Top products from r/heathenry
We found 32 product mentions on r/heathenry. We ranked the 28 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
1. Travels Through Middle Earth: The Path of a Saxon Pagan
Sentiment score: 4
Number of reviews: 2
NewMint ConditionDispatch same day for order received before 12 noonGuaranteed packagingNo quibbles returns
2. The Pagan in Recovery: The Twelve Steps from a Pagan Perspective
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
Used Book in Good Condition
3. Norse Mythology: A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation
Sentiment score: 0
Number of reviews: 1
5. Celtic Religions in the Roman Period: Personal, Local, and Global (Celtic Studies Publications)
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
6. Just Add Blood: Runelore - Understanding and Using the Anglo-Saxon Runes
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
7. The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes (Hackett Classics)
Sentiment score: 2
Number of reviews: 1
HACKETT
8. Living Asatru
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
Used Book in Good Condition
9. The Words of Odin: A New Rendering of Havamal for the Present Age
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
10. The Viking Spirit: An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion
Sentiment score: 3
Number of reviews: 1
11. Our Troth: History and Lore
Sentiment score: 0
Number of reviews: 1
Used Book in Good Condition
12. The Gods' Own County: A Heathen Prayer Book
Sentiment score: 0
Number of reviews: 1
14. A World Full of Gods: An Inquiry into Polytheism
Sentiment score: 0
Number of reviews: 1
Used Book in Good Condition
16. Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages (The Middle Ages Series)
Sentiment score: 0
Number of reviews: 1
University of Pennsylvania Press
17. A Practical Heathen's Guide to Asatru
Sentiment score: 2
Number of reviews: 1
Llewellyn Publications
Welcome welcome! As this other fella pointed out the longship is great but there are some other books you could get as well. Here's my recommendations for starting material.
This book is mainly about Saxton Pagans. It's a great introduction to alot if the general ideas of Norse Mythology. It's also short, and very easily worded. Super light and easy read.
Travels Through Middle Earth. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738715360?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
This book is quite a bit of fiction. Neil is an outstanding an accomplished writer and as such even if he makes some stuff up reading the myths through his eyes is amazing and a great way to get your feet wet.
Norse Mythology https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393356183?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Now some people hate McCoy. He sometimes likes to assert his personal opinions as fact. I happen to agree with alot of what he says. This is a more scholarly approach to the myths. Once you have the basic ideas down this can be a great introduction to archaeology and the actual historical fact.
The Viking Spirit: An... https://www.amazon.com/dp/1533393036?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Coming from a Christian background, I understand the oddity. I am viewing the transition more of a set of tools which I did not have previously. Myself, I'm not much for the praying to a god as I am praying with a personality. My objection to the whole praying "to" is that it is myself that needs to do the work. The notion and idea of something external to myself to which I am dependent on and whom will be doing the work doesn't feel quite right. An addict can pray to their hearts content, but it is the practice of life that makes change.
In Buddhism, it is called practice for a reason. It is also work. It is participatory. I think that this is a major difference. Something that Christianity has pointed at and talks about but seemed to have lost in the somewhere. Religion is the intersection of politics and entertainment. The Protestant revolt was, basically, who collects your taxes.
The structure of Hinduism is very interesting as this religion is, in all essence, applied psychology. The book Living Asatru by Greg Shetler has been very good to me - I love the attitude that the author has.
My point of view is that we, as humans, need certain tools. Our conscious minds are specialized for linear tasks - a BEAR! Run! (Or free beer, same thing.) Our subconscious minds are great at abstract things. This subconscious brain also doesn't have to deal with eye-brain visual object recognition requirement which frees up a lot of brain power. The disadvantage is that it can only communicate through symbols.
This need for a linear structure within a circular system called the Universe, Time, is why we have the solstices and equinoxes -- it takes a circle and converts it into a line. Beginning, middle and end. This is what the linear brain is good at dealing with.
There is a lot of psychology and practical aspects to a polytheistic interaction between human and Universe. Feel free to take what you have learned from previous work and apply it with these new tools. Also ask yourself why you moved away from the Christian structure - what were you missing with that structure? Other people will be going through the same process as yourself.
All the best in your journey!
So, 12 step programs like SA or AA are hit and miss when it comes to being a non-Christian. It really depends on the culture of the specific meeting. I am lucky there is a Secular/Agnostic 12 step meeting here locally that I attend. But most meetings were sooooo Jesusy.
That being said, I found SMART Recovery to be much more useful, as well as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. SMART has online meetings if there is not one local to you. If you can't find DBT classes near you, there are also a lot of good books on the technique.
There are a few general pagan recovery resources. Pagans in Recovery is a decent book of the 12 steps from a general NeoPagan perspective. The Recovery Group (who does a bunch of online meetings) does a Pagans in Recovery online program.
If you have a local Unitarian Universalists Church, you might also find luck with local resources there.
I second The Longship.
​
Asatru is a type of Heathenry. Heathenry is an umbrella term for religions, philosophies, piety, lifestyles that are based in Germanic Paganism and/or Germanic Pagan culture.
A good place to start is reading books.
Here are the ones I recommend:
A Beginner's book: https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Heathens-Guide-Asatru/dp/0738733873/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542673929&sr=8-1&keywords=heathenry
​
And the Poetic Edda translated by Jackson Crawford: https://www.amazon.com/Poetic-Edda-Stories-Hackett-Classics/dp/1624663567/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542673980&sr=8-1&keywords=jackson+crawford
​
Also, for some spiritual music to meditate to, I recommend starting with
Wardruna: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fnPwj1AMpo
And this song by Heilung: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqdk34f210w
​
Ancestors are very important to Heathenry, so I would meditate on some of your ancestors that have passed on, if you don't already.
​
Connect with the energies of your local land and woods. Some Heathens think these energies are literal beings called Land Wights. Some see them a bit more fluid and amorphous but still relational energies tied to the local land.
​
I also recommend learning a bit about the three major ritual forms: Blots, Sumbels, and Fainings.
​
At least, these are the places I would begin.
Yeah I did see that, and it did give me pause. The few reviews on Amazon did seem a little more favorable though.
https://www.amazon.com/Just-Add-Blood-Understanding-Anglo-Saxon/dp/1782794018
Ah, I see. Have you read Travels Through Middle Earth: The Path of a Saxon Pagan? Great read on the topic.
> Ok, so druids of modern day and historians and experts on both the religion and the druids all over the world, who are the ones that made names to refer to the unnamed celtic religions are wrong.
Nice try. Come and bring sources to the table if you want to do this.
I got my information from Jean-Louis Brunaux and his works. Here is his information.
His studies are the currently accepted ones.
So you don’t have to google translate:
>Jean-Louis Brunaux is a researcher at the CNRS (Archeology Laboratory of the ENS). He has conducted numerous excavations on the Gallic sites of Picardy , in Gournay-sur-Aronde , Saint-Maur , La Chaussée-Tirancourt and Montmartin . Jean-Louis Brunaux has written several monographs on the results of his archaeological research and synthesis works.
Plus this entire work of Celticists and Researchers, Celtic Religions in the Roman Period. Personal, Local and Global. It has publications from authoritative sources on Celtic matters in at least 3 languages.
There was no unified Celtic Religion. Druids were not intergal to them.
I really liked the Robin Arttison version, I think it was called the Words of Odin. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1541141512/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Some friends of mine published a heathen prayer book
The Gods' Own County: A Heathen Prayer Book
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1090821980/
I believe there are such groups that do that, even Indo-European reconstructionists. Maybe this book could be interesting for you.
I recommend the BBC dramatized version of Gaiman’s Norse Mythology. https://www.amazon.com/Norse-Mythology-Radio-Full-Cast-Dramatisation/dp/B07LGX53NP
https://www.amazon.com/Witchcraft-Magic-Nordic-Middle-Ages/dp/0812222555
Rec by Dr. Jackson Crawford. I haven't looked at it yet. Still getting through all the other books I have to read.
Your choice ultimately is not so much about the old gods vs christianity as much as it is deciding between monotheism and polytheism. I suggest you spend some time examining how you think the world really functions and what purpose the gods serve. These are the big questions, and you don't have to answer them right now.
If you're up for a book I'd reccomend https://www.amazon.com/World-Full-Gods-Inquiry-Polytheism/dp/0976568101 John Greer's "A world full of gods". It's biased towards the polytheistic side, but it explains the mindset of having many deities and goes through some of the common arguments posited against theism in general.
Also, don't stress yourself out and get in a rush to pick something. The gods (however many you decide on ;) aren't going anywhere.
The Wrekin has stories where it was made by a giant and I've read version of it which mentions devil instead. likely from this book. which I think features other devil/giant stories. this article mentions devil version existing link there another one I can think of but cannot find the name of the place or island it refers to.
this article talks of devil and giant stories and some overlaps link. pretty sure I read some of them via this book
folklore society article talks about eddic/local giants and mentions them being referred to swamped for the devil in some tales link
though boggarts, red man, puck I think can also be called the devil in some stories. so its not always giants