This thesis analyzes the processes and rationales of ritual creation among contemporaryGermanic Neopagans (Heathens). It is based on ethnographic fieldwork from May– September, 2023 at Raven's Knoll, a campground near Eganville, Ontario that hosts Heathen festivals. I identify selection criteria used to determine which cultural practices to adopt, adapt, or omit from rituals. I analyze both rituals and selection criteria as configurations or collections of interchangeable components that I call cultural configurants. Leaders and participants assembled rituals at the Heathen festival, Stone and Flame Gathering, guided by five criteria: inclusivity, Lore accuracy (ancient Germanic aesthetics), resonance (feeling right), woo (religious experience), and pragmatism (circumstantial adjustment). Inclusivity and pragmatism dominated, while Lore accuracy determined an omnipresent aesthetic.
Author Keywords: Cultural Dynamics, Germanic Neopaganism, Ritual