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Heil and welcome
to the Articles section of the Assembly of The Elder Troth website.
Here you can find items written by many wide and varied folk. The idea
is to provide a venue for discussion, debate and education amongst the
folk by giving people an individual flavour to the information provided.
Every article here is the work of its' author. The Assembly of The Elder
Troth DOES NOT endorse the words or anything that is found herein as
being official Assembly of The Elder Troth policy, it is purely the
work of the author as provided in each case, and Copyright rests with
the Author, reproduction is prohibited without the authors permission.
This
next piece is a freebie. Feel free to copy it, steal it, adhere to it,
whatever. This seiðman is personally tired of all the organizations,
the petty bickering, and the constant flaming that one gets to see between
members of the Ásatrú community. The upshot is the same
as what my dad always said, if you really wanna see how important you
are, just go to someone else's house and try ordering HIS dog around.
The
Ásatrú Folk Manifesto
Preamble
Who are we? The
neo-pagan world has heard of the Ásatrú for easily two
decades with all the comings and goings, the arguments, the accusations
of Nazism, satanic connections, and what often appears to be petty in ghting
and backbiting, but Ásatrú Folk is a new word. A new word
for a new concept.
The reconstructed
religion of Ásatrú got its start in the early 1970's by
Steve McNallen and was originally called the Ásatrú Free
Assembly and since that time has undergone several dierent incarnations,
variously as the Ring of Troth, the Ásatrú Alliance and
a variety of less well known variations. Always the theme and rationale
were the same: this organization is to preserve and protect the practice
of the religion of the ancient northern Germanic peoples. In some organizations
literary and archeological research was stressed, and in others, the
practical side. In any case, protection of the religion from outside
and foreign in uence is usually maintained by the organizations through
their writings which is often negatively directed at those groups perceived
to be the most harmful to tradition, i.e., Christianity and neo-paganism:
Christianity because it had almost completely replaced the northern
Germanic heathen religion, and neo-paganism because of its willingness
to mix religions.
All current and
past organizations also have several other things in common
with one another:
1. All have an
established hierarchy;
2. All recognize
leaders both at the local level and at the national or international
level;
3. All borrow heavily
from the neo-pagan community (whether they admit it or not);
4. All have some internal form of top-down political structure with
a primary leader such as Allherjarsgoði (named after the leader
of the reigning Icelandic organization) or steersman.
All these organizations borrow their internal structuring from different
sources such as the Catholic Church, favorite political systems, and
modern neo-paganism and while this is workable in some ways, it does,
at times, become a source of contention and contest with individuals
vying for the largest collection of the most prestigious titles, and,
as a consequence, in ghting, group-split-os, and rumor-spreading have
become the most popular form of Viking Games with spirituality and religious
practice often falling far behind in 2nd place.
On a personal level, the general attitude of folks belonging to these
organizations varies greatly. The individual is encouraged to maintain
allegiance to the organization's political or religious ideologies,
and if the organization's ideology is to maintain the purity of the
religion against all foreign in uence, individuals may (and often do)
find themselves seriously at odds with their geographical communities
(the communities they physically live in) and may feel threatened enough
to engage in acts which are clearly against common modern social mores.
Because of this issue and the several mentioned above a new movement
of those who hold their heritage dear and of those individuals sympathetic
to such a cause is launched.
The Ásatrú Folk, the People of the Æsir and Vanir
(the two tribes of the northern Germanic Gods), are a collective of
like-minded individuals who accept that the spirituality of the ancient
Germanic heathen leads to a complete, and ful lling life. We utilize
this spirituality to gauge and to take responsibility for all our actions
so that the greatest numbers of our families and communities beneft.
Having no leaders and disregarding politicoreligious or economically
based hierarchies, we are not at odds with anyone. We recognize that
the differences between people are as important as the similarities and
that these diferences whether of opinion, belief, faith, life-style,
or physical differences are worthy of celebration.
We are best described as a Movement who look to the northern Germanic
pantheon of Gods, demi-gods, and ancestors (heroes or otherwise) as
a source for spiritual fulfillment, and who work towards the acceptance
of this spirituality within the geographical communities by participating
in that community rather than by engaging in negative or punitive action.
We recognize that no individual, group of individuals, or organization
has the authority to stand between man and his personal religion, and
we demonstrate this through our actions. We exist only to celebrate
the religion of the ancient Germanic peoples and to serve as guides
to those who wish to follow this spiritual path.
Manifesto
We, the Ásatrú Folk, accept and hold sacred the following:
1. We hold the Gods and demi-gods of the ancient Germanic
peoples, and personal ancestry holy while at the same time
maintaining that all other religions, and the right to practice
those religions, is worthy of respect.
Commentary: All individuals have the right under the American Bill of
Rights to the freedom of religion. To engage in active maliciousness
against others' right to practice their own religions as they see fit
according
to their traditions is to engage in a personal battle of a political
nature and to demonstrate disregard for the well-being and integrity
of family as well as community. This movement holds no pinion in
this regard with the exception that our role in maintaining the wellbeing
and integrity of family and community is clearly related personal
responsibility and respect of this Midgard.
Personal responsibility to both family and community takes into regard
that social customs and social mores of a community may vary. At
times, differences may occur between a family and a community which
may require negotiation to bring the differences into harmony; however,
the well-being and integrity of family and community are held in highest
regard as opposed to personal ambitions.
2. We define our spirituality as being that which allows the individual
to most comfortably interact with the inhabitants
of Yggdrasil; our most holy duty is to the integrity of the
household and its members, and their role in maintaining the
well-being of the geographical community, on out to the regional,
then national levels.
Commentary: While the rights of the individual are highly valued, and
proper respect is paid to both community and government, it is the
family which must be kept, protected, and molded for proper function
within the larger whole. Personal responsibility for action (in this
case,
for bringing the family together, maintenance of the individual's role
