Stephen K.

30 Days of Heathenry – Day 8 “Afterlife”

Question:

Do you envision an afterlife? Elaborate.

Answer:

I would like to think that my spirit is destined for Helheim, or at least what I can gather from the scant sources about it. It is said that those that either die of sickness or old age go there, and that one gets in as long as they help the poor in some way. I try to do as much as I can, when I can and hopefully will do more in the future. I know Snorri painted Helheim as almost an analog to Christian Hell in some of his writings, but you can tell he had the agenda of Valhalla = heaven and Helheim = Hell. I think the main reason I would want to go there is that could spend time with my ancestors, assuming they are destined for there as well. who knows, perhaps there are shared afterlife’s religions if there is one at all.

Some might say Helheim is for “slackers”, but I don’t think Hel would be for “slackers” at all, but for for people who just want some peace and quiet after death. Some might get bored out of their minds, but others would probably welcome the calm, the ability to rest, and the occasional feast

I know its easy to fall into the pop culture obsession with going to Valhalla that many seem to have, especially considering most modern Heathens you run into are not well-versed into the fact that the Gods all had their own Halls, and some professions were described in the Sagas to go to certain places. I can usually tell when someone isn’t too keen on their lore when you see stuff like this out in the wild:

brosatru hashtag on Twitter
The Brosatru view

me, not being a warrior in any way, is not going to delude myself with aspirations to go to Valhalla, not would I actually want to – eternally feasting and fighting isn’t really my thing.

30 Days of Heathenry – Day 1

30 Days of Heathenry – Day 2

30 Days of Heathenry – Day 3

30 Days of Heathenry – Day 4

30 Days of Heathenry – Day 5

30 Days of Heathenry – Day 6

30 Days of Heathenry – Day 7

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