A European network for hindus came to gather in Stockholm in the spring 2008, to celebrate Holi. I was invited to give a lecture about the relationship and similarities between Sanatana-dharma (classical Indian hinduism) and our Norse paganism, which to a very large extent has its roots in a common culture, in the Indus Valley. It was very appreciated.

I want to talk about the historical connection between our faiths, and the contemporary value of mutual inspiration.

First of all, I wish to express my gratitude towards the organizers of this event, who has invited me to speak, and to celebrate Holi with you.

I am a Swedish pagan, but I also have a strong connection to the hindu tradition. When I was very young, I was born in a typical, non-religious, secular, intellectual-materialistic family. When I was a teenager, this became more and more unsatisfying, since I felt that something lacked in my life. After having read a book by Jeddu Krishnamurti, I became a spiritual seeker, and one of the few things I found that seemed to carry any value was ISKCON, the Hare Krishna Movement. So my first real spiritual discipline came through a branch of the hindu tradition.

The Hare Krishna adventure lasted a couple of years, and then I searched on, finding all sorts of spiritual practices, although I kept a strong tie to the Indian traditions.
Just last year, me and my eldest son celebrated Holi in Varsana, together with an Indian family from Vrindavan, who happens to be friends of mine. That was amazing. (I don’t expect the Holi celebration here to be as wild as in Varsana, though…)
After a few years I came to find our own, since long deserted, ancient pre-christian tradition, of which more has remained than one would think.

Our major holidays are pagan. Christmas even has the old, pre-christian name Jul (Yule), and we have midsummer, which always was quite pagan. Easter is another spring celebration, and so is Valborg, when we have huge bonfires.

With the vikings a lot of our culture travelled on, and spread to other places around the world.
The name Russia comes from the Norse Rusland, which today is Roslagen, North of Stockholm. Many words in other languages come from our Norse – just like there are a great number of hindi words in English, such as caravan, pajama, juggernaut, punch, pundit, there are also many scandinavian words in English – window, anger, welcome, ugly, odd, flash, frown, and hundreds more, The most prominent must be the days of the week in English. All days but Saturday (which comes from the Roman God Saturnus) are in fact coming from Scandinavian Gods.

About 11 years ago I started performing ceremonies, like weddings and blot (the asatru equivalent to puja), and as major inspiration sources I had the shamanic ceremonies I had been part of for a few years, but  also hindu ceremonies – pujas, weddings, fire sacrifices and such. I introduced the custom of offerings, and attendants taking the remnants, like prasad. And then I read a historian who said that our Scandinavian ancestors did the same, just like that. So going on my experience and my gut feeling was right. And the more I search, the more I find.

There are also a lot of similarities between our gods – Indra and Thor are very similar. Odin and Varuna also. And the idea of divine couples, such as Radha-Krishna, Sita-Rama, Shiva-Shakti and so on, can also be found in our tradition – Thor and Siv, Odin and Frigga, Frey and Gerd – and so on.

So we have a lot in common. I use to say that we Scandinavians have much more in common with you hindu Indians, than we have with the Middle East traditions, christianity being an artificial import that is not really suitable for us Scandinavians, being more like you folks.

So, there are some very important issues that I would like to put on the table. The world today is very much dominated by two monotheistic, aggressive, proselytizing religions, and that is not good for anyone. Claiming your truth as the only truth, is a declaration of war on the rest of the world, and there is no getting away from that.

You hindus have a responsibility, towards not only your own tradition. You have a responsibility to the whole world, being a role model, with your pluralism, your tolerance and acceptance for difference within society. This is extremely valuable and important in a world that is torn apart by these violent and monopolistic traditions of the middle east.

I want to encourage you to feel pride for your cultural heritage. It is truly one of the few who has survived the imperialistic ambitions of the mid east traditions. And you stand for something that is unique world wide. Don’t you ever forget that.

Two years ago, I participated in a conference in Jaipur, arranged by ICCS, an international hindu organization, together with WCER – World Congress for Ethnic Religions. That was amazing. There was a 200-something participants from 34 countries, representing a large number of religious traditions.

The theme for the conference was Spirituality Beyond Religion, finding a brotherhood and sisterhood within the spirit that pervades us all, beyound cultural differences, and at the same time celebrating these differences, as beautiful facets of the same stone.

Two words kept coming back through te conference week – Mitakuye Oyasin. That is Lakota Sioux for All My Relations. It is a prayer of oneness and harmony with all forms of life. And for myself I love the Indian greeting Namas Te – The Divine in me sees the Divine in you. If we could realize and live these simple truths, the world would be very different.

So I end this little talk with those words
Mitakuye Oyasin – Namas Te

Thank you.

Carl Johan Rehbinder 2008