Living

Column: Triptych

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Pagan Perspectives

[Today’s column comes to us from Luke Babb. Luke Babb is a storyteller and eclectic polytheist who primarily works with the Norse and Hellenic pantheons. They live in Chicago with their wife and a small jungle of houseplants, where they are studying magic and community building – sometimes even on purpose.]

The old man likes to corner me. I worked for a while in high end kitchen retail – the sort of small business that can only exist in big cities, where the wealthy come to buy designer pots and “give back to the community.” One of those stores that really wants customers to access those ancestral memories of the general store they saw on Anne of Green Gables as a kid. Playing into that hometown feel, once a year this store participates in a neighborhood street festival and sells something that is only available on that weekend – apple pies.

Culture

Review: ‘Gods of the Vikings’ invade Disney World

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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Odin, Freya and Loki must be jealous. In the new “Gods of the Vikings” exhibit in the Norway Pavilion at Epcot in Disney World, it was the slightly larger-than-life bust of Thor – especially the Norse god’s hammer, Mjolnir – that was getting the most photo-opp attention during a visit by The Wild Hunt. People young and old, and speaking numerous foreign languages, clutched the imposing, 18-inch Mjolnir as friends or family took photos – perhaps an indication of how the Marvel Comics movie franchise has made Thor a rock star beyond the community of practicing Heathens and followers of Ásatrú. Five feet from the Thor bust, however, was another Mjolnir, one less than an inch and a half long: an authentic Thor’s hammer pendant, made circa 800-1000 A.D. The artifact is on loan to the exhibit from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway.

Paganism

Column: Paganicon as a Journey through Heathenry, Need, and Healing

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March can host blizzards, near-zero temperatures, early blossoming flowers, rainy days, or all of the above. The unpredictable nature of the beginning of spring after a harsh winter is the perfect time to gather with friends at a Pagan festival. Each March since 2011, Paganicon emerges after a difficult Minnesota winter as a celebration of all that is Pagan. While there is a challenge in hosting hundreds of participants, each year’s theme provides a new avenue for community exploration. This year’s theme, Fire and Ice, explored the Norse saga of creation and emphasized a focus on Heathenry.

Paganism

Column: Voices from Ice and Snow

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There is no denying that the north has always played an important role in the worldview of Europe and the Western world in general. From the Romantics that sung the praise of the wild, Nordic nature at the turn of the 19th century to the current popular entertainment craze spawned by media franchises such as Frozen, Vikings and the like, the north is as relevant as it has ever been. This influence is even more noticeable in regards to the world of contemporary Paganism. Not only has Heathenism experienced a noticeable revival and growth in the past couple decades, but Nordic deities, practices and iconography are routinely found within more eclectic movements as well. However, all things considered, the Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland and the Faroe Islands) are all relatively small and somewhat isolated.

Culture

Column: Report from Frith Forge

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Frith Forge, the first international conference focused on inclusive Ásatrú and Heathenry, was held Oct. 6-8 outside of Potsdam, Germany. The event was the first major project of the International Relations and Exchange Program of the Troth, a U.S.-based Heathen organization with members around the world. The German host was Haimo Grebenstein of the Verein für Germanisches Heidentum (Association for Germanic Heathenry). The conference had 31 attendees from t12 countries: Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.