Reclaiming the Heidhrinn Heart

It’s been three years since I began writing my first book, and almost two years since it was finally published, and yet the reclaiming of the heart remains at the forefront of everything I do, every day. Lately, it has been made ever-clearer to me that perhaps it isn’t only the Heidhrinn or even the Heathen heart that needs reclaiming: it is the concept of heart, in general and across-the-board.

What is the heart? Ultimately, it is the deepest part of a person; the place where Gods speak and hopes and fears are born. It is the engine of Will and of Magick. It is the part of us that believes, because it is the part of us that most deeply knows. The most basic human ethics also happen in the heart: it is the place where love and kindness live, for hate is learned. In the Havamal we read:

Hugr (a person’s individual, inner personality) alone knows, that which lives near the heart,
A man is alone with his own spirit;
Narrowness is the worst disease to wise men
And by itself nothing near contentment or happiness.

–Havamal 95, Connla Freyjason Translation

The type of narrowness of which the Havamal speaks is the kind which leads to oppression; to hate. The word used here is öng, which we find as the root in other words: öngva and öngvaerr. Ongva means “to press; to oppress”, while öngvaerr means “in anguish; distressed”. From all of this, we can arrive at the precise definition of exactly the sort of narrowness we are addressing here, and which the Havamal intended to imply: a narrowness that oppresses, distresses, and brings anguish. The Havamal likens such narrowness to a disease. Now, not all diseases are communicable, but when the average person thinks of disease, they think of something which can be “caught”; they think of contagion. This narrowness of which the Havamal speaks is precisely this latter sort of disease: it is contagious, “caught” from outside influencers. Once “caught”, it infects a person, making contentment and happiness impossible, in the same way as the flu. The opposites of narrow are free, giving, open, strong, unlimited, accepting, broad, generous, liberal, tolerant, unconfined, unrestricted, and wide. Therefore, this tells us that “un-narrowness” should be the nature of our hjarta; that this is its natural, uninfected state.

Except, everywhere we look, we find evidence of narrow hearts, rather than open ones; evidence of this contagion. Every time someone tries to gatekeep, and tell another person what they can or cannot spiritually believe, or how they can or cannot spiritually identify themselves, it is evidence of this disease of narrowness. Every time someone says that, because of a person’s racial or cultural background, they cannot be this thing or that thing, this is likewise evidence of narrowness. Every time someone labels another person’s religious experiences as “UPG”, or calls their practice “Wiccatru”, this, too, is narrowness. Limitation, segregation, discrimination: all of these are symptoms of the narrow heart.

Revelation begins in the heart, but the heart must first be open. Some might call these epiphanies “experiences of the numinous”, or simply “religious experiences”. Unfortunately, here in our modern world, many people belittle them simply as “UPG”. How do you know if what you have experienced is “mental sock puppets” or genuine? Did it happen in your head, or in your heart? That is the simplest and most profound way to weigh discernment. Unfortunately, for most of us, our hearts have been so narrowed by the outside world that this is difficult, if not impossible. And the more people continue to demote genuine religious experience–the kind that happens in the heart–to the realm of “UPG”, the narrower our hearts grow.

The opening of hearts leads to rebellion and upsets the status quo. Hope wells from the heart, and, as we all know, rebellions are built on hope. Therefore, keeping the contagion going is key for those who are in power to stay in power. And don’t try to tell me for an instant that those in power in our present spiritual community don’t wish to stay there! Continuing to feed the same line of bullshit is how they’ve risen to those ranks since the summer of ’69, and it’s how they stay there; it’s how we keep getting nazi asshats within the ranks of Norse Practice. It’s also how the cult of personality is created within other spiritual realms, whether Pagan or Wiccan or Conservative Christian, or whatever. If we’re all going to sit around and scream about this within the realm of politics, where it is so blatantly obvious, it’s high time we stopped being a gang of hypocrites and pointed those glasses at those surrounding us in our closer community and faith-lives as well.

In the healthcare professions, contagion is stopped using four simple steps; we can employ these same steps, when combating the disease of heart-narrowness:

• Screening: Be aware and beware the signs of narrowness. If someone routinely attempts to segregate, discriminate, gatekeep, belittle, or place limitations on things and/or entities which should be limitless, keep your distance from them, just as you would someone with a virus.

• Limited Contact: Do yourself a favor, and limit contact with those who exhibit symptoms of narrowness. This may mean leaving some Facebook groups behind, or even cutting some people from your social circle. When you must have contact with such people, guard your heart: don’t let them put the squeeze on you!

• Practice “Heart-Cleanliness”: Just as you would wash your hands after going to the bathroom or cover your nose when you sneeze, practice “heart-cleanliness” by routinely checking your own views, doing the necessary Self-work, and cleaning and clearing the Well of the Heart by checking its “levels”. The same steps which may be used to clean a mundane, physical well can be applied to “heart health”.

• Inoculation: Inoculate your heart by educating yourself on the signs of narrowness, and then replacing those things with their direct opposites: instead of segregation and discrimination, unity and oneness; instead of gatekeeping, openness; instead of belittling, upholding and celebrating; instead of limiting, learning coupled with acceptance. And, of course, the best vaccination against narrowness and hate is always love. Practice kindness; you can’t go wrong with that. Kindness is its own reward: even if you find yourself persistently repaid with asseholery, at least you’ll know that you aren’t one!

We can reclaim the heart, Heidhrinn and otherwise, but, while that reclamation begins on the inside, within the individual, doing it on a grand scale is too big of a job for one human alone. We’ve got to be in this together. I am in this for the long haul. How about you?