What is Asatru?

What is Asatru?

When I first set out on this journey to grow a Kindred I had in mind that everyone would bring in their own beliefs and we would all learn from one another. Though this has not changed, I do believe now that a goal or main focus of spiritual influence is needed to help better explain my practices in the Kindred.

Why is this important? Well this is where I will have to be more of a teacher than a participant. Asatru is going to mean differently from individuals, but I know what I want my Asatru to be about and what I’d like to teach, therefore it is my responsibility to ensure NFK influences a belief in which I follow. Though I still highly recommend keeping an open mind and learning from practitioner to practitioner, having a main view of this faith is needed.

We must first ask ourselves what is Asatru? Asatru is a reconstructed approach to the old Norse way of paganism. We must highly remember the key here is ‘Reconstructed’ because we don’t have a ‘how to’ with absolute certainty that this was the way of our ancestors practiced it. Being a reconstructed belief means it is influenced by old times, with modern ways to practice. An example here would be that we no longer hold blood sacrifices to the gods, for we now improvise this ritual into a modern day approach by blotting or offering to the gods in a more simpler and humane way. The idea is still the same, yet we can complete our offerings with food and drink, without having to slaughter animals in our backyards.  This is just one tiny example of keeping to the faith, but practicing it in our modern era. In fact the name Asatru  is a modern day term that explains what we believe, it means ‘Believe in the Aesir”. Old Norse Paganism didn’t have a name because it didn’t require it, before Christianity it was just the way.

Asatru is a polytheistic faith without dogma, meaning there isn’t any principles that state one must believe or do things a specific way. However, we do want to remind ourselves as practitioners that we hold ourselves accountable to keeping true to the old ways, meaning we do not change or create beliefs, principles, and unnecessary views on the faith itself. This is honoring what our ancestors believed, this is why it’s important to only change or modify things only to adjust to our current day and age.

One of the biggest influences I want NFK to represent is how we look to our gods. Too often fresh off the boat pagans read the lore such as the Eddas and believe what they read, this is not what our ancestors believed. NFK and its influence is to teach our members how the Norse held their gods, our gods, on two levels of power. The first being the energy of empowerment. They gave offerings and prayed to the gods not as a Christian view of their god, but as spiritual energies that empower the laws our humanity. The second view were the gods within themselves, the conscious of one’s self.

The infamous explanation of the Eddas being the closest thing to a “Book of faith” is by far furthest from the truth. The Eddas hold no explanation of how Norse Paganism worshipped their gods, nor explain how to have faith within Norse Paganism. The Eddas at best are metaphorical codes for explaining the nature of life to the belief of our consciousness and desires.

The Eddas do hold a purpose in our faith, but not as a book of faith or how to, but a glimpse inside what old Germanic and Norse people believed was important, which is one’s honor, one’s spirit, one’s mind. I’m begging to find out that the Norse were really spiritual people regardless of what we are forced to read or believe. In fact the idea that Norse Paganism was a faith without morality is completely false, most of the poems including heroic poems are broken down into simple terms like overcoming fear, overcoming oneself in dark times, moral codes for how one should act, moral codes for how to live a life with an open mind, and how our negatives can corrupt our lives. The Norse may have not had morality such as heaven and hell like a Christian faith does, but they do have morality in one’s behavior, especially in the nature of life.

The Norse poems in the Eddas describe Valhalla being for the slain in battle, did our ancestors believe Odin takes them away after they die in war to sip mead in Valhalla, well yes they did, to a degree. They believed there was a higher place in the afterlife for those who died honorably. What is honorably? Well back then it was being brave, and fighting in war for your people. However, what is becoming uncovered in modern translations of the Eddas and cross referencing the belief to like wise cultures is dying honorable meant dying in purity, without regret or shame. So the morality of doing good in your life today will cross over in your afterlife, not determining where you go, but possibly the reflection you’ll receive after entering into Hel.

As the president of NFK I refuse and cannot teach you how to be pagan, show you how to worship the gods, force you to believe what I want you to believe.

However, as president of NFK I can try my best to help you understand what true Paganism is about. Influence you to worship the gods on many levels as our ancestors did. Explain and open your mind to what Nine Faith Kindred’s Asatru is and its practices. Again, a reconstructed way of practicing a faith from centuries ago.

NFK believes our gods are both spiritual and consciousness. That the realms of our cosmic tree are both universal aspects of energy and areas within our mind.

NFK believes in the right to the old ways of practice, but also creating a modern practice to help sustain and empower our modern era.

NFK believes our lore is important to our faith, but not in a physical sense, metaphoric teachings on how to deal with the nature of life and conflict within ourselves.

Many tribes of the old Germanic and Norse peoples practiced this faith with slight differences between them. Differences pertaining to blot, offerings, rituals, and format systems of their villages. This is an example of different teachings of the same faith.

Until the day we have a book from those old times, that clearly states how and what Asatru is, it’s left to us to reconstruct it as best we can, keeping to the old nature, but practicing it with a modern approach.