I want to take some time to explain what it means to me to be a heathen witch.
First of all, I use this description, to avoid the automatic association with Wicca, that some people have. I have nothing against Wiccans, but I am not one.
I started out as an eclectic witch, and the heathen part came later. But today, I am a heathen witch. The spiritual part of this is that I celebrate the major Asatru holidays and a few minor ones, and I also celebrate Moon cycles.
When it comes to deities, I don’t include many gods and goddesses in my work. I do on occasion, but not that often. I’m more connected to Nature spirits and ancestors. That’s probably the witch part of me.
Both heathenry and witchcraft:
- are grounded
- are Earth based
- have a strong connection to Nature
- celebrate the changing of the seasons
- have a holistic approach to well-being
- have no dogma (don’t tell you how to practice your spirituality, or how to live your life)
- tell you to follow your own path.
Witchcraft also has a strong connection to feminine energy. All these things are a part of who I am. Some dictionaries have a weird definition of the words heathen and witch. They don’t seem to have been updated in the last 50 years. But the definitions I go by are:
Heathen: Any person that follows a modernized version of the religious beliefs and practices of the Norse and other Germanic people. Asatru, Vanatru, and other versions are a form of neo-paganism. Although some don’t like to admit that, I have no problem doing so.
Witch: A person who practices witchcraft Witchcraft is not a religion. All religions have witches, but not all witches are religious.
(Heathen + Witch = Heathen Witch)
If you aren’t sure what Paganism is, it’s an umbrella term for religions that don’t fit the mainstream. It’s mostly described as non-Abrahamic (i.e. it’s not Christianity, Judaism, or Islam), but the definitions differ. Some say it’ includes all nature-based religions. Some say it’s any religion that isn’t among the large ones.
I’ve often wondered exactly what you do – thanks for defining the terms and exactly what you do and who you are! 🙂
If you want it all, It’s a very, very long list 😀 My pleasure, and thanks for taking the time to comment Lisa.
My great grandmother used to practice divination, and my grandmother was more onto witchcraft. I grew up, learning from them, however, I do not practice any of these terms. Furthermore, I do have strong beliefs, even though I do not identify my self, as someone who grew up on this.
It’s a personal choice whether or not to call yourself a witch
I’ve known it to be associated with nature based … thanks for the info!
My pleasure 🙂
Thanks Linda for the explanations, it’g great to know what you do in more detail 🙂
My pleasure 🙂 I’ll be doing more explaining in the months to come. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
Thanks for clarifying the terms. This is all new to me 🙂
http://www.lifestyleandimage.co.uk
It’s new to many 🙂 That’s part of why I wrote it.
Hi, so I’ve been researching more into my ancestry and am exploring Ásatrú. Im Not a Wiccan by any means but I am a practicing eclectic witch. What is the correct way about appropriately engaging with the religion and the community/ culture to then fully immerse myself in the religion. But I worry I’m going to lose or be frowned upon for my practice because in my research, I’ve found many people don’t take too kindly to witches because of misuse and appropriation.
We all walk our own path. The only ones who frown on people researching other pantheon are either really insecure in themselves or in their path. My advice would be to stay away from anything that’s “folkish” or in other ways limit who is allowed to be and look into asatru. It is a non-dogmatic and universalist tradition, not for neo-nazis and alike. The organization I’m in has a lot of different people. There are witches, shamans, gay, bi and trans people and people of colour.
Any good tips for a starter witch? I’ve been looking into this, and I severely love the Asatru religion, I’m starting to follow it myself. I just would like some tips.
My best advice would be to read and learn a lot. Stick to trusted sources and avoid books by American authors. In my experience, most of the ones on Asatru published in the US have racist tendencies and have not used good sources
Hi…I have been interested in following a witchy path for some time. I am from a Christian background and still consider myself a Christian as I still believe in God, but I am not going to church at this time. I am interested in crystals, tarot, and candle making. The problem is that I have to keep things on the down low. My husband and family are extremely religious and if they find out that I’m dabbling I’ll have a lot of questions to answer and they won’t understand. I know that a lot of the types of characterized witches are not me (kitchen, green, etc). I don’t know where I fit in yet. I’d love some help and feedback. You’re the first witch that I’ve really contacted, so I hope you can help get me started on my path. Thanks.
I’m sorry you have to hide. I know a lot of other witches have to do that too. Either because of family or because of the society they live in. Maybe you can find some in a similar situation on, for example, Facebook and connect. That way you won’t feel alone and you’ll have support from like-minded people. I’ve been on Facebook since you were able to log in from here and I’ve only found a few good groups but they are there. Don’t worry about trying to fit into a box/label. Your path will evolve constantly, as you will, throughout your life. If it feels right to you, it most likely is.
Hi there, I am very interested in the term Heathen Witch, this is the first time I have come across it, I usually identify as an eclectic witch, I would be keen to learn more about the ideals of a Heathen Witch and look into the beliefs and practices of the Norse, just not sure where I would start. I am from Australian so there isn’t a lot of witchcraft/paganism community here.
Eclectic to me is more picking from several traditions within witchcraft. At least for me, being switch is a practice while being a heathen is the spiritual part. I am Asatru, of the accepting, tolerant, and inclusive variety. When it comes to the Norse magical practices, there isn’t that much good information (especially in English).
A lot of the English material on Seidr is derived from one described ritual in the sagas and ignores all other descriptions and scientific research on the subject.
I’ve gathered what I have from the older sources like the Icelandic sagas, the Eddas, and very old black books I found in the library while I lived in Sweden that still had some leftovers from the pre-Christian times. A lot also comes from scientific research papers from Norwegian universities and archaeologists. Some of it comes from acquaintances that I know have a lot of knowledge. What irks me the most is that one of my best notebooks on that went missing in one of the moves.
I did do a Slideshare with basics on Seidr once. I later put it into a video before Slideshare took it down. If you’re interested, you can find it here: https://lindaursin.net/seidr-video/