Ecilam

I originally posted this in a R&R thread but thought it more appropriate here.

E, some of the things you've discussed such as the Left Hand Path and, particularly, a return to the Asatru/Odinist/Norse Hero Worship traditions are some of the spiritual ideologies embraced by certain factions of the White Supremacist movement, such as the White Order of Thule and other Skinhead based groups. Actually, it is quite often identified domestically with such organizations almost exclusively, especially when the name Wotan is involved.

Does that have any effect on your thinking and what is your take on such groups attempting to usurp the Northern European spiritual traditons?

 

Very very excellent question; glad you asked.

THE SHORT ANSWER: Un-P.C. though I can be, at the end of the day I reject racialism because it overlooks individual merit and individual responsibility. My life experience shows me that a person's honor bears little relation to what their enthnicity might be. Any philosophy that flies in the face of firsthand knowledge deserves to me marked with a red flag.

THE COMPLETE ANSWER: There does exist a Left-to-Right spectrum within the neo-heathen revival, but it's not as cut-and-dried as "you're either a fascist skinhead or a white-light New-Ager." Two main ideas form the basis of the spectrum's poles:


1. You're either called to the Aesir (Gods) or you aren't. Every seeker is entitled to follow his intuition and revere the Teutonic Gods if he feels Their calling in his spirit. The practice of Asatru (literally, "True to the Gods") is an individual's choice.

2. The indigenous ancestral religion of a given folk (tribe or people) is embedded in every person's DNA. The decandence and dengeracy afflicting society is a symptom of Man's falling away from his original values and becoming disconnected from the Gods and spiritual legacy of his ancestors. For individuals of Northern European (Germanic) descent, this means that Asatru, the original pre-Christian religion of Northern Europe, is the true and natural path to follow. Anything else would be like putting on an ill-fitting costume and trying to tap-dance in it.


Both of these viewpoints hold their own merits. As you can imagine, Philosophy #2 holds a certain appeal to Germanically-descended individuals who hold racialist prejudices. So they jump on it and go with it all the way. They could be compared to the Christian Identity movement in that they project their own ideals and fears onto a pre-existing set of ideas and use them to propagate ideas that are not compatible in an enthically diverse society.

I was led to this path by a series of synchronicities and a vision. I'm still relatively new to all this, and in seeking more information I'm trying to balance skepticism and receptivity as best I can, with the time-tested occultist method of irrational inspiration followed by disciplined rational study. Ironically, in this process a truism attributed to Christ has helped along tremendously: "By their fruits shall you know them."

But, I won't be able to make a real call on this until I meet some Asatruar in person. My communications have been limited so far; I'd rather study up on the existing material and have something to offer others before approaching any hearths or kindreds just yet. So as of now I'm just going by listening to my gut and my head at the same time.

 

Good post, E.

I can see the attraction to the Neo-Teutonic traditions for many, particularly for someone in your "line of work." The warrior tradition of honor, loyalty, bravery, et al has a long history in myth and religion and are possibly some of our collective conciousness most powerful archetypes.

From your post, I gather that most of your study and learning has been self taught. How were you first introduced to the concepts? You say synchronicity and conincidences led you there, but was there a certain book, conversation, etc?

 

You're correct. Very self-taught at this point.

OK. The sequence of the works that led me on this road goes something like this:

Lucifer Rising by Gavin Baddeley, which I discovered in early 2001. I was in the last stages of unorthodox Christianity at this point, which basically meant making so many feats of ecclesiastic acrobatics to make my "faith" fit my natural inclinations that it bore little resemblance to the mainstream faith. Reading this book first lead me to consider that I was more of a natural Satanist than a Christian.

The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey. Late 2001. A common stepping-stone for guys like me. I'd just finished reading and absorbing this one before I first began posting on TBR. My earlier posts show it. You can tell the difference now.

Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Soderlind. Somewhere between 2002-2003. Being a long-time fan of extreme metal, this was a natural eventual read. This book introduced the Satanist-Asatru connection to me. Here I read a description of Odin (Woden/Wotan) that wasn't dumbed down for kids like the storybooks I'd read as a child. It so happened that I grew up in a small East Texas community called Woden, and the name of the small town in my novel-in-progress was Odin, an intentional tweak meant to mirror my childhood home. Reading the description of the Allfather gave me chills. It was too freaked-out to be "coincidence." I had to learn more.

Sometime after that I had a vision that I didn't realize the significance of until a bit later. PM me your e-mail address and I'll send you a detailed account of it I wrote for someone else.

In 2004 I started to actively seek out Asatru resources and books online, as mainstream bookstores are largely flooded with the typical books on Wicca, Kabbala and astrology in the "New Age" section and not much else. My library is slowly growing, and my reading is beginning to catch up with the stack. I'm trying not to rush it.

Sorry for the delayed reply. I wanted to take the time to do it right.