|
B'rer Rob has given you a list covering a wide range of approaches in his "how to" section, most of whom I vehemently *disagree* with, Lil. That's okay, though, we like to say that if you ask three heathens the same question, you'll get five contradictory answers! :-)
I'm also not a fan of the Troth, because they were founded by Edred Thorsson, a Satanist, and then handed off to Prudence Priest, a Wiccan. Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with either Satanists or Wiccans, it's just not heathery, that's all. There ARE a lot of good solid heathens in the Troth org, but . . . I figure it really, really helps to know your stuff BEFORE reading theirs, to weed out the . . . not really quite heathen parts. :-)
That said, here's some links I *do* find solid and reliable:
http://www.runestone.org/flash/home.html
http://www.odinic-rite.org/index2.html
http://www.aetaustralia.org/
http://www.asatru.org/
The AET site has a subsection, "Articles" . . . look for the ones by Bodvar.
There's an on line course that, while a bit dated, covers a lot of the basics. I don't agree with everything on IT, either, Lil, but it does a good job of covering the basic practices and cosmology and acknowledges the differing points of view:
http://www.asatru-u.org/beginner/asau-beginner-outline.htm
It was my first education as a heathen, and it's served me in good stead.
Booklist, recommended reading, there are five titles I recommend as a "starter set." We ARE "the religion with homework" and my personal library is around 50 titles now, mostly scholarly . . . but these will build a good foundation:
"Gods & Myths of Northern Europe," H.R. Ellis Davidson (mentioned in my other post)
"Sagas of the Icelanders," a big fat compilation volume Penguin publishes.
"Poetic Edda," Hollander or Larrington translation. I prefer the Bellows, but it's some hard slogging. Great footnotes, though.
"Poetic Edda," by Snorri Sturluson; Jesse Byock's translation is VASTLY superior to all others. 12th C retelling of the myths and cosmology.
"Rudiments of Runelore" by Stephen Pollington. There are many, many books on the runes out there, and they all have two things in common: they're modern, and they're based on Thorsson's stuff, which is based on ceremonial magick and the Germanic occult tradition. Pollington's work is different---he's an actual, legitimate scholar who ALSO recognizes the magical uses to which the runes were historically put.
Advanced study, to develop an understanding of how ancient heathens viewed their world:
"The Well & The Tree" by Paul Bauschatz. You'll have to go Interlibrary Loan or pay Books On Demand $100; it's out of print.
"The Mead Hall" by Stephen Pollington.
"The Culture of the Teutons" by Viktor Gronbech. This one's available online:
http://gamall-steinn.org/text/cot-index.htm
http://gamall-steinn.org/text/cot2-index.htm
I know, it's a lot of stuff, lol. Asatru is a reconstruction of an ancient polytheistic, prexian, indigenous folk tradition---not just its rituals and beliefs, but its worldview, its customs, thews, ethics, values, and magical practices. There's a LOT of information to absorb, and after five years of intensive study, I'm STILL learning.
But beginning? Beginning is as easy as going out into your backyard, pouring out a beer before a nice tall tree, and telling the Elder Kin you'd like to get to know them. :-)
One last link . . . this one's a pdf, so don't click it unless you want a download. It's Bil Linzie's "Germanic Spirituality," and it's what got me started on a stricter, more reconstructionist, worldview-based journey. Highly recommended:
http://www.angelfire.com/nm/seidhman/spirituality.pdf
|
Any reccomended reading, for someone that would like to study Asatru?
