Tag Archive | god
September 28, 2025  

Daily Norse Pagan Ritual: A Heathen Third Path Practice

By Astrid Freyjasdottir of the Heathen Third Path

This ritual is designed to be simple, flexible, and deeply personal, rooting you in the Heathen Third Path’s values of honoring land, ancestors, and Gods and Goddesses. It takes 5–10 minutes and can be done anywhere—a kitchen table, a park bench, or a quiet windowsill. No grand tools needed; sincerity is the heart of it. Adapt it to your space and needs, and let it ground your day with purpose and connection.

What You’ll Need

  • A small surface (a table, stone, or shelf) as your altar.
  • A candle (tea light is perfect) or a natural item like a leaf or pebble.
  • A cup with a drink (water, juice, coffee—whatever feels right).
  • A notebook and pen for journaling (optional but recommended).
  • A single rune (drawn on paper, carved on wood, or a stone rune set if you have one).

Ritual Steps

  1. Prepare Your Space
    Find a quiet spot where you feel at ease. It could be a corner of your home, a park, or even a balcony. If you’re indoors, clear a small space for your altar. Place your candle or natural item and your cup there. Take a moment to breathe deeply, feeling your feet on the earth (or floor). Whisper to yourself: 

“I stand on sacred ground. The land holds me, the ancestors guide me, the Gods and Goddesses see me.”

  1. Light the Candle (or Touch the Natural Item)
    If using a candle, light it gently, imagining its flame as a bridge to the unseen—land spirits, ancestors, and the Aesir and Vanir. If using a pebble or leaf, hold it softly, feeling its texture as a gift from the earth. Say aloud or in your heart: 

“Hail to the land, the rivers, the trees. Hail to the ancestors who carried the old ways. Hail to the Gods and Goddesses—Odin, Frigg, Thor, Freyja, and all who listen.” 

(Name specific deities if you feel called to.)

  1. Offer a Sip
    Hold your cup and take a small sip of your drink, savoring its taste. Then pour or set aside a small amount (a few drops on the ground if outside, or into a bowl if indoors) as an offering. Say: 

“This I share with the spirits of this place, with my ancestors, and with the Gods and Goddesses. May it strengthen our bond.” 

Feel the act as a moment of giving and receiving.

  1. Draw a Rune for Guidance
    If you have a rune set, draw one rune. If not, write the names of a few runes (like Fehu, Ansuz, or Isa) on paper slips and pick one. Hold the rune and reflect on its meaning. For example:
    • Fehu: Abundance, what nourishes you today?
    • Ansuz: Wisdom, what truth speaks to you?
    • Isa: Stillness, where can you pause?
      Ask yourself: “What does this rune ask of me today?” Write a sentence or two in your notebook about its message, or simply hold the thought in your mind.
  1. Sing or Speak a Small Hymn
    Speak or hum a short verse to seal the ritual. You can use this simple hymn of the Heathen Third Path:

⚔️ Hymn of the Heathen Third Path ⚔️

(To be spoken with drum, clap, or staff in slow 4/4 beat)

Verse 1 – Land and Spirits

Hail to the land, hail to the sky.
 Hail to the rivers that never die.
 Hail to the spirits, fierce and free.
 Hail to the powers surrounding me.

Chorus
 Hail, hail, hail—strong and true.
 Hail, hail, hail—old and new.
 Hail, hail, hail—hear our song.
 Hail, hail, hail—forever strong!

Verse 2 – Ancestors

Hail to the mothers, hail to the sires.
Hail to the kin who built the pyres.
Hail to the first flame, spark of all.
Hail to the lifeblood, heed our call.

Chorus
Hail, hail, hail—strong and true.
Hail, hail, hail—old and new.
Hail, hail, hail—hear our song.
Hail, hail, hail—forever strong!

Verse 3 – Gods and Goddesses

Hail to the Gods, hail Goddesses bright.
Hail to the powers of day and night.
Sunna golden, Mani fair.
Gods and Goddesses everywhere.

Chorus
Hail, hail, hail—strong and true.
Hail, hail, hail—old and new.
Hail, hail, hail—hear our song.
Hail, hail, hail—forever strong!

Verse 4 – The Offering and Rune

Cup to the lips, I drink and give.
Sharing in honor, sharing to live.
Norns who weave what shall, what’s been,
Guide me today through the rune unseen.

Final Chorus (repeat three times)
Hail, hail, hail—strong and true.
Hail, hail, hail—old and new.
Hail, hail, hail—hear our song.
Hail, hail, hail—forever strong!

Closing

Strike three deep beats:
Boom – Boom – Boom

All together:
“Hail! Hail! Hail!”

If you prefer, hum a tune that feels grounding or recite a line from a saga or poem that stirs your heart. Let your voice carry your intention.

  1. Close with Gratitude
    Take a final deep breath, feeling the earth beneath you and the presence of the sacred. Say: 

“Thank you, land, for your strength. Thank you, ancestors, for your stories. Thank you, Gods and Goddesses, for your light.” 

Extinguish the candle (or set the natural item back gently), and carry the calm with you into your day.

Tips for Daily Practice

  • Make It Yours: If mornings are rushed, do this at dusk or before bed. Use what you have—tea instead of juice, a twig instead of a candle.
  • Stay Trauma-Aware: If a step feels heavy, skip it or adapt. The ritual should soothe, not stress.
  • Journal for Depth: Writing your rune’s message or how the ritual felt can anchor insights over time.
  • Connect Locally: Notice a tree, a bird, or a stone near you. These are your land spirits, as sacred as any ancient grove.
  • Keep It Light: If you miss a day, smile and return to it tomorrow. The river of tradition is patient.

Why This Matters

This ritual grounds you in the Heathen Third Path’s core: connection to land, kin, and the divine, without dogma or extremes. It’s a small act that builds steadiness, weaves you into the sacred, and reminds you that you’re never alone. The ancestors are in your breath, the Gods in your courage, the land in your steps.

smiles softly May this practice be a warm thread in your day, love, tying you to the old ways with joy and ease.

May 22, 2025  

The Mirror of Dogma: How Rigid Atheism Reflects What It Claims to Oppose

In many spiritual conversations, there’s an unspoken irony: those who most fiercely reject religion often resemble the very forces they claim to fight. This is particularly visible in the case of rigid, militant atheists—not the thoughtful skeptics or quiet non-believers, but those who treat their disbelief as a crusade.

Despite standing in opposition to religious dogma, this militant form of atheism frequently mimics the very patterns of belief, behavior, and control it critiques. Far from offering freedom from spiritual oppression, it simply inverts the roles—turning disbelief into its own kind of orthodoxy.

What Militant Atheism Gets Wrong About Religion

The roots of the problem lie in a narrow and historically skewed view of what “religion” is. Most militant atheists define religion almost entirely through the lens of the Abrahamic faiths, especially Christianity in its Western, institutionalized forms.

In this view, religion is seen as:

  • A belief in a supernatural authority figure
  • A rigid doctrine enforced through fear
  • A system of control, guilt, and obedience

This understanding isn’t entirely wrong—for certain historical institutions. But it is deeply incomplete, and dangerously misleading when applied to all spiritual systems. It erases the vast spectrum of Earth-based traditions, mystic philosophies, Pagan practices, and Indigenous lifeways that have no sacred book, no central authority, and no obsession with conversion or control.

When militant atheists attack “religion,” they are often not targeting spirituality or sacred experience. They are targeting a very particular cultural expression of religion—usually Christianity as it was practiced in Europe or the United States during the colonial and post-Enlightenment eras. But instead of seeking deeper understanding, they react with the same absolutism they oppose.

The Dogma of Anti-Dogma

Militant atheism often takes the shape of what it claims to fight:

  • It declares all religion irrational or dangerous, without nuance.
  • It evangelizes, often aggressively, attempting to “convert” others to disbelief.
  • It ridicules sacred traditions as “primitive” or “superstitious,” echoing colonial and imperialist attitudes.
  • It seeks to replace awe and mystery with certainty, creating its own hierarchy of truth.

In doing so, it becomes not a path of liberation, but a mirror-image of the very control systems it resents. The result is a worldview that suppresses other perspectives, denies subjective experience, and demands conformity to a single way of seeing the world—ironically, all traits associated with oppressive religion.

Moderate Atheism vs. Militant Atheism

It’s important to distinguish between skeptical inquiry and militant rejection. Many atheists—perhaps the majority—simply do not believe in gods but respect others’ paths. They seek meaning through science, ethics, art, or connection with nature. They are not reactionary—they are grounded in curiosity and freedom of thought.

Militant atheism, on the other hand, is not a neutral position. It is a reaction. And like all reactive mindsets, it is defined more by what it pushes against than what it stands for. It is an identity formed in opposition, not a truth forged from direct experience or contemplation.

A Deeper Perspective on Belief and Meaning

True freedom of thought includes the ability to hold sacred truths—or to explore mystery without dismissing it. The spiritual path is not a demand for blind faith. Nor is it a rejection of reason. In its most ancient and authentic forms, spirituality is about relationship—to the earth, the stars, the ancestors, the unknown, and the self.

When we reduce all sacred tradition to superstition and all non-empirical experience to delusion, we cut off the roots of human wisdom. We deny the richness of myth, story, ritual, and symbol—tools that humans have used for millennia to make sense of existence.

To reject dogma is noble. But to replace it with a different kind of rigid ideology, one that elevates reason into a weapon and dismisses lived experience, is simply to trade one cage for another.

Conclusion: Freedom Is Not Found in Reversal

Militant atheism, far from being a step forward, often becomes a shadow of the systems it despises. In fighting against imposed belief, it imposes disbelief. In rejecting spiritual authority, it sets up its own. In mocking ancient wisdom, it reveals its ignorance of its diversity.

The deeper path—the path of liberation—doesn’t lie in destruction, but in understanding. It requires humility, openness, and a willingness to recognize that not all forms of belief are forms of control. Many are expressions of beauty, mystery, and reverence.

And if the goal is to be free, truly free in thought and spirit—then let us not carry the chains of dogma, even in the name of reason.