Hearthside

  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...

  In the beginning, we came from the trees. Not the very beginning. This was after Ginnungagap and the formation of the rime. This was after Ymir emerged and Auðumbla licked Buri from the primordial ice. This was after Odin, Vili, and Ve tore Ymir apart to make the 9 worlds. There are many stories from around the world about humans descending from trees. This is the story of Ask and Embla. We are probably most familiar with the Icelandic version in which Ask and Embla (Ash and Elm) were driftwood found on the strand by Odin and his brothers. There is a continental version though, where Ask and Embla were found in a field. Then the gods gave Ask and Embla the qualities that made them into humans.  Trees are central to the Heathen story arc. Humans are often referred to using kennings involving trees in the Lore. We came from trees and to trees we return. Humanity survives Ragnarok because some of us hide in the roots of the World Tree. There it is… the World Tree, Yggdrasil. Th...

I am afraid it is a bit of unfortunate business that sparked me on this thought train, but just the same, the idea is still a useful one and something worth sharing. I have been thinking a lot about ancestor veneration lately, but not on the individual level, on the community level.  A tribe that shares frith, shares ancestors. Our lives are irrefutably linked. But our ancestors help to create cohesion and belonging within the group. They seek to make us better and improve our luck. They seek to help us heal what needs to be healed, so that we can grow as a community. Even on the larger community level there are shared ancestors. These take the form of local folk heroes or ancestors of place that are publicly venerated. (Often without all the members of the community who are venerating them really understanding what they are doing.) For people who are not familiar with ancestor veneration as a common practice, they don’t recognize it, and yet feel drawn to participate in it, even w...

*** Okay so I better start this off with a trigger warning and maybe a parental advisory notice. This has to do with the murder of children so use your discretion. *** Like many of my fellow Canadians, I am still processing the news of the 215 children found in the mass grave at the residential school in Kamloops. I wish that I could say I expressed shock at this number, but I did not. Perhaps that is the mark that I have some understanding of this topic though. I think the people expressing shock are largely those who just don't know a lot about the treatment of indigenous peoples in Canada. (And to be honest, this is very applicable to the treatment of indigenous peoples around the world, so if you aren’t Canadian, stick around.)  There are so many layers to this politically and also personally for me. I am sure there are a lot of people who can relate to that feeling in some way or another. I have been very privileged in my life to be friends with and learn from a number of peop...