[AFA_Bearclaw] AFA Update 11-23-11

[Dirk Bruere at NeoPax]

AFA UPDATE

A PROJECT OF THE ASATRU FOLK ASSEMBLY

Issue 153

November 23, 2011

Contact email: a...@runestone.org


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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!



AFA EVENTS - NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Contact us if you are interested in any of the events below:

Folk Thanksgiving! Saturday, November 26th

Camp Norge will be the gathering spot for a day of celebrating our
traditions, our families and ancestors, and our growing friendships. We
will share family trees, tell stories of Thanksgivings past, sit at
sumbel, socialize, take a walk...Enjoy!

December Asatru Meetup - December 3rd

Our meetup will be held in Citrus Heights. Meal and socializing, rune
study. RSVP to the Northern California Asatru Meetup at meetups.com - or
email us!

Nevada County Food and Toy Run - December 10th

The AFA has been offered free space, so we will have a food booth and
and Asatru information booth! The Toy Run is a community highlight with
over a thousand hungry bikers converging on the fairgrounds and
tremendous local support.

Community Yuletide Celebration - December 17th

Held at the Madelyn Helling Library in Nevada City, this is our outreach
to the local community. We'll share the origins of our Yuletide customs,
tell stories, and more.


Twelfth Night at the McNallens' - December 31st

Open to all AFA members and vouched-for friends of the AFA. We'll
reflect on the joys and blessings of the season, make our New Year's
oaths, honor the Gods - at our home, near Nevada City.





ASATRU AND THANKSGIVING

It's that time of year again - Thanksgiving, and the beginning of what
we habitually call "the holiday season." For some of us it will be a
genuinely spiritual occasion, a time to be with family and to enjoy a
meal while being, well, thankful. For others it will be just another
stressful obligation to cook a meal we don't really want and to be
sociable when we'd really rather be doing something else.

The historical Thanksgiving was a Christian event, a celebration in
gratitude to the God of the Bible for the blessings he gave his early
colonists in the New World. How should we who follow Asatru honor this
festival? Are Thanksgiving and Asatru compatible?

When you think about it, Thanksgiving is just a variation on the old
custom of the harvest festival. Sure, November is getting a little late
for that, but the principle is the same: expressing joy at the reaping
of what we have sown. Asatruar can get into that spirit as easily as
anyone else - maybe easier, because we tend to be aware of the natural
cycles around us. The rune "Jera" comes to mind at Thanksgiving; it
means "year" or "harvest," and is an affirmation of the idea that we
will prosper to the extent that we have done the right work at the right
time - whether it's planting, tending, and harvesting a crop, or making
a success of our efforts in the world of jobs and careers! It really
does come down to cause-and-effect: effort brings reward.

But the early American pilgrims were thankful to "God." To whom or what
should our own gratitude be directed? Certainly not to the God of the
Bible. But this is a good time to recall that the word "god" is not a
Semitic or a Mediterranean word, but a Germanic one! It comes directly
from Gothic, where it originally referred to OUR Gods and Goddesses. It
was used for the first time in the Gothic translation of the Bible to
gloss what had previously been rendered Greek or Latin. When our pompous
politicians stand at the podium and rave about "God," they are
unknowingly showing their debt to those Germanic men and women who came
before them, and who honored the Holy Powers of our people! So, to that
extent, we, too can speak of God - in the original sense!

While we're being grateful, we should remember the life that died that
we might eat. Life feeds on life, and while we must take life, we should
not do so thoughtlessly. On the contrary, we should try to live our
lives in such a way that we justify the death of the animal that decks
our table at Thanksgiving, or at any other time - valuing that sacrifice
by living lives of honor and right action! Factory turkeys live
miserable lives and die miserable deaths. The least we can do is
acknowledge that, and honor the bird by our lives and our deeds.

Thanksgiving can be a time of gluttony marking the beginning of the
Great American Consumer-Fest...or it can be much simpler, more organic,
tied to the Earth and to the cycles of Nature...an opportunity to get in
contact with eternal truths. It's up to us, isn't it? This year, let's
try to be a little less wrapped up in gadgetry and gimmickry, and more
interested in the intangibles, in love and fellowship...and life!



ASATRU AND THE RUNE GILD

I've just returned from the Rune Gild Moot - four days of intense
lectures, rituals, and fellowship with men and women dedicated to the
esoteric side of Asatru and Germanic religion generally. It has prompted
me to make some observations.

The Asatru Folk Assembly and similar organizations represent the
exoteric, religious aspect of the Germanic revival. The Rune Gild, on
the other hand, is the esoteric and mystical expression of our movement.
Both are essential to our development and success, and the two
continually interact with each other. I have been a member of the Gild
for years, and have greatly benefited from association with other
members and from the writings of Edred Thorsson, in particular.

In pre-Christian Germanic culture, the various tribes would regularly
come together at sacred places - such as Lejre, in Denmark - to compete
in games, trade, and generally interact socially. It was at these
gatherings, too, that the ancient fraternity of rune magicians would
meet to share lore and techniques across tribal boundaries. Thus the
various versions of the rune row, as well as many other things, were
transmitted from area to area in a more or less organized manner. With
the passing of our native faith, the early gild of runers died out. The
modern Rune Gild is that fraternity reborn. Its function is much the
same as in the old days - to transmit the rune lore to all who seek the
mysteries, regardless of their organizational affiliation or lack of it.

For the individual, the most important feature of the Gild is that it
offers a traditional Germanic path of personal transformation. The work
of the Rune Gild is solidly based in scholarship; you'll not find
fantasies on "Atlantean runes" or the use of fashionable, New Age
gimmicks. The official curriculum of the RG is contained in Edred
Thorsson's Nine Doors of Midgard, and Learners in the gild are set to
work mastering the fundamentals. Those who have not yet committed to
being Learners can hold Associate status with minimal obligation.

I have known Edred since the late 1970's and have had many opportunities
to observe his leadership style in person - most recently at the Gild
Moot in Austin, Texas. He is modest and approachable. I have never seen
him disrespect the members of the organization or abuse his position as
leader. On the contrary, I know he has made immense personal and
financial sacrifices for the sake of the Gild. The fact that he holds a
doctorate in Germanic languages and literature makes his writing
authoritative and extremely valuable for those of us seeking to revive
the way of our ancestors. Anyone who paints him as some sort of sinister
character does not know him.

The Rune Gild is not for everyone. Those content simply to practice
Asatru require no specialized esoteric training; most men and women in
Germanic society did not need to know much about the gift Odin won on
the World Tree. However, if you seek not only to worship Odin but to
imitate him - you will not find a better organization than the Gild.



CALENDAR



December 10 – Full moon, at 6:36 AM, Pacific Time.

December 20 - Mother Night. Coming just before the winter solstice,
Mother Night is when the new year is born. The traditional twelve days
of Yule begin now. This is a season for honoring the family line and
rejoicing in the sun's renewal. Celebrate Yule with all the ancient
trimmings, such as wreaths of evergreen, a Yule tree, and good cheer.
Visit kin. Tell your children family stories and show them photos of
their ancestors. Drink a toast to the God Frey, and to the reborn sun.

December 21 – Winter Solstice at 9:30 PM, Pacific Timie.

December 31 - Twelfth Night. As Mother Night is the beginning of
Yuletide, Twelfth Night is its culmination. Meditate on the past year -
what you did, what you wish you had done. Take stock and set a course
for the future. Making New Year's resolutions is an old Germanic custom
that goes back at least to the Viking Age, and perhaps much earlier. In
the old days, these oaths were sworn on a boar sacred to Frey, the God
of fertility and prosperity.

January 9 - Day of Remembrance for Raud the Strong. King Olaf Tryggvason
of Norway executed Raud by making him swallow a snake. His crime was
refusing to give up Asatru, the religion of his forefathers. Tryggvason
then confiscated Raud's land and all his other wealth. Praise Raud by
lifting a horn (or cup or glass) in his honor, and by doing something
deliberate to spread the holy lore that King Olaf tried so hard to stamp
out.


Hail the Holy Ones!

Hail the AFA!

Stephen A. McNallen

Asatru Folk Assembly

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_____________

--
FFF
Dirk

The New Futurism : ZERO STATE : http://zerostate.net