New guy on the block

[Divico]

Waes hal ye, My name is Justino Divico Del Vado Negro, but my friends simply call me Divico. I'm 27 years old and from New Jersey, soon to be moving to Chile to live with my wife there.

I have been wayward to the Heathen faith for a long time after a period of self-destruction which has finally culminated into needing help. The Gods found me again and I seek Their wisdom and counsel again, as well as the counsel of the amicable Heathen community.

I have been battling severe alcoholism for a while now, and rather than seeking help in the more Christian faith-based oriented groups, I'd rather find faith-based help among my own kindred.

Since my adoption of Germanic Heathenry in my early teens, Thor/Thunor/Thunraz (however you wish to call Him depending on which linguistic branch you prefer) has been my patron deity since I was very much a working man living hand-to-mouth (not that this has changed much).

However, in the last few years, I'd begun to allow myself to slip into the world of dishonesty, manipulation, alcoholism, brawling, womanizing, etc (basically anything with the high-risk/high-reward sensation) and after a long time of simply not caring, I have opened my eyes to the damage that I have done and see that I cannot manage alone and that I need help. Alcohol seems to have been the main catalyst to the bulk of this in retrospect.

Since my self-guided meditations on the topic of change, I've found that it has not been Thor, but rather Surtr who has been calling out to me in my soul. Perhaps this is because He is the one whose fire wipes the slate clean so that a newer, greener world can rise from the ashes of the old. I'm curious if there are any other Surtians out there who can help me work with Him.

Anyway, that's enough of me. I look forward to meeting some insightful and friendly members of my faith on these pages. Hail all!

[Bathilde]

People who worship surt aren't welcome to most heathens. Unless you're prepared to defend your stance on that, I wouldn't go advertising it if I were you, especially if you're looking for help from the heathen community. If you're on facebook you could probably find an FB group for people who worship thurses/etins.

[Divico]

Thank you for the response.

I've never actually actively worshiped the Etin-kin but I don't have a black/white attitude of good and evil with Nordic cosmology and have met many other Heathens who honor the Rokkr as well as the Aesir and Vanir simply as a divine force of nature. So it's something I'm perfectly willing and able to defend from a theological and philosophical standpoint.

Unfortunately, I've long abandoned Facebook, finding the tedium of clicking around to be far too time-consuming (hence my return to the realm of forums). Much to my surprise, many other Heathen forums with which I had been familiar have shut down and are no longer in existence at all. I'm really curious as to how the community is suddenly seeming so limited in the field of open discussion online.

[Bathilde]

I've noticed the lack of message boards too. The fb groups and g+ groups are probably more popular cause they're easier for the user, and easy to setup, and you don't have to really maintain it on the back end. But, imo, message boards are the best at discussions, and moderating, and customization, so I continue to host and maintain this one.

It's not as busy as it was but I'm hopeful people will use it more when the other fads have past.