We at the Nordic Asa-Community are now very pleased to announce that a building permit has been granted for a dedicated burial site for heathens in Molkom, Sweden. This is a historic decision – the first of its kind in Sweden in modern times – and the result of several years of determined work from our community.
For a long time, we within the Nordic Asa-Community have worked to ensure that heathens can be buried in a way that is in harmony with our faith, our traditions, and the will of our gods. With this decision, a crucial step is now taken towards making that vision a reality.
The site will be located directly adjacent to – but outside – Nyed Church. This makes it possible to design a burial site in accordance with Old Norse customs, with respect for our powers, nature, and ancient values.
The work to enable this burial site has been carried out in close cooperation between the Nordic Asa-Community and the Karlstad parish, and we extend our warm thanks to the parish for their excellent collaboration. The County Administrative Board previously approved an expansion of the area, and now the City Planning Committee of Karlstad municipality has also given its approval through the granted building permit and exemption from shore protection regulations.
– This is something we have long strived for. It touches the heart that we can now offer our members a final resting place in harmony with our faith. A place where we can rest under the gaze of our own gods, not under foreign symbols. It is an important step for religious freedom in practice,” says Thommy Vähäsalo, National Blot Responsible of the Nordic Asa-Community.
Practical measures remain before the burial site can be put into use, but with the building permit in place, we now have the conditions to move forward and realize the vision. The finished burial site will bear traces of our people’s heritage – designed with reverence for the landscape, the dead, and the divine powers.
We see this as a beginning, not an end goal. For the Nordic Asa-Community, this is a first step towards creating more such places across the country, where heathens in the future can honor their dead in a way that is consistent with our customs and faith.
With pride and gratitude, we now take the next step into the future – rooted in tradition, grounded in the earth, and with our gaze towards the heavens.
/Nordic Asa-community
Listen to P4 Värmland’s interview with National Blót Responsible Thommy Vähäsalo, conducted on the morning of June 19, 2025, regarding this joyful news:
https://www.sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/2605251#95
Listen to the news segment from Sweden National Radio P4:
https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/beskedet-begravningsplatsen-for-asatroende-far-bygglov
