Hearthside

This is part 4 of my blog series on the Forest Commons of Northern Europe. The previous section was on how the Enclosure Movement affected colonization in Canada and elsewhere and how Canadians can ally with Indigenous peoples going forward. Previously we also talked about what the Forest Commons were and their History up to modern day. If you haven’t read those posts yet, you may want to loop back to them. This post will be about modern Heathenry in Canada and building grith with Indigenous Communities. In this post we will examine stories from Indigenous peoples of North America as well as Heathen stories, and attempt to create common ground. We will discuss: Spirits of Place 7 Generations philosophy and being good ancestors The importance of community Sacred Trees Ancestry and connection to land Gifting practices Ways to move forward An important part of Heathenry is the veneration of Spirits of Place. Understand this to be spirits who would aid humans, not malevolent spirits. He...

Welcome back to my blog series on the Forest Commons of Northern Europe and how they can inform modern Heathen practice. My focus in this blog is on Canada and the wide-reaching effects of the Enclosure Movement on colonization here, and how to move past that in a sensitive and informed manner. If you are not from Canada (or other post-colonial places globally) this may not apply to you, but I encourage you to read on anyways as it will perhaps help to inform why Heathenry is different between Europe and other places. If you have not read my previous two posts Introducing the Forest Commons and then talking about the History of the Forest Commons , I would encourage you to check those out first to give you a basis of understanding for this post.  I am going to focus broadly on the Canadian landscape in this post, and then narrow to implications for Canadian Heathens in the next post, but I must still discuss the way modern Heathenry evolved differently in North America compared to...

  This is my second post in my series about the Forest Commons in Northern Europe and how they can inform Heathen practice today. If you have not read my Introductory Post , you should go there and check it out. It sets the tone with a narrative and gives you the basics of what a Forest Common is and what the Enclosure Movement was.  In this post I am delving into the History of the Forest Commons in Northern Europe. Understand that when I say this is a “brief” history, that is relative. (Sorry, not sorry.) In this section we will discuss: The original Forest Commons Changing definitions of King, and what it meant for the commons Expansion of kingdoms and the creation of Crown Land How the Enclosure Movement created landless people and led to Industrialization Inequity and clashes between the Saami reindeer herders and farmers The influence of the Church The change of the structure of the Enclosure in the 1800s The modern return of the Forest Commons The Commons and the King I...