The Children of Loki.
Issues in the Modern Asatru/Heathen religion:
Nothing worth doing is done without struggle of some sort, and everything has its own intrinsic dangers. Some of the problems you are likely to find along the Teutonic pathway are problems that any religious group – especially smaller religions – will suffer from; some belong to us alone.
Racism
The most obnoxious and recurrent blight on the recovery of our Germanic heritage is the spectre of Nazism. For obvious reasons, it is still considered very uncouth to use one of our holiest symbols – the swastika – in situations where it might be misinterpreted, which means any and all public contexts. To anyone who knows the true meaning of this sign and is aware of its long and honorable history in Germanic spirituality before it was misused within the context of the Third Reich, this constraint is infuriating. Nevertheless, the degree of psychic and personal distress which public use of the swastika will cause to innocent persons ought to make responsible Ásatrú folk unwilling to display it outside of closed rituals.
No matter how circumspect you are in your use of symbolism, however, when you make your awareness of your Teutonic heritage known to others, you are probably going to have to deal with the occasional accusation of Nazism. Expect it and don't be upset; instead, use the opportunity to educate. It is a fact that many aspects of our heritage were grossly misused and attached to a vile racial ideology which has no part in the Northern tradition; it is our duty to cleanse ourselves of that association and to be able to present ourselves with as much pride in our ancestral culture – and respect for those of other peoples – as any other ethnic group is regularly able to boast. It is our great fortune to have a mighty current of ancestral myth and symbol bearing us up; it is our greatest misfortune in this century that the power of this current was used to bring authority and success to the most generally vilified figure of modern history. This is something with which we must deal, always maintaining the awareness that what the Nazis did with early Germanic culture, while it may have rotted a branch of our ancestral World-Tree, has in no way poisoned its roots.
It is unfortunate that much of Ásatrú today is perceived as ultra-right wing or racist even by other heathens. It is even more unfortunate that, in a few cases, there are some grounds for this perception. Like every faith, Ásatrú has its own fringe groups and crazies; for us, these are usually racists or neo-Nazis concealing themselves beneath a dogma of quasi-Nordic spirituality. If you make yourself known as a practitioner of Ásatrú, the chances are good that at some point you may receive attempts at communication from this sort of person. This is one of the main reasons why getting a post office box, not inviting strangers to your home, and not giving out your legal name or personal phone number on a general basis is a good idea.
Keeping the Faith: Publicly or Privately?
The first concern which most heathens have when it comes to a question of going public or not is, “How will it affect my job?”
Quite a lot of the time, this is a valid concern, particularly if one works in a conservative or high-pressure field. On the other hand, there is also the fact that the more “respectable” heathens will admit and stand up for their religious beliefs, the more generally acceptable heathenism will become. Martyring yourself to make a gesture which has no particular benefit for the larger community is not a good thing; although the courage is admirable, the stupidity is not. However, conforming to Christian expectations in order to avoid any degree of social friction isn't particularly admirable either. In general, the best thing to do is not to openly flaunt your belief in the gods of your ancestors, nor to shove it down the throats of your co-workers. However, if the question of religion should come up (if you are in a position where you can afford to do so), you should state your beliefs quietly and firmly, and be able to defend and discuss them as well as you can. Remember, however, that arguing with someone who not only believes totally in their faith but thinks that everyone else must as well is probably going to be like arguing with a drunk: utterly without benefit.
The first concern which most heathens have when it comes to a question of going public or not is, “How will it affect my job?”
Quite a lot of the time, this is a valid concern, particularly if one works in a conservative or high-pressure field. On the other hand, there is also the fact that the more “respectable” heathens will admit and stand up for their religious beliefs, the more generally acceptable heathenism will become. Martyring yourself to make a gesture which has no particular benefit for the larger community is not a good thing; although the courage is admirable, the stupidity is not. However, conforming to Christian expectations in order to avoid any degree of social friction isn't particularly admirable either. In general, the best thing to do is not to openly flaunt your belief in the gods of your ancestors, nor to shove it down the throats of your co-workers. However, if the question of religion should come up (if you are in a position where you can afford to do so), you should state your beliefs quietly and firmly, and be able to defend and discuss them as well as you can. Remember, however, that arguing with someone who not only believes totally in their faith but thinks that everyone else must as well is probably going to be like arguing with a drunk: utterly without benefit.
Ultimately the question of how far you can go in presenting your troth to those who do not share in it is going to be a question of your individual judgement. No matter how free speech and the practice of religion are supposed to be, the fact is, if you come out publicly and announce your heathenism to the world at large, you are likely to be labeled a “crackpot,” or, at worst, a “devil-worshipper.” This attitude has shifted considerably over the last two decades and is still shifting, thanks largely to the courage of those who have defied the general pressures of society and spoken up for non-Establishment beliefs. The problem is still there, however, and has to be reckoned with.
Conflicts Within Heathen Groups
In addition to threats from outside, every gathering of humans is going to have some degree of internal friction. Personal ego-clashes and the struggle for power or position are probably the worst enemies with which heathenism as a whole has to deal. Discrepancies over ideology can usually be resolved with a minimum of conflict if there is no underlying personal problem; however, bitter ideological struggles within a group are often no more than smoke screens for a personal battle. When it comes to this, the most important thing to remember is that, if we are ever to be accepted as a “legitimate” religion, a general heathen unity and solidarity is more important than one's personal position. However, it may be that there are two or more people in the kindred who, for whatever reason, are wholly incompatible. In this case, separation is often the best thing, even if it splits the group down the middle. Having two different kindreds in the area who have no contact or minimal contact with one another is infinitely preferable to having a single group which is eating itself out from within through the ills of secret un-frith and troth-breaking.
Even if you should suffer from a conflict of belief which cannot be overcome – such as that which now exists between the more reputable Ásatrú groups and the racist contingents – the answer does not lie in personal attacks upon those perpetrating an untenable belief, but rather in positive response and action, such as the verbal and written expression of one's own views with the historical documentation to prove what our ancestors' thoughts on the idea in question were. You should also remember that there is room for many ways within the Teutonic troth; our ancestors were no more bound to a single set of ideological beliefs than they were to a single god. Incompetence and stupidity are ultimately self-defeating, after all. The solution is not the destruction of those who practice them, but rather to preserve yourself from malice and mis-information without being drawn into destructive and pointless political struggles.
Nothing worth doing is done without struggle of some sort, and everything has its own intrinsic dangers. Some of the problems you are likely to find along the Teutonic pathway are problems that any religious group – especially smaller religions – will suffer from; some belong to us alone.
Racism
The most obnoxious and recurrent blight on the recovery of our Germanic heritage is the spectre of Nazism. For obvious reasons, it is still considered very uncouth to use one of our holiest symbols – the swastika – in situations where it might be misinterpreted, which means any and all public contexts. To anyone who knows the true meaning of this sign and is aware of its long and honorable history in Germanic spirituality before it was misused within the context of the Third Reich, this constraint is infuriating. Nevertheless, the degree of psychic and personal distress which public use of the swastika will cause to innocent persons ought to make responsible Ásatrú folk unwilling to display it outside of closed rituals.
No matter how circumspect you are in your use of symbolism, however, when you make your awareness of your Teutonic heritage known to others, you are probably going to have to deal with the occasional accusation of Nazism. Expect it and don't be upset; instead, use the opportunity to educate. It is a fact that many aspects of our heritage were grossly misused and attached to a vile racial ideology which has no part in the Northern tradition; it is our duty to cleanse ourselves of that association and to be able to present ourselves with as much pride in our ancestral culture – and respect for those of other peoples – as any other ethnic group is regularly able to boast. It is our great fortune to have a mighty current of ancestral myth and symbol bearing us up; it is our greatest misfortune in this century that the power of this current was used to bring authority and success to the most generally vilified figure of modern history. This is something with which we must deal, always maintaining the awareness that what the Nazis did with early Germanic culture, while it may have rotted a branch of our ancestral World-Tree, has in no way poisoned its roots.
It is unfortunate that much of Ásatrú today is perceived as ultra-right wing or racist even by other heathens. It is even more unfortunate that, in a few cases, there are some grounds for this perception. Like every faith, Ásatrú has its own fringe groups and crazies; for us, these are usually racists or neo-Nazis concealing themselves beneath a dogma of quasi-Nordic spirituality. If you make yourself known as a practitioner of Ásatrú, the chances are good that at some point you may receive attempts at communication from this sort of person. This is one of the main reasons why getting a post office box, not inviting strangers to your home, and not giving out your legal name or personal phone number on a general basis is a good idea.
Keeping the Faith: Publicly or Privately?
The first concern which most heathens have when it comes to a question of going public or not is, “How will it affect my job?”
Quite a lot of the time, this is a valid concern, particularly if one works in a conservative or high-pressure field. On the other hand, there is also the fact that the more “respectable” heathens will admit and stand up for their religious beliefs, the more generally acceptable heathenism will become. Martyring yourself to make a gesture which has no particular benefit for the larger community is not a good thing; although the courage is admirable, the stupidity is not. However, conforming to Christian expectations in order to avoid any degree of social friction isn't particularly admirable either. In general, the best thing to do is not to openly flaunt your belief in the gods of your ancestors, nor to shove it down the throats of your co-workers. However, if the question of religion should come up (if you are in a position where you can afford to do so), you should state your beliefs quietly and firmly, and be able to defend and discuss them as well as you can. Remember, however, that arguing with someone who not only believes totally in their faith but thinks that everyone else must as well is probably going to be like arguing with a drunk: utterly without benefit.
The first concern which most heathens have when it comes to a question of going public or not is, “How will it affect my job?”
Quite a lot of the time, this is a valid concern, particularly if one works in a conservative or high-pressure field. On the other hand, there is also the fact that the more “respectable” heathens will admit and stand up for their religious beliefs, the more generally acceptable heathenism will become. Martyring yourself to make a gesture which has no particular benefit for the larger community is not a good thing; although the courage is admirable, the stupidity is not. However, conforming to Christian expectations in order to avoid any degree of social friction isn't particularly admirable either. In general, the best thing to do is not to openly flaunt your belief in the gods of your ancestors, nor to shove it down the throats of your co-workers. However, if the question of religion should come up (if you are in a position where you can afford to do so), you should state your beliefs quietly and firmly, and be able to defend and discuss them as well as you can. Remember, however, that arguing with someone who not only believes totally in their faith but thinks that everyone else must as well is probably going to be like arguing with a drunk: utterly without benefit.
Ultimately the question of how far you can go in presenting your troth to those who do not share in it is going to be a question of your individual judgement. No matter how free speech and the practice of religion are supposed to be, the fact is, if you come out publicly and announce your heathenism to the world at large, you are likely to be labeled a “crackpot,” or, at worst, a “devil-worshipper.” This attitude has shifted considerably over the last two decades and is still shifting, thanks largely to the courage of those who have defied the general pressures of society and spoken up for non-Establishment beliefs. The problem is still there, however, and has to be reckoned with.
Conflicts Within Heathen Groups
In addition to threats from outside, every gathering of humans is going to have some degree of internal friction. Personal ego-clashes and the struggle for power or position are probably the worst enemies with which heathenism as a whole has to deal. Discrepancies over ideology can usually be resolved with a minimum of conflict if there is no underlying personal problem; however, bitter ideological struggles within a group are often no more than smoke screens for a personal battle. When it comes to this, the most important thing to remember is that, if we are ever to be accepted as a “legitimate” religion, a general heathen unity and solidarity is more important than one's personal position. However, it may be that there are two or more people in the kindred who, for whatever reason, are wholly incompatible. In this case, separation is often the best thing, even if it splits the group down the middle. Having two different kindreds in the area who have no contact or minimal contact with one another is infinitely preferable to having a single group which is eating itself out from within through the ills of secret un-frith and troth-breaking.
Even if you should suffer from a conflict of belief which cannot be overcome – such as that which now exists between the more reputable Ásatrú groups and the racist contingents – the answer does not lie in personal attacks upon those perpetrating an untenable belief, but rather in positive response and action, such as the verbal and written expression of one's own views with the historical documentation to prove what our ancestors' thoughts on the idea in question were. You should also remember that there is room for many ways within the Teutonic troth; our ancestors were no more bound to a single set of ideological beliefs than they were to a single god. Incompetence and stupidity are ultimately self-defeating, after all. The solution is not the destruction of those who practice them, but rather to preserve yourself from malice and mis-information without being drawn into destructive and pointless political struggles.
(Excerpt from the Asatru/Heathen book Teutonic Religion by Kveldulf Gundarsson. Used with permission. To purchase an entire copy of the e-book Teutonic Religion, click the link.