Welcome! I'm Winifred Hodge Rose, a Heathen Elder. I've followed a Heathen path for more than thirty years, serving as a scholar, writer, leader, teacher, priestess, and oracular spaewife in many Heathen venues. I grew up as the daughter of a US diplomat stationed in various countries during the 1950s and 1960s, and later lived for years in Greece and Germany. I learned foreign languages through immersion, and learned to observe and adapt to different cultures and world-views. This led me to study ancient Germanic languages, literature, and etymology on my own. These experiences have supported my efforts to understand, as well as possible, ancient Heathen world-views and adapt them for modern Heathen use. I have Bachelor's and Master's degrees in the natural sciences, and a Master's degree in political science. I'm now retired from my career as a senior research scientist working on methods for watershed and natural resources management on military installations in the US and Germany. I'm blessed with two grown children, three growing grandsons, and a good life in the Illinois countryside with my blacksmith husband Dean Rose (and various critters). Nowadays I consider myself an independent scholar of Heathen theology and philosophy, and spend most of my time on thinking, studying, spiritual practice, writing and publishing on these topics. I publish my books under my WordfrumaPress.net imprint.