Norse
Religion Rises Once Again
Today
is a Super New Moon, Spring Equinox, International Day of Happiness, and a Solar
Eclipse. At the
future site of the Asatru temple, people gathered to observe the Solar Eclipse,
which took place at 9:38 am on Friday, March 20. At 10:38 am, Hilmar Orn
Hilmarsson, head of the Asatru association, broke ground to commence the
construction of the new temple.
“The last time there was a
solar eclipse was 61 years ago,” said Hilmar. “I thought it was an opportune
moment today. There’s also the equinox later today, so it’s the perfect
occasion.”
The solar eclipse ceremony was simple, but
alluring. Longhaired men and fur-wrapped women sang hymn-like songs to the beat
of soft drums. Hilmar spilled beer from his drinking horn, while horns honked
in unison to announce the coming of the eclipse.
“People say this is a Christian country. Yes,
it is, but I think deep in the heart of the people we are really Heathens,”
said Gunnar. “It calls back to the beginning. If we are so Christian in this
country, wouldn’t we be seeing our vessels and our buildings being called Christian
names? We have the names of Oðin and Þór and Baldúr. Our helicopters, our
equipment, they all have the God’s names. It connects to that time.”
Norse Gods have been making a comeback in
popular culture, with Thor and Loki now staples of the summer box office. In Facebook, memes that some would
consider blasphemous, thanking Odin, the chief Norse God, for ridding the world
of ice giants while some presently practiced faiths make promises that haven’t
come to pass. And in folk songs about the many Gods of World Religions
throughout history, the song’s point being there’s a lot that the many Religions
have in common.
But the Ancient Religion is also making a Spiritual
comeback.
An
old Religion is reemerging in Iceland. A wire report said that a major temple
to the Norse Gods is being built, the first one since the Vikings were in power
about 1,000 years ago. It will be circular, with a dome for sunlight, on a hill
with a view to Reykjavik.
Asatruarfelagid,
a Neopagan organization, plans to start construction next month on the
country's first Norse temple since Christianity arrived in the island nation roughly
1,000 years ago.
The Asatruarfelagid, which began in 1972, says
on its website that its values are "based on tolerance, honesty, honor and
respect for the ancient cultural heritage and nature," and follows the
principal that "each person is responsible for themselves and their
actions," according to a Google translation.
The Reykjavik City Council has donated land for
the temple, but the group has to raise nearly $1 million for the building
itself, which will be set into a hillside and topped with a dome to let in
sunlight, the BBC reported.
Once
completed, the temple will accommodate 250 worshippers. It will host weddings,
funerals, naming rituals, initiation ceremonies and more for the group's 2,488
members, which Reuters says is triple the number from just a decade ago.
It
will be a place for traditional religious ceremonies such as weddings and
funerals, but they’ll be adapted for the 21st century; Iceland’s Neopagans
already celebrate a sacrificial ritual, Blot, without the animal sacrifice.
So
maybe the Norse Pagan Religion never actually went away. It got shifted over to
mythology, alongside the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, and many dismissed
deities, and woven into Western consciousness. Is mythology where Religions go
to die, when they're appreciated as stories rather than supernatural influences
on people and nature? Or is that when they find greater truth, as stories with
wide appeal, stripped of the limitations of a particular faith tradition?
The
high priest of the Norse faith in Iceland, Hilma Orn Hilmarsson, was quoted, “I
don’t believe anyone believes in a one-eyed man who is riding about on a horse
with eight feet,” Odin. He instead spoke of story, saying, “We see the stories
as poetic metaphors and a manifestation of the forces of nature and human
psychology.”
Putting
the emphasis on story makes the Religion approachable, places it on a human
level. It brings in the sacredness of our sharing one to another, and shows our
fondness for tales of inspiration, adventure, and love. It’s the common
practice of talking and listening, of education and entertainment.
May the
religious seekers who find their way to the Viking revival have comfort in the
tales of these figures called Gods. May the literature help them in this world
in which it’s nearly impossible to comprehend, much less manage, the forces of
nature and human psychology. And, please, may the ice giants stay
away.
