As part of our commitment to transparency and maintaining a living document, we will be publicly sharing changes made to the declaration. This meeting took place October 25, 2026, from 7:30-9:52PM, and was attended by 18 representatives from the Troth, the Fellowship of Fire & Ice, and Der Urglaawe.
Changes made
- Suggestion via Patty, Ben in Troth general hall: Change end of preamble
- Original: In this light and with these intentions, we the undersigned make the following declaration:
- New: In this light and with these intentions, we the undersigned affirm and commit to:
- Decision: No objections, implemented
- Suggestion primarily via Patty, Troth general hall: Add qualifiers to animism section
- Original: Regardless of how loosely or strictly we may personally define the concept of animism, the core of Heathenry — both ancient and modern — is undeniably animistic.
- New: Regardless of how loosely or strictly we define animism for ourselves, the core of Heathenry — both ancient and modern — is considered by many to be animistic.
- Decision: Implementing this specific change, further revisions of animism sections moved to further deliberation in a later meeting
- Suggestion via Ari, Zack, Reese in Fellowship of Fire & Ice during their voting period: Add “Islamophobia” to list of specific types of discrimination under “Racism”
- Original: “It often manifests in specific ways oriented around anti-Blackness, erasure of indigenous experiences and the continued violence of colonialism, Orientalism, and antisemitism.”
- New: “It often manifests in specific ways oriented around anti-Blackness, Orientalism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, and erasure of indigenous experiences and the continued violence of colonialism.”
- Decision: Implementing with some objections; some members suggested adding clarification around how racism and religious discrimination intersect, it was decided that change was outside the scope of this meeting
- Suggestion via Bells in Fellowship of Fire & Ice: Change wording for summary of Ableism, replace “and” with “nor”
- Original: Lack of accommodation and recognition of individual needs or ability.
- New: Lack of accommodation and/or recognition of individual needs or ability.
- Decisions: No objections to changes after modification, implemented after updating the revision to say “and/or” instead of “nor”
- Suggestion via Kat, Troth general hall: Remove mention of “ballot box” in “Transphobia” section of appendix
- Original: Most critically, it means we must support trans and other gender-diverse people in our communities: materially (when we are able), emotionally, and at the ballot box, where transgender rights are too often sacrificed in service to the purported greater good.
- New: Most critically, it means we must support trans and other gender-diverse people in our communities: materially (when possible), emotionally, and by advocating for and defending transgender rights, rather than sacrificing them for the “greater good.”
- Decision: No objections, implemented
Devotional Practice Discrimination section
- Suggested via multiple people, Troth general hall
- Further updates planned, several of these are small changes made to streamline text as there will be additional clarifying text added later
- Original: When times are troubled, life is hard, and we lie awake, wracked with fear and many concerns, what better balm can there be but our faith?
- New: When times are troubled, life is hard, and we lie awake wracked with fear, what better balm can there be but our faith?
- Decision: No objections, implemented
- Original: Unfortunately, there are those who do not see the beauty, do not respect the journey, and seek only to impose their own theologies and practices on the rest of us.
- New: Unfortunately, there are those who do not see the beauty, do not respect the journey, and impose their own theologies and practices on the rest of us.
- Decision: No objections, implemented
- Original: We must instead always make room for differences in perspective with regard to our mythology and Gods,…
- New: We must always make room for differences in perspective with regard to our mythology and Gods,…
- Decision: No objections, implemented
- Original: Therefore, we reject attempts to categorize the Gods, Beings, or Spirits of our faith into binary boxes like “good” or “bad.” Particularly, bans against the worship of any God or Being, including those that may be seen as fierce, chaotic, or monstrous by some, is unacceptable.
- New: Therefore, we reject attempts to categorize the Gods, Beings, or Spirits of our faith into binary boxes like “good” or “evil.” We stand against bans of the worship of any God or Being, including those that may be seen as fierce, chaotic, or monstrous by some.
- Decision: No objections, implemented; further changes discussed re: inclusion of comment around categorizing vs focusing only on bans
- Original: Human authority does not supersede someone’s divine relationship. That extends to source material, which is often used as a bludgeon to justify excluding certain entities.
- New: Human authority should not and does not supersede someone’s divine relationship, regardless of an individual or group’s interpretation of specific lore. Each individual is the ultimate authority in their own relationship with Deities, ancestors, and spirits.
- Decision: No objections, implemented
- Original: Furthermore, it must be noted that many marginalized people feel drawn to the Gods and Beings that are routinely subject to bans, such as Loki, Surtr, Fenrir, or the World Serpent. Thus, these bans commonly serve to further exclude marginalized communities. This form of intolerance is simply no longer acceptable.
- New: Furthermore, it must be noted that many marginalized people feel drawn to the Deities and Beings that are routinely subject to bans, such as Loki, Fenrir, the World Serpent, or Surtr. Whatever the intent behind these bans, the real-world impact is that marginalized people are less welcome in certain spaces as a result. Additionally, these bans often create schisms and encourage factionalism in our communities. For these reasons, it is our firm stance that these bans are unacceptable.
- Decision: No objections, accepted
- Original: To be clear, this does not mean “anything goes” or that ritual consent is not important.
- New: To be clear, this does not mean “anything goes” or that people should be forced to honor Deities or Beings they don’t feel comfortable honoring.
- Decision: No objections, accepted
- Original summary of section: Gatekeeping and discrimination against syncretic beliefs and regional traditions, especially against Lokeans and/or Rokkatru.
- Suggestion via Ben, shared on meeting: Change subheading/description of section to: Attacking, threatening, or excluding other Heathens solely for their relationships to their Gods, their understanding of the divine, or which Gods they worship. Gatekeeping and discrimination against syncretic beliefs and regional traditions.
- Decision: No objections, implemented
Discussed but tabled
- Section II: Potential revisions to focus less on animism and more on reciprocity/the gifting cycle to address concerns of “dictating theology”
- Racism section: Adding more in-depth list of religions that often face undue discrimination/scrutiny in Heathen spaces due to members being disproportionately BIPOC; tabled until we can add a paragraph that discusses the intersection of racism/religious discrimination
- Devotional Practice Discrimination section: Additional changes to streamline wording
Backlog of suggestions
These are suggestions that we will be considering in more detail as we wrap up working on the logistical processes behind the Declaration and have more bandwidth from our volunteers for implementation.
- Suggestions via several people, Troth general hall: Additional changes to Devotional Practice Discrimination to clarify intent
- Suggestion via CJ, Troth general hall: Add definition and/or section for “ritual consent”
- Suggestion via Hamish in FoFI: Address trans people being treated terribly under the guise of gendering us correctly
- Suggestion via Brent S (Troth commrel-community room), Chloe (Troth general hall): Add one-page summary or executive summary