WASSAIL
In United States (and British and Australia ) law Odinism is described as “the continuation of … the organic spiritual beliefs and religion of the indigenous peoples of northern Europe as embodied in the Edda and as they have found expression in the wisdom and in the historical experience of these peoples”.
The word Odinism was first used in 1848 by the writer O. Brownson, who wrote of “A revival of Odinism, or the old Scandinavian heathenism”.
Brownson was probably wrong to limit the geographical origin of Odinism to Scandinavia. Odinism is the ancestral religion of all the Germanic peoples prior to their forced, and only partially successful, conversion to Christianity. Odinism is the indigenous spirituality of many or most of the people living in what are now Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Austria, northern Italy and Spain. All of these regions (and others) were inhabited by Germanic tribes and groups, such as the Goths, Anglo-Saxons, Lombards, Franks, Visigoths, Rus, Vikings, and so on. In more recent times emigrants from these countries have also provided a large part of the population of many “New World” countries. Odinism is therefore also the spiritual heritage of most people in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. In many other countries the ancestors of a sizeable segment of the population were also Odinists. This applies to many South American states, to South Africa and Zimbabwe, and to much of Eastern Europe.
All people around the world whose ancestors were Odinists are known collectively as “the Nation of Odin”.
The focus of this site is Odinism in Argentina and the website content will be maintained in two languages – Spanish and English.
Else Christensen, known to Odinists as “The Folkmother”, defined Odinism as “the many expressions of Aryan religious philosophy”. (This was in her 1980 pamphlet,An Introduction to Odinism). The modern world’s first prominent Odinist, Alexander Rud Mills, declared that “The Odinist religion is rooted in the simple outlook of the ancient Nordic peoples”, among whom he included the ancient Greeks, Romans, Persians and Vedic Indians, alongside the peoples of northern Europe and the British Isles. (This was in his 1957 booklet, The Call of our Ancient Nordic Religion).
In short, Odinism is the ancestral spiritual tradition of our people, however they might be defined and wherever they may currently live.
The word Odinism was first used in 1848 by the writer O. Brownson, who wrote of “A revival of Odinism, or the old Scandinavian heathenism”.
Brownson was probably wrong to limit the geographical origin of Odinism to Scandinavia. Odinism is the ancestral religion of all the Germanic peoples prior to their forced, and only partially successful, conversion to Christianity. Odinism is the indigenous spirituality of many or most of the people living in what are now Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Austria, northern Italy and Spain. All of these regions (and others) were inhabited by Germanic tribes and groups, such as the Goths, Anglo-Saxons, Lombards, Franks, Visigoths, Rus, Vikings, and so on. In more recent times emigrants from these countries have also provided a large part of the population of many “New World” countries. Odinism is therefore also the spiritual heritage of most people in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. In many other countries the ancestors of a sizeable segment of the population were also Odinists. This applies to many South American states, to South Africa and Zimbabwe, and to much of Eastern Europe.
All people around the world whose ancestors were Odinists are known collectively as “the Nation of Odin”.
The focus of this site is Odinism in Argentina and the website content will be maintained in two languages – Spanish and English.
Else Christensen, known to Odinists as “The Folkmother”, defined Odinism as “the many expressions of Aryan religious philosophy”. (This was in her 1980 pamphlet,An Introduction to Odinism). The modern world’s first prominent Odinist, Alexander Rud Mills, declared that “The Odinist religion is rooted in the simple outlook of the ancient Nordic peoples”, among whom he included the ancient Greeks, Romans, Persians and Vedic Indians, alongside the peoples of northern Europe and the British Isles. (This was in his 1957 booklet, The Call of our Ancient Nordic Religion).
In short, Odinism is the ancestral spiritual tradition of our people, however they might be defined and wherever they may currently live.
Wotan / Odin
Worship of Odin may date to Proto-Germanic paganism. The Roman historian Tacitus may refer to Odin when he talks of Mercury. The reason is that, like Mercury, Odin was regarded as a Psychopomp, "guide of souls."
As Odin is closely connected with a horse called Slepnir, a spear called Gungnir, and transformation/shape shifting into animal shapes, an alternative theory of origin contends that Odin, or at least some of his key characteristics, may have arisen just prior to the 6th century as a nightmarish horse god (Echwaz), later signified by the eight-legged Sleipnir. Some support for Odin as a latecomer to the Scandinavian Norse pantheon can be found in the Sagas where, for example, at one time he is thrown out o fAsgard by the other gods — a seemingly unlikely tale for a well-established "all father". However, it could also mean Odin represented an older cult of proto-Germanic hunter-gatherers, his association with being a wanderer and having shamanic qualities, and this story might on the contrary mean the Odin-cult was taken over by newer sedentary cults. Scholars who have linked Odin with the "Death God" template includeE. A. Ebbinghaus, Jan de Vries and Thor Templin. The later two also link Loki and Odin as being one-and-the-same until the early Norse Period.
Scandinavian Óðinn emerged from Proto-Norse *Wōdin during the Migration period, artwork of this time (on gold bracteates )depicting the earliest scenes that can be aligned with the High Medieval Norse mythological texts. The context of the new elites emerging in this period aligns with Snorri's tale of the indigenous Vanir who were eventually replaced by the Aesir, intruders from the Continent.
Worship of Odin may date to Proto-Germanic paganism. The Roman historian Tacitus may refer to Odin when he talks of Mercury. The reason is that, like Mercury, Odin was regarded as a Psychopomp, "guide of souls."
As Odin is closely connected with a horse called Slepnir, a spear called Gungnir, and transformation/shape shifting into animal shapes, an alternative theory of origin contends that Odin, or at least some of his key characteristics, may have arisen just prior to the 6th century as a nightmarish horse god (Echwaz), later signified by the eight-legged Sleipnir. Some support for Odin as a latecomer to the Scandinavian Norse pantheon can be found in the Sagas where, for example, at one time he is thrown out o fAsgard by the other gods — a seemingly unlikely tale for a well-established "all father". However, it could also mean Odin represented an older cult of proto-Germanic hunter-gatherers, his association with being a wanderer and having shamanic qualities, and this story might on the contrary mean the Odin-cult was taken over by newer sedentary cults. Scholars who have linked Odin with the "Death God" template includeE. A. Ebbinghaus, Jan de Vries and Thor Templin. The later two also link Loki and Odin as being one-and-the-same until the early Norse Period.
Scandinavian Óðinn emerged from Proto-Norse *Wōdin during the Migration period, artwork of this time (on gold bracteates )depicting the earliest scenes that can be aligned with the High Medieval Norse mythological texts. The context of the new elites emerging in this period aligns with Snorri's tale of the indigenous Vanir who were eventually replaced by the Aesir, intruders from the Continent.
Odinist Cosmology
Odinist cosmology backed by science Odinist cosmology backed by science. Two conflicting concepts of the nature of time and space have competed for thousands of years. Modern science is at last on the verge of resolving the conflict one way or the other, and the ethical consequences may change the course of human development.
The Judeo-Christian myth of history is simple. In the beginning there was God. He created “the heavens and the earth” out of nothing. In the end he will destroy everything and create a new, eternal cosmological order that will be more to his liking.
The Judeo-Christian myth of history is simple. In the beginning there was God. He created “the heavens and the earth” out of nothing. In the end he will destroy everything and create a new, eternal cosmological order that will be more to his liking.
Indo-European heathen cosmology, by contrast, is far more subtle. Our ancestors believed in a universe of endlessly repeated cycles.
Vedic tradition, for instance, conceives of “great cycles of Brahma” made up of 2,560,000 “mahayugas” of 12,000 tears each (1). Every cycle fits within another, larger one, and so the universe continues, endlessly renewing itself.
The Classical pagan philosophers inherited this Indo-European cosmology of eternal recurrence, which is most familiar today from Heraclitus, Empedocles, Plato, Aristotle, Virgil and the Stoics. It is an idea that is central to all intellectually developed forms of paganism.
Vedic tradition, for instance, conceives of “great cycles of Brahma” made up of 2,560,000 “mahayugas” of 12,000 tears each (1). Every cycle fits within another, larger one, and so the universe continues, endlessly renewing itself.
The Classical pagan philosophers inherited this Indo-European cosmology of eternal recurrence, which is most familiar today from Heraclitus, Empedocles, Plato, Aristotle, Virgil and the Stoics. It is an idea that is central to all intellectually developed forms of paganism.
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