I'm a Pagan, so when I die where will I be laid to rest?
The cemeteries and funeral ceremonies for Judeo Christians, Evangelicals, and Abrahamic peoples, are not meant for us.
The Pagan Revival is growing fast, and every day, we see that there are more and more people converting to their ancestral traditions. The fastest growing, and most common Pagan belief system now is Odinism. The Norse group is closely followed in number, by Wicca and Celtic beliefs. This is not a small group of concerts, in America alone there were at least 8,000,000 new Pagan converts, or roughly 2% of the population according to polls taken between 2018 and 2020. For me personally, it was a conversion to Odinism and Germanic pagan tribal traditions. The fact that we are the first generation dealing with these issues, means that we are the ones who will have to correct it.
We have no sacred groves, and this is an issue that modern Pagans in America, and probably even more in Europe, will soon be forced to address. Over the last 1,500 years nearly all of our sacred grounds have been violated, and built on by other religious groups.
This matter has recently become doubly concerning for me, and my family. Getting diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis, means that I only have about 10 years before my pancreas completely fails. This is the limited time frame I have to figure out where I will be laid to rest. This must be done so that my family, my Tribe, and all of our descendants can come to visit, and then eventually be laid to rest themselves in the same Sacred Grove.
There are several other types of “Pagan” or “Heathen” funeral rights, that were once observed by the ancestors of these modern groups. These are ancient traditions, and with the modern Pagan Revival growing so rapidly we have the problem that there is no equivalent. Where will the modern Druids, Germanic Folk, Celtic, Scythian, Slavic and Baltic Pagans, and Vikings lay their dead to rest?
How do we fix this ?
There are several possible solutions, but the easiest would be obtaining a piece national parkland, or for Germanic, and Norse pagans, high elevation mountainous land, with old growth oaks already on it. The land needs to be consecrated by a Gothi, or Vitki, for Germanic people, or a Druid for Celtic grounds. Then a Gothi would need to become the designated “keeper of the grove,” and preform the rights when a member of that Tribe is laid to rest. They would have other responsibilities with maintaining the Grove for gatherings on holidays, like Blots, Things, Yule, and other Tribal gatherings. This is done in this way, because their ancestors that were previously laid to rest there, are also with them for all of the future gatherings, and resting there forever with their descendants.
The Sacred Grove - https://www.givesendgo.com/PaganSacredGrove
As a community we can fix this now. If we do not address this, within the next few decades all of us “modern Pagans” will individually have to face this funeral / Pyre / or burial issue. We do not want to leave our families confused, in an already difficult time, trying to figure out where, and what, our funeral rights will be.
If you are a currently a solitary Pagan, and are looking for a community of like minded people, there are many modern groups out there researching, and even fully converting to the Traditions of their ancestors.
I was blessed to find a strong Tribal Family among the The Tribe of the Greyhorn Pagans. This is a nondenominational Tribal group, we are a mixed bag of Norse, Germanic, Saxon, Baltic, Celtic, and Wiccan Folks, all discovering the traditions of our ancestors. Join us on the path, you can discover and discuss your very own ancestral traditions, and embark on your voyage of spiritual discovery.
Tribe of the Greyhorn Pagans Website.
The Official Greyhorn Pagan Telegram Channel
From either of these two links you can join, and discover a whole community of people who share your beliefs, find traditional pagan products like Runes, and Ceremonial items, and even contact the Legally Ordained Elders of the Tribe.
Links, and Image Sources :
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_grove