00:07:25.820jess could you tell us your journey within the afa as a folk builder and your part in creating
00:07:31.340the powerhouse that ohio has become um the journey was actually not it was not easy
00:07:41.180at all um when i started a role of leadership here in ohio it was very disconnected um not
00:07:50.380in a negative way just there wasn't the for events um people were very spread out so it was a lot of
00:08:00.780reaching out to people on the phone it was a lot of doing constant events all over the state um
00:08:09.100really um you know i i have like maybe one person that came out to an event you know a month and
00:08:15.900And just not getting discouraged. That was that was the biggest part, not getting discouraged, realizing that if you stay consistent and if you keep going, people as people join and they realize the community and the warmth you have to offer, it just builds from there.
00:08:33.040and that's exactly what happened it took a few years it really took about a little over two
00:08:38.400years before we really started seeing um more members in ohio and more more importantly more
00:08:44.080members being active and coming out to events and we had more folk builders like timmy and joe um
00:08:50.640christine uh mike we have so many good people uh doing consistent events and really providing
00:08:58.640that family atmosphere for our folk to come out and and connect and and that's really what it was
00:09:06.560about it was about getting people you know reconnected with each other and and feeling
00:09:10.880comfortable in too so while we're on it can you talk a little bit about ohio generally it's been
00:09:20.960for those guys that don't know um afa has always had a decent amount of members spread out
00:09:28.960throughout ohio but it was it was vexing for me before i became uh i was harry goethe i was the
00:09:34.880folk builder coordinator and trying to get stuff happening in ohio was always so difficult it seemed
00:09:41.680like there was all the potential in the world but nobody would get together like it was pulling
00:09:45.600teeth to get anyone to do anything and now ohio's on the rise it's not just got a lot of folks in it
00:09:51.920it is i believe at present it's our second most populous state as far as afa members go
00:09:57.680ohio and florida have kind of a back and forth rivalry going on on that but either way the afa
00:10:02.960wins i'm a happy guy but ohio's really come a long way so much so that uh phrase off the next
00:10:09.840off that the afa is is getting is going to be in ohio so tell us a little bit about ohio what's
00:10:17.680going on yeah tell us the ohio story the ohio story um well like i said it was you know it
00:10:25.120was very sporadic at first but as we got uh more folk builders um i mean really you know timmy and
00:10:32.880his his charisma that he you know has with christine um on top of it really building
00:10:43.280the southern portion and and that's kind of really what it took i think is
00:10:48.400ohio isn't a terribly big state you know it takes about four and a half hours to drive
00:10:53.840you know from south or north to south vice versa up and down um having more folk builders and having
00:11:01.440more people putting events together offers more for people they feel less secluded and i think
00:11:08.560that was kind of the problem before we had people that did not want to drive two or three hours and
00:11:15.600even though it would be nice if every once in a while they'd come out to an event
00:11:20.000to drive a few hours not everybody's going to do that not everybody has a means to do that either
00:11:25.200and with us having you know me being in the northern part and timmy being in the southern
00:11:29.520part part really tackled the state honestly um you know we'd have people joining up in the northwest
00:11:36.240corner and then it's like cool you know you're closest to jess we'd have people in the southeast
00:11:41.040or southwest corner especially like cincinnati area um they would join it's like all right you
00:11:46.000got tim right there you got christine right there and now we have you know mike in the middle which
00:11:50.240is great we have joe that's um northeast a little south of me i'm way up let me always says i'm
00:11:56.880practically in canada um and it's just having having that leadership and having that presence
00:12:03.840of leadership and leadership that's also willing to work really hard and not get discouraged
00:12:11.520reaching out to people making it very personable and um we have so many different
00:12:19.680people that are into different things I think that that helps too you know uh I'm kind of like
00:12:28.180a metalhead a crazy metalhead so we've got people that join up like oh yeah you know I'm gonna talk
00:12:31.740to Jess about metal stuff and you know Tim with his great wackiness you know people connect
00:12:37.740immediately to that and I think that really it really helps and sometimes it's it's hard you
00:12:44.640if you have a state that just has one folk builder they can't be everywhere they can try and they'll
00:12:50.080do their best but they can't be everywhere and having more than one folk builder is really what
00:12:54.400i feel it has is what built the state and also the surrounding areas um you know we have people from
00:13:01.760west virginia kentucky that are not that far from tim we have people from pa that are not far from
00:13:07.600joe you know myself also being kind of on the pa you know not that terribly far from michigan we
00:13:13.760are able to accommodate even outside of our state borders so that was another big piece of it too
00:13:19.840is making sure that really anybody with despite where they were at they are in a two to three
00:13:24.800hour distance from you you really built a personal relationship with them because you want them to
00:13:30.320feel involved and you want them to feel welcome so i think it just really it's that consistent drive
00:13:36.240of tons of events tons of stuff to do doing creative things whether it's laser tag a bloat
00:13:44.080you know nerf battles kids versus adults viking battles you know you really got to hit all this
00:13:50.960different stuff to get people to want to come out and you know not that the spiritual connection
00:13:58.320isn't enough but they want to make sure that there's that community that they can feel
00:14:02.560comfortable in especially when you have families coming you want them to know okay well this isn't
00:14:08.400just like a boys club thing like this is a family atmosphere and we really cater to that big time
00:14:17.200yeah i think that uh you know i've said this a lot and people that
00:14:23.120people that up to this point have only practiced house and true in a in a personal way
00:14:28.560sometimes take offense. And I certainly don't mean it that way, but to really get the value
00:14:35.840out of it, to really feel and participate in Ausatru in a full way, it's always been a community
00:14:41.760faith. It's been about living out Ausatru within how you act in your community. And so it's so
00:14:50.740much richer when you have that and you go out of your way and you get involved. And the more people
00:14:54.860that do, the more widespread the activity is. And, you know, people that didn't have folks
00:15:01.440close to them a couple of years ago now are surrounded with great people. We've got a
00:15:06.780question from Steven. Jessica, what motivates you to continue building and helping our folk?
00:15:15.300It's really, it's an inner drive. There's no one thing that motivates me. I feel,
00:15:21.780So I feel, I don't want to say an obligation because I'm honored to be in the position
00:15:27.800that I am in, but when I wasn't in leadership, I immediately took a stance of being in leadership
00:15:36.860just with my forwardness, a need for something.
00:15:42.720And I'm a, I'm a fixer kind of fixer kind of gal, if you will.
00:15:46.860I see a problem or a gap or a need for something. And I try to do my best to fill that. And prior to being in the AFA, speaking with other women, that was always a big thing. We don't have something where we feel comfortable.
00:16:03.400we don't have something where we feel that we are put in a place that we deserve that we that we1.00
00:16:10.980get the respect we deserve as women and not in some weird like feminist way but in a wifely1.00
00:16:17.760motherly way um for our children we need something that our children can grow into1.00
00:16:25.260that's going to build good habits to build good character and um that kind of was that
00:16:33.100was really my drive to be honest that's totally what it was it's not about any kind of self
00:16:38.580gratification or anything on that level um i'm actually incredibly shy so for me to have to put
00:16:45.280myself out there is uh always kind of a big thing um yeah i guess that's pretty much it inner drive
00:16:52.800good deal um nick asks matt how's your week been and how's the life of being a dad my week my week's
00:17:06.040been pretty good so far um got nothing to complain about i'm excited i got a couple a couple of cool
00:17:12.180things going on i'm having people coming over to okay so anybody who is within driving distance
00:17:18.460of my house contact me if you guys want to come to dinner on uh saturday because i'm hosting a
00:17:24.620dinner over here with with local members and so i'm excited about that planning a menu for that
00:17:30.060so i'm doing good um how's life being a dad i mean okay first first well because there's just
00:17:43.260so much to it i think sometimes these questions are are meant as just kind of casual how you're
00:17:47.580doing but if if more comes to me i always like to give a little bit more on that um
00:17:54.140my wife and i both waited too long in our life to start having kids and so it wasn't a guarantee
00:18:01.340we're very very lucky that we have aubrey um mandy and i were both 39 when we had her so
00:18:08.140we didn't know if that was going to be reality for us so we're so blessed having aubrey um it's
00:18:13.020it's amazing. She's first, I think having kids in general, assuming that they're healthy and
00:18:20.120stuff is probably always amazing, but we lucked out and have a particularly good one. Aubrey is
00:18:25.900awesome. And it's been, it's just been so cool to watch her. And this is relevant to how it's
00:18:34.260going this week. Just every couple of days, you notice some new things she learns or picks up or
00:18:40.520new things she can do that she couldn't do the day before. And it's, it's really cool to be a
00:18:44.980part of that. No, I love it. Now, can't say it's not challenging. And I can't say that kids don't
00:18:53.100do stuff that gets on your nerves. I don't think people talk about that enough. It's the thing.
00:18:57.600But no, it's amazing. And I'm extremely, extremely fortunate and blessed to have my daughter.
00:19:03.720So I'm a happy guy. Katla. Jessica, what is the weirdest comment or question you've had about the AFA from non-members? Maybe something about being a woman in the AFA.
00:19:19.460uh actually surprisingly no uh probably like my weirdest and most common if you will is is it a
00:19:30.640cult and of course my response is no it's ridiculous um I have had some women that have
00:19:39.920asked me uh about being a female uh in in the AFA and uh my reminder is this isn't a club0.61
00:19:49.020this isn't an emcee this isn't just a social thing this is a spiritual
00:19:54.780path and this is the community that drives that spiritual path
00:20:00.300all right well christine says matt and jess how do you incorporate spirituality and the gods
00:20:12.260into your children's life jessica go ahead and go first um i of course
00:20:18.760read to my son um the lore and i have some children's books that he really likes
00:20:24.940we also would just kind of sitting down with him
00:20:28.740when something comes to mind um we sit down and we talk about it and um i think where he's actually
00:20:39.300learned the most not so much with what we do at home and we do we do things at home like honoring
00:20:45.480ancestors. We talk a lot about the ancestors and their importance in our lives. Um, I always call
00:20:50.840him a son of Thor. So we talk a lot about Thor. Uh, it, it thunders outside. You hear him in the
00:20:56.940house go, hell Thor. Uh, he, he actually puts offerings, um, out in the backyard for Thor.
00:21:04.600And, um, at night he'll say goodnight Thor. That's his personal relationship with the gods,
00:21:12.920which i think is adorable and some of that is not necessarily something i implanted in him
00:21:18.460i mean i encourage it absolutely when he does it and we talk about it but really going to events
00:21:23.800um especially our national events drake my son really he is he's he's so involved during ritual
00:21:36.360he looks when he's in the ritual circle and especially when matt does a ritual his eyes
00:21:46.180are wide and he's just fascinated with what's going on and you'll hear him hailing the gods and
00:21:52.840even during times that we will galder a rune he will try to galder that rune we'll actually talk
00:21:59.240about it later on when we like go home after an event we'll talk about what that meant and
00:22:04.280he i feel like for him he's listening to his inside whisper his ancestral whisper he's listening
00:22:13.980he's connected he doesn't have this like christianized brain that he's got to break
00:22:19.960through all these barriers to make sense of things he wasn't pre-programmed in any way
00:22:24.220he was born into this and for him everything comes completely naturally which i think is
00:22:29.540absolutely beautiful. And he realizes the family aspect. He recognizes people from events,
00:22:35.280especially our local Ohio events. Everybody is aunt so-and-so, uncle so-and-so. He realizes
00:22:41.440it's a family. And that is something that's really important to him. Actually, we went to
00:22:47.640go celebrate Joe Drotos' birthday. Before we're leaving the house, Drake says to me,
00:22:53.860mommy aren't you going to grab your horn so we can toast joe and i said drake i think that's an
00:22:59.780excellent idea because we had kind of started this little ritual that whenever we would all
00:23:04.040get together and celebrate someone's birthday we would sit around the fire and we would toast that
00:23:07.440person and thank them for their contribution in our lives and also say something great about them
00:23:13.660and um drake was the one that actually like he reminded mom like oh don't forget your horn like
00:23:18.980want to do this right it's like all right yeah we're gonna do this so that for me is is the
00:23:24.660biggest piece is just letting him naturally gravitate towards certain things organically
00:23:30.580make sense of things in his way and then when he has questions he comes to me and we talk about it
00:23:36.660so that way it's not in any way i'm not saying that i would have to force anything on him but
00:23:41.860um i would never want him to feel like he's forced into anything and i love that if it's coming
00:23:47.300naturally, it's more meaningful. Well, Jess has a really good and big answer, and all those things
00:23:55.440are really cool. I don't know, Aubrey's too, so I don't have a whole lot of stuff for her to wrap
00:24:01.060her head around on things. One thing that I talk about on here that I always do is we've got this,
00:24:06.600you know, on our staircase, and I've always wanted to have this up my staircase, we got this wall of
00:24:12.080pictures of of my ancestors and so we point out the ancestors to Aubrey you know every morning
00:24:17.720when I take her her rooms upstairs and we go downstairs where the living room the kitchen
00:24:21.340everything is so when I take her down the stairs I always point to the ancestors and you know
00:24:27.200depending if she she's excited about them I don't know what about the pictures she can't quite tell
00:24:33.940me yet but if she points at one then I'll I'll tell her you know who it is and you know I point
00:24:38.920out that, you know, those are the ancestors, all those people love you. And she seems excited and
00:24:44.220happy about that and goes about her way. So we do that. When she goes with me up to the Hoff,
00:24:49.640Odense Hoff's about two and a half hours drive from here. So Aubrey and Mandy don't always get
00:24:54.220to make it with me. She's kind of temperamental on that car ride, so we'll see. But when she does,
00:25:00.580she's always... One thing that, and I've said this before, kind of a cool perspective since0.54
00:25:08.120having her is my child, my daughter is growing up in a world where Hoffs to our gods is her reality.
00:25:16.200She's never known a world where that wasn't a thing. And so it doesn't seem like an odd thing
00:25:21.940to me. Us having Hoffs is such a huge deal to me because when I started in Ausitru, that was,
00:25:27.960you know, that was this distant dream that no one had. That's her reality. This is her norm.
00:25:34.420She's not having to come to this and wish that we had stuff we don't have.
00:25:39.800She is surrounded by this her whole life.
00:25:53.200What I was going to say is since she's, you know, literally since she was born, she's been with us in in bloat.
00:26:01.580And I've seen other kids and other babies that aren't used to that.
00:26:04.700And I'm notorious for freaking those kids out because I get kind of loud and enthusiastic in my bloat and it terrifies some of the children.
00:26:12.920And if that doesn't get it, then when I'm splashing people with the meat, I always splash the babies in the eyes unintentionally most of the time.
00:26:19.240And they don't like it. But Aubrey's always been really cool with it.
00:26:23.960That's her reality. You know, her dad's out there giving bloat and it's completely normal.
00:26:28.700she can even sleep through it when i'm out there you know full throttle doing a spirited bloat
00:26:34.060it's kind of neat to me that that's that's a comfortable place for her um hey guys we've got
00:26:41.740a couple of donations over on the side uh first from lawrence 10 canadian dollars thank you so
00:26:48.540much lawrence we always appreciate you good evening matt and jessica jessica what is your favorite
00:26:54.460metal band, and if you can't decide on one, your top three. Lawrence always contributes. Give him
00:27:01.360three. I'll give him three. All right. Probably my top favorite is Demi Bourguer. I love everything0.92
00:27:10.920that they do, even their super early 90s stuff. I'm a huge fan of their symphonic black metal.
00:27:18.680However, I don't like all symphonic black metal, so they're sort of like the oddity for me. I met
00:27:24.020those guys actually were super cool um my next up is this actually it's an ohio band they're now
00:27:31.900an international act uh called midnight and they're just like i call them party thrash
00:27:37.240because their shows are just so much fun and they're just totally wild on stage and it just
00:27:43.820it's music that you absolutely can't help headbanging to like you just have to you regret
00:27:48.720it after the show because your neck's killing you but like you have to headbang um
00:27:52.760oh one more um oh shoot i'm i'm really big my my biggest love is industrial music
00:28:04.900i could go on and on and on and on about that um oh man like on the spot trying to think of
00:28:11.420like another metal band um i don't know i i'll get back to you on that i'll have to think about
00:28:18.160that but those are my top two all right so jessica owes us one um nick threw us ten dollars uh just
00:28:26.000supporting the stream keep up the solid work for the folk absolutely we will and your support means
00:28:30.640a lot to us thank you thank you um tyler threw us twenty dollars appreciate you tyler thank you
00:28:38.800my wife and i want to get more involved is it beneficial to the afa for a husband and wife
00:28:43.920to both be folk builders absolutely it is um and you know as you would expect there's going to be
00:28:52.560some overlap in that case it's not necessarily like we have two folk builders it's more like
00:28:59.040we have one and a half in some ways but being a folk builder is kind of the entry level to
00:29:05.200all of to a lot of the volunteerism in the afa to other projects and other things that we work on
00:29:11.360And sometimes a husband or a wife on that team really finds an area like the Astro Academy or something where they really excel at and can put a lot of benefit in that.
00:29:23.740You can balance strengths and weaknesses to where you can maximize what comes easiest for the both of you.
00:29:29.500And it's it's really an ideal situation.
00:29:31.740Um, when the Witten and I talk on stuff, we always really like to see AFA power couples
00:29:38.280and it works out really well because there's a lot of work that goes into this that people
00:29:44.900So sometimes when one, uh, one member of a couple gets very, very involved, it can feel
00:29:52.520like that's taking time away from your relationship and that should never be the case.
00:29:57.560and when both are AFA folk builders, the AFA activity also counts as doing something together
00:30:04.480with your spouse. And so it synergizes there. Got a number of really good examples. Cliff and
00:30:11.080Katie Erickson are both Gothar in the AFA and they do a ton for us as a couple and we're lucky
00:30:17.940to have them. I know I'm going to end up leaving somebody out here. In Ohio, we've got Tim and
00:30:23.360Christine Dumas doing great things as a couple. Mason and Rachel Johnson out in Washington State
00:30:32.400are working really well as a folk building couple. Daniel and Heather Young?
00:30:39.760Yeah, Daniel and Heather Young down in South Carolina. Daniel is a gothy now and Heather's0.68
00:30:45.040a folk builder and they're doing great. As far as people that are married that are couples
00:30:51.340currently doing it. I think that's what we've got. What'd you say, Jess? The plurids. Oh,
00:30:59.600yeah. Jason and Anna plurid are both gothar, which is awesome. That's why I said I know I'm
00:31:05.880going to miss people because we have quite a few of those and it's really an ideal situation if
00:31:09.660that's something you and your wife want to do. The alts. James and Sarah alt. Yeah. I, yes,
00:31:17.800I'm doing you guys all a disservice. I apologize just because I'm on the spot. I do remember you
00:31:22.180guys and know you exist. I'm sorry. King of Cheese. Matthew, what advice would you have for men who
00:31:29.860are looking to become fathers or already are, but are looking for help from another father?
00:31:36.140It can be difficult to ask for advice, so I'll do it for them. All right.
00:31:42.820so as far as people who are looking to become fathers
00:31:51.540i would get get married first but after that's the case and you're in a stable relationship
00:32:04.460um there's no perfect time if you're waiting for the perfect time where all the money's right
00:32:12.100or, you know, you and your wife are at the right point in your life or, you know, all the stars
00:32:17.320align, you're going to wait yourself out of some really, really good opportunities.
00:32:22.940Don't do that. Men and women get married first, because I think that's really important to be
00:32:28.520in a stable relationship to have your children in if you can. But after that, there's no perfect
00:32:34.980time. Perfect doesn't happen. Don't ever let perfect be the enemy of good. As far as fathers
00:32:40.260that need help from other fathers. Man, just ask. There's so many things. And I know this. We had
00:32:48.260Aubrey Wright in the worst throes of the reactions to COVID. So we were very, very isolated
00:32:56.020in a lot of ways. And it's hard. It's hard being a new parent. It's hard being a dad
00:33:04.220and trying to deal with the emotional upheavals of, you know, your postpartum wife and all the
00:33:11.020things she's going through and all the things, an infant and infants are hellacious and they're
00:33:18.340amazing at the same time. There's tons of really great things, but nobody prepares you for the,
00:33:24.340the just extremes. And it's hard when you're helpless and you don't know what to do.
00:33:30.100you don't know what this child wants. You don't know how to help them. All you know is that
00:33:34.900you're tired, your nerves are fried, and this little potato is nonstop screaming.
00:33:41.620No, it can be really hard. So reaching out is really important and realizing,
00:33:48.760and this is the secret that nobody told me, no, it's way harder than it looks.
00:33:53.280It is the most difficult thing I've ever had to do in my life is getting through infancy, being a dad.
00:34:01.760I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, but it's so much harder than people realize.
00:34:09.020And know that the rest of us have had to be through the same things you're going through.
00:34:14.080and any of us would love to give you advice and and tips or at least you know commiserate with
00:34:21.980you about some of the hard things we've all had to just keep our head down and and push through
00:34:26.500um but yeah i think just knowing that i know it's not necessarily super helpful but it's it's kind
00:34:32.040of what i got hey matt i'd like to um uh do a kind of an offshoot on that if i can you know
00:34:41.180being a dad not not being a dad uh of course you can't jessica i'm just playing
00:34:49.100uh something for the uh the the women to out there to know um and something that i've seen
00:34:55.980and something that i i do constantly check on with our new moms postpartum it's a real thing
00:35:02.060And if anyone ever feels the effects of postpartum depression coming along, there is absolutely no shame in reaching out to any woman in the AFA.
00:35:16.700If you need a folk builder, talk to a go the talk to Katie, reach out to somebody.
00:35:23.980That's my public service announcement, if you will.
00:35:26.000You know, to keep playing off of that, this is something that I don't think people realize often enough.
00:35:37.580The AFA is a family, and most people get into it for that reason, or that's their favorite thing about it once they become a part of it.
00:35:47.840our gothar literally you know talking to them most of our current gothar the reason that they
00:35:54.880wanted to pursue it is because they want to help people and they want to have those exact
00:36:00.180conversations with people um please take them up on it and as far as anybody else and members go
00:36:06.980again there's nothing i'm going to say that applies to 100 of people
00:36:13.360but in general people want to help when we see people that we care about struggling
00:36:21.920we want to help them and so often we are so powerless to do anything to help these people
00:36:28.160with the stuff they're going through we want to be able to help if you reaching out and wanting
00:36:34.160some advice for getting us to talk to you about something provides us an outlet to help you
00:36:38.880we feel good about ourselves we feel happy we did something positive most people want something to
00:36:45.200do to help so give us something to do to help not just as leadership but other afa members
00:36:51.360when you need to help because most of us are just itching for opportunities to do that
00:36:55.600makes people feel good about themselves it gives them something to do and heck if they're going
00:37:00.400through a hard time themselves it gives them something to focus on outside of their own
00:37:04.720problems they're dealing with most people want to help and are ready and just wish folks had asked
00:37:08.880for it um christine jess tell us why fleck tarn is a staple to everyone's wardrobe
00:37:19.840i'm like the only one that doesn't have like turn in ohio um it became a oh my god maybe maybe you
00:37:27.680can help me out on this it became a thing and i don't even remember how uh we had a few members
00:37:32.960that just always had fleck turn on and it then a couple other people started wearing it and then
00:37:41.040at like events everybody's like you're everywhere fleck turn fleck turn ohio um i honestly can't i
00:37:48.640know we did it at ostara we all made sure that we took a picture with like turn on but uh i don't
00:37:53.760know is is mike the culprit for that potentially him always wearing his fleck turn i can't i can't
00:37:59.520remember how it actually who's who's the one that brought it to the table and then it just like
00:38:04.000dominoed after that became like a thing it's a case of of peer pressure imperialism
00:38:13.360sarah says jessica how do you encourage spiritual growth for afa women
00:38:20.720uh there's there's a lot of different ways um you know really really talking
00:38:29.280to just talking just talking i guess there might not be a totally ton of different ways just
00:38:36.320talking and finding out what what is their connection how are they connected how can we
00:38:45.840make them feel more connected um do they need resources to you know academic material do they
00:38:53.440just need to sit down with other women and talk about their connection to the gods and
00:39:00.400incorporate that at home um we uh we have a lot of within the afa especially now we have um
00:39:12.080lore studies we have rune studies we have the crochet coffee group we have um oh my god there's
00:39:19.760like i i think some new ones even added that i gotta be honest i'm not even sure i i know i've
00:39:24.560seen them but i'm i haven't been to them yet um as far as it's it's the connection it's the
00:39:31.520connection that they will feel when they start moving in a spiritual way and sometimes sometimes
00:39:41.440to how they define their connection because everybody's connection is different how they1.00
00:39:46.560define their connection might actually make them feel a little bit easier inside women are always1.00
00:39:54.880feeling some kind of anxiety about something whether it's you know their their mothering0.98
00:39:58.880skills their job their their home life their marriage their relationship sometimes they will
00:40:06.000i don't want to say they'll find an answer on that but things will make sense as they learn
00:40:12.800and as they are with other people as well and grow those connections with other people
00:40:17.760i hope that matches that um brendan asks question working covert armed security right now but would
00:40:27.360love some advice on materials to study during downtime jessica what advice you got for him
00:40:34.080uh materials to study well of course there's um steve mcnowlin's book um
00:40:39.440um um i know great matt you recommended a rune book that i absolutely love um by uh something
00:40:53.120wild the rune workbook um i found that to actually be incredibly helpful to use that as a guide in
00:41:02.080in day-to-day and finding a connection uh with the runes in that um
00:41:10.160i'm trying to think of another uh culture of the tutons i mean that's that's that's an excellent i
00:41:17.120admittedly i haven't made it through the whole book yet because it's a dry read and i have the
00:41:21.040attention span of a chipmunk so it's really hard for me to sit down and read stuff like that
00:41:25.040however i love i love love love love love the historical context um sometimes i feel like that0.95
00:41:31.920actually puts things into a little bit more perspective when you have kind of a historical
00:41:37.440context to i don't want to say it's like nothing's a how-to but it kind of helps certain things make
00:41:45.440a little more sense because certain people when they first get into ozitru and if they dive right
00:41:49.680into the poetic eddies uh or the pros that is it seems a little heavy and it seems like you're
00:41:56.720missing like a little bit of foundational knowledge to make it feel easier to digest
00:42:03.040and that's a book that i found to help a lot
00:42:11.760being that it's so helpful jess i think you should finish culture of the two tons
00:42:15.600uh yeah i need to so that being said uh all of the things that jessica just said it really
00:42:22.400depends what you're interested in on what to dive deeper on um as far as personal
00:42:30.720personal exploration i think that the nine doors of midgard is a really good
00:42:36.960thing to study as far as something that's like study material and a program to go through
00:42:42.400i always think that's a really neat book and that's by edward thorson so i'd suggest that
00:42:48.500than anything jess said and if you have a more specific interest i'd be happy to speak on that
00:42:53.420too if you throw that in the chat as well um rob jess what is your favorite black metal band and0.90
00:43:00.160why is it drud with a k-h i don't know how you'd even pronounce that drew drew drew dick i think
00:43:08.880it's how you pronounce it it's all you just uh all right well i'm not i i like them i like them0.53
00:43:17.280they're they're not my favorite um but i do really enjoy some of that good old russian folk metal um
00:43:25.760i feel like that's what they they fall a little more under under the lines of maybe some like
00:43:30.080earlier enslaved if you will um arcona is another good one along those lines they're fantastic
00:43:39.280favorite blackmail i think earlier i had said uh demi borgir
00:43:44.800so our next question is from katlyn i think it's a follow-up uh for you jess but because
00:43:50.000she didn't put a name on it i may chime in at the end um maybe you could expand on why
00:43:56.480slash how the afa is a religion and not a cult and the difference uh
00:44:08.320i mean it is it is a religion i guess some cults would claim that they are a religion um
00:44:14.000this is something that's not out of left field this is something that is you know we're not
00:44:22.640we're not a recreationalist group but the roots of
00:44:28.240ozitru are obviously a lot greater than something like the spaghetti monster or some of those other
00:44:38.040asinine ufo cults um you know we don't we don't do your typical gathering in a commune and all0.77
00:44:46.040wearing a uniform and having some ridiculous manual that we follow and some kind of strange
00:44:52.920set of rules it is it is a spirituality and it has extremely old roots and it's a very family driven
00:45:03.720you know the afa is very family driven i think we've said that many times um i don't know
00:45:11.480matt how how would you expand on that oh so here's the thing to be completely honest
00:45:18.040it's a matter of semantics cult is a word that people have ascribed certain connotations to so
00:45:26.200now it's just an insult word that you use against religions that you find to be nuts
00:45:32.200um in a traditional sense any of the religions devoted to any of the gods were
00:45:38.280by definition a cult um so i don't think there's a there's a real answer to this because it's a
00:45:44.120it's a linguistic conundrum because in the modern day so many terms have taken on a life of their
00:45:50.360own um one of the things that when people talk about modern cults a lot of it has to do with
00:45:59.960enforcement um because people refer to cults in a in a very derogatory sense
00:46:07.000people tend to identify cults as things that try to forcibly cut you off from family members
00:46:14.360and find mechanisms of control to get cult members not to leave or to stay in the cult
00:46:21.400and i think it's important in the afau that folks know we don't do that yeah we want to encourage
00:46:26.120you guys to to stick around but um we we're not into we're not into forcing anybody to be here
00:46:32.360that doesn't want to be here uh it's very voluntary in that sense um i think something
00:46:39.000else with cults is people's is legitimacy versus not legitimacy the afa is a religion in every
00:46:46.040sense of of the word and we've got nice things we've got stuff figured out we've got um families
00:46:55.000and happy people and we have none of the the negatives that people tend to to directly
00:47:00.520associate with cults nobody's being taken advantage of um there's no mechanism to to
00:47:06.760force people to not be friends or family with anybody that they'd like to be and so none of
00:47:12.120that's really relevant and i think that's the biggest issue certainly in the united states
00:47:16.120when people talk about cults is the exploitation and the means of controlling impressionable people
00:47:24.040and that's not that's not what we're after yeah within the afa we have we have certain amount of
00:47:28.940rules and standards but you know nobody's a member that doesn't want to be everybody's free to leave
00:47:34.260whenever they'd like um so i think that's that's probably the main thing i'd say and i'm watching
00:47:39.760some of the side chats first steve thank you i'm glad that you think orange looks good on me i
00:47:45.500appreciate it um also in the side chat i saw somebody said they watched the interview i did
00:47:53.220with desert heathen a couple of weeks ago i'm glad somebody did i don't think that got a whole
00:47:59.380lot of views but he i'll tell you this um you know i don't agree with the guy on everything
00:48:04.980or whatever but he was very he was very nice to me it was a very respectful interview i appreciated
00:48:10.260that i appreciated him having me on and and having the courage to ask me some questions directly
00:48:15.620that a lot of people just assume and and make up answers to so kudos for that for the courage to
00:48:22.180ask and and the hospitality to have me on and to be very polite i really do appreciate it um
00:48:30.020thor asks what books would you recommend jessica um i know we touched on a little bit before
00:48:38.980with just good um good material from what i have read of culture the tutons i really do enjoy it
00:48:45.140even though it's dry um i'm trying to think uh so one thing that when i was first
00:48:55.780reading the lore and i read the poetic eddas and i i did have a hard time digesting the information
00:49:02.820having no good foundational knowledge i actually read and i still read it to drake the uh delaris
00:49:10.180if that's how you pronounce it um norse mythology book that really actually gave me a good
00:49:18.180really good easy foundational knowledge i actually recommended that to a few people that were
00:49:24.020getting into ozitru asking me about the lore um
00:49:29.860trying to think what else um of course the the runic workbook uh there's also a um i don't
00:49:45.100I just picked up one one day just to kind of get like an intro.
00:49:49.160And that one was very useful because, again, it was just it was it was easy to digest as being a beginner and not having any pre pre knowledge of Azitru or the runes, the lore or anything like that.
00:50:17.820So when I, 2015, when I first started learning about Odinism, I had a friend and I was telling him about a reoccurring dream I had of ravens, ravens coming.
00:50:34.600Then I kept kind of seeing them everywhere.
00:50:36.180And then I was having really odd things with cats.
00:50:54.800And we sat down and we started talking about it.
00:50:57.200And that's when I started kind of the wheels started turning a little bit as to my spiritual path and where I was headed.
00:51:04.920and it was more of a calling than a stumbling upon, if that makes sense.
00:51:14.800All right. So at the time that, that I came home to Alistair True,
00:51:24.620I was at a I was at a crossroads I was you know I've always been a very spiritual person and I've
00:51:36.180always certainly felt the need for spiritual fulfillment and I had just broken with Christianity
00:51:43.620I was a Jehovah's Witness at the time and I I rejected that and the entire premise behind it I
00:51:51.780I basically part of my rejection of it was having read my Bible very thoroughly several times to try hard to beat a square peg into a round hole.0.83
00:52:02.320I finally came to the honest conclusion that the values of the biblical God are not things that that I think are right.
00:52:12.580And not knowing what else there was, I knew that at the minimum, I didn't want to be part of that.
00:52:19.260And so it left me in a very strange spot.
00:52:21.260And I really didn't know what other options I had for this was this was around 2001, 2002.
00:52:31.260So being a young white man in the United States, I didn't really know what there was.
00:52:40.460You kind of if you don't really examine it or think too hard on it coming up, most of the different religions out there do tend to have an ethnic context.
00:52:52.280Christianity is really unique in that it doesn't.
00:52:57.880But you have a thought in your head, certainly at that time in the United States, that that's for for Arabic people or Turkic people.
00:53:04.240um you know i'm not i'm not jewish so judaism wasn't really an option and i'd already rejected
00:53:13.180that god um so there was christianity what what else was there and you know i wasn't uh indian
00:53:19.820so i didn't think that hinduism was a was a thing that so i i sought for what our ancestors had
00:53:25.380before christ came because i knew that was a thing i knew that jesus was you know a jewish
00:53:31.140man in the Middle East. And that was an ethnic God of the Hebrews. So what was going on in Europe?
00:53:36.860What did we have? And, you know, I had an understanding of mythology, I guess. But I
00:53:42.340decided to take that seriously and try to reconnect with it. And that's what brought me
00:53:47.840to this, generally speaking. But at that point, and I've heard this from a couple of people,
00:53:53.680Jason told me this was a similar thing that he had last week. I thought I was the only person
00:53:58.900in the world doing this and i was initially just google searching for um you know archaic viking
00:54:05.220age material on it because i thought that you know those were the last people that that worshipped
00:54:10.020our gods and come to find out i found the afa and i found uh steve mcnellen and i found some of his
00:54:16.260uh his early videos and things and immediately i knew this is where i needed to be and and i've
00:54:22.580never looked back so that's that's what brought me home lawrence with another 10 canadian dollars i
00:54:29.220appreciate that uh yes what matt said cult has so many definitions i studied cultic phenomena
00:54:36.500after my christian experience and the three things that almost always come up
00:54:41.780in classic cults are psychological manipulation emotional abuse and undue influence avoid at all
00:54:49.460costs um yeah just to follow up those are all things that just aren't a part of the afa we
00:54:57.380don't want to twist anybody's and so and i really mean this it's not just like
00:55:03.860you know i wonder who would say that they do want to do these things but realistically
00:55:10.180we want enthusiastic support on things we want people that want to be here it's too much work
00:55:17.140on something we don't want to do to try to find ways to manipulate and enslave people into forcing
00:55:24.660them to be part of house to true that's that's not something we're at all interested in doing
00:55:28.900and we've got things we'd much rather do with our time and our effort than to to hold people down
00:55:34.340in that way so i hope you guys i hope that makes sense and answers the question a little bit uh
00:55:41.220sarah matt this last weekend you did a journey to manhood ceremony could you explain what that is
00:55:47.620and the importance uh sure first the name it's not copyrighted it's just something i came up
00:55:53.700with on the fly to tag that picture in uh the afa we've been going back and forth over how to do
00:56:00.340this for too long we need to go ahead and solidify some ritual on it but coming of age ceremonies
00:56:06.340are things that some parents have wanted us to engage in and there's been some some demand to
00:56:13.540be part of so this was one of those scenarios um there's a young man and he's you know
00:56:21.380trying to think how old he is at the time but he's he's pretty young uh so we didn't want to do some
00:56:27.460kind all right you collect my thoughts so i'm not babbling so one of the things
00:56:33.460that we've always been opposed to and we still are we're not going to do a ceremony that pronounces
00:56:40.100a boy to be a man and then still treat them like a boy and certainly here in the united states it
00:56:46.340becomes very awkward to do that ceremony until someone is 18. so in the afa we don't want to do
00:56:53.380do those ceremonies until somebody's legally an adult because we when we ritually accept a young
00:57:00.100man or a young woman as an adult, that means something. We are then accountable and we've
00:57:07.600agreed that we're going to treat them that way. You can't do that and then go home and tell them
00:57:12.460it's bedtime or who they can date or this. You can't go do that. So you need to trust them as
00:57:18.540an adult at the point you do it. But what is important to us is that it's a process and
00:57:23.700there's that period. So in this particular child's case, the idea was to start this at
00:57:31.100however old he is, 10 or whatever he is, to say, hey, today you're going to start learning to
00:57:37.960become a man. You're going to put aside the childish things and start learning manful things.
00:57:46.720So there's going to be another ceremony for him when he's 13, a midway point to to mark that amount of his progression to see how far he's come.
00:57:58.180And then there'll be a follow up final ceremony when he's 18 and he officially becomes a man.
00:58:03.980But it's a really special ceremony. And it was something that that his dad put together that was very, very nice.
00:58:10.460And I thought it was really powerful. It was just with the men because, you know, this is about accepting him as someone who's who's trying to become one of that group.
00:58:21.940And it was it was really nice to be a part of. And it's the first one of those ceremonies I've been an active part of.
00:58:28.200tim asked jess what's your favorite thing about being the lead roomstone editor also the websites
01:17:15.800alsatru isn't anti-christianity it's its own religion unrelated to other systems so i think
01:17:22.680people get in a in a binary thing to where if christianity does one thing then australia has
01:17:30.360to do the opposite if there's rules then there can't be rules over here and that's that's not
01:17:35.400the case um but it's a lot more tricky it's not uh you know one sin equals death and you're redeemed
01:17:46.200by by a savior but it is a complex matrix of your personal honor and the honor bestowed upon you by
01:17:56.280the group and how that fluctuates due to your actions over time and whether your honor increases
01:18:03.320or decreases. There's some people that are just terrible people. And at some point of terribleness,
01:18:11.960and we see this from our lore, it talks about those people in the afterlife going to the strand.
01:18:19.000And it talks about venomous snakes and venom. And we believe that the venom is a source of
01:18:25.880disillusion um it's not the way of our people to be sadistic and to torture someone in an eternity
01:18:37.400of hellfire every single day for the rest of eternity that's extreme but there is a point where
01:18:44.280your your raw materials are going to such poor use that that you get dissolved your
01:18:55.160you-ness gets dissolved and put back into the folk soul to be put to some kind of better purposes0.91
01:19:01.240and there's some people that are just terrible folks to where they're that big of a dirt bag
01:19:04.920that that's that's what happens but i think for most people it doesn't quite work like that i
01:19:10.600think for most people they just end up leaving their family at much worse inheritance and i think
01:19:18.360their existence in the afterlife is probably going to require a lot more work before they
01:19:24.600they ascend to something better um one of the one of the other things is
01:19:30.920we we know a lot of truths but we don't know a lot of the details especially about the afterlife
01:19:36.120and i think that any of us that claim we know exactly what happens to folks after they pass
01:19:41.080with with a whole litany of specifics is uh is not being truly honest about their confidence in it
01:19:47.800but yeah absolutely i do believe there is a certain degree of damnation for people that are
01:19:51.960of that low honor and that terrible of people. And I think that their raw materials are
01:19:57.680dissolved, broken apart, and then put back into the folk soul to be used for something better.0.97
01:20:06.280Lawrence, with another 10 Canadian dollars, thank you so much. Jessica, how do you deal
01:20:11.620with Northeast winters? And if I'm not prying too much, what are you drinking from the yellow
01:20:17.660label bop well of course you know tis the season jacko my favorite sam adam seasonal beer uh
01:20:29.100northeast winters where i am in ohio i'm in the snow belt so when everyone else in ohio is like
01:20:36.620oh man we're getting four inches i'm getting like two feet um i got a car that can drive through it
01:20:42.460that's kind of all you can do between that and the snow blower then you're good
01:20:47.660throw my cat in two feet of snow see how she reacts there you go gotta entertain yourself
01:20:55.260um martin asks question for both both or either of you uh how do you approach the subject of
01:21:04.220our faith when it comes up with a christian family member jessica uh i actually uh recently
01:21:12.460recently had this um somebody asked me about um if i was willing to take my son to a church
01:21:20.920a christian church and let him experience jesus uh i said well i'm not going to do that because
01:21:29.920that's not you know and and i'm not hostile towards it or anything just that's that's not
01:21:34.920what what i would do um he's six you know let him grow up choose his own path if he still feels
01:21:42.280that this is his path. And I'll support that if he feels in something else, I'm not going to
01:21:47.200chastise them for it. I often have the question that they find it difficult that I believe in
01:21:58.760something other than Jesus Christ. And my response always is what I worship is older
01:22:09.340and I feel more of a connection to it. And I always have. I left the church when I was about
01:22:14.56010 and I left because I felt nothing towards it. And I knew my connection was always to
01:22:24.960the earth. My connection was always something beyond just worshiping one thing in the sky.
01:22:34.360I always express that, that this is something that I've gravitated towards naturally.
01:22:40.220and when i try to talk about the lore and the gods you know their their rebuttal is you know
01:22:48.620well what about the bible where does the bible play of this bible has no place bible has no
01:22:53.980place here and they sometimes can find that um they're they're almost stunned you know what do
01:23:02.700do you mean it has no place oh my the the words of my gods are older than the words of your god
01:23:09.500you know it's just the way that i look at it um i don't know i guess i guess it just it's a lot
01:23:15.340of kind of going back and forth on things it's a lot of you know pushing um or not really pushing
01:23:21.740but stressing the point of you know this is this is an ancestral faith as well that you know you
01:23:28.860you, that's a whole nother part of it. Worshiping your ancestors and becoming a better person,
01:23:35.940you know, not just following a guidebook like the Bible and using that and going to church
01:23:42.100once a week. And then, you know, you're like this super awesome person. There's more involved to
01:23:46.460that. And there's more involved to the connection with the folk soul. And I don't know, there's just
01:23:52.560so many different things. And I usually end up tend to go, I tend to go down like this rabbit
01:23:56.060whole i never get into arguments with them about it i never want to seem hostile and that's always
01:24:00.460one of my biggest things when i'm talking to somebody about why i believe in what i believe
01:24:07.420i never want to get into some kind of like verbal you know oh my god's better than your god you know
01:24:11.820because i don't feel that that's the right approach if that makes sense
01:24:18.140yeah no it absolutely makes sense um my answer is less fulfilling honestly i don't have that scenario
01:24:34.060my family was so my immediate family was never very religious i think my mom was
01:24:41.740raised religiously her family's from the south so they tended to be more religious but again
01:24:48.540my grandparents in my lifetime didn't go to church my mom in my lifetime didn't go to church
01:24:56.380she had a basic a basic faith in in jesus and the bible because you're supposed to but i
01:25:02.940don't think she was particularly familiar with either of those things and in a very very deep way
01:25:11.100So when I became involved in House of True, it, the conversation never really happened because I don't think it was a very important thing to her. I think at first she thought what I was doing was, was kind of silly or kind of fun or like a fun hobby thing.
01:25:31.000and as some medical things happened with my mom and she ended up living with me for a time
01:25:37.760she had a series of strokes and she had some early onset dementia and there when she was still very
01:25:43.260with it and she lived with me for a while and and was there when we'd have people over to the house
01:25:49.080for for feasts and for celebrations she actually went out in the circle with me for bloat once or
01:25:54.920twice. And I think she learned very quickly that it that it wasn't a, you know, just a hobby or
01:26:01.460something silly, that it was very serious. But also, she saw me and she was involved the whole
01:26:07.900time. She was very close with me the whole time. So she watched the fulfillment that it had in my
01:26:13.280life. And she also because of the way she was introduced to it, it wasn't scary to her. So I
01:26:19.840think that we really had to have much of that conversation um but again i also didn't push it
01:26:26.480and i didn't make an argument where one wasn't necessary i just lived my life and lived my faith
01:26:31.040and she didn't really have a lot of questions about it um and you know our as her dementia
01:26:37.440progressed now she's she's not really capable of of having those kind of questions so with my dad
01:26:43.760is a little bit of a different story he was not religious at all and i don't believe that he's
01:26:48.160in any way religious uh currently but a similar experience you know i'm not sure what he took from
01:26:54.160all of it it all sounded kind of odd but you know it was something i was happy doing he came to
01:26:59.840midsummer when my wife and i got married in 2017 at odin's off and he got to see not just and and my
01:27:07.280dad's he's got very practical views on life and he's got um
01:27:18.160money and stuff and material things are really good gauge for his, whether something's valuable
01:27:28.060or not. And it meant a lot to him going to the Hoff and seeing that we had a building that was
01:27:34.160real and that all of these people, what really kind of struck him was he was at the auction
01:27:40.360and people are, you know, bidding up items that are like 30 bucks for like $400.
01:27:45.240dollars. And he's like, well, that's not worth that. How could they do that? And it dawned on
01:27:50.760him. Oh, wait, this is a church auction. They're donating to their church. And that's why they're
01:27:59.420paying absorbent price for, you know, very little. They're not trying to get a deal on a product.
01:28:05.640They're donating to something they believe in. And at that point, and because, you know, we had
01:28:10.340over 100 people there at that time, he was able to see the value in what I was doing. So that was
01:28:15.820kind of interesting. Other than that, my grandparents both had passed before I became
01:28:21.640Alistair True, or my grandparents on my mother's side that I was close to.
01:28:25.640My grandfather on my father's side also passed around the time I became Alistair True. So he and
01:28:31.700I were never close or never had that conversation. My grandmother on my father's side is still with
01:28:37.020us. She's in her nineties and she's doing great, but she's never been a religious person.
01:28:44.480I think now in her old age, because they come visit her at the house and talk to her,
01:28:49.240she entertains Jehovah's witnesses that come over. And also because her daughter's a Jehovah's
01:28:53.820witness, I think she'll entertain that. But I think it's more about having people to talk to
01:28:58.060than it is about a necessarily sincere faith in that. My aunt and my cousins are Jehovah's
01:29:04.680witnesses. And again, we've never had the conversation because you don't get to. The
01:29:09.860Jehovah's Witnesses do something called disfellowshipping. And especially if you're1.00
01:29:14.980somebody who's an active part of being a Jehovah's Witness, you get disfellowshipped
01:29:23.360and you're an apostate at that point, which means that I'm literally in league with the devil and0.69
01:29:29.900it's my mission to stumble them or to somehow mess up their relationship with God and their
01:29:36.400being a Jehovah's Witness. So they're not supposed to talk to me or interact with me in any way. So0.99
01:29:40.960I don't really have that relationship anymore. So that's kind of, that's kind of my family
01:29:45.380dynamic when it comes to Christianity and my Asatru. Nick asks his question, inspired from
01:29:53.880the chat as americans should american also true distinguish itself as unique people over time jessica
01:30:11.080i don't want to say that it should i mean that's a deep question um i don't want to say that i
01:30:17.640don't know i don't i don't feel like that but we should distinguish american oz true over
01:30:26.520like making it its own form i don't think that's what that is i just think i i personally would
01:30:34.120see as a true as a true and it's you know yes it might be practiced practice in different ways
01:30:44.840here versus say like sweden how they do things or in iceland i just think that's what makes it unique
01:30:53.000is seeing they have a connection other countries have a connection maybe differently than we do
01:31:02.680but i mean to be fair i don't think everybody within america has the same connection as each
01:31:08.200other i think you know just even if you look from a historical context how tribes maybe did things
01:31:15.640differently but it was all under the same branch of spirituality so i i feel like that would be
01:31:23.400the same thing that would apply to this matt what do you think so i don't think that it works like
01:31:31.560that whether it should or it shouldn't i don't think that you know any regional difference
01:31:38.440has ever happened like hey guys we should make an effort to do something different to be
01:31:43.960more regionally different i think things just happen over time and a certain group of people
01:31:49.880in a certain proximity develop a certain culture over time um
01:31:54.280um I don't think that we need to make any special efforts to do that I think that happens and I
01:32:04.540think that American also true has defined also true in the modern era and
01:32:13.720I think maybe other places try to differentiate from us but I think we've really been the driving
01:32:19.300force in that. But here's the thing. There's no need for everything to be the same. Cultural
01:32:30.060differences within Ausatru are good. Now, agreement on the fundamentals, there's definitely
01:32:35.600a right way and a wrong way to do stuff, and I don't think that changes, but the food and
01:32:42.020the costuming and the verbiage and things do definitely change when you go different
01:32:46.160places. You know, at each of our Hoffs, there's a different feel. There are different parts of
01:32:50.780the United States. They're further apart than, you know, many of the countries in Europe that
01:32:55.640you may see as different cultures. I imagine that over time, there would be elements that
01:33:02.080do look different in different places. And some of that's healthy, as long as
01:33:05.840the unity of us being united in the correct worship of our gods is maintained.
01:33:12.840I think that, you know, at any point in history, different groups of people have practiced our faith in different ways based on their differing circumstances.
01:33:23.960But I'd like to think that anyone in any of those times, if they were picked up and dropped in an AFA event, would understand the basics of what's going on, would feel the connection to the gods and would feel the connection to the folk,
01:33:39.400even if they didn't speak the language, or even if they're from a different time in a different
01:33:43.580place. So yeah, of course, American Alcitru is going to have a different flavor. I think that
01:33:49.880Appalachian Alcitru is going to have a different flavor than, you know, deeper South Southern
01:33:55.700Alcitru than Northeastern Alcitru than, you know, Midwestern or, you know, desert Alcitru. I think
01:34:04.800all of those things probably are going to feel a little bit different, but I don't think that
01:34:08.500should focus on dissimilarity i think we should build on the things that we have in common
01:34:14.660um john asks matthew we have a new indo-european ethnic group not a cult how does that sound
01:34:21.940um i think it's a misuse of being a new indo-european ethnic group it sounds it sounds
01:34:28.740better than than calling ourselves a cult certainly but no i think religion is a completely
01:34:34.020appropriate word for what we do it has a meaning and it is what we do ethnicity is a part of our
01:34:39.860religion but ethnic religion is already a term and it's a term that most religions in the world
01:34:46.100subscribe to um the overwhelming presence in the media and in a lot of developed places of
01:34:55.620islam and christianity overshadow that but traditionally in the history of mankind
01:35:00.020most religion has been ethnic religion um so yeah that's what i got on that one uh rob says jess
01:35:09.540your happiness at events is infectious how do you always keep a smile and happy even when doing
01:35:15.140dishes for a hundred people to be fair i really don't mind doing dishes for a hundred people
01:35:22.980because um any kind of social anxiety i feel that that's my uh my form of escape is rushing
01:35:29.220into the kitchen um i don't know i just always kind of wake up like this i i think part of it
01:35:36.260is i'm just really happy to be around my folk like it it makes me i i'm a lot happier being
01:35:44.420around you guys than like when i wake up in the morning here by myself i'm pretty grumpy um
01:35:50.740I'm a grumpy girl around most humans. But when I'm with my folk, I'm just happy. And I think
01:36:00.180part of that is because I'm in a place of love. I'm in a place of warmth and understanding and
01:36:08.360compassion. That's kind of how that goes. You know, if you guys haven't met Jessica in real
01:36:16.040life she is the most bubbly like it really is infectious she is so giddy and bubbly and happy
01:36:25.080and i really look forward to that it doesn't matter what kind of day you're having it will
01:36:29.160absolutely pick you up and make you feel better thanks uh column asks and with he with a three
01:36:37.000dollar donation thank you very much we appreciate it hey folks happy to catch the stream today
01:36:41.960question from matt have you ever been involved in freemasonry and what are your thoughts on
01:36:46.440that organization thanks matt and jessica uh no i've never i'm not a freemason and i've never been
01:36:52.760a freemason um it's a nuanced question uh what do i think of freemasonry 200 years ago is very
01:37:04.280different than what I think of what Masonry appears to be now. Now, I don't know. It's fun
01:37:13.300to think that there's some secret cabal of Masons somewhere that have massive world-dominating0.99
01:37:21.960powers and whatnot. I don't think that's the case right now, though. My understanding right now is
01:37:28.500that most Masonic activity is old guys doing charitable stuff and being involved with the
01:37:37.940Shriners and whatnot. And that's nice that it's helping people. It's nice that it's helping kids
01:37:43.480with medical expenses. It's nice that they're doing charity. And it's nice that these guys get
01:37:48.900a club to be part of. If there's more than that going on right now, I don't know about it.
01:37:54.520Historically, though, I tend to be very opposed to masonry. I think that it messed up the world in a lot of ways. I think that Enlightenment era masonry was behind the downfall of several European monarchies and in large part behind the French Revolution, a lot of things that I think were very detrimental to our folk in the long run.
01:38:24.520I think that the ideas that were presented that chose to completely spit in the face of and go as hard against they could, the traditions and values of our folk at the time were very wrongheaded.
01:38:40.980I think they reacted oftentimes to very real concerns and very legitimate concerns, but they're throwing the baby out with the bathwater and let's reject all religiosity, let's reject authority, let's reject all of the things that have held our society together.
01:38:58.800was very detrimental to our folk. And I think we still deal with the legacy of some of the
01:39:03.820damage they were, you know, a part of causing. So I think I'm, I'm, I know that I'm opposed to
01:39:09.800historical Masonism or Masonry. I don't really think that that has much to do with the modern
01:39:17.160practice. So I don't have very strong opinions on modern Masonry. Frayer asks, I'm from Florida.
01:39:24.900how do I join? Excellent. I'm glad you asked that. You're in a really, really good place to join.
01:39:30.300We just got our new Hoff there in White Springs. Florida has a huge surge in the past year or so
01:39:36.680of members. Great things are happening down there. What you need to do is go to www.runestone.org
01:39:43.860and click on the join link, and that's how you join. If you have any questions or need any help,
01:39:50.340Now, when you're joining, once you've joined, what you want to do is talk to your local folk builders.
01:39:55.980You've got several great folk builders there in in Florida.
01:39:59.640You can reach out to Mike Joyner or you could reach out to Tracy Adler.
01:40:04.260Both of them are are fantastic resources.
01:40:08.740We've got Goethe Lane Ashby down there.
01:40:13.540He's another great guy who would love to talk to you and help you out.
01:40:18.120And I'm glad that's something you're looking to do. Don, what is the modern altitude preferred funerary style, i.e. cremation or burial and thoughts on the views on suicide?
01:40:34.880um okay Don so this isn't like a hard rule but um the AFA we tend to favor cremation
01:40:45.520um our our people even in even in the uh the pre-Christian period have fluctuated over time
01:40:55.160and over region back and forth on on burial versus cremation but one of the things that was
01:41:01.320It's a specific hallmark of a seer worship, which we are also true, that's what we're engaged in, was that distinction of the cremation and the thought that you send the soul straight into the afterlife, you know, in a moment as opposed to over a long period of decay.
01:41:21.000and that was an important thing um at present for a practical concern it helps because it allows us
01:41:29.080to do things with your ashes it takes up a lot of space and sometimes zoning and other things makes
01:41:35.480it very difficult to uh to bury human remains but ashes get by most of that we're doing ashes uh
01:41:43.880earn interments at odenshoff um i believe that's we'll see what the rules are going to end up
01:41:53.640being at thor's hoff but our typical thing is to in turn to bury um bury urns and that's what we're
01:42:01.400going to do have to do exclusively at baldershoff because of their space considerations we're going
01:42:05.800to have a calabrium there and and that's how we're going to handle ashes at that location
01:42:11.720but yeah the idea of cremation burials was very important to our ancestors it's important to us
01:42:17.640some of those cultures were defined by the uh the earthenware that the earthenware urns that they
01:42:23.640used to and to do that with the ashes we see a lot of the viking viking era mounds often those
01:42:31.880were raised over funeral pyres and over the ashes of the people they're not burial chambers where
01:42:37.240somebody's body's buried most often most often they're over top of ashes where a person was
01:46:43.260no that's great um you know being a folk builder like mommy i think he i think you set a pretty
01:46:48.140high bar but uh yeah we get things going he plays his card right we can he can folk build at 18 if
01:46:53.980he wants um finn will any of you celebrate leaf erickson day the viking who reached america over
01:47:04.140400 years before columbus on october 9th the week after next week jessica are you planning
01:47:11.500on celebrating leaf erickson day oh absolutely uh we actually have a statue here in northeast
01:47:18.140ohio it's in cleveland um on the flats that the um uh who did it it was the scandinavian
01:47:25.900society or the scandinavian society in northeast ohio or something like that they're they're not
01:47:32.060really very active anymore um but they got together donations and they had uh put a bust of leaf
01:47:39.260erickson in a rather random place on the flats which is really just like this area with like a
01:47:44.540bunch of bars and clubs along the river over there in cleveland um but i i do go over there
01:47:51.660and i like to have a drink and just give him a hail
01:47:58.540you know finn if we had uh if there was any parties or drinking to be had or whatever going
01:48:04.460on around here for it i'm i'm all for that i think celebrating the accomplishment of
01:48:10.940leaf ericsson and his journey and i think that celebrating him as a figure of american scandinavian
01:48:20.380heritage is certainly right-headed and cool and something great to support in an also true context
01:48:27.740and a religious context we don't celebrate him any longer and there was a time when folks when
01:48:33.020we did but it was important to me to to correct that because he wasn't a follower of our faith
01:48:38.380as a matter of fact he was one of the he was the first generation of people himself specifically
01:48:43.980who chose to break with our faith and our relationship with our gods and so in a really
01:48:49.660serious religious context no i don't think it's right to celebrate him but in a cultural context
01:48:56.380of celebrating our heritage i think that you know his achievement is certainly worth celebrating um
01:49:02.140i think that we get mixed up in our folk when we don't also celebrate columbus day i think
01:49:09.020you know christopher columbus was absolutely one of our folk and his accomplishment was was
01:49:14.540an amazing accomplishment so i don't think the one takes away from the other because i think
01:49:18.220they're so disconnected that either of those journeys is an amazing feat for anyone in europe
01:49:24.060at either of those times so i think those are both amazing feats to celebrate
01:49:28.700um daniel asks i was there to see you take your folk builder oath alongside my wife and several
01:49:37.340friends can you describe what that meant to you um we touched on it a little bit earlier uh the
01:49:45.340the incredible honor um it was to do that because of how much work was how much of me i put into it
01:49:53.580and to get that recognition and uh it's not really about the recognition i mean it's just it's an
01:49:59.020honor it's an honor to be seen seen that my accomplishments were worthy of being up in those
01:50:07.180ranks um and uh heather and i actually had to make it a point not to really look at each other because
01:50:13.340we both were going to be blubbering baby crying while we were taking our oath so like we gave like
01:50:18.540one look at each other and then like for the rest of it we hardly looked at each other because we
01:50:22.380we knew if we looked too long, like we were both going to start bawling.
01:50:27.820Michelle asked, Jessica, do you practice any forms of divination?
01:50:34.320I don't really consider it a form. I'm going to say no. I'm going to say no, I don't.
01:50:42.860Um, reason being for that is because I feel that, I feel like, I feel like that can be
01:50:53.220a heavy thing to do and you have to be in a right place to be able to do that.
01:51:00.080Um, something I, I of course do, but I don't really think it's considered a form of divination,
01:51:08.420um really just going out into the woods and listening listening to to the gods listening
01:51:15.760to the earth listening to the trees listening to the wind not so much in a meditative sense but i
01:51:20.300do it more when i'm feeling confused about something or conflicted and i feel like that's
01:51:26.080going to there's going to be something in that wind that's going to help me make sense of
01:51:32.060whatever I'm feeling or whatever I'm trying to work through.
01:51:37.280But yeah, not really an actual form of divination, no.
01:51:41.860All right. King of Cheese, what are the responsibilities of folk builders0.99
01:51:46.400and what does enrollment in the folk builder program entail?
01:51:54.180So Jessica, go ahead and tell him from your perspective on that.
01:52:02.060the responsibilities of folk builder are many uh i think some people come into it thinking
01:52:10.160that it's going to be something that's going to be easy it absolutely is not uh not in a bad way
01:52:16.420it's extremely fulfilling and it's extremely humbling um as far as actual things that you
01:52:25.080need. Obviously, a computer, good internet connection. There is a lot that we do on social
01:52:32.960media. There's emails to be answered. There's conference calls that you're involved in.
01:52:40.020As far as an administrative standpoint, after that, you have to be able to, you need a vehicle
01:52:49.360or, or reliable mode of transportation to be able to go to events, to create events,
01:52:56.520to, um, this organized folk, you need a phone, uh, that's capable of, uh, everybody's got
01:53:07.060wireless signal these days, but I mean, you need, you need to be available is one of the big things
01:53:11.580you need to make sure you're available. You need to make sure that you are able to devote time
01:53:17.160to this to really grow your area. Something that Cliff told me when I first started
01:53:26.000folk building, and he said to me, if you can give 20 minutes a day, you can do this.
01:53:36.000And sometimes that doesn't seem like a lot. And I mean, for some people, that is a lot of time.
01:53:41.420Because those 20 minutes a day isn't necessarily always just sitting down at one point for 20
01:53:46.120minutes and catching up on emails or anything like that. It is throughout the day, you know,
01:53:50.880you have people saying, hey, I need to talk. I need someone to talk to. You always need to
01:53:56.480make yourself available for your folk. And as far as enrollment, send, match an email or a call.
01:54:03.460All right. So I threw Jessica out there so that I could look this up for you. I will tell you0.99
01:54:08.060exactly. So here's the thing. This got asked to me twice today to send this to various of our
01:54:14.600folk builders to give people who were interested in becoming a folk builder. This is a letter that
01:54:19.120I send out on email to any of our folks who inquire about becoming a folk builder. And I
01:54:26.400send it out so they know kind of what they're getting into. Being a folk builder is not limited
01:54:31.380to this. As our responsibilities evolve, so do the responsibilities of a folk builder.
01:54:37.680um so a lot of things are keeping pace with the afa and what the current needs are and there's
01:54:44.780not like an end to that but these are the things that's what i send out and i put this at the top
01:54:51.000because sometimes we get folks that don't want to do this so in in bold letter or in capital letters
01:54:56.420consistent and frequent social media engagement is a requirement because it's important in this
01:55:02.580day and age we're spread out it's a thing that we need to do and then the rest of this is in just
01:55:06.340regular font. You are applying to Folk Build. Okay, now I need to learn some editing that I
01:55:13.520need to do on my letter. Anyways, you're applying to Folk Build for the AFA way and according to
01:55:19.880AFA standards and AFA directions. Folk Building is the cornerstone of volunteerism and leadership
01:55:26.140in the Astro Folk Assembly and can be extremely rewarding and have a huge impact on the future.
01:55:32.140a folk building can also be a lot of work sometimes in unexpected ways i'm writing this
01:55:37.500to give you an idea of what will be expected of the of the position so that you can make
01:55:42.620an informed decision on whether or not it is something you'd like to pursue also included
01:55:47.820will be some points about the structure of the afa that is that are important to understand if
01:55:53.420you are going to take this special position one the afa's leadership is structured as follows the
01:55:59.340The first level of leadership is the apprentice folk builder.
01:56:03.460This is the position you are interested in taking.
01:56:06.200This position typically lasts for up to a year or more.
01:56:10.120During this time, we can evaluate if it is a good fit and if you are...
01:56:15.320Man, I really need to do some editing.
01:56:19.520Anyways, if it's a good fit and if you consider it something that you are committed to,0.78
01:56:26.580We will work on a regional, you will work on a regional team and will be under the supervision of the oath folk builders in your region.
01:56:37.240If you do well and are a good fit, you will be asked to take the folk builder oath and become a folk builder.
01:56:43.460The AFA folk builders are under the supervision of a Gophie or Githia, either in their region or from outside, if one is not available locally.
01:56:52.940After a time, a folk builder may be asked or may ask to enter the Gothar training program
01:56:58.880in the hopes of becoming an ordained AFA Gothi or Githya.
01:57:02.800The Gothar are the priests of our church.
01:57:04.880This is a very serious position and comes with a significant spiritual authority.0.58
01:57:09.200The Gothar are under the supervision of the Witten.0.52
01:57:12.180The Witten is made up of time-proven Gothis marked by wise judgment,0.98
01:57:17.900tested loyalty, and proven accomplishment.
01:57:19.920The Witten help administrate all aspects of the AFA and serve as an advisory council to the Altsherjergothi and are under his supervision.0.52
01:57:30.000As Altsherjergothi, the buck stops with me.0.98
01:57:32.840The AFA is not a democracy, never has and never will be.
01:57:56.960This means that we believe membership in the AFA is important and a valued connection to our gods.
01:58:02.600We also believe we have a special relationship with the gods and derive a spiritual authority from them as part of that relationship.
01:58:11.220We are not perfect, but we believe that the gods support what we are doing and where we are going, and we benefit greatly from that.
01:58:18.220We sincerely hope that God's benefit as well. This is our deeply held intent. As a church,
01:58:24.520we give folks a wide opportunity to succeed. We don't demand that every potential member be elite.
01:58:31.500That does not work for an international church. We do want to help each of our folk
01:58:36.500that are not a danger to us individually or as a whole
01:58:39.780have the chance to become who they ought to be.
01:58:44.860three as a folk builder you will literally be the face of the afa in your area your real name
01:58:53.320and your picture will be used on our website and on our social media and this may bring you
01:58:58.380attention you do not want four the leadership of the afa is a tight-knit group and we function
01:59:04.560best when we build friendships and partnerships with our members of afa leadership this interaction
01:59:11.600is a key component of your success as a folk builder five a folk builder's role is not confined
01:59:17.600to folk building folk builders are expected to help out in any and all ways necessary for the
01:59:22.320success and development of the afa this is within this is within reason of course but the point is
01:59:30.080that there are many tasks that we need help with outside of the ones traditionally considered when
01:59:34.640they hear the word folk builder six this is a small list of things that we need from our folk builders
01:59:40.880but please remember point five uh using our our multi our microsoft business software and
01:59:47.600answering emails promptly within 24 hours we have a great suite of microsoft business software
01:59:53.360focusing around the outlook email system you will be assigned an official email
01:59:57.840this is crucial that you check this regularly interacting and advertising on social media
02:00:03.040hosting local events these can be very humble but are focused on real outs of true in real life
02:00:08.640and use all the internet stuff to drive people into real life practice maintaining the afa database
02:00:15.360something people myself included are uncomfortable with is asking for money money however is
02:00:20.640extremely necessary and an important part of the job is ensuring that our members are up to date
02:00:26.000on their contributions this is not fun but it is the reason we are able to accomplish great things
02:00:31.600submitting pictures and articles to the runestone each month to show off what is going on in your
02:00:35.920region if you've read this whether you just whatever you decide we sincerely thank you
02:00:41.520for wanting to help in this and if this is not for you there are always other ways to volunteer
02:00:47.360for the afa that may be more of a comprehensive answer than you thought you're going to get to
02:00:51.280that question but since i had in front of me i think it's worth saying for anybody out there
02:00:55.200who's thinking about it um jason okay cool this is in response to um my talk about the cemetery
02:01:08.880so jason kirby asked how much for a plot we have we we have plans for and will have at all of our
02:01:19.280hoff's space to inter the ashes of our members and uh we don't charge this was an interesting
02:01:29.040thing to me so first we don't charge money for a plot we're not going to do that we are honored
02:01:35.760to have your remains with us on our holy ground and it is shocking how much uh of a business
02:01:45.200caring for the dead is in the world today. When we were first looking into this, it surprised me,
02:01:52.480but state, at least in the state of California, but the regulation of cemeteries and things
02:02:00.880is done through the Department of Consumer Protection because there's always
02:02:04.400so much money involved with it. It struck me early on that that's not something we do,
02:02:11.040that's not something we're going to burden anyone's family with uh your your family or
02:02:18.960you know next to kin or whoever you've got handling your affairs is responsible for whatever
02:02:23.760kind of a marker whether you want a stone whether you want you know some kind of sculpture whatever
02:02:30.160you want to be your your tombstone is the responsibility of your people other than that um
02:02:36.960And there's no fee for your plot. We would we would love to have our members remains with us for for eternity. And that's really important to us. And like I said, that's at all four of our current Hoffs and at all Hoffs we have coming in the future.
02:02:52.160So please know that and consider that when you're writing out your wills. Now, if you want to
02:03:00.380donate, if anybody wants to donate towards the maintenance or upkeep of those things,
02:03:05.420we absolutely need that. It's helpful. But no, we don't charge money for a plot.
02:03:12.460King of Cheese. Matthew, where is the line crossed between brave challenge and straight
02:03:20.380disrespect. I asked because last night while preparing for bed after my offerings, I had a
02:03:27.940vision in my mind of Odin's mural, and I imagined myself standing before it, looking him in the eye
02:03:36.180and said, before I die, I'll make damn sure that you know my name. It's only now that I worry
02:03:43.840whether I overstepped or if I'm simply brave and foolish.
02:03:54.720So, no, I don't find anything overstepping or inappropriate about that. And I also don't think
02:04:05.980it's foolish. Um, I think that, I think that's one of the fundamentals of Alcetru in general
02:04:15.180is doing things worthy of being remembered, doing things worthy of people remembering you
02:04:22.800and doing things worthy of the gods to take notice.
02:04:26.240And I saw there was some side talk about this question over in, in the chat. Um,
02:04:31.940I suppose in one sense, the gods know you, but realistically, the gods are their gods and their
02:04:47.080abilities far outstrip ours. But the smallest and least that we owe them is to view things from
02:04:57.640our human understanding and go from there and build upon them and imagine them as being the
02:05:03.040very best of people and then all of the extra that comes with Godhood. But they would have to know
02:05:12.960the name of every single one of our folk that's ever lived on this earth. And that's a lot.
02:05:19.540If they just had to know the name of every single person that practiced this faith,
02:05:24.100it's a lot to keep track of. If you think of how many people you meet at a big event,
02:05:28.860how many of their names do you remember? Doing something to stand out. And I've often thought
02:05:34.660about this because it's an ancestral faith. If you find yourself as a great grandfather
02:05:41.500to fecund children, and you have some kind of a family reunion at the end of your days,
02:05:50.380and you've got 40 grand, 40 great grandchildren there from, you know, however many different
02:05:56.300couples. Are you going to remember all of those kids names? Probably not. So wanting to do
02:06:01.260something where you stand out above the crowd and make yourself worthy of our gods taking notice of
02:06:06.620you. I think that that hits right at the heart of what the heroic ethic in Alcetru has always been
02:06:14.720about. And I suggest that at your earliest availability, you come out to Odinsof, you
02:06:23.140stand before the Allfather, and you make that declaration. And then on top of it, that you
02:06:29.160fulfill that by making yourself worthy of that notice. But no, I don't think that's inappropriate
02:06:34.220at all. Antonio Rodriguez, in Ausatru, is the sons of Ragnar are treated as heroes or some kind
02:06:44.360of way they are praised? Institutionally, no. Individually, I believe that people raise
02:06:55.540a horn to a variety of people from history, and certainly Ragnar's son and Ragnar, sons
02:07:02.800and Ragnar himself get horns raised to them. Very often, it was kind of an anecdote. Steve
02:07:13.140Steve McNallan, our founder, and in the the first I'll say you go through the AFA was telling me that back in the early, early days of Alcetru before things had gotten very solidified, people were very commonly raising horns to to Ragnar and to various historical Viking personalities.
02:07:33.700Now people tend to raise horns more often to their own personal ancestors
02:07:38.340or people that that they actually know and have stories of and have a deep
02:07:42.420personal connection to, which is kind of an evolution of things.
02:07:48.900But that's that's the most I've got on that.
02:07:52.380Shay says, Jessica, along with AFA Folk Building, aren't you also in school?
02:07:58.700How did you find your educational path?
02:08:01.100uh yes i i am going to school um full time i uh just started so i'm like like way at the beginning
02:08:10.960uh first semester um but my educational path
02:08:14.880you always come to a crossroads of what am i going to do with my life what kind of
02:08:23.500financial contribution am i going to make to society um now that my son is in school
02:08:30.780um I got I don't want to say I have time because I don't ever have time but I find time um I decide
02:08:39.340like what to do like what do I want to do when I grow up kind of thing and I decided to go into
02:08:44.620music history because I have such a passion for music and especially the offshoots of the rock
02:08:54.520genres, if you will. Um, I want to see that. I want to see a more of a history, uh, developed
02:09:03.560around those genres. I actually intend on going all the way up to my PhD specializing in industrial
02:09:09.960music because there is like no history. I mean, you can go on websites and stuff and find it,
02:09:16.320but there's like literally like two books I found on Amazon that actually deal with industrial
02:09:20.580history the history of industrial music um it's just always been a thing in my life and i've had
02:09:26.900a lot of experience in um the music industry managing bands owning a record label at one point
02:09:35.780that it's it's just always been kind of a drive for me and i want to do something that
02:09:40.020i am very passionate about that i could teach other people the passion i find in that music