It isn't an insult. It is what we call our path and we would usually RATHER be called Heathen.
They are interchangeable. Call any Asatru a Heathen and they will know exactly who you are talking about.
Theodist and Odinism are paths with in Asatru, but Heathen is 9 out of 10 times interchangeable. I have met maybe two people who feel differently.
LOL It's OK Chad. I really appreciate people coming to our defense on it. But with a capital H its an actual religion.
I LOVE that site Hildulf LOL
I always assumed that Heathen was more general and Asatru was more specific... like Christianity is a broad term and Catholicism is just one subset of Christianity.
Lil I'm sorry about that
i dint know what Astra is, but Ive heard Christians call pagans heathens, so i assumed they were alike
apparently i was wrong, Lil sorry
LOL I guess there are people that don't know this, nice to see that we can inform people, however. Funny how we've taken terms meant for insult (Heathen, Pagan) and have embraced them and said "Yeap, I'm a Pagan". Kinda takes away the steam for them, doesn't it?
Yes, I knew. Though my mother has always called me her little heathen (spelled wrong on purpose - it's how she says it). But for so long, those of the Church would use it in such a derogatory way that most people who don't have any knowledge of Paganism/Heathenry that they assume others who use it are trying to be insulting. It is nice to see some who will try to stick up for those of us who are "outsiders" to the Church, but, personally, I don't feel it's necessary. Most of the Pagans and Heathens I know (especially the Heathens) are more than capable of taking up for themselves Lil
That depends on who you talk to. SOME Heathens will tell you that the term Asatru only refers to those Thai follow the Icelandic arm of the religion, while Heathen applies to those that follow the Anglo-Saxon or in some cases the Continental arm of the religion. For most, though is it simply a matter of preference. Personally I prefer the term Asatru as Heathen has too many connotations that just simply are too ingrained in the public psyche to be ignored even though those ideas have nothing to do with the original meaning of the word (much like the more generic term pagan).
Great site. Thanks for sharing!....
I am a witch/pagan/Wicca. People think what they want by whatever term we use or they use. I just smile and go about my business. Peace to all!
I love learning something new ... Lil I had no idea they were interchangeable. my husband says witch and bitch are interchangeable too.. I guess in my case I could agree!
Well I did know that but I always used Heathen when talking about multiply persons of the Asatru, as I never could figure out the proper pluralization of Asatru. I mean is it Asatru-Asatru like deer and deer, or is it Asatrus or Asatruians? Lil
Haha, I can SOOO relate to what you're talking about. My dad's a catholic and once I told him one of my friends was a Heathen - and he was like "What's the matter with you, don't you call him ugly names, didn't you say he was your friend? How can you call him something so bad?!"
I was left gaping, LOL. People just have no idea what a Heathen is. Sometimes it helps if you spell it Heithen or Heiden. Then they pause to wonder.
You know to be 100% honest I did not know that they were interchangeable. I always thought Heathen was more of a generalized term. Thank you very much for the knowledge. =)
Do people realize that Heathen (capital H) is the same thing as Asatru?
