As always, these are just my own personal views stemming largely from my experiences in life. Take them as you will.
Anyone who claims our Gods arent real has probably only embraced a single point of view - which is most likely either the Christian view, or the atheist view.
If one is to understand the great mystery one must embrace a larger point of view (Star Wars quote, I know)
Let’s take the, “paranormal,” into account. There’s absolutely no doubt all ancient peoples believed in spirits and thusly the existence of what we now call, “ghosts.” Even the ancient Greeks and Romans left documents describing residences with foul spirits inhabiting them, and even documented what would occur. Some of their descriptions match in perfect detail what we would even call, “poltergeists.”
Is it no surprise we hear about these things still going on today? Im sure there’s Voaters here who have had their own paranormal experiences, because I know I have. I have even met a Christian pastor who was on missionary work in south-east Asia who swears he saw a boy possessed by a spirit that caused the boy to float nearly two feet off the ground. It’s not something which any pastor will openly talk about and they are always under orders to keep quiet because of the bad publicity it will bring.
To deny the existence of these spirits is frankly just plain arrogance, and to only look at them from a single point of view is just ignorance. We need to knock ourselves down a few pegs and realize we aren’t all knowing.
If one can accept the existence of these spirits, without attaching a label to them from one point of view, a person can clearly see there are many different kinds of spirits in our universe. One can see many of them aren’t even human!
It’s a well known fact that throughout this Earth all groups of people have different religious mythological creatures, but are they really mythological which implies they’re nothing more than a story? It’s documented that those visiting foreign countries have encountered different kinds of spirits related to the local folklore. You wont encounter the same spirits in Africa as you would in Asia and so fourth.
Even in the Christian bible it describes things which we know today to be fact. Here’s an example:
“At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.”
Matthew 27:51-53 NLT
It’s a proven fact that before, during, and after earthquakes people report a far greater amount of “ghost” encounters.
Now with all ive discussed so far, is it no surprise that every culture has or had multiple Gods, including the Jews? Wouldn’t it make more sense there are multiple players who are rolling the dice in this universe? We’ve all had the monotheistic view of this universe’s creation drilled into our heads, even from an atheist view with the big bang theory, but let’s take a step back if you will. No one can say how this universe began (if it even did have a beginning) or how it will end (if it even ends), but what we can see is that our universe is not uniform from any view you take. Races of humans arent the same in both physical appearance and mindset, environments on Earth arent the same, and stars, planets, and galaxies arent the same. Everything is chaotic and as if multiple forces are at play.
Does multiple forces imply the Gods of our people only? Certainly not! Our Gods are certainly real, the Judeo-Christian god is real, Allah is real, the Shinto gods of the Japanese are real, the gods of the various African tribes are real and so fourth. It appears to me there is something universal. There are universal laws that apply to all these spirits. For example the Christians believe spirits travel by thought alone which I too believe in and applies to the spirits of Asatru as well. Can our Goddess Freya, for example, be everywhere at once? I don’t believe so, but I firmly believe she, as well as all our Gods, have representatives to act on their behalf who report back to them.
Asatru is simply our people’s spirits and views on this universe that is uniquely developed by us for us.
Now I don’t pretend to have all the answers, or be an authoritative voice. I'm just reflecting on what my experiences have been, on those throughout time, and nature itself. This excerpt from the Irminfolk kindred is a good way to put it:
But the Irminfolk are not pedantic reenactors foppishly miming the distant past and forgotten words like eccentrics in a living history exhibit. Though the old aesthetics of Europe inspire our creativity, we feel it is entirely out of harmony with the spirit of our age to keep harping on that far-off and forgotten nomenclature which belongs to the ancient Germanic times and does not awaken any distinct association in our current age. For us, Odinism is alive within us, and the most important feature is the folk-spirit those ancient ways inspired. The ancient folkways of our forebears are not merely a hobby, and focusing too much on academic reconstruction fundamentally derails the living, upward path Asatru exists for. To us, it is an entire worldview that is captured in the essence of these traditions. That essence, that divine spark, is what guides us in this path.
So, we will not venture into the Talmudic quibbling and historical debates that sometimes govern other groups, and distract them from the task religion exists for; to serve as the inspirational and organizational instrument around which the folk is centered. We are free to develop new celebrations, and new traditions that we create in the spirit and shadow of our ancestors; but most importantly to the promotion of the Folk-consciousness. We are not bound to the exact fashion of a time period of this or that person’s life. Ours is a quest to re-discover our ancestral path – and to ascend the upward path.
There are many things I skipped over or probably didn’t explain in enough detail. I hope this got some people thinking deeper about the spirit world around us all and how real it is and that it can be interacted with.
May our Holy Powers guide and protect us. Peace, love, and empathy to my brothers and sisters here.
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[–] NorthernMan [S] 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago (edited ago)
Asatru is a religion that would not exist without the Folk (whites), just like how the Native American religions would not exist without the Native Americans. The protection and continued free existence of our Folk and folk-without (that is, whites who don’t practice Asatru) is a primary religious tenant of Asatru, but it is not the sole purpose of Asatru.