The Value of Group Practice
So you may have heard of the terms universalism, tribalism, and folkism in heathenry. A lot of people don’t like them as labels, and that is fine. I do think they have value though, in trying to convey complex ideologies, so bear with me. Universalists believe that anyone can practice heathenry and usually in any way they think is right, while the folkish belief is that heathenry is an ethnic religion with traditions that shouldn’t be appropriated by other groups. Now, obviously folkism is very clearly a not so polished veneer for white supremacist and bigoted ideologies, but universalism is also not without its problems. The problems are not so much that anyone can practice, but that if anyone can practice any way that they want that it waters down practice until it loses its meaning and value. Tribalism is often presented as the middle point, but that is an oversimplification. Tribalists believe that you are only heathen if you group practice or are oathed into a heathen communi...