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The Old Gods of the Forest (known as simply the Old Gods) are an innumerable and unnamed spirits of nature, which were originally worshiped by the Children of the Forest (non-human, original inhabitants of Westeros), but are now primarily worshiped by those people North and North of the Wall in Westeros (i.e. Wildings, Free Folk, Starks, etc.). Once the dominant religion of Westeros, it has been replaced by the Faith of the Seven (more information on this religion in the "Faith of the Seven" page). The two religions have managed to remain coexistent for over six thousand years, however during this time there have also been strong tensions between the followers of each faith. 

 

The old gods are a nature-based religion which does not have priests, temples, or holy scriptures, nor do any of the gods have names. Rather, they’re seen as part of the earth, manifesting in the trees, stones, water, and animals. They practice quiet contemplation in Godswoods, small areas of forest which have been enclosed within a castle's walls. Worship in a Godswood is centered on heart trees (the closest thing to a "shrine" it possesses), which are great Weirwood trees (considered sacred) with a face carved into the bark. Oaths and promises sworn in front of a heart tree are considered binding. During a ceremony of marriage, the bride is brought before the Weirwood tree in the Godswood to beg the blessing of the Gods for her marriage. The religion also does not have specific rules, but followers are expected to be generally good people, while the rules of hospitality are also basically sacred.

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There can be similarities drawn to Neo-Pagan Animism in which a large number of modern Pagans (not all) are animists of one sort or another, for whom all of the earth's visible inhabitants—trees, rocks, rivers, mountains, caves, insects, animals (including humans), fire, snow, particular tracts of land or indeed the whole earth itself—are conscious and en-souled or en-spirited. ‘Love for and kinship with nature’ is the first principle of the Pagan Federation and putatively provides the foundation for contemporary Western Pagans’ relationships with the natural environment and other-than-human beings. For most Pagans, kinship with nature is talked and written about and may be experienced in rituals, at sacred sites, while walking in the woods, gardening and swimming, for example, but it does not determine the rules of everyday life. For some Pagans, performing a ritual in the landscape can be seen as a symbolic enactment of shared kinship and corporealities which have mutual impact—a reminder that human body and earth body constitute common ground, that blood is no thicker than water. 

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