What Is Asatru?

What Is Asatru?

“Asatru is an expression of the native, pre-Christian spirituality of Europe. More specifically, it is the religion by which the Ethnic European Folk have traditionally related to the Divine and to the world around them.

From Iceland to Russia, from the frozen north of Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, the Ethnic European Folk wandered and settled over a span of thousands of years. Today, their descendants are spread around the world. We may refer to ourselves as Americans or English, Germans or Canadians, but behind these labels lurks an older, more essential identity. Our forefathers were Angles and Saxons, Lombards and Heruli, Goths and Vikings – and, as sons and daughters of these peoples, we are united by ties of blood and culture undimmed by the centuries.” (S. McNallen)

“Asatru” roughly means “belief in the Gods”, “true to the gods” or “faith in the gods” in Old Norse, the language of ancient Scandinavia. Other names often used by practitioners of our faith include: Odinism, Theodism, Forn Sidr, Sedianism etc. Our ancestors most likely did not use the word “Asatru” to describe their religion, instead they probably used the word “Forn Sidr”, which roughly translates as the old customs. These customs refer to the traditions passed down through the ages which included belief in the gods and goddesses of our folk, ways to worship and connect with these divine beings, and how to live a morally sound life with within our communities. Our ancestors were a people of law and order and paved the way for us, their descendants. As a practitioner of Asatru we seek to connect to our ancient roots by observing the customs that have been left behind by our predecessors.

Basic Beliefs Of Asatru:

1. The Nine Noble Virtues (Courage, Truth, Honor, Loyalty, Self-Discipline, Hospitality, Industriousness, Self Reliance, and Steadfastness). We believe in striving to develop these characteristics in ourselves. We also believe that the amount of the virtues that we carry with us through our lives directly affects how well respected we are by the gods, and the likelihood of us being offered a place in Asgard upon our death. We believe that the amount of these virtues we observe in our friends is a valid way of measuring that person’s worth as a friend, just as the gods use this measurement when considering our worth as a friend.
2. We believe we have a right to happiness, strength, strong community (frith and grith), strong friends and security.
3. There is no one way that Asatruar come to see the gods, as each comes to the path as they may understand.Although there may be differences in understanding the divine, practitioners of Asatru recognize the northern European pantheon as the gods and goddesses of our ancestors and seek to exclusively connect with these divine beings.
4. We believe that our Orlog (fate set in motion by the events of our own lives, which are set in motion by our ancestors lives) is effected by our success or failure at following those virtues we consider most important. So much so that if we are in the right, we believe that Orlog itself will shape the Wyrd (mystical web of energy that connects all things in the world, following the rules of the Norns and of each person’s Orlog) of the universe.
5. We believe the spirits of our ancestors are often accessible after death.  Do you still “talk” to your dead mother, grandmother etc? If so, you are speaking to a type of spirit that we call a Disir. We gather once a year to honor the ancestral mothers that have passed over to the next world. We believe our ancestors can influence our “luck” or fate and can intervene in matters.
6. We believe that our loyalty lies first with our immediate family (including blood or sworn family members), secondarily with our extended family (including kindred members), then with our friends and eventually with our community locally and then nationally, in gradually expanding circles of inclusion. We believe that family can be claimed or denied, and thus our loyalty can be withdrawn if the person or group shows themselves to be unworthy of it. This is a family religion and loyalty to our family (and our chosen family – our kindred) is of utmost importance to us.
7. We believe we are honor-bound to honor the gods at least during the great blessings of the year, which we call “blot”. We believe that part of honoring them involves making an offering of some sort, even if that is just pouring out a bit of alcohol to them on the appropriate feast-day.
8. We believe in living in a community governed by law, and that enforcing that law should be an effort of the entire community if necessary. This is one of the central beliefs of Norse Heathens, and those beliefs are still alive and well in our people today.
9. As Asatruar we believe in hard work and enjoyment of life. We believe we should be physically capable, have a well rounded education, familiar with the laws of the land, a good public speaker, capable of defending our selves, hardworking, and enjoy all the luxuries of life.
   We believe in living our lives forthrightly. We do not believe in hiding who we are.