Book
Review:
Germanic
Heathenry:
ISBN#:
1-4107-6585-7
1st
Books Library
©
2003
Reviewed by: Steve Anthonijsz
This
book outlines the German approach to modern Heathenry known as ‘Irminenschaft’
by its practitioners. The summary is quite complete, covering everything from
basic attitudes towards Home and Family to such complexities as Cosmology and
the nature of divinity.
But
first one might ask, “Why ANOTHER branch of Heathenry?”
As
much as today’s Heathens emphasize the importance of individuality, one should
not be surprised when realizing that there are more schisms, disagreements,
sectarian issues, and so forth to split our religious tradition apart that we
have seen in our hundred years or so of existence than other creeds have seen
in many times that age. On the other hand, as often as we refer to ourselves as
‘Germanic Heathens’ what do we really know of the expression of our faith that
comes from Germany? We are always ready to discuss the Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse
(Scandinavian), or Icelandic expressions. But the German expression, which has
been seeded, budded, and blossomed, only to be seeded again has been all but
ignored by English-speaking authors until recently.
Wait
a minute… A hundred years?
This
is one of the beautiful aspects of Germanic Heathenry, one that differentiates
it from other forms. The German tradition covers a whole lot more time,
maintaining a continuum that escapes many other national traditions. Dating
from before the recording of the Merseburg Spells, the German tradition- while
offering fewer ancient texts than others- does offer the older and more pure
transcriptions. And, perhaps even better, it also offers a store of modern lore
ranging from the work of the earliest Armanen runemasters to the efforts of the
first Heathen revivalists!
James
Hjuka Coulter manages to capture all of this in his paperback, rolling a HUGE
body of lore into a rather simple book that captures the essence of what all
these disparate elements over the centuries have been reaching toward without
losing the simplicity that is the basic nature of our faith. Without bothering
to even attempt to describe the complex history that is Germanic Heathenry, the
writer goes straight for the proverbial ‘meat,’ dealing with the spiritual
concerns of modern practitioners.
Perhaps
just as important as the information in the text it the obvious passion, zeal,
and wholeness of the author’s perspective. Despite the fact that magic is not
even brought up and that the runes are only mentioned in passing, Coulter
describes a Heathenry that is much more esoteric than the approaches described
in other introductory books, reminding us of the depth that Heathenry offers.
But, then, he never looses sight of the purity and simplicity that is our
ancestral trua. Catching a glimpse of his thoughts is almost like
hearing him philosophise about the mechanics of the multiverse while watching
his daughter out the window as she catches the bus to school in the morning.
An additional plus to the perspective offered in GERMANIC HEATHENRY is less apparent: Coulter founded a national organization, the Irminen-Gesellschaft, for the promotion of Irminenschaft only months before the publication of the book outlining that system. However, the only mention of the I-G in the entire book is in a contact address at the end. That is, the book does not exist merely as a means of promoting an organization like so many other books in the past! Instead we are simply offered an honest and accurate look at Irminenschaft, either for those who may wish to walk this noble path or for those who might like to accentuate more celebrated forms of Heathenry with certain effects lifted from the German tradition.
In
addition, like finding ‘bonus songs’ at the end of a compact disk, the reader
will find the author’s translation of the Hávamál composing the final
appendix of the book. Originally written for private use in the early 1990s and
publicly published in 2002, James Hjuka Coulter’s translation of the Hávamál
is not only highly readable, but is interesting in that it is the first
translation of this important work done by a practicing Heathen!
For
beginners looking for a complete depiction of modern Heathenry; or for those
seasoned Heathen looking for some newfound depth and insight GERMANIC
HEATHENRY: A PRACTICAL GUIDE is highly recommended.
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