Druidism and Asatru

Asatru comes from Northern Europe and is the ancient religion of the Norse. It is rooted as deeply in European antiquity as Druidism. Asatru is a religion with little theology and does not recognize a priest or clergy class. This is very unlike Druidism in this aspect. It has been said that Asatru is a common derivation of the ancient Celtic religions without the guidelines of priests as in Druidism.

The name of the religion is derived from “As”, which means God, and “tru”, which means troth or loyalty. The origin of Asatru is lost in antiquity just as with Druidism. At its peak, it covered all of Northern Europe. Iceland became the second to last Norse culture to convert to Christianity in 1000 CE. This being almost 900 years after Druidism fell to Rome under early Christianity.

Asatru practice a polytheistic religion, where the Gods are all regarded as living beings who are involved in human life. This is different than that of Druidism where the Gods no longer dwell on earth and partake in the individual human life. Different than most Druidic belief, Asatru hold all the Gods in equal regard, none above the other. Very much like Druidism, Asatru follows a system of values and virtues.

Asatru groups today have religious or spiritual communities very much like that of todays Druid organizations and their clergy are called, Gothi (male), and Gythia (female).

More to follow…