Organization meeting set to explain pre-Christian pagan religion

[icymist]

is that a convicted killer lost his legal bid for a plastic sword so he could practice it at the South Dakota State Penitentiary, then Harold Chant has an invitation for you.

Chant, of Rapid City, is hosting an organizational meeting for people interested in the teaching and practice of the ancient pre-Christian religion that dominated much of Europe thousands of years ago.

Asatru is the modern revival of historical Germanic and Norse paganism and covers a wide spectrum of beliefs and practices. Chant prefers the term “heathenism” to “paganism” as a description of a belief system that is centered on the natural world and whose ceremonies follow the season, such as the upcoming spring equinox.

“It’s native European spiritual beliefs from before Christianity. Heathenism is a little better word for it,” he said. “We have both gods and goddesses. We don’t technically worship them, but we honor them.”

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