Hearthside

One of the things that came up recently with my Kindred was a discussion on Christianity and how you reconcile the overculture with your Heathen practice. Something that myself and other people who had been Heathens for a longer period of time said was that when you first become Pagan or Heathen then there's a lot of energy that you push at distancing yourself from Christianity. However, eventually you become comfortable enough in your own identity and your own practice that you kind of slide back a little bit the other way. I don't mean that you become Christian again but instead that you can enjoy some of the traditions that you enjoyed as a child, or perhaps that you're less bothered by the overculture (and by other people celebrating holidays that you don't believe in anymore).  I personally still have the most trouble with the Christmas season just because it's so long and so commercial. It's not really to do with the Christianity. I tend to feel overwhelme...

The more openly Heathen I become, the more I realize that my existence is inherently political. At first I tried to separate my religious identity from my political identity but it soon became clear that I cannot have those two things be separate. I tried to not engage people in my kindred in political discussions, but during covid I finally got bored and decided to have those discussions. I realized how vital they were to my identity in Heathenry. I also realized that I needed to stand up for other people in order to be able to stand up for what I believed in. For example if I want religious freedom then I have to stand up for other people's religious freedoms too. This is the reason why I'm a huge advocate for giving space for my Muslim students to pray, and making sure any provided snacks are halal. At this point I feel I cannot stay silent about political issues anymore, as they currently have huge impacts on my world. So for all of you who are going to argue this is not a ...