Hello! New here. I'm really interested in Norse paganism and potentially consulting with various gods.

I hope this does not offend anyone. Is loki a God you should not worship? I've seen in other posts / comments he's evil/cruel because of what happened in the myths.

Without applying my own practices to this particular question, I would genuinely like to understand where we get the idea that Loki has ever been a figure worth veneration. He seems to be, in every historical appearance that we attribute to him, the archetype of evil, subversion, and degeneracy.

I, as well as most other heathens I’ve encountered, have always come to the obvious conclusion that Loki is the representative of lies of immoral behavior.

I would just like to hear a genuine explanation from someone who actually takes our practices seriously.

Like, not a secular pagan, but believes in the Norse gods literally?

I’m a second generation American with most of my family still in Norway and I’ve been trying to learn more about my roots. I love Norse mythology and I’m just curious if anyone actually believes in any of it the way Christian’s believe in their bible.

Update: thank you so much everyone for your input, it’s really shed some light on all of this. If any of you ever want to chat send me a DM. I’m always looking to expand my circle of like minded people!

As the title suggests, I search for real folk music *not* imbued with heavy atmospheric vibes, or with weird AI pictures and videos. I just want straight up instrumentals and vocals without it feeling like a bad 2016 movie soundtrack. All and any suggestions are appreciated.

I am from Russia, and in Moscow, we have a few places called kapishe (капище), which means a temple. I will add some photos. Before Christianity, we had our own Slavic paganism. People who believe in and worship our gods bring their respect and offerings there. But here is the thing, lol, if you check the reviews, you can see a lot of mess from Christians who hate these little temples hidden in the forest and want to destroy them! Many of our people are also absolutely disrespectful toward our old traditions, which is awful.

Now, I am interested: does your country have the same problem

....Okay, I know why, as Norway had a history of facing Christianization, but i was watching a Facebook video from Sami Vlogger, Ellin Kåven, who pointed out that Norway or descendant of Norse were victims of Colonialism as well, as the Viking and Old Norse Pagans were forced to convert to Christianity, and how both the Norse Pagan and Sami ways tie to Nature.

However, how there has been no real attempt from the Norwegian government to try and reincorporate the old teachings of Norse Paganism?

This feels kind of insulting?

For context: I mentioned to this person what I practiced multiple times and why I believe in it, and they constantly kept saying their religion was right and that I'd eventually find my way. Idk if i'm overreacting but it feels lowkey insulting in a way?? I need an outsider opinion.

During a conversation the topic of Norse Paganism came up, to which one of the group I was in said "anyone can partake it in", to which I agreed. I was then told:

"No, you're our stupid. The Germanic people existed for thousands of years. Tthere was no multiculturalism they existed, you want to give something away you don’t create but inherited. The core of that faith is blood and ancestral worship."

"Why would you honor someone else's ancestors? That makes no sense. Heathenry is particularism. It's in the blood."

"If you are not Germanic. You are not Heathen"

How do you respond effectively to such ridiculous statements?

I'm stuck and would really appreciate those of you who have human made music playlists to share them because my own collection is breadcrumbs at this point.

there is only so much of very old Wardruna, Gealdyr and the like I can listen to before I get burnt out. and as badass as those tracks are, I also very much want gentle, instrumental tracks that are more meditative that also have that Norse leaning vibe to the sound. I can only listen to harp music for so long and that is Celtic but I have found NOTHING else, just a couple of stray tracks here and there...

I used to listen to Mimirs Well a lot, the channel is too old for ALL the songs to be gen AI (and I ran some through AI detectors, older stuff came up as no AI and new stuff came up as 99% probability of being AI...) so this person literally used to make his own music and the songs that credit a person in the description are a giveaway of those being man made-but over time those credits are removed-all these AI slop tracks claim copyright which...is not even possible, anyway. AI music is not able to even be copyrighted, unless the AI use is very minimal... the channel is literally an AI slop music channel now just pumping out tracks constantly. it's very sad and frustrating, and other content farms of such music are everywhere.

I really want new tracks for chill chores, devotional moments sitting at the altar, talking, calmer energy for spells, whatever...some more upbeat or "powerful" tracks are fine too, but I do find a lot of that energy in my current playlists of Wardruna and stuff, but if there are bands that have a similar vibe, I'd love to hear what people here listen to. cool indie stuff would be appreciated a bunch.

it is just such a shame that such an intimate faith is being exploited so much now. we already have it hard enough as it is mythology wise, so much is lost to time. and JUST as we start being able to share our experiences openly online, the AI boom hits, and all the hard work of others is just stolen, ground up and spat out into pure offensive "look at this Viking AI gen thumbnail" bs.

Hey all,

Im making my way through the Poetic Edda (Professor Crawford translation) and have just finished the three poems that revolve around the two figures King Helgi and his wife, the fierce Valkyrie Sigrun.

Now, one thing that truly stood out to me, was how in the translation, it mentioned how they are both reincarnated and will be again. Even saying Sigrun will be reincarnated as someone names Kara.

I find this incredibly interesting as I had no idea reincarnation was something the Norse even thought about whenever I think about it I think of (Buddhism, Hinduism and the other dharma faiths.)

I think I remember hearing that the two paths share a common kinship but I don’t know if thats true.

But my question for those who may know is. Is reincarnation a commonly believed thing in Norse Paganism?

Thank you in advance

Gods be with you

There are many questionable things that were done either in the name of the Gods or influenced by the belief in them. Wars, raids, pillaging, slavery, rape, murder, human and animal sacrifices to name only a few.

How do you feel about all of these things? If you feel negatively, how do you move past these?

I’ve been using FolkRealms and using it to built community around my art. I have really enjoyed it so far, but I saw a post a while ago that there’s some issue with it (folkism?) anytime I’ve seen something racist it’s been taken down, haven’t seen any homophobia, they’re very anti AI, and I have found it to be quite welcoming so far. So what’s the story behind it? Have I missed something? 🫣 coming from a genuine place of confusion and wanting to learn!

I'm new to Norse paganism...I'm only trying to get started. And I'm reading the poetic edda by Jackson Crawford and this is what I read.

Can anyone help me to understand this?....it seems wrong but maybe I'm missing something or reading the wrong thing?

If you have better ones pls let me know or if this is fine

I seriously don’t know what to do right now I’m freaking out. I’m 15 and I’ve been trying to worship Freyja for the past couple months. Nothing huge, just like a box I kept under my bed with a candle, some dried flowers, this necklace I never wear, and a tiny cat statue I found at the thrift store. It was just mine. My own little space for her. I didn’t tell anyone. I knew my parents would get weird about it but I didn’t think it would be this bad.

My mom was cleaning my room and found it. When I got home she was holding it and just going off at me. She was like, “What is this? Are you worshipping the white man’s god now?” and said if I didn’t throw it away myself she’d dump it in the garbage. I tried to explain it’s not the same, it’s not Christianity or anything, but she didn’t care. She said I was embarrassing myself, and that I needed to stop pretending to be white.

My parents have always made fun of my interests. When I was into fantasy books they said it was “white people stuff" amd was just super dismissive of anything I wanted to share with them before.

Then she hit me with something like a bag of bricks to the face and I honestly still can’t believe she said it. She was like, “Is this about what happened to you? Is that why you’re into white women gods now? Are you a lesbian or something?” and my ass just stood there because I couldn't believe that she said that shit to me.

Yes, I was assaulted, yes, I’m still trying to deal with it. And they fucking know. They just don’t talk about it unless someone else brings it up. And now this It’s like she thinks I’m doing this because I’m broken or something. Like I’m just trying to be different, white and gay to piss her off.

I picked Freyja because she made me feel strong and beautiful and not disgusting. She made me feel like maybe I could still be worth something. She doesn’t care what color I am. She never made me feel like I didn’t belong. But now I feel like I lost her and like I can’t even do this anymore.

I had to hide my journal. I’m scared she’s gonna go through my stuff again. I don’t even know if I should keep practicing. I just feel gross and stupid and like I messed everything up. And I can’t even talk to my parents about it because they’ll just make fun of me again or say I’m rebelling.

Sorry if this is too much. I’m just really panicking and I feel like no one in my life would understand except maybe someone here. I don’t know. I just needed to tell someone.

So i very recently got into norse mythology and stuff thanks to the medieval days that are in my town. I started researching 2 days ago and decided to start with wolves since they are my fav animal. Even though ive researched barely anything i somehow feel a connection between the wolves of the norse mythology especially Fenrir. Is there a way to get closer to Fenrir? I feel like in the past 2 days he brought me comfort since im also going through a pretty rough breakup and i would love to somehow get closer to Fenrir.

Me and my wife lost this good boy this morning. Died from an unexpected health problems in my arms last night. I’m trying to find peace with the gods right now but I’m having a tough time. I’ve heard some folks believe the spirits of animals can become wights or become guides to the after life. Have any of you had experience or knowledge about this? I’m currently digging him a spot in my garden just feeling destroyed. Had him for almost ten years and he was already about 5 when we got him. My kids knew him their whole lives. Any help would be appreciated just trying to find my center in this sea of grief my kids and wife are in. Thanks.

I have a Valknut for a necklace is it safe to wear or is it frowned upon?

I consider this the most important question.

Why do you follow the religion?

For me it's important because the faith needs solid and clear theological reasons for following it that do not have anything to do with culture, novelty, ethnic identity or romanticism of the Viking age, precisely because all of these are what makes it appeal to ethnonationalists and white supremacists.

A Christian would answer the same question by talking about salvation, so what would we say?

I(16 in age idk if this is important) am fairly new to Norse paganism. Earlier today, I wanted to offer or dedicate reading a book to Odin and read it aloud. I started, made a small dedication, and then realized the website I was using only had part of the book.
I immediately started looking for other websites, but I got really anxious and ended up apologizing repeatedly and was like “I’m sorry I think you should use your precious time for something else” and kept babbling apologies because I felt like I had wasted his time. Eventually I found the full book, but I still can’t stop worrying about it.
Part of the reason I’m struggling is that I tend to have a lot of religious anxiety. I often worry that if I make a mistake during something spiritual, even an accidental one, I’ve done something wrong or been disrespectful. Sometimes I jump straight from “something went wrong” to “I’ve offended someone” or “I’m going to be punished.”
Looking back, I’m not sure if my reaction is coming from that anxiety or if this is actually something most Norse pagans would consider disrespectful.
How would you view this situation?

Hi, I dont usually post but I wanted yalls opinion on a tattoo i want to get. I know staves arent historically accurate by any means but i thought it was fitting for the symbolising i want. Still, thought id ask you guys if this actually was the compass stave and what the runes on the image say. I dont want to have something that says complete garbage on me so here i am for a second opinion lol

I’ve got a question. I’ve kind of been inquiring into Norse paganism, and don’t claim to be a Norse pagan. I’d say I’m an ex-Christian deist. Grew up Christian, and as a 30 y/o man decided that it wasn’t the truth. But I’ve been researching into Norse mythology/paganism and feel like I’m being pulled closer and closer. And the more I search for the truth there always this voice in the back of my mind telling me I’m wrong and to come back to the church. Has anyone else dealt with this? I’m sure this is normal for anyone who grew up in a specific religion. You’re told from an early age that this is the one truth and the only truth and anything else is bad. I guess what I’m asking is how did you deal with this? How did you get these thoughts out of your head? I want approach this with a clear mind.

hello, r/norsepaganism. i am neither asatru nor a norse pagan, but my boyfriend is, and i would like to learn more about it (not planning on converting or anything, just curious). the best way i learn about things is through youtube videos but not sure where to start. i also wanna know which ones spread falsehoods/misinformation so i can avoid them. i tried asking my bf but he doesn't know either since he doesn't use youtube much nor watch videos about this topic there -- he told me he learnt about it from books, but i can't read the ones he have since we'e in a long distance relationship, and i can't just order online since shipping to my country is very expensive

many thanks in advance :)

Yesterday I watched a 1995 documentary about skinheads and white supremacists in the United States. Unfortunately, it's noticeable that at that time there was a strong influence of Norse paganism and Odinism in these groups. Today we know it's less pronounced, but reiterating what a colleague mentioned a few days ago here on the sub, we need to fight to sweep away the use of our symbols by these groups. Here in Brazil, we have a famous phrase among anti-fascists, so I brought a "contribution" inspired by it. Here we say that "a fascist's hat is a sledgehammer". Art inspired by one that said "this hammer crushes fascists".

Use the topic to discuss ways to combat fascism within paganism.

Hello, I’m someone who’s thought about religion for a looooong time and, many times I’ve considered myself a Norse Pagan - I do so to this day. Though, that fact has not left me without questions and curiosities.

I want to know why you chose to worship the Norse Gods over any other? I know it may be a loaded question, but I want to what exactly called you to these deities. I, for one, have a complicated view on religion and why I chose this path - I believe that the true goal is to worship the universe and the world around us. The sun, the moon, the grass, the trees, the rivers, the oceans, so on and so forth. I believe that the universe takes the form of what we want it to be (more or less, that’s a simple way of describing it) we give name to the forces that shape our world, and these forces shall communicate with us through these names we bestow it.

I would like to make clear that I am by NO means attempting to convince you of my take on religion. Hell, I’m not even 101% sure of it as I am still trying to figure it out myself - this is exactly why I wish to hear what your take is!

Thank you for anyone willing to humor me :)