I am a modern heathen. I find myself living in a fast paced world that increasingly sickens me in many ways and yet awes and inspires me in so many more. I ask myself often what it means to be a modern heathen.
I live fully in the modern world. I have a nice house in suburbia. I have a career in the auto glass replacement industry. I have a twenty foot circle in my back yard for doing ritual. The circle is marked by tall post stones in the quarters and smaller cube stones in the cross quarters. We recently planted slow growing mugo pines in between the stones.
I live on the internet and tivo all my favorite shows and news. Yet I spend hours working in the garden. I love working with the soil and plants. It is relatively cheap therapy. For me, being a modern heathen is as complex as it was to be a heathen in earlier times.
When a person asks me my religion I usually throw out Asatru. This is the pantheon of human deities I feel the closest too. I was raised in a Christian background. In my late teen years I fell of the mainstream path and wondered lost. I once told a jail official that I was a paranoid agnostic. He said, "What the hell is that?"
I replied that I didn't know if there was a god or not but if there was he was definitly out to get me. He chuckled and asked me to move on. My late teens and early twenties were a heavy mix of drugs, alcohol, and bad decisions.
I went through several years of searching before I found Wicca. I studied and practiced Wicca for awhile and then I discoverd Asatru. While I am not as devout as I once may have been I am still close to several members of this pantheon.
It was approximatly nine years ago that I found the Aseir and Vanir. They suited my personality. I have also since found some more modern dieties such as Score. She is the goddess who helps find good deals or freebies. She is prominently found hanging out on Craigs List I have a basic understanding of runes and tarot cards. I do energy healing work. I have a broad general knowledge of writing ritual and performing it. Did I mention I love gardening and cooking. My wife and I will be soo raising rabbits for meat and fur. My wife and I are working to live a more simple and self-sustainable lifestyle. I work to pay for it all. She keeps the hearth. We both tend the garden and other household projects. We try to live one day at a time.
