Heathenry and Wyrd

The Wanderer Anglo Saxon History, mythology, and religion

Anglo-Saxon Heathenry, also known as Anglo-Saxon paganism or Anglo-Saxon polytheism, is a modern reconstructionist pagan religion that seeks to revive and reconstruct the pre-Christian spiritual beliefs and practices of the Anglo-Saxon people.

This form of Heathenry is based on the historical records of the Anglo-Saxons, including the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Beowulf, and other literary and archaeological sources. Its adherents seek to recreate the religious practices and beliefs of the Anglo-Saxons, including veneration of Germanic gods and goddesses such as Woden (Odin), Thunor (Thor), and Frige (Frigg), as well as ancestral veneration and other pagan customs and rituals.

Anglo-Saxon Heathenry places a strong emphasis on community, ancestry, and the interconnectedness of all things. Many practitioners also embrace environmentalism and seek to live in harmony with the natural world.

Like other forms of Heathenry, Anglo-Saxon Heathenry is a decentralized religion with no central authority or dogma. Its practitioners may differ in their beliefs and practices, and there is no one "correct" way to practice this faith.

Wyrd is a concept from Old English and Norse mythology that refers to the idea of fate or destiny. It is often depicted as a complex and interconnected web of events and actions that shape an individual's life and determine their ultimate fate.

In Germanic mythology, the Norns were the goddesses of fate who were responsible for weaving the threads of wyrd. They would spin and weave the threads of fate, and the length and strength of each thread would determine a person's life and destiny.

The concept of wyrd is also closely related to the idea of the "threefold law" in many pagan traditions, which suggests that whatever energy a person puts out into the world will come back to them threefold.

Today, the term wyrd is sometimes used in modern pagan and spiritual communities as a way to refer to the interconnectedness of all things and the idea that every action has consequences that ripple out through the web of existence.