Asatru Folk Assembly - A Woman's Place in Asatru (from VNS Episode 14)

00:00:00.000 this next question i'm going to combine these two because they're kind of the same question

00:00:10.140 and i'm going to give this one to anna tony king of cheese asks a question for you githias how

00:00:15.920 would you suggest getting closer to the gods ritual or is there something more and nick asks

00:00:22.020 how can a feller work on getting closer to the aces specifically or a lady the ace i'm assuming

00:00:29.300 the gods and the goddesses uh get the applaud could you answer that for us um ritual is great

00:00:37.940 it's not the only way it's not what i would recommend actually for the first thing the first

00:00:43.780 thing that you need to do is acknowledge that your gods and goddesses are real you need to speak with

00:00:50.260 them as they're real because they are um it's not just an idea they're not just some archetype

00:01:00.260 they are actual beings um if you want if you want to start making that connection

00:01:09.540 start talking to them as if they're real because they are

00:01:13.780 and you know once you start doing that you know start reading about them some of the information

00:01:22.740 is a little bit hard to find but do your best do your research do your homework

00:01:28.900 start finding ways to connect you know it can it can be in ritual but it can also be

00:01:36.020 just going through the woods and thanking them for that it can be

00:01:43.220 an activity that you enjoy and keeping them in mind

00:01:50.500 thank you ma'am this next one i'm going to give to gethia mcdallan because i think that she will

00:01:56.740 be able to answer this very well growing up in christianity women were seen in a much different

00:02:02.660 way. What is something you want our menfolk to know about women in Aztru?

00:02:12.300 That's interesting. Because certainly growing up in the Catholic Church, there was no role at all

00:02:18.120 for women except to be a nun. And gee, what kind of a life was that, right? And I know it changed.

00:02:24.960 I lived through whatever, Vatican II, and saw the big changes of the priest turning around,

00:02:31.960 facing everybody everything was in english and then they started bringing all the lay people

00:02:37.800 but um i think what's really special and also true is the way that all of the women

00:02:44.360 are involved in whatever level they want to participate um they're encouraged to continue

00:02:52.680 learning on their own about the gods to choose their own gods i mean when we do stumble and talk

00:02:57.480 about a simple ritual everybody takes part you all honor everyone honors a god or goddess and

00:03:03.880 everybody honors an ancestor and then you thought that the third one we're all learning together

00:03:10.120 it's it's uh it's definitely community when we do that and um there is the women have every potential

00:03:20.600 for for learning as much as the men do um i really recommend that again when we talk about the gods

00:03:27.720 and goddesses that spawn harrel and matt and having their victory never sleeps go into some

00:03:33.720 really interesting things about all the layers of the gods we tend to look at them superficially

00:03:39.800 but um there's there's so much to be learned about our gods and goddesses

00:03:45.720 But our women are, I think we all live, we basically live as a true, we are as a true,

00:03:53.680 that is one definition.

00:03:54.920 We are as a true, we live our lives totally by as a true, by our standards and knowing

00:04:00.120 that we are connected to our God, that we're descended from them and through our descendants

00:04:05.280 through our physical, lineal ancestors, we have every right to be here and feel powerful

00:04:13.180 from that knowledge.

00:04:14.440 we should all feel, all women should feel empowered being an alfabetist because there are no barriers 0.92

00:04:21.300 set up for us. So I think the men need to know that they've got great potential in the women

00:04:26.000 of alfabetists. Thank you, ma'am.

00:04:33.480 All right. Can I add something to that? Yes, ma'am. Go ahead. Something I would like the men to know

00:04:40.660 is that we as women we are here to build with you we're not we're not trying to compete we

00:04:48.740 we want to build this together with you it's like you are our half our other half and we are yours

00:04:58.020 so we want to be here we want to be here with you

00:05:01.380 Perfectly said. Daniel Young asks, can you explain the role of a horn bearer?

00:05:11.940 Katie, could you take this one for us?

00:05:18.500 So this is something I feel very strongly about too. When I was theodish, and it comes back to

00:05:25.860 that a lot because that was my starting point and that what that built a very a very specific

00:05:32.180 foundation for me in a lot of the way i i have formed my world view um and the world view being

00:05:39.940 the way i view the world through our faith um and just about the only important role

00:05:48.020 that thatism had for women was that of the horn bearer um i'm fortunately i'm not going to be

00:05:54.340 able to give you an example from the Lord for a few minutes and I can't remember which one it was

00:06:00.660 but there's one story in particular it might have been Beowulf but don't don't quote me on that um

00:06:07.620 where the lady of the hall is the horn bearer and and it shows you in the story it shows you how she

00:06:15.780 works the room as a frith weaver she carries the horn and uh when a new person enters her hall

00:06:23.060 it's her job to greet that person and to offer them the hall the horn to offer

00:06:27.620 them the hospitality of their hall and that creates a frithful bond right then

00:06:33.560 and there I am giving you the gift of my mead and the gift of my hospitality and

00:06:38.540 when you drink that mead you are accepting it you are agreeing that you

00:06:42.720 are going to participate in the frith of that hall and then you see like there

00:06:48.540 are two gentlemen in the hall at this feast day who are not on good terms with each other and

00:06:55.580 she is able to walk up to the two men and pacify it simply by being there because men are supposed 0.98

00:07:02.360 to behave better around women when there's a lady of the hall in front of you especially if she's 0.99

00:07:08.420 carrying a horn you behave better because it's it's a holy thing that horn the horn is that

00:07:15.900 our horn is our receptacle um for all of the things all of our gifts to the gods and it is

00:07:22.820 often the receptacle in which those gifts are returned so the woman who carries the horn is

00:07:29.620 extremely important because she is carrying the holy mead she's carrying that holy horn um and

00:07:38.540 she is by her very nature um and that is that of a frithweaver because we are all inherently as

00:07:45.060 women frith weavers um some of us are better at it than others um and by that i don't mean that

00:07:52.880 in a negative way i mean there are women out there who are like the antithesis of frith

00:07:56.440 who so discord wherever they go those are not our women thankfully our women uh have chosen

00:08:05.340 to be above that kind of behavior but um a woman is a frith weaver by nature and when she's holding 1.00

00:08:12.620 that horn, she uses her frith. She's connected to that horn. And one of the things that's really 0.77

00:08:20.040 important about a woman who carries a horn, particularly during sumble, and this is where

00:08:24.960 it gets really important for me, when a woman is carrying that horn, she is using her frith at all

00:08:33.120 time. When somebody is extremely upset while raising the horn to a family member who is

00:08:40.180 deceased if they get really upset because they're feeling some kind of way about it she can reach

00:08:46.480 out and put a hand on that shoulder and sometimes that hand on that shoulder or just that light

00:08:51.700 little little touch is enough to let that person know I'm here for you uh I can help you um you're

00:08:59.720 not alone and sometimes that's all it's a you like I've done that before in some life with somebody

00:09:05.540 who got so upset they were just really sad their father had just passed away and it was just you

00:09:12.720 could tell he could barely talk he was so upset and I reached out and I put my hand on his arm

00:09:17.400 just just a casual little like it's okay I'm here you're not alone and we became really good friends

00:09:25.500 just from that little interaction because he I'd like to think he could feel it but he certainly

00:09:31.140 knew that it was like a genuine moment i guess um and but that's a form of magic or energy

00:09:39.660 manipulation or frith um there's also the concept of masculine energy versus feminine energy

00:09:46.840 masculine energy is a lot more um has a lot more friction to it men men are men are the

00:09:56.620 the doers they are the not that women don't do i'm i i always mess this part up when i'm explaining

00:10:04.140 it because i think it's the right word for it but men have a very different energy i i often say it's

00:10:09.300 a chaotic energy but i don't like calling that that because when we think of chaotic energies

00:10:14.680 and ostrichery we think of things that are a lot more negative than masculine energy

00:10:19.580 Men have a very penetrating energy, or women have a very receiving energy.

00:10:27.820 Men are very penetrating and very powerful and very forward motion and very strong and forward movement.

00:10:38.300 Right.

00:10:39.020 Right.

00:10:40.600 It's true, but it's also, it can be a little bit, their energy can be very over, not overbearing,

00:10:49.140 overbearing is not quite the right word but it can it can sort of take over a thing it's strong 0.73

00:10:54.580 and the woman who's carrying the horn her job is to make sure that when a man hands the horn back

00:11:00.100 because we always during our high symbols the woman carries the horn and the woman is always

00:11:05.620 touches that horn before the next person gets it and the reason why that happens is because

00:11:10.260 by holding that horn her frithful energy it doesn't erase what that man put into the horn

00:11:17.380 because that's not the point we're putting our energy into that horn because we want it there

00:11:21.140 but what it does is it sort of neutralizes it it takes that that like super uh frictive energy

00:11:30.500 and turns it into um not passive but you know it it it it just helps settle it down so that

00:11:39.060 the next person kind of like you're calming the nutrients and protons of that masculine energy

00:11:44.820 right yes uh but no she takes the horn that energy becomes it transforms into something else

00:11:54.260 it goes into the horn and when you give that horn to the next person it is now ready to receive that

00:12:00.820 person's energy and that person's wishes and that person's words so it kind of it doesn't

00:12:07.780 empty it it doesn't erase it it just alters it so that it's it's ready for the next person and 0.59

00:12:14.420 that's extremely important and it's a it can be a lot of hard work any woman on this call who has

00:12:19.300 ever carried the horn around a very uh energy filled stumble knows that it can be very draining

00:12:26.260 sometimes because you use a lot more energy carrying that horn around than you think you do

00:12:30.580 um it's one of the reasons why um we like to have our giddies do it whenever there we have them

00:12:39.100 because we literally have been trained to deal with that kind of thing um something i like to

00:12:46.860 do that i'm sort of low-key and also not low-key because i keep talking about it on all of these

00:12:51.380 calls i like to push is the idea that on the third round of stumble we don't choose a giddia

00:12:57.120 to carry the horn we use that to honor a woman who has um been really awesome in some way so

00:13:06.440 because the third round is the round where we toast the living we can we can we can toast

00:13:13.560 ourselves we can toast our folk but it's kind of a lighter more energetic and um round it's um

00:13:20.660 i like to choose a woman who's done something really awesome because um even though i just

00:13:26.560 it's a lot of hard work to carry the horn it's also an incredible honor to be allowed to carry

00:13:31.200 that horn because uh you are literally becoming a a tool in the ritual of symbol and symbol it

00:13:39.040 absolutely is a ritual by itself it is an important ritual one of our most important rituals

00:13:45.840 so being allowed to be a tool or a a very important role in symbol is an honor um just

00:13:53.440 recently at the New York's Hoff dedication Miss Pam got to carry the horn around third round and

00:14:00.640 that's because every single person who in her kindred who helped make the New York's Hoff

00:14:07.520 dedication possible turned and pointed to her and said her she gets it she earned it

00:14:14.240 unanimously across the board and she tried to deny it but I didn't let her she was you know

00:14:18.880 She tried to say she wasn't awesome, but we all know she is. 0.98

00:14:24.180 I've asked Heather Young to carry the horn before because she's worked her butt off to make Thorshoff successful.

00:14:35.660 Yeah, so the hornbearer is a very important role, and it's one of the most honored roles that a woman can have.

00:14:43.980 by no means the least role or the only role, though, like some other shoots of our faith

00:14:52.960 would make you think. Sorry, that was a really long answer, but I told you I was passionate

00:14:58.920 about it. That's all right. You were thorough. You did a good job.

00:15:03.840 i would like to see of our folk a request of our folk number one um be courageous and be strong

00:15:18.560 be brave for your gods be brave for your ancestors and be brave for your folk and

00:15:30.100 your church that would be my first request my second request would be to be generous and strong

00:15:41.620 being generous is being generous to your church is not just giving money to your church when you

00:15:50.980 donate ten dollars to odin's off you're donating ten dollars to odin when you donate ten dollars

00:15:58.020 to Thor's Hoff, you are donating $10 as a gift to Thor. The same with Balder, the same with Njord.

00:16:05.340 A gift to the As-a-True Folk Assembly is indeed a gift to the gods themselves.

00:16:10.060 We are not out here driving Porsches, buying $40 million homes. We're buying Hoffs for our gods. 0.66

00:16:18.800 We are gifting our gods, and obviously our gods are gifting us in return, this many times so far.

00:16:28.020 go to the websites and also go to runestone.org and go into, I believe it is in the donation

00:16:42.600 section and you can donate to any of our Hoffs. You can donate to the Folk Services Fund.

00:16:48.660 You can donate to the South African Fund. I bet we've got a link for that on here as well.

00:16:55.280 there we go you can also donate to sigurheim sigurheim is a dream that will become a reality

00:17:04.340 you can also donate to the as a true academy that is something that will always be amazing

00:17:11.480 and build to the future of your children so when you ask what i would what i would ask

00:17:17.200 and request of my folk be courageous be strong and be generous

00:17:21.400 Ashley asks what makes a great Githia we'll do a round table on that one how about Anna first

00:17:31.800 Anna what makes a great Githia genuine love for your folk genuine faith in your gods

00:17:39.920 and then the combination having the faith in your folk that you can bring them to know the gods like

00:17:47.700 you do. And patience. And sometimes being willing to be really annoying with people.

00:17:59.620 Awesome. Sheila? 0.99

00:18:02.360 Wow, that was wonderful. That was succinct and beautiful. But also know your people. Know who

00:18:08.380 they are. Know what their needs are. Know what their pleasures are, their joys. Who's their

00:18:15.160 family what are their challenges and uh you know be there for them no matter what

00:18:25.080 katie i pretty much have to reiterate what anna and sheila have already said

00:18:30.280 our folk are there's no point in being a giddia if you have no one to help there's no point in

00:18:37.640 being a giddia if you're sitting all by yourself in the woods it's great you're you're honoring

00:18:43.720 the gods and stuff but what's the point if you're not helping the your folk you need let's love

00:18:52.040 them know them and we should always be striving to do to help them and to help ourselves be better

00:18:59.800 so it's all about the folk you'll have i would say time and dedication if you do not have the

00:19:10.840 time you need to learn how to bend physics to make it. Being a Gidea is the most important thing

00:19:17.780 that you will do. If you ask me what I do, I won't tell you how I pay my bills. I will tell you that

00:19:24.120 I'm a Gidea of the Azitru Folk Assembly. I am a priestess of Balder and I serve my folk in my

00:19:29.080 church. That is what I do. Ask me how I pay my bills is an entirely different story. What comes

00:19:36.000 first is that I'm going to give you the Azitra folk assembly. So if you can't find the time,

00:19:41.260 you need to bend physics and make the time and have the dedication not only to the folk,

00:19:45.600 but also to the gods. We are the priests and priestesses of the Aesir, and we can never

00:19:54.720 forget that. That is our primary services to the gods and then to our church and to our folk.

00:20:01.280 So dedication and time.

00:20:06.000 Music

Asatru Folk Assembly - November 05, 2023

A Woman's Place in Asatru (from VNS Episode 14)

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