Wedding planning!
No, I'm not talking about my wedding. My wife and I have been happily married for a long time. Today, I want to talk about my friend's wedding coming up in June, a heathen wedding.
The hall is decorated with ornate tapestry, animal skins, Viking relics, and weapons.
Attending a heathen wedding will certainly be a first for me and I was curious to see what it was all about when last night a few of us performing the ceremony met with the Godin last night to go over the details. For those of you who are unfamiliar with heathenry, paganism, native European traditions, Asatru, whatever you would like to call it, a Godin is a priestess and even though I have been a practicing paganism for quite a few years meeting the Godin was also a first for me.
We all met at the venue site, a traditional Viking restaurant here in Northern Germany. We drank mead, we sampled some fine foods (pork and turkey), and we discussed how the ceremony would play out.
This will be a smaller wedding (50 people or so) and it is an intimate experience that highlights the importance of paganism to the couple as well as the importance of paganism in our little community.
At the beginning of the ceremony, we will gather in a glen forming a circle around the couple, the Godin, myself, and two representatives (one from each clan) who will offer reasons why their clansman or clanswoman is worthy of marrying one another.
My role is to begin the ceremony by inviting four specific gods (one representing each cardinal direction) by raising a giant cattle horn filled with three liters of mead. The gods will come and provide us with council on the marriage, but they ultimately leave all decisions to us.
Once the ceremony has begun, the representatives from each clan will plead their case and once the Godin decides the gods approve of the union she will continue.
Then a sacred marriage ritual is performed however, I will not divulge those details publicly as they are sacred. But don't worry there will be no drinking blood or eating human flesh like some other religions out there!
When the ceremony is concluded, the Godin will allow the gods to leave (if they would like) and the circle breaks. The guests will then form a human tunnel by holding flowers (women) and axes (men) arched over a walkway signifying that our heathen community will protect this couple and their family.
Then each guest will take a drink of mead from the giant horn and offer a drink to the gods by dumping a little out on the ground. The reason the horn is so large it that forces people to be present in their actions and drink with thought and clarity.
When it is all over, of course there will be lots of feasting and drinking and I'm sure many merry moments to be had.
I am honored to take part in this ceremony and I will commit to it fully. I am not merely a stand-in going through the motions like so many modern church ceremonies I have attended. We are here to support the start of a new family and it is of the utmost importance to us.
Hopefully, this offers a little insight into some of our traditional European practices and I encourage all people to look into their native ways. We, as humans, have been pagan for 99% of our existence. We don't need to be saved, they only wish to enslave us.
Have a good and safe weekend everybody!
@balticbadger