Jan
Lifestyle
What is the Heathen lifestyle? There is no one Heathen lifestyle. Heathenism is so diverse that there are few shared traits among it adherents. We cannot point to one lifestyle because Heathens themselves are diverse. For a start, look at the various traditions. There are several each of Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, German, English and Dutch traditions. Alongside these are folks who claim no particular affiliation. Heathens include people who live in urban, suburban and rural environments. There are Heathens in North America, Europe, South America, and even amusing places like Australia and New Zealand. Heathenism has blue collar and white collar workers, professionals, craftsmen, tradesmen, truckers, civil service, military personnel, and many other trades. With this much variety, we do not have a single shared Heathen lifestyle.
Attempts to formulate Heathenism into one thing with a single set of doctrines, beliefs and practices is futile. Along with Reconstructionists and Modernists are many shades of belief. Just the nature of the Gods alone evokes different ideas. Some believe they are individual entities, and others think they are aspects of a singular core entity. There are those who believe the Gods are evolved beings and others see them as symbols. Viewpoints range from almost-literal to metaphysical to extremes that sound almost agnostic. Likewise, some Heathens adhere to the magickal aspects and others have a non-magickal approach, with various shades of belief between the two.
There would appear to be more differences than similarities among today’s Heathens. Indeed, beliefs and lifestyles vary greatly. In spite of that, we do well to give each other the same respect we want for ourselves. We likely disagree with many of our fellow Heathens on some points. It is wiser of us to be content to maintain mutual respect than to take issue with others. Even better, we can listen to each other without taking umbrage. Our fellow Heathen’s views on things may differ and even be diametrically opposed to ours. Nonetheless, we can have mutual respect rather than strife. It is important that when we listen, we give the other fellow the benefit of the doubt.
I doubt there will ever be unity of belief and lifestyle in Heathenism. By mutual respect and a spirit of goodwill to fellow Heathens, we can have unity of another kind. When we look past the theological and social differences to treat each other as fellow Heathens, we create a unity of the people. A people united in a mutual spirit of goodwill and respect is a powerful thing, indeed!
