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Heathens

A bias towards the Self is one element of the meaning of Heathen, but we can also define the word in terms of freedom and self-reliance. We can accept a definition of Heathen gleaned from the Christian Old Testament. In this case a Heathen is a person who is a member of a free people who have direct unmediated relationship to the mysteries of existence and who are autonomous in their cultural development and self-reliant in the production of the material means of their survival.

It is our belief that only a free people able to think for themselves and look after themselves can expect to be able to choose the manner in which their life unfolds and to have an independent voice in the life of the world. To be independent and free a people need the ability to gain a place for themselves in a cultural and physical sense as a private home which is sheltered from the world and within which they are able to pursue their own ends and to manage the interaction they have with the outside.

We believe that there is a role for Lone Heathens , i.e. those trying to pursue a Heathen path on their own initiative, but that for most it is better to be part of a Heathen Band or Heathen association. Ideally members of a Heathen Band should be in regular contact with each other, be able to pursue activities together, and the size of the Heathen Band should be small enough that each individual is of significance to the whole and to the leaders of the Band.

Making sense of the world, and finding the right path within it is hard. It is very difficult for an individual to gain success in this without making use of the second-hand experience of others. In a free society there is an ongoing transmission of the discoveries of the past in the form of a cultural tradition. It is important for Heathens to be engaged with a good cultural tradition, retaining the memory of the past while continuing to add to it with discoveries in tune with a changing world.


February 2011 CE / Modified March 2012 CE

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