Hearthside

So I have written about Land Taking rituals before, but something has been nagging at me for a while as an inclusive modern Heathen. The idea of Land “Taking” in Canada (and other countries with histories colonization by Europeans) is problematic in a post colonial sense, where the mantra is Landback. I am a supporter of the Landback movement, but I feel the name Land “Taking” is doing a disservice to the purpose of the ritual within the modern context. Other names can be used as well such as “circumambulation.” But what is the purpose of this ritual? Some sources seem to say it is to Hallow the land or make it sacred. This makes sense if you were land taking to create a Hof or Vé, but Land Taking was done to create homesteads as well. It was the creation of the enclosure. This is not the same type of enclosure as the Enclosure movement I talk about in my Forest Commons posts. Instead this enclosure was the land needed by a family for the purpose of subsistence. The land was for raisin...

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...

So I have not been posting any new entries lately, even though I have many in the works in various stages. Instead I have been going back through previous entries as I have time to make video versions for accessibility. I will link my YouTube channel below if that is easier to follow me that way if you are visually impaired or are trying to listen to content on your commute. I warn you I am not a very natural YouTube personality. I am also embedding all the video versions of the blogs right in the old entries. I may not be updating too much more for awhile now though. The next month I have some personal changes in my life and I may not have space to record video until the dust settles, or time. We will see. Anyways, I wanted to give you a new post at least before I disappear. This post is a  true story that I thought you might enjoy. You may know that I love hiking. I often have formed reciprocal bonds with Land Spirits in places where I frequent. One of these places is a trail in ...

Okay, I have been sitting on this one for quite some time because I just wasn't sure I was doing my best work with it, and I want to do it justice. That said, the issue is timely, so I am going to attempt to put it out there. I would love to hear from you on Facebook or Instagram if you have something to add or if you think I didn't quite get something right. Honouring the Land and building relationships with the landvaettir is an important part of heathen practice. The Book of Settlements provides examples of actual laws pertaining to the landvaettir, which emphasizes their importance.There are also numerous mentions of the landvaettir in the Prose Edda and multiple sages. It would seem on the surface level we should have some idea how to approach these beings with so many sources available to us, and we do, but there is room for improvement. Something I spend a lot of time thinking about in my personal practice is the correct way to honour the land in a somewhat traditional ...

  Spring is working its magic and I feel the need to turn outwards again after a long pandemic winter. I have quite a few things I am working on for this blog that are in some stage of editing, but I just cannot motivate myself to sit that long. The woods are calling… Every new bud and leaf is like a song. Every dew drop captures rainbows. Birds are scurrying about the forest floor looking for things to build nests with. The deer are making themselves scarce now that there is more food, but I still see their footprints in the mud. The forest is starting to wake up. I want to spend each sunny day outside in the woods or preparing my garden. But I am not convinced that winter has had its final say.  Let me first say that I see Spring as a scientific designation, not a religious one. From the perspective of Heathenry I recognize only Summer and Winter as seasons, but I find myself switching in my brain between these two modalities of understanding in order to relate to people in ...