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Among our most meaningful challenges as Heathens and polytheists is to get to know all of our Gods and Goddesses to some degree, even if we are most devoted to just one or a few of them. Often, becoming more familiar with Heathen Deities and other spiritual beings whom we don't know well requires different perspectives and new ways of interacting with them. This is an anthology for Heathens who have gone beyond the basics and want to move on to deeper understanding and more varied spiritual relationships, perspectives, and practices. It does not cover all of the Heathen Deities, but it contains the distillation of thirty years of Heathen practice with many of them, including many who are less well-known. Though this book is divided into three parts, "Heathen Holy Ones," "Wights," and "Heathen Spiritual Practices," in truth everything written here is either about spiritual practice, or the result of spiritual practice. Heathen spiritual practices are embedded throughout the book. Thought-provoking essays, research articles, tales, poems, prayers, ideas and guidelines for enhancing Heathen spiritual practice, lively illustrations: many approaches are offered here for Heathen spiritual expansion. This anthology is a call toward spiritual adventure, an invitation to wander on Heathen ways of inspiration and discovery.

There are two areas of particular importance in Heathen ethics. One is the growth and maintenance of ethical personal power, or might and main: the inner strength and drive that is necessary to develop and sustain a good character and reputation, and to achieve worthy deeds during our life. The second is the pursuit of relationships and community life that promote individual, group, and community well-being and effective functionality. Any thoughtful reading of Heathen history, old texts, tales, poems and sagas will show how important these two factors were in ancient Heathen life. Ethical ideals need to provide us with structure and stability as a basis for conducting our personal and social lives. Ethics are ideals that we strive toward, but must also be patterns that we can live with, without distortion of our inner or outer self. Modern Heathens can benefit from a fuller understanding of ancient Heathen ethical views: both their strengths and their weaknesses, their pros and cons. Only by a thoughtful grasp of these concepts can we make the best use of the elder ways as Heathens living in today's world. This book offers philosophical discussions of certain Heathen ethical concepts, as well as guidelines for using these concepts to live ethically strong and spiritually healthy lives as modern Heathens. "Contemporary Heathenry is pretty good at making mead and getting together with the Gods, but what about the moral and ethical principles that most people expect from a religion? Some might say that Commandments are what we're trying to get away from, but inevitably a time comes when we need some guidance. In Oaths, Shild, Frith, Luck & Wyrd, Winifred Hodge Rose draws on her extensive scholarship and experience to explore what the lore has to tell us about how the Old Heathens viewed certain ethical questions, and to offer suggestions on how these perspectives can help us deal with the challenges that we face today." Diana L. Paxson, author of Essential Asatru: A Modern Guide to Norse Paganism."Oaths, Shild, Frith, Luck & Wyrd both provides tools for individual and collective healing, and articulates important questions and challenges that we must consider as we adapt the knowledge and life ways of our ancestors to our contemporary context." Sara Axtell, Ph.D. Lecture,r Family Social Science, University of Minnesota; Teacher and Elder, Healing Roots.

This is Book II of the Heathen Soul Lore series, which follows after Book I, entitled "Heathen Soul Lore Foundations: Ancient and Modern Germanic Pagan Concepts of the Souls." To understand and work with the book you now hold, you will need to be familiar with the material in Book I, or else refer to the relevant articles on my website, HeathenSoulLore.net. In "Heathen Soul Lore: A Personal Approach," we move from the conceptual and theoretical levels of soul lore discussed in Book I, to comprehensive personal and practical levels of Heathen spiritual understanding. Here are explanations of the souls, based on research presented in Book I, but tailored to modern Heathen life. Guidelines and exercises are provided to promote deep, personal exploration of each of the souls, and lead to an understanding of the roles each soul plays in our daily life, our character, actions, choices and decisions. Each chapter about the individual souls is accompanied by a bind-rune to promote meditation on the nature of that soul, for those who have knowledge of rune-lore. When we become Heathen, we gradually become aware of a whole different world-view, one that includes views of what our souls are, and how they interact with all other beings and other Worlds of the cosmos. Who are each of your souls? They are complex beings, and getting to know each of them is like getting to know another person, but a person who is yourself, expanded in directions you may not have known were there. This book offers ways to explore and grow your souls in a Heathen context, and to integrate your conscious connections with them into your daily life. Reviewing Book I of this series:"There's a wonderful shaping and hope-bringing quality to the work here that I think will play a key role in helping to move Heathenry towards something deep and infinitely satisfying. It's really hard to overstate the impact this book could have." --Cat Heath, author of "Elves, Witches & Gods: Spinning Old Heathen Magic in the Modern Day."