Difference between revisions of "Asatru"
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Edred Thorsson (real name of Stephen Flowers), an [[occultism|occultist]] who at one point called himself Asatru, tried dodging the name issue entirely by calling his organization the "Ring of Troth." The revelation that he was also a member of the [[Temple of Set]] unleashed a brief round of [[Satanic panic]] among the Asatruar. | Edred Thorsson (real name of Stephen Flowers), an [[occultism|occultist]] who at one point called himself Asatru, tried dodging the name issue entirely by calling his organization the "Ring of Troth." The revelation that he was also a member of the [[Temple of Set]] unleashed a brief round of [[Satanic panic]] among the Asatruar. | ||
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== See also == | == See also == |
Revision as of 18:47, 23 February 2010
Asatru (or Odinism) is an alleged religion attempting (or claiming) to cobble together an actual religion from Norse mythology and from the pre-Christian Germanic religious practices. This is difficult to pull off, as the Norse myths, like other ancient texts, are incredibly spotty, contradictory, and prone to mistranslation, and were written down hundreds of years after the events recounted in them allegedly happened (insofar as they are even meant to be historical).
Questions of accuracy
There is some question regarding how closely Odinists have actually managed to recreate these beliefs, and of whether Germanic mythology ever qualified as an organized religion as it is understood today. Many Asatruar go to great lengths to link themselves with the past, such as taking on a Nordic "baptismal name" like Heimgest or Gunnar. Presumably when there are more than a dozen Asatruar widely known by these names, patronymics will be introduced. When more than 4 can actually agree on something, you get a group known as a "Black Metal" band kindred, which will then scream about Odin as if they have swallowed boiling grease. Possibly they have.
According to the neo-Druid Isaac Bonewits, some practitioners of Asatru are "mesopagan," meaning that they try to make their practice as close to the old form as possible with no intentional (but some unintentional) modern influences, while others are neopagan.[1] Practitioners typically prefer to be called heathens rather than pagans; if you really want to piss these people off, call them neopagans — within their community, this is often a snarl word used in the same way as "cafeteria Catholic." However, most neopagans accept them as a slightly kooky branch of the big neopagan tree.
It's worth noting that not a whole lot is really known about how the Norse people worshiped, so despite their hatred of the term, practitioners of this religion can be most aptly named neopagans.
Rituals
Asatru believers usually follow two (drunken) rituals, both the Blot and the Sumbel. The Blot is a round of toasts to the gods of Norse mythology; the Sumbel is a round of drinking involving oaths and toasts to each other. Both involve the imbibing of mead from a horn.
A lot of Asatruar are homebrewers because the mead sold in liquor stores is frankly garbage. Needless to say, Asatru worship services tend to end with everyone falling all over themselves drunk, causing their priests to fall over themselves insisting that one does not need to get drunk to practice Asatru. [2] Not that far removed from Episcopal priests after the Eucharist, or teenagers with their first bottle of Thunderbird, no?
Ethics
Theory
Like many other pagan religions, Asatru tends toward orthopraxy rather than orthodoxy: unlike with Christianity, the finer points of one's world-view are not of the first importance. Consequently, ethical standards among Asatruar vary widely; as gothi Stephen McNallen put it, "We do not have a list of Thou Shalt Nots."[3]
However, the Norse myths have much to impart in the way of life philosophy and advice, even beyond the classical heroic virtues of honor, loyalty, bravery, etc. Many Asatruar have made attempts to codify these teachings into a latter-day ethical system, yanking many tenets from dark places along the way.
One such codification is the Nine Noble Virtues,[4] derived by the Odinic Rite from the Eddaic poems Havamal[5] and Sigrdrifumal.[6] The nine virtues are courage, truth, honor, fidelity, discipline, hospitality, self-reliance, industriousness and perseverance.
An alternative codification is the Twelve Traits promoted by the Asatru Folk Assembly:[3] industriousness, justice, courage, generosity, hospitality, moderation, community, individuality, truth, steadfastness, loyalty and wisdom.
For an even more concise summary, the Asatru equivalent of the "greatest commandment in the law" would have to be the proscription of oath-breaking. In Old Norse warrior society, breaking an oath of fealty was a very serious matter, and the myths make strong condemnation of oath-breakers.
Practice
Unlike Christian ethics, Old Norse ethics were not commandments handed down from a God who had written them himself; nor were the gods in the least portrayed as perfect beings who followed these ethics to the letter. Indeed, they are portrayed as having no qualms with rape, murder, stealing, cheating, lying, backstabbing, breaking oaths or anything else necessary to get themselves ahead. Odin would give lengthy screeds about honor and respect in one story, then proceed to father children by rape in the next.
Racist interpretations
In the United States, Asatru has long had to contend with white supremacist types claiming the religion because it has "Aryan" cred and (unlike Christianity) did not originate among the Jews. The Nazis (The original ones, not the shaved head thugs today) also used significant amounts of Norse symbolism in their propaganda, and placed the Nordic people very high on their racial ladder. There is also a strong contingent that takes a "folkish" stance, in which people can only worship the gods their ancestors worshipped. (It is seldom explained what this means to a person whose parents come from far-flung parts of the world.)
This does not mean that most Asatruar are racist; in fact the opposite is often the case and Asatruar are all over the map politically. In practical terms what it means is that the religion is notably fractious and argumentative with the racists and anti-racists proclaiming "oaths" and "curses" against each other and the rest caught in the middle not wanting to have anything to do with either side, and something approaching a 90% turnover in adherents.
That is probably a higher turnover rate than Mormonism has, which speaks volumes. Indeed, it seems to be one of those religions disproportionately favored by disgruntled ex-Mormons, strongest in Utah, Arizona, and Idaho, and — not surprisingly — weakest in states like Minnesota and North Dakota, which are full of people who would not need to make up "baptismal names" if they converted, because their actual first names would do the job admirably. You figure it out.
Although it is much loved among racists, there is nothing in Asatru, either moral or historical, which explicitly supports racism. Even the historic Norse had no problems raping dealing with people of other races. That said, there is no explicit condemnation of racism, either, and the rather loose doctrines allow the religion to easily be twisted to suit neo-Nazis. Thanks to the Third Reich, this link is strong and will not easily go away. It should be noted that if white supremacists really want a religion that suits their views perfectly, it would be best to convert to Mormonism.
Asatru vs. Odinism
There is some dispute as to whether the religion should be called "Asatru" or "Odinism," but prominent priests under both banners do not consider there to be very sharp differences between the two terms at present.[7][8]
There was historically a division in the use of the terms, based on political and racial emphasis versus religious emphasis. The term "Odinism" was coined by Alexander Rud Mills, an Australian Nazi sympathizer who founded an Odinist church in 1934. The name was carried on by Else Christensen and her Odinist Fellowship; Christensen's newsletter, The Odinist, contained more Liberty Lobby-esque political content than religious content.
The term "Asatru" was coined in Iceland in the early 1970s. The Icelandic practitioners, led by Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, were more about practicing the religion than forming a political bond, so on average "Odinism" saw more use among the political group and "Asatru" saw more use among the apolitical group. Since Christensen's death and the dissolution of her Odinist Fellowship, this division is not so pronounced. The Odinic Rite, which describes itself as "Odinist," has no historic association with either Mills or Christensen and is more religious than political, but was founded before the term "Asatru" became popular.
The white supremacist David Lane, recognizing that "Odinism" is now used primarily by non-racist groups, and realizing that Wotan, the German name for Odin, is an acronym for "Will Of The Aryan Nation," advocated the use of the term Wotanism for an explicitly racist version of Asatru. Today "Wotanism" still refers exclusively to these racist variants, which have had much syncretic influence from Christian Identity and Mormonism. For example, Lane himself was a supporter of polygamy, which cannot be conclusively stated to have existed as an institution in pagan Scandinavia.[9]
Edred Thorsson (real name of Stephen Flowers), an occultist who at one point called himself Asatru, tried dodging the name issue entirely by calling his organization the "Ring of Troth." The revelation that he was also a member of the Temple of Set unleashed a brief round of Satanic panic among the Asatruar.
See also
No relation to
References
- ↑ http://www.neopagan.net/PaganDefs.html
- ↑ http://www.odinic-rite.org/The%20Mead%20of%20Inspiration.html
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.runestone.org/articles/twelvetraits.htm
- ↑ http://www.odinic-rite.org/virtues.html
- ↑ http://www.asatru.org/havamal.html
- ↑ http://library.flawlesslogic.com/sigrd.htm
- ↑ http://www.odinic-rite.org/PAB/PresentingtheTruth.pdf
- ↑ http://www.odinic-rite.org/Valgard-deposition.pdf
- ↑ Gwyn Jones on Norse polygamy