AFA UPDATE

A PROJECT OF THE ASATRU FOLK ASSEMBLY

Issue 147
July 21, 2011

Contact email: afa@runestone.org

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WHERE TO FIND THE ASATRU FOLK ASSEMBLY ONLINE:

AFA website - http://runestone.org

Asatru Rising podcast - http://asatrurising.podbean.com

Our videos on You Tube - http://www.youtube.com/smcnallen
The AFA blog at - http://asatruupdate.blogspot.com
AFA MySpace at - http://www.myspace.com/asatruupdate
Follow the AFA on Twitter - http://twitter.com, username AsatruAFA.

The AFA mission statement: "to practice, promote, and further evolve
the religion of Asatru, thus forging it into a powerful and effective tool
for building a better world."

AFA MEMBERSHIP - If you like what you see here, and agree with the
Declaration of Purpose as found on our web site at
http://runestone.org ...send us a membership application!

FORMER MEMBER who just failed to renew your membership? Had something come
up that caused you to drop out? Miss us? Come on back...We're still here
for you! Send in a new application today!

New from the AFA Online Store - Craft items by AFA member Chrissy Sparks!
See them at http://runestone.org/onlinestore.html !

ASATRU EVOLVING - MIDSUMMER IN THE SIERRAS 2011!

AFA members and folkish friends who come to Midsummer in the Sierras (July
28-August 1) will be reminded that Asatru is an evolving religion!
There was a time, decades ago, when being Asatru meant adopting a "Viking
wannabee" attitude, drinking too much mead, and reveling in a (largely
male-dominated) atmosphere of swords and derring-do. That has changed. Oh,
we still drink mead and enjoy fellowship with each other around the
campfire, but we've become increasingly sophisticated, ever better-adapted
for the challenges of the twenty-first century.
We've come a long way in the last forty years or so. This summer we will
take the next steps in the evolution of our organization, and of Asatru
itself. You'll want to be here!
Go to our web site today at http://runestone.org and sign up for the AFA's
premier event!

DAVID JAMES TO SPEAK AT AFA'S "MIDSUMMER IN THE SIERRAS!"

David James, a long-time Asatru veteran who performed the Midsummer ritual
at the AFA's gathering two years ago, will give a pair of presentations at
our July event. One will be "Old Worth and New," which David describes
as "the views and values of the Folk of the North." The second will deal
with "The Art of Composing Ritual and Poetry."
David was at Althing One, the first national Asatru event held in the United
States, in 1980. Last year he was beset with health issues, from which he
has made excellent recovery. We're proud to have him, hale and whole and
vibrant, with us once again!

THE ELDER GODS ARRIVE ON MY FRONT PORCH!

Sheila and I were working upstairs when the brown UPS truck wound up our
hill and deposited two boxes of Stephen Pollington's latest work, The Elder
Gods: The Otherworld of Early England. Prying open the cardboard
containers, we were excited to see stacks of this 500-page opus, ready to
be autographed and sold at the Asatru Folk Assembly's upcoming Midsummer
event.
The arrival of these books was indeed special. Their author will be giving
three presentations at our gathering - and Stephen had asked his publisher
to print up these copies in the United States so he wouldn't have to carry
them all the way from England. What's more, they're his latest work.
By "latest" I mean they've just been released in England...in fact, I'm not
really sure they've been published there yet. These are new!
The Elder Gods is a sign of how far we've come since the rebirth of Asatru.
I remember when the only thing we could find on Anglo-Saxon paganism was
Brian Branston's Lost Gods of England (I still have my autographed gift
copy, circa 1974 or so, from Stubba of the Odinic Rite!). And now we've got
this hefty volume from the prolific Mr. Pollington. Wonderful!
We've come a long way, but the best is yet to come! Asatru and other
manifestations of native European religion will rise to be a powerful force
in the years to come - thanks to the efforts of thousands of people
worldwide!
Those of you not able to come to the gathering can see his books at
http://www.stevepollington.com/books.html .

ASATRU FOLK ASSEMBLY TO SHOWCASE MEMBER CRAFTS

As the Asatru community across the country develops, we find more ways of
helping each other and enriching our evolving culture.
Visitors to the AFA web site at http://runestone.org can now click on
the "Online Store" and see not only items offered for sale by the AFA, but
also crafts created by AFA members. This benefits the member, who gets
exposure for his or her work, and the AFA gains by taking a commission. AFA
members who want to participate in this program should contact
hugh.long@asgard-studios.com .

AN ASATRU VIEWPOINT: NO MORE MUTTS!

Sheila and I spent as couple of days recently at Lake Tahoe, on the
California-Nevada border. It's an inspiring setting, with deep blue water
reflecting a deep blue sky - and it's a wonderful place to regain
perspective after a rough week at work. Besides the natural beauty -
there's Vikingsholm! Yes, even on our down-time Asatru is always on our
minds.
Vikingsholm is a modern rendition of an early medieval (1200's or so)
Scandinavian building, complete with carved dragons and authentic period
architecture. If you come out for the AFA's Midsummer gathering, you ought
to take a side trip to visit it. But the real reason I mention Vikingsholm
is because of...the tour guide!
Nancy has been a volunteer at Vikingsholm for nine years. She's an older
woman, charming, with blue eyes set in a lined face and framed by long
reddish-blond hair set off with silver. We got in a discussion of history
and, of course, of ancestors. Nancy described herself as Irish, German, and
Dutch - in her words, a "mutt." I gently corrected her, saying I preferred
to think of myself as an "indigenous European," or an "eclectic Northern
European."
I've always resented it when people describe themselves as mutts. I know
they don't mean anything by it, but it's disrespectful to the ancestors to
suggest we are dogs. Besides, it is seldom true. Eighty-five to ninety
percent of the European genome is still derived from the first modern
humans to move into the continent. The Dutch, Germans, and Irish are very
close kin...as much as some of us don't want to admit it! Sure, European
cultures are all unique - unique, that is, as variants on the basic
European pattern. It wasn't that many millennia ago that the Germans,
Celts, and Slavs all split off from the Funnel Beaker Folk. All Eurofolk
are kin.
We call ourselves Irish, or German, or Dutch, or European-Americans, and
that is true. However, we are fundamentally indigenous Europeans. We may
have migrated around the world, but our homeland is Europe. Its rugged
environment shaped our bodies, our minds, and our souls; it is a part of
us, and we are a part of it, forever. We are just as indigenous as are the
Amazonian Indians, the Congolese, and Borneo tribesmen. Once we realize
this, our outlook on many things cannot help but change. A sense of
continuity is a powerful thing.
Mutts? No. Indigenous Europeans? Yes!
Only when we realize we are a river will we stop drowning in puddles!
(In other words...only when we comprehend that we are a people, transcending
time and space, will we no longer be frustrated by the seemingly impossible
obstacles in our path.)

EDWARD ABBEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN ASATRU!

Edward Abbey was iconoclastic and passionate; an American original. He was a
religious skeptic, but I could easily see him as a man of Asatru.
Here are some of his quotes - not even necessarily my favorites, but some
good ones:

"Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion."
"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is
prepared to die at any time."
"I am not an atheist but an earthiest. Be true to the earth."
"A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his
lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled
surfaces. We need wilderness whether or not we ever set foot in it. We need
a refuge even though we may never need to set foot in it. We need the
possibility of escape as surely as we need hope; without it the life of the
cities would drive all men into crime or drugs or psychoanalysis."

You can find a lot more of his quotes here: http://tinyurl.com/28pkwxz
Years ago, I met with a conservation group that wanted to protect wildlife
in an African country. They needed someone who could set up an
anti-poaching unit for protection against marauders coming across the
border. These poachers carried machine guns and RPGs, and killed elephants
or anything else that moved. (We're not talking about subsistence hunting
here.) I proposed to go in with a small team, work with the locals in the
context of their indigenous religion, train them, and let them take charge.
A man involved with the conservation group was one of four people still
living (at that time) who knew where Ed Abbey was buried. I felt his
presence spoke well of the organization.
Edward Abbey, may your spirit live on!