Asatru, An Ancient Religion Reborn
By Rev. Patrick "Jordsvin" Buck
"Asatru" means "faith in the Aesir", which are the Gods of pre-Christian
Scandinavia. The other Germanic peoples (Goths, Germans, Dutch, Frisians,
Anglo-Saxons, etc.) had essentially the same religion. Similar Deities were
once worshipped throughout most of Europe, and as far away as India (the Gods
of the Rig Veda). Asatru never really quite died out. Medieval Icelandic books
of magical spells (galdrabok) show that some were calling upon the Aesir long
after Christianity was forced upon the Germanic peoples. In northern Scandinavia,
the Lappish (Saami) people were openly celebrating the worship of Thor, which
they had learned from their Heathen Scandinavian neighbors in the pre-Christian
period, as late as 1800. The modern revival began in the early 1970's. Within a
few months of each other and quite unaware of each other's existence, two groups
were formed in the USA, one in Iceland, and one in the United Kingdom. Odin, the
wanderer, is once again seeking worshippers. Anyone who wishes to join Asatru may
do so, irregardless or race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.
In addition to Thor, the Thunderer, friend of the common folk, and Odin, Allfather,
chief God, poet, and wandering wizard, we worship many others, including Tyr, God
of war and justice; Ingvi Frey, God of peace, fertility and nature (the European
images of the Green Man may be a memory of Frey and similar Gods); Balder, the
bleeding God, and Heimdall, the Watchman of Asgard. Nor do we neglect the
Goddesses, who are equal in power and holiness to the Gods: Frigga, wife of Odin
and Mother of Gods and Humanity; Freya, Goddess of fertility, love, magic, and
war; Idunna, Goddess of renewal; Hela, who rules over the place between death and
rebirth (most of us believe in some form of rebirth or reincarnation); Nerthus,
the Mother Earth Goddess mentioned in Tacitus' Germania, and many others. We also
reverence the spirits of nature (landvaettir) and various guardian spirits, such
as the Disir and Alfar (Elves). Our Gods are friendly, practical, dependable and
approachable.
Our two main rituals are the blot and sumbel. "Blot" means sacrifice. While
scholars debate whether or not it is connected with the word "blood", we use mead
(honey-wine), beer or cider today. The liquid is consecrated to the God or
Goddess being worshipped, and we commune with that Deity by drinking a portion of
it. The rest is poured as a libation. The Sumbel is a sort of ritualized toasting.
The first of the usual three rounds is to the Gods, starting with Odin, who won
the mead of poetry from the Giant Suttung. It's good to pour a few drops to Loki
the trickster to ward off nasty surprises! The second round is to ancestors and
other honorable dead. The third round is open.
While devoid of rigid, legalistic rules, ours is by no means an amoral faith. We
start out with basic principles, such as the Nine Noble Virtues: courage, truth,
honor, loyalty, hospitality, industriousness, perserverance, self-discipline, and
self-reliance. From these, individuals can decide the appropriate course of
action for a given situation and honor themselves, their families, their
communities, and their Gods by striving to do what is right. The Gods organized
the Universe from chaotic material (represented by the body of the dead Giant
Ymir), which was what was available. A remaining bit of chaos allows for a random
factor, which helps the Universe and all in it to keep evolving. Not even the
Gods are all-powerful or all-knowing, so perfection is neither required nor
expected!
The Elder and Younger Eddas (also called the Poetic and Prose Eddas) are texts
we hold in high esteem for the information on our religion they contain,
although most of us do not interpret our myths literally. Both were written
down in medieval Iceland. For scholarly research on Asatru, read Myth and
Religion of the North by E.O.G. Turville-Petre and the many books on the
subject by H.R. Ellis Davidson. Teutonic Religion and Teutonic Magic, both by
Kveldulf Gundarsson and published by Llewellyn Publications Inc., PO Box
64383-K069, St. Paul, Minnesota 55164-0383 USA will give you the best overview
of our religious and magical practices.
Magical work is a part of spiritual life of many practitioners of Asatru.
Magic involves working with natural but unseen forces, including those embodied
in the Runes, the indigenous alphabet of the Germanic Peoples, as well as
galdra (spellcraft) and seidhr (shamanic-type workings). Magic can help see
the probable direction of future events, obtain healing, and help us in all we
do, but it does not substitute for "mundane" efforts! Ours is a practical,
active religion! For more information on Asatru, please feel free to write to
the addresses below:
INSERT CONTACT ADDRESSES HERE
Patrick "Jordsvin" Buck
P.O. Box 21955
Lexington KY 40522-1955
USA
http://home.earthlink.net/~jordsvin
