The Journey
Nick Deal was born in Tidewater, Virginia and raised in rural Gates County, North Carolina; not the easiest place for a queer intellectual kid with “Little Professor Syndrome” to grow up.
After graduating high school, he saw his opportunity to escape and enrolled at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia where he earned a Bachelor of Science, double majoring in Political Science and Philosophy. In that time, he studied Nietzsche and Heidegger under Dr. Lawrence Hatab, an eminent scholar and professor emeritus, who literally “wrote the books” on Nietzsche.
He credits Dr. Hatab with opening his mind and teaching him how to truly think critically about the social, political, and economic structures around us but also his own Ego and sense of Self. He would go on to stay at Old Dominion for two more years, for a Master of Public Administration and graduate certificate in Public Procurement & Contract Management before deciding he was thoroughly done accumulating student loan debt.
The Destination
After college, Nick returned to the Tarheel State in 2014, moving to the Research Triangle Park area of the Raleigh-Durham metro area where he is currently employed in the Tech industry. He lives with his partner, a research scientist at a local “Public Ivy” university, who had immigrated to the United States from Cuba. He has brought love, culture, and a passion for international travel into Nick’s life. They are Fur Parents to an Oriental Shorthair named Canelo, and an Italian Greyhound named Santino, as well as Plant Dads to the countless Houseplants that make up their “Indoor Jungle”.
Returning to the Past
Nick began practicing Heathenry in 2018 and has spent the past six years voraciously inhaling academic books, papers, and articles in the pursuit of insight into the lives, practices, beliefs, and ancestral gods of pre-Christian Northern Europeans. While initially being quite active in online Heathen communities, he has spent the past several years focused on solitary practice and cultivating his hearth cult. A recent reconnection with an old Heathen friend inspired him to re-engage with the community and share his approach and accumulated knowledge with a new audience of Heathens and perhaps some prospective ones!