Priesthood in the Indo-European Tradition & the Anglo-Saxon Polytheistic Revival.

Part 2

One absolute certainty we have in regards to our revered ancestors tradition is that our folk had a Priesthood. This Priesthood was very powerful. Tacitus states (in Germania);

“But to reprimand, to imprison, even to flog, is permitted to the priests alone, and that not as a punishment, or at the general's bidding, but, as it were, by the mandate of the god whom they believe to inspire the warrior.”

They were deeply respected by our Germanic ancestors, to the point where in the Thing;

“Silence is proclaimed by the priests, who have on these occasions the right of keeping order.”

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Logadōm - Part 18

The Cult of Personality c

We all need to feel a sense of belonging. Survival decreased & quality of life lessens when we go it alone. Hence, why the bundle of sticks is strong, the pack dominates, & the organization is esteemed. We desire inclusion, which is why most are followers. It’s the CoPc-type that is the most dangerous of all. He’s the one who uses his intelligence to knowingly con, manipulate, & infiltrate whatever & whomever to achieve his desired goal. He has to be #1 & oftentimes uses his big voice to bully his opponents, while simultaneously speaking of all he’s done to help. He has a pattern of joining a group & hyping himself up to get into a position of power. Once there, he’ll sow seeds of division, then wait patiently as those seeds bear fruit. He then becomes quiet & eventually leaves. Mission accomplished. The CoPc is the worst kind of Logisċ, for he’s only interested in fame & adoration & will destroy all whom he perceives as a threat.

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Priesthood in the Indo-European Tradition & the Anglo-Saxon Polytheistic Revival.

Part 3

In pagan Iceland a Guþi was the spiritual and secular leader of their community. They are attested historically in the Gray Goose Laws (a law code believed to have been written in the 920’s), the Landnámabók (a “Book of Settlements,” from the 9th/10th century) and the Sturlunga Saga (a collection of many Saga’s regarding the settlement and history of Iceland). In the early Icelandic society the Nobility (or the most wealthy individual of a community) was expected to maintain the Hof which would itself serve secular and religious functions.

The sources also contain the title of Allsherjargoði (“All-Peoples-Chieftain”). In Iceland this was held by the direct descendants of the first Norse settler of Iceland, Ingólfr Arnarson. It was a largely ceremonial role to sanctify the Althing, but this does strongly indicate a hierarchy (a taboo word in modern Heathendom) of the priesthood.

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Logadōm - Part 19

The Lone Wolf

The aforementioned Cult of Personality types are known throughout every social circle; however, not everyone desires, or fits into these categories. Some are the outliers; those who seek to go it alone, thus embracing self-mindedness & rejecting folk-mindedness. Oftentimes, he has a stubbornness, which similar the CoPb type, cares more about being right than what is right. This often manifests in a contentious personality where everything is argued against. He generally has a disdain for authority & cannot tolerate hierarchy of positions, even if those positions are legitimately earned. Resultantly, he falls into the fill-in-the-blanks religiosity of New Agism, which has many faces (not all congruent with each other). This susceptibility is from his inability to work with others, as he generally cannot admit wrong, despite evidence or logic presented. Not all lone wolves are “bad”, but it certainly isn’t a healthy place to be.

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Priesthood in the Indo-European Tradition & the Anglo-Saxon Polytheistic Revival.

Part 4

Most in the Heathen community believe the Goþi title was only an Icelandic phenomenon but this is not true. The Runestone I quoted at the start of this article mentioning a Goþi is located in Denmark on the island of Funen. It commemorates a man that was responsible for a sanctuary (ON: Vé) and was a Thegn (nobility). Another runestone that dates back to 400AD (Nordhuglo stone) is found in Norway and is strongly placing the title against sorcery. It specifies that those holding the title “is immune to sorcery,” or “does not practice sorcery,” depending upon translation.

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Anglo-Saxon pagan temple at Yeavering by Robert Molyneaux

Logadōm - Part 20

In this Wulfyld, in which we live, degeneracy, debauchery, & decadence run amok; rampant through every society & family. In the 1950s, Solomon Asch conducted a series of psychological experiments & found people were willing to ignore reality & give incorrect answers in order to conform to the rest of the group. In another set of experiments, Stanley Milgram instructed his subjects to perform acts conflicting with their personal conscience. They were told to assist in administering electric shocks to someone. The shocks were fake, but they believed them to be real, with some of them being fatal had they been real. Every subject blindly obeyed giving the initial shocks, with 65% willing to cause to person intense pain. Fact is, a good many fall victim to the Cult of Personality, though many more succumb to the lowest common denominator - degeneracy.

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The genetics of Icelanders more Anglo than expected!

-Roughly equal numbers of Scandinavian and British/Irish people were among the founding settlers of Iceland.
-The British portion was not just Scottish /Irish. 35% of the immigrants had English ancestry while only 10-31% had Scottish/Irish ancestry.
-Therefore the English contribution to Icelandic genepool is equal to Scottish and Irish combined.
-FEMALES: 44% Scandinavian, 33% English, 18% Scottish/Irish
-MALES: 37% Scandinavia, 30% English, and 29% Scottish/Irish

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7870008/

Priesthood in the Indo-European Tradition & the Anglo-Saxon Polytheistic Revival.

Part 5

This is a selection of the lore that has been left to us, but this is no exhaustive list. From the sources we can come to a few very firm conclusions; the priesthood was a power at least on par with the nobility (and were selected from the nobility), they had certain powers over the population (some things even the kings could not do), and that the carrier of these sacred positions had innate protections against sorcery.

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I am the bear. I forge my own path. My wyrd is fully fixed. I am sometimes gentle and playful; other times walking death. At times I hibernate; to gain strength. Other times, I walk forward, and when I do, I change, adapt, overcome; succeeding through sheer willpower, strength, and unwavering ferocity. When the gods compel, I listen. I play the long game. The Wódenic path. The power of Þunor. The majesty of Seaxnēat-Fréa. When the choice is clear, others move aside. I am the bear.

~ Folcweard Lārġyfa

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There is a reason why women is said to be the heart of the family. There is no stronger motivational power than the love from a woman, a mother, a wife.

Just as the heart continues to make the blood pump and flow through the body, the woman motivates and inspires the family with her love and dedication. She makes the family whole.

It has been scientifically proven that just hearing your mother’s voice can reduce stress and releases oxytocin in the body, a strong healing hormone. Some experiments even show that a mother’s voice can even reach through the fog of a coma to bring a brain-injured patient back to consciousness.

This is why the last thoughts and last name spoken from many soldiers that have bled out after being shot or having their bodies torn apart on the battlefield have been the thoughts and name of their mother or darling back home. Screaming for them as they eventually go quiet and never comes home, buried in an unmarked grave.

Mothers, wives, are the most powerful inspiration in the world.

Preserved in English folk music is an instrument called the riddle drum. This is a modern name for a type of drum possibly having been once called a hylsung. The drum originated in Anglo-Saxon times as a farming tool, a sieve designed to remove husk from corn, a process called winnowing or riddling – hence the name. The instrument was played across the British isles, including Cornwall and Ireland where it was known as the English riddle.

As some of you may know, this Yule historically does not start until January 6th.

While historically attested tradition is crucial to a pagan, evolving traditions are inherent to every culture. The modern celebration of Yule would place it’s beginning on the Winter Solstice, December 21st. Evolved traditions are important to uphold as well, if anything, to keep our culture alive.

Change

Many times in my life, I’ve changed; having the ability to assimilate new information & reprogram the way I think. Many think they know me, but in reality, I’m as if a stranger to them because I continue to change; growing in my beliefs & improving upon my skills. My father always taught me to strive for better, & to this day, I never settle for mediocrity. Life is about change. If we cannot change, we stagnate, & therefore fail. From talents to relationships to beliefs, change is to be embraced. It’s normal to feel regret at having, later in life, learned a new skill, mended relationships, or coming to a greater truth, for that skill would’ve been useful while younger, the relationship less hurtful as it was growing, & the truth sweeter if enlightenment came earlier; however, Fate goes ever as she shall & draws us according to her will. We must strive to live each day to the fullest & cast off the regrets of the past. Faraþ ġesunde.

~ Folcweard Lárġyfa

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Priesthood in the Indo-European Tradition & the Anglo-Saxon Polytheistic Revival.

Part 6

Now let us take a wider lens and see what other Indo-European priesthoods can teach us;

“Sena, in the Britannic Sea, opposite the coast of the Osismi, is famous for its oracle of a Gaulish god, whose priestesses, living in the holiness of perpetual virginity, are said to be nine in number. They call them Gallizenae, and they believe them to be endowed with extraordinary gifts to rouse the sea and the wind by their incantations, to turn themselves into whatsoever animal form they may choose, to cure diseases which among others are incurable, to know what is to come and to foretell it. They are, however, devoted to the service of voyagers only who have set out on no other errand than to consult them.”
~Pomponius Mela. Parthey (ed.). De Chorographia. iii, chap. 6, p. 72.

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Ancestral Languages Hold Spiritual Connections

"The [Manx] language died quickly, in a couple of generations [c. 1974], because the Manx thought that people were looking down on them for speaking it. Reality itself was changed. This was observed by several of the old survivors. Life, they said, suddenly speeded up and there wasn't time for anything any more. As one aged Manxman put it (a blacksmith who had never been beyond the borders of his own parish), 'Things are so different nowadays. Why, I haven't seen any fairies for thirty years.'"

- John Mitchell, "Manx Fairies"

Picture: Edward "Ned" Maddrell (20 August 1877 – 27 December 1974), the last native speaker of the Manx language.

Original post by Þórbeorht Hálford

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Priesthood in the Indo-European Tradition & the Anglo-Saxon Polytheistic Revival.

Part 7

Those astute readers will acknowledge the specified number of nine virgin priestesses living on a sacred island (modern day Île de Sein). This is clearly no accident, yet this is an account of Gallic Druids, and not a cult of Germanic origin.

The Druids have had many books written of them in the last couple of centuries. Yet if you were to gather all of the surviving sources written while they still held sway over the ancient Celtic peoples, it would all fit into two pages of a standard book. There’s also a level of contradiction to the sources, with some saying they were a unified organisation with a head Druid (Caesars “Gallic War”), and others saying they were more localised.

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The Folcsida Ġerīmbōc: Observances (Part 44)

Depending on one’s location, the Full Moon before the Winter Sunstead falls on either December 7th or December 8th, 2022, or Ǣrra Ġéola 17th. Bede, in his Reckoning of Time, stated, “... the 8th calends of January [25 December], when we celebrate the birth of the Lord. That very night, which we hold so sacred, they used to call by the heathen word Modranecht, that is, "mothers’ night", because (we suspect) of the ceremonies they enacted all that night”; however, Bede was likely mistaken. The Anglo-Saxons, following lunar-based religion & timekeeping, likely held this observance on the Full Moon before the Sunstead, just as Yule was celebrated on the Full Moon after the Sunstead. Traditionally, the Sunstead was used as marker in determining the layout of the year; hence, a lunar-solar calendar. Bede likely was unaware & possibly conflated Mōdranyht with Saturnalia, which fell on 25 December.

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Priesthood in the Indo-European Tradition & the Anglo-Saxon Polytheistic Revival

Part 8

With this said, what do we know of the Druids; the priests, oracles, and lore keepers of our ancient Celtic neighbours? Julius Caesar’s account makes it abundantly clear that the Druids were the prominent social group in their societies (alongside the Nobility). He claimed that they were responsible for community worship, divination & dispensation of justice. They had an oral tradition, despite having a written language (again according to Caesar’s account, using Greek letters). This is speculation, but to not write down your sacred lore despite being literate indicates a deliberate aversion to doing so. The tradition of passing down this lore vocally instead of in scripture would take up to 20 years to learn.

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Logadōm - Part 21

The Degenerate

The Degenerate is the most common byproduct of the Wulfyld, & although its origins date back much further, it mostly stems from the 1960s hippy movement. This collective societal rebellion has done the most damage to our folk. The hippies brought hyper-individualism; extreme selfishness, clothed in peace, love, & freedom, which destroyed familial bonds that has held our folk together for millennia. When one only focuses on the self, it leads to neglecting the others, which leads to not caring about others. Love isn’t love when others becomes secondary. If everyone adopts the lone wolf mentality, seeking only their own gain, then the whole suffers. The 1960s’ social Revolution was no more than a self-inflicted suicidal, divide & conquer technique ignorantly accepted & hailed as good. Free sex equals broken families, drugs equals sickeness, & unrestricted love only invites your enemies to destroy you (while you embrace your own fall).

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