The Rites Of Odin

The Rites of Odin puts forth the message, in rites, practice, and background lore, that you are uniquely important. You are in charge of your own destiny. The family and friends who constitute your "extended family" are also important: by working together and helping one another, all of you can prosper and be happy.

Provides an overview of Heathenry, a modern polytheistic religious movement based on the ancient religion of the Germanic and Scandinavian peoples.

Discover the untamed paganism of the Vikings and the Germanic tribes prior to the complete Christianization of Europe • Explores the different forms of magic practiced by these tribes, including runic magic, necromancy (death magic), soul-travel, and shape-shifting • Examines their rites of passage and initiation rituals and their most important gods, such as Odin, Loki, and Thor • Looks at barbarian magic in historical accounts, church and assembly records, and mythology as well as an eyewitness report from a 10th-century Muslim diplomat • Reveals the use and abuse of this tradition’s myths and magic by the Nazis Before the conversion of Europe to Christianity in the Middle Ages, Germanic tribes roamed the continent, plundering villages and waging battles to seek the favor of Odin, their god of war, ecstasy, and magic. Centuries later, predatory Viking raiders from Scandinavia carried on similar traditions. These wild “barbarians” had a system of social classes and familial clans with complex spiritual customs, from rites of passage for birth, death, and adulthood to black magic practices and shamanic ecstatic states, such as the infamous “berserker’s rage.” Chronicling the original pagan tradition of free and wild Europe--and the use and abuse of its myths and magic by the Nazis--Hans-Peter Hasenfratz offers a concise history of the Germanic tribes of Europe and their spiritual, magical, and occult beliefs. Looking at historical accounts, church and assembly records, mythology, and folktales from Germany, Russia, Scandinavia, and Iceland as well as an eyewitness report of Viking customs and rituals from a 10th-century Muslim diplomat, Hasenfratz explores the different forms of magic--including charms, runic magic, necromancy, love magic, soul-travel, and shamanic shape-shifting--practiced by the Teutonic tribes and examines their interactions with and eventual adaptation to Christianity. Providing in-depth information on their social class and clan structure, rites of passage, and their most important gods and goddesses, such as Odin, Loki, Thor, and Freyja, Hasenfratz reveals how it is only through understanding our magical barbarian roots that we can see the remnants of their language, culture, and dynamic spirit that have carried through to modern times.

"Odin as Santa and the Norse influence Christmas" explores the myths of the Norse and how those myths influence modern Christmas traditions. Myths and the icons, such as the gods and goddesses, were one way for ancient societies to understand life and the environment around them. "Odin as Santa and the Norse influence Christmas" seeks to reveal the ancient, Pre-Christian story behind the modern, Christian one, associated with Christmas traditions and decorations. This work looks at the Norse mythology and its gods, Christmas symbols and flora and their Nordic backgrounds. This work looks at the image of the manger and the birth of the Scared Child.

For as long as we have sought god, we have found the goddess. Ruling over the imaginations of humankind’s earliest agricultural civilizations, she played a critical spiritual role as a keeper of nature’s fertile powers and an assurance of the next sustaining harvest. In The Goddess, David Leeming and Christopher Fee take us all the way back into prehistory, tracing the goddess across vast spans of time to tell the epic story of the transformation of belief and what it says about who we are. Leeming and Fee use the goddess to gaze into the lives and souls of the people who worshipped her. They chart the development of traditional Western gender roles through an understanding of the transformation of concepts of the Goddess from her earliest roots in India and Iran to her more familiar faces in Ireland and Iceland. They examine the subordination of the goddess to the god as human civilizations became mobile and began to look upon masculine deities for assurances of survival in movement and battle. And they show how, despite this history, the goddess has remained alive in our spiritual imaginations, in figures such as the Christian Virgin Mother and, in contemporary times, the new-age resurrection of figures such as Gaia. The Goddess explores this central aspect of ancient spiritual thought as a window into human history and the deepest roots of our beliefs.

Called an 'occult religion' for adepts, a 'creed of iron' for warriors, and a 'secret society' for higher men and women who value 'knowledge, freedom and power', the Odin Brotherhood honours the gods and goddesses of the Norse pantheon.

An essential guide to expand your spiritual practices for followers of Norse Paganism, Heathenry, Asatru, and other Northern Traditions. Northern Tradition for the Solitary Practitioner is a groundbreaking look at devotional work in religions from Theodism to Asatru to Norse Paganism, all of which comprise the umbrella of the Northern Tradition. Although interest in devotional and experiential work within these traditions has been growing rapidly in the past few years, this is the first book to show the diverse scope of such practices as a living, modern-day religion. It features an in-depth exploration of altar work, prayer, prayer beads, ritual work, sacred images, and lore, and a thorough examination of common cosmology that forms the foundation of belief for Northern Tradition communities and related Heathen practices. Northern Tradition for the Solitary Practitioner is not denomination-specific: rather, it seeks to provide an entry into interior practice for anyone involved in a branch of this broad family of traditions of the ancient Norse, Germanic, and Saxon peoples, using material suitable for the solitary, independent practitioner. Those outside of the Northern Tradition who wish to deepen their own devotional practice will find this book helpful in their own work, as well.