Asatru Characteristic Beliefs

As a part of the great European Folkway, Asatru has a number of characteristic beliefs. Some of these are:

- The world is good. Prosperity is good. Life is good, and we should live it with joy and enthusiasm.
- We are free to shape our lives to the extent allowed by our skill, courage, and might. There is no predestination, no fatalism, no limitations imposed by the will of any external deity.
- We do not need salvation. All we need is the freedom to face our destiny with courage and honor.
- We are connected to all our ancestors. They are a part of us. We in turn will be a part of our descendants.
- We are also linked to all our living kin - to our families and to every man and woman rooted in the tribes of Europe. They are our "greater family."
- We are connected to Nature and subject to its laws. The Holy Powers often express themselves in Nature's beauty and might.
- We believe that morality does not depend on commandments, but rather arises from the dignity and honor of the noble-minded man and woman.
- We do not fear the Holy Powers, or consider ourselves their slaves. On the contrary, we share community and fellowship with the Divine. The Holy Powers encourage us to grow and advance to higher levels.
- We honor the Holy Powers under the names given them by our Germanic/Norse ancestors.
- We practice Asatru by honoring the turning of the seasons…the ancestors…the Divine…and ourselves - in everyday life.

Also read this ebooks:

Anthony Arndt - Asatru The Northern Way
Reeves Hall - Asatru In Brief
Aleister Crowley - The Three Characteristics

Green Runa

Book: Green Runa by Edred Thorsson

This is an anthology of shorter works written by Edred Thorsson for various Asatraodinist and Rune-Gild publications from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. Many of these essays have become classics, and include the first Introduction of the Odinist world to the ritual known as the symbel. Contains material previously unavailable to the general public on matters of runelore and Germanic religion. Includes a short biography of Edred by James A. Chisholm.

From the late 1970s to the early 1980s Edred Thorsson produced a significant volume of material which was produced in rather obscure Asatru or Odinist journals such as The Runestone in the USA and The Raven Banner in England. Additionally, Edred's own then fledgling Rune-Gild published a number of shorter works. All of these would have ended up virtually "lost" if they had not been Collected and edited for presentation in this volume.

Also includes a biography of Edred Thorsson by James Chisholm.

Buy Edred Thorsson's book: Green Runa

Books in PDF format to read:

Stephen Flowers - Runa
Karl Hans Welz - Armanen Runes
Ann Moura - Green Witchcraft

Asatru As An Ethnicity

For some, Asatru has come to take on an entire ethnic identity. We have come to see ourselves as a unique ethnic/national element in the world like many other ethnicities. This identity is based on a number of common identity factors such as common religion, societal values and ideals, common Historical origins, descent, mythology, folklore and literature, common language, cultural Symbolism and conceptual encoding. These things provide a Powerful and unique identity among Asatru’s followers. As a product of these commonalities a growing sense of people-hood has arisen among many Asatruar. This is the essence of Folkish Asatru. Among Folkish Asatruar, this is seen not only as empirically obvious, but an ideal which is to be promoted. To Folkish Asatruar, their ethnicity is deeply tied to belongingness based on religion, culture and ancestry.

Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):

Troth Aor - Odinism What Is It The Odinic Rite
Reeves Hall - Asatru In Brief
Miac - Asatru And Odinism

A Short History Of Asatru

Heathenry or Asatru (pronounced OW-suh-troo) is a modern name given to a living ethnic religion which embraces the indigenous polytheistic spiritual beliefs and sacred cultural formations of Pre-Christian Northern Europe. The first historical Heathens didn't have their ultimate origin in Northern Europe, but were parts of the great Indo-European family of cultures which all began somewhere in the steppes and river valleys of the Eurasian continent, north of the Black Sea.

That family of people would eventually migrate away and settle in ancient Europe, Iran, and India. Once long ago, these dynamic and world-affecting people all embraced similar Gods and sacred cultural institutions. Over time, cultural differentiation, migration, and diffusion of the Indo-Europeans led to the formation of groups recognizable as "Germanic" or "Teutonic" and "Celtic", as well as Roman, Greek, Slavic and many others. Asatru, as a term, is from the Old Norse and Icelandic languages, and it means "Belief in the Gods". The real seeds and root-impulses of Asatru go back as far as the Bronze age, as the symbolism and mythology of the religion reveals.

Asatru today refers firstly to the survival and revival of the belief in the Gods of the Indo-European peoples of Northern Europe. Secondly, it refers to the modern life-ways engaged by people today that draw their form and inspiration from what we know the ancient pre-Christian Northern peoples were doing religiously and how they lived, under the guidance of their cultural beliefs, institutions, and sacred stories.

Asatru was last practiced, in a form close to its present shape, in Iceland, up to the year 1000. In that year, the Icelandic assembly voted (under severe political pressure and threat of isolation from the Christian nations of mainland Europe) for the entire island to become Christian. Making offerings to the Old Gods and honoring the Ancestors was not immediately outlawed because of this ruling, but it became so later. It is believed that the practices and beliefs of the Old Way persisted behind closed doors (a great possibility in tolerant Iceland) until 1973 when the Icelandic Assembly recognized Asatru as the traditional indigenous faith of the people, and bestowed legal status and protections upon it. Asatru Hofs or temples, as well as cemetaries specifically for those who died in the faith, now exist in Iceland and in other places.

From Iceland, and on the heels of some of the earlier attempts to reclaim the old Heathen faith from continental Europe, Asatru spread out and new groups of people called back to the old faith began to appear. The various historical cultural sub-divisions of the Northern peoples- Angle, Saxon, Jutish, Norse, Swedish, Danish, Continental German, and others- have all been given both scholarly and poetic/spiritual attention in the last decades and have been successfully and respectfully tapped as sources for reborn Heathen religious and cultural lifestyles.

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Allen Greenfield - A True History Of Witchcraft

The Goddess Freya

Freya was a warrior goddess, a Valkyrie, and also the goddess of sensual love. Though this captivating goddess had numerous lovers, she was the wife of the mysterious Norse god Od. Freya was a spectacular beauty known for her appreciation of romantic music and stunning floral arrangements. That was her softer side; she was also known as the goddess of war and death. As leader of the Valkyries, she had considerable power. She had the right to claim half the souls of the bravest warriors who died in battle. Actually going onto the battlefield, she would gather them up and take them back with her to spend the after-life in her home in perpetual rest and recreation. A sweet and generous woman, she always invited their wives or lovers to come and live with them.

The other half of the heroic warriors, who belonged to Odin, would be gathered up by the Valkyries and taken to Valhalla where they were able to live in comfort and honor. She was also called upon to comfort those who were dying, to ease their transition into Valhalla (the "otherworld"), serving as a guide and companion on the journey to Valhalla for many Viking heroes who had died nobly. When Freya and the Valkyries rode forth on their missions, their armor caused the eerily beautiful flickering light that we know as the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights.

Freya's name was "The Lady" or "mistress", and may be the source of our name of the fifth day of the week, Friday. With her twin brother, Fryr ("The Lord"), these divine twins were the Norse deities of untamed nature. Freya had many other lovers, although she deeply loved her consort Od. (Remember, monogamy had not been invented yet and infidelity was the social norm.) Aphrodite's amorous escapades pale by comparison with those of Freya, whose unbridled sexuality was legendary.Usually depicted as a strawberry blonde with stunning blue eyes, none could resist her. To make matters even worse, like the Greek goddess Aphrodite, she possessed apparel that made her irresistible to men. . . a magical necklace reputedly made of amber and rubies that was called a "brisling" or "brisingamen".

Freya chastised Thor soundly one morning for awakening her from her beauty sleep with his boisterous and noisy preparations to "go fishing" for a sea dragon. While he was on the way to his fishing spot, Thor kept hearing lovely song-like noises that seemed to be lulling him to sleep. Stopping to investigate the source of the odd sounds, he found them coming from a nest of mewing blue kittens being tended by a tomcat. The sound that Thor had heard was the male cat singing to the kittens, "Sleep, sleep, my dear little ones". Thor suggested (in forceful terms) that the cat stop singing the lullaby and the cat sassed him back, suggesting that Thor had no idea how difficult it was for a single-parent male to rear his children and asking if he knew any women who would be willing to take them in.

Immediately Freya came to mind, and Thor agreed to take them to her. Like all cats, this one was not quick to show appreciation and added that, being blue, they were very unique cats and deserved an especially fine home. Thor took offense at the comment and thundered back at the cat who, not the least impressed, bared his claws and then turned into a bird and flew away. Kindly Freya was enchanted with Thor's present and did the kittens honor by letting them accompany her on her daily rounds across the sky.

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Religion Of Ancient Scandinavia

Book: Religion Of Ancient Scandinavia by William Alexander Craigie

The native religion of the ancient Scandinavians was in its main features only a special form of that common to all the Germanic peoples, and this again was only a particular development of primitive beliefs and practices characteristic of the whole Aryan race. It is impossible to say how far back in time the special Germanic and Scandinavian developments of this religion may go, and of their earlier stages we have absolutely no knowledge beyond what may be doubtfully reached by the methods of comparison and inference. Even of the later stages our information is much more scanty than might be expected. Among the Goths, the southern Germans, and the Anglo-Saxons in Britain, paganism gave way to Christianity at so early a period, that very few details relating to it have been recorded by the civil or religious historians of these peoples; they were indeed more inclined to supress than perpetuate any lingering knowledge of this kind. The absense of such information is a great bar to the proper understanding of many points in Scandinavian religion, which, instead of being thus illuminated from without, has continually been forced to throw light on the heathen worship of the other Teutonic peoples.

In the following account of the ancient Scandinavian religion, an attempt has been made to exhibit what is really known of the religious beliefs and practices of the people as distinct from the mythological fancies of the poets. With the evidence which we possess, it is impossible to determine how far the latter ever formed any part of a real popular relgion: in some respects there seems to be a decided opposition between the two. The mythology, as it is found in the old poems and in the Prose Edda, has been the subject of much learned speculation, and various theories as to the original functions of the different Gods and goddesses have from time to time been advanced, and have met with more or less acceptance. Much has also been written on the question how far the original conceptions had been modified under classic and Christian influences even before Christianity was finally accepted in the north. All discussion of these matters is here omitted in favour of a more direct investigation into the purely religious aspect of the old faith, so far as the existing materials admit of this.

Download William Alexander Craigie's eBook: Religion Of Ancient Scandinavia

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William Alexander Craigie - Religion Of Ancient Scandinavia

Understanding The Galdrabok

Book: Understanding The Galdrabok by Greg Crowfoot

The Galdrabok is a collection of Icelandic grimores, or magical texts, dating from the 16th to 17th centuries. The Galdrabok presents modern-day Rune Magicians with a wide variety of magical designs. Among them are several versions of the famous 'AEgishjalmur', or "Helm of Awe." As a whole, the Galdrabok utilizes traditional Northern symbology combined with a western European influence (which reflects the joint effect of Old Norse and Christian-Era culture upon the history and traditions of Iceland). But the Galdrabok's designs go well beyond those of the traditional bind-rune formulAE we are generally familiar with. Even a passing glance at the spells of the Galdrabok will impress anyone familiar with rune-magic of their high degree of sophistication and the potential power designs like them
could have in magical operations.

Several books discuss the Galdrabok either in its entirety or in excerpts: "THE GALDRABoK" as translated by Stephen E.Flowers, and "NORTHERN MAGIC," by Edred Thorsson.

The Galdrabok (Icelandic Book of Magic) is an Icelandic Grimoire dated to ca. 1600. It is a small manuscript containing a collection of 47 spells.[2] The grimoire was compiled by four different people, possibly starting in the late 16th century and going on until the mid-17th century. The first three scribes were Icelanders and the fourth was a Dane working from Icelandic material.[3] The various spells consist of Latin and runic material as well as Icelandic magical staves, invocations to Christian entities, demons and the Norse gods as well as Instructions for the use of herbs and magical items. Some of the spells are protective, intended against such problems as trouble with childbearing, headache and insomnia, previous incantations, pestilence, suffering and distress at sea. Others are intended to cause fear, kill animals, find thieves, put someone to sleep, cause farting or bewitch women.

The book was first published in 1921 by Natan Lindqvist in a diplomatic edition and with a Swedish translation. An English translation was published in 1989 by Stephen Flowers and a facsimile edition with detailed commentary by Matthias Vidar Samundsson in 1992.

Buy Greg Crowfoot's book: Understanding The Galdrabok

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Greg Crowfoot - Understanding The Galdrabok Part 3