What is Asatru ? (Part 1 of 2)
by Varg Vikernes
Is there any point in making blot (sacrifice) to the gods? Will the gods hear us if we invoke them? Is there a need for religious leaders?
The gods represent different aspects of our self; the Aesir and Aesiress, Vanirs and Disers are all different sides of our consciousness; while Jotuns and Dwarfs are different sides of our subconscious. Helheim and Utgard are our subconscious, while Asgard and Midgard are our conscious. When Balder - as a metaphor for the meaning of life - is murdered he ends up in Helheim. Pretty simple, this means that we have “forgotten” the meaning of life; the meaning of life has been repressed by a Judeo-Christian psychosis.
In the myths the trolls cannot stand sunlight, this is because a thought (a troll) that comes from the subconscious, up in the daylight, in mind; is no longer a subconscious thought (a troll).
While Loki is logic, Thor is fidelity. Tyr is one's courage; Frigg is love, Heimdall conscience and Forsete righteousness. Nanna is the vicinity, Siv is kinship (Siv is married to Thor, notice this!! Fidelity to the kinship!!), Frej and Freja are male/female lust and so on. If we make a blot to something of this nature, we strengthen this part of our selves.
To “blot” then means to “strengthen”. We make blots to these powers by toasting to them for example, or by eating a blotmeal in their name, by living for them! If I toast to Thor I do so to strengthen my feeling for fidelity, my loyalty. To strengthen it, by reminding myself of it, thus putting it into my consciousness.
The Gods all symbolize various positive aspects. The word “God” itself actually comes from the word “Good”. There is no doubt about that. We have given all these good things different names and characters, to more easily remember them. And to honour great men and women who had once lived. Men and women who were actually named Odin, Thor, Freja and Frigg.
If we believe we are making blot to the gods, we are! The gods do exist, in us, our race, and within our pure blood! The gods do hear us by us hearing them. They hear us by ourselves becoming more loyal thinking of Thor, or by becoming more courageous thinking of Tyr and so on.
If I ask Odin for advice in an important question, I shall trust in the answer he gives me; because it is the voice of my blood that will answer. From thousands of years of gained knowledge and experience. The name Odin is a kind of key to my inner self, like a password that invokes the wisdom of past ages. Some use coffee-grounds as their key, some use bird intestines; others use the lines of the hand, the stars, runes or the formation of the clouds. But all these represent the same thing, actual keys to our inner self. Small reflections of the macrocosm whence from all knowledge is hidden.
Heroes of our folk become Godlike symbols for us. If we make blots to them, our thoughts related to them and their ideals are enforced. This is also a form of Asatru, worship of ancestors! To toast for good things or people and so that they will never be forgotten! In that they will always be in our mind.
So, you may ask if we need religious leaders? Yes, but with some reservation. We must be reminded of our holy duties and obligations, but this task is best given to the oldest member of the family, rather than anyone else. Some parts of religion should be a personal or private endeavour. It would be impossible for the state to remind all families of their good deceased family members, this must be the task of the family itself.
To remember the Gods, those of our own. Those Gods & Goddesses which have come forth through ourselves since ages past, whom are common for our whole people; shall be celebrated and remembered officially. This is the responsibility of the leaders of our people.
In the worship of ancestors, the idols are continuously renewed, as great people are born and pass-away as nature dictates. The good members of the family are remembered their name being given to the first-born child after their death. In this way they are never forgotten, and the child has something to be proud of from the very first day of its life. Something to grow up with, something to respect and find strength in; honour and a name!
What is Asatru ? (Part 2 of 2)
by Varg Vikernes
Are our God's physical? Do they in one way or another have a physical manifestation in the universe? How do we believe in them and how do we know what they are like?
I believe in our gods as archetypes, which lie, within our blood. Symbolic of what is right and wrong, historical persons and outer-planetary beings. They symbolize powers in nature and other physical characteristics that still exist today.
We all know that Thor (Thunar in Anglo-Saxon) is the guardian of our race, it is he who makes our very existence possible. It is Thor who protect us from all the chaotic powers of nature, and when I say this, I mean literally. I mean that a physical manifestation of Thor is protecting us from the uncontrollable powers of the universe.
Take a look at the planet Jupiter (the Roman name for Thor). It is Jupiter, with its force of gravity that prevents meteoroids from hitting our Mother Earth; which would thus terminate all life on Earth. Jupiter -Thor- is red just as Thor's beard, and red is also the color that is bound with Thor. Surrounding the planet is a belt - Thor has a belt called Meningjord-, this belt grants him double strength. Surrounding Jupiter -Thor- are sixteen moons - the same number of sons Thor has as written our Germanic mythology. If this example was only a isolated example -speaking of relations to the planets in our solar system and our gods- we could simply call it a coincidence, but this is in fact no so. All the planets, yes even the Sun (Sól), fit into a similar system.
We can tell the age of the gods by looking at the size of the planets; the sun is the biggest and the oldest, while Pluto (Hel) is smallest and youngest. Only mars (Tyr) differs from this, but also has its explanation -his size was reduced at one certain point. I wish to remind you of the myth, which tells us of how Tyr was mutilated when the gods tied the Fenrizwolf. Is this coincidence?
The albedo of the planets, in other words the “gratitude” of the planets; the capability of returning light that is directed towards them. In other terms, that of returning love and to treat others as they treat you- is also very much like the impression we have of the gods as in the myths.
Mercury (Loki), the callus, has an albedo of 0.1 (in other words, about 10% of the light are returned), while Venus (Frigg) the goddess of love have an albedo of 0.76. The wargod Tyr (mars) has an albedo of 0.16, Mother Earth 0.39, The Moon (Måne) 0.06, Jupiter (Tor) 0.51, Saturn (Heimdall) 0.61, Uranus (Odin) and Neptune (Njord) 0.35 and Pluto (Hel) 0.4. Neptune (Njord) has two moons - Nereid and Triton. In the myths Njord actually has two children, Freja and Frej. Uranus (Odin) has 15 moons (not mentioned because of the lack of space), in the myths Odin has 15 sons. Mars (Tyr) has two moons and Saturn (Heimdall) has thirteen moons, but here it stops, our knowledge of this myth is not sufficient.
Maybe Thor's stepson Ull is one of Tyr's sons? We don't know about this -the Christians murdered those who knew, and killed anyone who wished to know and learn about our blood bound heritage. It must be said that we only possess a certain amount of our ancient knowledge today.
This is not all though; we also know how open the gods feelings are by looking at the planets. The angle of Mercury's (Loki's) equator is 0 degrees. As we know Loke is callous, he did not cry when the gods asked everything to cry so that Hel should let Balder go home to Asgård, why didn't he? Because he is callous! And Venus' (Frigg's) equator angle is 177 degrees! Of course the love goddess is open for feeling!
The equator angle of the other planets is as follows: Tellus (Mother Earth) 23,27; Mars (Tyr) 23,59; Jupiter (Thor) 3,5, Saturn (Heimdall) 26,44, Uranus (Odin or Woden) 97,55; Neptune (Njord) 28,48 and Pluto (Hel) 52 or 122 (depending on which astronomy book you may read). The reason why Thor is lacking in feelings is based on his low intellect, while Odin is as open for feelings as he shown because he is the king of the gods; who cares for his near and dear and his people! At the same time we also know that Odin can often be an ungrateful god, we can sacrifice everything for him, and the only thing he gives in return is loss and treachery, death and sorrow. This is why he has such a low albedo.
I mentioned the belt of Thor -Meningjord-, the ring surrounding Jupiter. Other planets also have rings around them. Saturn (Heimdall) has five broad rings (which in are made up of almost a thousand smaller rings), we do not know the origin and function of these yet, and again our knowledge about this myth is insufficient. Uranus (Odin) has 9 or 11 rings (depending on which astronomy book you read). We know the myth about Draupnir; the ring which drops eight new rings every ninth night. With Draupnir itself included we have nine rings. Neptune (Njord) has two rings, which the meaning of is unknown.
This is again another way of looking upon the gods within Asatru. This something which should also be considered in serious astrological research. We can study and learn much more than imagined about reality through our ancient mythology, about our origin and our future. There is much more information for us to receive yet… The gods have many faces and manifestations, one thing is for sure; they are all meant to help us in our journey towards Asgård! Heil Odin!
