KveldúlfR Hagan Gundarsson - Teutonic Religion.pdf

(2511 KB) Pobierz
Author's Note
TEUTONIC RELIGION
Folk Beliefs & Practices of the Northern Tradition
By
Kveldulf Gundarsson
© 1993 by Kveldulf Gundarsson.All rights reserved.
Originally published by Llewellyn Publications Inc.
This PDF format electronic edition © 2002 by Kveldulf Gundarsson,
published by Freya Aswynn.
All rights reserved. This document may not be re-sold, reproduced, copied, freely exchanged, or
distributed to others via the Internet or by any other means, without permission in writing from
Freya Aswynn. No part of this document may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without permission in writing from Freya Aswynn, except in the case of brief quotations embodied
in critical articles or reviews.
Published by Freya Aswynn
Author’s Note
Names and Word-Forms
In my previous book, Teutonic Magic , I used the Old Norse (ON) names for the god/esses and other wights,
and a great deal of Old Norse terminology in general. In this book, I have chosen instead to revive Anglo-
Saxon or generically Germanic names and terms, and to use English equivalents wherever possible.
However, because of the great body of material existing in Old Norse, and no other language, I have had to
retain Old Norse names in some instances. Further, when describing events spoken of in the Old Norse
Eddas, I have used the Old Norse forms to avoid confusion for the student. When reading this book, you will
need to keep in mind that these are not different names, but rather variant linguistic forms of the same name.
Thus:
Deities:
WODAN : Old Norse Ódhinn (often Anglicised to Odin), German Wotan, Anglo-Saxon Woden.
FRIJA :ON Frigg (Anglicized to Frigga), Wagnerian Fricka.
THUNAR : ON Thórr (Thor), German Donar, Donner
THE FROWE : ON Freyja (Freya), German Frau, Wagnerian Freia.
FRO ING : ON Freyr (Frey) or Ingvi-Freyr
NERTHUS/NJÖRDHR : This is actually the same name in Early Germanic and Old Norse, respectively. I
use the form Nerthus for the goddess of the North Sea Germans, the form Njördhr for the god known by the
Norse.
BERCHTA :also Perchta in Upper German dialects, where the “b” sound becomes a “p.”
Other terms:
Walkyrige : ON valkyrja; valkyrie
idis : ON dís (pl. dísir)
godman : ON gódhi; Ring of Troth goodman
godwoman : ON gydhja
harrow : ON hörgr (altar)
2
CONTENTS
AUTHOR’S NOTE
2
CHAPTER 1: LIFE WITH THE GODS: THE GOAL OF THE WAY
4
CHAPTER 2: THE SHAPING OF THE WORLDS AND WYRD
7
CHAPTER 3: KNOWING THE GOD/ESSES
12
CHAPTER 4 THE ASES
17
CHAPTER 5 THE WANS
38
CHAPTER 6: GHOSTS AND WIGHTS
46
CHAPTER 7 HEROES
55
CHAPTER 8: SOUL AND AFTERLIFE
61
CHAPTER 9: TEUTONIC SOCIETY: CLAN AND TROTH
68
CHAPTER 10: PRACTICING THE NORTHERN WAY
73
CHAPTER 11: HOLY FOLK
79
CHAPTER 12: RITUAL TOOLS
83
CHAPTER 13: HOLY STEADS
88
CHAPTER 14: ELEMENTS OF TEUTONIC RITUAL
98
CHAPTER 15: RITUAL POETRY
102
CHAPTER 16: RITES
107
CHAPTER 17: CRAFTS
160
APPENDIX I: COURSE OF STUDY
170
APPENDIX II: RUNES, HOLY SIGNS, AND OTHER CORRESPONDENCES
172
APPENDIX III: NAMES AND KENNINGS
184
APPENDIX IV: CHRONOLOGY
186
APPENDIX V: CALENDAR
189
APPENDIX VI: WORD-HOARD
191
3
Chapter 1: LIFE WITH THE GODS: THE GOAL OF THE WAY
THE GOAL OF RELIGION is to bring the human into a proper relationship with the godly, and by doing
this to create a state of harmony between all the realms of being. You who are now beginning to call the
gods and goddesses of the North into your lives and into the world around you have already taken the
greatest step towards this state of wholeness; you have shown that you are willing to learn a sounder and
truer way of living as a partner to the earth and the hidden worlds of spirit around you. May all the gods and
goddesses bless and help your works!
The faith of the Germanic peoples is deeply rooted in prehistoric times. Germany and Scandinavia
were originally settled by a non-Indo-European people, about whose religion we know very little. Although
it has been suggested by some that these folk were matriarchal and/or worshipped a “Great Goddess” above
all, there is no evidence for this. The forerunners of the Germanic folk, together with the ancestors of the
Celts, Greeks, came across Europe from the area between the Carpathians and the Caucasus- the original
Indo-European homeland. Such sparse evidence as we have suggests that the group who were to become the
Germanic folk then went up to Scandinavia, mingling with the pre-Indo-European natives and possibly
absorbing some elements of the native religion into their own Indo-European faith. Many centuries later,
perhaps driven by the stress of climactic changes or of expanding population, one group of tribes left the
area which is now southern Sweden and went south and east, into the steppes of Eastern Europe, while other
groups migrated into the area which is now modern Germany (previously ruled by the Celts), expanding
south and west until they were temporarily halted by the Roman Empire and the Celts of Gaul. At last,
through a long series of diplomatic negotiations and military conquest Gaul fell to the Franks, Spain to the
Visigoths, and Britain to the Angles and Saxons, while the Ostrogothic leader, Theoderic the Great, became
Emperor in the West. The Germanic peoples had conquered; but as part of the price of their ascendancy,
many of them were forced by political necessity to abandon their native faith and to maintain Roman
administrative mechanisms and authority.
The Teutonic way as we know it now was born out of the stormy and turbulent times of these
migrations. Although its most traceable roots are those stemming from the original Indo-European religion,
it swiftly became something wholly unique, shaped by the harsh weather and mountains of the North, the
fierce warrior spirit of the Migration Age, and the troth (unfailing loyalty and honor) to kin and folk without
which the Germanic people could never have survived the rigors of their world. It is to regain that strength
and that troth that we who follow the way of the North struggle each day; to reclaim the religion that grew
from the souls of our ancestors and the heritage in which we can take rightful pride. We have come far from
the rocky mountains of Scandinavia and the misty depths of the German forests, but our gods are still with
us, hidden in our souls, in our hearts – in the very days of our week – Tiw's Day, Woden's Day, Thunar's
Day, Frigg's Day – knowingly or not, we have honored them all our lives.
In the year 1000 of the Common Era (1) , the Lawspeaker of Iceland declared an end to the old
religion, decreeing that the land should be Christian thereafter But.....
It was not in Wotan's nature to linger on and show signs of old age. He simply disappeared when
the times turned against him, and remained invisible, working anonymously and indirectly. Archetypes are
like riverbeds which dry up when the water deserts them, but which it can find again at any time ... The
longer it has flowed in this channel, the more likely it is that sooner or later the water will return to its own
bed.
The “German” god is the god of the Germans . (2)
Now that millennium is over, and it is time for the ancient river to flow again as we stand to greet
the gods of our ancestors.
Germanic heathenism is braided from three great strands; the individual, his/her clan or social
grouping, and the god/esses. All three of these are equally important and equally dependent upon each other
The path of the North begins at an individual level, with personal study of the ways of your ancestors and
what they knew about the god/esses with whom they dwelt and worked. Then, as you begin to take notice of
the god/esses and to call upon them and consider their power in your daily life, they will take more and more
notice of you. At the same time, you will come closer to all your ancient kinsmen and kinswomen who have
4
gone before you, whose strength is reborn in your blood, and you will learn to deal with your living kin and
those around you according to the ancient ways of troth and honor.
The greatest differences between the Teutonic way and that of mainstream Christian culture stem
from the relationship between human beings and the god/esses. Most people are taught at a young age that
there is a single masculine God who is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-benevolent, and to whose will they
must submit themselves if they are to find fulfilment. This teaching has been used over the ages to justify the
subjugation of women, the maintenance of the most extreme sorts of social stratification up to and including
slavery and the suppression of individual thought. In contrast to this, the last thing the god/esses of the North
expect from humans is submission – our ancestors found few things more contemptible than a willing slave!
Wodan, Frowe Holda, Fro Ing, Thunar, and the rest do not lay down commandments for those who worship
them. Instead they issue challenges to show courage against adversity and strength through difficulty; to
stand on your own as a free man or woman, trusting in your own might and main; to use the gifts of life,
mind, and might which the god/esses have given to you in order to carve out the path you choose.
Another great difference between Teutonic and Christian beliefs and attitudes stems from the fact
that the Northern folk had no concept of “Sin,” only of honor and dishonor. “Original sin”- the idea that you
are born with something innately wrong with your soul - is a concept that makes no sense at all in the
context of Germanic heathenism, no more than the idea that the individual human is too weak to redeem
his/her own honor and must have it done by another. On the one hand, the Northern god/esses do not niggle
over the “sin” or “virtue” of petty actions; on the other, they do not offer the chance for dishonor or
weakness to be washed away by a single act of grovelling before their majesty – in our tradition, every
human being is fully responsible for his/her actions and their consequences, and every act of ill must be paid
for in some way.
Mainstream Western/Christian culture is grounded on the Classical Greek belief in a stark separation
between the worlds of spirit and of things physical. This has led to the dual concept that humans have and
ought to have dominion over the natural world, and that the soul is in some way superior to the body, which
is at best no help and at worst a thing of “evil.” This separation has led to Western insensitivity to nature and
continues to lead towards the destruction of the earth as we exploit and poison her – a thing which our
ancestors would not have tolerated. To the peoples of the North, the earth was not only the mother of all but
a demanding goddess on whose kindness they depended for every bite they ate; as an agricultural society,
they were able to see the need for honoring her in a way that most modern Americans do not, for one year of
bad harvest meant one year of famine. A great deal of the Teutonic faith is based on this awareness of the
need to live with the natural world in a balanced fashion – and on the intense love for the free woods and
meadows of the world which is still part of modern German and Scandinavian culture, as the passionate
writings of the German Romantic period show.
The Western belief in a separation of body and mind/soul has also taught us to be contemptuous of
either our own bodies and our physical needs or of our intelligence, to the point where popular American
culture hardly admits that the two can go together – our stereotypes are those of the physically
strong/attractive but stupid football player or cheerleader, and the physically weak and unattractive
“egghead.” Our ancestors, in contrast, honored both aspects of the self equally. Nearly all the heroes whom
they held highest were great poets as well as being mighty warriors. The boasting verse which the Earl
Rognvaldr Kali made about himself in his teenage years expresses the Norse ideal of manhood: “I'm talented
at tables [a chess like game] / at nine skills I'm able / scarcely spoil I runes / I'm often at books and writing /
swiftly glide on skis / I shoot and row well enough, / at each of these I'm able: / harp-playing and poem-
making. (3)
In other words, Rognvaldr Kali was the equivalent of a high school athlete who was also in the
orchestra and the chess club, while writing poetry for the school literary magazine and maintaining a high
grade point average. To the Vikings, most attractive women were those who could meet them as equals in
both bravery and intellect, exchanging swift-witted words and poetic staves with their men folk, risking and
bearing wounds and death with the same steadfastness as any male warrior Individuals who are true to the
ancestral ways will develop their bodies, intellect, and artistic faculties to their highest peaks; to leave out
one side of being is to be less than a whole human.
While much of modern culture seems to be rooted in the worship of the “norm” and the “average
person,” a standard which requires entertainment and society to maintain a level of mediocrity that excludes
no one, the ways of the Germanic folk offer a continuous challenge of excellence. The average is worthy of
5

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin