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What is Asatru?


Ásatrú (pronounced "AY-suh-troo,") means "faith in the Aesir". Is a religion held by many decendants of the ancient peoples of Northern Europe. Asatru is the original, or native, religion for the peoples who lived in these regions: England, Germany, Holland, Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. It is also important to know that the Germanic people also left their mark on France, Spain and Italy. For example, the southern part of Spain known as Andalusia is derived from the name of the Germanic people who set up a medieval kingdom there, the Vandals.

What are the Gods associated with this religion?


There are a number of Gods and Goddesses, most notably; Odin, Frigg, Freya, Freyr, Baldur, Loki, Heimdall, Tyr, Thor, Sif, as well as many others. Please see Gods/Goddesses

When did Asatru start?


No one knows the exact date Asatru was born, but we do know it is one of the oldest religions, dating back thousands of years. Some say only 35,000 years, some say 200,000 years. No one truly knows. What we do know is that it predates Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Wicca, Druidism, Moslem and Hinduism. The only other known religions that are older or just as old as Asatru would be religions practiced by American Indians, Tibetan Lamaism and shamanism, Greek and Roman Mythology.

Does this religion have certain tenets?


The Nine Noble Virtues:
COURAGE-The bravery to do what is right at all times.
TRUTH-The willingness to be honest and say what one knows to be true and right.
HONOR-The feeling of inner value and worth from which one knows that one is noble of being, and the desire to show respect for this quality when it is found in the world.
FIDELITY-The will to be loyal to one's Gods and Goddesses, to one's folk, and to one's self.
DISCIPLINE-The willingness to be hard with one's self first, then if need be with others.
HOSPITALITY-The willingness to share what one has with one's fellows, especially when they are far from home.
INDUSTRIOUSNESS-The willingness to work hard--always striving for efficiency--as a joyous activity in itself.
SELF-RELIANCE-The spirit of independence which is achieved not only for the individual but also for the family, clan, tribe, and nation.
PERSEVERANCE-The spirit of stick-to-it-iveness that can always bring one back from defeat or failure--each time we fail we recognize failure for what it is and, if the purpose is true and good, we persevere until success is won.

Don’t all the religions believe the same things?


No. People may honestly believe that this is the case, but examination does not bear this out. They believe in freedom, yet their scriptures say they are slaves to their God. They agree that joy is good, but their teachings laden them with guilt because of some imaginary "original sin". They want to accept the real world on a pragmatic basis, yet they are trained to believe without question when the teachings of their church conflict with reason or with known facts about the nature of the world ("You must have faith."). Of course, many of us believe in the values of Asatru on a gut level. After all, they're instinctive, passed down to us from our northern European ancestors. We want to believe that the better-known religions espouse those values, so we see what we want to see. Most people just haven't yet realized that the major religions are saying things that conflict with the values we know in our hearts are right. To find northern European virtues, one has to look to a religion truly consistent with those virtues - Asatru.

Why Asatru instead of Christianity or Wicca or even Buddhism?


The premise of Ásatrú is the same as many other religions, but the practices are different. Other religions differ in practice, and their practices not only seem foreign to me, they seem wrong. That doesn't mean that one religion is better than another, just that one works better for me. Asatru is simply in my blood, it is the religion of my ancestors and is the right one for me.

What is the Asatru belief concerning the after life?


The idea of an either/or afterlife (one place good, one place bad, and no other possible destination) is common in Middle Eastern faiths like Islam, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. But the Germanic concept of the afterlife was not either/or. Valhalla was reserved for Odin's chosen warriors, true; yet Valhalla is not the only divine residence in Asgard. The other gods have homes of their own, and there is some evidence in period texts that the dead could end up living with some deity other than Odin.
As for Hel, the horrifying images in the Prose Edda were probably influenced by descriptions of the underworld in non-Germanic religions--Christian, Greco-Roman, or both. (Snorri Sturluson, after all, was a Christian with a classical education; and he did live at least 100 years after Iceland was converted.) Other sources (the Eddaic poem Balder's Dreams, and some folk tales from present-day Germany) show Hel as a quiet place of rest for the dead, but not a place of torture or sadness.
Only one poem, in fact, mentions an afterlife of torture as part of Germanic belief--and that poem describes Nastrand ("Dead Man's Shore") as a separate place from Hel. Who ends up in Nastrand after they die? Murderers, oath-breakers, people who lie to seduce others--in other words, the "bad place" is reserved for people who commit heinous crimes.

What does all this mean?


It means that modern Asatru shouldn't be seen as a "warriors only" religion, and that people who can't die in battle shouldn't feel "doomed" for missing Valhalla.

Isn’t this the religion of the Vikings?


Yes, when the Vikings went to war they would often scream “Odin!” or “Freya!” or “Thor!” as a battle cry. Vikings also believed that to die in battle was the only way to reach Valhalla, Odin's hall for slain heroes. This martial paradise was one of the most beautiful halls of Asgard. The dead warriors, brought to Valhalla by the Valkyries, fought during the day and feasted at night.

Weren’t the Vikings blood thirsty villains, plundering, and raping and making war?


The Vikings, as we know from archaeological digs, were Ásatrú, and they came from Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, etc. You must understand that history is told though the eyes of a person, so while they did plunder areas they conquered, they felt they were warranted in the attack because of the wrongdoings of others against them. They never killed innocents, in their views. Something to remember is that if you pack 20 men on a longship and sail for weeks, when you hit a new area, you're not going to jump out of the boat and wage a war. These were nomadic peoples, making their living any way they could. If you consider Iceland being an island in a frozen sea with nothing but miles of rock to live on, these people had to become excellent merchants to make a living. The last thing you'd want to do is shut off your food supply by conquering people that were much easier to trade with. But, as more and more of Europe became Christian, they discovered the Christians wouldn't trade with them until they became Christian themselves. Although they fought for their beliefs valiantly, it was all for naught as they fell to the torture, punishment, threats, embargoes, and sieges laid upon them by the Christians. It's really a matter of perspective, but how much can you say the Christians followed their Prince of Peace and their Ten Commandments as they spent 400 years annihilating and converting at swordpoint all the non-Christians they encountered? Those were harsh times, and everybody acted first and talked later. That justifies nothing, for the ends never justify the means, but these were a different people.

If this is such an ancient religion, how does it fit into modern times?


Asatru never truly went away. It may have been suppressed but never was it abolished. As long as there are Germanic people, there will always be Asatru which is in our blood. Gods do not die, they are merely forgotten by their people, taking this into consideration it is incorrect to speak of Asatru as a “revival” but rather a “reawakening”. As with any religion, Asatru can be incorporated into modern day life, just because we don’t have great battles to fight does not mean we may never reach Valhalla. We still fight our own battles, just not with swords and axes.
Ancient Asatru teaches us strength, individuality and honor, stresses the value of family, friends and folk, the nine noble virtues inspires to simply be the best person we can be.

Are Kindreds the same as a Church?


Although it is similar to a Christian church, it is by no means the same. A Kindred is merely a gathering of people, usually family and friends, that meet on a regular basis to honor the Gods through structured rituals. Elders, Gothis, Gythias, and teachers serve within the Asatru Kindred without pay, unlike priests or rabbis.

If Asatru is a cultural religion, geared towards Germanic people, isn’t that racism?


NO!! Asatru has gotten a bad rap thanks to Hitler who claimed to be Asatru (in all actuality he was raised Christian), and to Wiccans’ who insist on misrepresenting us as white supremacists. We are a cultural religion not a race oriented religion. We do not discriminate based on age, gender, racial origin or descent, color, creed, existing religion, disability, or sexual preference. Again, we have people who do discriminate on these grounds, but that sort of thing is not what we are about, either. We vehemently discourage these views because they are dishonorable, base, and damaging to might and main.

I’ve heard Asatru is really a cult. Is this true?


Absolutely not! Another misconception brought about by Christianity as well as Wicca, which is amusing since Christianity deems Wicca as a cult as well. The term "cult" is generally used as a hateful snarl word that is used to intentionally devalue people and their faith groups. It creates fear and loathing among the public, and contributes greatly to religious intolerance in North America. The word "cult" carries a heavy emotional content. The word suggests is that this is a group that you should detest, avoid, and fear. In reality, the only "crime" of most "cults" is that they hold different religious beliefs from whomever is doing the attacking.

Is Asatru only for those of European descent?


Depends on who you talk to. I don’t know who is 100% Norwegien or 100% German these days. Especially in America. Many people have other races mixed in with their European blood.
Asatru is for those who hear the call of the Vanir and the Aesir.
I don’t know why a Hispanic or African person would want to worship Asatru, but then I could not fathom worshipping African Gods either.

Are you just a bunch of tree-huggers?


Not exactly. Asafolk realize we are a part of Nature. Our deities act in and through natural law as well as natural chaos. By working in harmony with Nature we can become co-workers with the Gods. This attitude removes the opposition between "natural" and "supernatural", and the supposed conflict between religion and science.

What does “might and main” mean?


Might and Main is a little like fate and luck and destiny and everything that makes up the soul. Having lots of might and main is good, and having little is bad. The quantity of might and main you have is dependent not just on you and your actions, but all your descendants for all time to come. Heinous acts damage your might and main, and reflect badly on your ancestors as they do you; your ancestors may suffer greatly from acts that damage your worth! This is not any sort of threat, just the facts -- what goes around, comes around. That soul is your existence before you were born and after you die. And, we believe in resurrection; not in the sense of recycling the same soul over and over, but that soul gets added to the pool of all your ancestors when you die, and when your children and other descendants are born, they take some of that soul pool with them; so when they die, they return what they borrowed and add to it their life experiences. This is why it is important to keep your might and main; there is no absolution, no repentance. By the same token, there is also nothing that can remove the good you have done. We all just hope that when we die, the good things we've done will outweigh the bad for the sake of our ancestors. Since we ultimately control our lives, this is a task we take seriously.

What is a “blot”?


"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.

What is a “sumble”?


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.

What is an “AlThing”?


The Althing is a meeting of many Kindreds and Solitary Asafolk. It is open to all that are interested in exploring the past, sharing the present and looking to the future in frið. Step back through the mists into a living history Norse encampment, participate in games, crafting and wandering through the marketplace, then cross the boundaries again into today and look to tomorrow with workshops, classes and discussions of contemporary issues and challenges of the future.

Are the Eddas like the bible?


No. There are written sources which are useful to us because they contain much of our sacred lore in the form of myths and examples of right conduct, but we do not accept them as infallible or inspired documents. Any religion which does this is deceiving itself about the purity and precision of the written word. There are two real sources of holy truth, and neither expresses itself to us in words. One is the universe around us, which is a manifestation of the underlying divine essence. The other is the universe inside us, passed down from our ancestors as instinct, emotion, innate predispositions, and perhaps even racial memory. By combining these sources of internal and external wisdom with the literature left us by our ancestors, we arrive at religious truths. This living spiritual guidance is better than any dusty, dogmatic "holy book".

Why did Asatru die out if it was the religion of our ancestors?


Asatru was subjected to a violent campaign of repression over a period of hundreds of years. Countless thousands of people were murdered, maimed, and exiled in the process. The common people (your ancestors!) did not give up their cherished beliefs easily. Eventually, the monolithic organization of the Christian church, bolstered by threats of economic isolation and assisted by an energetic propaganda campaign, triumphed over the valiant but unsophisticated tribes.
Or so it seemed! Despite this persecution, elements of Asatru continued down to our own times - often in the guise of folklore - proving that our own native religion appeals to our innermost beings in a fundamental way. Now, a thousand years after its supposed demise, it is alive and growing. Indeed, so long as there are men and women of European descent, it cannot really die because it springs from the soul of our people. Asatru isn't just what we believe, it's what we are.

What happens when a member dies? Is there a version of Heaven and Hell?


We believe that there is an afterlife, and that those who have lived virtuous lives will go on to experience greater fulfillment, pleasure, and challenge. Those who have led lives characterized more by vice than by virtue will be separated from kin, doomed to an existence of dullness and gloom. The precise nature of the afterlife - what it will look like and feel like - is beyond our understanding and is dealt with symbolically in the myths.
There is also a tradition in Asatru of rebirth within the family line. Perhaps the individual is able to choose whether or not he or she is re-manifested in this world, or there may be natural laws which govern this. In a sense, of course, we all live on in our descendants quite apart from an afterlife as such.
To be honest, we of Asatru do not overly concern ourselves with the next world. We live here and now, in this existence. If we do this and do it well, the next life will take care of itself.

What are “Runes?”


The word "rune" had the meanings anciently of "whisper," "secret" and "mystery." To "rown in the ear" meaning "to whisper" was common in English usage in the Middle Ages, and longer in poetic usage. Rune was adopted into the Finnish language as "runo" a word meaning "song" similar to the meaning of galder, which is also associated with the runes and magic. Runic symbols have been found carved on rocks dating from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, (c. 8000 BC - 2000 BC). Continuing discoveries showed they had been carved by tribes in Northern Italy; they were also present in Sweden, and among the Germanic people. Though there are differences of opinion about when Runic writing began, there is general agreement that the runes were used by pagan tribes over a vast area of northern Europe. Some historians say that the Runes had their birth among the Teutonic (German speaking) tribes of northern Europe as long ago as 500 BC. Others say the Goths of Scandinavia adapted the Greek cursive script during their contact with the Hellenic culture around 200 AD. Still others speculate that they originated much later in northern Italy and that they were derived from the Latin alphabet. And some take the view that they were invented during the Viking civilization around 800 AD. According to myth, the runes were created by the Norse god Odin (also Woden or Woten), the one-eyed chief of the gods, also the god of wisdom and war. Odin acquired the forbidden and mystical knowledge of the runes by impaling himself by his own spear to Yggdrasil, the World Tree, for nine days and nights.

Does Asatru acknowledge the use of witchcraft?


The Norse practitioners of the various arts of magic were highly respected professionals whose services were valued by their communities. In the Norse literature, men as well as women appear wielding the arts of magic, however, it is explicitly stated in several places that by doing so these men were taking on a female art so thoroughly that it endangered their reputation and manhood.


Seidr


Of these terms, seiðr is the most common, as well as the most difficult to define. The term seiðr is most commonly translated as "witchcraft," and is used to describe actions ranging from shamanic magic (such as spirit journeys, magical healing by removing "spirit missiles" such as elf-shot from the body, magical psychiatric treatment in the form of recovering lost portions of the soul-complex, etc.), to prophecy, channeling the gods or the gods' voices through a human agent, performing magic that affects weather or animal movements, as well as a wide range of malefic magic. The single most characteristic element of seiðr, however, seems to be magic of a type which works by affecting the mind by illusion, madness, forgetfulness or other means. The practitioner of seiðr was known as a seið-kona (seið-wife) or seið-man, but these terms tended to suggest a "black magician," so that frequently a seið-worker is called a spá-kona or spae-wife instead to avoid blackening their name with the negative connotations of seiðr. This "politically correct" title usage for the seið-worker has resulted in much confusion over the types of native Scandinavian magic since the categories between seiðr and spá became blurred by later writers. seiðr could give the worker knowledge of the future, but rather than directly perceiving ørlög or fate, as a spá-kona or völva would, the seið-practitioner summoned spirits to communicate the knowledge of the future. Other terms in common use for those practicing seiðr include fjölkunnigr-kona, "full-cunning-wife, knowledgeable women" and hamhleypa, "hamingja-leaper, shape- or skin-changer".
Seiðr was a solitary art, where the seið-witch was not a member of a coven, as in found in other European witch traditions, although a seið-practitioner might have attendants or a chorus to assist her in the practice of her magic. In a very few rare instances only do the sagas report a group of seið-workers practicing together, there they are usually kin folk, such as a pair of sisters, a father and his family, and the like.


Spá


The second type of magic was known as spá, or in a slightly archaic English or Scottish term, spae. Spá is often referred to as spá-craft or spae-craft, and the practitioners of spá as spá-kona or spae-wife. spá is intrinsically the art of determining ørlög, usually by intuition or personal gnosis. Ørlög is literally "ur", meaning ancient or primeval, and "lög" is law: ørlög is the law of how things will be, laid down by wyrd or fate by the three Norns. The Norns, Urðr ("That Which Is"), Verðandi ("That Which Is Becoming") and Skuld ("That Which Should Become") are the embodiment of wyrd. In fact, the Norns are the prototypical Weird Sisters who are found in Macbeth, and their seething kettle is both the bubbling Well of Wyrd and the seið-kona's cauldron. Many of the goddesses wield the art of spá: in Lokasenna we are told that Frigga knows all ørlögs, though she does not speak of them; and that Gefjion knows all ørlögs as well as Óðinn; and the Prose Edda says that Thórr's wife Sif was likewise a spá-kona.
Another term for practitioners of spá is völva, usually translated as "prophetess" or "sybil". Völva comes from a root meaning "magical staff," and throughout the Norse literature one sees female prophetesses and witches bearing a staff. The term völva dates back to the early Germanic tribes, where the term is found in the name or title of some tribal seeresses. The völva was an especially honored figure: Tacitus tells us of one such prophetess called Veleda, who prophesied the victory of her tribe over the Romans and saw that a general uprising against the legions would meet with success.
They believe that there resides in women an element of holiness and a gift of prophecy; and so they do not scorn to ask their advice, or lightly disregard their replies. In the reign of the emperor Vespasian we saw Veleda long honored by many Germans as a divinity; and even earlier they showed similar reverence for Aurinia and a number of others -- reverence untainted by servile flattery or any pretense of turning women into goddesses.
The völva appears many times in Norse myth as well, for Óðinn routinely seeks knowledge of the future by using his powers over the dead to interrogate a völva in her grave.


Galdr


Galdr means literally "to sing" and refers to magical songs that were sung with a range of notes. Galdr is usually associated with men's magical incantations. When occasionally we see a Norse woman "chanting," the verb is usually "to speak," indicating a chant rather than a song.

What is Rune Magic?


The magic of the runes was largely the province of men, although it is likely that some women, at least, knew something of the runes. Certainly the sagas record instances of seið-witches cutting runes in wood in order to work a spell.
When they reached the shore, she hobbled on by the sea as if directed to a spot where lay a great stump of a tree as large as a man could bear on his shoulder. She looked at it and bade them turn it over before her; the other side looked as if it had been burned and smoothed. She had a small flat surface cut on its smooth side; then she took a knife, cut runes upon it, reddened them with her blood and muttered some spells over it. After that she walked backwards against the sun around it and spoke many potent words. Then she made them push the tree into the sea, and said that it should go to Drangey and that Grettir should suffer hurt from it.

Why would Asatru accept, even embrace the words “heathen” or “pagan”?


According to The Random House Dictionary Of The English Language, heathen means “an unconverted individual of a people that do not acknowledge the God of the Bible, any person neither Christian nor Jewish, especially a member of the Islamic faith or of a polytheistic religion”. Pagan is defined as “one of the people or community professing a polytheistic religion, a person who is not Christian, Jew or Muslim.”
Yep, pretty much sums us up eh?

Is Asatru and Odinism the same thing?


Germanic pagans in England do tend to use those words interchangeably. In the United States, though, the name "Odinism" is generally avoided. At worst, people associate it with specific racist organizations; at best, they think the name is misleading. Not everyone considers Odin the most important deity or feels specially dedicated to him.

Is Asatru and offshoot of Wicca as they claim?


Asatru is definitely not an offshoot of any modern religion. It is not a "branch" of Wicca, despite what some Wiccans claim. Both religions may be pagan, and some Wiccans do use Nordic god-names and imagery. However, Asatru differs strongly from Wicca in other ways--our rituals, our theology, and our ethics sometimes clash with theirs.

Does Asatru preach it is the only true religion?


We believe everyone has the right to choose their own religion. We do not actively seek out Christians and try to convert them.


People are attracted to the better-known religions because they have genuine spiritual needs which must be filled. People are looking for community, fellowship, and answers to the "big questions": the purpose of life, how we should live it, and what happens after death. For many people today, the so-called major faiths do not have answers that work. Asatru has answers, but most seekers haven't known about it. Once they realize that there is another way - a better, more natural, more honorable way - they will not be satisfied with anything less than a return to the religion of their ancestors.


Because we are more like our ancestors than we are like anyone else, we feel that Asatru is the right religion for us. We inherited not only their general physical appearance, but also their predominant mental, emotional, and spiritual traits. We think and feel more like they did; our basic needs are most like theirs. The religion which best expressed their innermost nature - Asatru - is better suited to us than is some other creed which started in the Middle East among people who are essentially different from us. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity are alien religions which do not truly speak to our souls.

How is a Kindred made up? Are there priests?


Asatru is non-authoritarian and decentralized, expressing our love of freedom. While we do have definite tenets, we have little dogma. There is no all-powerful spiritual leader whose word is law; no "pope" of Asatru to dictate truth. No guru or priest has the one-and-only direct line to the Gods. The Gods live in you!
Those who lead the rites are the Godi who is like a priest, and the Godia who is like a priestess.

How do I find others involved in the religion?


There are many resources available today in which you can find others. Check out our links page, the Irminsul Aettir has an excellent contact map.

Where can I find merchants for Asatru art and jewelry, spell kits, or clothing?


Some excellent merchants are:
Tara Hill Designs
Enchanted Glyph
Pandora’s Occult Shop
Leslie Wind
The Mystic Caravan


What are some good books on Asatru?


Check out: www.irminsul.org/mr/mrbook.html