Re: [buffywantswillow] Asatru (Re: Answers for honoured Fool)

[Erin <erin@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 28 Sep 2000 19:06:06 -0000, "Stefan Cilia" <cilia@xxxxx>
wrote:

>Actually Asatru (at least here in Iceland), is just the practice of 
>the old Norse religion. But calling it neo-paganism is wrong, we've 
>been practice it since we (Icelanders) took up Christianity in the 
>year 1000, we have always been allowed by law to "Blod" in secret

Interesting, I know that there are a lot of Asatruars out there who
prefer to be called "heathen" rather than "pagan" or "neo-pagan". Do
you have any references for the history of Asatru? When I was
researching it awhile ago, I was only able to find sources that
referred to Asatru as a reconstructionist religion from the early
1970s (specifically 1973, when in Iceland it became an official
recognized religion, and in the U.S. when the Asatru Free Assembly was
founded). I got those from religioustolerance.org, the Gladsheim
Kindred (http://www.gladsheim.org/), and the Irminsul Aettir
(http://www.irminsul.org/arc/016pb.html).

Supposedly the word "Asatru" itself was coined by Scandinavian
antiquarians in the 1830s to describe the religious beliefs of their
ancestors (since said forebears, like the Celts, didn't bother naming
their own religion).

>Fluffy! Asatru in the modern sense like it's practiced here is very 
>much like anyother religion, we have marriages in the old way, but no 
>cutting the palm. The war and battle factor has been modifite to fit 
>the times.

<g> Sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect by that, just that the
Asatruars I've talked with have seemed a lot less, erm, "new age-y"
than some of the Wiccans I've talked with. But then, I've talked with
some Wiccans who weren't at all new age-y, so who knows. (And I don't
consider myself so, but I'm a Druid as well as a Wiccan, so...)

>But how we get to Vallhall without falling in battle is something 
>I've never figured out.

Hmm, good question. Good luck with that. :) Maybe the Valkyrie are
a lot more lenient now.
 
>"Wicca. It has a Hindu engine, an Egyption torque converter, and a 
>Celtic transmission. These things set in a ceremonial body that is 
>Wiccan alone. It is a creature of it's own."
>Not writen by me, it gets the point across.

ROTFL! I like it, it fits Wicca perfectly.

>But then again there is no correct answer when it comes to this kind 
>of thing.

There are correct answers when it comes to history, but when it comes
to belief and cosmology, you're absolutely right.

Erin
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