A Traditional European Pagan Church and Cemetery. . .
When people hear the term Norse Germanic Church, they usually picture a big temple like the one at Uppsala. History however tells us that Sacred Groves were far more common.
The historians all seem to agree on one fact. That agreement is that a majority of the Germanic tribal peoples had Sacred Groves. Now before we go to far into this, I will define both of the terms Germanic, and Sacred Grove, they will be used in this article frequently the meaning will be needed for context, and clarity.
Germanic - The native peoples from most of modern Europe including Germany, France, Northern Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, England and several other European, Slavic, and Scandinavian countries. Their pantheons in a majority of them were the Aesir and Vanir, with slightly differing regional names for the Gods. The Aesir were a group of Gods who were Giants (Jotun) and human hybrids, except for a few who were pure Jotun like Odin. These people held the belief that the Gods were their ancestors, and the majority of Odinists to modern day still do. Their social structures tended to imitate the Aesir, with small tribal town structures. These Tribes commonly held a population of around 200 people from roughly 10 families. The Kings, Jarls, and Thanes of the village usually had a preferred Deity that they would dedicate their sacred grove, Shrine, or a Temple to.
Sacred Grove - This is a piece of land typically with old growth trees that were either Oak, Birch, or Ash, that the people held sacred. There were several reasons these Indo European peoples Groves were deeply sacred to them. The first reason is that they often had a elder tree, or even a runestones in some groves that were consecrated towards a particular god. The second, is that these were also their cemeteries in most cases. All of their neighbors, friends, and family were laid to rest, or ushered into the next plane there. This was usually done with a funeral pyre right in the grove, or a building a burial cairn in its borders. The ceremonial pyres were held as a community event with a wake, a funeral, and an after party in remembrance. There were other practices like a funeral pyre in a boat on land, but that was usually just for the wealthier citizens. This practice is now most frequently found to have been done in a Sacred Grove also. We have found a few examples of other funeral rights, like the Aquatic burial, or a Pyre in a boat on the water. These also were reserved for wealthier citizens, and only seem to become more common after the “viking age” or roughly 750-1080 A.D.
A Gothi, Vitki, or Volva were the Germanic peoples equivalent to modern Monks, Pastors, and Nuns. They would tend the temples or groves, but they also advised and spiritually guided the people of the Tribe if they were in need of it. The Gothi, or Volva would also host, and officiate the ceremonies and seasonal festivals there. The weddings were held in the sacred Grove so that the Family Friends and distant Ancestors that had already been ushered to the halls of the gods there, could also come back to be spiritually present with them.
For some tribes, this was their Church, Cemetery, Councilors office, and Health Clinic all in one space.
The History and Age of these Ancient Indo-European Ancestral Traditions.
That header was a mouthful, and the explanation of it is also quite.. large.🤔
What I mean by that, is that there is no definite “first” sacred grove defined by the modern historians or archeologists. The practice goes back as far into the history of these people as we can find, running back to the last ice age. There are even some more recent archaeological finds that seem to show that Sacred Groves, and Altars were a tradition that may have been learned from Neanderthals going back roughly 55,000 - 75,000 years when modern out of Africa humans bread with Neanderthals, and created the first groups of Indo-European people of Eurasia.
I know it sounds like a strange sci-fi movie, but all of the facts above are shown in the links and sources below the article. The only thing that is speculative is exactly where, and when we learned or adopted the practices. The Modern Eurasian native peoples have a mixture of a few different pre-human ancestors. This is where we get our distinct physical differences from people with African ancestry. The Neanderthal and newly discovered Denisovan peoples were similar, but were distinctly “not homo sapiens” according to modern scientists. There is much evidence emerging now suggesting that the Neanderthal may have handled their dead in a ceremonial fashion similar to the some of the Celts and Druids. The bones of the dead would have been stripped from their bodies and preserved, then were kept in one location. Usually these are found buried among mountainous and forested areas, with a few exceptions of Neanderthal funerary practices dating closer to the ice age found in caves.
So where and when did it begin ?
Who knows.. 🤷🏼♂️ I sure don't, and neither do the Doctorate level historians that study, and directly specialize in the field.
Let's go into the more recent, and far better documented examples.
From what we know as the 1st century AD, the Writer and statesman Tacitus wrote several texts detailing the Religions, Lifestyles, Agriculture, and Commerce of the surrounding tribal nations. Because of their close proximity, and intertwined history with the Germanic peoples, the Pagan Roman writers Like Tacitus, and Caesar documented as much as they could.
Tacitus wrote in Germania - “They also carry with them into battle certain figures and images taken from their sacred groves. And what most stimulates their courage is, that their squadrons or battalions, instead of being formed by chance or by a fortuitous gathering, are composed of families and clans.”
Hand carved wooden Runes and Stones from their sacred groves were carried by nearly every Germanic Pagan, much like the cross is carried by modern Christians today. To them they were not just bringing a trinket for luck, they were bringing the Fathers, Grandfathers, Uncles, and Friends with them whenever they Traveled, Hunted, Explored, or fought in battles.
We Must Bring These Traditions Back.
We as Pagans can no longer allow our dead to be forced into being buried, or burned in Catholic, Christian, and Abrahamic ceremonies. Then be forced to be laid to rest in cemeteries, in the hallowed ground of the very people who attempted our genocide for over 1,000 years. The same group of people who also cut down our Ancient Groves, and built their churches using the wood of our Sacred Family Trees.
That is no different than if there was a Law forcing Jewish People to give all of their Dead to same Nazi soldiers and scientists to experiment on, and violate. Just imagine if the group that similarly attempted to wipe them out in a genocide, were now legally controlling their funeral practices.
That's how most of the millions of Modern American Pagans feel.
That is why The Tribe of the Greyhorn Pagans is currently fighting to Re-Build our Sacred Groves, and filing to have Traditional Tribal Odinism become a legally recognized religious group in America. #JoinTheFight
Help us build the First Sacred Grove Of Odin
Links and Image Sources :
Sacred Groves of the Norse Germanic Folk - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_trees_and_groves_in_Germanic_paganism_and_mythology
Neanderthals bury their dead in Sacred Groves - https://www.newscientist.com/article/2233918-70000-year-old-remains-suggest-neanderthals-buried-their-dead/#:~:text=Neanderthals%20really%20did%20bury%20their,60%2C000%20to%2070%2C000%20years%20ago.
Tacitus The Annals - https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/home.html
Music, Art, and Religion of Neanderthals - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/could-neanderthals-make-art/#:~:text=But%20for%20Leder%20and%20others,which%20have%20since%20been%20lost.
Tacitus Germania - https://facultystaff.richmond.edu/~wstevens/history331texts/barbarians.html