What is Paganism
Paganism is a umbrella term for faiths that worship more than one god/dess and are reconstructions, however loose, of pre-christian paths. Most of these paths have some kind of focus on nature and the natural world. Asatru is only one pagan path of many. Wiccans, who worship a god and goddess and have a big focus on the seasons and cycle of the year, are the most well known of the Pagan paths. There are about as many pagan paths as there are ancient religions. There are people who worship the Greek Gods, the Egyptian Gods, the Babylonian Gods, etc. Many paths also have some form of “Magick” or a Magickal tradition. There are Strega, who practice ancient Italian witchcraft, Wiccans who practice magick, and many Druidic orders.
Paganism and Magick
Magick is usually defined as attempting to affect one’s environment through willpower and some degree of ritual. Blowing out the candles on a birthday cake and making a wish is a very simple form of Magick. However, if you wish to win the Lottery, you most likely will not succeed because, according to most Magickal traditions, in theory there are a billion people out there wishing for the same thing. Your willpower is canceled out, per se, along with theirs, making the situation truly random. However, if you are dealing with a smaller amount of people, like perhaps a raffle, then you could perhaps use Magick for this purpose. However, some Magickal traditions have guidelines that exist to restrict selfish or malicious Magickal behavior. Some traditions would be ok with you casting a spell so that your neighbor wreaks her brand new car, but many would not.
Magick vs. Magic
The K at the end is used to differentiate between parlor tricks and an actual use of will and ritual in order to produce an affect. It is supposed to be an older spelling - no idea if this is just a rumor or if it is true.
Asatru’s Magickal Tradition
Asatru actually has two paths of magick that are sometimes used together but often are separate. Seidr is one, Runework is the other. Seidr is akin to shamanism in a lot of ways and Runes are often used in Seidr, for the purpose of directing one’s energy and such. Soon I hope to have some good links about Seidr in the links section since this is not my area of expertise. Runes are often used for divination - divining the future - but can be used for magick through a variety of methods - singing, chanting, drawing them - any of the traditional, commonsense ways of focusing one’s thoughts, willpower and energy. People who wish to explore the runes in depth often meditate upon them in a way that I have been told is similar to Seidr.
More about the Runes can be found here. Just rudimentary information, though an in-depth book on the Elder Futharks is in the works.
To learn more about Asatru/Heathenism, click here!
