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Chapter 1. World Views 16
is no point in creating a new set of rituals for the 21st century because they will
only become dogma ina few short years. On the other hand, there is a richness in
studying the worldview of one’s ancestors—acting through that worldview provides
one a place in a long of tradition, and it is in this place that people can find comfort.
There are movements, at least in the United States, in several different directions
which justify the writing of such a book now. First, there is the movement which
not only places one into an ancestral lineage in terms of race, color, language, family,
culture and tradition, but which also encourages humble pride and the senses of comfort
and of belonging to something greater than oneself. There is also the spiritual
tradition as well; where one’s “ancestral-roots” offer a place within the community
of man, the “spiritual tradition” offers one a place in the cosmos. Anglo-Europeans
have too long been filling these needs by “inventing” historical roots and traditions
by creating “traditional cultures,” such as the 50 year old religion of Wicca, 8 or by
following spiritual paths which really have nothing to do with their own “roots,” such
as the so-called ”Red-Road” of the Native American or Voudoun of Creole-Haitian
all the while justifying their actions by stating that these spiritual traditions are
universal. Lastly, then, this book is written for those of Anglo-European extraction
who are searching for beauty, comfort, and a sense of belonging both to the diverse
community of man and to the cosmos at large.
Many books are designed to be pure discipline through ritual–there is very little
of that here; Germanic tradition is not really much about discipline/ ritual–for that
one can purchase paperbacks on any of the 85 different flavors of Wicca or it’s thinly
disguised derivatives; it is more about adventure. Life, for the ancient Germanic
peoples, was not to be a drudgery or, as is often presented in the modern Christian
worldview, a test or a ’cross to bear.” Life was and can still be a vast uncharted
sea full of creatures never before seen and events never before participated in. The
explorers fare forth into the unknown and bring back health, wisdom and wholeness
to their respective communities. The disciplines of this cultural tradition allow one
to navigate the chaos with a sense of strength and the ability to survive.
In 986 CE Bjarni Herjolfson sailed out from Iceland bound for Greenland after
having heard it described by others. After several days of sailing, the ship became
lost in a windless fog. He came to three different lands to the west (one of which
was Vínland or North America; the other two are still unidentified), and none were
consistent with what he had heard about Greenland. Immediately thereafter, his
ship was overtaken by a strong gale which lasted for four days. It took all the
8 Invented by Gerald Gardener ca. 1949 out of pieces of Anglo-European traditions well mixed
and smoothed over with pieces from Leland’s Aradia: Gospel of the Witches, Margret Murray’s
The Horned God, and Robert Graves The White Goddess and just a dash of Freemasonry. The
”tradition” caught on quickly and now has become a beautiful religion in it’s own right.