The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/tag/thors-oak-kindred)
In this week’s Pagan Community Notes: Additional cancellations due to COVID-19, pollution levels drop, the Step Pyramid re-opens, flying penises and more!
Karl E. H. Seigfried writes about his unusual “patron saint” – Jim Bouton, baseball player and author of “Ball Four,” a memoir of life in the game.
Karl E. H. Seigfried celebrates Midsummer by honoring Thor, especially in his role as a guardian and creator of community.
Pagan Perspectives
Today’s column comes to us from Karl E.H. Seigfried, goði of Thor’s Oak Kindred in Chicago. In addition to his award-winning website, The Norse Mythology Blog, Karl has written for the BBC, Iceland Magazine, Journal of the Oriental Institute, On Religion, Religion Stylebook, and many other outlets. He holds degrees in literature, music, and religion, and he is the first Ásatrú practitioner to hold a graduate degree from University of Chicago Divinity School. Our weekend section is always open for submissions. Please submit queries to eric@wildhunt.org.
Pagan Perspectives
Over the past year, and especially since the Frith Forge conference in Germany, I’ve noticed increasing use and discussion of the term “inclusive Heathenry.”
It often seems more of a rebranding than a revolutionary concept. Practitioners of Ásatrú and Heathenry have long taken sides over issues of inclusion, with some taking hard stances on either end of the spectrum and many situating themselves in a complicated middle ground. The battles that have raged for so long have been between positions that were often defined by the other side. The universalist position supposedly said that anyone could be Heathen – no questions asked. The folkish position supposedly said that only straight white people could be Heathen – with many questions asked.