There’s a new Heathen festival that’s “Sprung up” in Darlington, MD.   The Nine Worlds Festival.   This festival describes itself as:

“a celebration of the Norse/Germanic/Anglo-Saxon Gods and Goddesses! We are gathering at Ramblewood Retreat Center in Darlington, MD from October 18 – 21 , 2012, Thursday through Sunday. Come walk the Nine Worlds that spin around the World Tree, and honor the Gods, spirits, and ancestors.”

There are several excellent (and some controversial) lecturers at this festival including:

Erik Clark

Erik Clark is a brewer of sacred mead, Rune Worker, Fellow in the Rune Gild, and a follower of the Old Northern European traditions and Gods in a modern context. His focus of study in the Rune Gild is on pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon spirituality and religion. He believes language is one of the keys to Mystery and enjoys studying the mysteries in his native language and it’s predecessors. He is currently nursing a growing interest in altered/ecstatic states created by breath work, singing, chanting, etc. He lives alone with two cats and four chickens and more computers than any one person needs. He enjoys sewing, singing, playing his guitar, making, hacking, cooking, and creating new things out of old things. He has a deep passion for things that grow, self-sufficiency, and getting along with people.

Del

Del has been referred to as “the red fizzy soda of the Gods – they keep passing it around saying, ‘You’ve got to try some of this!’” A child of Loki and an advocate for many underdogs, Del has worked as a Pagan hospital chaplain and presents regularly in Pagan and alternative lifestyle circles.

Raven Kaldera

Raven Kaldera is a Northern-Tradition Pagan shaman, herbalist, astrologer, transgendered intersexual activist, homesteader, and founding member of the First Kingdom Church of Asphodel. He is the author of too many books to list here, including the Northern-Tradition Shamanism series, Drawing Down the Spirits (with Kenaz Filan), Northern Tradition for the Solitary Practitioner (with Galina Krasskova), Pagan Astrology, and Hermaphrodeities: The Transgender Spirituality Workbook. ‘Tis an ill wind that blows no minds.

Anya Kless

The author of Lilith: Queen of the Desert, Anya Kless is a dual-tradition priestess and spirit worker, dedicated to Odin on one side and Lilith on the other. She has many years of experience in juggling the demands of Norse Gods with deities from other cosmologies. Her writing can also be found in the upcoming anthology Gender and Transgender in Modern Paganism and at her blog “The Fruit of Pain.”

Galina Krasskova

Galina Krasskova is a free range tribalist Heathen who has been a priest of Odin and Loki for close to twenty years. Originally ordained in the Fellowship of Isis in 1995, Ms. Krasskova also attended the New Seminary where she was ordained in 2000. She is a member of Ironwood Kindred (MA), Asatru in Frankfurt (Frankfurt am Main, Germany), the First Kingdom Church of Asphodel (MA), the American Academy of Religion, and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. She has been a state contracted expert on the Asatru faith, and is currently involved in prison ministry. Ms. Krasskova holds diplomas from The New Seminary (2000), a B.A. in Religious Studies from Empire State College (2007), and an M.A. in Religious Studies from New York University (2009). She’s presented at prestigious academic conferences including those held at Harvard, Santa Barbara University, and Ohio State University.  An experienced diviner, ordeal master, and conjure woman, her primary interest is in devotional work and the reconstruction of Northern Tradition shamanism. She can be found at Gangleri’s Grove.

Scott Mohnkern

Scott Mohnkern was introduced to Heathenry by Raven Kindred South in the 1990′s after having left the Methodist church.  He started as a solitary practitioner, and at the turn of the century formed a study/ritual group and started teaching classes at local festivals. Since then he has written two books, A Year of Viking ritual and Hanging from the Tree: Living with the Runes. He sees the northern traditions not just as a religious practices, but as a way of conducting one’s life. Scott is strongly tied to Odin, Freyja, Tyr, and Thor. He currently teaches northern European topics and technical topics at Cherry Hill Seminary.

Laura Patsouris

Laura Patsouris comes from a long line of mediums, Ancestor Workers and practitioners of the esoteric arts. She was born in Miami and was raised in the Cuban community there before moving to New England in 1986. She started on this path at a young age when her beloved Grandmother died and she realized their bond remained strong and vital. Today Laura lives in Connecticut with her family, works as a nurse, and teaches classes in Ancestor Work both locally and regionally. It is her life’s mission to teach others to honor and work with their dead and to emphasize that ancestral obligations transcend cultural and religious boundaries.

Eric S.

Eric S. considers himself a Heathen philosopher. Eric follows a Norse path influenced by classical philosophy (especially the Greco-Roman moralists), pragmatism, and scholarship. He has always felt strongly tied to Heimdall, even when he didn’t really realize why or what that meant. He also relates to Freya and other female deities. Eric is drawn to guardianship at many levels.

Jane Sibley

Jane T. Sibley, Ph.D., is a traditional Norse practitioner and a specialist in Norse folklore and runes.  She has taught at many Pagan events for decades, including at Rites of Spring, Feast of Lights, Twilight Covening, Beltane, Ecumenicon … the list goes on … and also hosts MithraCon, which focuses on Mithraism and other cults in the Roman Empire. Her books, Norse Mythology According to Uncle Einar,The Hammer of the Smith, and the recently-released “The Divine Thunderbolt: Missile of the Gods are available in the dealers’ room along with her spices and seasoning blends, and teas. http://www.auntiearwenspices.com/

Tchipakkan

Tchipakkan is an artist, writer, healer, and eclectic Pagan-Heathen-rustic. Openly Pagan since the 60s, she’s currently living on a small farm in NH aimed at self sufficiency and sustainability, with 3 adult children (all artists and writers), and a varying assortment of animal-friends and livestock. On weekends Tchipakkan teaches, while her daughters sell the family’s art through Cabochons, and they write, paint, sculpt, etc. the rest of the week. Recent writings include articles in  SageWoman and Hex magazines. Tchipakkan also wrote Divine Cookies and The Heathen Cookie Book, and paints book covers and portraits.

Elizabeth Vongvisith

Elizabeth Vongvisith is a Lokean priestess, consort and nun, gydja of Iron Wood Kindred, member of the Kingdom of Asphodel, politically incorrect liberal, intrepid road tripper, part-time house elf and dedicated amateur cook. Her other books include Trickster My Beloved: Poems for Laufey’s Son and Love and Shadows: Devotional Poetry, both published by Asphodel Press. She lives in central Massachusetts.

The following heathen/asatru related classes will be offered at Free Spirit Gathering this year:

• Five Blots

• Two Sumbels

• Introduction to Rune Divination

• Introduction to Bind Runes

• Heimdall: Guardian of the Bifrost Bridge

• The Path of Honor: Oaths, One’s Word, and Oath Taking

• Rage, Strength, and Spirituality

• Freya: Lady of the Norse

• Intro to Stáv

• Stáv Staff Training

• Stáv: The Warrior’s Daily Meditation

Plus many many other classes that aren’t northern related.

http://www.freespiritgathering.org

Review – Asatru for Beginners by Erin Lale

Last night, in my daily google report for new Asatru links, a book came up on scribd.  Asatru for Beginners.  Most of the links I get notified about I don’t bother to open, but this one peaked my interest.

Now everybody and their mother has written an introduction to Asatru book, from well respected authors (like Thorrson and Paxson) to leaders of kindreds (such as Lew Stead’s Ravenbok).   They all have their on color on things, with some being more dogmatic (Havamal thumping) and others being more flexible about practice.  You also have the more racist tomes mixed in as well.

As I opened up this book (An impressive 157 printed pages) to find that Ms. Lale, the author, started off by defining a few basic terms like pagan, Asatru, etc.   This really was a book designed for someone that had no exposure to the pagan religions.   She did an excellent analysis of the Universalist vs. Folkish analysis, and didn’t judge either side.

The opening of the book starts using a Question and Answer approach.   She answers questions like “Is Asatru a nature religion?” and “What is it like in Valhalla?”  Then she moves on to the Asatru creation myth.  She moves on to an explanation of the development of the Northern european religions (It’s similar to what’s found in Our Troth, by the ring of Troth, but more approachable).  She talks briefly about Asatru ethics, but doesn’t go into a lot of specifics (I kind of wish she had at this point, since I consider ethics the driving force, rather than the gods themselves), and also talks about Magic briefly.

there was one phrase I particularly liked:

Asatru is a religion of action, not faith

She moves on to address the “hijacking” of the symbolism of the Northern European religions by Hitler, and addresses discrimination against Asatruar in the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries.   She then jumps to the 1970′s with the resurgence of Asatru and discusses the various branches of Northern European belief, such as Odinism, Theodism, etc.

All and all its an excellent analysis of both the creation myth, and the history of the religion.   I was disappointed that it wasn’t documented better, but having read a great amount of material (modern and historical), she’s pretty much on target.

She moves onto a discuss the gods, and has an incredibly comprehensive list (Micki Tracy, who follows the Stav tradition, has a more complete list, but its the only larger one I found).   She moves on to some other “terms” that one must wrap one’s head around like Haminja, house spirits, land vaettir, Valkyries, etc.

Its at this point she moves on to beliefs and and morality.   I there was any complaint I had at all was I would have moved this forward in the book.   I’ve always been of the belief that while Asatru is certainly about following the gods and goddesses, what distinguishes it from other pagan religions is Asatru’s belief and morality system, and its largely the driving force for many Asatruar.   She spends a lot of time talking about beliefs and the afterlife first, and then moves onto morality, both in the Havamal, and the Nine Noble Virtues.   I would have reversed the order, but that’s just me.  She didn’t give credit for the Nine Noble Virtues (them came from the Odinic Right She cin the 1970′s) but her list largely matched mine (she had steadfastness, instead of perseverence).  She kind of discounts the nine noble virtues and moves onto a discussion on the concepts of good vs. evil.

After this beliefs discussion, the book moves onto more practical matters, such as traditions, clothing, facial hair, hair length etc.   She points out that there are many traditions, but does a good job of describing “what practices have been.”  From there the book moves to a series of political topics such as animal rights, environmentalism, and drug testing. While I personally largely agreed with much of her interpretation, I felt it should have been documented more.   Some of her statements (such as beliefs on homosexuality) are inconsistent with many other Asatruars, and she should have spent some time documenting sources, or developing a stronger argument on her points.

The next section is on Rituals. She covers blot and sumbel (the two core documented rituals) and gives good examples.   She moves onto things like weddings, funerals, etc.   I would have caveated these sections indicating that some of these are not universal in terms of Asatru belief.    I also wish she’d gone more in depth on the nine fold blot (Something I learned from fellow Asatruar).

The final section was on magic. I was a little disappointed by this section.   Now for the majority of Asatruar they don’t practice any of the magical traditions so this typically wouldn’t be a problem.   However, from my particular practice, while she started out well (talking about types of magic) I felt that she “stretched” into areas that are really not part of most Asatru traditions, including Runic yoga.  I found it interesting she included Runic yoga, but didn’t include Runic Reiki (Called Runevaldr).   I’ve studied a bit on both, realizing that they aren’t part of the classic traditions, but felt them worthy of study.

She also suggests adopting magical practices from other traditions, and I personally wasn’t entirely comfortable with that concept.

And as with the majority of books centered around Asatru, she lists a series of resources at the end of her book.   She includes some good ones, but also some that I feel promote the racial/genetic issues that I personally think are a detriment to our religion, and doesn’t do well to distinguish these as being “controversial.”

All and all, and excellent work, and one that is now in my library as reference.   For anyone that is new to paganism, it certainly would be one reference (along with others) that I’d point them at.

This political season has been interesting….. Being a libertarian/Rockefeller Republican watching how this campaign season has folded out has been, to say the least “entertaining.”

In particular, the Delaware Senate race between Coons and O’Donnell has been interesting to watch.   It’s also, from a public relations standpoint been a disaster for pagans in many many ways because of O’Donnell.

The short part of the story is that ten years ago O’Donnell was on a television show with Bill Mahr, and she said at that point in time that she had had a boyfriend who was a witch   Or a satanist, or something.   It’s really not clear except that she claims their first date was “on a satanic altar.”    Since that point in time she’s become a born again christian.   In addition, she’s had some significant financial troubles, and has made some statements about sexual activity (in particular masturbation) that make Jimmy Carter’s “I have sinned with lust in my heart” quote seem innocuous.

Personally, I could care less whether she was, or was not a pagan 10 years ago, or the fact that she’s a born again christian now.   But what does bother me is that the media seems to want to label her as a “past pagan.”   This gives the pagan movement a number of black eyes:

First, she’s not entirely stable.  Even John McCain’s daughter has labeled her a “Nut Job.” So, if she is a pagan, she’s a nutty one.   There are “non nutty” pagan candidates out there including Erin Lale and Dan Halloran who come off considerably less crazy.  Do they get put in the news?   No of course not.

She’s also fiscally irresponsible.   Now there are lots of people that go through hard financial times, and she has dug her way out, but the media seems to grab onto the facts from so long ago and beat her up with them.   This also doesn’t look good if “she’s a pagan.”

But lets take the other side, that she never really was a pagan.   Now show comes off as a right wing conservative Tea partier who is speaking against paganism, when if you look at the Tea Party themselves, they actually have come out more in support of pagan candidates than either of the other two parties.    The Tea party does have some fairly socially conservative members to it, but it is largely an economic movement, and one about government responsibility.

But if we take O’Donnell as a non pagan, and leader in the Tea Party movement, pagans now can’t lean that direction, because they aren’t welcomed by her.

All and all quite a mess.