Heathen Autonomist
Autonomy means Self-Law or Self-Rule. An Autonomist is someone who strives to gain control
over their lives - the means of their subsistence, the goods they use, the kind
of places they live in, their cultural activity, the way their children are
brought up and the whole pattern of their lives.
Autonomists recognise that it is very difficult or just impossible for an
individual to achieve Autonomy on their own. Thus Autonomists are
community-minded and seek to gain Autonomy on a community level.
Heathen Autonomists are Autonomists with a Heathen flavouring. Heathen
Autonomists tend to pay more attention to community cultural identity and lore
than Secular Autonomists who may concentrate mainly on economic matters.
Autonomism is both an ideology and a craft. As an ideology Autonomism teaches
that it is good for a majority of the world's population to have a degree of
Autonomy (i.e. a degree of self-reliance so that they are not at the whim of
the actions of others) and also that it is very important for the world that a
proportion of it has a high degree of Autonomy. Autonomists believe it is
important for the well-being of the world's population that there be aa
sufficient number of separate independent-minded and self-reliant communities in
existence to guard against one unscrupulous community dominating and abusing
everybody else. However Autonomism as taught here does NOT insist that EVERYBODY
has be part of a fully autonomous small community and we accept in principle the
existence of governments above the community level.
Autonomism as a craft is about the practicals of building autonomous
communities. It can perhaps be divided into two areas: 1. Preparation of the
Ground and 2. Community Building proper.
Autonomist Preparation is about creating the right conditions that efforts for
Community Building have a chance to bear fruit. Being a Heathen Shopper and
supporting any local small businesses that already exist to grow is one way of
helping this. Spreading Heathen ideas - including by spreading awareness of
Heathen traditional lore is another possible way.
Community Building is the main part of the work of Autonomism as a craft. The
heart of Community Building are efforts to bring people into association with
each other in a way that enhances their ability to co-operate with each other
and take action collectively as a team.
This involves creating opportunities for people to make contact with each other
and communicate and interact with each other so that they get to know each other
better and become important to each other. It also involves helping people to
develop their strengths and capabilities so they can play their part in
performing tasks that help the community to survive and thrive.
Modern societies are characterised by low-level of community feeling where many
live their lives as atomic individuals or couples with comparatively little
interaction with other people.
Heathen Autonomists can help to build community through the setting up of
activities that bring people together. As long as the activity provides an
opportunity for people to talk to each other then almost any kind of activity
can be beneficial. Activities that encourage an understanding and commitment to
Heathen Autonomism have a special role to play. However sometimes the kind of
activity a dedicated Heathen Autonomist would prefer is not the kind that the
average person is most easily attracted to.
Organised activities usually need certain characteristics to be a success. Often
very important is the presence of a good host or facilitator - a person able to
make participants feel at ease. Also important are a good rationale for the
activity so people know why they are there. The activity should meet some of
the needs of those involved - such as need for companionship, for learning
something new, for having a good time, for expressing themselves, for being
looked after, for doing something challenging etc.
One activity though is not enough and the aim is to eventually have many
different activities running that together meet all the needs of life. They do
not all need to be organised by the same people and not everybody has to do
everyhing. However a robust three-dimensional community will tend to form where
there is a lot of overlapping membership of different activity groups so that
people get to interact with each other in multiple contexts and develop a
rounded picture and relationship with each other.