Norse Wicca: Some thoughts...

I always find it interesting how hard core heathens are resistant to ideas such as those like Norse Wicca, which incorporate the pantheon of Norse Gods/Goddesses into a Wiccan religious system. At times I am reluctant to talk about some of my personal practices which are most meaningful, simply because I know that in doing so I will labeled as a fluffy bunny, or ridiculed simply because I take much of my ritual and spell formula from a Wiccan background. It is why I tend to take a more inclusionary rather than exclusionary view of the heathen faith. And frankly, I have some very traditional views about the Norse cosmos which blend rather eclectically into my everyday life, which couldn't be farther from the Wiccan ideal, if there is such a thing.

I call myself Vanatru because it reflects what I feel I am on the most basic level. Many heathens disagree with me, but I could never see the Aesir and Vanir as a happily blended family of Gods. It is like saying if I go to live in another country, I automatically become that nationality. As much as I assimilate the thoughts and ideas of another culture, I will still be an American, unless I happen to wholly rebuke my own cultural values and become a naturalized citizen of another country. I do not see any evidence for this occurring between the Vanir and Aesir. This, coupled with the fact that in the Edda, excluding Freyr, the Vanir Gods are said to survive and/or return to Vanaheim after Ragnarok, leads me to believe that the Vanir kept their own cultural identity outside of the Aesir culture. Many will disagree, and that is fine.

When I read the Eddas and Sagas, I do not see a whole and unified belief system. I see the at times incongruent blending of two different cultural belief systems. I believe this explains some of the ambiguity revealed in the stories of the Gods, as well as the presence of differing versions of the same story. One must remember we are trying to decipher an oral tradition. Oral poetry was often tailored to meet the unique needs and beliefs of a particular community, while keeping the universal ideals behind the stories intact. My understanding of the heathen Gods and the heathen faith is very much dependent on my understanding of human culture itself.

I am dedicated Freyja and Freyr. And because of this my views reflect a more accepting nature when it comes to the incorporation of witchcraft within a Norse belief system. It is my personal belief that much of the techniques of modern Wicca well, got it right to be honest. The use of energy, the rituals and crafts, the respect for nature, are all things that fit well in my ideas of the Vanic faith. That being said, I also believe that as a heathen m view of the cosmos is vastly different than that of a Wiccan.

I do not view the Gods in terms of dualities. I always find it interesting how hard heathens fight against this particular ideal, yet go on to assert the Gods are good and that the Jotuns are chaotic evil. Is that not simply shuffling around the same dualism?

I could not be a Norse Wiccan, because I could not be a Wiccan in general. I do not believe in black and white. I do not believe that male and female energy are so vastly different that they encompasses extreme ends of the spectrum of energy. I do not believe energy itself, or nature, can be good or evil at all. I do not believe it makes sense to "harm none" in every circumstance, because this concept goes against the very example of the natural world itself. As a heathen Vanatru, I am prepared to do what I must to protect my kin, and assert honor and frith among men. If this mean that I must do an act that another terms "bad" or is in some sense harmful to another, so be it. I believe the gods give us power for a reason, and they accept wisdom from us, rather than blind faith. They expect action.

In ritual and cermony, I use elements of Wiccan practice that are relevant to my personal faith. I follow the sabbaths because even outside the Wiccan faith, these seasonal festivals have meaning across many European cultures, including the Northern.

If an individual wishes to dedicate themselves to the Northern Gods within a Wiccan belief system, so be it. My primary concern is the energy itself and the honor which my Gods acquire. I do not see Freyja as a Goddess who would turn another away who wished to honor her. I simply think that in time and with the development of a real relationship, Freyja would expose them to the truth. In fact, it is not a hope, but a certainty.

Love and Light

Cena