From this we know that one should try to appear their best, even if his means are meager. For us that would mean potentially wearing a suit and tie. The problem with this is that a suit or other dress clothes are exactly how many of us as children dressed for church. It dredges up memories of sitting on a pew listening to Bible verses about some desert god and his illegitimate son. Our other choice then if we want fine clothes is to dress as if we are going out to the club. Hardly suitable again. This makes ritual garb for those that are Asatru or Heathen a legitimate alternative. One dresses in ritual garb so one can be in one’s finest while at the same time not bringing up memories of another faith or other activities. Dressing in period ritual garb is a way of separating one’s self from the ordinary and everyday.

The period of the garb really does not matter, so long as it is different enough from what one would wear to church (or a club) as to keep one’s mind from drifting to other things. There are several books out on how Heathens dressed. Gale Owen-Crocker’s Dress in Anglo-Saxon England, Viking Clothing by Thor Ewing, and Cloth and Clothing in Early Anglo-Saxon England by Penelope Rodgers are amongst the best. If one wants to find a pattern for a T tunic they need only look at this website http://www.forest.gen.nz/Medieval/articles/Tunics/TUNICS.HTML I have sewn a tunic with this pattern using my own rather poor skills, and it turned out quite fine. Ritual garb is not for everyone. There are those that prefer to do their rites in modern clothing, and even I do that most of the time. But as a way of separating one’s mind from the ordinary, every day, period clothing is an excellent way of getting into a ritual mindset.

Swain Wodening has a blog at http://swainblog.englatheod.org