Galina Krasskova - A Modern Guide to Heathenry: Lore, Celebrations, and Mysteries of the Northern Traditions

This is the book of answersthe kind that will open you up to a road where the real questions begin. What is so fascinating about it is that it has the rare distinction of combining history, culture, divine inspiration, and hard academic and archeological factsaspects that I personally have never seen combined in a work on this subject. This writer has a remarkable skill for not only unearthing ancient traditions and providing consistently factual bibliographical and historical sources for her statements, but she also breathes life and vision into these stories and teaches us if we listen intently enough, how to live our lives in accordance with the structures she unearths. The work is unapologetic and utterly honest. Anyone who takes heathenry, their practice, and their ethical and sacred work seriously would be handicapped without this work. A Modern Guide to Heathenry is an essential step towards understanding what it means to be a heathen and putting these beliefs into practice.

Tatyana Vitta, gyia of Freya

Galina Krasskova's work, soundly rooted in careful scholarship and passionate devotion to the Gods, invites the reader into a deep and challenging exploration of the spiritual traditions of the Norse, Germanic, and Anglo-Saxon people. Fiercely discerning, Krasskova offers fresh and perceptive insights in this update of her classic introductory text.

Susannah Ravenswing, Northern
Tradition shaman and spaekona

A Modern Guide to Heathenry presents a who's who of the Northern Gods and why it was important to know Them in such a way that drew those Gods out of my head and into my heart.

Rede Seeker, Northern Tradition/polytheist

A Modern Guide to Heathenry is a valuable resource for both people newly interested in heathenry and those already steeped in those beliefs. Drawing on both lore and personal experience, this book walks readers through the stories, practices, traditions, and history of the Scandinavian, Icelandic, and Germanic pre-Christian beliefs. The author, Galina Krasskova, has written extensively on the topic for many years, and her decades of practice and extensive knowledge encompassed here provide a worthwhile font of study for any who would delve into the subject matter. Absolutely one of the best available resources on the subject.

Jennifer Lawrence, author of Listening for
Their Voices and In Their Company

A critical reference for any practitioner or researcher, this volume encapsulates the heart of the practices within Northern heathen traditions. Providing a bird's-eye view of the tradition's history, the gods and goddesses, and including a breakdown of cosmology, ritual, ethics, and values, it serves as a gateway to a rich world of myth, lore, and honor. It's succinct and matter-of-fact language will enrich and captivate any reader.

H. Helasblom, Northern Tradition shaman

This edition first published in 2019 by Weiser Books, an imprint of

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

With offices at:

65 Parker Street, Suite 7

Newburyport, MA 01950

www.redwheelweiser.com

Copyright 2019 by Galina Krasskova

Foreword copyright 2019 by Edward P. Butler, PhD

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages.
Previously published in 2005 as Exploring the Northern Tradition
by New Page Books, ISBN: 978-1-56414-791-2.

ISBN: 978-1-57863-678-5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
available upon request.

Cover design by Kathryn Sky-Peck

Cover images by iStock

Interior by Steve Amarillo / Urban Design LLC

Typeset in Adobe Garamond and Tim Rolands Odyssey

Printed in Canada

MAR

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

www.redwheelweiser.com/newsletter

This book is dedicated to my mothers, Fuensanta Plaza
(adopted) and Mary Ann Dabravalskas (ne Hanna)
(biological) and to my father, John Dabravalskas.
I am, because you were, and I am grateful.

Like any creative work, this book has been, in many ways, a collaborative effort. It could not have been written save for the unwavering support and inspiration of a number of people, both within the Heathen community and without. So many folks offered their support in the most unexpected of ways that they deserve recognition here.

First and foremost, I would like to thank three people who have nourished me spiritually and supported me in ways that leave me awed and grateful: K.C. Hulsman, Fuensanta Plaza, and H. Jeremiah Lewis. You've been pillars of sanity in a mad, chaotic, and frustrating world. I don't think I would even have had the wherewithal to begin this project but for your encouragement and support. Thank you.

Secondly, I'd like to thank those of the Starry Bull and Starry Bear traditions in which I work, most particularly my own Comitatus. I'd also like to thank MM and the terrible three, you all know why and of course my boys, who've inspired me more than I can express.

I'm likewise grateful to my colleagues in the Medieval Studies department at Fordham University for their unwavering support and you, my readers, who let me know what you wanted to see in this book and whose support means so much.

Finally, last, but not by any means least, the editorial staff of Red Wheel/Weiser especially my editor Michael Pye. You have been a true pleasure to work with, and I am absolutely delighted with the chance to revise this, one of my earliest works. Any errors contained within this text are entirely my own.

A Modern Guide to Heathenry is a book that is at once accessible to the newcomer and yet written from a perspective of intense scholarly and devotional engagement. It is the determined work of an author who does not compromise on her vision of a Heathenry that can someday claim its place as one of the world's great living religious traditions. It not only expects this of the community, it demands it. Here, Galina Krasskova presents the Northern traditions as open to change and novelty, not in spite of, but precisely because of their secure grounding in a body of lorebut most of all, as an essential corollary of engagement with their living Gods.

The book reflects the significant growth of the Heathen community in numbers and complexity as well as Krasskova's own spiritual and intellectual journey, during which she has published prolifically works both popular and academic on Heathenry as well as on other topics pertaining to polytheism and the devotional life. She has a deep conviction concerning the importance of theological inquiry for every stage of Heathen practice; that it is never too soon for the new worshipper to integrate theological reflection into their devotional life; that the struggle to understand the nature of the Gods to the best of our human ability, as individuals and as spiritual communities alike, is a worthwhile endeavor; and that this process of reflection is never complete. This labor involves an engagement with the myths and rites that, catalyzed by the presence of the Gods Themselves, brings them to life in our spiritual Now, so that the entire sense of tradition is rendered dynamic, along with the role of the individual involved in practice. Krasskova also addresses the challenges faced by devotees of any polytheism in a culture where the voices of monotheism and of atheism are hegemonic and offers practical measures against the corrosive effect that the surrounding culture can have upon one's devotional work.