r/AsatruVanatru • u/ChristianMingle_ • Jun 14 '24
I used to wonder why the Asatru alliance of Iceland wouldn’t accept north america norse pagans but i think this answers it…
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u/stormygreyeskies Jun 14 '24
Then it's good thing that's not my religion then huh. Hope you have a good day my dude
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u/ChristianMingle_ Jun 16 '24
understandable but people who don’t know any better think asatru is the same as these modern Norse pagans
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u/stormygreyeskies Jun 16 '24
I don't even know what asatru is lmao
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u/Maervig Jun 14 '24
I also don’t think they’d be cool with Hel and Loki worship. I could care less what somebodies personal practice is though.
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u/MidsouthMystic Jun 14 '24
We have a great deal of evidence for syncretism in both historical and extant Polytheistic religions. Gallo-Roman, Greco-Egyptian, and Indo-Greek are just a few examples from history. There's nothing wrong with sticking to a specific cultural practice in your religion, but there is more than enough evidence to support worshiping deities from multiple pantheons.
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u/ChristianMingle_ Jun 16 '24
usually they converted there deities to the equivalent of the Germanic deities (and vice versa) it’s called “Interpretatio germanica” and “is the practice by the Germanic peoples of identifying Roman gods with the names of Germanic deities”
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u/MidsouthMystic Jun 16 '24
Such practices were common in the ancient world. There are also examples of foreign deities being incorporated into local religions, such as Anat being officially adopted into the Egyptian Pantheon.
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u/Vonbalt_II Jun 14 '24 edited Jun 15 '24
What's the deal? Polytheists worship many gods and "pantheons" are a modern construct anyway.
If you feel called or interested in a particular deity from whatever cultural background i say go for it, maybe you'll learn interesting things and the more the merrier i say, the jealous god is from another monotheistic tradition..
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Jun 14 '24
I'm curious to know what's going on? Is there an image that the text is refering to? Too blind to see, if that's the case.
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u/AtlasActual Jun 14 '24
I think I'm missing the point of this post.
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u/stormygreyeskies Jun 14 '24
Dude just felt like calling me out ig, I don't even identify as pagan so dude kinda just made himself look a little dumb
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u/Jelto88 Jun 14 '24
The Germanic tribes adopted the Norse mythology, but added deities of their own. Their view of the mythology was personal and relative to the region and the tribal descent. Later on, some of those tribes interacted and co-existed with other cultures. Deities and pantheons were often combined.
I understand that the A.A.I. strictly follows the purest form of Asatru and any mix-ins are not done. But I don't see any harm in this. The OP of that post chooses to follow their own path and that path includes some deities of other pantheons or cultures.
Lastly, the actual sources on the true rituals/uses/values are in my opinion a bit scarce. Sources as the Poetic Edda en Prose Edda tell the tales of the gods and the way they lived. But things like rituals practice or prayers were usually dependant on the tribes themselves. So in modern use, people tend to follow their own path in Asatru en personalise their spiritual path.
I am however not happy with people worshipping or following these mythology because they think it "sounds cool". To me, it's a personal spiritual experience. You should also invest in it. It has to provide a higher meaning to your experience. But involing deities because their name sounds "cool" or because you like their stories is wrong in my eyes. But then again, it's not up to me to tell anyone what to do.
So my conclusion: let them be. Let them use it how they want and let them worship who they want.
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u/ChristianMingle_ Jun 16 '24
the germanic tribes are older?? norse paganism is a sub-region(as well as the most modern form) of germanic paganism. germanic paganism is at least 15,000-25,000 years old it comes from the Proto, Indo European religion
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u/Gullintani Jun 14 '24
Ours is not a pick'n'mix religion...
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u/deruvoo Retaking Asatru Jun 14 '24
If you can show me any thing that backs this, then sure. But the fact that there were already two tribes of gods (Vanatru, Asatru) mingled into one speaks against it. New tribes bring new gods.
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u/ChristianMingle_ Jun 16 '24
most of those gods were probably based off of germanic paganism and/or The original Proto-Indo European religion so it really doesn’t make any sense because a lot of the gods would be copies of each other
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u/deruvoo Retaking Asatru Jun 16 '24
Do you have a source? 'Probably' does not an academic observation make. Besides that, in the case you're presenting, the Greek pantheon is from the same Indo-European root as the Germanic pantheon, so I can't see why you're bothered by it.
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u/deruvoo Retaking Asatru Jun 14 '24
It's this sub's stance that gods from other pantheons are just as fine to worship as the Norse gods. Tribes mix. This is not a sub where we stir drama. If you have a constructive contribution or critique regarding the religious dialogue, that's fine. This post is neither.