The 9 Noble Virtues, the important values of Heathenry;
1. Courage: It is knowing when to speak and when to remain silent and having the will to act, despite difficulty or fear. It is the first step in learning to live by one's convictions.
2. Discipline: The first and most important building block in the foundation of an honourable life. Discipline is the gift we give to ourselves allowing us to succeed in every aspect of life.
3. Fidelity: Fidelity is long-term commitment, not only to the Gods but to your Folk that walk the path with you and to the ethics which you have chosen to live by. It is the strength that gives one the ability to forbear and means not turning back when the path becomes difficult. Another word might be loyalty.
4. Honour: The condition of one's spirit and the acculation of all the other virtues lived out and lived well. It means doing what is right, even when it is difficult or might bring uncomfortable consequences.
5. Hospitality: It is giving back and not only being courteous but acknowledging Folk as kin. It means you accept that those who approach you within your community are doing so honourably and without any hidden agenda or malicious intent.It gives the benefit of the doubt that all are adhering to the same ethics and values.
6. Industriousness: Striving to develop one's gifts and talents. It is the responsibility to be productive with your knowledge. It is taking pride in doing the smallest task and doing it well.
7. Perseverance: Developing one's will and fortitude. Grasping each difficulty, each failure, each fear, and each pain as a gift , blessing, challenge and opportunity to grow stronger and wiser. It goes hand-in-hand with discipline and means not giving up and keeping to your goals.
8. Self-Reliance: Ridding oneself of any unconcious motivations destroying the barrier of ego and moving past the co-dependency and self-pity that we as a society have been taught. It mean's taking responsibility for one's own actions.
9. Truth: More than simply speaking or doing no falsehood, it means having the courage to walk honourably, despite the difficulties or discomforts.
I am an English Heathen. In that I mean I follow the gods and respect the Ancestors of my blood and land. To me a people over time build up an unbreakable bond with the land they live in, die in, fought for and have defended throughout history. A people are inseperable from the land they live in and can almost hear the call of it.
Christian plague has sought to break our people's bond with the land and so we exploit and use it for material gain. Heathenism to me is about getting back to that bond with the land, taking responsibility for your own actions and knowing that you are one link in the chain of your Ancestors stretching back millenia and striving to make it stretch forward millenia. It is not simply a matter of paying respects to the old gods but of taking charge of your own life, taking responsibility for your own actions, living honourably and by example, being self sufficient in an age of quick fixes and worthless charity handouts. It is not for us to fawn preying before some hateful golden idol as an excuse for inaction and weakness. The loathesome rants of ignorant apocalyptical desert cults have no place in the lush green lands of the North and shall be confined to history.
