Some answers to the questions we get asked most about the hive, er, kindred...

So, what are you guys all about?

Put simply, we’re about serving the Gods.  However, each and every one of our members defines that service, as well as the Gods served, differently.  Some of us don’t limit ourselves to the Northern pantheon, but have equally strong ties (in some cases, stronger) to Gods and/or spirits of other pantheons and traditions.  Within the Northern pantheon, though, we give our fealty to those Gods and wights who either dwell in Asgard or are its allies in some way (or at the very least, not its enemies).  This grouping includes Aesir, Vanir, Jotnar, Alfar, Duergar, Walkyriur, Disir, as well as other types of beings that are harder to classify.

Whoever we serve or ally ourselves with on an individual basis, one thing that can be said about the kindred as a whole is that for us the Gods and spirits are real, living beings (not archetypes, God-forms, or aspects, but individuals) who take an active, daily interest in our lives.  The primary aim of our kindred is to do everything in our power to bring Them more fully into this world, where Their influence and power are so urgently needed.

You sound very UPG-oriented.  Are you sure you’re not Wiccan?

There is a lamentable tendency among some Heathens these days to label every variety of Heathen expression they don’t agree with—especially if that expression is UPG-friendly—as “Wiccan.”  Wicca is a very specific religion with specific rules and subsets of its own; go and look it up, if you don’t believe me.  And yes, I’m sure we’re not Wiccan, as a kindred.  If some of our members choose to be Wiccan (or any other religion, for that matter) as well as Heathen…well, this is a multi-trad group, so that’s no skin off my nose.  More power to them.

But what about the lore?

What about it?  While our approach to worshipping and working with the Gods and spirits is shamanistic and ecstatic, and we give a lot of weight to both personal and collective gnosis, we also believe the study of primary source materials (i.e. the lore) and scholarly works is extremely important to ANY practice of Heathenry.

Do you have any special areas you focus on more than others?

Each of our members has their own areas of specialty and their own interests.  However, in keeping with our name and our divine patrons, our kindred does place a special focus on spae and oracular seidhr, runework, skaldcraft, healing (not only of the body but of the soul, the earth, and when needed other realms as well), plant shamanism, various other forms of spirit-work, and ecology.

You mentioned the Jotnar a while back.  Why would you worship any of them, other than the ones already accepted into the tribe of the Aesir?  Doesn’t that make you an enemy of the gods?

Odin is the son of an etin-woman, as is His son Thor.  Furthermore, both of Them have Jotun concubines and/or wives, as well as half-Jotun children.  Tyr is Jotun on both sides of His parentage.  The point being, scratch an Ase (figuratively, of course) and you’re likely to find Jotun heritage, often very close to the surface.  Are you going to tell Odin His mother is not worthy of honor and worship?  Well, go ahead, if you must, but I’m not having any part in that conversation.  In fact, I’ll wait over here.

Further, we believe that in the daily lives and practice of ancient Heathens, the Jotnar, Alfar, Duergar, and other similar wights were honored and even worshipped in conjunction with the Aesir and Vanir to a much greater extent than is common in the contemporary Heathen revival.  (Yes, there are scholarly as well as primary source works that support this idea.  Read Jon Hnefil Adalsteinsson’s A Piece of Horse Liver, as well as Kveldulf Gundarsson’s Elves, Wights and Trolls for some insights and lore citations on the subject.)

In recognition of this belief, our kindred’s patroness is a giantess, and we seek to include the other races of divine beings in our group rites while encouraging (though not requiring) members to honor them privately as well.  The only restriction we make in this regard is that, as our kindred’s patron is Odin, no toasting of Fenrir is permitted by either members or guests at kindred gatherings.  We do not believe in Ragnarok as anything other than a prophecy (and one that, like any prophecy, may or may not come true), but we choose not to send Odin’s prophesied enemy any possible succor or strength.

Okay, I get having Odin as a kindred patron.  But why Gunnlod?

The simplest answer to that is because Odin said so.  She is a rather quiet, self-contained Goddess who tends to be mostly ignored, undervalued and glossed-over by both mainstream and woo-oriented Heathens, and He felt it was high time She receive the respect She is due as His bride, the mother of His son Bragi, and Guardian of the Mead of Poetry.  In fact, one of the tasks He has charged me with as His priestess is (re-) establishing a cult for Her (as well as for His mother, Bestla).

For a more complete (yet also complex) answer, read my book Odhroerir: Nine Devotional Tales of Odin’s Journeys, in which Gunnlod is prominently featured, and/or visit our page devoted to Her.  There really is very little about Her in either the lore or scholarly interpretations of it, and one of my goals for this site is to have Her page become a resource for those seeking to know more about Her.  So keep checking back; more information on Her (as well as Odin and the other Gods and spirits we revere) will be added as time goes on.

What do you see as your place within the wider Heathen/Pagan community?

That’s something each of our members would need to answer for themselves.  As a kindred, however, we are not separatists; we seek to build bridges whenever possible between disparate groups of Heathens and pagans even as our patrons have sought to build bridges between the different divine races.  We believe diplomacy is a far better and more effective method of resolving our differences than aggression.

So, what other deities do you honor, specifically?

Many others.  Some of the deities our kindred members are especially fond of include: Loki, Bestla, Frigga, Saga, Bragi, Idunna, Gerda, Freyr, Freyja, Njord, Eir, Thor, and Balder, as well as the Hellenic deities Poseidon, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hekate, Hades, Persephone, Zeus, and Hera, and the Kemetic deity Yinepu (Anubis).

Wait!  What’s with all the non-Northern deities?

As I’ve said, several of our members practice other cultural/magical traditions in addition to Heathenry.  As a kindred, we understand and accept the fact that the Gods and spirits don’t always observe artificially imposed cultural and religious boundaries.  We directly support our multi-trad members by attending and participating in their non-Heathen rituals whenever possible, as long as they are willing to do all the homework pertaining to that branch of their path.

You’re giving me a headache.

Well, we’re probably not the right kindred for you, in that case.

But suppose I did want to consider joining, or knew someone who might.  Are you accepting new members?

We are open to considering new members, a caveat being that we are a tight-knit group with a defined mission, and intend to remain so.  Anyone joining us would have to be acceptable as kin to ALL current members.  Ideally, any prospective member should have met all current members in person at least once prior to being considered for membership.  In practice, however, we have been known to admit members who are known personally only to some of our current members, pending the opportunity to meet the rest of us in person. 

Where are you located?

The gythia and her sister Jolene live in Philadelphia, PA, which is where the kindred house (a.k.a. The Nunnery) is located. However, we also currently have members in New England and Texas.

What about if I live far away?

We do consider distance members, under some circumstances.  Distance members participate in our rituals by doing them at their own location when they’re unable to be with the rest of the kindred.  And because a strong sense of family is a vital part of this kindred, all of our members communicate regularly via Livejournal, email, and phone, no matter how far away from one another they live. For more about our membership guidelines and our kindred’s goals and working methods, take a look at our By-laws.

Are there any other rules for joining?  What if I already belong to another kindred or Heathen group?

While we think you may want to consider carefully your reasons for wanting to join more than one Northern tradition/Heathen kindred, we are not exclusive.  Some of our members (especially the ones who practice more than one cultural/religious tradition) do belong to other groups of various kinds, and we would never presume to restrict that.  Of course, your membership in any of a number of Heathen or other-trad religious organizations is no business of mine, as long as that group’s stated goals don’t conflict with ours and you don’t try to pressure anyone else into joining it.
 
We are and always have been non-racist, non-sexist, and non-discriminatory on any basis other than courtesy, decency, and adherence to the thews.  We’re also GLBT-friendly and so forth.

Are you affiliated with any other organizations?

Nope.  And as gythia, I intend to keep it that way.

I have more questions.

I’m sure some of your questions will get added to this page eventually.  In the meantime, feel free to email them to the gythia—that’d be me, Gunnlod (yes, I was named after our patroness--a long story which may find its way to these pages at some point) aka Laure Lynch, at wodandis@gmail.com.