Saturday, April 28, 2007

Asatru, Not Machotru

Heathenism is about fighting for your right to a fair fight. Life is not always easy, nor is it meant to be handed to you on a silver platter, but that does not mean that it is supposed to be a constantly unfair arena where you are defeated before you even begin.

It's not about Machotru, David Dukatru, Bullytru, Grizzledtru, Roman Legion-tru. The Aesir are adventurers who want to help you live the adventure of your life, to give you a chance to rise to the challenge by increasing your strength, daring, courage, and providing real challenges where you actually stand a chance of winning for once.

Asatru should actually be about fighting back against bullies, not an arena for bullies to gather and bully others! Yet it is filled with small-minded bullies looking for a little testosterone feast!

Note to all : There is nothing new or interesting about this. If you wanted a stupid adolescent-style testosterone feast, you could go anywhere in our culture to get it. Just step out onto the freeway, or go to any bar. Keyword : boring.

Heathenism is about standing up for yourself against bullies who try to keep you down, shout you down, silence you, ridicule you, while at the same time learning some wisdom in the world.

If there are bullies, immoderate testosterone-junkies, schadenfreude-worshippers, cruelty-revelers, dominators, heretic-hunters in your kindred, just remind them that those are jotunn traits, fit for thurs and orcs but not anyone in the innangards of Midgard.

Don't blot with people like that. You sacrilege the sacrament by doing so. When you blot and sumble with a group, your hearts are supposed to meld together into a strong union of camaraderie. These are the people who are supposed to have your back, who support each other in their righteous fights, who are co-witnesses to your oaths, and you have got to be able to trust them in order for it to have any meaning at all. Becoming part of a kindred is supposed to strengthen you, and lend power to your endeavors in the world, not make you feel more isolated and alone, or make the cost of escaping that isolation be conformity to the most domineering, misguided, and bully-hearted in the group.

Why is it that Asatru is attracting people with wolfish hearts who salivate at the idea of carnage, who dream sadist dreams, who belong on some football team trying to domineer others, who suppress any new and creative ideas, who are middle-level conformists with wet dreams of warfare? This is not honoring the Aesir. This is not honoring Odin, who gave up so much for wisdom and poetry!

Let's stop having pretend-games and calling it Asatru. Let's stop allowing jotunn-hearted, immature immoderates into our circles. Let's learn a little something about moderation and opening our hearts to new ideas that challenge us to be the best we can be. An Asatru we could be proud of. One that fosters the noblest values in us, a school for making us worthy of the Aesir.