On Black Wings uses the Chicago Manual of Style with specific alterations as relevant to our specific circumstances which are as follows.

 

• The terms Heathen and Heathenry must always be capitalized as they are proper nouns referring to a specific form of spirituality.  God, Goddess, Gods, and Goddesses are always capitalized when referring specifically to particular Powers, when used generically these words will be lower-case.  Aesir, Vanir, Jotnar, and all derived words should be capitalized as they are all proper nouns.  The same is true for the name of any specific Power or derivatives of their name.

  • The pronouns used for Loki and other Powers of fluid or indeterminate gender is up to the discretion of the individual author.

• Specific mystical arts like seidr, rune study, utiseta, and spae are lowercase because they are not proper nouns, they are specific crafts and disciplines akin to chemistry or blacksmithing.

• Pre-modern sources should follow Chicago-style citation format which works as follows:

  • Author, title of work, chapter/verse/section, translator

• For referring directly to an untranslated ancient manuscript:

  • Author, title of work, chapter/verse/section, source

• This site does not use the terms unverified personal gnosis (UPG), verified personal gnosis (VPG), Shared Personal Gnosis (SPG), and other similar terms.  This is because they are often used as a shorthand for wholly fabricated material and imply the material is lacking in credibility.  We, instead, use personal interpretation for referring to individual cases of people developing their own interpretations of source material and spiritual practices and shared or community interpretation for collective versions of the same.  Any instances of personal or shared interpretations by the authors will be specifically noted as a personal or shared interpretation in text or in relevant footnotes where appropriate.

• This site does not use text, chat, or image generating software which are commonly referred to as AI tools.  At this time these tools are not considered fit for use because their core functions depend on using source material without seeking permission of the creator or providing proper citation.  Ethically speaking this is plagiarism and legally speaking opens up risk of copyright infringement.  This topic will be revisited in the future as the technology evolves.