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"Loddfafnir,
listen to my counsel:
You will fare well if you follow it,
It will help you much if you heed it.
If aware that another is wicked, say so:
Make no truce or treaty with foes."
Hávamál, St.
127
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It
is a sad necessity that requires me to make this page, but because of
a few racist,
Nazi, and Satanic websites that have a relatively high profile on
the WWW, I feel this disclaimer must be placed on my website. The sites
to which I refer claim to be Asatru or Norse Heathen while promoting
Heathenism as white supremacism or a kind of Satanism. Of course, the
practice the Old Northern traditions and other forms of ancient Paganism
-- the ancestral religions of much of Europe and the world -- has nothing
to do with race hatred or with Satan.
First, there are avowed Nazis and radical white supremacists
who yet call themselves or their groups "Heathen", and who
abuse our holy symbols and our Gods' names to promote hatred, violence,
and totalitarian political agendas. The truth is, however, that there
is nothing less Heathen than blind obedience to a demagogic leader;
nothing less Pagan than the promotion of mental slavery over freedom.
These groups try to use the fact that Heathenism is the
ancestral ethnic religion of Europe to promote ideologies of race hatred.
In this they ape the Nazis who tried to use the ancient symbols
of pagan Germany for the same reasons. The truth is that although Heathenism
is a modern revival of ancient folk ways, in which honouring the ancestors
is important, it certainly does not promote hatred of any other ethnic
group or religion.
Next, there are certain Satanist or Setian groups
who associate Odin with their system, which is
not Northern at all, but merely a reactionary perversion of Judeo-Christian
traditions mixed with ceremonial magic. Paganism is a religion of its own,
and does not define itself through opposition to some other established
religion or God, as Satanism does. There are many Websites now that
basically describe Asatru as a kind of Satanism, and this is totally
erroneous, as Satan does not exist in the Heathen mythos.
There is the "Black Metal" music phenomenon
also. Some (but of course not
all) Black Metal groups claim to be "Heathen", only to
use this as an excuse for the avocation of hatred and violence, especially
against Christians. Like some of the Satanists, they seem to think that
the definition of Heathenism is found merely in "opposition to
Christianity," unaware that Paganism defines itself from within,
and has its own native cosmology and world view that existed long before
the coming of Christianity.
Most unfortunately, some of these groups are very
vocal, and have Websites with a high ranking on search engines. Thus,
when someone who is unfamiliar with legitimate Asatru or Heathenism
searches for "Odin", for instance, they might come up with
a link to a racist or hate site. 6
How are they to know
this hate site that claims it is Asatru in fact espouses beliefs that
true Heathens strongly oppose?
In addition to those hate-mongers who wrongly assume
the name of Heathen, there are a few people of other faiths who promote
hatred of us because we are Heathen. Heathens and Pagans the
world over continue to suffer prejudicial treatment because of our religion.
To this day, those who practice the old native ethnic religions strive
to overcome two thousand years of oppression by fundamentalist religious
zealots, who from the beginning of the organised Christian church systematically
attempted to eradicate the Pagan religions from the face of the Earth.
It is clear that many misconceptions about our faith and ways have been
promulgated by religious fundamentalists, and it is largely due to this
anti-Pagan propaganda that false conceptions of Heathenism have arisen.
As devoted Heathens we oppose hatred and prejudice
based on religious differences, and promote religious freedom, tolerance,
respect, and open communication. We strive, through education and by
living example, to restore our ancient Old Religion to its rightful
place among the world's faiths, and to reveal and refute, whenever possible,
misrepresentations and propaganda against our beliefs and our Gods.
What is to be done about the extremely "bad press" and
misrepresentation that Asatru / Heathenism / Paganism gets from these
fringe-groups and non-Pagans?
Heathens Against Hate is a banner campaign I started
after seeing the Pagans
Against Fascism banner created by the Wolfshof
of Germany. Many legitimate Asatru and Pagan organisations in Europe
have had such problems with the negative publicity given to Heathenism
by the violent actions of racists, that they have had to put strong
anti-Nazi and anti-fascist disclaimers on their Pagan Web sites. These
disclaimers let visitors immediately see the orientation of the site.
I think that this is a good way to educate the public and encourage
non-Pagans to find out the truth about our religion. I originally made
this statement as a disclaimer for my own site.
So What is Asatru / Heathenism / Paganism really all about?
Asatru is the modern recreation of the ancient pre-Christian
religion of much of northern Europe. The practitioners of this ancient
religion of Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, England, and Iceland
came to be called "heathens" by the new Christians, for those
who clung longest to the Old Ways were the people who lived outside
of organised towns, in the heath lands, or wilderness. In Southern Europe,
followers of the Old Gods became known as Pagans (from the Latin pagani,
country people 1
). Heathen and Pagan became words of derision among the Christians,
who were taught that the Pagan-folk were Satan worshippers, or simply
Godless.
In the Old Religion there is no Satan. The devil is
part of the Christian cosmos, not the Heathen one. Heathens were not
Godless; on the contrary, they believed in many Gods, Goddesses, wights
(living beings), and innumerable spirits inhabiting everything from
stones to trees. All in the Heathen cosmos is alive, and has some level
of consciousness.
The Old Norse Gods and Goddesses, the Aesir and the
Vanir, the land wights, Alfar (elves), and Etins 2
, inhabit the modern
Asatru cosmos as well. Heathenism is a polytheistic, animistic, and
depending on whom you ask, a pantheistic and shamanic form of spirituality.
Modern Asatru-folk place their trust in the Aesir and Vanir families
of Gods, just as Heathen folk did long ago. Many wonderful Sagas, songs
and legends survive to inform the practice of modern Asatru. Heathens
today often are quite educated about and interested in these surviving
Heathen texts, such as the Icelandic Eddas
and Sagas, for they give us insight into the historic practice of our
religion.
However, our Paganism is a living faith, and we have
vital personal relationships with our deities. Although Heathenism is
a personal religion without dogma, and the actual personal spiritual
practices of Heathen-folk vary as widely as do the people themselves,
there are some some concepts Heathens hold in common: the belief that
everything is alive, that the Earth is holy, that we can speak directly
to our Gods and Goddesses, that we are responsible for our own souls
and behaviour, that freedom, honour, duty, loyalty, love, hospitality
and courage are our highest principles. Our Gods and Goddesses are benevolent,
and are aligned against the forces of destruction. Hatred, racism, and
despising the weak are absolutely not a part of Heathenism. 3
Heathens respect all
life, and our spiritual texts teach us that we are connected to all
creation. According to the laws of Örlög 4,
what we do comes back to us, and we believe that hate and senseless
violence diminish the perpetrator. 5
Some
Related links
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Notes
1. There are plentiful historic records
of the Catholic Church's campaign of destruction against ethnic
(indigenous Pagan) religions all over Europe. A disturbing list
of some of these Christian pogroms against Mediterranean area
native religions can be found on the Persecutions
Against the Pagan Hellenes page.
2. Giants. Elemental beings who are usually,
but not always, agents of entropy and chaos.
3. See Hávamál,
Stanzas 69-72, and 135, for the words of Odin Himself on the subject.
4. Örlög ("Primal-layer")
or Wyrd, is the cosmic web of cause and effect that is
influenced by, and influences everyone. Part of our Örlög
is determined by the circumstances of our birth, our past lives,
surroundings and so on. Örlög is not set in stone, for
our choices in the moment are constantly modifying it. In other
words, what we do now and have done in the past affects what happens
to us in the future. This differs from the concept of "fate",
because it does not imply being utterly bound by a predetermined
future. Nevertheless, it does mean that we cannot escape the consequences
of our actions.
5. Although anger is a normal human emotion,
sometimes useful to survival, hatred is not. Hate is blinding
to a warrior, breeds irrationality, and poisons the wellspring
of the soul. Although Heathens will fight to defend their freedom,
families, and faith, xenophobia and hatred are not Heathen family
values.
6. If you are interested in seeing for
yourself some of the Satanic or white supremacist sites that defame
Asatru, Heathenism, and Paganism, Click
Here.
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