#polytheist asks

🎭 - What is an emotionally impactful or a silly worship-related experience you've had?

I will pick the realm of the impactful! I need to first specify that I have respiratory problems— nothing too bad, mind you, but quite impractical and sometimes bothersome. It makes it so sometimes, I might feel a tad suffocated and when this happens, there really is nothing much for me to do aside to wait for it to be over. Now, I often like to say that I can somehow "hear" (notice the quotation marks) Yng-Freyr's voice in the wind, and "see" his face in the sunset, as they are two things I have always associated with him. Well, at some point this summer, I was heading to an event around dusk time. I was having a tough time breathing, and was getting quite irritated by the feeling. When I looked up at the sunset, I was greeted by a gentle gust of wind, and I felt like Freyr was looking upon me. Just like that, my tight-chest feeling completely disappeared, and I had the strong impression that Freyr was telling me something like "When outside, you are in my realm, and I will give you as much air as you need. You are safe with me." This is just one example to showcase how kind-hearted and gentle Lord Freyr is.

⭐ - What is something you wish people outside your practice knew more about?

I'll go into a little more detail for this answer. I wish people knew how important spirit and ancestor work truly is when going through the process of reconstructing a norse pagan practice for oneself. Norse paganism goes far beyond the worship of the Gods! Honoring land spirits, ancestors, guardian spirits and the like was an inherent part of pre-Christian Scandinavian practices. Of course, not everyone chooses to adopt that part of the Pre-Christian religions, but I believe it's important to at least learn about it, and acknowledge it in order to better understand the context in which the norse Gods were first worshipped. From a historical perspective and in the context of norse pagan practice, the divine and the unseen are two tightly intertwined concepts.

Secondly: this might seem like a simple answer, especially for those who have seen some of my previous posts, but I often wish people would look beyond the impression that nordic deities are these buff, armed warrior-types. For some reason which is unfathomable to those like me who have practiced a long time, norse mythology has a reputation of being all about war and battle and the like. While it's true that many norse Gods have been associated with these concepts at some point in time (Óðinn, Thórr, Freyja and Týr, mainly), it's important to realize that these types of associations were made during times when battle was an inherent, downright ordinary part of life, and praying to a deity for victory in battle was a lot more relevant than it is today, to say the least. The norse Gods are diverse beyond words. They are kind, loving and good, just as much as deities of other pantheons. Some preside over matters of medicine, family, seasons, peace...

🔥 - Do you have a favorite myth or tale from your pantheon or others?

2.) What draws you to your Gods? What do you like about them?

I am always unprepared to answer this question, because I don't ever have a real answer. To be honest, Divinity itself draws me near it. It isn't as much of a question of Faith, because for me there is none. Divinity, the Gods, or God singular--these are all ontological truths that I cannot deny. For me, it was never a matter of deciding that these Gods had these ideal traits and I chose to worship them because of it. Instead, it was much more about Divinity being solidified as plural and fragmented, accepting this as truth, and assigning these aspects of God names based on a culture I was very fond of. When I began studying Greek religion, it simply just was.

4.) How do you picture the Universe? What is your idea of Cosmology?

I am going to assume this is a question more aligned with Divine Cosmology and the layout of the Kosmos focused more on where things would fall on the Chain of Being. In that regard, Tou Agathon (the Ineffable Good) is on top. Tou Agathon is the source of Being that pre-exists all Being. The spark of the Universe, essentially.

And from Tou Agathon, comes its reflection into the Intelligible Universe. The parts of our existence that we can begin to understand. And this reflection is the pure embodiment that is All Good and All Virtuous. Encompassing all Compassion, Mercy, Love, and Beauty. And this is Allahswt. And from Allah comes everything, and to Allah everything returns.

The Highest of these though, are the Immortal Gods. This would included the Protogenoi, Titanês, Olympioi, and all of the ascended Heroes who were deified.

Next are the Daimones, immortalized spirits who rule over personal concepts of humanity, emotions, and our many states of being.

And under the Daimones are the Saints. Saints, for me, are humans who have passed on and are still able to perform miracles for those of us who are still around. And then, there are the usual spirits and then us.

10.) If you could have a direct conversation with your deity/deities right now, what would you tell them.

Thank you so much for the ask!

🌞 - Which deity(ies) are you closest to/do you worship the most often?

The answer to this has changed a lot over time, and will likely change again. I have worked closely with Skaði, Óðinn and Loki in the past. For the past two-three years or so, I have mainly worshipped Yngvi- Freyr, Baldr and Thórr! All Gods have been a joy for me to worship, but I feel I have developped an especially close bond with Freyr and Baldr. Within the heathen circles I am active in, I have earned myself the nickname Freysgoði, meaning priest of Freyr. The name is a nod to the Icelandic saga character Hrafnkell Freysgoða, whose patron God was famously Lord Freyr.

🥂 - What is your favorite devotional act or offering to give?

Tough question! All acts of devotion are enjoyabel to me. I love to dedicate prayer readings and songs, as well as to sacrifice offerings into a bonfire. I often do the latter in honor of Yngvi-Freyr, generally at the beginning and at the end of the harvest season. Devotional toasts and the ritual pouring of alcohol is also a personal favorite, due to its established historical roots!

⭐ - What is something you wish people outside your practice knew more about?

I have answered this question already in the previous ask, so I will now come up with another answer! After all, there is much I wish non-pagans, or non-heathens knew about the heathen path.

Something I feel I must say is that yes, norse paganism has earned itself a bad reputation, thanks to highly conservative, folkist groups. It's a heartbreaking fact, but one that should drive us to fight even harder against prejudice and hate. Especially considering the large amount of LGBTQ+ people who make up the norse pagan demographic. A lot of the people who go against the traditional norm when it comes to their identity naturally drift towards unconventional spiritual paths as well, and to try and push them out of pagan circles is to deny them a fundamental right. What I wish more people knew about heathens is that so, so many of us are kind and open-minded people. I have met amazing people thanks to this path, all of whom fought fiercely against exclusion and hate in heathen circles. As practictioners of an open practice, we have a duty to make it so all may feel welcome to join if they desire. I'm proud to say that as it currently appears, at least in my area, we are making progress in that direction. The only ones who are not welcome in the norse pagan path are those who discrimate against gender, sexuality, ethnicity and religious roots.

🧭 - What led you to your practice?

3, 14 and 15 please, if you feel comfortable answering :)

Of course, thank you for the ask! I’ll try to reply as concisely as possible.

3. Is your practice more ritualistic or casual? What does it look like?

I try to hold some rituals from time to time and I also (attempt to) keep a routine when it comes to spirituality, but you know, work, life, etc. So I’d qualify my practice as being a tad more on the casual side. I try to take in my Gods’ presence whenever I’m outside and I’ll write prayers to Them when I get the inspiration. That’s pretty casual, I’d say.

14. How would you define your Gods?

First of all, the Gods are immense— they’re gigantic in all possible ways. Their reach stretches everywhere from the moon to the earth beneath our feet. They exceed our knowledge. They’re beautiful because they’re flawed, powerful because they can show weakness, and as kind as they can be cruel. They’re a mirror to mankind but also a model to follow. I don’t have the right words to define Them, unfortunately. From a more practical point of view however, I’d say my Gods are hothead partiers with too much of a taste for wine and war, and I love that about Them.

15. Are you faithful to one specific pantheon or is your belief more eclectic?

12. What are your views on virginity? Is it worth anything spiritually?Absolutely not. Whether or not someone has had sex has nothing to do with anything, one I feel is very insignificant. The idea of being a virgin either adding or removing worth to a person has never made any sense to me, even when I was a Christian. No bashing intended.