and was the start of
the Anglo-Saxon year[1].
In the month of February, known as Solmona, Bede claims that the pagans
offered cakes to their deities. Another festival was situated around the same
time, dedicated to the goddess Eostre, which was a spring festival[1]. The later
Christian festival of Easter that was followed at this time apparently took its
name from this goddess.
angel casy: he month of September was known as Halegmonath, meaning "Holy
Month", which may indicate that it had special religious significance[1].
Like many other Indo European cultures the pagan Anglo-Saxons initially
worshipped the gods in sacred groves, on hills and other wild places.[16]. The
classical writer Tacitus, when describing the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons, the
Germanic peoples of continental Europe, said that:
They judge that gods cannot be contained within walls... they consecrate
groves and woodland glades and call by the names of gods that mystery which
only perceive by the same sense of reverence.
angel casy: The Anglo-Saxons also built temples, as they are described in a letter
by Pope Gregory the Great to Abbot Melitus. Two such temple sites have been
excavated.
[edit] Worship
November in Old English was known as bltmna, as this passage points out:
* Symbel
"We enjoin, that every priest zealously promote Christianity, and totally
extinguish every heathenism; and forbid well worshipings, and necromancies,
and divinations, and enchantments, and man worshipings, and the vain practices
which are carried on with various spells, and with "frithsplots", and with elders,
and also with various other trees, and with stones, and with many various
delusions, with which men do much of what they should not. And we enjoin,
that every Christian man zealously accustom his children to Christianity, and
teach them the Paternoster and the Creed. And we enjoin, that on feast days
heathen songs
angel casy:
And we enjoin, that every Christian man zealously accustom his
children to Christianity, and teach them the Paternoster and the Creed. And we
enjoin, that on feast days heathen songs and devil's games be abstained from.'"
(ecclesiastical canons of King Edgar, AD 959)[17]
A magic item that survived destruction by the clerics is the Franks Casket, an
Anglo-Saxon royal hoard box with runic inscriptions (whalebone, early 7th
century). It bears scenes of Roman and Germanic background as well as a picture
of the Magi adoring Christ. These carvings along with runic inscriptions were
meant to influence the fate, O.E. wyrd, of its owner, a warrior king. The image of
the Holy three Kings may have been the reason the box was saved.
angel casy: It is possible to conclude from the foregoing that magical practice
was rife, and that water, tree and stone worship in various forms were also
practiced by the Anglo-Saxons. Interesting also is the mention of frithspottum,
relating as it does to the core concept of frith, ostensibly meaning "peace" but
having much deeper significance and a far broader spread of implications.
angel casy: History
Main article: Germanic paganism
[edit] Origins
The native Britons who were already living in Britain, who largely comprised of
Celtic and Roman peoples, were either forced out or subjugated by the invading
Anglo-Saxons. These Romano-Celtic Britons had followed Christianity ever since it
had replaced both Celtic paganism and Roman paganism in the 3rd century.
angel casy: The Anglo-Saxons brought their religious beliefs and practises with
them to Britain, and the areas in which they settled became known as "Angleland", which would eventually become "England" and the people "Englisce" or
"English". The areas that remained unsettled by the Anglo-Saxons are what is
now modern day Cornwall, Wales, and Scotland (except for Lothian).
The Anglo-Saxon tribes were not united, with seven main kingdoms, known
collectively as the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, forming; Northumbria (North of the
Humber), Mercia, East Anglia (East Angles), Essex (East Saxons), Wessex (West
Saxons), Sussex (South Saxons), and Kent. Certain deities and religious practises
were specific to certain localities, for instance, Seaxneat was only worshipped in
Essex, as he was seen as the progenitor
angel casy: as he was seen as the progenitor of the East Saxons, whereas the
West Saxons and South Saxons claimed different genealogies.
angel casy: Christianisation
Main articles: Anglo-Saxon Christianity and Christianization of the Germanic
peoples
Anglo-Saxon England, divided into many smaller kingdoms such as Mercia and
Wessex, around the time of Christianisation.
When the Christian missionaries arrived in Britain, they did not attempt to simply
obliterate any trace of the old religion, but they Christianised its festivals and
converted its temples into churches. Pope Gregory the Great instructed Abbot
Mellitus that:
angel casy:
I have come to the conclusion that the temples of the idols in
England should not on any account be destroyed. Augustine must smash the
idols, but the temples themselves should be sprinkled with holy water, and altars
set up in them in which relics are to be enclosed. For we ought to take advantage
of well-built temples by purifying them from devil-worship and dedicating them to
the service of the true God.[19]
Many Anglo-Saxon pagan practises were transformed into Christian practises, for
instance, the Christian festival of Easter was adapted from a previous AngloSaxon pagan spring festival devoted to the goddess Eostre, and the word
"Easter" itself was an adaptation of "Eostre".
angel casy: The last pagan king of Anglo-Saxon England was Arwald, who was
killed in battle in 686 by the Christian king, Cdwalla of Wessex.
Many place names across England are named after the old gods of the English
people, for instance, Frigedene and Freefolk are named after Frige, Thundersley
after Thunor, and Woodway House, Woodnesborough and Wansdyke named after
Woden[20].
angel casy is typing a message.
angel casy: Days of the Week
Further information: Week-day names
The seven day planetary week originated in Hellenistic Egypt by the 2nd century
BC, and was taken over in the interpretatio romana of the Greek gods in the
Roman Empire period, named for Sol, Luna, Mars, Mercurius, Jupiter, Venus and
Saturnus. The English language days of the week are, with the exception of
Saturday (which was named after Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture and
harvest), loan-translations of the Latin names, by the interpretatio romana of
Germanic deities.
angel casy: While Sunday and Monday may be considered straighforward
translation of Dies Solis "day of the Sun" and Dies Lunae "day of the Moon", the
names of Tuesday (Tiw's day, translating "Mars' day"), Wednesday (Woden's day,
translating "day of Mercury"), Thursday (Thunor's day, translating "day of
Jupiter") and Friday (Freya's day, translating "day of Venus") make clear that the
loan-translation was based on theonyms rather than celestial bodies.
Neopaganism
In the 20th century, with the rise of the Neopagan movement, a reconstructed
form of Anglo-Saxon paganism arose in the 1970s as a subset of Germanic
neopaganism, in the form of Theodism.
Different terms exist for the various types of Germanic Neopaganism. Some
terms are specific in reference whereas other are blanket terms for a variety of
groups.
In a 1997 article in Pagan Dawn[1], the authors list as more or less synonymous
the terms Northern Tradition, Norse Tradition, satr, Odinism, Germanic
Paganism, Teutonic Religion, The Elder Troth (as the name of a specific
organization and at the same time an attempt to replace tr with an English
equivalent) and Heathenry. Forn Sir and its equivalents has become a popular
self-designation in Scandinavian Neopaganism. The terms Odalism and Wotanism
designate currents of white supremacism outside of mainstream Germanic
Neopaganism.
angel casy: satr
In Germany, the terms Asatru and Odinism were loaned from the Anglosphere in
the 1990s, with a chapter of Odinic Rite formed in 1995 and the Eldaring as a
partner organization of The Troth formed in 2000. Eldaring takes Asatru as a
synonym of Germanic neopaganism in general, following usage by The Troth.
Other organizations avoid Asatru in favour of Germanisches Heidentum
("Germanic Heathenry"). Eldaring is the only pagan organization at national level
in Germany self-describing in terms of Asatru,[2] but the internet domain
asatru.de has been squatted by German Neo-Nazi Jrgen Rieger's neo-vlkisch
Artgemeinschaft since 1999.
angel casy: The term Vanatru is coined after satr, implying a focus on the Vanir
(a second tribe of gods in Germanic paganism) rather than the sir.
Old Norse Forn Sir, Anglo-Saxon Fyrnsidu and its modern Scandinavian
analogues Forn Sed, all meaning "Old Custom", is used as a term for pre-Christian
Germanic culture in general, and for Germanic Neopaganism in particular, mostly
by groups in Scandinavia. Old Norse forn "old" is cognate to Sanskrit purana,
English far. Old Norse sir "custom" (not to be confused with sr "late"), AngloSaxon sidu, seodu "custom", cognate to Greek ethos, in the sense of "traditional
law, way of life, proper behaviour". In meaning, the term corresponds exactly to
Forn Sir is also the name of the largest Danish pagan society, which since 2003
is recognized by the Danish government (meaning they have the right to conduct
weddings, etc.)
angel casy: Heathenry
Heathen (Old English hen, Old Norse heiinn) was coined as a translation of
Latin paganus, in the Christian sense of "non-Abrahamic faith".
In the Sagas, the terms heini and kristni (Heathenry and Christianity) are used
as polar terms to describe the older and newer faiths. Historically, the term was
influenced by the Gothic term *haii, appearing as haino in Ulfilas' bible for
translating gun Hellnis, "Greek (i.e. gentile) woman" of Mark 7:26, probably
with an original meaning "dwelling on the heath", but it was also suggested that
it was chosen because of its similarity to Greek ethne "gentile" or even that it is
not related to "heath" at all, but rather a loan from Armenian hethanos, itself
loaned from Greek ethnos.
angel casy: The Miercinga Rice Theod and several other groups, narrow the sense
of the word to Germanic Neopaganism in particular, and prefer it over Neopagan
as a self-designation.[4][5]
Heathenry is now the most widespread term for Germanic Paganism in the UK
and is promoted by UK groups such as H
The term Odinism was coined by Orestes Brownson in his 1848 Letter to
Protestants.[8] The term was re-introduced in the late 1930s by Alexander Rud
Mills in Australia with his First Anglecyn Church of Odin and his book The Call of
Our ancient Nordic Religion. In the 1960s and early 1970s, Else Christensen's
Odinist Study Group and later the Odinist Fellowship brought the term into usage
in North America. In the UK,Odinic Rite has specifically identified themselves as
"Odinists" since the 1970s, and is the longest running group to do so.
angel casy: The term "Odinism" tends to be associated with racist or racialist
Nordic ideology, as opposed to "Asatru" which may or may not refer to racialist or
"folkish" ideals. As defined by Goodrick-Clarke (2002), Nordic racial paganism is
synonymous with the Odinist movement (including some who identify as
Wotanist). He describes it as a "spiritual rediscovery of the Aryan ancestral
gods...intended to embed the white races in a sacred worldview that supports
their tribal feeling", and expressed in "imaginative forms of ritual magic and
ceremonial forms of fraternal fellowship".[9]
angel casy: Theodism
[edit] Theism
It is believed that Elves or land-spirits can inhabit natural objects such as trees or
stones. These spirits can, and do, take sides in the affairs of the inhabitance of
their land. [10] This is in imitation of historical Norse paganism, which had strong
animistic tendencies, as reflected in Sagas such as that of a wizard who goes to
Iceland in whale-shape to see if it can be invaded, who is attacked by land-spirits
while going on shore, and is forced to flee. [11]
angel casy: It is believed by some Heathens, that inanimate objects can have a
soul of their own, or a fate and therefore should be given a name. The most
common cases being the naming of weapons like Gram (mythology). The objects
are not charged before use, but have the fate or power in them.
[edit] Ethics
The Asatru Folk Assembly and the Odinic Rite encourages recognition of an
ethical code, the Nine Noble Virtues, which are culled from various sources,
including the Hvaml from the Poetic Edda.
angel casy: Germanic Neopaganism reveres the natural environment in principle;
[citation needed] Germanic Neopaganism opposes neither technology nor its
material rewards. More mystical currents of Heathenry may be critical of
industrialization or modern society, but even such criticism will focus on
decadence, lack of virtue or balance, rather than being a radical criticism of
technology itself.[12]
Theodish groups operate under specific "thau". Thau is defined as the customs
and beliefs of a specific tribe,[citation needed] and each theodish tribe has their
own thau which may or may not be mirrored in other theodish (and indeed some
non-theodish) circles.[citation needed]
angel casy: Rites and practices
Blt is the historical Norse term for sacrifice or ritual slaughter. In Germanic
Neopaganism, blts are often celebrated outdoors in nature, the celebrants
sometimes clad in home-made Medieval Scandinavian attire. A blt may be
highly formalized, but the underlying intent resembles inviting and having an
honored guest or family member in for dinner. Food and drink may be offered.
Most of this will be consumed by the participants, and some of the drink will be
poured out onto the soil as a libation. Home-brewed mead as the "Germanic"
drink par excellence is popular.[26][27]
angel casy: Offerings during a blt usually involve mead or other alcohol,
sometimes food, sometimes song or poetry, specially written for the occasion or
for a particular deity, is delivered as an offering. The blt ritual may be based on
historical example, scripted for the occasion or may be spontaneous. Certain
Germanic Neopagan groups, most notably the Theodish, strictly adhere to
historical formulaic ritual, while other groups may use modernized variants. Usual
dress for a blt is whatever suits the seasons - many blts are outdoors,
sometimes at sacred sites. Some Germanic Neopagans, most notably the
Theodish, wear clothing modeled on those of the Anglo-Saxon or Norse 'Viking'
during ritual, while others eschew this practice.
[edit] Sumbel
Main article: Symbel
angel casy: Symbel (OE) and sumbel (ON) are terms for "feast, banquet, (social)
gathering", occasionally used to refer to a special type of solemn drinking ritual
attested in more or less comparable forms among various Germanic warrior
elites. In such instances, symbel involved a formulaic ritual which was more
solemn and serious than mere drinking or celebration. The primary elements of
symbel are drinking ale or mead from a horn, speech making (which often
included formulaic boasting and oaths), and gift giving.
make boasts of their own deeds, or oaths or promises of future actions. Words
spoken during the sumbel are considered and consecrated, becoming part of the
destiny of those assembled. The name sumbel (or symbel) is mainly derived from
Anglo-Saxon sources. For this reason, the ritual is not know by this name among
Icelandic Nordic pagans, who nevertheless practice a similar ritual as part of their
blot.[14]
[edit] Seir
Main article: Seir
angel casy: Seir and Spae are forms of "sorcery" or "witchcraft", the latter
having aspects of prophecy and shamanism. Seid and spae are not common
rituals, and are not engaged in by many adherents of Germanic Neopaganism.
Usually seid or spae rituals are modeled after the ritual detailed in the Saga of
Eric the Red: a seikona dressed in traditional garb will sit on a high-seat or
platform and prophesize in a formulaic manner as women sing or chant galdr
around her. In the UK, seidr relies less on formal ritual and more informal
practices of healing (Blain, 2002b), protection, and for developing links with land
and ancestors. It may be related - in past and present - to alterations of
consciousness and negotiations with otherworld beings.
The first modern attempt at revival of ancient Germanic religion took place in the
19th century during the late Romantic Period amidst a general resurgence of
interest in traditional Germanic culture, in particular in connection with romantic
nationalism in Scandinavia and the related Viking revival in Victorian era Britain.
Germanic mysticism is an occultist current loosely inspired by "Germanic" topics,
notably runes. It has its beginnings in the early 20th century (Guido von List's
"Armanism", Karl Maria Wiligut's "Irminism" etc.)
angel casy: The last traditional pagan sacrifices in Scandinavia, at Trollkyrka,
appear to date to about this time.
Organized Germanic pagan or occult groups such as the Germanische GlaubensGemeinschaft emerged in Germany in the early 20th century. The connections of
this movement to historical Germanic paganism are tenuous at best, with
emphasis lying on the esoteric as taught by the likes of Julius Evola, Guido von
List and Karl Maria Wiligut.
"Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble
northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and
tried to present in its true light."[23]
angel casy: After the War, the strong association with Nazi Germany virtually
eclipsed interest in Germanic history for two decades. The racialist
Artgemeinschaft Germanische Glaubens-Gemeinschaft (AG GGG), founded in
1951, did little to dispel the popular equation of Germanic faiths and Neo-Nazism.
In Australia, led by the Odinist pioneer Alexander Rud Mills and his eventual wife,
Evelyn, were Australian Odinists in the 1930s. The couple held regular
ceremonies in the Dandenong Ranges, near Melbourne, until Mills himself was
arrested and sent to an Australian concentration camp (Loveday, SA) early in
World War II.[citation needed]
angel casy: Second revival, 1960s to present
Another revival, this time based on folklore and historical research rather than on
mysticist speculation, took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s. satr was
recognized as an official religion by the Icelandic government in 1973, largely due
to the efforts of Sveinbjrn Beinteinsson. In USA, around the same period, Else
Christensen began publishing "The Odinist" newsletter and Stephen McNallen
began publishing a newsletter titled The Runestone. McNallen formed an
organization called the Asatru Free Assembly, which was later renamed the
satr Folk Assembly (AFA) [24]. The AFA fractured in 1987-88, resulting in the
creation of the satr Alliance[25], headed by Valgard Murray, publisher of the
"Vor Tru" newsletter. Around the same time, the Ring of
angel casy: Around the same time, the Ring of Troth (now simply The Troth) was
founded by other former members of the AFA.[26].
The Odinic Rite was established in England in 1972, and in the 1990s expanded
to include chapters in Germany (1995)[27], Australia (1995) [28] and North
American (1997) [29]. A Dutsch section was added in (2006)[30].
angel casy: In Germany, the Heidnische Gemeinschaft (HG) founded by Gza von
Nemnyi in 1985. In 1991 the Germanische Glaubens-Gemeinschaft (GGG),led by
von Nemnyi, split off from the HG. In 1997 the Nornirs tt was founded as part
of the Rabenclan and in 2000 the Eldaring was founded. The Eldaring is affiliated
with the US based Troth.
In Scandinavia, the Swedish Asatru Society formed in 1994, and in Norway the
satrufellesskapet Bifrost formed in 1996 and Foreningen Forn Sed formed in
1999. They have been recognized by the Norwegian government as a religious
society, allowing them to perform "legally binding civil ceremonies" (i. e.
marriages). In Denmark Forn Sir also formed in 1999: for individual heathens.
Ntverket Forn Sed formed in 2004, and has a network consisting of local groups
(blotlag) from all over the Sweden.
[edit] Demographics
diana dragos: pfoai de capu meu
angel casy: iti trebe demograpphics?
diana dragos: nu
angel casy: ok
angel casy: te sperii de cat ii de citit?
diana dragos: stau si ma hlizesc cu gura deschisa la ecran
angel casy: Symbolism
While generally any symbol deriving from Germanic paganism may be used,
particularly popular symbols of Germanic Neopaganism are depictions of the
Valknut, Mjolnir, the Irminsul, Yggdrasil amongst others. Depictions of Germanic
gods are also common. The Runic alphabet is popular, in particular the Odal, Tyr
and Algiz runes.[45]
Guido von List elaborated a racial religion premised on the concept of renouncing
the imposed foreign creed of Christianity and returning to the pagan religions of
the ancient Indo-Europeans (List preferred the equivalent term Ario-Germanen, or
'Aryo-Germans').[4] In this, he became strongly influenced by the Theosophical
thought of Madame Blavatsky, which he blended however with his own highly
original beliefs, founded upon Germanic paganism.
angel casy: Before he turned to occultism, Guido List had written articles for
German nationalist newspapers in Austria, as well as four historical novels and
three plays, some of which were "set in tribal Germany" before the advent of
Christianity (Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 36-41). He also had written an anti-semitic
essay in 1895. List adopted the aristocratic von between 1903 and 1907.
angel casy: List called his doctrine Armanism after the Armanen, supposedly a
body of priest-kings in the ancient Ario-Germanic nation. He claimed that this
German name had been Latinized into the tribal name Herminones mentioned in
Tacitus and that it actually meant the heirs of the sun-king: an estate of
intellectuals who were organised into a priesthood called the Armanenschaft
(Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 56).
angel casy: His conception of the original religion of the Germanic tribes was a
form of sun worship, with its priest-kings (similar to the Icelandic goi) as
legendary rulers of ancient Germany. Religious instruction was imparted on two
levels. The esoteric doctrine (Armanism) was concerned with the secret mysteries
of the gnosis, reserved for the initiated elite, while the exoteric doctrine
(Wotanism) took the form of popular myths intended for the lower social classes
(Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 57).
angel casy: List believed that the transition from Wotanism to Christianity had
proceeded smoothly under the direction of the skalds, so that native customs,
festivals and names were preserved under a Christian veneer and only needed to
be 'decoded' back into their heathen forms (Flowers 1988: 16-17). This peaceful
merging of the two religions had been disrupted by the forcible conversions
under "bloody Charlemagne the Slaughterer of the Saxons" (tr. Flowers 1988:
77). List claimed that the dominance of the Roman Catholic Church in AustriaHungary constituted a continuing occupation of the Germanic tribes by the
Roman empire, albeit now in a religious form, and a continuing persecution of the
ancient religion of the Germanic peoples and Celts.
angel casy: He also believed in the magical powers of the old runes. From 1891
onwards he claimed that heraldry was based on a system of encoded runes, so
that heraldic devices conveyed a secret heritage in cryptic form. In April 1903, he
submitted an article concerning the alleged Aryan proto-language to the Imperial
Academy of Sciences in Vienna. Its highlight was a mystical and occult
interpretation of the runic alphabet, which became the cornerstone of his
ideology. Although the article was rejected by the academy, it would later be
expanded by List and grew into his final masterpiece, a comprehensive treatment
of his linguistic and historical theories published in 1914 as Die Ursprache der
Ario-Germanen und ihre Mysteriensprache (The Proto-Language of the AryoGermans and their Mystery Language).
angel casy: List's doctrine has been described as gnostic, pantheist and deist
(Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 40, 50, 84 and passim). At its core is the mystical union of
God, man and nature. Wotanism teaches that God dwells within the individual
human spirit as an inner source of magical power, but is also immanent within
nature through the primal laws which govern the cycles of growth, decay and
renewal. (List explicitly rejects a dualism of spirit versus matter or of God over
against nature.) Humanity is therefore one with the universe, which entails an
obligation to live in accordance with nature. But the individual human ego does
not seek to merge with the cosmos. "Man is a separate agent, necessary to the
completion or perfection of 'God's work'" (Flowers 1988: 24). Being immortal, the
ego passes throug
angel casy: the ego passes through successive reincarnations until it overcomes
all obstacles to its purpose. List foresaw the eventual consequences of this in a
future utopia on earth, which he identified with the promised Valhalla, a world of
victorious heroes:
"Thus in the course of uncounted generations all men will become Einherjar,
and that state willed and preordained by the godhead of general liberty,
equality, and fraternity will be reached. This is that state which sociologists long
for and which socialists want to bring about by false means, for they are not able
to comprehend the esoteric concept that lies hidden in the triad: liberty, equality,
fraternity, a concept which must first ripen and mature in order that someday it
can be picked like a fruit from the World Tree.": List was familiar with the cyclical
notion of time, of time, which he encountered in Norse mythology and in the
theosophical adaptation of the Hindu time cycles. He had already made use of
cosmic rhythms in his early journalism on natural landscapes (that was
republished in Deutsch-Mythologische Landschaftsbilder, Berlin 1891). In his later
works[5] List combined the cyclical concept of time with the "dualistic and linear
time scheme" of western apocalyptic which counterposes a pessimism about the
present world with an ultimate optimism regarding the future one (GoodrickClarke 1985: 79, 80). In Das Geheimnis der Runen (The Secret of the Runes, tr.
Flowers 1988: 107ff), List addresses the seeming contradiction by explaining the
final redemption of the linear time frame as an exoteric parable which
angel casy: parable which stands for the esoteric truth of renewal in many future
cycles and incarnations. However, in the original Norse myths and Hinduism, the
cycle of destruction and creation is repeated indefinitely, thus offering no
possibility of ultimate salvation (Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 79; 239, note 14 to
Chapter 9).
angel casy: Guido von List Society and High Armanen Order
Already in 1893 Guido List[6] together with Fanny Wschiansky, had founded the
Literarische Donaugesellschaft, a literary society (Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 39).
List had established exoteric and esoteric circles in his organisation. The High
Armanen Order (Hoher Armanen Orden) was the inner circle of the Guido von List
Society. Founded in midsummer 1911, it was set up as a magical order or lodge
to support List's deeper and more practical work. The HAO conducted pilgrimages
to what its members considered "holy Armanic sites", Stephansdom in Vienna,
Carnuntum etc.
angel casy: They also had occasional meetings between 1911 and 1918, but the
exact nature of these remains unknown. In his introduction to List's The Secret of
the Runes, Stephen E. Flowers (1988: 11) notes: "The HAO never really
crystallized in List's lifetime although it seems possible that he developed a
theoretical body of unpublished documents and rituals relevant to the HAO which
have only been put into full practice in more recent years".
angel casy: List died on 17 May 1919, a few months before Adolf Hitler joined a
minor Bavarian political party and formed it into the NSDAP. After the Nazis had
come to power, several advocates of Armanism fell victim to the suppression of
esotericism in Nazi Germany.
The main reason for the persecution of occultists was the Nazi policy of
systematically closing down esoteric organisations (although Germanic paganism
was still practised by some Nazis on an individual basis), but the instigator in
certain cases was Himmler's personal occultist, Karl Maria Wiligut. Wiligut
identified the monotheistic religion of Irminism as the true ancestral belief,
claiming that Guido von List's Wotanism and runic row constituted a schismatic
false religion.
angel casy: Among the Listians[11] who were subjected to censure were the rune
occultists Friedrich Bernhard Marby and Siegfried Adolf Kummer, both of whom
were denounced by Wiligut in 1934 in a letter to Himmler.[12] Flowers (1988: 35)
writes: "The establishment of [an] 'official NS runology' under Himmler, Wiligut,
and others led directly to the need to suppress the rune-magical 'free agents'
such as Marby". Despite having openly supported the Nazis,[13] Marby was
arrested by the Gestapo in 1936 as an anti-Nazi occultist and was interned in
Welzheim, Flossenbrg and Dachau concentration camps (Flowers 1988: 117
n.47; Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 161; Rudgley 2006: 119).
angel casy: Kummer disappears from history after Wiligut's denunciation in 1934
and his fate is unknown. He may have died in a concentration camp (Lange
1988). At "least one report has him fleeing Nazi Germany in exile to South
America",[14] but Rudgley (2006: 125) calls this "[u]nsubstantiated rumours...it is
more likely that he perished in one of the camps that Marby was to survive or
died during the Allied bombing of Dresden."
[edit] Theozoology
journal for Biblical studies edited by Moritz Altschler, a Jewish admirer of Guido
von List. The author undertook a comparative survey of ancient Near Eastern
cultures, in which he detected evidence from iconography and literature which
seemed to point to the continued survival, into early historical times, of hominid
ape-men similar to the dwarfish Neanderthal men known from fossil remains in
Europe, or the Pithecanthropus (now called Homo erectus) from Java (LanzLiebenfels 1903: 337-39).
angel casy: Furthermore, Lanz systematically analysed the Old Testament in the
light of his hypothesis, identifying and interpreting coded references to the apemen which substantiated an illicit practice of interbreeding between humans and
"lower" species in antiquity.
In the same year, Lanz commenced publication of the journal Ostara (named
after the pagan Germanic goddess of spring) to promote his vision of racial purity.
angel casy: On December 25, 1907 he founded the Order of the New Templars
(Ordo Novi Templi, or ONT), a mystical association with its headquarters at Burg
Werfenstein, a castle in Upper Austria overlooking the river Danube. Its declared
aim was to harmonise science, art and religion on a basis of racial consciousness.
Rituals were designed to beautify life in accordance with Aryan aesthetics, and to
express the Order's theological system which Lanz called Ario-Christianity. The
Order was the first to use the swastika in an "Aryan" meaning, displaying on its
flag the device of a red swastika facing right, on a yellow-orange field and
surrounded by four blue fleurs-de-lys above, below, to the right and to the left.
angel casy: The ONT declined from the mid-1930s and was suppressed by the
Gestapo in 1942. By this time it had established seven utopian communities in
Austria, Germany and Hungary. Though suspending its activities in the Greater
German Reich, the ONT survived in Hungary until around the end of World War II
(Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 119, 122). It went underground in Vienna after 1945, but
was contacted in 1958 by a former Waffen-SS lieutenant, Rudolf Mund, who
became Prior of the Order in 1979 (Goodrick-Clarke 2003: 135). Mund also wrote
biographies of Lanz and Wiligut.
angel casy: Ariosophy
The term Ariosophy (occult wisdom concerning the Aryans) was coined by Lanz
von Liebenfels in 1915, and replaced Theozoology and Ario-Christianity as the
label for his doctrine in the 1920s.[1]
[edit] Germanenorden
angel casy: The List-inspired Germanenorden (Germanic or Teutonic Order, not to
be confused with the medieval German order of the Teutonic Knights) was a
vlkisch secret society in early 20th century Germany. It was founded in Berlin in
1912 by several prominent German occultists including Theodor Fritsch, a
political activist with a long history of anti-semitism; Philipp Stauff, who held
office in the List Society and High Armanen Order; and Hermann Pohl, who
became the Germanenorden's first leader.
angel casy: The order, whose symbol was a swastika, had a hierarchical fraternal
structure similar to Freemasonry. Local groups of the sect met to celebrate the
summer solstice, an important neopagan festivity in vlkisch circles (and later in
Nazi Germany), and more regularly to read the Eddas as well as some of the
German mystics [1].
angel casy: In addition to occult and magical philosophies, it taught to its initiates
nationalist ideologies of Nordic racial superiority and anti-semitism, then rising
throughout the Western world. As was becoming increasingly typical of vlkisch
organisations,[citation needed] it required its candidates to prove that they had
no non-Aryan bloodlines and required from each a promise to maintain purity of
his stock in marriage.
angel casy: In 1916 during World War I, the Germanenorden split into two parts.
Eberhard von Brockhusen became the Grand Master of the "loyalist"
Germanenorden. Pohl, previously the order's Chancellor, founded a schismatic
offshoot: the Germanenorden Walvater of the Holy Grail (Goodrick-Clarke 1985:
131-32; Thomas 2005). He was joined in the same year by Rudolf von
Sebottendorff (formerly Rudolf Glauer), a wealthy adventurer with wide-ranging
occult and mystical interests. A Freemason and a practitioner of sufism and
astrology, Sebottendorff was also an admirer of Guido von List and Lanz von
Liebenfels.
angel casy: Convinced that the Islamic and Germanic mystical systems shared a
common Aryan root, he was attracted by Pohl's runic lore and became the Master
of the Walvater's Bavarian province late in 1917. Charged with reviving the
province's fortunes, Sebottendorff increased membership from about a hundred
in 1917 to 1500 by the autumn of the following year (Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 14243).