Jeff Russell

3) Yes, from my admittedly distant vantage point overseas, it feels like there's a lot of potential for a distinctive and genuinely American Heathenry to develop over time. Which is great, but it feels like we're lacking some of that energy here and still a little stuck on the "academic reconstructionist" stage (but see below).

4) Thanks for the tip. I was aware of Rasmussen, but haven't delved too much into his work. The "local customs" thing is interesting, since I get the sense that's a major strand of several in-person Pagan/Heathen groups both here and in Sweden. Ie. the focus on "Forn Sed" if you've run into that term, literally "old custom", where they use various half-Christianized folk traditions as a starting point for their practice more than the written myths or reconstructions.

Maybe I'm too optimistic, but I suspect the nationalist (or let's be real, racist) baggage was more of an issue back in the 90s and 00s. These days it's more about Islamic immigrants vs American-style secular rightwing populists, with a few hardcore Christians thrown in. Thankfully, Heathens haven't really been part of that whole debate in the public view, and the days of Varg Vikernes et al are thankfully long gone. Both national Heathen-adjacent organizations here do very clearly disavow any kind of racism on their public pages, though, and I guess some prejudice might still linger.

Actually, the few times I've seen anything Heathen-related in the media here, it's been more along the lines of "look at these silly people doing their silly ceremonies while benefitting from public money" (all religious organizations get state support based on member count here).

And of course making your own fun is always a good suggestion. :) Like I said on MM, maybe I'll try to adapt the Merlin rituals eventually, unless someone else does first. I have no idea if Hill plans on writing more books for the system. For the time being I'll focus on just working my way through the curriculum as written, though. Like you've talked about here before with your Dolmen Arch practice, I feel what I need more than anything right now is steady work with a structured system "by the book", then we'll see.