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The traditional roots of Heathenry stretched back at least 42,0000 years into the distant past to the ancestral traditions of the indigenous European folk groups who once shared a common belief system, culture, language and spirituality. These European folk groups were at one time comprised of Celtic, Germanic and Scandinavian peoples. Early Iron Age (1,200 - 500 BCE) Celtic Fabrics found at Hallstat in Austria included checks, silk thread embroidery, stripes and twill patterns. By 500 ACE, the people, who eventually became known as the Germanic Norse Heathens, had spread over the areas that would become Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Within another two hundred years, the different dialects of the Germanic language became undecipherable and the offshoot Dutch, English, German, Scandinavian and other languages emerged. Despite this divergence in language, the foundational Heathen keystone spiritual beliefs and practices of the Germanic Norse peoples continued to be interwoven with those of their kinfolk, the Celtic peoples who also inhabited many of the same regions at one time. For instance, the intermeshed curving and swirling patterns on decorated rune stones like the Danish Jelling Rune Stone in the picture below, emulated the Celtic spiraling swirling designs that expressed their connectivity with the sacred spiritual mysteries and the harmonic beauty of the Natural World. The Germanic Norse and the Celtic folk groups were pastoral and agricultural peoples who shared common customs and spiritual traditions such as living in harmony with the land and the seasonal cycles.
The Celts used Ogham as a means of communication and for remembrance of lore. Ogham characters were written on wooden staves or inscribed on stones. Ogham consisted of twenty-five strokes branching off a central line like the limbs of a tree. Each stroke corresponded to an alphabetic letter. Although similar in purpose, Ogham as a powerful symbolic language was distinctive from the Younger Futhark (Nordic Runes) which was called Viking or Scandinavian Ogham in the 1390 ACE Book of Ballymote. Norse Germanic Runes were also used as a means of communications and the remembrance of lore. The Ogham Glyph System was similar to a grove of trees where each tree was a knowledge and power key that corresponded to certain alphabetic letters, animals, birds, characteristics, colors, names, numbers, stones and trees. Like a forest of neural dendrites recording the memories of knowledge and the wisdom of experience, the Ogham served as a connectivity timebridge for restoring balance by honoring the circle of sacred traditions through songs and storytelling. The Elder Futhark had 24 runes which over time changed to become an Anglo-Frisian Futhark that ranged from 28-32 runes.
Norse Germanic Runes were written
on wooden calendars and inscribed on stones. Each of the runes corresponded to
an alphabetic letter. The Runes also corresponded to certain
alphabetic letters, animals, birds,
characteristics, colors, names, numbers, stones and trees. The magical
mysterious Runic Glyph System was used for passing on traditional lore through
song and storytelling.
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