Hello friends, how are you? My name is Arith Härger and today I'm going to tell you what Ásatrú is
Today I'm going to be completely neutral, impartial about this subject
I won't say if I agree or disagree with the subject
and the way things are religiously conducted
I will be in the position of putting my spiritual and philosophical beliefs aside
and solely focus on the understanding of this neo-pagan religion, Asatru
I will divide this video into two parts
First I will tell you what Asatru is, and that's it
as I've said, taking an impartial position, only being interested in briefly explain the foundations of this religion
and on the second part I will show you a book, talk a bit about it
which I think it's a good resource for those who are taking the first steps into this neo-pagan religion
or for those academics who are interested in studying and understand modern religions
With this being said, let's get started
Asatru is the name created by the followers of the Nordic neo-pagan religion during the 19th century
to designate the modern reconstruction of the religious traditions of Scandinavia before the introduction of Christianity
The name roughly translated means to be true to the Aesir
one of the tribes of Norse gods
which in this time, the 19th century, meant to be true to the Norse gods in general, to be faithful and worship the Norse gods
but with the increasing knowledge about pre-Christian Scandinavian pagan traditions
and with the creation of other branches of this faith
Asatru also became the term to refer to a religion much more focused on the Aesir
When you hear people say that Asatru is an ancient religion
older than Christianity, since prehistoric times
people are not referring to the Asatru the modern religious reconstruction
but to the set of religions and spiritualties which springs from the specific spiritual beliefs of Northern Europe
Obviously, our Norse ancestors did not refer to their religions as Asatru
This religion was revived as Asatru in the 19th century
although it received a special boost in the late 1960s and early 1970s
when Sveinbjorn Beinteinsson was the instrumental figure in getting Asatru recognized by the Icelandic government in 1973
and from that moment on several organizations started to appear all over Europe and in North America
Nowadays Asatru has hundreds of followers all over the world
especially organizations in the United States and Europe
and in Europe in certain countries it is recognized as an official religion
In Asatru there is a great emphasis of the Norse myths
although they are not seen as historical truths
mainly guiding lines in how we should conduct our lives in order to achieve greatness and enjoy this world, enjoy life
taking the best advantage of everything that surrounds us
and as such, the gods are often seen as part of nature and often manifest themselves through nature
and we humans have an intimate relationship with them
although it's necessary to point out that we are on our own
and we only communicate with the gods for help when all human efforts and recourses have been spent
and there is no other option
because when worshipping the Norse gods, a gift calls for a gift, and so sacrifices must be made
often in the form of ceremonies when the community shares with the gods personal objects, food, drink, etc.
to maintain the bounds of friendship strong, between us and the gods
Asatru adheres to the Scandinavian pagan belief that objects play an important role in the religious connection with the gods
the gods can infuse objects with power
there is a flow of energy which lies within all things
for instance, we create something, we bend our thought to it
we give it shape and so we give a part of ourselves to the object
it is infused with our essence
This can be given to the gods as an offering and in turn the gods are obliged to give something in return
in the form of energy
an exchange of essence which will help us to live life on our own, of course, but use that energy as a source of strength and enthusiasm
We require this force, the Megin, which is something beyond human understanding
but infuse us with power
The spiritual reality is affected by us and in turn it affects us
and this spiritual reality expresses itself in the form of gods and goddesses
The Asatru organizations are known as Kindred
The priests of a Kindred are known as Gothar
the plural form of Gothi or Gythia
So the Gothar are the collective priesthood of the Asatru Community
and the congregations are known as Folk
This is an important aspect of this religion, because like many pagan religions,
it's turned to the community
the importance of each individual in the community
altogether form a unified force that acts for the benefit of the entire group
to ensure protection, fertility, prosperity, well-being, so that the community stays strong and endures
The ceremonies performed within the kindred are known as blóts
and the altars on which the blót, or sacrifice is performed are/is known as Stalli
Now, what I'm about to tell you, I feel the need to reinforce what I said in the beginning
I will remain neutral on this video
I'm not here to tell you what I do, what are my spiritual ideas
therefore, I'm here to tell you what is done in Asatru and what the religion stands for
For people to become Gothar, the priests and priestesses of this religion
the person must possess 3 things:
The wisdom of Odin, the strength of Thor and the love of Freyja
These are the three main deities of Asatru, highly worshipped
These 3 aspects are often expressed by possessing sacred texts,
be part of a Kindred and care for the Folk
Guiding the Kindred with Wisdom, being strong for the community and work for the benefit of the community
which also requires a certain amount of love, friendship and compassion for the members of the community
The Gothar also need certain items to perform the rituals
like the hammer of Thor for instance, an oath ring
and focus much of the religious work on the Hávamál, on the teachings of the High One – Odin
The Hávamál is not seen as a definite holy text
The Hávamál is a poem that establishes the guidelines of Asatru
there are other sources of knowledge, of course, often used
but the Hávamál is a very important poem in the modern religious structure of Asatru
and mind that I'm talking about Asatru, the modern reconstruction, and not the pre-Christian Scandinavian religions
In Asatru there is also an annual high council known as the Althing
that sets the bylaws that the folk must follow
The Thing speakers, the main voices of the council, must be chosen by their kindred and their attendance is mandatory
Like many modern pagan reconstructions, this is a religion that shapes itself to our modern needs,
and as such, many Asatru organizations may do things differently
but the cannons of this religion, the basics, are the ones I've just mentioned
Of course nowadays there are many branches of the pre-Christian Scandinavian beliefs,
that are completely different from this 19th century religious reconstruction
There is a wondrous variety of modern spiritualties based on Northern European pagan traditions
Asatru is the most famous neo-pagan branch and although there are clear differences from organization to organization,
the foundations of this religion still cling to the 19th century religious reconstruction
and indeed the gods people worship in this religion are mainly the Aesir
such as Odin, Thor, Týr, Baldr and also two Vanir – Freyr and Freyja
The other gods are seldom heard of, or are simply not included
because the main focus is on the Eddas
on these historical sources,
which are works that reinforce the importance of the Aesir and a very few of the Vanir gods
So in Asatru, either the organizations focused solely on the Aesir or the ones focused on the gods in general
ivide the gods into two parts, two groups
the same way the Eddas divide the gods;
the Aesir, who are the predominant group, sky gods, war gods, law, justice, poetry, wisdom,
more focused on social realities and the need to maintain order
and the Vanir, some of whom have been adopted into the Aesir
but are gods more concerned with fertility, prosperity, plenty and magic
So this is what Asatru is
a neo-pagan polytheistic reconstruction based on certain religious and historical aspects of pre-Christian Scandinavia
a modern rebirth of the pre-Christian indigenous faith of the Norse peoples
Nevertheless, it's important to refer that the believers of this faith attempt to interact with the Norse gods
and in addition they recognize that other people have their own gods
so by no means do the followers of Asatru believe that their gods are the only true gods
It is a religion, or a reconstruction of a religious tradition,
without a hierarchical structure, dogmas, or sacred books being the centre of the entire religion
and as such, the religious practices may suffer a lot of changes and different interpretations ,
according to the social environment in which they are inserted
Now, for the second part of this video, I would like to show you a book,
book which I think it's a good resource for those who are taking the first steps into Asatru
and I assure you, even if in the long run you won't have any spiritual beliefs connected to Norse pagan traditions
even if you come up with the conclusion that this is not the spiritual path that suits you
this will definitely help you extend your spiritual horizons
and have a better understanding of other spiritual realities
which in turn will help you to take that step ahead, go over the fence, and slowly leave behind the non-pagan religious ideas you grew up with
This is the book, Essential Ásatrú by Diana Paxson
I've read this book more than a decade ago, on another lifetime
and of course I've read this again to be able to speak about it on this video
The knowledge I have today is definitely not the same I had back then
and thank the gods for that or I was clearly doing something wrong with my life-
if I still held the same understanding of the world
well... anyway...
as I've said, this is a very good source for all of those who want to know more about this neo-pagan religion
or for academics who study the alternative contemporary religions
t's a good source that shows the nature of Asatru
and the book is divided into 3 parts:
First, showing an educated historical balance of the first Germanic pagans,
all the way to the Viking Age and then their Christianisation
secondly, a general idea of the major deities and cosmology of the Norse religion during medieval times
and finally, Diana Paxton, she speaks about the rituals and practices in paganism nowadays
The general idea of this book is to cover as much as possible the information about the pagan religious practices,
using the main surviving documentary sources
literary sources
which are the poetic Edda, a set of Poetic works composed at the end of the Viking Age
but put to parchment during the feudal-Christian period of Scandinavia
the Prose Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century
and the Icelandic Sagas, which is a prose work between the 13th and the 14th centuries
but she also makes references to academic works of people specialized in the study of the original pagan traditions
which is good!
to reinforce certain aspects and also to demystify certain common errors about the Old Norse pagan practices
In this book the majority of the historical references are correct
except a few points here and there but...
not a big deal if your objective is to learn about Asatru as a modern religion
although I must point this out,
in magical aspects, she affirms that a general term for magic in old Norse is Gand
but actually the most common term in the sources is actually Fjölkunning
which is very similar to the word Kulning
an ancient Norwegian and Swedish herd call
to call livestock
a type of song with a high-pitched vocal technique
which reinforces the idea of using the voice in ancient Scandinavian magic
not the pronunciation or speaking incantations,
but the sound of words, the sound as a magical vibration
whilst Gand, or Gandr, is a reference to "Wand" or "spirit", which is quite different
Paxton differentiates Wicca from Asatru, which is an interesting point
she considers that the Germanic pagan tradition is much more focused in traditions and religious practices of the community,
in which magic has a secondary role
On this point I must disagree
and actually, the great majority of academics are researchers, such as myself, share a similar idea as mine
Ásatrú is clearly different from Wicca,
but that's not the point
the point is-
what she affirms, in truth it's precisely the opposite of what she said
he religious practices during the Viking Age were characterized by a great introduction, insertion of magic
both in daily life and public life
to the point that it is almost impossible to separate the two realities
religion in ancient Scandinavia had a lot of magic
She also speaks about a very delicate and controversial subject which affects every neo-pagan
The relation between ethnicity, culture and nationality,
The question is: Someone who isn't from Scandinavia or even European, can practice Asatru?
She also speaks about the modern struggle of neo-pagans coming from Christian families
having been raised with Christian values
and how hard it is to break the connections with those religious traditions and then moving to pagan ones
the problem with social acceptance, etc,
interesting points she refers which I will not discuss it in here
you will be the judge of that if you read the book with an open mind
So without a doubt it's an ingesting book for those who are taking the first steps into Asatru,
and want to know more about this neo-pagan religion based on pre-Christian Scandinavian traditions
All right friends, I hope you have enjoyed this video,
and, well... thank you so much for watching
and see you on the next one
tack för idag! (Thank you for today!)
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