All Hellenic Polythiests, Asatru followers, a questoin for you?

Question

I have a few questions about your religion, both Asatru and Hellenic Polytheists.

1. What religion do you follow? Is that what you prefer it be called? (I've heard lots of different names)

2. How were you led to your religion?

3. What do you think when people refer to the story of your Gods as myths? Have you ever confronted somebody about it?

4. Is it true that a lot of people join your religion simply to rebel, rather than for true belief? how do you feel about this, if true?

5. Do you have a specific name for the building you meet in?

6. Do you speak any Old Norse/ Ancient Greek?

7. Do you consider Odin to be the same as Zeus? Are they the same as the God of other religions?

Any other interesting info would be nice.

As for why I'm asking this, I'm interested in other religions, and these two are quite different from the rest due to their being reconstructed.

You don't have to answer all of them, just what you have time for. There are so few of you out there that you'll probably get best answer by just answering one.

Another question please.

Do you have a holy book? What's it called?

All good answers so far, but I want to keep it open in case a Hellenic Polytheist comes by.

Answer 1

1: Asatru. And yeah, that's the name I prefer.

2: Long story. When I was 10, I was in the library looking for something to read. I saw "The Poetic Edda". I didn't even like poetry, but I knew I had to read the book. So I checked it out, and for the next 2 weeks I -devoured- every word. 4 times. I checked it back in, and never saw the book again, no matter how often I went to the library. For the next 10 years, I tried to be a good Christian, but there was always something tugging at my heart. There was always the feeling that something greater was in the works. And I always felt like a stranger in the house of YHVH. At 20 years old, I finally admitted to myself and to the Gods of my ancestors that I am their man. It was like a yoke physically lifted off my shoulders. It was a palpable relief. I was never truly truly happy before that, and I have been since.

3: Enh. Mythology = Religion you don't follow. Christianity is a mythology to me, as is Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and everything other than Asatru. Does that mean they're invalid? Nope. It means they're not right for ME.

4: Yes. It is true. How I feel is that many of these rebels will turn to something else, and many will learn the true ways of Asatru. I'm here to help the ones that will learn the true ways of Asatru.

5: My house, right now.

6: Bits and pieces of Old Norse. I'm by no means conversant. Which is okay. I think the Gods understand American English just fine.

7: Odin and Zeus are totally different Gods. As a hard polytheist, I see all the Gods as individual entities. Some Gods have different names in different countries, however. Wodan, Wotan, Woden, Odin... all the same God. Like Donner, Donar, and Thor... all the same God.

If you have any other questions, feel free to IM me.

EDIT:
Missed the holy book one.
The closest we have to a holy book is the Havamal. General life philosophy.

Answer 2

1. I am starting on the Northern Path/Asatru... from Celtic.

2. I was called to it more than led to it... I just didn't recongize the calling (hard to explain)

3. I don't really care how people refer to the stories. No I have never confronted someone who calls them myths or says they aren't true.

4. Out of all of the people I have spoken to about Celtic and Asatru, they didn't do it to rebel (though I'm sure there are some who do it for those reasons - I can only speak about what I have experienced myself and what others have told me)

5. I know there are different names for it, but I personally don't meet with any other followers anywhere. There just aren't any close enough to me.

6. No, I don't speak any Old Norse. Though I am starting to pick up on the general terms used for different ideas.

7. No. Odin is not the same as Zeus. Those are 2 different gods, though I know many people would claim they are the same or at least similar... and at one time I would have too.

Celtic is being reconstructed, as well as the Egyptian beliefs. More and more Ancient Pagan Paths are being reconstructed. It just takes a while to go through all of the archeological information as well as historical writings.

That's as basic as I can get on the info you asked for. I can't really get indepth on Asatru since I am really only starting to walk that Path... and though some things are similar to the Celtic Path, it is still a different Path all together.

Answer 3

1. What religion do you follow? Is that what you prefer it be called? (I've heard lots of different names)
I am Heathen, we are also known as Asatru.
2. How were you led to your religion?
Frigga called me to gods. There is a long story but I'm not going to put it here. LOL
3. What do you think when people refer to the story of your Gods as myths? Have you ever confronted somebody about it? Most times no it doesn't bother me. To them the gods are a myth, to me they are reality. I don't care what they think. I get more irked at pagans with the gods then outsiders LOL
4. Is it true that a lot of people join your religion simply to rebel, rather than for true belief? how do you feel about this, if true? Probably not in the Asatru tradition. It is not one that you practice lightly and really isn't "commericalized". Most of the Recon trads don't have too awful many fluffy bunnies. We run them off. We DO have them. But they don't last long.
5. Do you have a specific name for the building you meet in?We don't have "official" buildings. We have fellowship at people's house and the same for rituals. You can many any space holy.
6. Do you speak any Old Norse/ Ancient Greek?
Speak? No. Familiar with? Some
7. Do you consider Odin to be the same as Zeus? Are they the same as the God of other religions? NO! NO! NO! Odin and Zues are two completly different indivuals. THIS would be the thing I get irked about. Any recon will. Our gods are NOT a part of any other god. They are our literal ancestors. They are OUR elder kin. What on earth does Odin have to do with the Greeks?

We don't have "holy books" in the same sense as Christians. We do have our lore, which is very important to us. The two big ones are Prose Edda and Poetic Edda.

There are actually a pretty good amount of us on yahoo.

Answer 4

1 Ásatrú but heathenism, Germanic/Norse polytheism, paganism all work.

2 It was the beliefs of my ancestors, built into my genetic heritage. I felt connected to it as soon as I learned about it.

3 The stories contained in the Eddas are myths, but they are myths that teach us about our Gods and our ancestors and teach us the traits we will need to survive in the world. There's certainly no need to confront anyone about it.

4 Yes I'm sure it is, rebelling against your parents is a common occurance during adolecense and what better way than to challenge their religious beliefs. That said all my pagan/heathen friends are adults and most value their families above everything else.

5 there are many names for such places by generally we meet either in the local pub or outdoors.

6 No and I don't feel any less capable of understanding my ancestors because I don't speak their language. The language I use evolved over time from theirs and retains many of it's original concepts, constructs and words.

7 No. Zeus is a Hellenic deity but Odin is Germanic/Norse. They're not two names for the same deity but rather two seperate deities related to two seperate peoples with different cultures, languages and homelands.

Reconstruction doesn't just relate to the religious ideas of a people but also to their way of life. Hellenismos and Ásatrú are not the only reconstructed belief systems out there and within them there are many levels of reconstruction and many differing ideas about what should be reconstructed and what should be ignored as overly syncretic or plainly incorrect. One common thread with all reconstructive ideas however is that when you learn about the Gods of a culture you begin to understand the people as well.

We don't have a holy book, but there are many texts that have value to us. The Eddas, Tacticus's Germania, Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, Beowulf, Havelok the Dane, The Orkney Sagas and many many more.

Answer 5

Hello, I am a greek pagan...you've got a lot of questions. I don't have time to get to them all but i'll answer some of them quickly.

2. I was led to my region the way a lot of people find it, through the internet and other people.

3. That makes me a bit uncomfortable, but it's common so I don't argue with it.

4. I think you're talking about Asatru with that one...

5. Temple

6. Some greek, yes.

7. No, that's Wicca...and they are not the same as us. We often don't like them very much.

We have many different "holy" writing, not just one book.

Answer 6

do not forget approximately the Thespians who have been there too, or the recent Zealanders and Australians who held the comparable pass against the Germans in 1941. via WWII, the land replaced into plenty wider than in Leonidas' cases so the ANZACS had extra to hold.

Answer 7

It would take ages to answer youre queastion so i will just star it