An Introduction to Vanic Practice
from the forthcoming "Gods of the Wain, Gods of the Witches: A Guide to Working with the Vanir Year-Round"

After completing my devotional anthology in honor of my patron God and Divine Husband, Ingvi Frey, I was then Asked by Him to put together a book in honor of His extended family, the Vanir.  The devotional for Frey, "Gifts for the Golden God", was a full-time project spanning nearly six months of work, and what He was asking with the book for the Vanir would be even more time-consuming, and require more intense effort.  That being said, I took an oath at sumble over Yule 2007 to begin and complete the book for the Vanir by the end of 2008, because I knew why Frey was asking me to do this.  Prior to this text, the only book that has ever really dealt with the possibility of a Vanir Witchcraft cult was "Witchdom of the True" by Edred Thorsson.  Many serious Heathens and Pagans have pointed out the book's flaws, which I do not need to get into at this time.  However, most "Heathenry 101" texts only get into the Aesir with a heavy emphasis on Odin and Thor.  Most books on Witchcraft proper deal with it in an eclectic or generic Triple Goddess/Horned God context.  The only shamanically-oriented Northern Tradition books we have, by Raven Kaldera, place focus on the Jotnar.  This book will not only be exploring the archaeology and anthropology of Northern Europe, but also is from the perspective of individuals who deal with the Vanir directly, and takes an honest look at the question of resurrecting the Vanic cultus in a way relevant to the needs of the 21st century.

This website that you are seeing now is the natural offshoot of working on the book.  Many of my articles for the book are on this website, and in general I thought it was about time that I had a place to express my opinions and insights publicly, since some people of worth have said that it's helpful.

I began to open myself to the idea that a book like this is needed for this time, when I remembered being called epithets such as a "Vanic Wackadoo" and a "Wiccatru".  The negative reactions to Vanir worship seem to fall into two lines of thought.

1. Those who feel the label of "Vanatru" or "Vanic-focused" is wrong because "the Vanir were adopted by the Aesir and are now wholly Aesir" and that the only three named Vanir were Frey, Freyja, and Njord, ergo calling oneself "Vanatru" or a synonym assumes that there are other Vanir and is ahistoric.

2. Those who feel that Vanir worship is essentially the same as Wicca, and that the emphasis on sexuality and enjoying simple pleasures and nature is not a realistic look at how the elder Heathens lived.

I would challenge those who subscribe to the first belief to realize that as much as the Vanir may be on frithful and friendly relations with the Aesir, serving Them in a priestly capacity as is told in Ynglinga Saga, this does not mean the same thing as being considered wholly a part of the new tribe and leaving the old tribal ways behind.  Of the three definitely known Vanir who are named in the Eddas, none seem to have ever married any of the Aesir.  In Ynglinga Saga  it says that Njord is wed to His sister (who is most likely Nerthus), and was married to Skadhi the Jotuness for a time.  Frey also married a Jotuness, Gerda.  Freyja may probably have been intimate with Odin, however marriage is not required for such.

Njord's sister-wife is not named in any of the Eddas and Sagas, and this in and of itself is proof that there are more Vanir than named by the Eddas and Sagas.  We have the name of Nerthus from Tacitus' Germania.  Furthermore, for an entire war to happen between the Aesir and Vanir --which was also recorded in Ynglinga Saga as well as Gylfaginning and part of the Voluspa -- we would have to assume there were more or less equal numbers, and those who have done Otherworld journeying to Asgard and Vanaheim have reported demi-Gods and different Beings inhabiting those areas as permanent residents.  Names being lost to time does not mean the Beings do not exist, but it is a mystery now and really only relevant as a person has a relationship with the Vanir or Aesir.

Furthermore, based on study of Their individual domains and personalities, I would say that there are more Vanir than Njord, Frey, and Freyja.  For the purposes of my book and this website, I count the following Deities as being Vanir:

--Nerthus
--Njord
--Frey
--Freyja
--Freyja's sisters (e.g. Eir)
--Freyja's daughters Gersemi and Hnossa
--Gullveig/Heid
--Holda
--Ullr/Wuldor
--Idunna
--Sif

I consider Holda to be Vanir both for Her folkloric attributes -- ties to nature, Witchcraft, and duality of scary old crone or beautiful woman -- as well as encountering Her in Vanaheim.  I also consider Ullr to be Vanir for His connection to the forest and the hunt, as the agricultural Vanic society would have been supplemented by hunting and gathering.  I consider Idunna to be Vanir due to Her connection to trees and bearer of the apples that contain Divine life force to keep the Gods hale, and the frith-weaving such a role implies.  I consider Sif to be Vanir due to Her connection to grain and the harvest, being noted as a seer, and as She is listed as Ullr's mother, it would give more credence to Ullr as Vane.

In addition, I consider these Deities to be Vanir by marriage or adoption:

--Gerda
--Skadhi
--Skirnir
--Beyla
--Byggvir


The second line of reasoning against a Vanic cultus is erroneous also.  Most people in the Northlands were farmers and fishermen.  The warriors were always a minority, and note that knowing how to defend oneself and home is not the same thing as being in the military.  Most of the "common people", which includes farmers and fishermen, were not lauded by the skalds in the way that individual warriors and royals were.  And... so what if Wiccans worship the Northern Deities?  Shouldn't we be happy that our Gods are at least getting honor these days?  Why wouldn't the Vanir ally Themselves with magickal, witchy people?


With my book and this website being focused on the Vanir, I am in no way trying to make the Aesir look bad or evil or lesser than the Vanir.  I respect the Aesir, and have quite a fondness for Odin, Frigga, and Thor.  However, the Aesir have Their own domains which is mostly the collective governance of "civilized society", and this is quite a bit different from rural folk.  There is of course some overlap, with the Anglo-Saxon Woden as the wanderer who is given the last sheaf of grain for Sleipnir at the harvest.  Woden is the magickal, gentler face of Odin, whose Norse side is a bloodthirsty and cunning chieftain.  Both are the same Deity, but with a God who has over 200 heiti, I would daresay that He has them for a reason, and Woden and Wodan are a very different face than Odin and Wotan, who then branches off into Bolverk, Jalkr, Grimnir, Hropt, Hangatyr, and many more.

The Aesir are part of why we are here now in the 21st century and have the modernities and convenience we do.  We need what They have to offer.  However, that Heathenry has gone so far over to the Aesic side and many Heathens would bash those who focus on the Vanir, calling them "Wiccan" (which is a common Asatru epithet for anything they find suspect) or even "Vanic wackadoos", is a definite sign that we have gotten far away from our roots. 

I also have refrained from Jotun-bashing in this book and on this site.  The Vanir like the Jotnar well enough to intermarry with Them, and don't have the same investment of interest in conflict that some of the Aesir have.

Moreover, I feel that we need the Aesir, Vanir, and Jotnar in order to have balance with the elements of the Earth, with plants and animals, with other humans, and with ourselves.  Every Deity is complex and to reduce a single Deity to Their domain is ludicrous.  Thor is much more than a thunder God.  Frey is much more than a big schlong.  Freyja is much more than an amber necklace.  Each Deity has a distinct personality and many sub-domains of what They "stand for", and we need the personalities and sub-domains of the Jotnar and Vanir as well as the Aesir.  And just as the Gods are different, people are different, and there is no reason why an Aesir focus should be looked down on, nor a Vanic focus, nor a Jotun focus, so long as there is a balance kept with honoring the other tribes.  There are people who will feel more of an affinity for the Aesir, and be called to do Their work.  There are people who will feel more of an affinity for the Jotnar/Rokkr, and be called to do Their work.  And there are those of us who are predominantly allied with the Vanir, or are leaning strongly in that direction, for whom I write this book, and dedicate this website to.

I feel that the Vanir are a bridge between the Jotnar and the Aesir.  Looking at a timeline of archaeology, the culture that was most probably a Vanir cultus would sit right in between the Paleolithic time of the Jotun-focused people and the wave of invaders that brought the Aesir.  The Vanir have relationships with both the Jotnar and Aesir, while still remaining distinct unto themselves.  The main emphasis of Vanir culture is industriousness and co-operation, which is rewarded by enjoying good food, good sex, and good fun.  Contrast this with the Jotun culture which has strict taboos that ensure survival against the harsh elements, and the Aesir culture that emphasizes strategy to conquer or dominate, and a system of castes or classes where people fill specific roles rather than everyone communally pitching in as in a Vanic society.  I have noticed that those allied primarily with the Aesir are more about "becoming your best self", to follow the example of Odin, and those allied primarily with the Jotnar seem to deal with the darker sides of life head-on and show the beauty and mystery within.  The way of the Vanir is the very firm middle way -- the sacred in the mundane.  They share some elements with the Aesir and some with the Jotnar but still remain distinct.

The Vanir are primarily Deities of cultivating the land as well as harvesting from the seas, when humanity went from being hunter-gatherers to having hunting and gathering in addition to growing some types of food (Jotun culture), and then growing food primarily with peripheral hunting and gathering.  The Aesir made this all commercial, besides incorporating other elements such as more rigid societal structure, and different kinds of work (including art for art's sake, rather than "works of art" being just useful tools such as pottery and baskets).  When looking at the Vanir in a context of history, it is clear that in the 21st century most people in Western civilizations do not live on farms but in urban and suburban areas, and the matter of having children is now largely that of choice rather than necessity.  However, I feel the Vanir are intelligent enough to understand the changing times and even if we are not in a predominantly agricultural society but an industrial one, we are still a part of the food chain and the life cycle and we owe it to ourselves and each other -- never mind the Earth -- to behave responsibly, which translates into a fine balance between work and play.  The Vanir care about the quality of life, from the health of the soil and the seas to the various assortments of plants and animals, to the people.  All life is sacred, and the cycles of life very much so.  The cycles of life do not cease just because most of us live in cities and do not know what it is to harvest and kill our food.  If anything, the quality of life is more of an issue now than it was back then.  The Vanir are in this time concerning Themselves with city dwellers and suburbanites as well as those who have small sustenance farms.  The Vanir may appreciate the agricultural cycle, but They do not just disappear on Their people simply because in some parts of the world there is snow on the ground.  Fields lying fallow is just as much a part of the agricultural year as fields full of food ripening and ready for harvest.  In some parts of the United States there is not even snow on the ground during the so-called winter months, such as Southern California.  To make the assumption that the Vanir are only agriculturally connected is to shoehorn Them into a narrow box -- it matters, but it's much more than that.  The Vanir are Deities of life, and so the quality of life itself is important to Them, and certainly in the context of the 21st century, a city dweller trying to eat mindfully and help keep their city clean and beautiful is as much Vanic as someone tilling the fields.

Like the Jotnar, the Vanir have a dark side -- to think that the Vanir are pacifists and not war-like is to be crying to your Disir later if you make the mistake of pissing Them off.  However, the Vanir notably lack the overt aggression of both the Jotnar and Aesir except when put in a defensive position.  They are rarely ever on the offense.  The Vanir would prefer to invest Their time and energy in co-operation rather than conflict, and if someone absolutely cannot get along, the individual is better off not being in their society.  This is partly why Frey is said not to hold with outlaws in Viga-Glum's Saga: if someone is outlawed and needs to be banished from society for the safety of others, something very drastic has happened to get to that state.  This is noticeably different from someone who chooses to live more or less isolated and commune with nature and selected individuals, but the solitary person is still connecting with nature, which is a sacred task to the Vanir as it helps keep balance.  Furthermore, the archaeological period that would belong to the Vanir cultus is noted for human sacrifice.  That could also be said of the Jotun and Aesic dominated periods, but to the Vanir it was all part of being recycled into the Earth.  One of Frey's famous sentences to me is: "There is nobody who is above composting shit.  You are all shit in the end."  While this may seem a little coarse, it was not meant to be uncaring -- it is the truth.  While human life is sacred, all life is sacred, it is all part of the life-death-rebirth cycle.  Life feeds on life.  If you eat, you are killing something, be it plant or flesh.  When you die, your body either goes into the ground or becomes ash, in either case renewing the fertility of the Earth.

Like the Aesir, the Vanir also appreciate self-improvement.  The Vanir are very much about work being good for the soul in and of itself besides being good for the family and the community.  However, the Vanir despise the idea of overwork, becoming a workaholic, and work must needs be balanced out with celebration.  Work can be seen as a person's ministry, but play is the other side of the sacred coin.  Those who follow the Vanir primarily in the 21st century can be noted to try to bring good cheer to those around them and keep a positive and understanding attitude even in the face of hardship.  We are fond of being useful and feeling useful, and if something is done, it should be done well or not at all.  Ergo, spiritual revelations and spirit work should not be seen as a masturbatory activity but should have some kind of meaning and practical application to a person's existence rather than trying to grasp deep mysteries that don't nurture or protect or heal.  Wisdom is not valuable in and of itself, but should have an applicable purpose, or it's not worth having.  You can do something with all the bells and whistles to try to connect to the Divine but if it's not practical, it is of no use to Them.  For example, in many cases Vanic Deities would prefer a very simple, cozy routine of being given part of the daily supper than a ritual with intricate and complex words and motions.  They understand the food offering to be giving up part of one's sustenance, putting time and effort behind the choice and preparation of food to gift Them.  Talk is cheap, food is life.

Because of Their ties to food, both plant and animal, and the cycles of fertility and death, the followers of the Vanir in the 21st century are usually environmentally concerned, but this in a practical way also, in a way that benefits both humans and the land.  (In other words, while followers of the Vanir may feel that protecting the environment is a necessary and worthwhile cause, they also should understand that humans still have to live on the planet short of massive worldwide extermination, and any sacrifices humans make in terms of putting in extra work, or giving things up or trying new things, to help heal and protect the Earth, should not be done at major cost to the quality of human life.)

There are many tasks that Vanir folk take on, whether it be Light-Bringer, Frith-Maker, Help-Giver, Voice for the Voiceless, or Friend of the Earth, but all are borne in the idea that this place where we live is sacred, and other human beings are part of our sacred Earth, until they choose to sever themselves from the sacredness of being in vile acts that directly harm others.  Deeds matter more than a person's sexual orientation, or who their parents are, but deeds do matter, and the Vanir and Their people have a bitter vengeance against those who would violate the sanctity of being.  The way of the Vanir, therefore, is more about getting what you need, and appreciating what you have, seeing the beauty of reality, rather than aspiring to high ideals or combatting the darkness.  To think this shallow is to oversimplify what is being said.  Many moderns do not appreciate what they have, even if it's far more than people in other parts of the world who are happy with much less.  Many moderns cannot see the goodness of the world and feel the need to continually improve upon it, or, at worst, escape (as manifested in various addictions).  By contrast, cultivating a spirit of gratitude and joy, being free and healthy sexually, having a proper relationship with food and other substances, finding one's niche to participate in the mundane world, while being realistic about inevitables such as death, doesn't seem so bad.

It is my hope that my website as well as the forthcoming book will show people the relevance of Vanic ways in the 21st century, and that the Aesir, Vanir, and Jotnar are all needed to bring our planet back into balance, which is quickly escalating towards political, ecological, social, and economic crisis at a global level.  The Deities of the other pantheons are also concerned about This Place, but those who are part of the Northern Tradition should recognize the worth of a Deity even if they are not aligned with that Deity in particular.  The ultimate purpose of the tribe known to us as the Vanir is to know the appreciation of everyday holiness that is sorely needed in a world full of malcontents seeking to destroy the world and/or themselves.

The Vanir are not pleased with the way things have fallen apart in a secular Western society, with our poison spreading to the other parts of the world.  Drastic change is not going to happen overnight, and surely it would be hubris to think this website and the book could inspire such needed change, but if the words here can inspire people to think about the importance of the Vanir, Their relevance in these chaotic times, and to be more aware of how our actions impact other people and the Earth itself, to be more aware of what is needed for honorable actions, and to revere the Vanir as the Gods of nature tamed by man but still respected and appreciated by man... then I have done my job, and I have done what the Vanir collectively asked me to do with working on this website and writing Their book.  Sadly, the more time we spend wanking about the term Vanatru being riddled with ahistorical heresy, the more time we waste that should be invested in trying to be productive and honorable people, trying to help ourselves, help each other, and help our planet.

(C) 2008 Sigrun Freyskona.