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mdehnersWhen I “Came Home”, Heathenry had a particular meaning. It was literally the reconstruction of the pre-C religion of the Nordic folks as best we could, dealing with info loss and modern mores. Unfortunately, what happened to Wicca in the “80’s” with the creation of Eclectic Wicca(which later changed it’s Name to “Paganism” since their behavior “tainted” the term “wicca” so bad that even they didn’t want it anymore…) has been happening in Heathenry in the last decade+.....
Folks that decided that “that stuff” was too hard, “old fashioned”, “to Eurocentric”(I’m not kidding!!!!!), “not Creative enough”, “not Supportive enough of Wombyn”, “too Patriarchal”, etc(BTW, all are quotes) and chose to make new “stuff” up that fit their particular world-view and lifestyle. ‘Course, instead of calling this new stuff by a new name, they call it “Heathenry”, though no “classic” Heathen, Ancient or Modern would recognize it as such.
Personal Beliefs are just that. I realize it’s pretty standard nowadays to say you’re a particular religion yet Believe little to nothing about it and/or it’s Rites. I guess it’s stupid of me to think such behavior would be below a Heathen, but I’m quite wrong. There is NOTHING WRONG with creating a New Thing. This is GOOD. Calling that thing something older that it frankly is not ISN’T.
I know. “How Dare You”. I hear this a lot in the last couple of yrs. That’s why I’ve pulled slowly out of almost all my contacts outside of the Recon Heathen community. Funny. When I came home, that WAS HEATHENRY. Like the Ancient Heathen, there was no need for an identifier. Nowadays, Heathenry is abundantly hyphenated, mostly by ways that could never be translated to the Ancestors. Like real Wiccans did in the “80’s”, Recon Heathens have been pulling out of public discourse for the same reasons. Most here hadn’t gone through Puberty when that happened so “Ancient History” is just that and for those who consider the Past to be Irrelevant more so. No one remembers. The Past repeats. The saddest thing? :Listening to those that have tossed what they felt incompatible with their Politics and Lifestyle disparaging the Ancient Heathens that converted to Christianity. You weren’t even threatened Physically or Economically and you didn’t think once before throwing away the Ways of the Ancestors. How DARE you judge them!
Truth,
Patrick Thomas Duffy
Folks that decided that “that stuff” was too hard, “old fashioned”, “to Eurocentric”(I’m not kidding!!!!!), “not Creative enough”, “not Supportive enough of Wombyn”, “too Patriarchal”, etc(BTW, all are quotes) and chose to make new “stuff” up that fit their particular world-view and lifestyle. ‘Course, instead of calling this new stuff by a new name, they call it “Heathenry”, though no “classic” Heathen, Ancient or Modern would recognize it as such.
Personal Beliefs are just that. I realize it’s pretty standard nowadays to say you’re a particular religion yet Believe little to nothing about it and/or it’s Rites. I guess it’s stupid of me to think such behavior would be below a Heathen, but I’m quite wrong. There is NOTHING WRONG with creating a New Thing. This is GOOD. Calling that thing something older that it frankly is not ISN’T.
I know. “How Dare You”. I hear this a lot in the last couple of yrs. That’s why I’ve pulled slowly out of almost all my contacts outside of the Recon Heathen community. Funny. When I came home, that WAS HEATHENRY. Like the Ancient Heathen, there was no need for an identifier. Nowadays, Heathenry is abundantly hyphenated, mostly by ways that could never be translated to the Ancestors. Like real Wiccans did in the “80’s”, Recon Heathens have been pulling out of public discourse for the same reasons. Most here hadn’t gone through Puberty when that happened so “Ancient History” is just that and for those who consider the Past to be Irrelevant more so. No one remembers. The Past repeats. The saddest thing? :Listening to those that have tossed what they felt incompatible with their Politics and Lifestyle disparaging the Ancient Heathens that converted to Christianity. You weren’t even threatened Physically or Economically and you didn’t think once before throwing away the Ways of the Ancestors. How DARE you judge them!
Truth,
Patrick Thomas Duffy
