Hey hi hello!
And welcome to this website!
Im your host
Wolf the Red.
This space is going to serve as central hub for all the projects I have going on moving forward! As I develop the future of Hearthfire the local southeast kindred, produce more videos for YouTube, write prayers and rituals, and release new goodies for folks I’ll be able to update people in a more organized fashion than in the Discord server.
One of the main things this blog will focus on is the nitty gritty of being a Heathen and pagan in general. What the function of being pagan may look like for some.
Like… yeah I’m Wolf and I’m a Heathen but… what does that look like? Well for a lot of folks I bet it’s not too far away from what you already do. And of course what I do ISNT what you have to do. You can do the opposite of what I do sometimes and still be a good Heathen. You don’t need my permission that’s for damn sure.
The first thing that I encourage folks to do and that I do often… and I mean several times a day… is pray. Yeah. Pray. Heathens Pray. It’s good for you. Talk to the Gods. Be formal. Be informal. Chat with them. They’ve been talking to humans since BEFORE humans could talk. Before we had words. Before we were humans.
You not knowing what to say is the least of their worries I promise you. Tell them about your day. Ask for a better one than you had the day before. Ask for help in an upcoming trial like a job interview. Ask for vague things like future prosperity or mental stability in the coming days.
They want to help because they care. It’s that simple.
People who say the gods don’t care about us literally can’t prove that and have zero evidence to support that but I have tons of evidence to support that when I pray 🙏 I get answers. Part of the role as Goði in The Hold and Hearthfire (Georgia Kindred I founded and lead) is I take prayer requests from people and put them forward to the Community anonymously. People can read them and add them to their prayers and when they make them … usually people get back to me privately and let me know they got a positive result they were after. It’s pretty wild to be honest. Could it be a coincidence? Sure. But I personally doubt it. Would it have gone the exact same way had you not prayed? Maybe. But again… I’m pressing X here.
I believe prayer works. It may not work exactly like you want and I DONT think it’s a get out of jail free card. You still have to do the work you would normally do. Interview tomorrow? Study common questions, practice speaking with a friend. Do a mock interview. Get plenty of sleep. Dress well. Arrive early. Be professional. Ya know… normal effort.
But pray also. ONLY praying and doing none of those other things… well you will certainly be going home jobless with or without praying about it. Lol.
Praying doesn’t have to be out loud. This is something I think the Christians got right. The Gods are powerful and I think they can hear the thoughts we send them. I don’t think they are monitoring us constantly like the Christian god is accused of doing… but when they hear their name they tune in as it were. That’s why kennings and other names are so useful. Basically nicknames for the Gods that describe some of their attributes. I can say Thor but I can also say “strongest of all the Gods” or “mighty striker” and “Wielder of mjolnir” and Thor will know without a doubt I’m calling out to him.
And your words can be super formal and pre-written to help with remembering and structure… or you can literally go “sup Thor. I need your fuckin help man” there is no wrong way to pray. Kneel. Stand. Lay down. You can pray in a box. You can pray with a fox. You can pray here. You can pray there. You can pray anywhere!
So… you pray now. Cool. Good. Based and pagan pilled.
You are in the habit of asking the gods for gifts.
Well… in Heathenry we have what’s called reciprocity. Giving gifts with the understanding that gifts will be given in return. It’s not a transaction. You can’t put one gift in and expect one prayer to be answered. It’s mutual understanding and things freely given in both directions. It may not happen right when you want it and you may not get exactly what you were looking for… but in my experience and the experience of many others the gifts will be there one way or another.
So… what do we give Gods?
OFFERINGS!
This is the second thing I want yall to start doing more! Make offerings!
What’s an offering? I’m so glad you asked!
Gifts/Offering/Acts of Reciprocity – Any action taken to build reciprocity with the gods, spirits, or ancestors. The way in which we participate in the gifting cycle. Umbrella Term
Dedication/Consecration – Anointing an object specifically for use in service of the gods.
Devotional – Actions done in honor of the gods, in the name of the gods, or as a sign of your love for the gods. Often done with consecrated/dedicated tool.
Material Sacrifice – Physical objects consecrated for the gods, and then destroyed or set aside for the gods
To recap-
Offerings – Acts of Reciprocity – umbrella terms for gifts to the gods
Devotional act – an action made in the name of a God or Gods
Material sacrifice – a physical item that is given up (or destroyed) as a gift to a God or Gods
Dedication – speaking or otherwise noting that an object was inspired by a God or Gods and the promise that the use of that object will be for the purposes of that God or Gods
So… this will help you understand if you need to be giving up the things you’re giving to the gods. If they are sacrifices then you should not partake in them.Think of it like giving your friend a gift and then asking for the gift back after they have had it. Very rude.
An important note… never gift above your means. If you’re not comfortable “wasting” (it’s not waste it’s a gift) food then don’t use food in your offerings.
Use incense or water or something you are comfortable offering.
Sacrifices are not more important or better than Dedication and devotional Acts.
So now that we know what an offering is definitionally… what is it functionally?
It’s crackers tossed into the woods. It’s a poem written for the gods. It’s a ring placed on the altar. It’s quiet time sitting and contemplating the gods. Just being with them. It’s burning incense. It’s giving up parts of your meal. It’s so many things and more. It would take all day to write them all.
Important things that are NOT acceptable offerings. Hurting yourself. Blood. I’ve got a whole video on this… even in history blood was not the sacrifice in ritual. It was the life of the animal. Also I advise not letting things ROT (gross) even for Gods like Hel who described as having a half dead body. In my experience she likes things that are full of life. She’s surrounded by death and Decay. Also that’s just uhealthy. Don’t do it.
So now you are talking to the gods. You are giving them gifts and they may be giving you gifts in return.
I got one more thing I want yall to try to do more often.
Ritual. I want to hear about more rituals to the Gods. I know that’s harder for some folks. I know it can be intimidating. But I think a lot of folks psych themselves out before even getting started and make it feel like a monumental task. Like a job and then they procrastinate … suddenly it’s been 3 months since you have done ritual and you wonder why you feel disconnected from the Gods. Hmmmmm
I promise it’s not that big of a deal. It can be easy. It can even be casual. As causal as a ritual is anyways.
So what IS ritual. This deserves more words at a later date but essentially it’s “official” time set aside to reach out to the Gods for a specific purpose (even if that purpose is just to maintain contact). It’s bringing prayer and offering together in conjunction with purpose in a physical sense to create ritual. Sometimes there’s an altar which can be ANYTHING physical that has spiritual significance to you. We’ll talk more about altars later.
I often structure my rituals around an idea. Like if I want more wisdom for a certain problem or issue I would write a ritual to Odin and ask for him to give me the wisdom he is known for to help me. I say my words. I give my offerings. And I thank him for the time and gifts.
It can be as simple as having a glass of water. Write something out on your phone. Think the thoughts you read off your phone. Pour the water down the drain. Boom. Ritual.
It doesn’t have to be a huge to do.
As always I hold 3 rituals a month for the Community to participate in. 1 in person and two online that is the same as being in person. Even if you don’t have offerings or can’t due to whatever reason. Make sure you join the discord server and pay attention to the upcoming events tab to stay on top of when the next one is that you can attend!
So… now you know how to pray… how to offer… and how to ritual … you realize it’s a lot easier than most people make it out to be… let me guess… You’re about to go do pagan shit right now aren’t you!?
Man I hope so.
Until next time, go big or go home!