There once was a wight named Henry. Henry lives behind the fridge, and is very fond of sugary drinks and various influences he can be under.

Henry is the name my family has given to one of our house wights in the family home, and he is near and dear to our hearts. His presence is always felt, and always appreciated. Those in the basement will feel his joyful exuberance and be relaxed by his calmness.

So why am I writing about this fun loving house spirit? It’s because it is extremely important for heathens to be familiar with the wights in their home, and to form relationships with them. I give offerings to Henry and our other wights on a regular basis, and when I don’t, he notices. Things will disappear, the atmosphere will change, and you can tell he’s a little upset. Give him some Mountain Dew and a rip on the bong and you’ll definitely feel his demeanor change. This brings up my second point. Paganism is full of aesthetics, and heathenry is no exception. But not every offering needs to be mead or fine resin incense. It is okay to veer away from the typical, “proper” offerings. Personally, I cannot stand beer. No matter how hard I try, I cannot find myself enjoying it. Beer is a common offering, as it’s been important to countless cultures for millenia. Yet, if I offered some beer to the gods, or to the wights, I would feel guilty. It may be more traditional, but it’s not something that I enjoy, so theres a definite feeling of guilt there, as if I’m offering up things I don’t like so I can keep my preferred food and drink for myself. Have I offered beer as sacrifice? Of course, but I never get the same feeling as when I offer up something I enjoy. I absolutely love apples, in juices, ciders, any form. So I frequently find myself offering apple juice, and the feeling od doing so is much more fulfilling and I feel more connected with my gods and wights after doing this. I also enjoy Mountain Dew, because being a heathen and white trash are not mutually exclusive. I have absolutely offered up all manner of things some stricter heathens would despise me for. Amongst these things is cannabis. I am extremely fond of the plant and all of its uses, and when I mix it in with a homemade herbal blend, it becomes something more personal and important, so I find myself smoking with intent, breathing in, dedicating this to the gods, and as I exhale the smoke is offered up to the gods, rising and twisting. It goes through my body, and as it leaves, I feel connected and grounded.

Perhaps I got a little off topic, as we were talking about wights after all.

I see the trees in my backyard and I smile, I feel their being as I touch their leaves. As the creek bubbles and flows, I feel their presence. In the home, I’ll feel comfort, I’ll see movement out of the corner of my eye, and I know I’m not alone. At first this is scary, fully recognizing and understanding that there are things we cannot always see, but we know are there. As a baby heathen, you read out wights and animism and many of us can question if we really do believe in these things. I always advise against deciding to believe in whatever you read, but I, personally, have always believed in hidden beings, I grew up obsessed with faeries and creatures of the night, strange entities hidden in the woods. Being so, I began to understand these beings as wights, spirits.

However, my practice is not solely Germanic. I have a huge amount of Gaelic and Slavic influence, and this absolutely shows when talking about wights and otherworldly entities.

Whether I choose to call the spirits of the land wights or Aos Sí often feels irrelevant. Different cultures had different names for what ultimately are very similar concepts. The Aos Sí are a bit more specified than wights, with different names and specific forms, but the blanket term is very similar. In Slavic folklore there is the Domovoy, a house spirit that will be extremely familiar to those of us who have relationships with our house wights.

Moving forward into other spirits and entities, we see the Elves, partially deified ancestors ruled by Ingui, the Twerg, dwarves who may or may not be those who died an unexpected death, Dísir, female ancestors somehow related to the Matronae. In conclusion, there are huge amounts of otherworldly creatures in our lore it is our job to find out how they play into modern heathenry.