In this episode, we talk about the importance of doing things together as a family, especially when it comes to our children. We are joined by Githia McNallan to discuss the benefits of being a family unit and how we can work together to protect and care for one another.
00:03:00.000hello everyone welcome to another episode of victory never sleeps i am witten brandy and
00:03:17.040i'm joined tonight with uh githia sheila mcnallen and tonight we are going to talk about as a true
00:03:23.360for children how are you doing tonight sheila i'm doing great thank you yeah very excited about this
00:03:29.600segment it's quite different but ties into families and that's what we're all about so
00:03:35.600there's plenty to discuss absolutely before we get started tonight um i want to talk a little bit
00:03:42.160about doing things together as a folk and one of the things i'm going to ask all of you to do
00:03:49.120tonight uh sometime this evening is i want you to go to your altars or go go to a quiet corner of
00:03:56.640your house, go outside, make an offering to the Aesir, to the ancestors, and ask them to watch
00:04:05.440over our folk who have been suffering from the hurricanes that have happened down south,
00:04:11.200and especially tonight in Florida. We have a lot of people down there, a lot of our people,
00:04:16.480a lot of our members, and a lot of our folk down there who are in need, who are scared,
00:04:22.960and who are right in the way of these storms or have been affected by the storms already
00:04:28.880now when we do things together i want you to think of the great big fire that you can gather around
00:04:35.520when you're at ritual when you're at bloat think of that raging fire as the folk flame
00:04:46.000every once in a while a small spark is going to pop out of that right when you do something
00:04:52.800individually that spark is you the gods see it we see it but when we work together and we combine
00:05:02.560our energies for a purpose and our prayers and our offerings we are that raging flame
00:05:10.080so i do ask everyone tonight if you could please give some sort of offering a prayer
00:05:17.200some energy to help protect our people and protect those that have been affected and
00:05:21.680are currently being affected by the hurricanes that are going down south.
00:05:27.520And speaking of which, we have actually raised some money for some hurricane relief funds already,
00:05:34.800and we actually do have two of our wonderful folk builders, folk builder Heinlein and folk
00:05:39.280builder Bethea, that are already down there helping out with hurricane relief, and they are currently
00:05:46.080down south helping our folk that are affected by there. These are actually pictures that
00:05:49.760were taken by the folk builders that are there on sites helping folk recover
00:05:55.460helping with cleanup and helping people in need we've currently raised over
00:05:59.660$3,000 and we could use more to help these people all of that money is going
00:06:04.520directly to this effort so if you could please go to runestone.org go to donate
00:06:09.200and we're going to be helping our folk down there recover and rebuild so please
00:06:16.340if you can absolutely donate to that help us help the folk down there please be generous with with
00:06:23.860that there's a lot of people they need down there all right so tonight we are streaming live on
00:06:32.260odyssey vk entropy rumble twitter rx twitch youtube on fridays you can catch us on uh apple
00:06:42.420Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Amazon Music. Also tonight, we do have a very special guest,
00:06:49.220as I announced her already, Githya McNallan. I'm excited for you to be here. I'm excited to talk
00:06:54.420to you about this. I know that this is something that is extraordinarily close to your heart,
00:06:59.140and something that you have really taken on is educating our families, educating our children,
00:07:04.180and watching the next generation grow, and the relationship with the ACR grow,
00:07:09.780and the relationship with their folk grow so i'm so excited for you to be here as well
00:07:14.660thank you very much yeah i hope i have some new insights and things to share with parents
00:07:20.660that um will build communication build those bonds within the family that type of thing
00:07:26.820you know that's what we're about and of course bringing them to an understanding of why we gather
00:07:32.420the way we do and honor the d-seer and well the d-seer and the acer of course always and uh yeah
00:07:41.780i'm just very happy to share my thoughts history you know where we've been where we are now all
00:07:47.460that kind of stuff it all plays in wonderful and githia mcnellen and myself are here tonight
00:07:53.460because the elshira godi is off um traveling to winter nights it is not too late to get your
00:07:59.780ticket for winter nights uh go to runestone.org store and click on the link for that it's going
00:08:05.460to be a great event um held in new hampshire this year if you have any questions get a hold of any
00:08:10.820of those folk builders uh up in the thorshuff northern part of the district there and they can
00:08:16.580help you out there we've got a lot of people going there it's going to be a really great event
00:08:20.980sorry i have to miss it but hey we get to be here with you and i get to talk to sheila tonight so
00:08:24.980so it's going to be a great night. Other upcoming events that we have, we have the Feast of the
00:08:29.880Einherjar, which is going to be November 8th through the 10th in South Dakota. That is going
00:08:35.060to be put on by Gauthier Nathan Erlinson and folk builder Ashley McStocker. They always put on an
00:08:41.180amazing event. Gauthier Erlinson does one of the most powerful Feast of the Einherjar bloats that
00:08:48.540I've seen. He does an outstanding job with that. There's going to be a lot of us there. I'm going
00:08:52.780be there. Sheila, I believe you're going to be there. Your wonderful husband, Founder McNallan,
00:08:58.620is going to be there. They've got a lot of great things planned, so come out and join us for the
00:09:03.500Feast of the Einherjar. Tickets are on Stella at groomstone.org, and get a hold of any of our
00:09:09.020Baldur South folk builders, and they can get you in touch with anybody. If we need to figure out
00:09:14.300how to get you from the airport, if we have any questions about how long it's going to take, the
00:09:19.420best route to take what we're going to do get a hold of us we'll help you out with that
00:09:24.700all right also just a reminder in just a few days it is also uh founder mcnellen's birthday
00:09:33.340so we want to make sure that everyone make sure you wish him a happy birthday i'm sure you would
00:09:38.060appreciate it so wish him a happy birthday can't wait for that we will yeah he's in the other room
00:09:44.860right now i will certainly share the good tidings too with him yes everybody get in the chat and
00:09:52.380wish Alan a happy birthday so that he can see that later or Sheila can let him know how much
00:09:58.540how much he has loved and how much that is in the chat i would sing you steve i really really would
00:10:04.140but we don't want to we don't we want viewers not lack of viewers so i will not be singing tonight
00:10:10.140i love it a couple other things we got just on the top of the show stuff um we're making really
00:10:17.580good progress with new york soft so as of right now um we've paid 167 104 that is amazing we do
00:10:29.260have 77 896 remaining so you guys have been amazing and generous and it's because of your
00:10:36.540generosity and hard work and dedication that we are able to continue to build these hops to the
00:10:43.100east here and have places for our people to celebrate have places for our children to grow
00:10:47.900up you know that's one of the the best things that that i've seen is that there's children1.00
00:10:53.340our children are not going to remember a time when there wasn't a half they don't have to grow up with
00:10:59.180that you know there's going to be a half there's going to be a place for them to to find their
00:11:04.780friends and to find their family and to build that relationship with their gods. And it's thanks to
00:11:09.580your generosity and the dedication of our folk that we do have those. So thank you to everyone
00:11:14.300for that. Please go over to runestone.org to donate for that. We can get that paid off and
00:11:20.300get on our way to the next things. Also, what else do we got? The Baldur's Hof Steeple Fund.
00:11:28.620Since I'm on the show tonight, we're going to go ahead and plug that Baldur's Hof Steeple Fund.
00:11:33.180right now so far we've raised almost a thousand dollars our goal for that is about twenty thousand
00:11:38.000dollars that is going to include a complete rebuild um if you haven't seen the pictures of
00:11:43.880it the top of the steeple is missing uh we did have to take it down to keep the water intrusion
00:11:49.540um the steeple itself was really degrading and causing some issues we were getting a lot of
00:11:54.560water intrusion so in order to save the hawk we had to take down the steeple and we had big plans
00:12:00.120for that steeple um so what we are doing is we are raising funds to completely rebuild that with
00:12:05.800the dormers um in the space for the the stained glass that we wanted to do and also just rebuild
00:12:11.480it to to really match the beauty that it should be for boulder so if you would like to donate to
00:12:16.920that please do we appreciate all of the donations that we've had for that as well um let's see what
00:12:24.360what else, Sigerheim, making good progress on Sigerheim. Sigerheim, we've got about $52,000,
00:12:31.020over $52,000 paid on Sigerheim already. Still got a ways to go on that, but it's great. We've
00:12:39.980already shown that we can really join together and make really, really big strides on taking
00:12:45.280these next steps together as a folk. So thank you to everyone for all your donations to that as well.
00:12:50.620and it looks like ronald blake has started the show with a 200 donation to the relief fund
00:13:00.760ronald blake you are so generous and see you are so consistent we can't thank you enough thank you
00:13:05.560so much ronald that is so deeply appreciated i know the people that that are affected by this
00:13:11.400they will appreciate the help in rebuilding that thank you so much
00:13:15.500all right so I think that's all the top of the show things that I need to hit
00:13:21.100I'm sure producer Nick will let me know if I missed anything and if we do we'll hop back in
00:13:25.560and do that so let's go ahead and get started so one of the questions I had specifically for you
00:13:30.400Sheila is in all the years that you have led your your women and your children and your families
00:13:37.280in the AFA what is one thing that you've seen I guess since you know since the the
00:13:45.080mid-90s until now. How have you seen the way that children practice as a tour, the way that the
00:13:50.980children are included from then until now? Oh, that's a very good question. You know,
00:13:57.420we consistently have children with us now. At the last event at Odenshof Winter Finding,
00:14:04.740we had 32 adults, 16 kids, you know, a ratio of that two to one. And that's pretty amazing,
00:14:13.400because there would be a lot of events even in the early years at Odinsoft where we might have
00:14:19.080you know 20 adults and three kids but that is changing and it's really good for the kids
00:14:25.060to have that time with each other but also good for us and reminder that we need to be
00:14:34.500meeting their needs spiritually too and so we're doing a much better job of that
00:14:39.000and it's still you know they need to play they need to build their own relationship so most of
00:14:45.620the time the kids are together they're doing that but it's always good to give them more than that
00:14:51.540that which they will have at our house or at kindred meetings or moots where you're out in a
00:14:59.340natural space where kids can play and interact and have well campfires and singing songs I mean
00:15:08.160what's more natural than that. So we really do need to gear ourselves to the children a lot more
00:15:14.320than we have. And I think that's been really, really good. Again, it's just wonderful to see
00:15:19.800the families come. And we've had a lot of very young families at Odinsoff with young children,
00:15:25.240you know, five and under. But our last two families have older kids. And well, no, actually,
00:15:32.060one of them does have young ones. But we do have a family came in with older boys. And so we've got
00:15:36.580this quite a range now between you know six months and 14 years 15 years which we didn't have before
00:15:44.180we've got a better spread of ages and that's good because those kids need to start working with the
00:15:49.460younger ones and be their mentors and one thing we did do we have done for two years now is what
00:15:57.300we call family camp at odin's off something we created and it was based on um the the wonder
00:16:06.420that comes from kids going away to camp and my husband and i actually were science teachers and
00:16:12.100we used to take kids to them into an environmental ed camp and yet we were able to put in a lot of
00:16:18.340really cool spiritual stuff in the experience and um that's what we do in august the first weekend
00:16:24.980of august we're inviting we invite the families to come back to be there to camp with us and
00:16:31.940involve the kids in not that a lot of them again are young but in the cooking in the planning and
00:16:37.780all those things that we do and this year we had lots of art and stories of the lore we did fray
00:16:45.460and freya quite a bit and we did puppets and we had one of our dads brought out a lot of equipment
00:16:52.260at nighttime that dealt with electromagnetism and so we had some great science things and we got to
00:16:58.420look at rocks under black lights and just cool things that we can do and i hope that people will
00:17:06.260look at what we've done here and it's grown really well last year this last year we got so much more
00:17:12.660incorporated into the weekend um it can be done and it's so worthwhile for everybody
00:17:18.340so that is a huge difference because i was kind of a dream and for our children we're now doing that
00:17:24.820and it can be done at every half as day trips as you know day camps and because i know that's what
00:17:31.620you're kind of limited to but it's still a good time to focus on those kids and have that in fact
00:17:37.700we ended with a free freya bloat and the adults it was for the kids but the adults wanted to be
00:17:42.660there too and so but focused on the kids and their ability to do that and also doing kids
00:17:48.660symbols we're doing that where the kids actually get to make the toast the three round toasts
00:17:54.340we never did that before and um so i always try to do a ritual with the kids at at each event that
00:18:01.460we do at odin's off and uh they just love doing a symbol of course they get to do the apple juice too
00:18:07.780he doesn't want that right out of a horn oh my goodness so we use the small horns for them anyway
00:18:13.860those are some of the things that have changed we're just growing we're building and of course
00:18:17.620now that we have a really uh good foundation with us true academy there's so much more that even
00:18:24.580parents will be able to do in the future um and taking some of those materials and working them
00:18:29.460into their daily lives i think one of the favorite bloats out of all the bloats that i've participated
00:18:37.140in or um you know that i've that i've conducted i think one of my favorite bloats was one of the
00:18:44.740children's bloats that we did and i think it might have been austara if i had thought about it i would
00:18:50.020have sent some pictures to you uh to the producer nick there to put up there but we actually had a
00:18:55.300symbol where the children led the symbol and they were accompanied by um one of the godar uh one of
00:19:02.340the godhar you know students or one of our folk builders and they actually led the bloat with help
00:19:10.340from you know from their from their adult helper you know from the welcoming to or the entrance to
00:19:17.860the welcoming um to to calling upon the aesir you know they they received the gifts they gave the
00:19:24.980gifts you know they received the gifts of the gods and and gave the gifts of the gods and they closed
00:19:30.580it they had so much fun those kids were so happy you know every single one of them had a little
00:19:36.900something to do um they either got to hold the candle or they got to take the offerings up to
00:19:42.200the altar um or they got to you know spray people with mead you know they thought that was pretty
00:19:46.960cool um and we actually had um folk builder uh ashley mcstocker's daughter uh lily she did an
00:19:54.240amazing job, an amazing job of leading that bloat and really helping the kids feel that,
00:20:00.880you know, she was a little nervous, but wow, she did amazing. And she was so proud and I was so
00:20:06.060proud of her, you know, and I know her parents go the Erlandson and Book Builder McStocker. I know
00:20:11.600they were very proud of her as well, but that was, that was a big deal for her. And it was a big deal
00:20:16.500for the kids to actually do this, you know, having somebody help you of course, and help you with the
00:20:22.180words to say and the motions to go through, but you could see that the kids were excited to be
00:20:28.060actually holding the bloat themselves. And we were pretty lucky to have Lily there and to have a few
00:20:34.040older kids that, you know, kind of knew the process and could do it. But even the little kids, you
00:20:39.320know, we have a young family, the Proudfoot family. I know we've talked about them a few times, but
00:20:44.700that they're just an amazing family. But I remember Corey sending me a video of her son
00:20:51.800walking around their living room and he would stop and he would hail Balder and he would march
00:20:56.700around and he would stop and he would hail Balder. And they do that at the Hoff and it's just the
00:21:01.320sweetest thing. But it's also a moment that those parents should really be proud of because they've
00:21:07.340helped build that relationship between their children and the gods. And that's something
00:21:12.100absolutely amazing yes indeed and in fact when we are doing um greeting to the gods for instance
00:21:22.100and the kids are doing um their own introductions and they know exactly which god they're going to
00:21:27.540hail um and also just in ritual you know they some kids are very very involved at this point
00:21:35.060and being quite young a long ways from being adults but they got they have the idea they
00:21:40.660know why they're there and they want to be there and nobody's coercing them at all and uh and
00:21:46.340they're so appropriate and just it just brings a smile to your face when even the small kids are
00:21:52.100healing healing naysayer and uh just just uh it's it's very it's very heartwarming to see how many
00:22:02.020kids want to be involved and do it so well right we do it with such maturity yes and to have their
00:22:09.780symbols there's a lot of hail mommies there's a lot of my goodness
00:22:16.420mandy gets that every time well it's always who's who's the god or goddess and hail mommy
00:22:22.740hail mommy and is the mama should be the goddess of the family we know that right yes so that's
00:22:29.540really sweet yeah and they love that they really do love doing symbols they do they do we have
00:22:36.260actually a really small horn um it's the kid's horn um and it's it's kind of just perfect for
00:22:42.260them they don't have to to fumble it but it's just a really small horn and they get really excited
00:22:47.200that they get to have their own sumble one of the things i think that is probably the most
00:22:51.560heartwarming for me is you know when you when you talk to parents and their kids you know and
00:22:56.800you'll you'll talk to them and i want to go to the hoff and see my friends you know or i want to go
00:23:02.620auntie brandy's house and i want to go to the hoff and see my friends you know that's something
00:23:06.940that's really special you know to see kids that kind of get used to each other in the first few
00:23:11.820minutes but within five minutes they're chasing each other around it's like they've been friends
00:23:15.820all their lives so that's great yeah what's really important to me is to think back to those covid
00:23:23.500years and at that point we just did pretty much had odin's off and maybe we had thor's off i'm
00:23:29.500not really sure into that i'm sure we did but um well obviously we did but at odenshof matt made
00:23:37.180it clear that we're going to keep doing events no matter what you know and here we are in california
00:23:42.540and everybody was to shut down i mean they you'd drive the streets and there'd be nobody out kind
00:23:48.540of a thing um but we continued meeting monthly and um nobody stopped us we would have you know
00:23:56.700meanwhile down in the valley in the sacramento churches they're doing drive-in um church services
00:24:04.700with big screens and all and then people you know have the windows rolled up so they don't get
00:24:09.020disease we continue doing what we did and it's it was even more important for the kids to be there
00:24:16.060because that was the only place they could play and be kids to know that life continued on and
00:24:21.580that we were not going to stop at the mandates of others but that they got to be with their friends
00:24:27.740play with their friends and we continued to do bloat and to do symbols and to share the horn and
00:24:33.180nobody got sick and i like to point that out you know when my few interviews or when i've talked
00:24:39.660to people i do point that out because there is that that um that courage that comes from that
00:24:46.220going against the grain and the strength and conviction that what we're doing is right
00:24:51.100and matt guided us in that and said no we're not going to back down on this at all there was one
00:24:55.740month where um there really was was very virulent at that point there was a lot of of um many cases
00:25:04.940being diagnosed in our area and we were also doing the food pantry at that point and that's when we
00:25:10.860started doing the drive through food pantry um but uh and i don't really remember a lot of the
00:25:18.460details on that that's so many years back but it just felt so good to get through it and continue
00:25:23.900just with without a step we just continue doing what we do at the hoff and was a the holy place
00:25:29.660the sacred place and the place of protection and unity for our folk always has been always will be
00:25:35.420yeah well before we keep going we did get a few donations uh gw farnsworth uh bought us five
00:25:44.160coffees that's 25 thank you very much uh brent law bought us three coffees thank you sir thank
00:25:51.860you very much and gw farnsworth also donated a hundred dollars to the folk services fund
00:25:58.040thank you that is very very very appreciated so the the folk services fund just so people have an
00:26:05.140idea of what that is. Our folk services fund is for folk that fall on hard times, whether they
00:26:12.360need a water heater or, you know, emergency tire repairs. And, you know, the things that we can
00:26:20.420can try to help with the best of our ability for people that, you know, are unable to deal with
00:26:26.520those emergency circumstances by themselves. So that is very, very deeply appreciated. Thank you
00:26:31.820so much. That really does go to folk that are in need. Thank you, sir, very much. And before we get
00:26:39.840back to the kids, we do have a question from Go the East. Gideon McNallan, what has been your
00:26:45.280proudest moment for the AFA so far? I saw that in the side chat. Yeah, I've been thinking about it.
00:26:52.300Obviously, it was the discovery of what has become Odin's Hoff.
00:26:59.980That was really some magical working that made that happen.
00:27:03.520There's no doubt that Odin was involved in that.
00:27:06.380And I had to play a really critical role to make that happen because it was up to me to go back and provide three years of balance sheets for the AFA and, you know, income, expenses, and the whole thing.
00:27:19.800And I had to do that for us in order to get our loan, our mortgage through a local savings and loan.
00:27:30.060And I pulled it off and we got we got the mortgage at a good rate and we paid it off in what within three years, within three years was all paid off.
00:27:40.740We also did a really good fundraising with a group called Indiegogo.
00:27:45.540and we had people because it was the first you have to realize it was so exciting because we
00:27:49.780had talked about this um ever since i got involved in the afa which was in the early 90s like 90
00:27:57.14092 93 um and even back further of course back when steve was doing the astro free assembly
00:28:05.380it was always there was always a land and hawk fund where you could drop your five or ten dollars
00:28:10.660in and people did people were donating because everybody wanted that and we thought we would get
00:28:16.260it but we had no idea how to do it and it was one of those things that when it happened we were
00:28:22.020ready we were ready we had enough money in the bank i've been just as we are you know i'm was
00:28:27.860frugal with the money and so there was enough savings there plus we made about 45 000 within
00:28:34.500about i think four or five weeks with indiegogo i mean people really came through because they
00:28:39.060and there's actually the video there for you guys to go see it is the new grange hall promo video
00:28:45.700that i put together which i love i just it just kind of ah you know brings back the old days of
00:28:52.580so much expectation of what it would be like and it has turned out beautifully just couldn't be
00:28:57.700better but the god said it was time you know odin was there and you may know that the name was
00:29:06.580because it was originally the old grange hall there in this little town of brownsville nobody
00:29:11.220had ever heard of none of us even knew yuba county let alone that town of brownsville which is in
00:29:16.900an unincorporated part of the county with a lot of other little towns like forbestown and rackerby
00:29:22.100and all these little towns but we ended up there for some reason and it suited us so well and it's1.00
00:29:29.860the most laid-back community except they're a christian that's probably the biggest detriment0.61
00:29:34.740and they've had their you know the drug issues and whatever but um they are just genuine down
00:29:41.460home people like you find in other parts of the country you know it's not california at all and
00:29:48.180they would not want to be associated with um woke california that's just the way they are and we
00:29:52.900found this place was the old grange hall had been abandoned had been lots of other things had been
00:29:57.780a christian school karate stews studio i think bingo things had been dance halls the kids um
00:30:06.740adults come back and talk about how they would do have dances there in fact the whole community would
00:30:11.780turn out for the dances that would take place in the in the old grange hall so because it was the
00:30:17.860grange it was my idea to call it new grange and you know you you know our roots back there in
00:30:26.420ireland with new grange and it just made sense and so it was called new grange hall the first
00:30:31.940half of the austral folk assembly but then a few years later and this was even about the time i
00:30:37.940think matt took over well in fact that was a couple years after that probably 2017 or so
00:30:44.180we heard from the grange you know you think the grange what the grange is some kind of agriculture
00:30:48.820group well they kind of threw out their muscle on us and said you have to stop using new grange
00:30:55.060because we own the word grange how can that be you know it's a timeless word that deals with
00:31:01.200agriculture but you know what it did it's like all things and things can be upsetting at the
00:31:07.540time and you wonder why on earth has that obstacle been put in our way but because of that matt came
00:31:13.940up with the idea of well let's call it odenshof we're going to go through the first 12 gods um
00:31:21.400in the beginning i think it is right and um and it would be the first one and how perfect because
00:31:27.480the color was was red and as you know and the but first the cross pieces up at the rafters
00:31:35.020up at the the uh geez i can't even think anyway the crossed um barge boards were horses that's
00:31:43.560what they carved. And it was perfect for Sleipner, obviously. And then when you think
00:31:51.000about it, my husband, Steve, has always, always been connected to Odin. That's always been
00:31:57.380his God. He'll tell anybody that. He's done bloat to all the other gods. But there's something
00:32:02.600about Steve and his connection. I know even the true love mall talks about Steve's connection
00:32:07.520with odin and it's true and so how perfect it was that in choosing a new name it would be odin soft
00:32:14.320the first talk truly the first talk um the it all it's just is true points out to me how
00:32:25.840we are we are the chosen people you know we are the chosen people by our gods to do this to carry
00:32:31.520on something that was just a little seed in steve's mind and also others at the same time as we honor
00:32:39.200the odenic rite and even elsie and um the also true falagi over in iceland um
00:32:50.240they were all starting about the same year they became incorporated or official
00:32:53.520in 1972 when steve started uh got his first 501c3 and you know the wind was blowing
00:33:01.280well the wind was blowing when we found it in 2015 it was time for us to kind of step away because
00:33:07.440we had reached a point where we didn't have any fresh ideas we didn't know how to organize
00:33:12.560as it takes to organize something to the extent that the afa is now and it can carry on we know
00:33:18.880that all the changes have happened in the last month to kind of centralize a lot of the things
00:33:26.560to make it easier to to get things done to do checks and balances and all just for efficiency
00:33:34.240we couldn't have done that we didn't have the ability or steve doesn't have the interest
00:33:38.640it's always been said he's the visionary he is a visionary but he is not a businessman and matt
00:33:44.560is the man who is 24 7 on this and has made the afa what it is and on came thor's off and balder's
00:33:52.080hoff and newards hoff and soon to be frares hoff and tears hoff and all the others so it's really
00:33:57.760exciting but it did kind of start with going back to it started with discovering the old grange hall
00:34:04.160and making it happen and i never would have looked for it thorgan odin is the one who made the
00:34:10.000contact found the realtor who uh sent us that way and uh and you know we owe a lot to him too and of
00:34:19.600course he passed away this summer we had this beautiful ceremony and now there's thorgren's
00:34:25.040grove which will always be the place where we honor him and his his role as a phrase man a
00:34:30.880phrase goody and loving the land and loving the folk and the children especially so you know good
00:34:36.880things that's you know odin's hop has come into it's it's gone from a grange hall into something
00:34:43.520that really does serve the folk and will be there for the future um from now on out and there's no
00:34:50.480doubt right so as far as um how do you think the afa has has changed you know going kind of back
00:35:00.400with the kids and we mentioned thorgrin with the kids and i'd like to talk about that a little bit
00:35:04.240later as well but how do you think the culture of the afa itself has changed um that you've seen over
00:35:12.960the last few years with the women's and family because i know there's there was some there was
00:35:17.760some years at national events where we were all joking i think it was at one of the ostaras and i
00:35:21.680think you were you were there with us sheila where we were all joking there's more women and children
00:35:25.440than men here you know true and you find that especially out there in the midwest and the east
00:35:33.760coast where new families are coming in and we're lucky that men out there have found their soul
00:35:40.400mates um it's much harder out here in california so indeed we don't have that we are very imbalanced
00:35:48.000and so with that today i just put in out some uh some notices on craigslist like back in the
00:35:55.920early days and steve started um also true um started doing this and others a few others
00:36:02.720said they did bumper stickers and i would say odin lives you know and um stuff like that and
00:36:09.360it would be just right in your face odin lives and so i started that today odin lives freya lives
00:36:15.840and i wrote up some stuff to go in several craigslist groups i'm gonna see kind of just
00:36:22.080working in and my goal is to find women because you know we need our families and it is wonderful
00:36:28.480to be in places where you've got the large number of women and children um again unfortunately we
00:36:34.720don't have that here we have a lot of great men but boy they would love to find their soulmates
00:36:40.880so we continue working on that not that i really don't match make but we have a hard time getting
00:36:46.080the women to turn out they don't even know about us the men have their network right they all have
00:36:51.280you know they have their little political other other little groups they have and they know how
00:36:55.760to network but our women come oftentimes with the men and so they don't have other ladies to network
00:37:01.680with um one thing that we've done though and i used to think it was men and women men and women
00:37:07.680but we really do treat our women as ladies we call them and that's something that olivia who
00:37:15.120has been a wonderful helpmate to me has reminded me that we have we do daughters of frigg and we
00:37:21.280have a ladies tea and so very much like boulder software they do fika we do our ladies tea which
00:37:28.320has a really important role for bonding our ladies together and um and so we do a lot for
00:37:35.040our ladies the men have their time too but that is something that was never before
00:37:39.840but we make a very very definite point for the ladies to get together and chat and talk and get
00:37:45.040to know each other and share concerns um and i usually have some kind of a theme that we touch on
00:37:51.680but um kind of going back to it for so long we would at events long ago um they were open to
00:37:59.120anybody you know um it was considered focus but we always called it focus light so um and then we'd
00:38:07.600invite other groups who would then bring in their their members and some of those members were a
00:38:11.520little on the darker side and it didn't always work and so that was very much the old days the
00:38:17.120old afa and we got by the time matt came around and we had a few other people like him we were
00:38:24.560really kind of clearing out that that nature and we were working on quality not quantity
00:38:31.760but there's always been um a real element of of drinking at our events and i have to admit i would
00:38:38.000be the one who would bring in you know we go out to winter nights in the poconos and i make sure
00:38:43.200we get a couple of 24 packs of local beer or whatever i have some wine and frankly we don't
00:38:49.360do that anymore it's almost we're a little straight laced but our friend newt always brings
00:38:55.520up wonderful red wine from the wineries near his home um but we don't drink mead we've never had
00:39:03.680mead socially to us it's always you know it is our religious it's our electric our sacred elixir
00:39:11.040to connect with gods so um but you know our guys do a bit of drinking but it's never an excess
00:39:17.920like it was even a few years ago and that was kind of horrific to have people who would come
00:39:25.760and not care about their behavior and how it appeared to others and so we've really improved
00:39:33.920that so that's what makes it so family oriented we have no qualms about inviting people or even if
00:39:41.040you know, you get that, you know, mother-in-law or somebody who comes along, you know, it's such
00:39:47.680a warm and loving environment. And there's nothing that should cause disdain or disapproval from
00:39:55.540people because we're so open-hearted and generous. So it's really, it's a wonderful environment. And
00:40:03.280a lot of people just, it does, it sways the wife over to our side. It may take a while,
00:40:09.360but um they always they always feel comfortable bringing their kids even if they themselves are
00:40:15.060not um followers of alsatree yet so we have just it's just kind of cleaned up the act of people
00:40:23.080and moving those out and being direct with people those who have and it hasn't happened
00:40:28.040hardly at all but uh no we don't do heavy drinking here it's not appropriate also language i know
00:40:34.560that some some hops um apparently five dollars for some words that get spoken or something like
00:40:41.440that and we really don't have that problem very much at certainly not with our leaders um you
00:40:47.680know our people are really well behaved at odin's off so i can say that's what i speak on mostly
00:40:52.240because of course i know it so well but um yeah i know every hoth has its own personality its own
00:40:59.520culture there's no doubt about it we tend to be more casual at odin's hof you know people can
00:41:05.040come camp when they can camp you know they're wearing their shorts and their t-shirts and
00:41:09.040whatever but we do try to get people to remember to bring it and change of clothes for bloat
00:41:15.040especially when we get to yule and and midsummer those are big times but some people are kind of
00:41:21.600like matt and a few guys come dressed up with a tie and all um but that's not as common as it is
00:41:27.840at the other halfs but the point is people come they're happy there they want it it's their half
00:41:34.000it's where they connect with the the sir and the ancestors and that's really what it comes down to
00:41:41.520they don't they're not disrespectful in any way that's just not going to be allowed at this point
00:41:47.280we have to set the example for those little kids you know one of the one of the things when we were
00:41:51.920we were getting balder's half ready to open and one of the things that we were talking about with
00:41:56.480the leadership and with the men in particular that came was you are the dad the uncle the brother to
00:42:04.480all of these little kids what you do they will do you know and so we always try to make sure we
00:42:10.640and not just the men the women too but it's very true the the children emulate us you know like
00:42:16.320with um with with corey's sons with hale balder and and things like that they are
00:42:22.080they're mimicking what we do now because they're learning what they they learn what we do and they
00:42:31.000may not fully understand what it is that they're doing but they're going to mimic it first so if
00:42:36.540we mimic that pious and responsible behavior are we if we are pious and responsible our children
00:42:42.240will mimic that behavior especially in a in a religious in a church setting so
00:42:46.920speaking of cory she does ask can you please tell us about the before the meal blessing
00:42:53.840something about might and main i can't quite remember yes um nick i think has this that
00:43:00.160he will go ahead and pop up for us um everybody take a minute screenshot that take a picture of
00:43:05.960it speaking of children this is a great prayer to teach the kids uh with the rhyming to it with the
00:43:13.420with the wording to it. And it really kind of sets that tone for what we're asking. It is a very
00:43:19.960pious prayer that you can teach your children. And it's something that you can let your children
00:43:25.500lead once they know it. So speaking of kids, this is a very good prayer. Go ahead and screenshot
00:43:30.340that. Write it down if you have time. Nick is also, if you could post that in the chat.
00:43:37.000This is a prayer that you can teach your kids. So one of the really neat things about going to
00:43:42.520thorshoff um the children know this prayer the adults know this prayer they say it together it's
00:43:48.440it's a beautiful thing but yes what's it yeah what's the source of this who actually wrote this
00:43:56.360this was written by law speaker turnage oh okay yeah it's beautiful very nice i think i've asked
00:44:05.720that before in fact i think last time i was on that came up i need to get a copy myself it is
00:44:11.080it's totally beautiful and i've just been informed that there's another one that was
00:44:16.840written by witten erickson which is a prayer i believe this is their family prayer
00:44:25.400nice so here's another one that we can uh write down if nick will put that in the chat as well
00:44:34.440something that we can teach our children and a tradition that you can pass down
00:44:41.080That is so important. Families need to have their own traditions of a religious nature, because we haven't had that before for our folks. So, yeah, family prayers.
00:44:54.280so uh ryan wilson asked question what about saying golly darn shucks and other stuff from
00:45:01.900leave it to beaver i mean if that's going to prevent you from saying words that you don't
00:45:07.060want the children to repeat by all means do so yes the intent's the same but we're not teaching
00:45:12.780them to say it in public it is much better for those kids to say golly darn shucks and other
00:45:17.300stuff and leave it to beaver my children learned martha stewart so yes when i got angry it was
00:45:24.740martha stewart and when i was very angry it was martha stewart living so that's what we
00:45:32.180used so every once in a while you'll hear my kids go martha stewart
00:45:41.620so kids and as a true sheila let's jump into that prayers is there any particular prayers
00:45:49.140or any recommendations that you would have for teaching parents how to teach their children to
00:45:53.780pray let's start there how do we try to pray
00:46:01.860well obviously even just hail odin odin hail odin give good gifts something that very basic
00:46:12.340it it has import it um has clarity to it and of course that's something that adults can do too
00:46:21.380and it's wonderful when people get together um and they have a bit of privacy to do that
00:46:28.980is kind of an opening because it's what we do when we do our introductions that's called greeting to
00:46:35.220the gods or greeting of the gods and i i think that um whether the parents actually have prayers
00:46:47.220that are memorized i think ending the day you know with the thanks the thanks to to all you
00:46:54.500can go through the sir and the ancestors and the land they tear and then my pets and my friends and
00:47:00.980my you know all my mom and dad very important for us to all be thankful for the blessings in our
00:47:07.060lives i really stress that a lot just the person i am uh gratitude was one of my big words this
00:47:14.500last year having gratitude grateful for what we have and um what we learn um and uh i would say
00:47:24.820yeah parents look for opportunities um out in nature and point out the blessings that are out
00:47:31.860there in nature and then refer to the van air fray and freya and your and um get the kids familiar
00:47:39.940with the names of the gods and when you're out in nature and again of course everybody loves
00:47:44.980the world during a thunderstorm but uh freya and uh spitting the clouds you know or not freya
00:47:52.660sorry frig frig for spinning the clouds and some of those stories are important um reading the
00:47:59.620stories having telling the stories and even retelling stories so that it is um the kid you
00:48:07.620could ask the children what story do you want to hear at night and then you repeat kind of the
00:48:11.540essence of the story and then let them end it or that kind of thing but um i think there are a lot
00:48:18.260of opportunities for parents to work prayer into uh into their lives certainly um animals pass
00:48:26.260relatives pass we've seen that with some of our families locally of the kids who have to
00:48:32.180understand that that that person is no longer in the life as we know them but they continue on and
00:48:39.140that was a big lesson for a lot of people when thorgan passed this year because we we did it so
00:48:45.300very profoundly and um so those kinds of things uh reminding them of life and death and the cycles
00:48:53.460and certainly the ancestors you know to honor our ancestors who were doing it winter nights but i
00:49:01.620to have them think about the ancestors and ask for their blessings and watch over the family
00:49:08.020help the family and guide all the very important things um so yeah as for prayer steve my husband
00:49:18.100steve wrote some beautiful small prayers in the book of faith and i love reading those myself they
00:49:24.260were done a long time ago but like everything you know if it's well written it's timeless
00:49:28.100so those still really are nice prayers and they can be read aloud recited as a family
00:49:34.180um that kind of thing yeah how about you what would you say so some of the ones that we did
00:49:40.800with my kids when they were little um we used to always um we used to always greet suna you know
00:49:47.880we would we would greet the day every day when we wake up um we would greet monty every night
00:49:54.480so but it was more along the lines of approaching the morning with hope and ending the evening with
00:50:02.680gratitude um one of the others you know we grew up in the rolling nothingness that is you know
00:50:10.680north dakota and in the winter time it got it got pretty rough driving places and we used to have
00:50:17.560you know we used to do the litany of the gods in our heads when we were on long trips because we
00:50:23.000were there was a time when we were driving you know back and forth 100 miles every weekend
00:50:27.800you know and when there was inclement weather if it was really snowy and slippery and the kids
00:50:34.200could tell that i was a little bit nervous and if i'm nervous they're going to be nervous you know
00:50:38.920so we used to do you know a whole litany of of the easier you know we would we would hail odin
00:50:46.280we would hail his wife rig you know we would hail thor would hail his his wife thief um but we used
00:50:53.400to go through the litany in times of stress especially when we were traveling um i mean i
00:50:58.920know some of us can probably remember our grandparents who used to have like a travel
00:51:02.600bible that they would read the bible we would have a travel haval and we would read um
00:51:10.120but it was it was things like that where there was always a chance to talk to the gods either
00:51:15.960in the morning when you wake up or at night you know after the days ended um in times of stress
00:51:22.760you know giving giving that moment to be pious rather than terrified you know give you something
00:51:27.400it it helps calm me down because it's it's focusing on something else but at the same time
00:51:32.280you're teaching them to pray um we used to do the litany of our ancestors you know we would start off
00:51:38.760with my grandparents and then the great-grandparents and then the great-great-grandparents
00:51:43.000and when my children were little it was a memorized prayer for them you know
00:51:48.360hail you know hail charles and bonnie um you know hail you know petra and hail all of these they
00:51:55.640would go through the whole line and they they did it so often that it just become like a prayer to
00:52:00.280them you know it was a memorized prayer um so that's one thing that i taught them pretty young
00:52:06.120is when we would do like our our ancestor day our ancestor feast um we would basically go
00:52:12.280through the whole litany of the ancestors hail charles and bonnie you know hail anthony and
00:52:16.600maria hail petrus and petronella you know hail pets and hey all of them and then we would go to
00:52:22.920the other side of my family and we would do that again um and we would always talk about them as if
00:52:30.440they could listen you know so we always had um a plate for the veitir and we always had a plate
00:52:37.560for the ancestors you know and i have two kids so that worked out great right one could do one
00:52:43.720do the other you know one of the day one of the things that we always did is is we had a day set
00:52:50.840aside for religious education and you know education for the children but also education
00:52:59.320for myself you know so you would have a day of one day a month would be dedicated to otan and
00:53:05.720then the next month that day would be dedicated to thor and then that next month alder we would
00:53:10.440go through all of the gods all of um the goddesses and we also had days that were for our ancestors
00:53:17.000and then we had days that were for heroes you know we would celebrate heroes um and we usually did
00:53:22.200it like on on feast days it would be like wednesdays so and that probably comes from you
00:53:28.200know my my catholic side upbringing where we always had catechism on wednesdays you know
00:53:34.520so we kind of carry that tradition is this is what we're talking about this is who we're praying to
00:53:38.760and we kind of just set all of our wednesdays out that way you know this one is for this this one
00:53:43.520is for this and it was just a little calendar for them to follow um so that really helped them
00:53:49.360take time and go okay it's wednesday it's time to do the feast to thor or um and then they would
00:53:56.820like to be the one to talk about thor you know if you if you read the stories to your children
00:54:02.640and you talk to them about the gods on a regular basis,
00:54:08.180it becomes part of their everyday life.
00:54:10.740So when it comes time for that Feast of Thor, right,
00:54:14.560they want to be the ones to talk about Thor.
00:54:17.500You know, they want to be the ones to raise the horn.
00:54:20.340They want to be the ones to give the plate of food.
00:54:23.340So that's something that I think would be, you know,
00:54:26.900if your children are old enough to participate in that,
00:54:29.760talk to them now and kind of get them in a routine of worship um get them into a routine of piety
00:54:35.620get them into the routine of this is what we do and why you know because if you create that now
00:54:41.480they're more likely to carry that on you know in moments of stress they're going to call upon
00:54:46.220their ancestors because they know them by name you know they're going to call upon the aesir
00:54:50.560and the asenir because they know them by name you know it comes naturally to them so that's i guess
00:54:57.820would be my recommendation my first one find a re find a reason and find a routine yeah yeah right
00:55:05.040and of course the ninth of the month is is a good day to remember everybody can celebrate that with
00:55:10.300the holy with the uh the day of remembrance to one of our heroes as well as it can be you know
00:55:18.080odin world prayer day as it is some some places on wooden's day and that can be kind of a guaranteed
00:55:24.060thing too but also that the ancestors plate is really important for them to continue to
00:55:31.380to do that they could take turns if there's several kids and just do it like every sunday
00:55:35.780or something we're doing the ancestors place because we're doing a formal dinner where we
00:55:40.700are really paying attention to what's here and all that so yes the routine building routines
00:55:46.320yeah morning prayer together when a daybreak like you say anticipating the day how can we make it
00:55:53.180wonderful how can we the one i love the ending of and healing hands and you guys know that because
00:55:59.260i say that when we when we do the the one from the cedrifamol and to me that is the day is good
00:56:07.280if i know or if if i have made somebody's day better and sometimes we all need to find ways
00:56:14.460of doing it might be holding the door open you know what that's like when somebody does it for
00:56:18.600you just those little things the smile the the um helping somebody just whatever a stranger or
00:56:25.260family member but have those helping hands and that's a gift that keeps on giving right
00:56:32.100it'll come back on you but it is just heartwarming to be able to do that for people
00:56:37.760so instill that in children that they need to go out and in their day do something very special for
00:56:45.400other people. Right. Yeah. Now, speaking of the heroes, one of the questions that I've received
00:56:53.760in the past is some of our heroes died viciously or painfully, gruesomely, you know, how do we,
00:57:04.520how do we relay that story to our children without being too explicit in the details?
00:57:11.340and do you think there's an age range or ideas that you can give to the children when they're
00:57:17.380very very young you know when we talk about our heroes and some of the ways that some of them
00:57:22.280were taken from Midgard you know how do you censor that for children or do you censor that
00:57:27.280for children what are your thoughts Sheila oh I think I probably would um you know there's enough
00:57:34.020tragedy and bad things in the world that to give very young kids a sense of violence and
00:57:42.800atrocities for people. I don't know. I think we can just say that they dedicated their lives
00:57:48.720and died an honorable death and tried to describe that when they're young. As they get older,
00:57:53.860they get towards their teens. They're ready to hear some of these stories, though, and they need
00:57:58.460To know what people did in dedication to their faith, to their gods, to the Aesir and Asenir and honoring them and keeping the folk going.
00:58:13.220You know, the sacrifices made is really important.
00:58:15.880That's just me, though, because I always, you know, I always kind of want to shield children from unpleasantness, you know, when they're not ready for it.
00:58:23.880because you know their little minds go enough anyway with nightmares and all so that's just me
00:58:29.240how about you how do you handle that so i had boys um so i think i did it a little bit younger
00:58:36.920for them that i would have for my nieces and i think that's just uh that was just me you know
00:58:44.920but you know thinking of like my nieces now and they're not that far in age but
00:58:51.240i don't think that i would have ever told my nieces about that part of it but as my kids got
00:58:58.36011 12 then it you know they started asking well how did he die well what happened was we took this
00:59:04.760they took this bowl of um you know hot coals and put it on his stomach and then poof you know and
00:59:11.000then at that point they were like wow holy cow yeah but boys will ask those questions where you
00:59:18.680you know girls sometimes won't um but yeah i think 11 and 12 was when i started actually
00:59:25.400you know this is what happened you know it was it was kind of kind of awful and kind of terrible
00:59:30.200and this is one of the reasons why they're a hero is because they died for their gods you know and
00:59:37.160that's a very heavy thing to put on a kid even though even though you know we're they're heroes
00:59:43.400to that to us and of course you know they see cartoons and stories and movies where people do
00:59:48.880die and things do happen when you start talking about it it kind of can get a little bit heavy
00:59:55.000you know but you bring into that whole this is why they're a hero you know this this is the
01:00:00.000sacrifice that they made for their gods this is how strongly they were this is how strong their
01:00:05.420loyalty to the gods were is that they would not do the smallest thing they would rather have done
01:00:13.020this than denied their gods so you know that could kind of hit home for a kid so you got to kind of
01:00:19.100be careful on how gruesome you know how detailed you're going to get with great gruesome deaths
01:00:23.900sometimes but what i found with my kids my my kids were all about i want to know how like how does
01:00:30.540that work and then i have my oldest would be like that's not real you know how does that actually
01:00:35.740work because he's the one that wants to know how everything works you know now why would i do that
01:00:40.060you know it is it like because it was like microwaved and it popped or how you know things
01:00:44.340like that just like questions you know but yeah i think there were about 11 or 12 before we started
01:00:50.600getting into that that level of stuff um yeah so with with the days of remembrances is there
01:00:59.900anything that you would recommend for parents on is there anything that they can do in the home
01:01:04.880to start letting the children um hear about the heroes and honor them on their days of remembrance
01:01:12.480is there any simple things you know older children younger children that you would have ideas for
01:01:19.680well we know that all of them have been um their stories are available in the room stone which is
01:01:26.080nice you've got the whole year um katie erickson um gidea erickson has done most of those for us
01:01:33.600again parents if their their children are attentive they want to hear the story the
01:01:39.200parents can read the story to them and you know skip a few sentences if it's not appropriate for
01:01:46.400that particular age but um talking about the times trying to to encourage them to find out about you
01:01:54.000know history is important what was going on and i can't say i'm an expert on uh things like
01:02:00.080Mexican Navy in history I'm not but I would say that there's a time and a place and for kids as
01:02:07.280they get older you know where there's similarities what we learned from that today of course and even
01:02:12.920as as children they may be able to make some find the relevance in their own lives with their own
01:02:19.100friends or family that kind of things we have pictures we're doing the holy you know now we've
01:02:25.400got them with the sun and rod and red and all that kind of stuff which is kind of cool
01:02:29.560and get them so they can start you could actually play games with them which is this you know you
01:02:33.960can put their names and do a matching game or something like that eventually because they're
01:02:38.360they're ready to learn i mean they are little sponges i have to say though see i did not have
01:02:43.560young children who were raised in alsatrew and i i am seeing families all the time who their
01:02:51.720children just are steeped you know they already know it it's familiar and it's comfortable and
01:02:56.680that's as it should be but for the generation that we had when we when i started now so true
01:03:03.240and we were kind of starting fresh with a bunch of new people a lot of them were relatively new
01:03:09.400to us true and they didn't have many many kids at that point we had a few families not many
01:03:15.000and they were quite involved some of those were raising their kids very closely
01:03:19.400somewhat with the lord but certainly with traditions and in the old ways you know that
01:03:25.860was nice just to see that and the traditional foods and the culture and all that um we can do
01:03:31.680so much more now though and so when the materials are there parents should be using those and trying
01:03:36.620to just come back to it every year you know we've got the same holy people in our in our lineage
01:03:45.680In fact, you know, they were ancestors of ours and they sacrificed for us.
01:04:14.080and you know the whole nine noble virtues hit real hard so you might want to again go through
01:04:19.040which virtue are we talking about here and that's one place you could repeat that all that
01:04:24.720and look at what would have happened if you know those kinds of things with the kids carry the
01:04:29.840story further right when they get into their teens right and we do actually have some um
01:04:37.440So this is a good time to talk about the academy because the as a true academy actually is open, even if you're not homeschooling your child, the academy is open for religious lessons as well.
01:04:51.400So if you are interested in, you know, the academy for just religious purposes because you don't have the ability to homeschool your child for, you know, whichever reason is best for your family, we do have those religious studies available in the academy as well.
01:05:07.220and one of those lessons is on the heroes and i think they've got they've got a lot of um the old
01:05:12.820youth program lessons in there as well so those are very fun and those are good for older kids
01:05:19.860younger kids i think they might have them set up i'd have to check with nick but there was a few
01:05:24.420different age levels you know depending on depending on what age child was there was a
01:05:29.460different uh lesson about the hero absolutely we have word searches for the heroes that are set up
01:05:37.060there's one that's like k through second one that's like third and fourth one is fifth and sixth
01:05:42.580different levels of difficulty um we have though we have heroes holidays uh the acer
01:05:50.900lots of other activities outstanding so if you are interested um getting help from the academy
01:05:57.700in religious studies for your children please visit the as a true academy.org uh reach out to
01:06:02.740to the wonderful folk there. Sheila is one of those who work very, very, very hard to make
01:06:08.200sure that the academy is there to support our families and our kids, as is folk builder Sarah
01:06:13.700Ault. She does a lot of work with the academy, another amazing woman who's dedicated to the
01:06:18.340children and making sure that we've got all of these things available. And Goethe Robstam as
01:06:23.780well, the dean of the academy. I'll reach out to any of those people and they can definitely get
01:06:28.060to get you lined up. Yeah, there we go. Look at all the cool stuff that we have. Look at that.
01:06:35.800This is specifically for adults too. Yeah. Yeah. Did we have the answer sheet for that one too?
01:06:46.720The solution? Oh, I did not get it. Do it. I did not make an answer sheet. I made these. I didn't
01:06:51.520making answer sheets. So parents, you gotta do it too. Four hour trip on the road. Keep them really
01:07:04.160busy. That's good for the adults too, though, frankly. Yeah. Yeah. The fifth and sixth grade
01:07:10.900level one is even, is even harder than that. But you know, that, that was, I think that was the
01:07:16.220second and third grader level when i believe so right in the middle yeah i mean all you do is
01:07:23.580looking for letters and matching look well i don't know about that nick
01:07:29.960i apologize that is the fourth and fifth grade level one um i think the uh you know and you know
01:07:41.540So if you think it's too hard for your kid or if your kid thinks it's too hard, let me know.
01:07:47.040I can give you the lesser one, too, if you don't have it, because I'm the one that was judging what grade level those were.
01:13:21.640I will never forget having been to the ones out in the Poconos and Katie Erickson.
01:13:27.720And I still love her first song, We Are the Watchers.
01:13:33.080Yeah. Anyway, we'll be doing that because that's one I will never stop doing. And I'm looking so forward to it. But to connect their children to the desert, to our mothers is, yeah, it's, it's something that it should always be that they should always know who we're talking about, right? And it should be a special time for them, too.
01:13:56.860I'm just, again, you know, I know that Svan also does the Alfar.
01:14:04.520You know, he does not just keep it singled out for the DC or for the mothers.
01:14:11.000And in some ways, I've all used Fisa and Harriar, which is to tend to be male-oriented, obviously, with Odin's Warriors.
01:14:21.260And the fact that Veterans Day and all that.
01:14:23.560and it does seem like a time because just about every every father has made sacrifices and so
01:14:30.280to me that can also be done to some extent at that time if we don't do it but we do
01:14:36.440typically do the mothers and it's really important for the men to participate fully we women do it a
01:14:43.560lot with our when we're together we talk a lot about our mothers it's natural to do that but
01:14:48.840it's very different for the men and uh what we will be doing is something that uh again
01:14:55.240katie has us do and i'm sure she probably does something similar to it or maybe it was even
01:15:01.320pat hall but the idea is that because we go into a ritual circle outside it's not like indoors so
01:15:08.280we have a couple of ladies there with a basin of warm water and you're stepping into your mother's
01:15:13.880home and this is when you show your best you're polite you you wash your hands and you dry them
01:15:21.400on the towel and you come in and then we would have everybody hail a god or god not what am i
01:15:27.000saying one of the mothers uh direct line mothers typically a mother grandmother great grandmother
01:15:32.760even an aunt obviously if you're close to an aunt who did not have children you could do that as
01:15:37.640well but it's important for the kids to participate in that and to see the adults um
01:15:46.680giving it that much thought that much reverence and again piety to the act of honoring the dsir
01:15:54.120the other thing is that at this time we think of the dsir but goddess that is associated is really
01:16:02.360freya as the vanities and so and people will say well isn't it frig well frig is definitely the
01:16:09.400mother but there's something too about all women having gone through from the earliest from the
01:16:15.960moment of conception till their death you know it is that that long life and the beauty of of going
01:16:22.680through the many stages of youth and then then those young adult ears and marriage and children
01:16:29.640and all those things and i think it works very well for both friggin freya but it's there's
01:16:35.160something that life forces with freya that is just felt particularly all through the life and i think
01:16:42.200that is somewhat representative with honoring our mothers knowing them not just as we knew them but
01:16:47.720that they all lived dramatic lives there were times there were things they went through and
01:16:53.400learned from and people they knew and decisions they made and we will never know what those are
01:16:59.320but they know and they're still with us and so that we we must remember to try to communicate
01:17:05.080and have them speak back to that us if they so uh choose to but to sit and certainly connect with us
01:17:12.760and help guide and give comfort i've been saying that actually in letters this week
01:17:17.560for the dcr to be there to guide and help give comfort at times of need because there are
01:17:22.600mothers it's what they do so i think for kids to be around adults who are also honoring those who
01:17:28.040of past is really important. Yes. Mary has, hi Mary, I'm glad that you're here. Mary Mitchell.
01:17:37.800Oh Mary, dear Mary. She asks what about heroines? Should we talk about Boudicca and other heroines,
01:17:46.600both historical and mythological? I'm thinking about daughters and granddaughters. Yes, so
01:17:51.560So, you know, we do have some of our heroes that are, you know, we do have female heroes.
01:17:57.780We've got Elsie, we've got Queen Sigrid, but if there is somebody in the sagas that
01:18:07.400you're drawn to for whatever reason, of course, you know, talk to the girls about them.
01:18:12.940Talk about what makes them strong as true women, right?
01:18:16.820talk about and things that you want to look for in that is were they brave were they loyal did
01:18:23.840they tell the truth um there's a lot of things a lot of the times um in in the sagas and sometimes
01:18:32.420in literature and things like that the women are kind of the instigators you know so sometimes you
01:18:39.440gotta explain to the children why you're honoring that one you know she was loyal she was strong
01:18:46.180she was brave she did good deeds she told the truth also one thing that I feel personally and
01:18:54.740I'll get your opinion on this as well Sheila folklore is is something that I feel we should
01:19:02.200be teaching our children as well you know whether that's Scandinavian folklore Germanic folklore
01:19:07.780Celtic folklore whatever it is that that appeals to your family there's really really really good
01:19:14.400lessons to be learned i mean that's you know that's those are stories that again if we don't
01:19:21.600keep telling these stories they're going to be forgotten or they're going to be you know bastardized
01:19:28.160and commercialized for disney or pixar or whatever right let's tell the real stories to our children
01:19:36.960let's make sure that they know them let's make sure that they know the lessons of them so
01:19:41.440i'm a very big proponent of make sure that you are reading folklore to your children you know
01:19:48.000whatever whatever you celebrate as a family you can sit down and concentrate on the celtic or
01:19:55.120the slavic or the germanic the scandinavian whatever it is but keep those stories alive
01:20:00.720because if we don't lose those stories alive if we don't tell those stories to our children those
01:20:05.280stories are going to die or they're going to be changed in a way that our ancestors wouldn't even
01:20:10.160recognize them anymore so big proponent of that what do you think sheila absolutely yeah i totally
01:20:18.480proponent of folklore um history um the whole thing culture and again i'm way into music and
01:20:27.840wanting kids to have the experience of of classical music music through the ages um
01:20:33.360and understand that so many of those, I mean, those were our ancestors. This is out of Europe,
01:20:40.440so much of our culture, even here in America. So I tend to also be a proponent for American culture
01:20:46.180that is traditional American, like, well, let's say Johnny Appleseed, you know, we remember him
01:20:51.300for having spread the apples all over. And that's a simple one, but there's certainly other heroes
01:20:58.680we have in this country as well, because they're going to be washed away out of history, right?
01:21:03.360does that's the plan any anybody who is white who did anything is not going to be in a future
01:21:09.520history book and we know that and we can't allow that to happen and these are our ancestors some
01:21:14.640of recent ancestors for our own folk but truly the folk tales are important they have lessons to
01:21:21.520teach us and um i've been reading through actually uh grim's fairy tales um with the thought of maybe
01:21:28.720reading some of them as for um our story time and i keep hoping i'm going to find a little bit more
01:21:35.360in there that's a little bit more that nugget of you know goes way back to very much um our
01:21:42.240mythology and i'm not really getting that so much but it's still you know all those fairy tales um
01:21:49.440because we were raised with them the nursery rhymes you know and sing the nursery rhymes
01:21:54.320because they most of them have songs but it says so much about what history was like but what
01:22:00.320history what culture was like when um when these were were done and of course some of these are
01:22:05.840little um stories about um political or uprisings those kinds of things in europe but it's really
01:22:15.040it's very important to tell do and introduce kids to folk tales of all kinds absolutely and the the
01:22:22.560older the older the book the better honestly so when it when it comes to um translations of the
01:22:29.520lore uh when it comes to translations of anything whether it's um the what together the pros at a
01:22:36.800heim screen love folk tales the older the book you can find better because it's not watered
01:22:43.440down it's not censored it's not politicized um forgottenbooks.com i'm not sponsored but it should
01:22:49.760be i send everybody there um a lot of the books that i a lot of the books that i teach other
01:22:57.760people from and a lot of the books that i have personally you know they're they're published in
01:23:02.240the 1890s or 1920s it is before we started trying to censor everything you know so the older the
01:23:11.840book the better um and you you talked about um classical music have you ever seen the have you
01:23:21.120ever seen the rune steps where they have little footsteps that make the runes and it's a little
01:23:25.680dance that you can do have you seen that no to find it i have this somewhere sheila remind me
01:23:31.520of this tomorrow because it's something that you do in a circle so um you can it was just a little
01:23:39.040diagram and it was just little footsteps like uh like dance steps but in the room so you do a
01:23:47.440complete rune and then do the next one to the next one but you tape it out like you tape the rune out
01:23:55.760and then you take the steps and it was kind of like it's not musical chairs because you're not
01:24:00.720taking away something but you play classical music or you play some kind of cool upbeat music and
01:24:06.000then they dance the rune and then when the music stops they jump to the next room so that's that's
01:24:12.640a fun thing it's fun for adults i'm not gonna lie i enjoy it i think it's fun but but it's cute and
01:24:19.920there's like little footsteps i will have to find it i think i have it somewhere on my computer so
01:24:23.600i will try to find that for you yeah it's not really clear but it sounds fun yeah so you tape
01:24:29.280your runes out and then you you do your dance steps around the runes and then you go to the
01:24:33.680the next room and you just go on okay yeah and of course learning runs that way yes yeah yep and
01:24:42.420you're like music and you're you're working on your spiritual excellence with your runes and
01:24:47.200your physical excellence with your with your movement of your body and you're learning
01:24:53.060classical music so and you're doing it with others and that's great you're doing it with
01:24:57.720others, you're making friends. You were at the Hof with your friends. Yes. Yes. Yes. Any other
01:25:04.380recommendations for winter nights with the kids? Oh, well, I love the Celtic nature of winter
01:25:15.640nights as well with Samhain. You know, winter nights, Samhain, their veil is thin, right? The
01:25:21.480same thing. And in my own ancestry, sorry, I'm not Scandinavian. That's 78, 80% Irish.
01:25:27.720both sides and i feel it you know it's kind of who i am and so i love um the artwork that comes
01:25:35.400with this time of year and even when i was a teacher you know halloween my kids would get
01:25:41.240um not work worksheets to color and they loved it uh the zoomorphic stuff which is viking style as
01:25:49.040well and that's kind of nice it's really such beautiful designs you know the zoom soomorphic
01:25:55.880designs. Um, so I love that. I think, um, obviously talk about meals and dishes and
01:26:04.300traditional dishes in the family. I think we're going to be doing that and encouraging that at,
01:26:08.940uh, winter nights this year coming up. I'm still kind of pulling together ideas for winter nights,