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Month: September 2016

The Dreaded Unverified Personal Gnosis

The Dreaded Unverified Personal Gnosis

At some point, if we talk about our experiences in Heathenry, someone inevitably brings up Unverified Personal Gnosis.  I’d actually would prefer to ignore the whole UPG side of Northern paganism, but seeing as UPG dragged me into being a heathen, I suppose I should talk about it in some rational manner.  (Rational manner, Rational Heathen — get it?)  So, I’m tackling the tough questions and looking hard at the section of UPG.

Warning: UPG Ahead!

“Unverified personal gnosis” are code words for interacting with the divine. It can be something as simple as idea that we get that we think is “divinely inspired,” or it can be a full-on visit by a deity.  It’s “unverified” because nobody else experienced it, or we can’t hold it up to the light of science and measure it as “real.”  In fact, you could take the whole lot of UPG experience and claim we’re just a bunch of crackpots who are off our meds (or smoking way too much shit), and I wouldn’t necessarily argue with you.   It could be that, but some of the UPG I’ve experience was when I was stone-cold sober, and talking with gythias seem to confirm what I experienced.  So, I have one of two choices to consider: I’m crazy and this is all in my head, or this could have happened and I’m mostly sane.

The problem is how do you know?

Am I Crazy, or was that Thor?

Lots of people have what could be considered UPGs when it comes to their religion. The fact that there are some 5000 religions out there, each with people (alive or deceased) claiming they’ve spoken to gods, suggest that there are plenty of people who are either delusional or who actually have gods who speak to them. And a majority of people out there tend to believe these people, whether it is Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, or any other -ism or -ity you care to name. The simple answer is often the most likely: we’re all fucking crazy and we’re all in some sort of state of self delusion.

But look at the numbers of Christians who believe that the wine and bread becomes Christ’s body and blood through transmogrification, or believe that Christ rose from the dead.  Look how many Muslims believe that the archangel Gabriel spoke to Mohammed. Look at the people in other religions who believe in ancestor worship, such as in Shintoism.  Then there are plenty of pagans who have spoken with their gods. What gives?

At this point, you’re thinking I’m probably recommending that you stick with atheism and be done with it.  That’s really not what I’m thinking, although atheism would probably do some folks a world of good, methinks.  At one time, I would’ve told you that it was all in your head, but having experienced UPGs, I have to reconsider them from a rational point.

What Changed My Mind

A few months after Tyr approached me, I nearly died in an accident.  I’ll spare you the gruesome details but suffice to say I woke up in the hospital not remembering much except a bunch of convoluted dreams.  These dreams were actually reality–they happened. But they were unlike any reality that I experienced. For one thing, it took awhile for me to remember them or what may have happened.  To this day, I can’t say with any certainty what did happen precisely.  On the flip side, I remember some dreams better than reality — and that left me totally unnerved.  It still does, and that brought into sharp focus what reality exactly is: reality is how we perceive it. Our senses and our mind can be tricked at any time, and even at the quantum level, things can get weird and be perceived one way when we observe it and another way when we do not.

What is Reality? — the 64 Million Dollar Question

I realized by this accident that we really don’t know what reality is in the true sense. We can think we imagined things that were true, and think things that are true that we have imagined. The line can get extremely blurry from time to time when people witness something, as any good cop or detective will tell you. Unless you have a camera or a trained observer, people are likely to come up with all sorts of eyewitness accounts.  My question is does it make it less true because someone saw it differently?  Can the camera “fix” the state like the quantum physics experiment?  Probably not, but who really knows?

Our senses tell us whether things are true or not, but our senses can be deceived in all sorts of ways. Our mind can think through things logically and still be wrong because we don’t have all the facts. So, I was left feeling incredibly insecure about what everything really was.

That’s when Loki showed up.

Enter Loki, Stage Right.

Apparently I wasn’t dealing with the entire concept very well, and I wasn’t really taking care of myself.  I was out of the hospital and working hard to bring in money again. (You think you’re poor? Get injured when you’re self employed.) Loki showed up at Tyr’s request and nagged me to take care of myself.  At first, it was amusing.  Then, it got annoying.  Loki took great delight in annoying me.  Then, he got bored when I started to pay attention.

Loki is truly the ADHD kid of the gods. A lot of people see him as evil, but I don’t see it quite that black and white. He’s capable of great mischief when he wants to do it, but I recognize the times when he can be a great ally. This doesn’t make me a Lokean, but it does make me somewhat more sympathetic to him than some people are.

But Back to UPG…

At one time, our religion had to have some sort of  UPG or it would’ve never existed. Humans did have to communicate with our gods somehow (or made up good stories about communicating with our gods) or we wouldn’t have Heathenry or Asatru today.  If we truly believe that our gods are living, then perhaps this is the way they communicate with us.

My thoughts on UPG are kind of mixed. I’ve seen some shit others have also seen that I can only attribute to a god or goddess (or weird blind luck).  My thoughts are if you get UPGs, and they help you along in this world, and harm no one, then who is to say they are bad? I mean it’s one thing if a god tells you to care for yourself, and it’s another thing if you think that god tells you to harm someone.  As long as they are not hurting you or someone else (or don’t tell you to do destructive things), I’m willing to consider that you’ve heard them.  And if your UPG matches mine and others, I’m going to think it’s a distinct possibility.

Wights, Goddesses, and Strange Things

Wights, Goddesses, and Strange Things

I’m pretty much what most people would consider close to a subsistence hunter. There are several reasons for this, including the fact that I live in a state where I can hunt nearly year round.  Lately, I’ve run into what can only be considered a goddess’s sense of humor.

My Relationship to the Goddess

Most of my life I’ve spent outdoors and in cold weather because, quite frankly, I melt when I have to deal with heat.  Any heat.  Cold and snow has always been my thing. When I went out in the forests in the past before I became a heathen, I could feel something there.  Something powerful and something that could be dangerous.  That pretty much describes Skadi.  You respect the goddess and she’ll let you live another day.  Don’t respect her and you’re dead.  Even those who have a healthy respect for her can screw up and end up frozen to death, buried in an avalanche, drowning under the ice, or eaten by a predator.

Yeah, you better respect her.

I’ve had a healthy respect for her for years, but she can sometimes surprise you with unexpected things. For example, our success in hunting is directly related to her graciousness — and the kindness of the wights. We always be sure to thank the animals we kill and apologize that we must do this to eat.  I sometimes leave little offerings for the wights in that area as a thank you.  I wish I was better at this, so I need to do that more often.

Thanks to Magickal Graphics

Skadi Always Liked You Better

Skadi can be a bit of a capricious goddess when it comes to hunting. For one thing, it’s tough to ask her to send animals your direction.  When she does, it’s amazing.  The animal will actually wait for you to kill it.  Now, you may think I’m bullshitting you on that, (I would), but I’ve seen it now at least four times, and maybe more.  Most of the time, she blesses my husband with such animals.  (I personally think she likes him better.)  But recently, she gave me a turkey which I shouldn’t have been able to shoot, and when I hit him, he could have run off, but instead waited for me to finish him.  (When I dressed him, I found that the shotgun load had broken a wing, but didn’t do any other damage.)  You see, turkeys are fast runners as well as fliers, so having one wait for me was pretty amazing.

Now, you may say the goddess had nothing to do with that.  You may be right.  Maybe animals just wait to get killed.  But I kind of doubt it.  So, I thank the wights and the goddess for the game and feel good about the hunt.

Explaining Hunting Rules to a Norse Goddess

Sometimes even I forget the basic rule: The Gods are Not Your Bitches. But to be honest, hunting isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do. Animals tend to make themselves scarce with people around, which means locating them can be problematic.  I’ve looked over the statistics for our state and hunters maybe fill around 8 percent of their tags.  That counts all animals with a tag taken, not just deer or elk.

Hunting also means you abide by a set of artificial rules.  You can’t hunt on private property without permission, you can’t hunt at night, and you have a certain season you can hunt.  The type of game is restricted, such as males or females, age, and how you can harvest your animal.  Basically it’s enough to drive anyone who isn’t familiar with it all insane, which is why it can be a bit problematic when you have the goddess’s attention and try to explain what kind of bear you want to hunt, why you can’t bait them or hunt at night, you can’t hunt a sow with cubs, and sure as shooting, you can’t shoot the bear she dropped in your lap in the middle of a public road. (Yes, this did happen to us.) The goddess delivers, just not always where you need it. I suspect it is her sense of humor for having to endure my litany of conditions. (At this moment, I have a vision of Skadi peering over the 2016 hunting guide and frowning perplexed.)

At the end of the season, I should give the goddess the hunting guide as a burnt offering in my woodstove.  No doubt she’ll find the reading pretty strange.

The Wights and Hunting

Whenever we go to hunt, I can usually get a feel for the area.  I understand that even though I’ve never seen wights, I do get a sense of the “mood” of the land.  In most cases here, I can feel the overall mood and decide whether the wights are positive or not. The places we’ve hunted so far have had some amazing feelings.  The land is awesome; the animals, if we see them, are usually great. I’ve had deer come up to me within 20 yards regularly while we were looking for elk. As much as I would’ve loved to have shot them, the deer season isn’t upon us, so I have to just admire them.  We’ve been lucky and found animals we’ve shot due to either the wights or Skadi, herself, when we pretty much thought the animal was lost.

There have been places where the land felt wrong, no doubt due to the wights there. Luckily where I now live most of the wights feel more welcoming than anything, which amazes me.  It may be just me and those who can feel them, or it may be that they are more open to humans.  I don’t know.  I do know that I offer the local wights eggs and milk to them frequently, and they seem to like that.

Why I Hunt

My husband and I have been hunting a long time. We love nature and we love animals, but importantly, we love the meat we get.  We’re not particularly interested in antlers, mainly because you can’t eat those, but we won’t turn down a trophy buck if he walked out in front of us. I think that Skadi approves of that, simply because it is respectful.  We try to use most of the animal and give back into nature that we can’t use.  Overall, it has served us well.

Hunting, Gathering, and Being Heathen

I think that many people have lost their connection with nature and the natural order of things. Some of being a heathen means that we should keep the connection to the land and nature the way that our ancestors did.  As a hunter, I’ve had to learn to read animal signs and tracks, know how to stalk an animal without my scent giving me away, and of course, locating the beast we’re looking for. I’ve been getting better at identifying edible plants as we hunt and learning to gather them for food.  It’s a delightful skill, and one that I feel the pleasure from those wights around me when I recognize the bounty they have offered us.

When I look at what we do versus those who sit and analyze the dusty tomes, hoping to glean a bit of truth, I know that my path is more fulfilling in a lot of ways, at least for me.  Yes, there are those who cannot do what I do on a daily basis, due to where they live, but there are many ways to get in touch with our world.

Some Suggestions for City Folks

Look, I spent my childhood and adolescence growing up in suburbia.  Even so, I spent an inordinate amount of time in the forests near my home back when parents didn’t worry so much about where their kids went.  (Somehow, we survived.)  Anyway, I’ve been to the big cities like New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, and Chicago, so I get the problems you people have.  So, here are my suggestions to help you get a little closer to nature.

  • Take a class in wildcrafting or foraging.  Believe it or not, even in the big cities nature tries to reclaim what humans try to eliminate.
  • Plan a day trip at least once a month to someplace wild.  Go for a hike.  Find a place to meditate.  Look for wild edibles. (It’s important to have someone who knows what they look like identify them to you first before you take them.  Also it’s important to know what the state laws are for gathering wild edibles.)
  • Learn to hunt.  This is a bit of a steep learning curve, but it can be done.  Take the Hunter’s Safety course.  Don’t want to use a firearm?  Bowhunting is certainly a possibility.  You will have to learn how to handle your weapons safely and get good at shooting, whether with a rifle or a bow.  Find someone to mentor you.  You might just discover a new skill that puts you in touch with your ancestors.
  • Plant a container garden with herbs.  You can bring them inside when the weather gets cold and you have terrific herbs to use in your cooking.

These are some ideas off the top of my head.  Maybe you have other ideas on how you can become part of the natural order.  I certainly don’t have all the answers, but you can always talk to  me about it and give me your ideas as well.

 

Inbred Monkeys, Kindreds, and Lone Wolves. Are Kindreds Antiquated?

Inbred Monkeys, Kindreds, and Lone Wolves. Are Kindreds Antiquated?

“Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god. ”— Aristotle

One of the many solitary heathens who follows this blog asked me to say something about solitary heathens, and I thought it’d be a good idea.  Whether you belong to a kindred, or whether you are solitary, chances are you’ve had thoughts about whether you can be a heathen with a kindred or not. Seeing as I do not claim a kindred, by Aristotle’s view I am a god or a beast.   I know what my detractors would claim I am.  But seriously, I have my thoughts about kindreds and about solitary heathens, so you can take this as a mixture of science, history, and opinion.

What Science has to Say

TL;DR: Scientists believe groups are a natural order because it helps defend against predators.

If we look at other primates, we can note that they too require some sort of social group.  This isn’t exclusive to primates, per se, it appears to be a natural order among many different species all the way down to insects such as bees and ants. In the higher order lifeforms, we note that most animals are in social orders for protection, mating, and territory.

Jaguar & Panther Graphics
Thanks to Magickalgraphics.com

Science has determined that the primates’ social order didn’t begin as a couple and increase. Rather, it’s likely that there were many related females and several unrelated males in the social order. (Of course, there are variations to this.)  This social structure occurs not only for diversifying the genetics and avoiding inbreeding, but also for protection.  Solitary hunters are generally nocturnal, and nocturnal animals are often solitary.  They use the night to hunt and to conceal them from larger and more dangerous predators. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, that’s basically how it works.  Animals that are mostly diurnal tend to run in groups because solitary animals can be seen and picked off easier by predators in the daytime. Numbers provide a certain amount of safety.

When our ancestors went from nocturnal to diurnal, we stuck with groups for safety. This required a high degree of sociability, because we probably would’ve killed ourselves of with antisocial behavior.

Our Brains are Naturally Programmed for Groups

 TL; DR: The biochemicals in our bodies makes us want to be social.

One interesting paper I read was the affect of certain neurotransmitters in our bodies to our behavior to become more social or antisocial. People who had increased serotonin levels tended to behave more social.  Heightened levels of oxytocin cause people to form bonds between mates, and between parents and offspring.  This also causes a heightened need to protect families.

We as humans have evolved to be social animals, which is why when people have lower doses of serotonin, we can assume that they may have problems such as depression and other conditions that may cause us to become more isolated.

Nature as the Basis for Kindreds

TL; DR: If we look at the history of humans, it’s obvious that in earlier times people arranged themselves in kindreds similar to other primates for protection.

When we look at kindreds, we can kind of see how the older kindreds were arranged, potentially in the fashion I mentioned above with related females and unrelated males. This is a natural construct to protect diurnal primates which humans have inherited. A “lone wolf” human was unlikely to survive without some sort of group. The world was a pretty scary place back then, and people had to band together in order to survive.  As hunter/gatherers, and later, as farmers, we needed a group structure to live in.  This structure offered us protection from the natural predators, and from other groups of humans.

At this point, I can see the recon heathens applauding my statements.  Ah hah!  They think I’ve agreed with them.  Lone wolves have no place in heathenry, or so they think.  Guess what?  They do have a place in heathenry.  Let me continue.

Thanks to Magickalgraphics.com

Times Change; People Change

TL;DR: The rule of law has reduced the need for protection a kindred affords.

At this point, it’s easy to see why there was an inner-gard/utan-gard.  The people within the inner-gard were those family and allies that needed to be cared for or defended. The utan-gard were those who did not belong.  Even so, heathenry insists on courtesy to strangers because the world was a difficult place.  The ethics of reciprocity is very much part of the heathen belief.

As the rule of law (thanks, Tyr!) took over, the need for kindreds dwindled. Unless you live in a country under complete chaos, the need for having warriors ready to defend the homestead is happily rare. The 20th Century saw the rise of the nuclear family — where a family consisted of parents and children. Sure, there were grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc., but seldom did they live in the same town, let alone the same home as you did.

Nowadays, the family has morphed to whatever the person needs. There are single parent households, there are households with same-sex parents, there are couples without kids, there are children being raised by grandparents, there are temporary marriages, etc. Whether or not you think this is right, that is irrelevant because it is how our society has changed. There are certainly extended families and kindred-like arrangements, but I’d argue that as long as the rule of law continues, there is less need for people to have kindreds for safety sake.

 

Wolf Graphics & Comments
Thanks to Magickalgraphics.com

Inbred Monkeys and Lone Wolves

TL;DR: Your kindred are the people whom you associate with and have relationships with, whether or not they believe in our gods. Joining a heathen kindred may be helpful but not mandatory.

We know from science that human beings have nearly gone extinct twice, thus making us a little more than inbred monkeys. I suspect (and this is my conjecture) that it makes us hang onto certain traits a little longer than we really need to. The need to be social may be one of those traits that has been ingrained for a long time, although whether we need it or not can be debated.  I would argue that there are some things you still need from society, even if you manage to become mostly self sufficient. No man is an island, as a teacher of mine once quoted John Donne.

When we look at following the gods and goddesses of our ancestors, do we really need to be in a group to do so?  I would argue no, although you may get more out of being with others. There is a certain amount of comfort belonging to a kindred.  I would also argue that you have a kindred already.  You family and friends are your kindred, even if they are not followers of your path.  These are the people you go to when you need help; these are the people whom you help.

What’s more, we have bigger distances than even the Vikings traveled when it comes to finding folks who believe in our religion.  And even if we find people who are heathens, there’s no guarantee we’re going to get along.  We know that our ancestors didn’t just get along because they believed in the same gods.

The other side of the coin is that technology has made it so that we can have virtual kindreds.  I mean, let’s face it, we can meet via chat rooms and even attend conferences real time. So, even if you are a “lone wolf” heathen practitioner, you can still get some of the benefits being in a group.

To Recap

Our social behavior came about as an evolutionary adaptation to protect ourselves from predators. We have found it useful behavior as we cannot do everything we need to survive in most situations.  (Self sufficient people still rely on tools purchased or obtained from others.)  Nowadays, kindreds are less needed for protection, and are by their nature, a social construct. Your kindred are the people whom you associate with and have relationships with, whether or not they believe in our gods. Joining an Asatru or Heathen kindred is useful in many respects, but not mandatory, especially with the advent of the Internet.

So, solitary practitioners, despair not.  Adaptation is one of the great things about us and our ancestors.  You don’t need to belong to a heathen kindred to follow our gods. They are helpful, but not necessary to be a heathen.

 

I Support Declaration 127

I Support Declaration 127

Reprinted with permission.  Go to Declaration127.com for more information and for a list of those organizations and individuals who agree with the statement.

Declaration 127

hvars þú böl kannt kveðu þat bölvi at ok gefat þínum fjándum frið

D127sticker2-5
The Asatru Folk Assembly (hereinafter referred to as the AFA) has a long and well documented history of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, sexuality, and gender identity. In a recent statement the AFA declared point blank that non-white and LGBT Heathens were not welcome in their tradition. While the undersigned organizations listed here fully recognize the AFA’s right to govern themselves as they see fit, and with full autonomy, we hereby exercise the same right.
We will not promote, associate, or do business with the AFA as an organization so long as they maintain these discriminatory policies.
The AFA’s views do not represent our communities. We hereby declare that we do not condone hatred or discrimination carried out in the name of our religion, and will no longer associate with those who do. We will not grant the tacit approval of silence in the name of frið, to those who would use our traditions to justify prejudice on the basis of race, nationality, orientation, or gender identity.
The AFA is free to stand for whatever principles it sees fit.
They are free to stand alone.
When Did the AFA Join the Westboro Baptist Church?

When Did the AFA Join the Westboro Baptist Church?

With all the Asatru Folk Assembly crap being flung around, you’re probably wondering what The Rational Heathen has to say.  Well, if you haven’t read my posts before, now is the time.  But I digress…

Before we get started, I must point out that I didn’t mean to insult the Westboro Baptist Church…Oh fuck, who am I kidding?  I most certainly did.  In a stunt that could only be pulled by people of that kind of caliber, the Asatru Folk Assembly, has determined that straight whites who uphold what I can only consider “traditional” Christian roles are allowed in their group.  That means, my friends, that “blacks need not apply” and that LGBTs and other minorities aren’t allowed to join in their goosestepping sessions.  Hel’s bells, I don’t fit the submissive, subservient woman, so you can betcha I am most certainly not welcome.  But I may try to get in just for a laugh and to spy on them until they kick me out.

Can you imagine me on their boards?

We hates Nazis, precious.  We hates it forever!

Tolerance: We’re Not Asking Them to Get Married to a Minority

Thanks to Huginn’s Heathen Hof for this clip.

In the words of the AFA states:

“…we believe gender is not a social construct, it is a beautiful gift from the holy powers and from our ancestors. The AFA celebrates our feminine ladies, our masculine gentlemen and, above all, our beautiful white children…”[emphasis mine]

Well, okay then.  Whether or not you agree with the LGBT lifestyle, whether you believe gender is a social construct or nature, whether or not you choose to marry a person of the color of your skin,  whether you prefer powerful or demur women or men, the reality is that we must live honorably.  That means living to a moral code that honors our ancestors and our gods. We are not judged like Christians are with their god, but we ARE judged by our actions.  Were they honorable? Did they uphold the heathen codes of conduct?

People are many things in this world.  They are husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, Christians, Heathens, Jews, Catholics, Muslims, atheists, daughters, sons, soldiers, doctors, dentists, plumbers, scientists, unemployed, teachers, friends, volunteers, firefighters, EMTs…the list goes on and on.  But the first thing every person is, is a human being. Judging a person by the color of their skin is a stupid, meaningless exercise since we’re so closely related, we’re basically a bunch of inbred primates. In fact, race is a construct. Judging the person by their sexual orientation is beyond idiotic.  If you have cancer, you don’t tell the greatest cancer surgeon that you don’t want him to operate on you because he’s gay.  You don’t ask the airlines about the pilots who fly you somewhere if they are your color or if they are straight.  You don’t stop depositing money in your bank account because the teller is Muslim.  Chances are  you don’t even know those facts about those people.  You just hope the doctor is good, the pilots will get you where you need to go safely, and the teller inputs the right information.  Why is this so hard for some people?

Treat the people with respect that are trying to help you.  Treat everyone as the human beings they are and if they prove not worthy of your respect by their actions, you can modify it.  It’s that simple.

Thanks to Xan of HHH for this

The Dirty Laundry — or Toleration for Goosesteppers  

It’s no secret that Heathenry has its share of dirty laundry.  Most is in the form of white supremacists and Nazis who think that by worshiping our Northern gods, we automatically cut out other races and minorities. The truth, however, is far from what the goosestepping crowd wants people to believe. The Northern peoples didn’t care about the color of your skin. They were an inclusive group who married into other cultures and fought beside those who considered them allies, regardless of their perceived orientation.  In fact, there were “black” Vikings.  No, kids, we aren’t pure.  Deal with it.

We have plenty of folks in Heathenry who dismiss the white supremacists as not being true heathens, and because they are not part of their kindred they aren’t a problem, but the reality is that if we have one group who tolerates bigoted behavior, it casts a bad light on all of us. You might as well be called a racist or intolerant bigot, yourself. No matter what you think or believe, if the AFA insists that unless you fit their bigoted criteria, you can’t join, you can bet the public and the media are going to color us all in that light.

It’s not enough to say you are against racism, bigotry, and chauvinism.  The fact that AFA promotes those “values” is enough to make you look racist, bigoted, and chauvinistic to the rest of the world.  Because our religion has such small numbers, we can’t afford to have these people among us.

Our Stories Do Not Support the AFA Stance

My good friends at the American Asatru Association drew up this little statement that brings our
religion into perspective.  Throughout our stories, our gods and goddesses prove time and again that they don’t behave anything like what the AFA wants to see in terms of traditional gender roles.  Our gods have had interracial relationships, have changed genders, and have crossdressed.   If you need to look for goddesses who are not overly feminine, we can point to Skadi and Freyja. Any women who handle weapons are not “traditional.”

The gods have had children with Frost Giants, Humans, and even a horse.  I am not saying that I approve of incest and bestiality (I most certainly do not), but we can’t point to our religion and claim that there is a basis for exclusion when it comes to people of other ethnicities and other sexual orientations.

Heathenry Should Be Open to All, Not Just White, Heterosexual Bigots

The reality is that Heathenry should be open to all except bigots, whether they are of a different ethnic background or have ancestry from Northern peoples, whether they are gay or straight, or whether they are crossdressers or dress according to whatever custom society expects. I have often said that we need to keep our doors open to everyone, and to make Heathenry a big tent, whether or not the person is of a different skin color or ethnicity, whether they are LGBT or heterosexual, and whether they have beliefs that shift toward Wiccan and Recon. There are places for these people within Heathenry.  Opening our doors to those who are different, but are not Nazis or white supremacists, means that we allow our religion to thrive and grow.  Staying in lock step with those who would exclude them makes absolutely no sense.

At this point, I applaud those groups who have taken a stance against bigotry and chauvinism.  While I don’t necessarily agree with all their beliefs, I must say that they are awesome groups who are willing to stand up against what is obviously wrong.  To the Asatru Folk Assembly, I would say that if you insist on being bigoted and upholding false, and ultimately Christian, beliefs by insisting on being racist, misogynistic, and homophobic, then I denounce you.  You are not Heathens, even if you claim to worship our gods.