Questionnaire response 17


1. Name (optional): Aimee Curtis

 

2. Age: 30

 

3. Nationality: British

 

4. Gender: female

 

5. How would you explain your path to someone else with no knowledge of it?

 

i am interested in Anglo-Saxon Hethenism and aslo Norse Heathenism. Norse is the way of the Vikings. I read a lot about Vikings; their mythology and battles also their way of life, farming, beliefs, and the archeology etc. i enjoy comparing Norse and Anglo-Saxon similarities because they all stem from the same thing. they had many gods and goddesses which may have been viewd as individual separate entities, i however choose to see them as aspects of oneself. i do not wish to reconstruct their beliefs as i don't feel that they are relevant in today's society. My main belief revolves around mother earth. and i also view the place where we go in the afterlife as somewhere we go and come back from at different stages.

 

6. How is your path expressed in practice?

 

I respect nature, i recycle, use biodegadable products where possible, use only organics foods, and use cleaning and washing liquids that are safe for the environment. i appreciate life, i try to use only natural remedies. i notice and appreciate more around me such as the circle of life e.g. a squashed rabbit on the road is food for flies and ants. i notice changing of the seasons, i thank mother earth in simple ways for giving me food to eat and clothes to wear etc.

 

7. How do you know if your practice is successful?

 

i feel more whole as a person. i am not afraid of dying which makes me more confident in my abilities. i am more respectful to other opinions and views than a lot of non pagans i know, i can follow through a thought process and make sense of it rather than just accepting what i am told or have read.

 

8. Why have you chosen the particular path you are following?

 

My ancestors were danish, i live in east anglia. the Anglo-Saxons came over here and so did the Danes which is what the Vikings were also known as. I live near Sutton Hoo which is where the last Anglo-Saxon kings were buried. I feel an affinity to all these things. it just would NOT make sense to me to follow something that was not of my culture nor of the land where i live.

 

9. What is your experience of otherworld beings? Could you give some examples.

 

none

 

10. How do you see your relationship with them?

 

 

 

11. How does your path relate to other areas of your life?

 

it relates to all apsects of my life, it is about who i am, my beliefs and the reason i life my life the way i do.

 

12. How do you see the relationship of life and death?

 

When i die i will be able to choose what it will be like, how long i will stay there and if and when i choose to be reborn into another descendant of mine or maybe even an animal though i feel that one would need to be a very old soul to achieve this.

 

13. How do you see time?

 

the length of one of our lifetimes is but a mere speck of time. our souls have been around for a very long time, time is of no relevance unless we are inhabiting a person for a life.

 

14. How do you handle ideas of good and evil?

 

there is good and evil in all people, alive or in spirit. the cycle of nature, is neither good not evil it just revolves and balances itself.

 

15. How do you view different spaces and objects in your practice or experience?

 

natural materials are very special to me. i don't do any rituals but i have what could be called an altar with a picture of the green man on, and candles for fire, a feather representing air, shells representing water, a pine cone for earth, and amethyst, amber, rose quartz and clear quartz representing spirit. this makes up the five elements shown represented by the five points of a pentacle on a pentagram. i wear a small silver one on a necklace.

 

16. How do you feel about other religions?

 

every one has a right to express and practice their beliefs however they choose. i respect all people's religions but when people tell me i'm wrong and that their way is the only right way i get rather defensive.

i would not push any of my beliefs on anyone but would however pose some questions to them about theirs. a belief is very personal.

 

17. How do you feel about science?

 

science is the main reason we know about so much nowadays. however i don't think it can as yet explain all things.

 

18. How do you feel modern Paganisms relate to ancient paganisms?

 

some reconstruct old ways, some draw from old beliefs and make them their own which fits in modern society. there is no way that today's society can relate to the way they did things thousands of years ago. time moves on things change as so do beliefs. the old customs and traditions can however be learned about and respected as can festivals and the wheel of the year.