Comparing Asatru and Theodism is difficult. Theodism varies from to
theod to theod. Asatru differs from kindred to kindred. This
difficulty is compounded in that some parts of what is common in
Theodism may also be found in one group of Asatruar but not in
another. These issues present some rather obvious problems. To make
my task a bit easier I'm going to describe these differences, as I
see them, in a very general sense.
One major element of Theodism different from most of Asatru is the
approach we have taken toward applying our lore knowledge. It would
be true to say that both Asatru and Theodism study many of the same
materials to understand the practices of the ancient Germanic
people. One of the conclusions many have come to is that modernity
and modern ways of thinking about the world are very different than
the way the arch-heathens looked at the world. Certain elements of
ancient people's ideas are completely rejected by the modern
American culture. When our modern sensibilities are inconsistent
with the ancient ideals, we attempt to apply the ancient practice
as much as possible.. This is difficult in a variety of ways and
does have some limitations. In comparison, Asatruar often chose to
frame their practice in agreement with modern secular ideals (ex.
individualism, egalitarianism) over ancient ones (ex. sacral
kingship, hierarchal structure.)
I separated the rest of this article into three sections. First:
Things that Theodism has in common with Asatru. Second, things that
are common in Theodism but not in Asatru. Third and final will be
elements of Asatru that are not common in Theodism. In the interest
of keeping this article a reasonable length, I will use bullet
points and a bit of commentary.
What's the same? Most of the similarities are fairly
obvious.
-We worship the same pantheon of gods.
-We utilize the same body of lore.
-We give votive offerings, often in the form of mead libations or
food items.
-We observe some of the same major holy tides such as Yule.
Elements of Theodism not commonly found in
Asatru
-Sacral Kingship
-Hierarchal and Tribal Group Structure
-Hold Oaths to individual members of the group.
-Thralldom
-Livestock Sacrifice is practiced and the only ritual referred to
as “blot”
-Ancient language used as liturgy
-Very structured and consistent rituals
-Strict adherence to specific traditions and taboos.
-Draws practices from a specific tribal group dependent on the
theod.
Commentary:
Every theod has a lord or lady who is the protector and “container”
of the tribal luck. It is that person's duty to perform certain
sacrifices on behalf of the tribe as a whole. The structure of a
theod is always hierarchal. There is a well defined set of classes
called arrung that are awarded based on merit and deeds of
the individual person. Certain individuals in the theod may be
oathed to the lord of the theod to perform certain tasks on behalf
of the lord. In Sweartfenn Theod, only the thegns are required to
swear a hold oath. In some theods, churls must swear an oath to
someone else within the theod of higher arrung. Prospective members
of the theod who have not yet come into the theod as churls are
referred to as thralls. More on that in my article Radical
Acculturation. The most important ritual of Theodism is blot.
In Theodism the term is only used in reference to livestock
sacrifices which are consumed in a ritual feast once the animal has
been butchered and cooked. Votive offerings are generally referred
to as faining. In Theodish rituals, Anglo-Saxon or some
other ancient language is generally used for liturgy. Ritual
practices are consistent in Theodism. The ritual has the same
structure and may even be completely the same every time.
Experimentation occurs but only in minor ways and when there is no
specific lore to give us a definite direction to go in. There is
also a number of archaic traditions and taboos we follow that are
not commonly observed in Asatru.
Elements often found in Asatru but not commonly found in
Theodism. It is worth repeating that not every self identified
Asatruar would agree with these elements.
-Egalitarian group structure
-Kindred members oathed to the group but not an individual within
the group.
-Votive offerings referred to as “Blot”
-Ritual can vary widely, even within a kindred depending on who is
leading the rite.
-All persons in votive offering rituals are active
participants
-Draws the majority of its practices from Icelandic Eddic and Saga
literature.
Commentary:
Most Asatru kindreds have an egalitarian structure. There may be an
individual in the group who is referred to as a gothi or gythia but
that individual is not seen as possessing any higher position or
merit above other members of the kindred. Every member of the
kindred is seen as being an equal. Not all kindreds require a new
member to swear an oath to the kindred but in those that do, the
oath is generally sworn to the kindred as a whole and not to any
individual within the kindred. The large national organizations
have some leadership roles but they are very few and the majority
of these positions are administrative and not sacral. Very few
Asatru perform livestock sacrifices. Many believe such a practice
to be unnecessary or even abhorrent. The offerings of libation,
food or other items are generally given in a ritual form that
varies from group to group, and even person to person. Unlike
Theodism, this practice is referred to blot. In Asatru blot it is
frequent for the entire group to participate actively in the
ritual. The form this often takes is that the person leading the
ritual will speak some blessing over a horn of mead or some other
libation, then each person in the ritual will drink from the horn
and make a toast. I have also observed examples of these rituals
where each individual makes an offering of some sort. In Theodish
ritual the weofedthegn (priest) recites (chants or sings) the
liturgy and makes the offering. The other members of the theod are
present but mainly in silent contemplation.
These are some of the basic differences between Theodism and Asatru
and you may find that there are others that I have not included.
The big difference, as I see it is in worldview. A lot of Asatruar
think of themselves as modern people practicing heathenry. I like
to think of Theodsmen as heathens living in the modern world.
