The Yule Goat - Julbock

Hello friends, yet another video!

The Yule Goat, or Julbock, is a festivity held at the end of December and has its roots on a Northern European pagan past. I hope you enjoy this video friends; give some love and support to Mr. Thorstein by subscribing to the channel ^^ See you on the next video! Tack för idag!

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Yule - A Pagan Tradition

Hey there friends! This is a video about the pagan roots of the Christmas season, focused on the Northern European Pagan traditions only. I hope you enjoy this video. Please subscribe to keep the videos coming; your support and feedback is greatly appreciated.

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Introduction to: The God Freyr

I leave you here with a video I’ve done a year ago, speaking about the Norse/Germanic deity – the god Freyr.

You can read about this deity here at my blog, of course. But for those of you who prefer to listen rather than reading, I recomend my own video on the subject 😛 hehe.

If you want more videos about such subjects, please subscribe to my channel; your support and feedback keep the videos coming. I hope you enjoy this one and any suggestions you can always speak to me freely.

Enjoy the video friends! 😀

Heathenism and Wicca - Differences

Before i start this post, i would like to clarify this, i'm not a Wiccan nor can i call my self an Asatrú, because the meaning of Asatrú as the name indicates ( Asa = Aesir the Sky gods of the Norse Pantheon and Trú = Norse word for Faith / Religion ) it is the neo-pagan religion involving the faith to the Norse/Germanic Sky gods, and i am a practitioner of Norse shamanism and of the Northern-Tradition paganism which involves all the gods, spirits and wights.

When people start to look for or study other kinds of religions or spiritual paths as an alternative to the monotheism religions we are used to, in search for a pagan European belief, often they find Wicca as the first pagan tradition. Wicca so far is the best known form of European polytheism in its bases, so it isn't hard to find it and actually working in that field, most kids are on to it, because it is easy to perform and it has an all romanized version of the real European paganism, especially when it comes to the Celtic paganism. It seems good to make a comparison of both neo-pagan religions, but first of all, we need to know that both have a variety of spiritual strands, so for now instead of talking about Asatrú, lets give it the name of Heathenism, for the Norse/Germanic beliefs are separated in Asatrú, Vanatrú ( having the faith placed with the Vanir gods ), Odinism/Wotanism, the cult of Odin the supreme sky god of the Aesir, Irminism, Forn Sidhr, Theodism, Germanic Reconstructionism and so on. This also happens with Wicca, but more divided and yet every pagan religion known is placed "inside" of Wicca, making it a cocktail of both pagan religions all over the world and also abrahamic religions which are exactly the opposite of being pagan and actually goes agaisnt that.

The major difference between being a Wiccan or a Heathen, is that in the Wiccan rites, they invoke deities from several other cultures as i have stated before, while the heathens stick to the gods and goddesses from the Norse/Germanic beliefs. Wicca also sees all goddesses and other female deities as aspects of the great goddess divided into the archetypes of Maiden, Mother and Crone in a very Celtic way, and all male deities as the Horned god ( most of the times the male principles don't exist or are completely forgotten ) this makes wicca religion almost monotheistic-like, the worship of the great goddess in the three fases of life and of nature. While heathenry is more polytheistic-like, worshiping a range of gods and goddesses from the same culture and beliefs, equal in statues and each of them can stay alone without the need for a male or female complement.
Now this tiny paragraph shows us why Wicca is the most popular neo-pagan religion, it is the tiny step that people make while leaving the other abrahamic based religions such as Christianity, the worshiping of one deity, into a religion of the same sort but with pagan themes and rituals, making it look like something very familiar not to seem so shocking, and different, and very often Wiccans see Jesus Christ as the Male god and Virgin Mary as the archetype of the great goddess. The previous paragraph also shows us why in Wiccan, 90% of its followers are female, because the great goddess most of the time is the only deity with great importance and all the faith goes around her, leaving the male completely apart, it isn't strange to see that most wiccans are lonely women who can't have a love relationship and eventually are conform with the fact that they do not need a man. 
I like to think that religions have strong beliefs when they are practiced by strong people, we shape those with our strong personalities, but with the lack of personality one religion can be very hollow, and women shouldn't be the kind of women who need men, but rather the kind of women that men need, this is why we see a lot of Wiccans who have no idea what paganism is and actually give it a bad name and the reason for laughter because strong personalities always end up following the best virtues and people without personality end up confused, sad, frustrated and dig deep their own mud holes.

In Wicca the spirits of nature and everything that surrounds us are organized and divided into the four elements, which are earth, fire, water and air. Heathen cosmology is focused in the elements of fire and ice as opposing principles, chaos and order, the constant struggle for peace and maintain everything in harmony such as nature is, with the clear idea that one can't live without the other, and we also can't live in a magical eternal paradise where everything is good, we can't be always happy, we have to experience sadness and other negative feelings so we may give the proper value to things, because if all was good, we would become lazy, ignoble, ignorant, and there is always the need of constant evolution of our personalities, of our own being, to become better. Go ask a wiccan about the meaning of the four elements, 86% or more will not be able to give you an exact answer, and this is due to the fact that people do not study deep their beliefs, they do not question it, they just stay with what is givin to them and they accept it how it is, they are like sheep, blindly following what was told to them, in a constant need to be guided because of the lack of personality, they can't do things for themselves, they are not self reliant enough, they lack of a strong will and spirit.

In Wicca as a spiritual belief of community, covens are made, groups of people start to gather with the purpose of develp their members spiritually and magically in several initiations, everyone will become a priestess or a priest eventually and it will turn out to be a very lonely spiritual path because people will perform all the rituals are their homes, in a more intimate environment, in contrast most heathens form a kinship, and the rituals/blót and celebrations are formed within a family or household, each of the people have their own place in the group according to their choosing and skills, some may work in a shamanic way, other with other kinds of Germanic magic, some will specialize in brewing, woodcarving, other crafts for the community and other skills that are needed into the group or family, but the main purpose is to provide spiritual community. There are also rites of passa within the kindred, but these tend to mark life changes rather than magical achievments. In terms of rituals, wicca practice is often decended from medieval ceremonial magic, for heathens and practitioners of Norse/Germanic beliefs, rituals and modeled on folk practice, less formal, but also in a very much Seidhr form, in the old ways, in the shamanic performances of the Norse people as far back as memory and history allows us.

It isn't hard to see the rituals in Wicca being so closely similar to medieval times or with a great connection to the Arthurian legends which was believed  that Arthur was a great king in medieval times because his legends gave inspiration to a lot of medieval writers, in a time where politics were very hard and harder was to have the society in order and peace, so the stories of Arthur gave the perfect political order to be followed, stories that date back to the roman times which we can read the stories and legands of Wales and Irland, of a great king and his warriors, all their deeds throughout the land, all of these stories were romanticized in France in later centuries in a tipical medieval way, full of splendor, magnificence, glamour, the perfect political order and harmony on the land, heaven on earth, where common men would become nobles and nobles would become knights, and a king od such power and purity that god himself would light his path. At the time the romanticized version was written, it was also the time when christianity was already the main religion of Europe, and so to the Arthur stories and legends it was added the search for the holy grail, as in ancient legends the search was for magic and the realms of the other world, the spiritual world and items of power. The mixture of celtic paganism with the romantic times of medieval Europe and the Arthurian legends, gave the perfect flavour and combination to the Wiccan religion and people tend to fantasize a lot, they are blind and they can't see the truth of it because the wondrous tale is more appealing to the heart and soul. I have read the real Arthutian legends from Irland and Wales in the real time where they occurred, the story is fantastic and it is actually a more accurate part of history, less romanticized, and more precise, people should also read it, i might talk about it one of these days. This leads me to what i have said before, people don't question their beliefs, they do not study, they don't try to comprehend it, in heathenism people tend to be much more formal and precise than wicca in the relationship with the lore, because we have a lot of lore to work with and Wicca is essentially a modern tradition with the lack of lore even being a great mixture of cultures, they do not search for it. Those who practice Norse/Germanic pagan traditions are encouraged to read the primary sources as well as scholarly works discussing them and debating their meanings rather than accepting the interpretations made by others with less contact with the themes, it is a religion/spiritual path always in constant evolution as we human beings also are, adapting to the new needs of the society and of the individual. Many of those who practice the Norse/Germanic paganism, study Old Norse or Anglo-Saxon so they may examine the sources in their original languages.

Another difference between wiccans and heathens is the way taht ethical principles are articulated. In Wicca has a single advice, not harming anyone and doing what we will and also the law of whatever someone might do it will come back to the person tripled, heathens mostly hold to the Nine Noble Virtues ( for that you might want to read my post about them --> [Link] ). While Wicca has a simple statement of what not to do, much like christianity and the 10 commandments, the Norse/Germanic pagan tradition offers a more elaborate statement of what we should do, there is also the great importance of our ancestors and family values such as the friendship and its important bonds.

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The Nine Noble Virtues

Those who practice the Germanic/Norse paganism, Northern-Tradition Paganism or whatever spiritual path linked to the Norse gods, seek in all the stories, myths, the gods themselves and their tales, examples in how we should run our lifes in a global view for all who follow this religion, the ethical principles and how they might help us in our daily lifes and how we can solve our problems. There isn't the existance of religious laws or commandments in this spiritual path, in fact, that doesn't exist in any other pagan belief, as we are free to shape our lifes and choose our own beliefs, there isn't the need of any kind of obligation that binds us to that religion like chains and we have the duty to do certain things against our will in order to save our souls. In this religion, we don't have the need to save our souls, all we need is the free will to live happy and healthy, doing whatever we can to protect others, giving to them our love and sharing wisdom. But there is the need to find balance in that freewill, we may be free but eveything has its boundaries, with our freedom, we can't forget that it might do harm to someone, we can't be selfish, we have to learn how to live with each other in harmony. So to set some limits in our behavior and our actions towards others and the world, instead of having sins, there are virtues we must follow. Well, we are all grownups, so we know the difference between right and wrong, what we must do and what we mustn't, we know the sence of justice, order and honor, so there isn't that need to have a list of sins, a childish manner which tells us how to behave. Knowing how we have to act, all we need is to become better in our actions. From the old lore, we extracted a set of guidelines, known as the Nine Noble Virtues, which are very useful and there isn't that feeling that we are bound to them. These Virtues are: Courage, Truth, Honor, Fidelity or Loyalty, Self-Rule (Discipline), Hospitality, Industriousness, Independence (Self-Reliance) and Steadfastness (Preserverence). These are the nine virtues, but some add to them, Friendship, Strength, Equality, Kinship, Wisdom and Generosity.

Speaking about each virtue, the first five is the kind of work each one does to obain an heroic soul, to grow as a strong individual. First of all we begin with Courage, the kind of thing we are used to hear about in the old lore and every warrior must have it. This is not only the kind of courage to face enemies, armies and dragons and such things, this is also the courage eveyone must have, to face all the problems that life brings us, all the challenges through life, we must face them with bravery, sometimes we find ourselves in a corner, there is no way to run, no way to leave behind all the problems we got ourselves in to, and instead of despair, we have to face them, resolve all those troubles, and live life the best we can, knowing that we won over all the challenges we continued to persist. To live this life with bravery, we also need the second virtue which is, Truth. This means, that we must speak the truth, or at other times, the truth of things lead us to take counsel with ourselves till we can speak or till we are certain in what actions we must take. Being honest with people and with ourselves. Courage and Truth are linked, because it takes courage to tell certain truths to people even if we know it might hurt them, but everyone deserves to know the truth, or even telling something about us, a deep truth we may be hiding, and it's killing us when we close ourselves, trying to hid that truth, afraid of the judgement of others, especially when it's a family business. We must be honest with our dealings with others, and with that, comes the next Virtue, Honor. To be a honorable person isn't an easy task, sometimes it means following rules, even if those are inconvenient, to obey someone in a status higher than yourself according to the law, people will trust you, not because you are good in following orders or to obey, but because they know they can count on you. Acting honorably, will show others the way you are, and they might act likewise, in order to gain an healthy and trustworthy connection with you. Acting like this will also help building your reputation, how others see you, a person they can trust, and they will soon turn to you for help, this also means when you are doing you job, if you are the person in command, you don't have to obey to someone but you have to follow the code of conduct, being honest when people ask for your work, like so, they will contact you again because they trust you and they will tell others, and your reputation will grow in the best possible manner. This brings us to the next virtue, to prove your honor, you will show Fidelity or Loyalty, obviously this isn't just about being faithful to your loved ones when you take the vows, but also to be faithful to your convictions and beliefs, to who you are, being true to your word, only making promises when you know you can and you will fulfill them, people will believe in you and your word has the power to build bonds between people or to break them. This also means being faithful to your spiritual beliefs, trusting in your gods and their wisdom, and above all else, trusting in you and having some faith towards others. Keeping our word is important to others, when we offer them protection, love, friendship, help and whatever they may need or ask of you. To have all the virtues from before, you will need the next one, Self-rule or Discipline. Well this can have many understandings, avoiding problems,  keeping your temper when provoked, waiting for the right moment to strike, with the right words of your own wisdom, making your own plans and executing them successfully, ration and conserve resources, having the true profile of a leader, and if you can lead, people will respect you, they will come for you when they need help, and you will always be that humble but always alert person, trustworthy, honorable, transmitting security, strength and greatness. Having Discipline, will help us acting courageously and honorably when we have to make the hard choices, even when we are afraid. As i have written in the beginning, we have our own freewill, there isn't such thing as "it was written" or "the fate is fixed", because we make our own fate by the choices we take in life, and it is with Discipline that we will make good choices. So as you could see, the first group of virtues focuses on the individual behavior, so the next virtues (four) are more concerned with our relationship with others. This brings us to Hospitality, a virtue which is a very ancient qualitie in many cutures, that can be both an obligation and a privilege. We have to think about those very ancient times, when people had to travel from one place to an other, searching for a better place, there wasn't such thing as hotels or inns, and speaking of inns, those that existed, were too few and with miles of distance from one to another, so most of the time, the survival of someone or a group of people, depended in the generosity of those who had a safe place to share and sufficient resources to offer. For what good is it, being so wealthy, if with all that wealth you don't help those in need, the most disadvantaged and the poor? Imagine yourself, traveling for days, a great deal of miles, in harsh weather, your resources are depleting, and you wish there would be an house near by with someone willing to open the door to you, sharing some food and the cosy heat of the fireplace, where you could rest and find peace till you have to do your journey again. Hospitality is also about respecting others, how they are and their beliefs, of course guests also have to respect and be humble, it is a sharing of good feelings and kind acts, and the person you help today, might save you tomorow. In order to give hospitality, you must have resources to share, an house good enough to shelter someone, for that, you need to work and work hard, like so, this leads us to the next virtue, Industriousness, working hard and well is not only a virtue but also a quality, this reminds me of the counsel Odin gives "Seldom does a lying-down wolf get the lamb, or a sleeping man victory." Of course, not all work is to earn money, there are many works that the community needs, like the work of a volunteer, you help others, you grow in reputation, wisdom and discipline. Working, having an house, a family, an entire life built, is having another virtue, Independence. Not only in these terms, but also an independent spirit, free from corruption, creased with a unique and secure personality. Being independent doesn't mean we don't need others, but it certainly means that we are self-reliant, being able to make our own choices and capable of actions of our own, supporting others, helping them and ourselves, not only monetarily, but also in relationships, providing love, care, protection and confidence. When we come to our own conclusions, we are growing and maturing, that is also a form of Independence, thinking for ourselves, also taking our own conclusions when it comes to a religious or spiritual belief, not following what is told to us like sheep.
We come now to the last virtue, Steadfastness, or being able to endure, to persevere, when all hope is gone, and you clearly know that the challenge ahead is so difficult, it seems almost impossible, you stay, you fight it, you are strong enough to face it with all your might. In your daily lifes, all the tasks tou must do, studying, working, taking care of the house, making food, working the fields, all those endless, exhausting, frustrating, desperate tasks you have to perform everyday, that is what will keep your family, community and yourself, healthy, protected, happy, alive, people will recognize your effort and once again you will get honor and glory and all the other virtues will be directly connected with this one.

Once again this shows that this spiritual path works directly with the needs of mortals, the gods are not our masters, they are our teachers, our friends, our allies, and all the choises we make in life, are always important, because those will help us making our own fate, for our own. We learn to have compassion, justice, equality, and we stay strong, trying to become better and wiser.

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Conversion of Scandinavia and Olaf Tryggvason

Charlemagne was the king who helped christianity spread more quickly through Europe, by force, by his armys and slaughtering many who wanted to keep their old faith and the beliefs of their ancestors. After his death, the empire that Charlemagne created, started to fragment, and so for a time people stood still and there was a considerable peace, the Frisians had been converted to christianity and the Franks had their own empire by the cost of many inocent lifes. There was peace now in the countries of scandinavia.


Along the ninth century, churchmen were afraid from the people of the north that still remained faithful to the old gods, and so they prayed to be relieved and be guarded from the fury of the vikings, that to these churchmen,  the peoples of the north were even more terrifying because they weren't christians, they were heathens, and for the church, these pagan people worshiped the devil and themselves were demons.


As the north countries and its people began to settling instead of raiding and pillaging, the church saw this as a good opportunity to bring the new faith into their northen neighbors, and many norse princes that were in refuge from the wars with the south and with the christians, saw this as a good  opportunity as well, because they realized that conversion to the religion of the kings with whom they had taken refuge, could win them suppot and alliance.


Denmark was the first country to fall under the new faith, king Harald Bluetooth took christianity and imposed it to his people, those that did not want to embrace this new faith and refused the orders of Harald, were forced to do so.


In Norway, at this time, an other king called Harald Hairfair, remained heathen to his death, however, he had many sons who fought over the kingship and sometimes they found in the christian alliances a very useful tool to ascend the throne.
The oldest of his sons, Eric bloodaxe was baptized with his wife, during their exile in the viking lands of England. Harald's youngest son, called Hakon, was fostered by King Aethelstan of England, who raised him as a christian. Harald's great-grandson, Olaf Tryggvason, was introduced to christianity, when he was still a very young man, when he took refuge in Russia. After taking power in Norway, all these kings tried to impose the new religion to their countrymen.


Hakon was the only one of these kings, to be tolerant, and the only one to be called "the good". Hakon was called to the throne by the heathen jarl, when his older brother, Eric, proved to be a tyrant, so king Hakon was indeed a good king, he respected the rights of his own people. When he told his people that they should be converted to chirstianity, they responded that they thought he was bringing them freedom, but now he wanted to take them prisoners into a new and strange religion, and made them forget the beliefs of their ancestors. The people had so far tolerated their king's strange ways in a strange new religion, but wanted him to join them in the autumn feasts, and so he did, a christian amoung pagans, being friends and sharing the heathen drinks to Odin. So Hakon kept the loyalty of his people. He was such a great and good king, that after his death in the last battle, the skald Eyvind sang in the old faith about Hakon and his deeds in the poem called "Hakonarmál".


Olaf Tryggvason came to power, throughout these years, any men had allowed themselves to be baptized, in order to trade with the Christian Europe, or agreed to do so when they were forced by a christian overlord. Many chieftains welcomed christian missionaries and built churches to encounrage christian merchants to come and trade with them, but even baptized, the norsemen still returned to their old ways. King Olaf resolved to put an end to that, the people should be entirely christians, or no christians at all, the old gods and old faith, should be forgotten. Those that weren't persuaded by threats or promises, he slew them, some he maimed, and some he drove  away from the land. Olaf Tryggvason pillage the heathen temples and destroyed the images of the gods, those people who were considered to do magic, he drowned, or killed them by setting a bowl full of hot coals on their belly, for exemple, there was a chieftain who was killed by being forced to swallow a poisonous snake.


In the years that followed, the new religion was very much implemented on the land. Churches had been built on the old sacred places and above the mounds of the dead, on the sites of demolished pagan temples, and bishops became powers in the land. The holy feasts became saints' days.

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