In addition to what you've said here, it seems to me that another thing that distinguishes Heathenry from many other religions — even other polytheistic ones — is that it's unusually pro-existence; pro-samsara if you will.
The gods of Asgard and Vanaheim don't sit over and above the inhabitants of Nine Worlds judging when it's time to wrap things up, nor do they offer a way out. They go down fighting for the worlds and their inhabitants to the bitter end.
There's a speculation that there was a schism in Indo-Europeans religion between the worshippers of the Asuras/Aesir, and the worshippers of the Devas, with each side accusing the other of being aligned with evil. I've wondered before if the schism wasn't over this very issue. In both mythologies, the world eventually succumbs to corruption by evil spiritual forces. The Devas' response is to try to get as many souls as possible off the cycle of evolution and back to the Central Sun (to use Fortune's terminology), while the Aesir's response is to protect the integrity of the process as long as possible, and shepherd leftover souls to the next round.
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The gods of Asgard and Vanaheim don't sit over and above the inhabitants of Nine Worlds judging when it's time to wrap things up, nor do they offer a way out. They go down fighting for the worlds and their inhabitants to the bitter end.
There's a speculation that there was a schism in Indo-Europeans religion between the worshippers of the Asuras/Aesir, and the worshippers of the Devas, with each side accusing the other of being aligned with evil. I've wondered before if the schism wasn't over this very issue. In both mythologies, the world eventually succumbs to corruption by evil spiritual forces. The Devas' response is to try to get as many souls as possible off the cycle of evolution and back to the Central Sun (to use Fortune's terminology), while the Aesir's response is to protect the integrity of the process as long as possible, and shepherd leftover souls to the next round.