Gydhja
Years ago, I exchanged conversation with an asatru gydhja ("priestess," pronounced "gith-ya"). I met her through a group I belonged to. I'm a typical american mutt, but I have ties to my roots. Including the teutonic ones. My grandmothers wore the heidi braids. To me, the concerns of "national character flaws" are not long-dead and obscure history. The vandal in vandalism pricks the conscience. The sentiments that "might equals right" and "there is no greater glory than to die in battle" still mill about disturbingly. The War was not a textbook paragraph but, rather, living memory. That memory -- that memory prods and begs the question be asked: What role did ethnic spiritual values play in the rise of nazism?
When I first met this gydhja, I had just come back from a wedding. The bride was a german national and there were many guests from that nation. At the reception, I spent some time chatting with a german parliamentary member. She spoke to me of the difficulties in encouraging a jewish population in Germany and the building of a new synagogue in her region without iron fencing -- and the fact that the fencing had only been replaced by bullet-proof glass and armed guards were still required. This some 60 years after the end of the War. So these topics were fresh on my mind, and I put the question to the gydhja.
The gydhja outlined the difference for me between her asatru and the branch of odinism, which she said was of the neo-nazi kind. I expressed respect for the careful stance and principles she took, as well as her openness to discourse. But I say here that it was a rare exception in my experiences of asatru at large.
And it's an unfortunate thing to report, but the gydhja didn't exactly prove an exception over time either. No, she didn't reveal a racist side. However, I witnessed her issue many many challenges to battle, albeit in words. It was in keeping with the germanic fighting spirit and never once actually needed. It certainly never established any sort of mutually agreeable understanding. From ready-to-fight to always fighting, for the sake of fighting. Its not something I think serves a person or his community well.
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