Is Loki actually the god of mischief and fire?

No to both. Neither title appears in the Eddic source texts. Rudolf Simek, one of the leading Norse mythology scholars, describes Loki as "a god without a function," and virtually all major academic scholars of Norse religion agree he was never worshipped in an organised cult in antiquity, making him a genuinely unusual case in the Norse pantheon.

The "god of mischief" framing comes primarily from modern popular culture and has no Eddic basis. The "trickster" label is also considered problematic by serious Heathen scholars because the trickster archetype is most fully developed in specific Native American story traditions, and applying it wholesale to Loki involves an appropriation of that framework onto a Norse figure whose mythological role is genuinely distinct. Loki is a shapeshifter, a problem-solver who creates as many problems as he solves, and ultimately the cause of Ragnarok, but none of these make him a simple trickster in the way that term is usually understood.

Why do some Heathens refuse to work with or acknowledge Loki?

Primarily because no evidence of ancient organised Loki worship has been confirmed by archaeologists or historians, making his inclusion in reconstructionist practice feel to some practitioners like an invention rather than a revival, while others object on the basis that his mythological role is fundamentally that of the force that unmakes the world at Ragnarok, which they see as reason enough to keep him at a distance.

There is also a documented intersection between Loki-scepticism and the problem of white nationalist infiltration of some Heathen spaces, where banning Jotun worship became a convenient tool for gatekeeping on racial grounds. This has led to a significant portion of the Lokean community organising separately from reconstructionist Heathenry, particularly in North America where these tensions emerged most sharply in the 1990s.

The evidence-of-worship question is more nuanced than often presented. The Norse mythology scholar community notes that many Norse deities, including Heimdallr and Sif, have similarly sparse evidence of ancient organised cult worship, yet are not excluded from reconstructionist practice for this reason. Loki has been singled out in a way that may reflect post-myth stigma rather than genuine historical evidence of his rejection. There is at least one Faroese place-name connected to him, Lokkafelli, and a tale called Lokka tattur in which he is the hero who saves a farmer's son from a giant through cleverness.

What is a Lokean, and what does working with Loki actually look like?

A Lokean is a practitioner who works with, worships, or venerates Loki as a primary deity, and Lokean practice spans reconstructionist Heathenry, eclectic paganism, Wicca-adjacent paths, and left-hand path traditions, with the only consistent defining element being Loki himself rather than a shared ritual structure or community affiliation.

The Troth, one of the major Heathen organisations, describes Loki as "a god uniquely suited for modern Pagans and the challenges we encounter," and notes that Lokeans have consistently been innovators within Heathenry, pushing at the boundaries of a tradition that can trend toward rigid reconstructionism. Loki's energy is described by practitioners as overwhelming, destabilising in productive ways, and particularly resonant for those working through disruption, queerness, or significant personal transformation.

He is not a comfortable deity to work with. Practitioners who approach him as if he were a safer, funnier Odin tend to report the working not going as expected. He is a deity who demands a quality of honesty about one's own complexity and shadow that few other Norse figures explicitly require.