In the modern pagan movement of Heathenry there are a number of

holidays A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...

celebrated by different groups and individuals. The most widely observed are based on ancient Germanic practices described in historical accounts or folk practices; however, some adherents also incorporate innovations from the 20th and 21st centuries.

Pre-Christian Germanic holidays and their modern observance

Prior to Christianisation and the introduction of the Julian calendar, the Germanic peoples used a lunisolar calendar, that was used to coordinate heathen seasonal festivals and holy periods. These included the , , and at the beginning of winter,

Yule Yule is a winter festival historically observed by the Germanic peoples that was incorporated into Christmas during the Christianisation of the Germanic peoples. In present times adherents of some new religious movements (such as Modern ...

and around

Midwinter Midwinter is the middle of the winter. The term is attested in the early Germanic calendars where it was a period or a day which may have been determined by a lunisolar calendar before it was adapted into the Gregorian calendar. It appears with s ...

, and and in the summer half of the year. Beyond these, Adam of Bremen's account of the

Temple at Uppsala A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

describes a great festival that was held every nine years, however it has been argued that this would have been using

inclusive counting Counting is the process of determining the number of elements of a finite set of objects; that is, determining the size of a set. The traditional way of counting consists of continually increasing a (mental or spoken) counter by a unit for ever ...

and would thus have occurred every eight years by modern counting conventions.Orchard (1997:169). Modern Heathens can celebrate a number of these festivals, with Winter Nights,

and Sigrblót being among the most widely observed, however the date is typically adjusted so that it falls on a weekend.

Modern development

The modern Icelandic festival of Þorrablót is sometimes considered a "pagan holiday" due to folk etymology with the name of the god

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

. The name, while historically attested, is derived from

Þorri Þorri () is the Icelandic name of the personification of frost or winter in Norse mythology, and also the name of the fourth winter month (mid January to mid February) in the Icelandic calendar. Attestations In the ''Orkneyinga saga'' (written ...

which is not explicitly linked to Thor, instead being the name of a month in the historic Icelandic calendar and a legendary Finnish king. Despite this, toasts to Thor are commonly included in the modern celebration. Beyond the information about historical practice given in

Early Medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Middle Ages of Europ ...

sources, some Heathens use modern festival calendars that incorporate material from other

new religious movements A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part of a wider re ...

such as the "

Wheel of the Year The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of seasonal festivals, observed by a range of Modern paganism, modern pagans, marking the year's chief solar events (solstices and equinoxes) and the midpoints between them. Modern pagan observances are ...

" popular in

Wicca Wicca (), also known as "The Craft", is a Modern paganism, modern pagan, syncretic, Earth religion, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esote ...

. This practice is criticised by other Heathens, however, due to its origin in the 20th century and its lack of connection to historical celebrations. In addition to this, several groups in the USA have designated holidays through ''ad hoc'' innovation, such as the various "Days of Remembrance" introduced by

The Troth The Troth, formerly the Ring of Troth, is an American-based international heathen organization.On its mai ...

or "Vali's Day", derived from

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

by a folk etymology connection with the deity

Váli In Norse mythology, Váli (Old Norse) or Boe or Bous (Latin) is a god and the son of the god Odin and Rindr (who is either a goddess herself or a human princess, depending on the sources). Váli has numerous brothers including Thor, Baldr, and ...

. Suggestions for rituals suited for these various holidays were published by Edred Thorsson, ''A Book of Troth'' (1989) and by Kveldulf Gundarsson, ''Teutonic Religion'' (1993). James Chisholm (1989) published a suggestion for Ostara. Chisholm argued for the reconstruction of the "sacred dramas" which he saw reflected in some Eddaic poems, although shorn of their sexual content by the Christian redactors. The revived ritual was again to be modified to suit "contemporary American sensibilities".

Specific modern calendars

Samfundet Forn Sed Sverige (Sweden)

has a list of annual holidays held during specific periods of the year.

The Troth (USA)

The handbook ''Our Troth: Heathen Life'' published by American-based inclusive Heathen organization

The Troth The Troth, formerly the Ring of Troth, is an American-based international heathen organization.On its mai ...

in 2020, lists three holidays that most Heathens agree on, Yule (Winter Solstice or the first full moon after Winter Solstice), Winter Nights/Alfarblot/Disablot (begins on the second full moon after Autumnal Equinox and ends at new moon) and Summer Nights/Sigrblot (begins on the first full moon after Spring Equinox and ends at new moon). Other holidays listed by the Troth include Disting (Second Full Moon of the New year), Lenzen (Full Moon Cycle around Vernal Equinox), Ostara (First Full Moon After Vernal Equinox), May Day (May 1), Midsummer/Litha (Summer Solstice), Lammas (Full moon after autumnal equinox) and Sunwait (starts 6 weeks before Winter Solstice).

Ingwine Heathenship (USA/UK)

The movement Ingwina Hæðenscipe, which seeks to reconstruct West Germanic Heathen beliefs, also has a list of annual holidays held during specific periods of the year. The group provides both reconstructed, and entirely modern dates for these festivals for the benefit of modern practitioners.

References

Works cited

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heathan holidays Modern pagan holidays Germanic neopaganism Lists of observances