Pantheacon (3) – Asatru

I’ve been slowly working up to partaking of Pantheacon completely.  I’ve often dined with friends there in the past.  This is only the second year I’ve really gone at the convention full-tilt.  Not quite sure why; maybe a fear of feeling alone there or let-down.  Last year was wonderful—I spent a lot of the con last year trying to find every single Facebook “friend” who was there.  Still, my approach had remained tentative.

I arrived this year after the opening ritual and headed for a workshop on Asatru.  Actually it was a combination workshop/book-promotion.  That was okay with me; I’m also connected with the California Writers Club.

My mind had not quite settled into the convention atmosphere, and I was worrying about an open mic I was to lead later that evening; but I did learn a few things about Asatru—and I was inspired to a little research of my own later.

Asatru is a modern Heathen religion that takes inspiration from the old traditions of northern Europe—the “heath” that includes Germany, Scandinavia, England, and Iceland.  Asatru  (the term was coined in the 1830s) is based on what we know of the traditions of the Goths, Germans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings et al; as exhibited, for example, in the Eddas of Iceland.  These tell the Heathen version of the creation of the world and cosmology, describing deities such as Odin and Freyja.  Several magical systems are represented, including the Runes.  Prominent activities include the Sumbel (ritual toasting) and Blót (community feasts).

I was surprised to learn of similarities with Sikhism:  A belief that men should not cut their hair, and the idea that adherents should carry weapons (as symbols of their spiritual freedom).

I also learned that Heathens are divided into “universalist” and “folkish” branches.  The folkish are more native-ethnically oriented; the universalists accept interested individuals regardless of ethnic or racial background (have I put that delicately enough?)

But this was my first real encounter with Asatru; I may not have understood things perfectly.

The thought came to me, as I listened to the presentation and examined some of the drawings presented, that Northern culture doesn’t particularly appeal to me; perhaps because I grew up with Biblical and Classical stories and films—Mediterranean culture makes more sense to me.  Nevertheless I became a devotee of Wagner operas while still a teenager and knew a little already about the Eddas; so it seems that the Heathen should hold some appeal.

Then again, I’ve absorbed a lot of Christian liturgical style (Catholic, Episcopalian) and mysticism, plus Vedanta and Buddhism—which perhaps facilitated my entry into Wicca.  Wicca feels right to me.  So even if Wagner has become second-nature and expresses a part of my soul…somehow I don’t seem to have a natural “bent” towards Asatru.  And anyway—Wagner (like current neo-Pagans) had a way of redoing mythology to suit his own tastes.

Pantheacon (2) – Pagans? Heathens?? Witches???

So, speaking of Pantheacon, some of you may be wondering just what this is all about?  A convention for Pagans, Heathens, Witches and such?  Surely this must be a joke.  Perhaps you cannot imagine what such an event would be like.  You can’t imagine people in the year 2013 calling themselves Pagan and the other names.

I’ve been a Pagan for over thirty years.  You may ask:  How can that be?  Surely these things have been left behind long ago, hundreds or even thousands of years ago, by civilized people.

No.  I was baptized a Lutheran and grew up hearing Bible stories, it is true.  Then, in grade school, I also heard the legends of Greek heroes.  In high school I heard about Greek tragic heroes.  So that I was familiar with the so-called “Pagan” authors before I ever got to college.  About the same time, I became interested in Wagnerian opera, eastern religion, and the psychology of Carl Jung.

I was inclined towards nature and mysticism.  When I discovered books about Wicca, and Margot Adler’s Drawing Down the Moon, it didn’t seem particularly foreign to me.

I confess, I read Adler’s book because I’d been studying mythology.  I’d spent a lot of time with Joseph Campbell’s four-volume The Masks of God.  I was interested in modern approaches to myth.  When I noticed that most of Adler’s book dealt with modern-day witches, I was a bit put-off.   Witches?!  I wasn’t interested in witches!  I thought that anyone calling themselves a witch nowadays must be either extremely shallow or extremely weird.

But it appealed to me.  It was not what I had expected.  I’d believed stereotypes.  You may have ideas of who these people are; and you may be wrong.

I’ve been surprised, over the years, by how many other people have also felt attracted to these things.  

So—I’m going to tell you a bit about Pantheacon—what I saw and heard there.

Stay tuned.