Alfather Odin
"The first and eldest of the AEsir... is Odin. He governs all things, and, although the other deities are powerful, they all serve and obey him as children do their father." from the Younger Edda
If you have been involved in our holy Asatru faith, you already know Odin (AKA Woden, Othin, Wodhinn and the like.) In fact, some Asatruar prefer the name Odinism to describe our ancestral faith, though this causes confusion among some who strive to create a difference between Asatru and Odinism (or between Asatru and Heathenism, or whatever other name they call our ancestral faith.)
A great many Asatruar have Odin for their fulltrui (patron God). A great many others--- those of us who march to different drummers--- have an 'anybody but Odin' attitude and deal with every other God but Him.
But Odin is our Heavenly Father, and it is right that we honor Him--- though not to the exclusion of the Others.
To claim Odin as our Alfather we need to undo society's brainwashing and re-learn what a father is. Among our folk, a father was not the fellow who passed the DNA test. A father was the man married to your mother--- the man who had the decency to marry your mother first (or at least marry her as soon as it was discovered she was in a family way, to preserve her honor.)
The father's relationship to the child came solely through the relationship the father had to the mother--- marriage. Therefore the father-relationship was not competing with the mother, because it depended upon being connected to the mother.
The father, then, was the one who loved you enough not to make you choose between him and the mother who gave birth to you in pain, sorrow and personal risk. The father was not jealous of your love for your mother, but indeed that love was something you and your father had in common and was a strong bond between you.
In the same way our Alfather Odin is not a jealous God, visiting wrath on us for daring to love Frigga or Thor or Freyja. He loves them too, you see.
This day's devotion is dedicated to the memory of my father, Robert Armstrong, who passed away this past Nov. 30. Pray, Heathen folk, for his soul, and that those he left behind will find comfort.
Hail, Holy Alfather Odin! We give you honor because you are not a God jealous of our other loves, but One who loves us all the more because of them. Help us to grow in our ability to love the Gods, and to love our family members and our folk.
If you have been involved in our holy Asatru faith, you already know Odin (AKA Woden, Othin, Wodhinn and the like.) In fact, some Asatruar prefer the name Odinism to describe our ancestral faith, though this causes confusion among some who strive to create a difference between Asatru and Odinism (or between Asatru and Heathenism, or whatever other name they call our ancestral faith.)
A great many Asatruar have Odin for their fulltrui (patron God). A great many others--- those of us who march to different drummers--- have an 'anybody but Odin' attitude and deal with every other God but Him.
But Odin is our Heavenly Father, and it is right that we honor Him--- though not to the exclusion of the Others.
To claim Odin as our Alfather we need to undo society's brainwashing and re-learn what a father is. Among our folk, a father was not the fellow who passed the DNA test. A father was the man married to your mother--- the man who had the decency to marry your mother first (or at least marry her as soon as it was discovered she was in a family way, to preserve her honor.)
The father's relationship to the child came solely through the relationship the father had to the mother--- marriage. Therefore the father-relationship was not competing with the mother, because it depended upon being connected to the mother.
The father, then, was the one who loved you enough not to make you choose between him and the mother who gave birth to you in pain, sorrow and personal risk. The father was not jealous of your love for your mother, but indeed that love was something you and your father had in common and was a strong bond between you.
In the same way our Alfather Odin is not a jealous God, visiting wrath on us for daring to love Frigga or Thor or Freyja. He loves them too, you see.
This day's devotion is dedicated to the memory of my father, Robert Armstrong, who passed away this past Nov. 30. Pray, Heathen folk, for his soul, and that those he left behind will find comfort.
Hail, Holy Alfather Odin! We give you honor because you are not a God jealous of our other loves, but One who loves us all the more because of them. Help us to grow in our ability to love the Gods, and to love our family members and our folk.
posted by Nissa Annakindt | 8:50 AM
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