The Northern Gnostic

[Mercury]

My early attempts to connect with ancestral gods would remain in the back of my mind for a great deal of time. I was almost a decade and a half away from discovering a living religion called Asatru.


A place for Christo-Heathenry...

Most Asatru publications will not hesitate to mention the various conflicts that often occur between Heathenry and Christianity. In fact, Asatruar usually derive a great deal of satisfaction in pointing them out. As this tension is undeniably a part of historical and current relations between the two religions, it is certainly important to note it.

However this web page will be taking a different approach. Like most traditional peoples, the folk of northern Europe have always been skilled at syncretistic spirituality. Over the centuries they have displayed a remarkable knack for making potentially hostile systems work well together. This is a trait that I hope I've inherited.

One of my tasks is to find some sort of common ground between the native faith of my distant ancestors and the religion of my recent grandfathers. Perhaps the key to doing this is in recognizing the many Heathen gods and traditions disguised in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox garb.

Asatru has helped fill a void in my life that I never fully knew was there. It made me aware of my proud Germanic heritage. It gave me culture. This link with the Heathen past is something that modern European Americans sorely need.

Yet what has become apparent to me is that our folk will never return to their traditional ways unless some kind of meaningful continuity can be made with generations of Christian Ancestors. We can't just put aside 800 years of spiritual life in an attempt to reassemble something which is missing important pieces without first examining the cult of Saints for hidden Heathen lore. How can we truly follow an Ancestral path while we insult or ignore the religious devotion of our grandparents? As Heathens, it is our responsibility to honor all our forebears, not just the ones that lived during the Viking Age.

The vast tapestry of Ancestral faith has many different strands woven into it. Carelessly pulling out all threads of Christian influence would endanger the exquisite pattern that Wyrd has worked for us.

Most of us who are now Asatruar were not always so. Some of us even had fulfilling, if incomplete, spiritual lives prior to our involvement with Germanic Paganism. Are we then to conclude that any insights of a Christian nature that were gained during this period were irrelevant to our growth? Need we reject Christian Wisdom to sincerely espouse Heathenry? I say nay. Just as Odin's nine nights on the Tree pointed to the Cross of Christ, so can the crucifix point back to Yggdrasil.

Dare I actually suggest that one could be both Heathen and Christian?

Aye, our forefathers did as much. (Although Heathens certainly do not need to practice a Christian religiosity in order to mine it for hidden Heathen custom.)

Right now this experimental page is simply a collection of quotes that might be of interest to a person practicing a Gnostic Christian Germanic Heathen faith. The quotes are offered to support several ideas which could be relevant to a path which blends Teutonic Paganism with the Gnosis of esoteric Christianity. Although some might find this combination unusual, the goal of this site is to eventually explore both the Nordic "santeria" practiced by our Ancestors and the compatibility of the Northern Tradition with certain forms of Gnosticism. The aforementioned ideas are as follows....

More at http://jeffdiehl.com/the.htm

[Piparskeggr]

I was on Jeff's Yahoo list for quite some time.

For folks of that mindset, it is a very good place to discuss things and find fellowship.

The synergies did not speak true to my heart, but then again, my heart is true only to my own beliefs and no one else's.

Not my cuppa tea, but seem to be good folks nonetheless.

[Osweo]

Such a mix can only ever be a stage that people go through. But if some need this stage, then so be it.

It might even result in some useful and valid investigations into older saints' cults and the like, or pop out a few interesting theological concepts as 'food for thought' if nothing else to those with more confidence to step away from a Christianity that they feel creaking a little at the seams.

[Liffrea]

I admit that such a system has its attractions, I personally don’t believe it credible to suppose that Christian influence is just going to disappear from the European mindset, that’s not realistic at all in my opinion, the religion may well be dying but its influence will not.

Thus such a system has appeal gives the possibility of melding two streams of thought into one, examples of where this has been attempted would be Tolkien’s mythological creation and I’ve also seen parallels between the Gothic-Faustian culture of Spengler and the Germano-Norse world view that Tolkien expanded on in various writings.

However Tolkien’s work leans heavily to his Catholic faith…..and that’s the problem any such system will have to lean towards one or the other to the extent that you compromise one or both beliefs. To be Christian one has to accept that man is flawed, that there is such a thing as “sin”, a moral system that is metaphysical and unconditional and a “saviour”………that isn’t Heathenism and Christian missionaries had their work cut out (and failed in many respects) to persuade the Heathen people of Germanic Europe that they were sinners in need of salvation. Whilst on the other hand if you lean towards Heathenism then “God” just becomes some personalised Wyrd and Christ just another God…….and really we have enough I think.

Nice idea, but impractical in my view if you intend to be honest with either faith.

Of course that doesn’t mean you cannot indulge your passions, I have a deep love for Gothic Christianity, the Old English Christian writings, the Mary-Devil duality (I have a Mary pendant somewhere given to me as a child), the amazing art and architecture of Faustian Christianity, I even enjoy the Bible, Catholic and King James. Yet I chose to follow Odin, and I don’t regret the decision.