Nine Virtues News

Chu vi parolas esperante?

2005-11-14T15:55:00.000-06:00

Esperanto estas la internacia lingvo. Mi skribas esperante in mia nova 'Blog', Mi kaj katoj.

One of my hobbies in the past has been learning the Esperanto language, which is a made-up language spoken by a couple of million people around the world. I used to get up at odd hours in the hope of being able to listen to an Esperanto language shortwave radio broadcast from Poland or from China--- usually, when I did hear it, the static was so bad I could barely make out a word or two.

Nowadays one can listen to Esperanto language radio on the internet. I've found that I remember Esperanto quite well even though I haven't really used it in about a decade. So I've started a blog in Esperanto called Mi kaj katoj, which means "me and cats" which just about sums up my life right about now.

So if you are interested click over on it. I will also be explaining Esperanto a bit here perhaps, once I get a new modem or new computer.

Update

2005-11-14T15:22:00.000-06:00

Well, I've been busy lately with National Novel Writing Month and so haven't been doing much here.

I've been thinking about merging Wyrd Thoughts (my other blog) with this blog, it will be a project though as I will move the posts from that blog to this one.

Can't do it any time soon as my modem just died this weekend. I don't have the money to get it replaced but even if I did the question arises--- should I? My current computer I bought second-hand (and I believe I've had to put in a new modem already). Maybe I should save my dough until I can get a new computer. My mom got a new Dell which is pretty good and didn't cost much.

National Novel Writing Month: A challenge to Odinists

2005-10-28T13:09:00.000-05:00

One of the advantages that Christians have over Odinists is the amount of Christian fiction being published. Some, like the notorious 'Left Behind' series, is even on the bestseller lists.

But here is your chance, Odinist man or woman, to even things up. National Novel Writing Month. Sign up at the website http://www.nanowrimo.org and use the month of November to produce a novel with an Odinist theme. It doesn't have to be a great novel or even a good novel--- just do it! And tell all your Odinist friends about it. If enough Odinists try it, before long we will have something Heathen to read!!!

asatru
odinist

Al Qaeda mass-murders in London:

2005-07-07T08:30:00.000-05:00

The evil nithings of al Qaeda have struck again, killing at last count around 45 innocent people in four attacks in London, three in the subway and one on a double-decker bus.

The war that al Qaeda has started is a war for the very survival of our folk--- the people of the West.

The enemy is militant Mohammedanism. I don't call it 'Islam' because both the words 'Islam' and 'Muslim' mean 'submission to God' and thus to use these words is to confess in public that the Mohammedan religion is the one true and correct one in the eyes of 'God'. Of course no true Odinist would stoop to nithing acts like attacking a Mohammedan or a mosque. But the burden should be placed on Mohammedans to show that they condemn all terrorism--- even terrorism in Israel which only kills Jews, which many in the Middle East feel is OK since in that part of the world Hitler's Mein Kampf and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion are still best sellers.

We as Odinists need to go to war against Mohammedan terror. We need to take a clear stand against terror (and in favor of the war against terror). We need also to take action against the pro-terrorist apologists who blame the terror, not on the terrorists, but on Israel and the US. The best action to take is to shun them. Just don't speak to them--- avoid speaking OF them--- until they are willing to quit supporting Hamas and al Qaeda.

Our folk have fought for survival before. Think of the struggle of Arminius against the Roman Legions. What would have happened, do you think, if a bunch of young cowards had started carrying protest signs says 'Arminius is a war criminal; no blood for wine'? It's only in modern days that anyone has claimed the 'freedom' to turn on their own folk and nation during wartime. But we also have the freedom--- to fight the terrorists and to shun the nithings who take the terrorists' side.

May Odin aid us in our fight!

odinist
asatru
terrorism
al Qaeda
terror

Alfather Odin

2005-07-02T08:50:00.000-05:00

"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.

asatru

Rune information, including rune poems, added to site

2005-07-01T12:08:00.000-05:00

Click above to go to our rune rosary page, to which I have just added 3 new pages on the runes. These new pages give the text of the appropriate rune poems and charms for each of the runes in question.

The links are titled:

Runes of the first aett--- first eight runes with rune poems and meanings.
Runes of the second aett--- second eight runes with rune poems and meanings.
Runes of the third aett--- third eight runes with rune poems and meanings.

runes

Restoring prayer to our schools: a modest proposal

2005-07-01T12:07:00.000-05:00

The Missing Commandment

2005-07-01T12:03:00.000-05:00

"... in some of these Ten Commandments revisions being posted in schools and courthouses, the First Commandment, the key to understanding the whole thing, is either being beheaded--- the first portion being left off--- or in at least one case being replaced entirely by a new commandment, 'Only worship the One True God'. Now, this is a most serious issue since it is one thing to allow the posting of the actual Ten Commandments for historical/educational reasons, but quite another to allow the posting of modern Christian religious instruction mislabeled as the Commandments.

Furthermore, the real First Commandment ought to be a cherished text for every Odinist, Heathen, Pagan and traditional religionist. When translated correctly and understood in its historical context, it affirms the existence of more than one God, and supports, even commands, the worship of our own tribal Gods rather than adopting the worship of strange/foreign Gods."

Click here to read the complete article

ten commandments

odinist

asatru

Odinist, or opposite-of-Christian?

2005-06-30T16:15:00.000-05:00

Odinism is a religion which stands on its own, has its own traditions, and is much older than Christianity. Why, then, when we look at an Odinist teaching, should anyone judge it not by its authenticity, but on whether it is 'too Christian' or 'too Catholic'?

The simple answer is that some people get involved with Odinism, not because they know all about Odinism and agree with it, but because they are ticked off at their own Christian upbringing and feel that being an Odinist is a way to rebel against it.

During our baby-Odinist phase many of us are mad at the Christians. Others are rebelling against Mommy and Daddy. But by the time we get to the point where we want to start expressing opinions on what Odinism is and where it is heading, we ought to be a great deal more grown up than that.

Christianity is actually a variant form of the Jewish faith. Both Christianity and Judaism come from the ancient folk-faith of the Hebrews. If the Hebrew folk-religion is false and bad, what makes us think Odinism, the folk-faith of the Gothic/Germanic/Teutonic folk, is any more true? Either the folk-religions of the world--- Hebrew as well as Odinist--- are true enough to be worth following or they are not.

The ancient Hebraic faith stands side by side with Odinism, Druidism, Religio Romana and all the other folk-faiths. Yes, there are differences in details--- sometimes because one folk-faith is more accurate on a topic than others, sometimes because of a mere cultural difference. But all these folk-faiths, and their universalist children such as Christianity, Islam and Mormonism, have a good deal in common.

Therefore, if you choose at every turn to follow an 'Odinism' which is the opposite of Christianity, or the opposite of Biblical tradition, on every point, you will in a great many cases be doing also the opposite of true historical Odinism as well.

So--- the question is this: what are you really? Are you a follower of historical Odinism, who will follow the teachings as you know them whether they are the same as Christianity or different? Or are you an opposite-of-Christian, in every case doing the opposite of what the Christians teach (and thus allowing the Christians to rule you still)?

You need to think about this issue clearly and take a side. The Odinist/Asatru movement is clogged up with people who call themselves Odinists but are truly just in rebellion against Christianity. Is it any wonder that Odinism has failed to progress? First, because it certainly must displease the Gods when we reject parts of the holy Odinist faith just in order to spite the spiritual children of the Hebrews.

Second, because much of what is being rejected isn't Christianity, but the practical things that help a religion survive. Our ancient Odinist ancestors, for example, had temples such as the one at Upsala, and had a dedicated priesthood who were consecrated to the task, for whom serving the Gods was a life's-work and not a role-playing game. Yet many opposite-of-Christian 'Odinists' not only don't want to have a part in building modern temples themselves, but have conniption fits over other folk doing it.

Now, I'm sure my words are controversial. But if you are truly dedicated to the Gods, and won't let Christianity dictate to you how you will practice our ancient faith, then YOU are an essential part of the future of our faith. Don't let the opposite-of-Christians--- even if they are passing themselves off as Asatru leaders--- rob you of our true ancient faith.

If you agree with the sort of things you read in Nine Virtues News, tell your friends about it. If you have a blog or website you think shares the same views, do use the guestbook in order to tell me about it, and I will put up a link to your site somewhere.

Should Evil People Be Allowed to Run for Office?

2005-06-30T10:56:00.000-05:00

from FLAME Hotline, an e-newsletter delivering updates and analysis on current issues about Israel and the Middle East conflict

June 29, 2005

A few weeks ago, we posed thorny questions about what would happen if Hamas became a big winner in Palestinian elections or if Hizbollah did the same in Lebanon---both plausible scenarios. On the one hand, we Americans believe in the idea of a liberal democracy---in which every one can participate, everybody is treated equally, and any friend of a fair election is a friend of ours. On the other hand, what happens when well-meaning citizens elect totalitarians---people whose goal is to eliminate fair elections?

We’ve just seen so-called elections in Iran in which hundreds of candidates (an overwhelming majority) were eliminated out of hand by ruling clerics before the election. Both Hamas and Hezbollah, like Al Qaeda and Iran’s ruling party, are dedicated to Islamic totalitarianism and the eventual overthrow of Western democracies. Does it really make sense to support elections in which these people can be elected? Or would that be a form of democratic suicide?

George Bush and members of his administration, in an attempt to seem open minded and consistent with their commitment to democratizing the world, have recently made cavalier statements about welcoming Hamas to the polls and to elected office. The article below---“Can Hezbollah and Hamas Be Democratic”---by commentator Daniel Pipes, questions the wisdom of such an invitation. Pipes confronts the contradiction head on, concluding that people with avowedly evil (anti-democratic) purposes shouldn’t be allowed to participate in democratic elections. While this notion may seem strange to those of us reared in an open democracy, it has merit given the alternative---which is the possibility that a naïve populace could literally vote away their right ever to vote again.

Perhaps democracy is not as simple as we once thought it was. Could it be that all comers should not be welcome? Maybe there should be a litmus test for participation in the democratic process---say, pledged allegiance to democratic institutions? While politicians have been known to lie in the past, at the very least, perhaps, a candidate should have to commit to democracy before they’re allowed to take part. In any case, to their credit, both Hamas and Hezbollah have been lucid as to their purposes: They stand squarely against democracy and squarely for the defeat of Israel and the United States.

Best regards,

Jim Sinkinson
Director, FLAME

P.S.                     

I                  want to remind you to use the FLAME website as a resource---it                  houses more than a hundred concise articles and position papers                  on the most important issues surrounding Israel and the Middle                  East. This fact-based information can help you explain the truth                  about the current situation to your friends, synagogue and church                  members, and political colleagues. Of course, you’re welcome                  to reprint any of these materials and distribute them as you see                  appropriate. To explore this treasure trove of information, just                  go to www.factsandlogic.org.

Can Hezbollah and Hamas Be Democratic?
by Daniel Pipes, NY Sun, New York Sun, March 22, 2005

If Al-Qaeda renounced terrorism, would the U.S. government welcome its running candidates in American elections? Had the Nazis denounced violence, would Hitler have become an acceptable chancellor for Germany? Not likely, because the tactics of Al-Qaeda and the Nazis matter less than their goals.

Similarly, Hezbollah and Hamas are unacceptable because of their goals. These organizations are important elements of the Islamist movement that seeks to create a global totalitarian order along the lines of what has already been created in Iran, Sudan, and in Afghanistan under the Taliban. They see themselves as part of a cosmic clash between Muslims and the West in which the victor dominates the world.

Washington, trying to be consistent in its push for democracy, prefers to ignore these goals and instead endorses involvement by Hezbollah and Hamas in the political process, pending their making some small changes.

These signals began last week when President Bush stated that although Hezbollah, a Lebanese group, is "a terrorist organization," he hopes it will change that designation "by laying down arms and not threatening peace." White House spokesman Scott McClellan then elaborated on this comment by specifying the two alternatives: "Organizations like Hezbollah have to choose, either you're a terrorist organization or you're a political organization."

Bush himself explained further what he meant a day later, presenting elections as a method to shed the terrorist designation:

“I like the idea of people running for office. There's a positive effect when you run for office. Maybe some will run for office and say, vote for me, I look forward to blowing up America. I don't know, I don't know if that will be their platform or not. But I don't think so. I think people who generally run for office say, vote for me, I'm looking forward to fixing your potholes, or making sure you got bread on the table.”

Hamas a Palestinian organization, Secretary of State Rice then noted, could also evolve in the right direction once it enters the democratic process:

“When people start getting elected and have to start worrying about constituencies and have to start worrying not about whether their fire-breathing rhetoric against Israel is being heard, but about whether or not that person's child down the street is able to go to a good school or that road has been fixed or life is getting better, that things start to change.”

The theory implied here is that running for office – with its emphasis on such mundane matters as fixing potholes and providing good schools – will temper Hezbollah and Hamas.

Count me skeptical.

The historical record does not support such optimism. When politically adept totalitarians win power democratically, they do fix potholes and improve schools – but only as a means to transform their countries in accordance with their utopian visions. This generalization applies most clearly to the historical cases (Adolf Hitler in Germany after 1933, Salvador Allende in Chile after 1970) but it also appears valid for the current ones (Khaleda Zia in Bangladesh since 2001, Recep Tayyip Erdo_an in Turkey since 2002).

Then there is the matter of their undemocratic intentions. Josef Goebbels explained in 1935 that the Nazis used democratic methods "only in order" to gain power. Looking at Islamists, then-assistant secretary of state for the Middle East Edward Djerejian explained in 1992, "While we believe in the principle of ‘one person, one vote,' we do not support ‘one person, one vote, one time'." Khomeini's Iran indicates that Islamists do manipulate elections to stay in power.

Washington should take a principled stand that excludes from the democratic process not just terrorists but also totalitarians using the system to get into power and stay there. It is not enough for Islamist organizations to renounce violence; being irredeemably autocratic, they must be excluded from elections.

In a famed Supreme Court dissent in 1949, the eminent justice Robert H. Jackson argued for the arrest of a neo-Nazi rabble-rouser in Chicago on the grounds that not doing so "will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact." The same imperative for self-protection applies also to international politics.

Even if Hezbollah and Hamas promise a change in tactics, America – or for that matter, Israel and other Western states – should not accept them as legitimate political parties.

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Latest Terri Schiavo news

2005-06-30T10:31:00.000-05:00

Don't miss Hannity & Colmes tonight on Fox News at 8pm Central Time

Taking a break to work on 'way of the runes' book

2005-06-27T18:10:00.000-05:00

I'm taking a break from blogging and other internet activities as I'm not getting anything done on the book project. I plan to work on the book for about 1 week before getting back to blogging. I will check with my 4 Yahoo groups to see if there are any pending members or posts, but that's going to have to be it.

If you're hard up for something to read, check out the link to 'Deb's Den', on the left. She's got some good stuff. Currently there's a photo of a cute dog, and other great stuff.

Ten Commandments ruling

2005-06-27T17:57:00.000-05:00

The Supreme Court ruled that one set of Ten Commandments displays--- ones where the Ten Commandments were accompanied by the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence and such--- were illegal as displayed in Kentucky courtrooms.

I have had some involvement with Ten Commandment controversies. My position has always been that they are good as long as the Nine Noble Virtues of our Odinist faith are displayed as well and in as prominent a position.

When other people started making similar suggestions of including non-Christian religious documents in a Ten Commandments display, the 'Ten Commandments as Americanism' display was born. I feel this is much worse than the Ten Commandments alone as it implies that US law is based on the Ten Commandments (Calvinist version) and Christianity. Actually, US law is based on English Common Law, which predates Christianity and ultimately derives from the code of laws that Heimdall taught his children when he wandered the earth producing the three social castes of our folk.

CALL TO ACTION: today is the day for you to compose a letter to the editor of your local paper on the Ten Commandments issue. Talking points: we do need to have religion in public life, but as an Odinist (Asatruar, Norse Pagan) you want to see the Nine Noble Virtues of your religion put on display. Perhaps a statue in honor of Heimdall, Forseti, or some other God or Goddess should be there also. Once this is done, you will have no objection to the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, or pertinent quotes from the Scientology cult, whatever the local community cares for.

One German Who Gets It—Europe: Thy Name Is Cowardice

2005-06-26T08:42:00.000-05:00

Another article of interest from FLAME

Aid to Israel: Does the U.S. get its money’s worth?

2005-06-26T08:36:00.000-05:00

“American aid to Israel is a two-way street. Aid to Israel is America’s greatest defense bargain.”

Click on link to read interesting article. We as Odinists should not automatically be pushed into the anti-Israel camp just because a batch of politically correct liberals want us there. We should be open to the other side of the story.

The Ameryske Tunga/The Amerykan Language

2005-06-26T07:56:00.000-05:00

"Amerykan (Amerysk) is a planned language (invented language) developed by Paal-Eirik Filssunu beginning in 1979. It is composed of Saxon and Scandinavian words. The language is intended to serve as a unifying cultural factor for North American adherents of Asatru, (also called Odinism and Norse Paganism), the folk-religion of Northern Europe and of those of Northern European heritage."

And now, for something really different.... I got a booklet on Amerysk from a friend, and since I have always been interested in odd and different languages, I really like this--- enough to put up the booklet as a few web pages.

It's interesting, though, that whenever I ask around among Heathens on the web about Amerysk (I'm looking for more information on it), no one is content to say, no, I don't know anything about it. They get all exercised over the existence of Amerysk itself.

Well, there are THOUSANDS of created languages out there. People create a language as a hobby, instead of collecting stamps. There is a web site you can go to add your created language to the list (I've added Amerysk). Why shouldn't there be one (or more) created languages for Heathens?

What many people don't understand is that a created language tends to be a lot easier to learn than a natural language. For example, I learned Esperanto well enough to read books in it and translate web pages into it. After studying German for many years in college, I couldn't translate my web pages into German.

The difference is that when you make up a language, you tend not to put in irregular verbs and other complications.

Amerysk is a fine language, but.... the few fragments I have of it are not enough to write things in it, really, and I have no idea what the rules are for coining new words. Also, Amerysk does have some complications of grammar it doesn't really need.

So--- I've started work on a created language of my own, Gutanisk. It's based on Gothic but has some of the simplicity of Esperanto. There will be rules for new-word creation so that if you need a word for something, you can look up a word in a Gothic dictionary and adapt that. (A few middle-eastern words are adapted from the Hebrew, such as words for camel and messiah, and Latin and Greek roots are not to be allowed)

I'm doing this purely as a hobby, but I thought of this: English, though it's a Germanic language, is filled with Latin and Greek loanwords that take us away from our heritage. It's good to learn an ancient Germanic language--- Old Norse or Anglo-Saxon--- to overcome that.

But let's face it--- unless you are a linguistic genius with a college education, you're not likely to ever learn Old Norse well enough to write a letter in it. But a simplified pure Germanic language, such as Gutanisk is going to be, would, like Esperanto, be simple enough that a less-educated or less gifted learner might be able to use it to write letters, or translate web pages into it, whatever.

I've also thought that a language like Gutanisk, if I put up pages about it in German and translated the vocabulary into other languages, could serve as an intercommunications language for some international Heathens.

To repeat, however--- fear not, I'm not expecting you to learn Amerysk or Gutanisk or Esperanto or any other language. It's purely your own choice, just like it's your choice whether to learn Old Norse, Anglo-Saxon, or both.

If you are interested in Amerysk, there is a Yahoo group, Eaglesreaches
which had Amerysk as one of its topics. The group is pretty well inactive, but I've joined and I figure that it would be a good place for those interested in Amerysk to chat.

If you are interested in my Gutanisk project, you can let me know by joining my Yahoo group, Nine Virtues News
That would be a good place for Gutanisk enthusiasts to meet up.

Chu vi parolas Esperante? (Do you speak Esperanto?) Heathen Esperanto speakers might also want to join the group. For that matter, Heathens who speak Klingon!

I figure that in time if enough folk of any one interest join this group, they can hive off and form a separate Yahoo group for their topic.

(Also, of course, the Nine Virtues News folk is for any fans of this blog, or folk who are interested in one of my characteristic topics from the blog).

Nine Virtues News new Yahoo group

2005-06-25T14:28:00.000-05:00

(As if I don't have enough Yahoo groups)

Well, I figured that in addition to my specialized Yahoo groups (anti-Euthanasia, rune rosary) I might as well put up a general one for anyone who happens to like the Nine Virtues News.

Click on the link above to join the group.

Show our wounded soldiers how much you care!

2005-06-25T08:07:00.000-05:00

"Join Chris Carney, Heath Calhoun and Ryan Kelly for their epic 4200 mile, cross country journey on Soldier Ride 2005. The ride begins at the Marina Del Ray "Mother's Beach" in Los Angeles, CA on May 21, 2005 and ends in Montauk, New York on July 19, 2005. These courageous men will lead the Soldier Ride National Tour Team across the heartland of America. Along the way they will be joined by fellow wounded warriors who will help them relay Soldier Ride's message of hope, courage and determination across America."

I'm sure all true Odinists will wish to help with this noble cause. Click on link to visit the Soldier Ride web site and to donate, and email all your friends about this.

New Yahoo group for Heathens from upper Mich., Wisc.

2005-06-22T08:01:00.000-05:00

Hail all Yoopers!

This is a re-created version of the original Asatru_WI_UPMI Yahoo group and has been created by a resident of Menominee county, Michigan.

All Heathens (Asatruar, Odinists, Druids, Baltic, Celtic or Slavic Pagans, and other Northern European traditional religionists) from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Yooperland) and from Wisconsin, Lower Michigan, Minnesota and dem guys from Ontario are invited to join this group. Also folks who come to da U. P. for vacation or deer hunting season.

Since us Heathens are few and far between this group is for all affiliations, Troth, Asatru Alliance, whatever. No bickering over conservative/liberal or race/political correctness allowed. A minimal amount of Packers/Bears bickering may be permitted during football season.

Since there may be children lurking around no bad language please, and do not engage in rudeness, insults and abuse of other folks. Posts in violation will be deleted.

{This group has nothing to do with that Irish W.O.T.A.N. guy.}

SAY YA TO DA U.P., EH?

This above was copied from the home page of the Yahoo group I just started today. I invite all geographically appropriate readers to join this group, also tell any friends you have that might be interested.

I also have a rune rosary group for those who might be interested in the rune rosary (and general rune-interested people as well) and also an Odinists Against Euthanasia group. Do join one or both if they are of interest to you.

I also have a guestbook you can use to communicate with me--- feel free to drop me a note.

Our Heavenly Mother, Frigga

2005-06-21T09:12:00.000-05:00

"Frigga is Odin's wife. She foresees the destinies of men, but never reveals what is to come. For thus it is that Odin himself told Loki, 'Senseless Loki, why wilt thou pry into futurity, Frigga alone knoweth the destinies of all, though she telleth them never?"
From the Younger Edda

Frigga, also called Frigg, Fricka, Jord and Nerthus, is the essential Earth Mother, the mother of Thor, Frey and Freyja, and our own Heavenly Mother.

What does it mean to have a mother? A mother gives birth in pain and sorrow, and at the risk of her own life and health.

A mother is greatly knowing about the fate of her children--- in part because the woman, among our folk, has a greater share of the prophetic gift--- in part simply because she knows her children so well.

A mother cares for her children to the point of ignoring her own desires, even her needs when times get tough. A mother's life is one of sacrifice for her beloved children.

And yet even that may not be enough. Bad things happen. A mother may lose her child to disease or to an automobile accident. She may have her child taken from her by the court system. She may even have the sorrow of seeing one of her children grow up to be a criminal, even perhaps a murderer. Yet even a murderer's mother still loves her child.

Our Heavenly Mother Frigga loves us all that way. Yet even she, with the divine power at her hand, cannot prevent every ill from attacking her beloved children. Even her own beloved Son Balder she could not save from his fate.

Our Heavenly Mother, then, understands our sorrows. She has experienced them as well. Who better to turn to, when things go wrong, then our Mom in Heaven, Frigga?

Hail Frigga, Holy Mother, be with those who are grieving. Give them the knowledge to turn to You in their sorrows, and the strength to endure the pains that they are fated to suffer.

The meaning of the death of Baldur: midsummer meditation

2005-06-21T09:04:00.000-05:00

The Meaning of the Death of Baldur: from Norse Mythology by Rasmus B. Anderson, LL. D., 1875.
“Balder, then, is the God of light, the light of the world. Light is the best thing we have in the world; it is white and pure; it cannot be wounded; no shock can disturb it; nothing in the world can kill it excepting its own negative, darkness (Hoder)....”
“It would be resting satisfied with the shell to interpret Balder as the mere impersonation of the natural light of heaven. He represents and symbolizes in the profoundest sense the heavenly light of the soul and of the mind, purity, innocence, piety. There can be no doubt that our ancestors combined the ethical with the physical in this myth. All light comes from heaven. The natural light shines into and illuminates the eye, the spiritual shines into and illuminates the heart. Innocence cannot be wounded. Arrogance and jealousy throw their pointed arrows of slander at it, but they fall harmless to the ground. But there is one inclination, one unguarded spot among our other strong guarded passions. The mischief-maker knows how to find this and innocence is pierced. When Balder dies, a dark veil enshrouds all nature, and thus history clothes herself in mourning, not because the hero dies, but because the innocent Lincoln is pierced by the bullet of the foul assassin, who turns to the night and flees. Every time light is slain by darkness it is the beautiful and good that is stricken down; but it is never stricken down except to return and shine with increased splendor.”
“Balder dies in nature when the woods are stripped of their foliage, when the flowers fade and the storms of winter howl. Balder dies in the spiritual world when the good are led away from the paths of virtue, when the soul becomes dark and gloomy, forgetting its heavenly origin. Balder returns in nature when the gentle winds of spring stir the air, when the nightingale’s high note is heard in the heavens, and the flowers are unlocked to paint the laughing soil, when light takes the place of gloom and darkness; Balder returns in the spiritual world when the lost soul finds itself again, throws off the mantle of darkness, and like a shining spirit soars on wings of light to heaven, to [the] God[s], who gave it.”

Manhood (from Way of the Runes book)

2005-06-21T08:51:00.000-05:00

The boy becomes a man on the day he is given his weapons— just as the Roman boy became a man on the day he first put on the toga virilis, the clothing of the Roman man. The Teutonic man’s great duty is to defend his people with weapons when needed.

The Jewish Bra

2005-06-20T13:42:00.000-05:00

My mom got this in her email.
Subject: The Jewish Bra

A man walked into the Women's Department of Macy's in New York City. He
tells the saleslady, "I would like a Jewish bra for my wife, size 34B."

With a quizzical look the saleslady asked, "What kind of bra?"

He repeated "A Jewish Bra - She said to tell you that she wanted a Jewish
Bra, and that you would know what she wanted."

"Ah, now I remember," said the saleslady. "We don't get as many requests
for them as we used to. Mostly our customers lately want the Catholic bra, or
the Salvation Army bra, or the Presbyterian type."

Confused, and a little flustered, the man asked "So, what are the
differences?"

The saleslady responded. "It is all really quite simple. The Catholic type
supports the masses. The Salvation Army lifts up the fallen, and the
Presbyterian type keeps them staunch and upright."

He mused on that information for a minute, and asked "So, what is the Jewish
type for?"

"They," she replied, "make mountains out of molehills."

I'm not quite sure what the Odinist bra is, but I've heard muggers don't dare bother women wearing them.

Thor our Defender

2005-06-20T13:35:00.000-05:00

"The mightiest of [the Gods]... is Thor. He is called Asa-Thor and Auku-Thor, and is the strongest of Gods and Men."
From the Younger Edda

Thor is Midgard's defender against all evil wights--- who better to turn to in this Wolf Age of terrorism, murder and broken families?

Thor is among the Gods best known to our folk today. Even those who know nothing of our faith and traditions may be familiar with the name Thor, if only from seeing the comic book 'Thor' on newsstands.

We Asatruar habitually wear an emblem of the Thor's Hammer, no matter who our fulltrui (patron God) is. We also make the holy sign of the hammer over our own bodies or in the air over things we desire to bless.

In our age of physical danger through crime, war and terrorism, we may think to call on Thor mostly for physical protection. But remember that it is the Jotuns--- the evil spiritual beings--- that He is most renowned for combating.

The spiritual dangers that face us every day are not much spoken of. No one likes to be thought of as a primitive nut who is afraid of 'evil spirits'. But it is not hard to find examples where a spiritual or philosophical evil has had the real, material power to destroy people.

Think of the Jim Jones cult which committed mass murder/suicide because the warped mix of Christianity and Marxism they believed taught them it was right to do as their leader ordered them.

Think of all the crimes and other misdeeds committed by people who have accepted the notion that old-fashioned moral values are a thing of the past. One of the Manson girls rationalized it wasn't a bad thing to stab a pregnant Sharon Tate to death because she did it out of love.

If such things are not the real-world equivalent of 'evil spirits' haunting the world I don't know what is. And such evil things are a constant danger to our own minds and souls.

We may not be inclined to listen to some cult-leader, but every day we are exposed to countless television programs, books and movies which in subtile or blatant ways try to weaken our moral values. Patriotism and having religious values are a joke at best in the television world. Commonly, the guy who expresses patriotism or religious beliefs at the beginning of the show will turn out to be the murderer at the end.

The moral value of chastity has been wholly forgotten in our popular culture. Even the 'good girls' on television shows go to bed with their boyfriends before marriage, even on the first date.

Swearing is considered not a bad habit or a vice, but a f----ing blow for freedom of speech. Being kind to other people isn't important (unless they are ethnic minorities) because it's more fun to make fun of people for being fat or having too much body hair.

But when we give in and allow these 'evil spirits' of popular culture to start changing our attitudes, we weaken our sense of right and wrong, which in the end may lead to us doing evil or illegal things or destroy our family, marriage or friendship relations.

Thor is our primary fighter against the evils that we may face, spiritual/philosophical ones as well as the ones involving bullets.

Asa-Thor our Defender, protect us through your might from the evil things we face--- from evil men and their weapons, to evil thoughts and our own weaknesses. Defend us in our daily battles, oh Thor!

Sacred Triskele

2005-06-20T12:43:00.000-05:00

Site with a lot of Celt/Pagan stuff.

Jeff Redmond's Erda Books

2005-06-19T17:42:00.000-05:00

Jeff Redmond is a writer from Michigan who has been known to Heathen folk for many years now. Click the link above to find out about his books and how to obtain them.

Picture of Odin and his wolves

2005-06-19T17:08:00.000-05:00

Comment function of this blog has been removed

2005-06-19T17:02:00.000-05:00

Due to the problem of which I write in the Nightmare Realm blog, the
comment function on all of my blogs has been taken down.

This is done for the protection of those who do not wish to be exposed
to foul language and other bad things from anonymous commentors and some
not so anonymous.

I wish Blogger would develop the option of having moderated comments so
the blog owner could check them out before having them posted.

Friendly folks who wish to contact me are urged to either use my
guestbook or my postal address.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Other rune rosaries

2005-06-19T16:33:00.000-05:00

A number of years ago I saw a rune rosary advertised, I believe it was
in Yggdrasil. I've searched all my back issues to find it, but
couldn't. Don't know who made that rune rosary or what it was like.

I also believe that Edred Thorsson, in one of his rune books, mentioned
the use of beads, perhaps in connection with rune meditation. I'll have
to look that one up.

I also know that there is a lady who has developed a 'runic rosary'.

I mention this because it ought to be known that the rune rosary
(hundredbeads) that I've worked with isn't the only one, nor should it be.

The Catholics have lots of different rosaries and chaplets besides the
well-known Dominican rosary. Certainly our Odinist/Heathen faith has
plenty of room for diverse forms of religious devotion.

Rune Rosaries

2005-06-19T16:05:00.000-05:00

These are some of the rune rosaries I have available now. They are made of inexpensive beads (but still take me about 3 hours each to make.)

If you would like one, please send about $3 or so to my postal box to compensate for postage costs, and I will send you one. (When you add the cost of materials to the postage, that comes to more than $3, and if one thinks that 3 hours of labor is worth something, it might be worth even more. So this is a real bargain, folks!)

If you have a preference for color, let me know. There are blue-and-white, red-and-white, black-and-white, and tricolor (red, white and blue). I will try to get you the color you prefer while supplies last.

The link above goes to the rune rosary page which will show you how to use the rune rosary, also tells how to make your own if you are a crafty person.

Subscribe to AFA_Bearclaw

2005-06-19T15:55:00.000-05:00

Bearclaw contains news, commentary, and opinion from the Asatru Folk Assembly. Formerly it served as a special, members-only newsletter; but now it constitutes an ongoing AFA update available to any interested person.

Ancient center of civilization in eastern Germany

2005-06-19T15:53:00.000-05:00

Click on the link above to view article.

Odinic Rite web site has new look

2005-06-19T15:50:00.000-05:00

The Odinic Rite, an Odinist group based in England, announces that its web site now has a new look. Click on the link above to check it out for yourself.

Norse Women's Fiber Hall

2005-06-17T15:06:00.000-05:00

For kinswomen who knit, crochet and such, or who are learning.

Thor's Day Wassail!

2005-06-15T19:00:00.000-05:00

Have a blessed and restful Thor's Day!

"Hail Dag, hail Dag's sons, Hail Nott and daughter of Nott!
Look on us kindly and grant us who pray unto Ye victory.
Hail to the Gods, hail to the Goddesses, hail to Thee, all-giving Earth!
Words and wisdom grant us, and healing hands during this life."

(Sigrdrifa's Prayer, an authentic ancient Odinist prayer from the Poetic Edda)

Thursday (Thor's Day) is our holy day in Odinism, as Sunday is for most Christians, as the Sabbath (Saturday) is for Jews and other Christians, as Friday is for Mohammedans. In our northern tradition the day begins at sunset of Wednesday (Odin's Day) and lasts until sunset on Thursday.

We know this from a sermon of St. Eligius who lived in about 600 AD. He did missionary work among the Heathen Frisians.

In his sermon he specifically forbade Christians from observing Thursday in idleness or solemn celebration, either in May or any other month.

This shows that for at least some Heathens, Thursday was observed as a holy day of rest, and a day of sacred celebrations, especially in the month of May.

Before the coming of the Romans the Heathens didn't have the Roman calendar with its seven-day week, with each day named after a God. But once they became aware of that calendar and began to make use of it, they began to celebrate Thursday as a 'Sabbath' of rest and worship, even though it angered the Christians.

I believe that it was likely an adaptation of an earlier custom of setting aside such a day. This original custom was changed to Thursday observance when the Roman calendar was adopted.

In our own lives we need to think what we can do to make Thursday holy by setting it aside for the Gods. How can we make it different from mundane weekdays?

We must plan ahead to get routine work done so we can make it a day of rest. Plan the meals for Thursday ahead of time, and perhaps cook things in advance so they need only be heated. Homeschooling mothers may give their children Thursday as a day off from lessons, and make it up on the Sunday.

We must also find ways to include worship of the Gods in our Thursdays in a special way, both by means of private prayer and religious study, and by devotions in the family circle if possible.

Have YOU some special family custom for holy Thursday? Let me know about it, via comment function, guestbook or postal, and I'll mention it in Nine Virtues News.

Are you Biblically illiterate?

2005-06-15T08:40:00.000-05:00

Most Americans believe in the Bible, at least to some extent. The average Asatruar, on the other hand, tends to believe the Bible is a fairy story, something proved false.

Both groups are largely Biblically illiterate. Are you?

Can you tell me where in the Bible you could find the book of Philemon? What is the book about? Who wrote it and why?

Where is the book of Tobit? What is it about? And if your own Bible doesn't contain the book of Tobit, why is that? What kind of Bible do you need to buy to be sure you get the book of Tobit?

Who was Jehu? What did he do furiously?

Who was Nimrod? He was a mighty _____ before the Lord. (Fill in the blank.)

How did you do? Do you know enough about the Bible to begin to communicate to Christian family and friends on Biblical issues?

We need to do Odinist outreach to all those of Northern European heritage, and to do that we need to know about the most popular religion held by Northern Europeans--- the one which uses the Bible. And there are many Bible passages which actually can be used to show the truth of our Odinist way--- for example, the fact that the oldest parts of the Bible talk about the Gods (Elohim, in Hebrew) creating the heavens and the earth.

To begin learning Bible, you need to own a good Bible. The King James Version is best (NOT the 'new' King James). You will also need to buy the Apocrypha seperately, since these books were kicked out of the Bible at the time of the Protestant reformation. You might also use the Douay version, a Catholic Bible, for comparison.

An essential learning tool is the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, where you can look up the real meanings of the words in a Bible passage, as opposed to simply accepting traditional Christian interpretations of them.

A good study Bible (Bible with study notes) is the Companion Bible with notes by Bullinger. He was a noted Hebrew scholar many years ago and his study Bible has copious notes and timelines. (It's quite expensive, though.)

If you don't mind watching Christian television, there is a program called 'Shepherd's Chapel' in which the pastor studies through a Bible book chapter by chapter and verse by verse. Tune in while you're folding clothes or some such and you will pick up a lot of Bible knowledge. It is also broadcast on the internet, I believe I have a link on my WYRD page.

We must remember that Odin hung on the tree nine full nights to gain wisdom. Surely we can endure a little Bible in order to be able to communicate our own, true faith to those outside it.

'Birth Control' battle over forced participation in abortions

2005-06-15T08:38:00.000-05:00

Supreme Court case included Asatruar

2005-06-15T07:37:00.000-05:00

The article which you will find on the link above details the results of the religious freedom case in the Supreme Court which included an Asatruar as well as witches and Satanists.

It points out that the ruling doesn't require prisons to grant all religious requests by inmates. This is very important because inmates can and will use religion as an excuse to demand things they should not have.

In one case I have read of, a fight broke out at a meeting of Asatru inmates which resulted in a murder. Certainly this possibility is a good reason why meetings of inmates may have to be forbidden.

I believe that in many cases trouble-making and/or violent inmates turn to an 'alternative' religion in prison in order to make problems for the prison staff, and also because a mainstream religion would provide a chaplain and a set of rules which the inmate does not want. He imagines that in an 'alternative' religion he can be his own religious leader and make his own rules.

Cyberangels

2005-06-14T23:04:00.000-05:00

Orson Scott Card's The Crystal City

2005-06-14T23:02:00.000-05:00

Midsummer cards

2005-06-14T16:55:00.000-05:00

In Christian families it's common to use the custom of sending Christmas cards to keep in touch with distant relatives and old friends.

But since we Odinists are not Christians, we need to find a substitute for the custom.

Why not send out greeting cards at Midsummer? Because of the time of year being different, it looks much less like a compromise with Christianity than sending out secular Christmas cards and calling them Yule greetings.

Midsummer cards may be more practical since summer is a good time for distant relatives to get together (weather-wise), and it may get folks' minds thinking about getting together.

Greeting cards can be made up on the computer. You can make up religious ones with specific reference to Odinist themes, and also secular ones for those kinfolk who are easily offended.

Child porn raids in 13 countries

2005-06-14T11:42:00.000-05:00

Child suicide in Norway

2005-06-14T11:37:00.000-05:00

Birth Control Pills: Abortifacient and Contraceptive

2005-06-14T10:49:00.000-05:00

Niki the cat and her 5 kittens

2005-06-14T10:45:00.000-05:00

Runelore: Uruz

2005-06-13T08:12:00.000-05:00

from the 'way of the runes' book project

Uruz is where the wild things are. The meaning relates literally to the aurochs, a kind of wild cattle that once roamed Europe.

There is something pure, wild and strong about a wild animal before humans have domesticated it. We humans breed our animals for a number of qualities--- interesting color patterns, high milk yields, multiple births--- that are not useful in the wild. Our animals can be sicklier because they have us to care for them.

In the wild, the only visible animals are the healthy and vigorous ones. This vigor is something our ancestors noted and admired.

Uruz is, as a result, the healing rune. It speaks to the healing power of the natural ways. While we humans have with our various advances, done much to prevent famine, ensure steady food supply, and the like, we have also harmed the quality of our foods.

It's not just the white flour and the sugars which have caused widespread ill-health such as diabetes. Many of our modern garden vegetables have far fewer vitamins than the wild plants our ancestors used to gather for food.

People who return to a more traditional diet with only whole grain flours and no sugar, molasses or honey, who eat natural vegetables and meats as the mainstay of their diet, avoid many common illnesses.

Modern medicine can produce great cures. Yet modern drugs are so strong they can have fatal side effects. As long as only a small number die, the drug is considered safe.

Some medicinal herbs are also strong enough to kill. But there are many medicinal herbs which are more of a nourishing food than a harsh drug, and they can help in many ills.

This is the Uruz way of healing.

Compassion

2005-06-12T12:10:00.000-05:00

Our folk are a compassionate folk. It's a part of our nature--- we didn't need Christian missionaries to teach us compassion was good. In point of fact, the Christians of the conversion era weren't exactly modeling compassion toward our Odinist ancestors.

Compassion is what the Gods want from us. It shows often in their dealing with us. The Gods themselves are compassionate. Look at the compassion they showed Loki until it became quite clear that he was their enemy.

Some people fear that compassion makes them look weak. But really, do you think it makes you look stronger to push over the disabled guy in his wheelchair or swear at an elderly granny? No, compassion is the way the truly strong deal with the weak.

But what about the bad guys, you ask. Of course we all know that bad guys from Saddam Hussein to Charlie Manson to the thug on the street want you to 'have mercy', by which they mean they want to be let off of any punishment they've earned by their nithing deeds.

But that's not compassion. The compassionate way to deal with an evildoer is to see they are given the punishment they've earned for their own good. That's one reason to justify war against an attacker--- it teaches the enemy not to engage in evil aggression in a way harsh words don't.

Most of the people around us are not evildoers for whom the only compassion is punishment, however. They may not be perfect, but neither are we. "No man so flawless but some fault he has, nor so wicked to be of no worth," Odin tells us in Havamal.

So--- how can you show real-world compassion to another human being today? And no, I don't mean agitating for your favorite cause on the grounds that it's in humanity's best interest. I mean going up to some actual person and showing kindness.

Perhaps you have an older relative or family friend in a nursing home who would like a visit or a call. Perhaps there is a neighbor who is behind in his yard work and could use your help. Perhaps you could stop by the home of a single mother or military wife or widow with a bag of groceries.

Sometimes you can best show compassion by curbing your own unkind habits. Do you swear? Get control over your bad language to avoid hurting the feelings of others. Do you have a temper? Learn to count to ten before you say something you shouldn't. Do you still smoke? Quit your filthy, deadly habit--- or at the least, don't smoke where others will have to breathe in your used nicotine and suffer health consequences of their own as a result.

Compassion to others does more than help those others. It helps you--- it gives you greater self esteem and a good reputation. It pleases the Gods, and the holy ancestors.

The outside world judges the Odinist faith not by our words so much as by our deeds. Your every action could be a living defense of the worth of Odinism--- or it could be grounds for anti-Odinist bias. It's up to you--- make the right choice.

Runelore: Fehu

2005-06-11T07:46:00.000-05:00

book project: way of the runes

The first rune, Fehu, means wealth or money, and it also means cattle/livestock. It's said that this is because livestock used to be used as money.

I think it is also a message on the true nature of prosperity. Livestock need to be cared for. There is plenty of work involved just keeping them alive, and if you want your herd to do well, you have to do a lot extra--- finding the best male animals to breed to, improving your barns and shelters, fences and what have you, caring for sick animals--- and culling the sickly ones from the breeding herd.

Hard work is a requirement. But there is no guarantee of reward. One hardworking herdsman may lose most of a herd to wolves, coyotes or stray dogs, to disease, or just have a year in which few females got bred. Another herdsman may be blessed with a year in which all his ewes have triplets and can feed them, and none of the good breeding stock drops dead on him.

Hard work, then, is a requirement of our faith. And we are not meant to whine that our hard work is unappreciated, or that we really deserve the high salary that the boss gets. We work hard because that is the right way and pleases the Gods and the ancestors.

Being a hard worker is of itself a kind of prosperity. When you get a reputation for working hard, you are likely to keep your job when those around you are being laid off. You are more likely to get promotions and other opportunities. And you will have the respect of others.

Another aspect of Fehu is that wealth is meant to be dealt out freely if one wishes the approval of Odin. We are to be generous and not greedy.

There are scores of people out there who could do with our financial support for one thing or another. Many Christians--- even those in poverty--- routinely give 10% of their income to support their local church and its charitable work, and in addition give more to other causes. By rights, Odinists should be just as generous, but I fear for many, including myself, that this is not the case. It's hard to give up money to charity when you don't have very much--- but it's funny, I feel so much richer when I do.

Real rune lore for beginners

2005-06-10T22:55:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of rune books out there, and they often contradict one
another. How do you know what an individual rune really means?

Turn to the ancient sources. We have the rune poems: the Anglo-Saxon
rune poem, and the Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems. These give us at
least a snapshot of what the runes meant to our ancestors at the dates
the poems were written. (Find the rune poems at
http://www.ragweedforge.com/poems.html )

I believe it best to center one's understanding of the runes on these
ancient poems. Without it one can end up like the New Age runesters---
they seem to be playing a game of free-association with the runes in
order to come up with their rune meanings, which may have little to do
with the ancient understanding or with the Germanic culture.

Without the proper grounding, what seems to the New Ager to be an
insight into rune meanings is more likely to be a stray thought leading
them away from the real meaning of the rune.

Even a rune author who has done his research can lead you astray because
he brings to his work certain presuppositions which he is loathe to
change. If he is mistaken in these things, so will his work be.

So turn to the rune poems themselves first, before you turn to a modern
rune author whether New Ager or a properly studious Heathen.

Othilafolk

2005-06-10T08:58:00.000-05:00

The text below is taken from the Asatru Alliance web site. Click on link above, then click on Othilafolk to donate to this worthy cause. I'm hoping to be able to give $10 a month starting in a month or so--- have had some bad expenses lately.

"Othilafolk are thoses who make contributions to The Asatru Alliance to promote the future of the Asatru people for the building of Hofs and spiritual centers."

Vision

The Asatru Alliance is working to build a community Temple-Hof in every State and Province in the United States and Canada, to practice and promote the religion of Asatru and strengthen the ethnic community.

Mission

The building of this first Temple-Hof will show the Asatru Alliance as a credible Religious organization, which knows how to accomplish our goals. This will lead to more support for the building of our future Temple-Hofs. The first one to be built will be in the south western United States.

Operations

1. Raise funds to purchase land, construct and operate the Asatru Temple-Hofs.
2. Fund and operate a school for the Asatru community.

Functions of the Asatru Temple-Hofs

1. Practice and promote The Religion Asatru.
2. Operate a bookstore.
3. Operate publishing Hof.
4. Provide meeting places for Community Function.
5. Represent the Asafolk Community and its resolve to grow and prosper.
6. School for the Asatru community.

Your contributions are completely tax deductible.

Irminsul's Althing

2005-06-10T08:45:00.000-05:00

Click on link above for information.

If any of you all out there have news about Asatru organizations and events, please notify me via the guestbook and I will post about it.

A Call for Odinist prayer in the schools

2005-06-10T08:34:00.000-05:00

Click to view article.

Portrait of Thor

2005-06-07T14:13:00.000-05:00

An excellent work of art from Deb's Den.

Has the spirit of the Holocaust revived? And if they attack the Jews, are we next?

2005-06-06T08:34:00.000-05:00

The link leads to an informative article on the revival of the 'spirit of the Holocaust'.

I personally believe in the theory that the Hebraic peoples are closely akin to us of Northern Europe, but even if you believe the more common theory that the Hebraic people are alien to us, the question is this:

As the world begins to accept that it's now OK to be against the Jews, how will they react to Odinists/Heathens? The Jews have Israel, a nuclear power, to speak for them. Who do we have?

That's why we must side with the Jews against their Muslim, secularist and liberal-Christian detractors. Sheer self-preservation.

Rune Rosaries and how to get one

2005-06-05T14:12:00.000-05:00

Here are some rune rosaries. Rune chaplets are the short form of a rune rosary. I also have a third picture of rune rosaries which is on my Rune Rosary web site. If you would like a rune rosary of your own (with instructions) go to the web site (link is on right) and it will tell you how to get one and the picture is of the type which is available.

You will also find full instructions on how to make your own rune rosary. If you are a crafty person you might find this fun to do and you will also be able to make rosaries, malas and other types of prayer beads for friends and family members of other faiths.

And of course there is the Rune Rosary Yahoo group. If you like the idea of the rune rosary, please do join!

Rune Chaplets I made

2005-06-05T14:05:00.000-05:00

Here are some rune chaplets I made with heart-shaped beads. I'm posting this with "Picasa" which you can get from Blogger and it's kind of an experiment to see how this works.

Fwd: [AFA_Bearclaw] AFA News Release on court ruling

2005-06-05T11:22:00.000-05:00

>--- In politically_active_pagans_heathens@yahoogroups.com, Erik the
>Hammer <eric_hammers@y...> wrote:
>
>
>"Stephen A. McNallen" <afa@l...> wrote:To: AFA_Bearclaw@yahoogroups.com
>From: "Stephen A. McNallen" <afa@l...>
>Date: Wed, 01 Jun 2005 14:37:21 -0000
>Subject: [AFA_Bearclaw] AFA News Release
>

>
>Greetings!
>
>You can see this posted at http://releases.usnewswire.com where it was
>posted at 12:40 AM. It has been transmitted widely and displays
>prominently on Google.
>
>Hail the Gods!
>
>Steve McNallen
>
>
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>Contact: Stephen A. McNallen, Director
>Asatru Folk Assembly
>530-272-8142
>www.runestone.org
>info@r...
>
>
>Followers of Ancient European Religion Welcome Supreme Court Ruling
>
>Nevada City, Calif., May 31, 2005 - Followers of an ancient European
>faith with Norse roots today hailed the Supreme Court's unanimous
>decision protecting the religious rights of prisoners. (Cutter v.
>Wilkinson, No. 03-9877)
>
>The ruling, which upholds the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized
>Persons Act, recognizes the rights of prisoners to religious materials
>and services regardless of their faith.
>
>"For years, Asatru prisoners have struggled for the right to practice
>our religion," said Stephen McNallen, director of the Asatru Folk
>Assembly, a national religious organization dedicated to the
>pre-Christian faith of Europe. "This decision will make it much harder
>for prison administrators to deny them this right."
>
>Asatru—a native pre-Christian European religion originally practiced
>by the Anglo-Saxons, the Norse, and the Germanic tribes—has been a
>legally recognized religion in the United States since 1972. The
>Supreme Court Justices made it clear that little-known religions, or
>those with very different beliefs from the mainstream, deserve the
>same protection as those with many millions of followers.
>
>McNallen believes that Asatru has a definite place in correctional
>institutions. "The native spiritual path of the European peoples
>carries incredible rehabilitative, transformative, and healing power
>for those who approach it with openness and reverence," he said. "How
>can it be in the interest of the state to deny us our spiritual
>birthright in such a win-win situation?"
>
>About the Asatru Folk Assembly: The Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA) was
>established in 1994 to practice, promote, and further evolve the
>indigenous European faith. The AFA's Director, Stephen A. McNallen,
>was a pioneer in the revival of the Asatru religion, helping to bring
>it to the United States in the late 1960s. For more information, visit
>www.runestone.org.
>

How to subscribe to a blog

2005-06-05T10:30:00.000-05:00

Click on link to view post from my other blog on this topic.

The Prison Inmate Problem

2005-06-05T09:28:00.000-05:00

Back when I first became a Pagan one of the first problems that came along was contact with prison inmates. What does one do when contacted by a prisoner who asks for--- or demands--- your attention or help?

I did a Pagan networking newsletter for awhile and I had a lot of inmates who wanted to be on the list. A lady on the list felt sorry for one and wrote to him. Next thing you know, he was writing her asking for sexual contact with her young daughter!

When I was involved with Frigga's Web, I tried to start a women's group. A male prison inmate accused me of sex discrimination when I told him women might not feel safe with a male prison inmate in the group.

I had problem inmates when running the print edition of Nine Virtues News as well. Many felt I should give them free subscriptions or price breaks on the subscription price.

But there were good sides to it as well. At one point, a Christian prison chaplain asked me for a free subscription for the prison chapel library. I was glad to pay this cost as an act of Heathen charity, and I got a couple of letters from the inmates of that prison, so I knew it was being read.

That's one of the reasons I'm so sad that I'm not a stronger and better person, and that I let myself be driven out of publication by a nithing. There is always hope that a prison inmate will turn to faith and forsake his evil ways. But how can they learn about our Odinist faith if they can't get information?

I once read a Wiccan/Neopagan newsletter in which the editor apologized for still being in print instead of on the internet. And the Runestone, an excellent Heathen periodical by Steve McNallen, went into online form and then stopped altogether.

That's why one of the best things you can do to help prison inmates is to subscribe to all the Heathen periodicals you know of and the Pagan ones who sometimes publish Heathen articles. If they don't have enough subscribers to stay in print, prisoners can't subscribe and will have to subsist on misinformation and rumor--- like the one that Odinism is for racialists only. If you have a website or blog you might include information or links to all the in-print Heathen periodicals you know of, so that others might subscribe. Who knows, it might just be seen by some web surfer looking for stuff to print-out for an incarcerated relative.

If you know of any current Heathen periodicals, let me know via the comment function, the guestbook or my postal address. I will put up the info on my site. If you're publishing a new Heathen periodical and wish to send me a sample copy, I would be most grateful and will mention it in this blog if at all possible.

Rune Mantra Meditation

2005-06-05T09:16:00.000-05:00

Edred Thorsson in one of his rune books mentions the possibility of using runes as meditation mantras.

I've tried this myself over the years and in a more complicated form it's a part of the rune rosary (which you can learn more about from the link on the side.)

I've often used the rune names the way one would an Eastern meditation mantra such as OM.

The one problem I have with Eastern techniques is one sometimes hears to empty out one's mind, to become receptive to whatever-all is out there. In the Western European tradition, we don't do that as we don't want to be receptive to some things--- Loki, for example. That's why one does protective things such the sign of the hammer and other forms of prayer to the Gods for protection before meditation sessions.

The impersonal Wiccan thing of surrounding yourself with white light doesn't cut it. You need to ask something personal--- like a God or your fylgia ( female protective spirit, "guardian angel") to help you out, a mental light-show doesn't do the trick (unless you've been mentally coupling it with a prayer).

That didn't take long

2005-06-03T11:38:00.000-05:00

This morning my stalker said he was tired of the fight (in a public
forum) and now he's e-mailing me with threats in private.

I've forwarded it to my new Nightmare Realm blog
http://www.angelfire.com/mi2/tribal/nightmare
which is where all my stalker stuff will go in future so I don't have to
put it on my good blogs.

There will be a link on the left side to Nightmare Realm in case
anyone's morbidly curious.

This post is actually a test to see if I can really post via e-mail.
Here goes.......

My Stalker says he's tired of it.....

2005-06-03T09:06:00.000-05:00

Michael Martin my personal Darth Vader says on his e-groups that he's sick of the fight.

I'm hoping it means I can finally forget he ever existed and that I and my elderly mother will receive no more threatening e-mails from him. He refuses to make any promise whatever on leaving my mother alone however.

It's really frightening to know that some one who claims to be Asatru can be so obsessed with spite against some one that he would carry on in this way. And how can one defend one's good name against slanders from some one determined to follow you all over the internet to attack you to all your contacts???

I hope this is finally THE END.

Astrological Correspondences of the Runes

2005-06-03T07:34:00.000-05:00

'Way of the Runes' book project

As I was setting out the outline of the book, I was wondering about astrological correspondences of the runes.

While the Grimnismal 'Heavenly Houses' correspond with conventional astrology by starting out with Capricorn (which is the beginning of the Heathen New Year as we know it now), I've found the runes, which 1000 years older than the Grimnismal poem, fit best if you start out with Aries. I believe that in the Roman Empire they switched the new year from March, around the Equinox, to our current new year, and that's why we have April Fools Day for people who celebrated the wrong new year after the switch.

Perhaps our ancestors at the time of the origin of the runes began their new year in spring.

Anyway, it goes like this: Fehu means cattle, and cattle can include sheep and other livestock, not just bovines. So Fehu goes with Aries which is the sign of the Ram. Uruz means 'wild ox' and Taurus is the sign of the Bull. Thurisaz has to do with thurses, or Giants. In the Grimnismal astrology, the sign of Gemini is Thrymheim, the home of the giant Thiassi and later of his daughter Skadi.

It goes on pretty well for the first twelve. I wasn't sure what to do with the next twelve runes, so last night I just kind of went through them again starting from Aries. There were a lot of startling and appropriate correspondences so I've come to the conclusion that each astrological sign has 2 runes.

Will have to get my "A to Z horoscope maker" book out that is the best book I have on astrological lore to flesh out this aspect.

Not going to get into it too deep for this book though. I have a book on Nordic astrology planned and a lot of sections already written as I wanted to present the Grimnismal material. It got bogged down because I was also putting in some book-of-Genesis stuff (12 sons of Jacob as astrological signs) that seemed to relate to the Nordic stuff, and I was wondering whether to split the project into 2 parts or not.

Anyway, I'm laying the astrology book aside until I get this rune one under my belt.

Art Site with Nordic themed work

2005-06-03T07:30:00.000-05:00

Check out the 'Gothic Valkyrie' and the 'Earthen Mother' designs which feature runes and are available for sale on cards, T-shirts and the like.

An experience with Nott

2005-06-02T10:13:00.000-05:00

Previously on this blog I wrote about the Goddess Nott (Night, Nat), something I'd prepared for the book 'Way of the Runes'. (It may be in the May archives by now).

Well, I decided to do a little experimental theology. I was in a hurry at the store and had to find a birthday present for my mom real quick, so I asked Nott to guide my steps to the right items.

It worked. I ended up in one aisle I thought had nothing, looked up, and saw something cute. (Can't say what, maybe my mom reads this.) Then I did some more 'automatic walking' and came upon another thing in an unexpected spot.

So the result of my experiment was a positive one.

Modern Heathen History

2005-06-02T09:59:00.000-05:00

We need to be careful to preserve the history of the modern Asatru/Odinist revival. I have batches of old back issues of various periodicals, and a number of letters from important Heathens that I'm preserving.

A few years ago there were some people out in New Mexico I think that were compiling a Heathen reference library with old periodicals and the like. I don't know if they are still doing it, though. Anyone who knows, let me know via the comment function or the guestbook.

It would be good if these materials were being preserved in multiple locations, by different well-established Asatru/Odinist organizations (or those who intend to become well-established.) It's possible that some university or other may be compiling a collection of this stuff, too.

I'd like to know about who might be doing this because I certainly would like to help. I have some back issues left of my newsletter, from when it was in print, which I might contribute.

In addition, I think there are a lot of Heathen folk out there who have old periodicals they don't want any more, or who would leave their collection to some historical group when they die.

One shouldn't forget the importance of letters from prominent, or even rank-and-file, Asatruar/Odinists from the early years. Photos of events and significant e-mails might also be of historical interest.

Also people who were involved in Asatru/Odinism since the early years ought to record their memories. For example, writer Jeff Redmond has been around in Asatru for years, he was my first Asatru contact. I hope he writes his memoirs, or perhaps he might be the fellow to put together a history of the beginning of the Asatru revival.

If there are any web sites devoted to Asatru/Odinist history or to a preservation project, do let me know so I can put up the link on my WYRD site. For that matter, I'd be interested in hearing about ANY good Asatru or Odinist or Heathen link. My link section on WYRD needs a lot of work, I have a lot of odd stuff but need good solid Heathen stuff.

The Nephilim Age

2005-06-02T08:57:00.000-05:00

This is an online novel in progress with mythic themes, I've read the first chapter and am posting this partly so I don't forget where to find the link to read the rest, I think 6 chapters are up so far.

The Nephilim are figures from Hebraic mythology from the book of Genesis. They are similar to the Jotuns of our tradition but are the result of young Gods interbreeding with human women.

Anyway, it's a good story and hope others will check it out as well.

Cult dangers

2005-06-02T07:13:00.000-05:00

I know, we who follow non-standard religions are used to getting called cultists and so are wary of the term. But there is the danger of getting sucked into a cult-like segment of our faith or any other faith including faiths that claim to be against all religions.

By 'cult' I mean something that exerts an improper control over you and tries to cause you problems if you choose to leave.

Many people define a religion they don't like as a 'cult' because the group has strict moral rules and you can't disobey them without getting criticism from the group. This isn't what I mean. If you choose to join a church that says straight out, no drinking alcohol, that's your choice. (If you are raised in it, you have the choice to leave.) If you join the KKK and your Asatru group asks you to leave over it, well, that's fairly reasonable since the KKK is not socially accepted. Even if your religion is against Alcoholics Anonymous or won't let you read Harry Potter because they think it's evil that doesn't necessarily make it a cult.

What I'm talking about is a group that tries to control you the way a stereotypical abusive husband controls his wife. Such a man typically raises a fuss if his wife visits her mother, goes out with her (female) friend, or takes a sewing class, because he doesn't really want her to have any sort of social outlet at all except him.

A cult group may continually concoct new rules to keep members restricted to mostly the cult for their social life. For example, if a member or two joins a bowling team, they may decree that as frivolous or sinful even if there had never been such a rule regarding one's form of amusement before. They may start new projects in order to keep a member too busy for other things, or simply to show their control over that person. They may call a person on the carpet: "I saw you go into the tavern on Duke Street," showing they are keeping tabs on you.

They will alternate this harshness with praise and even love, just as an abusive husband brings home flowers and gets attentive from time to time.

Another sign to tell the difference between a true cult and a religion you find too restrictive is how they behave when a member decides to quit being a member. A religion will let you go. If the religion has a rule that members shouldn't hang out with 'worldly' people you may find other members mostly don't hang out with you any more, but that's the end of it.

A cult will define a leaving member as an enemy and traitor. They will create their own version of history to show that ex-member in a bad light. So if a cult member leaves because the leader insists he divorce his non-member wife, the cult may declare he really left because the leader's wife wouldn't sleep with him, or because he got caught stealing money from the group. They may accuse the person of mental instability to defuse anything the ex-member may say about them.

They may also resort to threats of violence or of other harm to the ex-member or his family in order to scare him into coming back or in to at least remaining silent about internal affairs of the cult. They may follow him around and then deny doing so.

In the internet age, religious groups can exist on the net and cults can too. Search engines make it easy for a cult-group to track an ex-member they deem an enemy through cyberspace.

Now, I don't know of any Asatru or Odinist group, or even any Pagan ones, who have behaved in an extreme, cult-like way, but that just means I'm not in the loop. I have once or twice encountered Pagans and one Norse Pagan who gave me the vibe that they were the controlling type who could turn cultish if they succeeded in gaining a following.

How to judge an Odinist (or any other) group? Be cautious about them and don't be too quick to promise to join anything. And by being cautious I don't mean just checking to see if they are making the right politically correct (or anti-politically-correct) noises. What you want to see is how well they handle differences of opinion, ex-members, and groups other than their own.

One good way is to subscribe to the group periodical for a year or two without joining. Attend an event as a guest if you can. Try to meet people who've been in the group for a few years but are not part of the leadership. Do a lot of listening and little talking.

If the group is an internet group, don't use your real name or give it out. Use a different user ID than you have elsewhere--- that way if you decide to quit they can't track you.

Now, don't let this scare you. I've contacted a number of Asatru leaders over the years--- Prudence Priest, Steve McNallen, Else Christensen--- and not a one was ever unkind much less being vengeful over me not joining their group or letting a membership lapse. In fact, most leaders of our faith seem to want to encourage people like you and me to do things--- like when I published my newsletter or did my Nine Noble Virtues Campaign to get the Nine Noble Virtues posted alongside the Ten Commandments in public buildings. I guess that's how you tell a religious leader from a cult leader--- they want to encourage others to learn leadership skills too, while a cult leader wants only meek sheep around him.

But you should be warned that there are folks out there who like manipulating people, and some of them set themselves up as religious leaders to do it. Be cautious.

way of the runes Intro section

2005-06-02T06:44:00.000-05:00

I did write I would estimate about 1/2 of the intro section of the book before moving on to other things, and now looking back at it I'm thinking of junking the whole thing and starting from scratch.

I think this will be the hardest section to do because beginnings are the most important. Have to give the most basic information on what is Odinism, what are runes, and, probably, explain what 'Germanic' means and the relation with 'Indo-European'......

Major Holy Day Alert: Midsummer

2005-05-31T18:29:00.000-05:00

May is almost over, and with June comes Midsummer, one of our most holy days.

Midsummer is devoted to Balder--- it is on this date that the sun moves into the astrological sign of Cancer, which is Breidablick the home of Balder in our tradition. (The Norse astrology comes from Grimnismal--- count starting from Capricorn which is our Heathen new year, and skip Ydalir, Uller's home, as otherwise we have 13 signs and it doesn't come out. I put Ydalir as the first decan of Capricorn.)

Anyway, if we want to do Midsummer right, we need to start thinking about it. How can you make it feel like a real holiday to your family? And if you are alone it is even harder to remember to do these things.

Outlining for 'Way of the Runes'

2005-05-31T18:15:00.000-05:00

I've completed the work of writing a full outline for the 'Way of the Runes' book.

It's set up this way: there are 24 sections, one for each rune. Each section has sub-sections. The first is titled 'Rune' and tells the meaning of the rune in question.

The next one, or more than one, is titled 'God' and is a profile of a God or Goddess. I've done about 45 Gods and so each rune has more than one. Some of the Gods are placed under a particularly appropriate rune, in other case it was random (but sometimes turns out to be meaningful.) In addition to Gods, I've put some of the bad guys--- Loki and the Giants, in this section, not with the title God of course.

The next section, which also can be more than one to a rune, is called 'Doctrine' and outlines a religious teaching of some sort. The first one, which I've finished, is simply 'What is Doctrine?'. Others include concepts such as creation, Ragnarok, folk-soul, and Odinist 'Sacraments' --- life passage rituals such as the naming-rite of infants, marriage, blood-brotherhood, and so on.

The final section is called 'Work' and in most cases is a work of worship--- prayer and/or meditation. It gives basic prayers such as Sigrdrifa's prayer and the Sign of the Hammer, and also teaches the rune rosary, a system of Odinist prayer/meditation I've devised, in small, easy sections.

So far I've done part of the Introduction, and the first three God sections on the Asas, Vans, and Elves, plus the 'What is Doctrine' and the start of the next Doctrine section. I've also done the part about Nott, which actually comes further along in the book but since the outline is all placed into the document already I can write in whatever portion I wish.

When I put up the posting 'Nott' in this blog I didn't cut-and-paste from what I'd written but did it from memory. I ended up putting more in than I had in my book and so added that to the book when I was done blogging. Might be a good way of working.

Odinism as a family values faith

2005-05-31T18:03:00.000-05:00

Way of the Runes book project

While working on my book's introductory section, I'm looking for a handle on how to present Odinism to a reader who may not know anything.

I've come up with the phrase "Odinism, another family values faith" or perhaps "a family values faith with a difference".

After having known both Wicca/Neopaganism and the Odinist/Heathen faith for many years (since 1987 or so) that is the main difference that I see is that our faith is more like the kind of faith parents want to raise their kids in.

You know, when we are young we often rebel against authority of all sorts, but when the children come along there is a desire to get back to something more like that 'old-time religion'.

America as a whole is seeing the need to reject some of the counter-culture, New Age, hippie elements that have become accepted. We've seen the bad side of some of the new freedoms, and we freely choose to embrace a somewhat more demanding value system.

A side issue: which name for our faith to use? There are so many names: Heathen, Norse Pagan, Asatru, and many less well known was. Odinism is the more common term in England (or was), and it does have the advantage of being easier to pronounce than Asatru, and less misunderstood than Heathen.

Of course some people want to create some difference between Odinism and Asatru--- Odinism worships only Odin, or Odinist are the bad, conservative ones..... Problem is that this is not the way the words are used. Asatru and Odinism are synonyms--- Else Christensen said so, if you won't take my word for it.

Catholic School an Issue in Wicca Divorce Case

2005-05-31T17:43:00.000-05:00

You may have heard of the case: two members of the Wiccan religion with a young son divorce. Both agree the child should be raised as a Wiccan. But the judge rules that the child must not be exposed to his parents' religion.

What you might not have heard is that these parents were sending their child to a local Catholic school. This is the excuse the judge used for the ruling--- that it would be too confusing for the child to learn about Catholicism at school and Wicca at home.

When I taught in a Lutheran parochial school, a family that went to a nearby Hare Krishna temple decided to send their kids to our school rather than the Hare Krishna school. While we of course wanted the kids to become Christians at some point, we respected the family's faith.

As a religious person of the Odinist faith, I've always felt that if I were to be blessed with children and was not able to homeschool them, I would send them to a local Catholic or Lutheran school rather than a public school. There are two reasons for this. One is that the discipline in a religious school is higher. The other is that a religious school is religious, while a public school is officially agnostic. An Odinist child is better off seeing religious practices of another faith than learning that religion is unimportant which is a common message given off by the public school system.

But it looks like this option may not be open to us. This makes support of homeschooling in our communities even more important. If anyone out there has good links on homeschooling, post a comment on this blog and I will put up the link on my WYRD site.

Another important point is the importance of avoiding divorce. Tacitus reports in his Germania that divorce was unknown to our ancestors. We need to have a mindset that divorce is impossible and that marriage is for life, so that people won't give up too easily on their marriages.

Wotanism: a blasphemy against Odin

2005-05-31T08:54:00.000-05:00

This link leads to an essay by David Lane, convicted criminal, who founded the Wotansvolk, a Wotanist group. They seem to be agnostics who pretend to have a religion to give First Amendment protection to their racialist political views.

When they pray to Wotan (Odin) they are not praying to Him, but to the Will Of The Aryan Nation--- W. O. T. A. N.

Quite aside from any offense one feels over the racial bias, this is a blasphemy against our God. It is possible for a racialist to be an Odinist (though the Gods will help them moderate their views in time.) But Lane's Wotansfolk and other forms of Wotanism will lead such people away from the Gods, not towards them.

Note, however, that it doesn't pay to be mean to people because you suspect them of Wotanist connections. Being mean to some one doesn't make him any nicer. Try to put the political discussion aside and keep things on a spiritual level. And of course if they won't behave and respect the rules of our groups and kindreds, we have the right not to let them join--- based on their behavior, not on their bad political views. We don't want to make them martyrs, any more than we want to let them martyr us.

Nott: a matriarch Goddess of the Vans

2005-05-31T08:42:00.000-05:00

Nott, also known as Nat or Night, is an important Goddess of our folk. She is mentioned by name in Sigrdrifa's prayer: "Hail Night and daughter of Night," so many of us pray to her every day.

She is one of the Vans (Vanir), the daughter of Mimir and Sinmara, and thus a first cousin to Odin. She is the mother of Dag (Day), Mani (Moon), Sunna (Sol, Sun), Njord, Frigga and Fulla, and grandmother of Thor, Frey, Freyja, and Balder, among others.

She would be a good one for children to pray to, to protect them from the 'things that go bump in the night'. Think of her as a loving, beautiful grandmother who stays still in the shadows, waiting to protect us from all harm. She would also be a good one to pray to for extended family issues, family reunions, and genealogy research.

Hail Nott, lady of Night,
guard us well in every fight.

New Odinist book: Way of the Runes

2005-05-30T07:36:00.000-05:00

I'm putting together a book for publication on Odinism and the runes (including the rune rosary). It's organized in 24 major sections, each named for a rune, and each section will have sub-sections: one on the rune, one or more on one of the Gods and Goddesses (over 40 of them), one or more on a topic of Odinist theology, and each section will end by teaching a prayer or meditation or something of the sort--- such as how to make the sign of the hammer.

I've got a lot of material written already that only needs to be put in to the appropriate spots in the outline. I hope I will be able to put the project together in a relatively short period of time.

It would be nice to have feed-back from those who might be interested in the book, so I may be doing a lot of updates on the progress and the content. I'm not so sure about posting any significant excerpts from the content. I tried this before with a previous attempt on an Odinist book, and the only feedback I got was my nemesis claiming he'd stolen what I'd written and published it himself. Mind you I don't believe it since it was only excerpts and not the full chapters and so wouldn't have made sense as it. But the whole thing was quite discouraging and made me wary.

"New Age" and Euthanasia: by a Norse Pagan

2005-05-30T07:19:00.000-05:00

A post from my other blog. Covers the issue of 'risting with the spear point' , and whether only fallen warriors get to go to Valhalla.

Make a floral offering to the grave of your kinfolk

2005-05-29T09:51:00.000-05:00

The past Friday and Saturday my mother and I have been getting the family graves ready for Memorial Day. My father died this past November, and so we have his grave to do for the first time. We also have my dad's parents, grandparents and various other ancestors and kin both in Riverside Cemetary in Menominee, and in the old cemetary in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, next to the Peshtigo fire museum.

To leave an offering of some sort to one's ancestors is a very Heathen thing to do so I've been participating in this for some time. I was the one who first suggested to my dad that we put flowers on the grave of his great-grandmother Philena and her two husbands, son and daughter. Philena's second husband--- the one we're not related to--- was a member of the prominent Stephenson family and my dad was afraid that some Stephenson was still around who wouldn't like it. But no one ever put flowers on the graves and so we did.

I think it made me in some way closer to Philena. One day after a storm I just had this feeling I had to go down to the cemetary. When we got there we saw a big tree had blown over next to Philena's grave--- branches were covering the graves of her son, daughter and first husband. It's almost like she wanted to let me know about it.

Later we went to the old Peshtigo cemetary where we have two graves to tend. We asked in the museum if it was permitted to put up flowers on a family grave and they said yes. Our relatives there include James Mellen, and two of his young children who perished in the Peshtigo fire of 1871.

General respect for the dead is one of our Odinist virtues. I've practiced it by 'adopting' the graves of a pioneering family--- an Englishman and his Menomini Indian wife and two of their sons who were among our earliest local settlers. I also pull a weed or two at nearly any cemetary I visit, and I visit quite a few. Cemetaries are places of power in our faith. Would-be poets and seers would 'sit out' on a grave to gain spiritual power for their work. (You probably can't get permission to do that these days.)

If you have wandered far from the home of your ancestors you can have a memorial stone made (or make some substitute yourself) listing the names of your ancestral dead. You might obtain some earth from an ancestral grave to sprinkle around the base. Plant your offering-flowers there.

It's also important to respect your kinfolk before they pass. Take the time to talk to your elders, visit them in nursing homes if need be, let them know they are loved and cherished even if they are no longer in perfect physical and mental shape and need our care. (Don't be taken in by hostile Christian propaganda that our folk killed our old and disabled or expected them to kill themselves--- not true. Remember Odin and Tyr are themselves disabled.)

Odinism is a family values faith. Grave-tending is one of the ways we honor our faith.

Prison Inmate Requests Help

2005-05-29T09:38:00.000-05:00

One of the saddest things about Nine Virtues News no longer being in print form is getting requests for it from people who won't be able to access the print edition.

I just got a letter from 'Emma' who is an inmate in a state prison in Corona, California. She read an old ad for the NVN in the periodical 'Yggdrasil' and wanted a sample copy.

I'm going to be sending her a back issue or two, but I don't have any current information about Asatru periodicals still in print. I'm not subscribing to any at this point. During the years of publishing Nine Virtues News, I had to leave off all my subscriptions except a few I got as exchanges for my own. When publication shut down, so did my last contact with the Heathen world, and because of my stalker slandering me I was afraid to get into contact with any of them, even just writing to ask for their current subscription price. (Please pray to our Gods for me that I can overcome this as I can't do much good for other Heathens this way.)

Please, if anyone out there is reading this and knows current info on any Heathen, Odinist or Asatru publication, please mention it in the comment function or go to my WYRD site to make a posting in my guest book about it. (Or you could also use my postal address above.)

Thanks.

Odinists against Euthanasia

2005-05-26T11:24:00.000-05:00

Odinists against Euthanasia is a brand-new Yahoo group for those Odinists opposed to euthanasia, assisted suicide and the like. Also open to respectful Druids, neopagans and others.

Please join this group!

My Norse Pages

2005-05-26T09:42:00.000-05:00

I was looking for another Asatru site to add to my list of links on my WYRD page, and I found a real treasure. Chrissy has a wonderful site, with American patriotic links at the bottom, and lots of great content. Plenty of Asatru info including a marriage ceremony. There is also a sewing section--- as another Heathen woman who sews, I liked that. It tells how to make your own tunic and ritual robe. Other content includes gardening, poems, Scottish recipes, fonts and genealogy.

I hope everyone will take a moment to review this lovely site, perhaps sign her guestbook, and consider adding a link to her site on your own.

Deb's Den--- a great blog!

2005-05-25T08:09:00.000-05:00

Debra who runs the above blog (click on headline to go to it) was kind enough to sign my guestbook, and so I visited her blog.

This is how she describes it/herself: "

Debra Arnold

Location:Auburn (near Saginaw), Michigan, United States

Greetings!! I'm an artist from Michigan specializing in wolves, nature and fantasy/Norse stuff. This is my blog dedicated to that and whatever else I feel like writing about. Thanks for visiting!!!"

I really liked the site and as a sheep raising farmer I'm not even a fan of wolves--- out here in the north country we farmers like to stand around trading stories about wolves in our county allegedly eating people's calves and other livestock, barn cats and all. (I've never seen our local wolves but have once seen and often heard coyotes. )

Deb has links to Asatru sites, metal music sites (not my thing), Xena sites and more. I hope folk out there check this out.

When some one asks: "is it a real religion?"

2005-05-24T08:10:00.000-05:00

A lot of times we Odinists/Heathens get asked if ours is a real religion. They honestly think we're just some sort of atheists/agnostics trying to stick it to the Christians by pretending to revive some old dead religion. Is it just that those people are a bunch of bigots? No: they have every reason to believe what they do.

The first reason they believe Odinism isn't real is that there actually are a bunch of people calling themselves Odinists/Heathens/Pagans and the like who really are agnostics of one sort or another and who really do seem to be motivated by the idea of rejecting or attacking Christianity. I'm talking about the sort of people who does not believe in the Gods and who puts down Odinists/Heathens who do. (I'm not talking about just people who have doubts from time to time here.)

I get the impression that in the racialist movement (the guys who call themselves 'racists/racialists' and admire the Christian racist group Aryan Nations) the name 'Odinist' has come to be another way of saying 'agnostic'. They may have ceremonies to the Gods they don't believe in but it's more in the nature of a Masonic ritual than a literal faith.

To be fair however there are those Heathens in the far right who do seem to sincerely believe in the Gods (let us hope that the Gods lead them to be fair and kind to people of all races: the Gods created ALL the races and the Gods don't make junk.).

However it's not just a matter of politics, one can find these agnostic 'Heathens' among moderates and among the extreme of the left as well. If a member of the general public runs across such a person, it is only natural that they conclude that we don't believe in our faith the way Christians believe in theirs.

But what about the rest of us? We who truly believe in our Gods (though we may doubt during the 'dark night of the soul') and who have personal relationships with them? Why don't we convince people? Well, we must take a look at what we are saying.

Specifically, let's look at what I'm saying. I've written for a few Asatru publications, starting with Asynjur, and had my own in-print newsletter, the Nine Virtues News (which was a weekly publication for awhile). But most of what I wrote about was book reviews, news items, talk about religious freedom issues, and intellectual talk about the Viking age. I didn't do as much devotional material as I should have, or talked much about my personal relationship with the Gods.

There are reasons for it. This topic can get kind of personal and it's risky to reveal yourself in public. And the other factor is that if you have a good spiritual life and mention things about it, such as moments of particular closeness to the Gods where you think they have revealed things to you, you might fear you are bragging (or be accused of it.)

Religion can be defined as having a personal relationship with one or more Gods. Our religion is no exception. We not only need to cultivate our relationship with various Gods through private prayer, spiritual reading, and group worship if possible, we need to be able to talk about it. An Episcopalian once said his co-religionists won't talk about religion even in church. We, who often come from Protestant backgrounds if we had any religious training at all, are often the same way.

Who's Truthful, Michael Martin or Nissa Annakindt

2005-05-23T10:23:00.000-05:00

Michael Martin, a former but dissatisfied subscriber to my Nine Virtues News letter, has a Yahoo group which he has formed to express his negative opinion of me. People may wonder which of us is telling the truth. Though I deny what he's said about me, I hope you will click on the link above to see what he has to say in his own words. You can judge for yourself from his own words whether he is telling the truth or being abusive to me.

I also have put up a web site of my experiences as a stalking victim at Nightmare Realm
In it I copy the letters and e-mails I have had from my stalker. I have the originals of all of these in my home and can produce them as evidence or send photocopies.

I've had to do this because this person has been saying bad things about me for so long that I feel people believe him since I have followed the anti-stalking advice and ignored him instead of defending myself. I've been trying for a long time to do things to help the Odinist community, to do good for others, and some person comes along, says 'I'm taking away your Nine Virtues News, I will ruin your good name' and guess what: I don't have a newsletter except for this blog, and no one seems to object or ask for evidence when Michael Martin accuses me of crimes.

It's to the point where I have to either commit suicide or fight for my life. I guess I'm going to fight. I don't expect anyone to take my side or be kind to me. But I don't think the writings you will find at Michael Martin's Nissa Watch is what our faith should be all about.

Irminen-Gesellschaft

2005-05-23T07:29:00.000-05:00

The Irminen-Gesellschaft is a German Heathen tradition. They have a good web site, very informative, and it is well worth your time to look it over.

Else Christensen dies

2005-05-23T07:17:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month, Else Christensen, a prominent Odinist known as the 'Folk Mother', died at the age of 91. She was always a controversial person and much criticized.

My only contact with her was in the form of a letter. She was very encouraging of me in my work with the newsletter form of Nine Virtues News.

Some people would say one shouldn't admire Else because she had the 'wrong' views. I certainly think she was wrong about things. Yet my father also was wrong about many things and I still grieve his death. Else was one of the elders of our faith. Let us raise a prayer to the Gods in her honor.

Jordsvin's Norse Heathen Pages

2005-05-22T16:51:00.000-05:00

I've been posting various links to my 'WYRD' website today, but didn't discover this one in time.

It's by Jordsvin, a gay man whose a member of the American Vinland Association, but he's not your stereotypical left-wing politicially correct type. He not only has a link to World Tree Publications (a service of the Asatru Alliance), but he also has a link to Pink Pistols, a group of gay folk against gun control. Their slogan is 'Armed Gays don't get Bashed.

Needless to say both sites will be added to the links menagerie at WYRD on the next update.

Freyja's Ring: Heathen Women's Websites

2005-05-22T15:59:00.000-05:00

Doesn't it seem sometimes that our faith is mostly for men? That's the stereotype anyway. But there are a lot of women in our faith and many of us have web sites.

If you are a Heathen/Odinist woman, and you have a blog or web site, you can join this web ring to get more visitors to your site. It's open to a variety of points of view, and also to women practicing celtic, slavic and baltic traditions, which are related to our own. Please join! (Commercial, porn, and off-topic sites will have to be rejected from the ring out of fairness to others.)

Wyrd's Way and the Natl Prison Kindred Alliance

2005-05-22T11:07:00.000-05:00

This site sells Thor's Hammers and other Odinist/Heathen goods in order to support the National Prison Kindred Alliance. The NPKA, which was mentioned in Marklander magazine, serves prison inmates of the Odinist/Heathen/Asatru faith.

The Odinic Rite

2005-05-22T11:04:00.000-05:00

The Odinic Rite is an Odinist organization based in the UK but it does have a North American branch, the Odinic Rite Vinland, which still seems to be active. (Does the Odinic Rite Vinland have its own site? If you know, please let me know either in a comment to this post, via postal mail, or via the guest book on my 'WYRD' site and I will pass the info along.)

Heathen Freehold Society

2005-05-22T11:01:00.000-05:00

This is the web site for a Heathen organization based in British Columbia, Canada. They seem to have a newsletter, perhaps only for members.

Eddas--- the Odinist Bible

2005-05-14T08:23:00.000-05:00

There is a story told of the man who made Odinism (Asatru) legal in today's Iceland. He was challenged by a member of Iceland's parliament: "How can it be a real religion if it doesn't have a Bible?" To which the response was that Odinism did so have a Bible and that a copy of it was surely on the parliamentarian's home bookshelf.

The Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, also known as the Elder Edda and the Younger Edda, are a basic part of the literary culture of Iceland, the way the works of Shakespeare are in English-speaking countries. But they are also a basic source of knowledge about our ancient Odinist faith, the same way that a Bible tells us about the ancient Hebraic faith.

The Prose Edda was written by a Christian man about 200 years after Iceland was converted to Christianity. He was a poet and was concerned that the old style of poetry was dying out. The old style used kennings, which were analogies which often made reference to Norse 'mythology' stories. As a younger generation of poets arose who didn't know the stories, the old style was no longer understood.

Snorri Sturlason, the author of the Prose Edda, retold the old holy Odinist stories as he knew them for the purpose of preserving poetical knowledge. But he was very much influenced by Christian learning and not everything he says is accurate.

The Poetic Edda is a collection of old poems about our Gods and ancient heroes. It may have been compiled as a response to the Prose Edda. The poems in it probably mostly date back to before the Christian conversion.

Every Odinist should have copies of these books--- find them at Amazon.com --- and read them frequently.

Vor Tru

2005-05-13T10:35:00.000-05:00

Vor Tru is the oldest Asatru/Odinist publication in the US. Some years ago I bought a complete set of the back issues of Vor Tru starting in 1977. It was a nice snap-shot of the history of the revival of our faith.

Vor Tru tends to be on the conservative side of Asatru, and so has experienced a lot of unfair criticism from people who think all Pagans have to be liberals. But from my own personal perspective I believe it is wise to experience all viewpoints of our faith. Back when I could afford it I subscribed to every single Asatru/Odinist publication that I knew of. When I started my own periodical, Nine Virtues News, I had to let them lapse as I needed every penny for the printing and postage costs.

Now that I've had to retire the print edition of Nine Virtues News, I would gladly start subscribing again, but alas my income has shrunk radically. I encourage those of you out there who don't have my financial difficulties to thank the Gods for your prosperity and to subscribe to Vor Tru and any other Odinist/Asatru publications you can find out about. These periodicals really are the life blood of our faith.

Lack of 'pastoral care' in Odinism

2005-05-12T09:22:00.000-05:00

One of the problems that we Odinists have is that good 'pastoral care' is not available to most of us. Most of us are not in local Kindreds (Odinist churches), and so we don't have an Odinist priest available. We may not feel the lack most times, but what about in cases of a death in the family, for example. When my father died, my mother was visited by her Presbyterian pastor who conducted the funeral in the church. My brother and his family got a lot of loving support from their Baptist congregation. I on the other hand had no one to turn to. In fact the only contact of any sort I had from any Odinist/Asatruar was a cruel and angry message from some one who was mad at me because of the misdeeds of my stalker, who has been harassing myself and my mother for over a year now and who has been claiming that I turned over the Nine Virtues News (the in-print edition) to him, which is not true. Quite frankly I did not find the anger and lack of compassion from this Odinist person to be any comfort whatsoever in my grief.

Another dimension of the pastoral care problem is that our Odinist priests have very little training of any kind, and pastoral care is not one of the topics covered. The only real way to learn about how to do pastoral care is to read Christian books on the topic, meant for Christian priests and ministers, and to learn from someone who is already doing pastoral care. There is some difficulty in transferring the knowledge from a Christian theological base to an Odinist one--- one does not want to copy Christian methods slavishly when it is not theologically appropriate, yet neither does one wish to blindly reverse Christian ideas since this will often also be the reverse of what historical Odinism teaches and what the Gods want from us.

How to solve the problem? The first and most important step is prayer and devotion to our Gods. Next we must support Odinist/Asatru organizations, Kindreds and priests and priestesses, even if we personally disagree with them on many points. (You don't have to join a Kindred or regard a priest as your 'pastor' to be supportive and helpful to them.)

The Whisperings of Woden

2005-05-10T08:26:00.000-05:00

When I was a Christian one of the advantages I had was that Christianity had no shortage of devotional literature. If I wanted to get closer to the God I then worshipped I had only to find one of the many devotional books available that would help me do so.

In Odinism by contrast there is next to nothing in the way of devotional materials. The one exception is "This Whisperings of Woden" by Galina Krasskova. This book leads you through nine nights of devotion to Woden (AKA Odin, Othinn, Wotan), one of our most important Gods.

I believe that it is worthwhile for every Odinist to obtain this book--- you can get it through Amazon or special-order it at your local bookstore. You may or may not decide to do all the devotions. Perhaps it will inspire you to develop some completely different devotions. The book would also make a nice gift for an Odinist friend.

Can you create your own meaning for 'Odinist'?

2005-04-15T07:32:00.000-05:00

If you want to be understood, you can't just make up any meaning you want for a word, you must go along with the correct dictionary meaning. No one would start using the word 'Christian' to mean 'Muslim' or 'Jew', because that would not be understood.

But when it comes to less commonly understood faiths sometimes the names can be misused. 'Odinist' (along with similar terms 'Asatruar', 'Asatru believer' and 'Norse Pagan') is the name for a specific religion with historical roots--- that practiced by the ancient Germanic people and the Vikings before the coming of Christianity. While we may disagree on what is true or correct Odinism, just as Christians of various denominations disagree on what is true and correct Christianity, there are some basic minimum standards.

Odinism is a religion with a specific set of Gods--- Odin, Thor, Freya, Baldur, Frigga, Idunna and so on. Belief in and worship of these Gods, in a manner which bears some resemblance to the historic faith, is a requirement. Eclectic neo-paganism and Wicca are not the same as Odinism--- just as Christianity is a different faith from Odinism. (Of course, there are very many who start out in a 'do your own thing' version of neo-paganism or Wicca, start worshipping Odinist Gods, and may in time come in to some form of Odinism, so it's important not to mock Wiccans, just help educate them.)

All forms of Odinism have many Gods. Christianity has only one. Atheism/Agnosticism doesn't have any Gods at all. You cannot be an atheist and be an Odinist--- it would be easier to be an atheist and a Southern Baptist. 'Non-theistic Odinism' makes no more sense than the phrase 'boiling hot snow'.

An Odinist will use the high moral standards of his faith to inform his political beliefs. But politics--- whether of left, right or center--- cannot be renamed 'Odinism' and are not a substitute for a real relationship with our Gods.

Because Odinists are people of faith with high moral standards, we will, if true to the Gods, tend to be conservative in some areas. But because mainstream conservatives are overwhelmingly Christian and we are not, in some area or other all true Odinists are likely to find themselves agreeing with a liberal. Because of this we must act in the political realm with kindness, respect and honor towards those we disagree with.

The word 'Odinist' has real-world meaning. Use it with that meaning in mind, and don't allow it to be used to mean 'Wiccan' or 'agnostic' or 'non-christian right-winger' or any other thing. (the same goes, of course, for the other words above). Also, don't use Odinist to mean a member of your own preferred group or faction, and claim so-and-so is not an Odinist because he's in a group other than yours, or is more liberal or conservative than you're willing to stand for. Neither you nor I are in charge of who is an Odinist and who isn't; if they fit the minimum standards they may be ill-informed Odinists, political extremist Odinists, or even immoral Odinists, but they are still Odinists and we must trust to our Gods to sort them out in Their good time.

Intro to Nine Virtues News

2005-04-03T13:05:00.000-05:00

Nine Virtues News has been around for some time now, first in ink-and-paper, then in an online form at Angelfire. What I mainly hope to do is express the Odinist faith as I have come to know it in my studies since 1989, and also include other religious information. I only hope it will prove to be of use to somebody.

Blessings on you all!

Theod Books and Crafts Catalog

2004-12-26T13:54:00.000-06:00

Just received my 2005 Theod catalog. It features a Sutton Hoo harp, handcrafted, on the first page. There are a variety of music tapes, books and other materials along with back issues of Theod magazine.
Theod follows an Anglo-Saxon Heathen tradition.

The address is:
Theod
519 Franklin St.
PO Box 8062
Watertown, NY 13601

Yes, Virginia, there is a frozen pipe fairy

2004-12-25T13:52:00.000-06:00

His name is Guido, and every Dec. 24 he comes around and freezes your water pipes.

Maybe next year if I leave him cookies and fairy dust he'll leave my pipes alone.

Death in the family

2004-12-09T13:57:00.000-06:00

My father just passed away this Nov. 30, very unexpected.

My father was one of the very few people on this planet that talked to me and the only one perhaps that believed in me.

As you may guess I don't feel much like keeping up with the blog or anything else, I'm lucky I manage to get dressed in the morning.

Contact info: I have a new mailing address, you may write me at:
N. Annakindt
PO Box 95
Wallace, MI 49893

Messages from friends much appreciated.

NOTE: be sure and include your name and return address on the envelope, because of the stalker problem letters without return addresses are discarded.