Requesting Information on Asatru

[borderline_mary]

I'm looking for some good information on Asatru. I've already a couple of leads from the Recommended Reading thread, but I'd appreciate any other direct help that can be given. The resources in my area are absolutely, appallingly scant -- my library offers me nothing of any real use, and while the University here might have better access, I do not attend said University and cannot go looking.

A brief background: I've been interested in knowing more about it for several years, it being the professed belief system of my now ex-girlfriend. My fiance, though mostly agnostic, has held on to it somewhat since she left, and we've talked tentatively about learning more. My personal belief system has fluctuated so much over the past few years that I'm no longer quite sure where I want to be, so I figure it's back to the drawing board (or the research board, as it were). I thought I'd start by getting a much more solid base for understanding Asatru since it seems to be something to which I and my fiance might jointly relate. Unfortunately, I believe that my aforementioned ex-girlfriend was quite probably very fluffy -- hence a lot of why I'd like something a bit more authentic. This way I can explore it for myself, and maybe help my fiance separate what was her interpretation from what the religion is really about.

Lastly, I've been lurking on the guild for far longer than ought to be allowed (I've been booted from other guilds for lurking this long >.>), so this is actually the first thread I believe I've ever started here, and I do so with moderate trepidation. Please let me know if I'm going about this the wrong way; I'm very much open to any advice.  

[Deoridhe]

Kveldulf Gundarsson isn't a bad source, though some of his stuff is shyte. Ravenbok is online, and there's a good mailing list linked to from that. It tends to be a quiet mailing list, but questions stir up lots.

I also have a thread in the pathways forum, and hopefully Ulfrikr will have one soon, too. He's a bit more of a loremaster than I.

As for lurking, I have no problem with it and we don't kick people from the forum for it. And questions are good. ^^  

[TeaDidikai]

I'm curious Deo- the more Asatru folks I meet- the more I begin to suspect it doesn't have a core set of practices and is more a generic term for Norse Pagan.

Do you have any thoughts on that?  

[Deoridhe]

TeaDidikai

I'm curious Deo- the more Asatru folks I meet- the more I begin to suspect it doesn't have a core set of practices and is more a generic term for Norse Pagan.

Do you have any thoughts on that?

It is a generic term for Norse Heathens. According to elders like Bill Bainbridge, it began as a Norse offshoot of Wicca. The last fifteen years or so have been an exercise in trying to get farther from Wicca and closer to what the worship of our gods might have looked like if it had survived uninterrupted.

The Nine Noble Virtues were an attempt at a centralizing factor. Some of the rituals are consistent - the Sumbel is historical, as is the Blot - in theory if not in practice. Personally, I think the general independent creation of loosely associated practices is good, as it leaves the door open for UPG and independent verification, as well as closing the door on abusive cult leaders or strangling doctrine.  

[TeaDidikai]

Does that mean you would include some of the books like Rites of Odin and the like... or... or... DJ Conway's Norse Magic?! blaugh  

[Deoridhe]

TeaDidikai

Does that mean you would include some of the books like Rites of Odin and the like... or... or... DJ Conway's Norse Magic?! blaugh

I own Rites of Odin. I award it more salt than most of my books, but I own it.

DJ Conway's Norse Magic is her Celtic Magic with the names changed.

And I will hurt you. ^^  

[borderline_mary]

Deoridhe

Kveldulf Gundarsson isn't a bad source, though some of his stuff is shyte. Ravenbok is online, and there's a good mailing list linked to from that. It tends to be a quiet mailing list, but questions stir up lots.

I also have a thread in the pathways forum, and hopefully Ulfrikr will have one soon, too. He's a bit more of a loremaster than I.

As for lurking, I have no problem with it and we don't kick people from the forum for it. And questions are good. ^^

Thank you very much, I'll see what I can obtain. ^^ How do I tell which of Kveldult Gundarsson's works are "shyte"?  

[TeaDidikai]

Deoridhe

And I will hurt you. ^^

4laugh

Actually, I was wondering if you had a chance to look over Witchdom of the Tru.

JesanaeTekani>> Compare his assertions about cosmology with key source texts. Read through some of his blogs or other online information. Some of the stuff he has actually addressed by saying something akin to "I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that! sweatdrop "  

[PurpleDragonsGems]

Deoridhe

TeaDidikai

Does that mean you would include some of the books like Rites of Odin and the like... or... or... DJ Conway's Norse Magic?! blaugh

I own Rites of Odin. I award it more salt than most of my books, but I own it.

DJ Conway's Norse Magic is her Celtic Magic with the names changed.

And I will hurt you. ^^

Someone gave me DJ Conway's book about Norse Magic. I havn't had the heart to accually read it.  

[TeaDidikai]

Dragon_Witch_Woman

Deoridhe

TeaDidikai

Does that mean you would include some of the books like Rites of Odin and the like... or... or... DJ Conway's Norse Magic?! blaugh

I own Rites of Odin. I award it more salt than most of my books, but I own it.

DJ Conway's Norse Magic is her Celtic Magic with the names changed.

And I will hurt you. ^^

Someone gave me DJ Conway's book about Norse Magic. I havn't had the heart to accually read it.

I know Asatru who found a use for it.

When it wasn't leveling out their coffee table, they could use it as a quick reference for one of their drinking games!  

[Deoridhe]

JesanaeTekani

Deoridhe

Kveldulf Gundarsson isn't a bad source, though some of his stuff is shyte. Ravenbok is online, and there's a good mailing list linked to from that. It tends to be a quiet mailing list, but questions stir up lots.

I also have a thread in the pathways forum, and hopefully Ulfrikr will have one soon, too. He's a bit more of a loremaster than I.

As for lurking, I have no problem with it and we don't kick people from the forum for it. And questions are good. ^^

Thank you very much, I'll see what I can obtain. ^^ How do I tell which of Kveldult Gundarsson's works are "shyte"?

Even he says his stuff about Valkyrie was brought on by some odd chemical substance. *snickers* I hope I'll get to meet him some day I need to get out more to do that, though.

Seriously - read pop Asatru books. Read the lore. Read mailing list stuff and opinions of web forums. See what sticks and seems "true" to you. See who seems consistent and brings unique perspectives. And somewhere in there is the "truth".

In my opinion, a living Asatru will hold many truths.  

[Deoridhe]

TeaDidikai

Deoridhe

And I will hurt you. ^^

4laugh

heart

No, I haven't. I've sadly neglected my studies in that area; I've been tied up in racism and gender studies recently. Both are hugely relevant to the type of Asatru I want to be a part of, though, so I'm not begrudging them their time.  

[TeaDidikai]

Deoridhe

TeaDidikai

Deoridhe

And I will hurt you. ^^

4laugh

heart

No, I haven't. I've sadly neglected my studies in that area; I've been tied up in racism and gender studies recently. Both are hugely relevant to the type of Asatru I want to be a part of, though, so I'm not begrudging them their time.

I'll loan you my copy when you come out for ReReCon.

It actually makes some good argument for some of the more Vanir based worship.