Hearthside

What is Var, and what does it have to do with Heathenry? Is there such a thing as the season of Spring in modern and historical Heathen practice? I want to explore these questions a bit further with you. Some modern Heathens follow a sort of wheel of the year model for reckoning seasons and holidays, so this lends itself to a 4 season year. Other Heathens tend to follow a more historically based lunisolar model. The majority of scholars seem to think this year model had 2 seasons. However, there is some evidence of a possible third season, called Var, which coincides with the modern concept of Spring. Now, I personally see the Heathen year as divided into 2 seasons, Summer and Winter. However, I think there is value in exploring the idea of Var, its history, etymology, and modern practice.  The three part year is described in Andreas Zautner’s The Lunisolar Year of the Germanic Peoples as follows: "From the bronze age and the early La Tene period we already have the first hints o...

  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 ...