Heathenry in the United Kingdom

Part of a series on
Heathenry
Historical Germanic religion
Theory Theology and cosmology: Wheel of the Year Yggdrasil Clusters of deities
Organisation Holidays Gothi priesthood Religious institutions: Ásatrú Alliance Asatru Folk Assembly Ásatrúarfélagið Odinist Fellowship The Troth
Spread Heathenry in Canada Heathenry in the United Kingdom Heathenry in the United States Neopaganism in Scandinavia
Sources Proto-Indo-European religion Ariosophy

In the United Kingdom, a variety of contemporary Pagan movements professing a form of Heathenry exist.

Religious belief and practice

Most Heathens in the UK take the terms "heathen" and "pagan" to be synonymous to mean any of those indigenous, organic religions prevalent prior to Christianity that subscribed to polytheism and practised religious sacrifices^[1]. Most modern-day heathens operate in small groups or family units, often termed kindreds or hearths.^[2] There is a tendency for such groups to develop their own approaches to Heathenry independently, assisted by networking groups and Internet communication.^[3] Thus most kindreds remain unaffiliated with one another while remaining in contact.^[3]

The most evident forms of ritual practice among the British Heathen community are the Cup of Remembrance which entails the blessing of a horn of mead, some of which is offered as a sacrifice to the Gods by pouring it on to the ground (in the case of an outdoor rite) or into a sacred bowl containing soil of the motherland (in the case of an indoor rite)^[4]. Other forms of ritual include the blot and sumbel. The first of these is a rite of offering, while the latter is a rite of toasting. The latter rite is typically more formal, while blot can be more simple, and performed without words.^[5]

Demographics

In the United Kingdom Census 2001, 300 people registered as Heathen in England and Wales.^[2] However, many Heathens followed the advice of the Pagan Federation (PF) and simply described themselves as "Pagan", while other Heathens did not specify their religious beliefs.^[2] The 2011 census however made it possible to describe oneself as Pagan-Heathen (or any other chosen subgroup). The figures for England and Wales show 1,958 people self-identifying as Heathen. A further 251 described themselves as Reconstructionist and may include some people reconstructing Germanic paganism. The comparable figures for the UK as a whole in 2001 were 278 Heathen and 92 Asatru:^[6]

Heathen groups

The Odinic Rite (OR) was founded in 1980 by John Yeowell, known as "Stubba".^[7] On 24 February 1988 the Odinic Rite became the first polytheistic religious organisation to be granted Registered Charity status in England.^{[8] [9]} This led to allegations by the journalist Polly Toynbee that the Odinic Rite had presented Odinism as a monotheistic religion in order to gain acceptance by the Charity Commission^[10], an allegation strongly refuted by the Odinic Rite at the time. In 1990 a split occurred in the Rite. Two organisations were formed from the schism,^[11] initially each calling themselves the "Odinic Rite". One used the postal addresses, BCM Runic, and continued to be known as Odinic Rite with the motto "Faith, Folk and Family".^[12] The other, using the postal address of BM Edda, changed its name in 1998 to the Odinist Fellowship.^[13] The Odinist Fellowship remains registered as a charity to this day.^[14] The more hard-line Odinic Rite faction has been accused of racism or a racialist perspective on religion.^[15]

The Odinist Fellowship has published its liturgy in The Book of Rites^[16]. It follows a ninefold calendar of festivals which include Yule (the Winter Solstice), Lindisfarne Day (8 January), Easter (Spring Equinox), Sigurd's Day (23 April), Hengest's Day (1 May), Midsummer (Summer Solstice), Odinist Martyrs' Day (29 July), Harvest Festival (Autumn Equinox), and Einheriar or Heroes' Day (11 November). Other publications include "All About Odinism - Your Questions Answered", the annual "Odinist Year Book", and "Is Wicca Pagan?", in addition to the regular "Round Robin" newsletters sent free to members. A Midsummer Gathering takes place annually at which members decide on and ratify policy in an open democratic fashion. Like many Odinists, the Odinist Fellowship advocates an ethical standard based on the eternal search for wisdom, following the example of Odin, and on the Nine Noble Virtues: Courage, Truth, Honour, Hospitality, Fidelity, Discipline, Self-Reliance, Industriousness, and Perseverance.

Achievements of the Odinist Fellowship include the support given to an Odinist postal worker dismissed by his employer after thirty years' service for leaving printed images of Odin at his place of work. This led to a hearing in the Manchester Industrial Tribunal of Royal Mail PLC v Holden (2006) which found unequivocally in Mr. Holden's favour.^[17] In May 2014 the Odinist Fellowship purchased a Tudor-era chapel in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, which was consecrated at Midsummer of that year as the first heathen Temple in England in over a thousand years.^[18][19] The Odinist Fellowship has announced its intention of establishing a nationwide network of Temples. The Newark Temple is managed by a registered charity, the Newark Odinist Temple Trust^[20], and as a result of the registration of the Newark Odinist Temple as a place of worship under the Places of Worship Registration Act (1855) the Registration Office has included a new denomination of "Odinist" in its register. The Newark Odinist Temple has given a new impulse to heathen iconography with its unique display of sacred art.

An annual gathering of Heathens in the UK called Heathenfest was held at Peterborough from 2005, it was organised by Woden's Hearth. Past speakers included Pete Jennings, Jenny Blain, Thorskegga Thorn and Stephen Pollington.^[21] However, this event is no longer extant.

In 2013 Asatru UK (AUK), an online social media group, was founded on Facebook. Soon after its inception AUK began to offer real-world events, bringing the online exclusive group, offline. The group's constitution (see AUK Facebook page, link below) openly displays AUK's stance on inclusion, family-friendly and individualistic approach to Heathenry/Asatru, which may have contributed to its rapid growth (Currently at 1,611 online members, 23/07/2017). It is speculated that AUK may now be the largest heathen organisation in the UK. AUK hosts Moots (typically used as a synonym for a gathering) across the UK and there may be scope for larger events as demand and the community grows ^[22][23].

Such demand led to the creation of AUK's first festival, "The Asgardian", which was held in 2016 featuring speakers, workshops, traders, musical acts and rituals ("Sumbel" and "Blot"). The event can likely be claimed as the largest heathen event in modern UK history. It received much acclaim following the festival on the AUK page from UK heathens and from international visitors, leading to it becoming an annual event.^[24][25]

Organisation

Anthropologist Jenny Blain noted that by 2005, it was common for Pagan moots (regular social gatherings) to contain a small number of Heathens.^[2] However, many Odinists distance themselves from the wider Pagan movement, which they deem to have been too heavily dominated by practitioners of Wicca.^[2] Thus, there are few Odinist members of the Pagan Federation, although increasingly mutual links between Heathens and the Pagan Federation are being established.^[5] To this end the Pagan-Heathen symposium was established in order to foster support and dialogue between the rapidly diverging paths of heathenry and other neo-pagan sects.^[26]

The internet also provided a factor in unifying the British Heathen movement, as websites such as UKHeathenry and Midgard's Web became increasingly popular in the early 21st century.^[2] The popularity of Asatru UK also owes much to this, the rise of social media has allowed heathens to connect more effectively. Heathens were also involved in the creation of the Association of Polytheist Traditions,^[2] as well as the creation and maintenance of the International Asatru Summer Camp (IASC), a loose coalition of real-world heathen groups across Europe. Asatru UK is a signatory of the IASC, along with its sister group, the Kith of the Tree and the Well.^[27]

References