Forn Sed Sverige: Alvablot 2010: Gudabilder efter blotet

Alfa Blót in Lerum, Sweden (close to Gothenburg)

 He presents the idols (as Alfa Blót is rather private the actual Blót isnt shown).

The Ve is by a birch (almost invisible in the darkness).

Offerings of apples,oranges (!), onions,eggs and samples of everything eaten at the banquette.

FreyR with his big….organ.

A wooden replica of a FreyR idol.

Freya (three idols, one with Brisingamen).

Thor (dyed red).

And ofcourse Odin….old one eye.

There are two main strains Germanic Neopaganism known as Ásatrú, originating near-simultaneously in Iceland (Ásatrúarfélagið, 1972) and the USA (Asatru Free Assembly, 1974).

While the Scandinavian branch emphasizes pantheist spirituality rooted in medieval and contemporary Scandinavian folklore, the American branch postulates a “native religion of the peoples of Northern Europe” reaching back into the paleolithic. In Germany, the term Asatru is used in the wider sense of Germanic neopaganism.

As Ásatrú implies a focus on polytheistic belief in the Æsir usage of the term in Scandinavia has declined somewhat. In Scandinavia, forn sed / forn siðr “old custom”, Nordisk sed “Nordic custom” or hedensk sed / heiðinn siður “pagan custom” are preferred. In both the Anglosphere and German-speaking Europe, it is widely used interchangeably with other terms for Germanic Neopaganism.

There are notable differences of emphasis between Ásatrú as practiced in the USA and in Scandinavia. According to Strmiska and Sigurvinsson (2005), American Asatruar tend to prefer a more devotional form of worship and a more emotional conception of the Nordic gods than Scandinavian practitioner, reflecting the parallel tendency of highly emotional forms of Christianity prevalent in the United States 

Structure and subgroupings:


Solitary practice, or practice in small circles of friends or family is common. These are often called kindreds or hearths, although often they are not formal. Germanic Neopagan organizations have been active since the 1970s, but most of these larger groups are loose federations and do not require committed membership comparable to a church. Consequently, there is no central authority, and associations remain in a state of fluidity as factions form and break up.

There are several possibilities to analyse Germanic Neopaganism into individual currents or subgroupings.
One common approach is the classification by notions of ethnicity (“folk”). This may range from ethnic nationalist (völkisch) attitudes with far right tendencies on one hand (the Nouvelle Droite of Alain de Benoist notably has ties to such currents of Neopaganism) to moderate “tribalist” notions of ethnicity as based in tradition and culture, and to “universalist” approaches which de-emphasize differences between ethnic traditions (e.g. Seax Wicca).


Another classification is by approach to historicity and historical accuracy. On one hand, there are reconstructionists who aim to understand the pre-Christian Germanic religion based on academic research and implement these reconstructed . Contrasting with this is the “traditionalist” or “folklorist”, in Scandinavia known as Folketro or Funtrad (short for Fundamentalistisk Traditionalisme) approach which emphasizes living local tradition as central.

Traditionalists will not reconstruct, but base their rituals on intimate knowledge of regional folklore. Proponents of traditionalism include the Norwegian Foreningen Forn Sed and the Swedish Samfälligheten för Nordisk Sed. Both religions reject the ideas of Romanticist or New Age currents as reflected in Asatru.


At the other end of this scale are syncretist or eclectic approaches which merge innovation or “personal gnosis” into historical or folkloristic tradition.


Note that this scale is largely independent of the approaches to “ethnicity” outlined above. Both ethnocentric and universalist Neopagans may de-emphasize historical tradition in favour of “personal gnosis”, albeit for different reasons. “Folkish” currents may rely on postulated racial memory (“metagenetics”) as rendering historical tradition superfluous, while universalists may welcome ahistorical input as ultimately of the same universal validity as historical tradition.


*Personal notes*

It should be no mystery that i identify with the “reconstructivist” approach……entirely.
If there is no hard scientific proof for something i leave iot up to my personal opinions or taste and dont claim it is Norse or Germanic.

In other words i am NOT Universalist NOR Folkish. Neither term means diddley squat to me.
I am a modern Scandinavian with a polytheistic, culturally anchored religion, no better or worse than any other and just as open as history and archeology claims (not solely relying on mythology).

I reject the idea that “Seax Wicca” belongs in this argument at all.
Seax Wicca is not “Seax” (Saxon) exept for some terminology, names of Deities and iconography.
It is an open, less initiatory form of Wicca.

In Scandinavia i have never heard of “Kindreds”, i do however see their function.
Blots with more than one participant are here usually rather informal and sometimes referred to as “Blot lag”.

Cults here where always very decentralized and exept for a very few cult centers it could be seen as being performed at “home stead” or “farm level”.

I would say that the main body of heathens in Scandinavia fall somewhere in the reconstructivist group if one HAS to classify. Most of them know a lot of medieval, Scandinavian history.

I would also say that Scandinavian heathens generally identify with the Norse as a whole, the whole culture and history, rather than the vikings.

Scandinavian heathens seem to have a very sober unromantic view of their history and heritage.

Have you ever found yourself on a walk in the woods and suddenly
come to a place that immediately felt so special? Perhaps there was
a uniquely shaped rock or a tree which attracted your attention?
Maybe you thought for a moment that you could feel something, as if
there was a sort of presence on that particular site that you could not really
explain? Very many people testify that they feel a strong
affinity with nature around us, that the strongest form of
spiritual experience comes to them just when they are moving in the forest.
 
This is not new, of course. Humans have always had similar
experience ever since our species arose once, long, long ago.
Through the ages, we then tried to understand and process these
experiences, tried to portray them and give them shape, sought contact with the
forces and the presence that we’ve known all around us. These experiences
is natural religion nucleus.
 
Those of us living with and exercises a natural spirituality that retrieves
Inspired by Scandinavian pre-Christian traditions call it
the “ancient custom” or simply “custom”. The name is somewhat
important, the important is not exactly what you believe or think about
forces, gods or goddesses. Instead it is the ritual exercise which
is in focus.
 
We call the practice “ancient” but that does not mean that it would be obsolete
or outdated. We reaffirm the old traditions and ways 
developed by the people who have gone before us but developing them simultaneously,
adapt them to our time and the conditions under which we live. When we
says that the custom is “ancient”, it may also allude to it have their
roots in a mythical time. Ancient practice, referring to the timeless, sacred practices,
life path and task forces gave the first humans in the future
Beginning.
 
Our religion is polytheistic, which means that we recognize and address
 a multiplicity of gods and powers. Among these gods and goddesses
include Odin, Freya, Thor, Sif and others from the Old Norse
mythology. Therefore, it also happens that religion is called “Asatru”.
Most sed practicioners feel however that the concept is too narrow, not
all gods are Aesir - such as Freya who the myth are of the Vanir family, also
it is not only to the gods and goddesses we look but also to
natural beings as elves, gnomes, dwarves, forest creatures, and so on.
 
We recognize and celebrate these powers in the rituals that we call
blot. Blot can be seen as a symbolic celebration where we invite the gods,
goddesses, and beings to participate, we offer them gifts and form a
relationship with them. A blot can be very simple and intimate, but it
can also be a great ceremony with many participants. Our ceremonies are
tied to the seasons, and we are also ceremonies around
life-sized parcels, such as weddings, funerals, naming of children
and much more.