Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Heathen at Heart

Home
Pagan
Community, Heathenry, and Trothmoot 2017

Community, Heathenry, and Trothmoot 2017

Last updated on: June 7, 2017 at 11:45 am by Molly Khan

Community, Heathenry, and Trothmoot 2017 2017-06-07T11:45:53-05:00 Molly Khan

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Over the past few years, I’ve been lucky enough to attend a fair amount of Pagan festivals. I’ve been to pan-Pagan and Ár nDraíocht Féin specific events, but this past weekend I was able to attend my first Heathen festival.

Trothmoot 2017, put on by international Heathen organization The Troth, was a rather low-key affair. From what I understand, the event rotates from east to west coast to the middle of the country; this year we were at the beautiful Crowder State Park in Missouri. There’s just not as many people out here in the Midwest, and so it was a smaller event.

Of course, since we were staying in bunkhouse cabins and not tents, the weather was wonderful and didn’t rain a drop all weekend. The workshops were incredibly informative and I am so thankful to have been there to hear them.

My favorite was hearing about Urglaawe from Rob Schreiwer, a leader in the tradition and Steersman of the Troth. Based around the traditions and myths of the Pennsylvania Deitsch, the tradition is fascinating. I learned about Germanic constellations and the Old Norse language from Ben Waggoner (a prolific translator for the Troth). Alvilldr Infägra, author of Sheathenry, presented on the ancestral practices of modern Heathen women.

The wonderful caliber of the workshops was one of my favorite things about this festival. If there’s one thing Heathens are good at, it’s building and transmitting knowledge. All that book-learning has to be good for something!

Trothmoot is also the host to the Troth’s annual business meeting, as well as several other smaller meetings of committees within the group. It was a long meeting, but interesting – questions were raised and debates had that were much more civil and productive than typical online discussion. Many of the members of the High Rede, the Troth’s governing body, were present. I appreciated hearing their views and experiences, and their visions for the future of the organization.

On Saturday was the traditional blot to Idunna, a lovely tradition somewhat similar to the Unitarian Universalist’s water communion. Many people brought water from their local areas, which was combined and blessed before being given to the land. Later that night was the Grand Sumbel, which this year was a typical sumbel in three-round format.

Add to that the other thing Heathens are known for – hospitality. I attended with a good friend of mine and my youngest daughter, and though I’d never met anyone there before, we were completely welcomed. My youngest is often the hit of parties and gatherings (she’s just so darn cute!) but at Trothmoot she was happily welcomed at workshops and rituals, baby noises and all. The food was amazing, and the cook was incredibly sweet; even at 6:30 in the morning when I drug my butt out of bed to help make breakfast!

Overall, I had a wonderful time, and really enjoyed getting to know fellow Heathens from outside my area. I’ve been inspired to get something more started in the local area as well. That is one of my favorite parts about getting away to festivals. It’s rejuvenating, and all the ideas and information that I come away with inspires me to reach higher in my personal life and with my engagement in the community.

Previous Post

June 5, 2017

A Heathen's Guide to Moving House

Next Post

February 1, 2019 A Heathen Imbolc

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category ADF Ancestors Books Deities Divination Festivals Heathen Historical Holidays Land Wights Magic Midwest Pagan Parenting Polytheism Prayer Runes Uncategorized Vanatru

Select a Month September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 June 2017 March 2017 February 2017 December 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I am a city that comes down from heaven, adorned as a bride. My streets are gold, my gates are pearls. What am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Heaven Zion New Jerusalem Bethlehem