What is the Northern Tradition?

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

• The religiosity of the northern tribes can be traced back to a wider Eurasian tradition akin, if not identical, to Vedism. One modern name for this wider tradition is Arioweghya - The Noble Path. This Eternal Tradition is also called Senotenodhermn in ProtoIndoEuropean. 
  "The (Northern) tradition...is a sacred and magical world-view which is a part of the ancient Indo-European way of life.  Indian Hinduism is the eastern end of this observance, and the Northern Tradition is the north-western end." - Nigel Pennick
• "It is the essential spiritual observance of the Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Frisian, Germanic, Norse and Baltic regions, originating in prehistoric times and continuing in a modified and updated form until the present day as folk-custom, the veneration of saints, household magic and rural practices."   - Nigel Pennick,  Practical Magic in the Northern Tradition 
• Many Iron Age people practiced a form of Romano-Celtic/Romano-Germanic Heathenry.  Deeply related to Graeco-Roman Paganism, the Northern Tradition contains many Southern European elements yet remains a reflection of the hyperborean soul. It is even believed by some that much of what is considered Classical mythology, such as The Iliad and The Odyssey, originated in the Baltic north. Indeed Apollo, who had a widespread cult covering vast areas of Europe, was always understood by the Greeks to be a northern deity and was known to the Celts as Mabon, Maponas and Oenghus while the Germanic tribes knew him as Baldur and Phol.
• Although the Northern Tradition is a product of the mighty Indo-European legacy, it was also heavily influenced by the Finnish-Ugrian and Pictish cultures.
• Several hundred years ago Vinland began to contribute to the Northern Tradition by providing a rich collection of folklore from New England.  However European people were in this land long before that.  The ancient seafaring Celts were roaming and living on this continent at least 1,600 years before even the better known Viking explorations. 
• There are various types of Heathenry including Asatru, Odinism, Theodism, Irminism, Wotanism, Odalism and Druidism.  Today the three most well known branches of the Northern Tradition are Asatru, Theodish Belief, and Druidism.  All three were independent developments.
  • Asatru is the Icelandic term for the original pre-christian Nordic-Germanic way of life.  This native European religion is sometimes called Odinism, however the latter term is more appropriately understood as being a slightly different denomination.  The Aesir, Vanir, land spirits, and Ancestors are the focus of the Asatru faith. Odinism has a similar focus, but places a greater concentration on Odin as All-Father with some Odinists even seeing Him as the Supreme Being.
  • Another form of Teutonic Heathenry is the Anglo-Saxon Theodish Belief.  In forging fellowship with the Ese, Wanes and other wights, Theodism recognizes the importance of Sacral Kingship and community.
  • Druidism is the priesthood of the ancient Celtic religion.   As such, the Druid is the Celtic equivalent of the Norse Godhi and the Vedic Brahman.   In the Gaelic tongue, the gods are referred to as the Tuatha de Danaan. 
    • The late 17th century saw the beginnings of Fraternal Druidism with Masonic and Christo-Celtic leanings. 

"Asatru is not just what we believe. It is what we are"    - Stephen A. McNallen

"God the Nordics regarded as being too great for any man to wholly understand or wholly comprehend.  But something of God they could in some measure understand, and that something they called Odin..."          - A. Rud Mills,  1957

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

LAY OF THE NORSE GODS AND HEROES.

Step out of the misty veil
Which darkly winds round thee;
Step out of the olden days,
Thou great Divinity!
Across thy mental vision
Passes the godly host,
That Bragi's melodies
Made Asgard's proudest boast.
There rise the sounds of music
From harp strings sweet and clear,
Wonderfully enchanting
To the receiving ear.
Thou wast it, thou hast carried
Sagas of northern fame,
Did'st boldly strike the harp strings
Of old skalds; just the same
Thou spann'st the bridge of Bifrost,
The pathway of the gods;-
O name the mighty heroes,
Draw pictures of the gods!

-author unknown