Overview
True Hearth is a beginner’s guide to the practice of Asatru which, as the full name (True Hearth: A Practical Guide to Traditional Homesteading) would suggest, focuses on practical rituals related to the home. It heavily focuses on rituals that have historical roots and contains suggestions for how to adapt these historical practices for the modern day. The first section covers spiritual principles of Asatru, while the rest of the book focuses on rituals for different settings and occasions. I believe this text to be an almost perfect beginner’s guide, as it contains both a pretty good intro to the spiritual side of things and covers how to get started in your day to day practice. My only problem with this book is that it is written from the point of view of someone who has a practicing Troth for group rituals and thus assumes that those reading also have this resource. Overall, I give this book an 8.5 out of 10.
Review
Written from the perspective of a practicing Norse Heathen, this book is an excellent introductory text in how to set up your personal hearth. The author was the first Steersman of a Hearth from 1987 to 1992. This book was written during his time as Steersman and gives advice on both the foundations of ritual practice in the home and your personal relationship to Asatru.
As far as rituals, True Hearth covers “the true Teutonic household,” which essentially means that the book focuses on the historically proven rituals as a guideline for your current practice. Since heathenry heavily looks to tradition as a guide, readers should appreciate not having to read multiple sources to get the historical information included in this book. The author has clearly spent a lot of time researching historical practices and rituals, which is great for beginners who are looking for information about any traditional rituals without having to wade through research papers and reports. Most beginner resources are focused only on the spiritual side of things and do not include much information about rituals, so this book is an excellent resource even if you have already read other introductory texts.
Although there is not a huge focus on the spiritual side of things, this book does focus a bit on personal relationship to practice. The author heavily encourages the reader to use their own personal experiences to determine what parts of the religion resonate with you. He also provides information about what is sacred to each of the Æsir to help beginning practitioners along the way to forming a better relationship with each God or Goddess.
However, this book is not completely perfect. The author is a member of a kindred (an Asatru fellowship, for any absolute beginners) and writes with the assumption that the reader has access to such a group. I personally am not in a location with any practicing kindreds nearby and have no plans to move any time soon, although I would appreciate a more active Asatru community. Many beginners may not be at the stage where they have begun to look for a kindred yet or may be in the same situation as I am. There are also sections which would generally not be necessary for a complete beginner, such as the section about setting up a group ritual hall, or a Hof. Despite this, many beginners may still find this information useful as they consider joining a kindred or may even have already found a kindred willing to welcome them in. This information may even be a draw for some, but for me personally it does not apply and so I am counting it as a negative, since much of the book is so heavily focused on group practice.
Overall, this book is a very good starting point for anyone looking to get into Asatru, since, as Chisholm says in his last chapter, “Lore and the learning of lore is always important, but it is always secondary to practice.” This book allows practice without the necessity of turning to lore.
Summary
The book is split into four parts, although the last is fairly short and concerns only the interpersonal relationship side of Asatru. There are also several appendices which contain helpful information.
“Holy Spaces”
The first part covers physical spaces, such as the hearth or ritual spaces, as well as breaking down the more spiritual side. In this section, Chisholm breaks down which of the Gods or Goddesses each profession might feel a connection to and the different traditional offering for each of the types of household wights. He also addresses animals in their role as both sacrifices and pets along with a short section on animysticism.
“Worship”
Part II covers the general timings or reasons for a group ritual, with focus on a contained household rather than a public group, and how to correctly structure a ritual. It also covers day to day worship in the second half. There is advice on things such as daily rituals and what to do in relation to a new stage of life, for instance a list of names and their meanings as an option regarding births and a detailed breakdown of a wedding rite.
“Holy Steads”
As the name would suggest, this section covers holy spaces in and around the home. It also covers the role art and decoration serve within the home both to further religious connection and to focus the purpose of the space. There is also information for setting up a large ritual space, which draws from floor plans of old feast halls.
“Ring of Troth”
This final short section covers the role of elders in an Asatru group and gives advice on how to start your own hearth.
Appendices
The appendices cover how to brew mead and give a further reading list for those interested, although the list is formatted more like a bibliography and contains only brief notes (if any) for each book. It also contains a glossary of terms, since the text does not provide much explanation for terms which might confuse a beginner.