Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

Midnight is almost here, and so it's time to launch a new Magic Monday. Ask me anything about occultism, and with certain exceptions noted below, any question received by midnight Monday Eastern time will get an answer. Please note:  Any question or comment received after that point will not get an answer, and in fact will just be deleted.  If you're in a hurry, or suspect you may be the 341,928th person to ask a question, please check out the very rough version 1.2 of The Magic Monday FAQ here. 

Also: I will not be putting through or answering any more questions about practicing magic around children. I've answered those in simple declarative sentences in the FAQ. If you read the FAQ and don't think your question has been answered, read it again. If that doesn't help, consider remedial reading classes; yes, it really is as simple and straightforward as the FAQ says.  And further:  I've decided that questions about getting goodies from spirits are also permanently off topic here. The point of occultism is to develop your own capacities, not to try to bully or wheedle other beings into doing things for you. I've discussed this in a post on my blog.

The image? I field a lot of questions about my books these days, so I've decided to do little capsule summaries of them here, one per week.  This was my sixty-first published book and my third anthology of short pieces, including all my best essays from my post-Hermetic period (the Hermetic essays were released earlier in my 2019 book The City of Hermes). It's probably the best one-volume introduction to the whole range of my ideas and interests, for anyone who wants to risk plunging down that N-dimensional rabbit hole.  It also includes my most widely cited essay, "How Civilizations Fall: A Theory of Catabolic Collapse." On the off chance you're interested, copies can be purchased here if you're in the United States and here elsewhere.

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I've also had quite a few people over the years ask me where they should buy my books, and here's the answer. Bookshop.org is an alternative online bookstore that supports local bookstores and authors, which a certain gargantuan corporation doesn't, and I have a shop there, which you can check out here. Please consider patronizing it if you'd like to purchase any of my books online.

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With that said, have at it!

***This Magic Monday is now closed, and no more comments will be put through. See you next week!***

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings all!

Does anyone have a suggestion for a book to start with for modern Heathenry?

Thanks!

[ecosophia]

I'll have to leave this one to the Heathens among us. Anybody?

[(Anonymous)]

I like Galina Krasskova's writing, so I personally would recommend "A Modern Guide to Heathenry" and "The Northern Tradition for the Solitary Practitioner." I remember being disappointed by Diana Paxson's Essential Asatru because it didn't have any rituals in it (Krasskova is very focused on the religious aspects of Heathenry, so she gives plenty of information on how to get started with honoring the Gods). "We are Our Deeds" by Eric Wodening is an interesting meditation on Heathen ethics and well worth reading. The Troth's "Our Troth" has a lot of good information, but 1) it's a compilation of several authors so the essays vary in quality, some being rather dry, 2) it slants progressive politically, which may or may not be an issue, and 3) the most recent edition is a set of 3 thick volumes, therefore pricey. I got my copies by being very, very patient at Half Price Books. If you are drawn to a particular God or Goddess, look for devotionals to that deity. Some are available on Amazon or Lulu, others through small presses like Asphodel Press. Galina Krasskova also sells polytheist prayer cards on her Etsy shop "Wyrd Curiosities"; I found these very helpful, especially when honoring lesser-known deities.

I would also say, ignore anyone who tells you to "Just read the Eddas." The Eddas are our source for most of the myths so you will want to read them eventually, but honestly a beginner is better off with retellings, unless he or she already is a reader of medieval literature. There are lots of retellings, and it's not a bad idea to pick a few and compare information and tone (one that, for instance, treats Thor as a musclebound idiot will lead you astray in your relationship with the Thunderer, Who once tricked an evil dwarf into remaining aboveground until the sun turned him to stone). The Eddas also will not tell you anything about the contemporary practice of Heathenry, which is kind of important if you're going to be a contemporary Heathen.

--Sister Crow

[hearthculture]

I've read a few by different authors, and there are now so many available that I can imagine it would be overwhelming to pick one.


My current pick would be:
Hammer of the Gods: Anglo-Saxon Paganism in Modern Times Second Edition Paperback – February 9, 2010
by Swain Wodening
It is anglo-saxon flavored rather than norse, but I believe it translates well to any heathen practice. What I love about it is that it walks a middle path giving some history, some cultural householding practices, touches on some magical practices, and (most important to me) gives significant time to metaphysics which helped me see around and out of some blind spots where christian and secular metaphysics were hanging on simply because I'd rarely to never heard of an alternative view. I think it would make a good entry point before diving into something deeper like Winifred Rose Hodge's Heathen Soul Lore. Though if you are ok with electronic reading, her website is a treasure trove with offerings both broad and deep.

Early on in my neopagan journey, I also stumbled upon Mark Ludwig Stinson of the Jotun's Bane Kindred in Kansas. He has multiple free pdfs that are interesting starting points (it is it's own flavor of heathenry and I don't currently agree with everything there, but it could be helpful.)

I also heartily recommend Sweyn Plowright's Rune Primer. It is straightforward and clear with little anecdotal nor magical embellishment, which left room for me to develop my own mystical connections and experiences as I read runes daily for a year.

Wishing you well.

[jprussell]

That's a perennially contentious question among today's Heathens, so it's not surprising you're looking for some steering!

For a long time A Book of Troth by Edred Thorsson was pretty much your only option, but it remains a pretty solid one. It's emphasis is mainly on larger, communal rituals, things like seasonal celebrations and weddings and the like, but it includes some thoughts on personal practice as well.

My current all-around favorite is A Modern Guide to Heathenry by Galina Krasskova. It's an updated edition of her earlier Exploring the Northern Tradition, so don't bother buying both (as I did, not realizing what was up), and the updated one is the better one in this case. It has a good blend of cosmology, theology, and personal practice, with a bit on larger rituals as well. If you don't anticipate having anyone else around to practice with for a while, she co-authored with Raven Kaldera Northern Tradition for the Solitary Practitioner, which has a lot of very solid advice on individual prayer and devotion. One thing I especially appreciate about both books is their even-handed discussion of some of the fault lines in modern Heathenry (such as whether to worship the jotnar or not, or whether the religion should mainly be the purview of descendants of its historical believers or not) - this can help you evaluate groups and authors that you might consider as you learn more.

Path to the Gods by Swain Wodening has a specific focus on Anglo-Saxon Heathenry, which can be useful if you are interested in that particular flavor, but some of the assertions and interpretations in the book are not as carefully backed up as I might prefer.

If you are interested in a more magical approach and open to the wider world of Western Occultism, Edred Thorsson's Nine Doors of Midgard is an initiatory path that is clearly derived from a lot of traditional Western occultism, but re-worked to be explicitly Heathen. Some folks look askance at his involvement in "left-hand path" groups and worry that some of that perspective has leaked into his work, but there are folks who I respect who have gotten a lot out of Nine Doors of Midgard. The much more recent Heathen Golden Dawn by Isaac Hill hews much closer to what the traditional Golden Dawn was about, but with Heathen Gods and symbols, and builds on rituals that were originally worked out by our host and a commenter here who hasn't been seen in some time before Isaac took up the work. I haven't pursued either, but from what little I know, they both look promising.

If you're going to get much into Heathenry, you'll likely want to read the mythology and related old works (sometimes referred to collectively as "the lore" by Heathens, some of whom are a bit fundamentalist about it, but I won't get into that right now). Snorri Sturlusson's Prose Edda is your best starting point here, and once you've read that, you'll have the context you need for the Poetic Edda to become useful. Pretty much any translations will work fine, but for the former, Jesse Byock's (the current Penguin edition) is pretty universally well-regarded, and for the latter, there's more disagreement. For a beginner, I'd likely recommend either Jackson Crawford (very straightforward, but lacks some poetic/religious "punch") or Carolyne Larrington (gives a bit more nuance on religiously significant terms, but has a bit of a feminist slant). Imperium Press put out an annotated edition with side-by-side Old Norse and English translations that has a helpful introduction and annotations, as well as being the only side-by-side edition I'm familiar with, that might be useful for study, but it uses an old-fashioned (and thus out of copyright) translation that might be a bit tougher to read for most modern readers.

If you're looking for a modern "guide to Norse myth," to synthesize and be a bit more approachable than reading the myths from the above two sources, E.O.G. Turville-Petre's Myth and Religion of the North is usually regarded as the best, but it's priced for college classes and so can be a bit steep to buy, but you can likely find it at most big libraries, especially university ones. Hilda Ellis-Davidson's Gods and Myths of Northern Europe, Norse Mythology by John Lindow, and Myths of the Pagan North by Christopher Abrams are all also good, but have different emphases and leave out different parts, but on the plus side, can be had for decent prices new or used.

I have a much more extensive annotated book list on many things Heathen here if you're interested: https://jpowellrussell.com/#list_of_books_on_germanish_belief_with_thoughts

Hope this helps, and let me know any questions you have!
Jeff

Heathen Beginner books

[forturso]

Full disclosure- I am a volunteer in The Troth, the current version of the organization that came from Thorsson's "A Book of Troth" that was recommended earlier. I will give my recommendation first, then my reasoning for doing so.

I would not recommend any of the above authors to anyone in the "100 level of Heathenry". I would recommend going to the local library and finding a translation of the Poetic Edda that you can digest (the vast majority of those I work with find Larrington to be the easiest read) and I would recommend volume 3 of the third edition of Our Troth - available in electronic format for USD 9 at lulu dot com. And then maybe later, Volume 2 (available electronically USD 10) and Volume 1 (same price)

Sadly, it will be nigh onto impossible to find any book that does not bring politics into it. As was suggested above, it is up to you to decide the degree of it you are okay with. I find the more porgressive ones to be easier to mentor with.

For similar reasons, I would not recommend Fire and Ice by Ryan Smith.

Now for the "why nots"-
beginning with Nine Doors- I would not recommend this to anyone in the first few years of a path, to begin with it is actually the fourth book in a series. The 3 previous books are necessary to properly do the work of the Nine Doors ( Futhark, Runelore, and At the Well of Wyrd) with "Futhark" being a *must have worked through* and the others a *good familiarity with*.(Introduction of the edition published in 1991).

Krasskova, Kaldera, Stinson, etc- (without getting into the socio-politics ) it is difficult for the reader (again I am discussing someone in the 100-200 level) to know what is UPG and what is drawn from sources. We should have reached a certain level of discernment first.

I admit I have issues with each of these author's stated viewpoints on stuff, but i do not have to agree with everyone and no one has to agree with me. Religion/ spirituality us such a personal thing that I really hesitate to state "you are doing it wrong" in personal practice- if we are discussing public stuff, then there is more room for discussion.

In Frith,
Strongbear

Re: Heathen Beginner books

[jprussell]

Fair enough, and thanks for the counter-points. I'm not familiar with the current version of The Troth nor Our Troth, so I can't speak to them and am glad someone else who can brought them up - I'll have to look into them for some broader perspective.

Also, fair point on the "pre-work" needed for Nine Doors of Midgard - I found my way into Heathenry via the Runes, so I had read and worked with those other books before checking it out, and I might have over-estimated the newcomer-friendlieness of NDoM's "on-ramp."

And the UPG point for Krasskova and Kaldera (not familiar with Stinson) is also fair - they could be clearer on what comes from their own experiences versus what's grounded in lore/archaeology/reconstruction. Personally, I've found the fact that they address the personal and experiential side of Heathen religious practice valuable enough to mostly be okay with that, but that's another place where my own prior more academic non-religious familiarity with the material might have given me some tools someone wholly new might not have, and so I might have not given it enough weight.

As for the socio-political stuff, yeah, I mostly also tried to steer clear of that, as I think it's largely distracting from finding a relationship with the Gods. Krasskova and Kaldera have some very strong views on those matters, obviously, and a lot of that is implicit in some of the material in their two books I mentioned, but I appreciated the way that the two books I mentioned laid out "here are things a lot of modern Heathens argue about that are tangled up in both religious and political things" without explicitly saying "and this is the right way" (at least as I remember it, it's been a couple of years since I read either). That strikes me as helpful for working out how much you might want to engage with or avoid such hot-button topics, and how to evaluate writers who have definite views on them.

Anyhow, as I said, thanks for providing the OP with a different opinion and some other options, I hope he or she finds it useful.

Cheers,
Jeff