00:00:00.000hello folks i'd like to start out tonight apologizing by you know all the stops and
00:00:22.640starts with this month's uh live i have been very sick since saturday and i i really intended to do
00:00:29.920this on the first. And then I was hopeful I'd be able to do it the next day and the next day
00:00:34.980and the next day. And here we are. So finally, I'm with you tonight. I'm glad to be here. I'm
00:00:41.060glad to get a chance to talk with you guys. I hope y'all are doing amazing. I hope you guys
00:00:46.160had a great July and I hope you guys are starting off your August victorious and excited and happy
00:00:55.760and doing things with your folk and your family appreciate everybody who's joining us tonight
00:01:04.480i'm trying to think of uh stuff that's occurred since the last time we spoke on one of these
00:01:10.640it's been a really busy month um something about something about this july we had
00:01:16.800five different interviews from four different uh media outlets in the last month some of them you
00:01:28.240know some of them are were were hostile some of them were seemed nice we'll see how it comes out
00:01:34.800but one in particular was really fun to do and i want to um the links up on on our youtube channel
00:01:41.760But the folks at Expedition Truth with Jack Ashcraft, they did an Internet radio interview with me.
00:01:52.240And I had a lot of fun doing that. I thought it was a great interview.
00:01:56.700Reverend Ashcraft was a great host, very welcoming.
00:02:01.640He had done his research on Alistair True a little bit on the AFA.
00:02:05.980We had a very nice conversation. It was really an honor to be on this program.
00:02:09.560So if he catches this, thank you. I appreciate being on your program. Anybody out here, I would encourage you guys to listen to his program.
00:02:17.960I when I received the invite to be on there, I decided to do a little bit of reconnaissance and listen to a couple of episodes.
00:02:25.400And I was hooked and I listened to a bunch of the back episodes. And now I'm a regular listener.
00:02:29.920I really like that show. It's it's interesting. A lot of it's done from a very Christian point of view.
00:02:36.220But it's about it's about values. It's about religion and it's about some interesting things.
00:02:44.360And it's I think it's a nice break from the typical politics that a lot of us end up hearing on on those kind of talk programs.
00:02:52.940Anyways, I really enjoyed it. Expedition Truth. Check it out if you're interested.
00:02:57.900And if you want to see my interview from there, that's also up on our YouTube channel.
00:03:01.580um so that went on so you guys know we are fully engaged in the quest to get nords off
00:03:13.600we're working hard on making that happen and
00:03:16.760any progress we make towards that is a testament to y'all's generosity but very specifically we've
00:03:24.280been doing really well on it because you guys have been overwhelming in your support and in
00:03:30.820your enthusiasm to make it happen. Looking over on the side here in case people got stuff to
00:03:40.240questions about the Hoff, but basically we had it broke down into three steps to make New York's
00:03:50.400Hoff happen. The first step, and these steps can all happen simultaneously to a degree,
00:03:55.620But the first step was to pay off our existing loan that we had.
00:04:04.980A little bit over a year ago now, we took out a loan in order to get and establish Thorshoff and Baldershoff.
00:04:22.940We owned both of those buildings outright.
00:04:24.620but we had this outstanding loan that we wanted to make sure we paid off.
00:04:29.220We had, I think two months ago or something, we had an $18,000 balance on it or something,
00:04:38.260and we wanted to go ahead and get that paid off. It took us about three months, and we were able
00:04:43.860to finally pay that off. As of this week, that check is in the mail. We are out of that debt,
00:04:49.800And that was the first foundational step to making sure that Njortzhoff is a reality, is getting that original loan paid off.0.98
00:04:58.760We did that shockingly fast. I'm blown away with y'all's generosity on making that happen.0.98
00:05:05.560So the first step, three things. First step, mission accomplished.
00:05:11.280Step number two was to bring our monthly income average up to a certain number we were looking at.
00:05:19.520The idea is so not only can we afford the Hoff, but we can properly take care of it and fund all of our Hoffs so we don't find ourselves in a financial bind.
00:05:30.540We, you know, our goal for that's a very, very safe margin for us to be able to take care of that.
00:05:35.480And I'm very happy to say that we've met and exceeded that goal now for that monthly average.
00:06:19.520All right. While you guys think up some questions, first thing, someone mailed us in a question
00:06:41.320that I'm glad I remembered to answer today because they mailed it in right after our last
00:06:46.080um or a last uh live chat at the beginning of last month the question and we get this a lot
00:06:55.200in different forms and shapes but the question was basically
00:07:01.600i'm like how does the afa feel about working with other folkish also true groups
00:07:09.120towards common goals and we've seen this before a lot on you know how we feel about
00:07:16.080teaming up to co-sponsor an event or something in that regard. But most often, and I've got a few
00:07:24.440thoughts on this, most often it's a very broad theory of how would the AFA theoretically feel
00:07:33.480in those kind of situations as opposed to an actual plan or an actual thing that any of those
00:07:39.120groups are doing that they want help with. And the other thing, and I promise none of this is
00:07:49.460is meant rudely, but I think people assume that there's a lot of these, you know, big and very
00:07:59.580successful other focus groups out there. And I'm really not aware of them. I think internationally,
00:08:07.760there may be some that are very country specific that we're not aware of. I think that's probably
00:08:14.280the case in Germany and some places in Europe. As it stands here in the United States and places
00:08:20.140where the AFA is very active, I really don't see these other big, large folkish groups. So I'm not
00:08:26.160sure exactly who people are talking about. I believe they're probably often people consider,
00:08:32.300perhaps the odenic right, I got to say, I'm not sure how big of a deal they are. I'm not sure
00:08:39.340how big of a group they are anymore. In the past several years, I haven't heard much about them at
00:08:45.360all, except for a couple of key people who are keeping it alive with their private kindreds.
00:08:51.820One's a gentleman in Texas, and one is a lady in Portland. And outside of those people and
00:08:59.420their particular kindreds. I really haven't seen a lot of evidence that the authentic right is
00:09:04.680in existence or operating outside of rumblings I hear from folks in prison that they still have
00:09:12.040a very healthy prison outreach. But I'm really not sure who these other organizations are.
00:09:18.360I will say this, there's probably a lot of folkish kindreds in smaller organizations out there.
00:09:25.640And I would strongly, strongly encourage those folks to join the AFA and become part of what we're doing.
00:09:34.500If we're all supposedly moving the same direction, and if you guys like what we're doing, you guys like what the AFA is about, you guys like what we've been able to accomplish,
00:09:44.460We are far better served working together under one banner, under one tent in the Astro Folk Assembly, unified in the direction that we're headed, then dispersing resources on all these little different backyard groups.
00:10:00.700We're much stronger when we stand united in the AFA. So that's kind of the AFA's policy on that.
00:10:07.400if uh you know we'll evaluate any situation as it comes up but these other folkish organizations
00:10:14.600and groups if they're out there the best way that we can accomplish great things for the icer and
00:10:21.800for our folk is for those folks to go ahead to join the astro folk assembly and let's move forward
00:10:27.240together um so that's my thoughts on that let's see if we got any questions so far over in the
00:10:49.240Okay, Sigmund asks, why or what's the rationale behind the naming order of the Hoffs?
00:11:13.880And it's based on the order listed in the Gilthagening poem in the Eddas.
00:11:19.240And then in that poem, the question is raised, you know, tell me about these Aesir. Who are these Aesir? And it said there's 12 Aesir worthy of, beneficial for mankind to worship.
00:11:36.860And then he goes on to list those 12s. And it's a complex list. He ends up listing, I think, 14. So you've got to infer from the text which of those are the 12 that count.
00:11:50.580And then after that, he goes on to mention a list of the goddesses as well. But that's what we've been going off of.
00:11:58.780Um, that honestly stems from a deep discussion that I had with Brad Taylor Hicks, say in
00:12:08.0802014, 2015. But it was a, you know, a deep discussion on, man, it'd be great if we had
00:12:16.180Hoffs. When we get Hoffs, you know, how should, how should we go down this list? And we discussed
00:12:22.300a little bit about that. And the idea behind it is to rebuild the rainbow bridge connecting us
00:12:32.320with our gods. And, you know, I don't think that connection was ever completely severed,
00:12:38.660but the idea of these bright colored, you know, Hoffs dedicated to each of these gods,
00:12:45.560the hope that that strengthens that connection and that bridge between our folk and our gods.
00:12:54.180And certainly we've seen that happening. I know that will continue to happen as we establish
00:12:58.700Hoffs. That will happen long after we're done with that first initial 12. But that's why we're
00:13:04.740doing the name order in the order that we're going.
00:15:07.320First, I don't think that they're, you know, really what we're doing. I don't think that they, like you mentioned, you said, are they more of an academic society? And I think that they are. I think that they focus a lot on theory, but I haven't seen that they actually practice Ausatru. I just am aware that they talk about Ausatru a lot and
00:15:33.440are kind of critics and commentators on people that do practice Austria. I'll say this,
00:15:42.900their group is not large. As of a few years ago, I was told it was 20 people. I think it may be a
00:15:49.740little bit larger than that now. But if those people are on board, I would highly encourage
00:15:55.420the Oriented Society folks to join the Austria Folk Assembly. We can move forward and actually
00:16:00.300actually do a lot of the things that I think they spend time theorizing about. But anybody who's,
00:16:07.020you know, folk-ish in practice is AustroTru, I'd love for them to consider joining the AustroFolk
00:16:11.800Assembly, and that includes people in the Narayanist Society.
00:16:14.300um john that's a good question john asks if non-afa members uh can worship at the hoffs
00:16:33.420if they're still folkish we have uh we invite people to the hoffs we have friends prospective
00:16:40.140members. We invite guests from time to time. My question is, if they're folkish and they're
00:16:48.500Ausatru and they want to worship at these Hoffs, why wouldn't they join the Ausatru Folk Assembly0.99
00:16:53.780and help us do the things we're doing, help these Hoffs exist? And that's why I got a question,1.00
00:17:01.040you know, if these people are Ausatru and they're folkish and they believe so much that they would
00:17:06.760like to come worship at our Hoffs, then they should absolutely join the Aus True Folk Assembly
00:17:11.000and be part of it and be part of what's moving it forward. It's a much better and much deeper
00:17:20.240connection when you're actually committed to what we're doing than when you're, you know,
00:17:24.740kind of a spectator that floats in and out when you want. It means a lot more to be there and
00:17:29.680support it and help those Hoffs to exist and to thrive.
00:17:36.760Hi, Brad. I have been good. I have been good up until the past, I'd say, since Saturday.
00:17:55.880A little bit rough since Saturday. I've been pretty sick. That's why this got postponed so many times.
00:18:06.760Victor Rydberg's really interesting. I like a lot of the things that I've read that he's written.
00:18:28.280um i like a lot of the i think the style that he writes in as well um i think he's writing from a
00:18:39.240time period where he didn't have access to a lot of the information that we have access to
00:18:42.440um i know the norena folks really like ryberg i certainly don't have a problem with him
00:18:47.880but um i don't think that his interpretation is necessarily the be-all end-all
00:18:53.620hmm what can i say about the concept of wisdom and memory
00:19:23.620both are really fundamental to what we do in the house are true in general
00:19:30.600um i think they're two two really separate things i see the uh paired together rather
00:19:39.180than wisdom and memory i see thought in memory uh with hugan and munan and it's telling to me that
00:19:46.360the thought is really valuable. You know, the Allfather
00:19:51.100worries about both of those ravens returning to him, but he worries most about memory.
00:20:01.180Our connection to our memory is our connection to who we are. And I think
00:20:09.460very fundamentally, you see this in people with dementia or Alzheimer's.
00:20:16.360it's particularly tragic when someone begins to lose their memory. And with every bit of
00:20:27.080their memory they lose, they lose a bit of who they are. And you can watch that disintegration
00:20:34.960of a person's who they are based on that loss of memory. And I think we deal with that as a people
00:20:44.160as well. I think when we have our roots taken away from us, the more we're not acquainted with
00:20:50.180who we are, where we come from, the further adrift we are, and we don't have that fundamental grasp of
00:20:57.360what makes us us. So memory is extremely important in a very obvious your memory way,
00:21:06.740but also in our folk soul, in our folk memory, in our ancestral memory. That's really important.
00:21:13.080I'd like to say something about wisdom, though. Wisdom is more than just knowing stuff. Trivia is not the same as wisdom.
00:21:24.680And I think it's worth noting and thinking on that wisdom is the understanding of things, not just the knowing of minutiae or you've read a lot of books.
00:21:45.520Wisdom comes with application and it comes with experience and it comes with having a deep understanding of things and how different things interact and how things work in a real way, as opposed to just theory.
00:24:36.400If they're members of your family, we'd love to have them come out for food distributions or to attend events at the Hoff and check it out and see what we're all about and see what you're doing and take pride in what you're doing.
00:24:48.720So, yeah, people's family are definitely welcome around as long as they conform to our values.
00:24:56.340Share that commonality with the rest of us
00:28:19.080Cliff was listening to one of my old interviews that Lane just found and uploaded on our YouTube channel.
00:28:27.920And apparently I talked about honor, sacrifice, and fame.
00:28:31.800I have no idea what I said because it was back in 2017, but I hope it was all right.
00:28:42.880Yeah, I'm trying to think of how that arose on the interview or how it came up, but
00:28:47.140honor and fame were always so very, very important to our ancestors.
00:28:55.700And the one played right into the other. Our ancestors, the concept of honor, we've evolved the word to where it's a completely personal sense of integrity now.
00:29:12.460But that wasn't always what it meant. Traditionally, honor was something bestowed upon you by your community.
00:29:19.100and we still hear today in the terms of your receiving an honor someone is being honored
00:29:27.940when the community gives an honor or an award to a person the community is placing a value
00:29:36.340or a worth on on you that was essential that was the currency by which you lived and died
00:29:43.860because that was the basis of your reputation.
00:29:50.100Building fame through achieving and storehousing honor
00:30:06.340is to build a good name and a shining reputation.
00:30:10.360And it affects you and it affects all the groups
00:30:13.800that you represent and that you're a part of. As an AFA member, it affects the AFA.
00:30:20.120When people see you and know that you are in the AFA, your honor, your reputation,
00:30:25.660your fame will either add to the AFA's or take away from it. And it's extremely,
00:30:34.120it's one of the most fundamental concepts in Ausatru is to build that bright fame.
00:30:40.360When you build that, that's your reputation that when you travel across the country,
00:30:43.800People will know who you are, know where you come from and know a bit of your deeds, know what kind of person they're getting involved in.
00:30:52.160And that that reputation that precedes you when you go places is essential.
00:30:56.780And I think it's so very important because that that reputation precedes you.
00:31:03.140In the halls of the gods as well, and in the afterlife, when you pass wherever you go.
00:31:09.480those entities know of your deeds. They know the name that you've built from yourself.
00:31:16.780They hear the rest of us when we raise a horn in your name and speak of your deeds and stumble.
00:31:22.100That reputation and that fame you take with you to the other realms and beyond the veil.
00:31:28.760So building that up is absolutely essential. One of the ways you do that is through sacrifice.
00:31:34.460If you are willing to give of yourself, that goes a long way towards establishing that worth and that fame.
00:31:49.280Yeah, I think that's what I got to say on that this evening.
00:31:53.340But we need to always be aware of building that good reputation for ourselves because it speaks well of our family.
00:32:01.280we can spend that reputation by saying, hey, if you trust me, here's my friend. I'm vouching for
00:32:08.120him. Put it on my tab. You can extend that that way. You can extend that to your family, to your
00:32:13.580close associates. And it's a real currency. It's something that has actual value.
00:32:20.920Hmm. Joe asks, what area in Florida is most promising for Njordshav?0.81
00:32:33.620Casting a pretty wide net, Joe. We're looking at it.0.99
00:32:39.180Say the northern half. I'd say I can't get any tighter than that right now, but probably the northern half of Florida would be the most promising area.
00:32:50.920is to look for it. Again, we'd love to have something near the coast, but we, in our current
00:32:57.380price range and where we're at, we can't necessarily guarantee that. But I think the northern half of
00:33:02.520Florida would be the most promising area right now.
00:33:05.440I've got a question. How does performing charitable deeds for local communities benefit the AFA?
00:33:26.240Benefits the AFA in innumerable ways. A couple of them
00:33:35.440let's go with the most obvious first it looks really good for us to do nice things for people
00:33:42.560that helps us and it helps put our best foot forward to where communities see that we care
00:33:49.680that we are good neighbors and that we want to help folks out and we want to be good neighbors
00:33:55.680and i think that establishes a really good tone in a community showing them not what we talk about
00:34:02.000but what we are about that we are there handing out food we are there helping out we step up to
00:34:08.160help our communities and to be a good neighbor that idea of being a good neighbor is very
00:34:12.480essential to who we are and our values also it genuinely helps people it's nice to help people
00:34:24.080when we got people that are suffering and we can you know do something to help them do something
00:34:30.800to take the stress of being able to feed their family and make that stress a little bit less.
00:34:36.260Being able to do something to make something in their life better is extremely important and it's
00:34:41.500very beneficial to those people. But also it's extremely beneficial to us. Our folks tend to
00:34:50.560get bogged down a lot in stuff they don't like in seeing all of the things in the world they wish
00:34:57.580they could change, all of the good they wish they could do, but they don't know how, all of these
00:35:02.140problems that are too big for them to do anything to affect. And so we complain and gnash our teeth
00:35:08.280and get grumpy and talk about all this negative stuff. Well, these charity opportunities,
00:35:14.740that's a time where we can go, be happy, be with one another, and do something good that helps
00:35:21.620people. It doesn't fix all of the problems we wish were fixed. But that day, you were able to
00:35:29.460help a family that was not going to be able to eat or eat as comfortably. Now they're going to
00:35:35.360have food. They're going to have something nice because you made an effort to help them. And that
00:35:40.600is good. That is good for the soul. That builds us up. And it makes us positive people focused
00:35:46.540on doing positive things. And there's immense value in that. And I'm very proud that now at
00:35:52.200all three of our Hoffs, we have monthly food distributions. All three of our Hoffs, we're
00:35:57.700going to have Yule toy giveaways for kids that may not have toys in the area. So we're doing
00:36:04.240charitable things to all three of our Hoffs now. And I'm very, very proud of all our people making
00:36:08.440that happen tim asks is there any locations being scouted for phrasehoff
00:36:30.280it's putting the cart before the horse a little bit but always got big dreams yes i'm absolutely
00:36:36.920looking at and have ideas for for phrase off uh more to come on that don't have any any plans
00:36:42.760we're going to share publicly right now we're going to make sure that muir gets his hoff
00:36:46.840before we worry about that but yeah we're always thinking and we do have ideas about phrase off
00:36:51.640um so ryan asks is there any truth to drama between the afa and jacob of wisdom of odin
00:37:11.360there may be at some point somewhere with somebody but honestly i don't i don't know
00:37:18.980that guy. I hear talk about him saying various things, but I haven't listened to, you know,
00:37:26.000any of the stuff that he's had to say. I'm really very unfamiliar with that guy or with his
00:37:31.780program. Other than I, on chats like this, I read little snippets here and there about it.
00:37:39.560No, certainly not on a leadership level. There's no drama. Again, I don't know the guy. He may
00:37:47.040he may have some drama with us again i don't know but from our end no i i don't know him to have
00:37:53.960drama with him and i don't think any of our certainly of our whitten level leadership have
00:37:59.140talked about him in any dramatic context um but yes so that's honestly where i'm at and all i know
00:38:06.560maybe if i listened to the broadcast there would be some drama i have no idea
00:38:11.060but no i really don't know the guy very well
00:38:13.800um all right we've got a question what home or family rituals do i recommend
00:38:47.040So in the question, he mentioned that the ancestors altar
00:38:51.480has been successful for him and also an annual day
00:38:56.580of remembrance for a family member that passed.
00:38:59.680And I think those are both really good ideas.
00:39:02.560I think approaching the ancestors is a point of commonality
00:39:05.120that your family has that's undisputed. It's not talking about gods that they're unfamiliar with
00:39:11.940or things that would strike them as strange. It's, you know, this is grandma and grandpa.
00:39:17.380This is great grandma and grandpa. These are people that you knew or that you certainly know
00:39:21.960of. They exist. They factually existed. Those things are a much easier sell, and I think they
00:39:28.980go a long way. I think having the special day of remembrance for a family member, that's important
00:39:33.820to your family, a patriarch or matriarch of your family is a really important thing.
00:39:39.720You know, I do that on March the 31st for my grandfather. He was born and passed away on the
00:39:47.50031st of March, and he was a really big figure in my life. He's the man that I ended up naming my
00:39:53.360daughter after. So I think those are really good rituals. I'd say on a very simple level,
00:40:01.000If you're having a family dinner, I think a meal blessing is is a nice thing to do.
00:40:07.500I think it's got enough commonality that people are aware that, you know, religious people say grace before before meals.
00:40:14.920Us doing a meal blessing, I think. Isn't jarring or odd, and it shows that we're pious and it shows that commonality that we have in our spirituality, and I think that's a really good one to do.
00:40:28.660And then also on a on a bigger, bigger scale, I think having family there when you do a baby name is extremely important.
00:40:38.280And I've seen a lot of family that's not also true be very moved when they attend baby names.
00:40:44.280So I think that's a really neat one to spotlight.
00:40:48.660Family rituals and what we do for families, it's a happy, upbeat thing.
00:40:52.840And I think that's very engaging for family members.
00:40:58.660Uh, Jess asks how our youth program is going. It's going. Um, one of the things that we run into, and I think this speaks highly of our youth program.
00:41:27.660a lot of people like the idea of it and then when they sign up for it and discover that there's
00:41:36.260quite a bit of work involved in it and there's quite a bit of meaty things to it they get a
00:41:42.760little bit less enthusiastic and sometimes their participation trails off a little bit
00:41:46.980and I think that speaks highly of what we're doing because it is important and it's about
00:41:53.940very important things. It's not just, you know, here, color a picture of Thor. It's really trying
00:41:59.900to learn a bit about our lore, a bit about the Ausitru Folk Assembly, and how a young person
00:42:05.640practices Ausitru in their life at that stage. But if anybody who hears my voice on this,
00:42:16.040AFA member or not, wants to be involved in the youth program,
00:42:19.320um please reach out to brandy callahan b callahan at roomstone.org she is heading up that program we
00:42:29.880would love to have more participation we would love to have more young people get involved in
00:42:33.600also true and learn um so please reach out and she'd be happy to get you enrolled and set up
00:43:10.540Well, so I think that different families have different stuff they do in regards to baby naming.
00:43:19.320A couple of things. There's some ideas behind just conceptually behind it in general. And then there's our naming ceremony that we do in choosing a name. It's don't have hard, fast rules on what you have to do.
00:43:37.360But very often it's preferable to. Have at least one of the names, you know, first name, middle name, you know, sometimes folks are like the Spaniards and have four and five middle names.
00:43:53.420it's whatever y'all want to do but those names being named after a prominent member of your
00:44:02.100family or somebody who is important um i think that's that's a very time-honored tradition
00:44:06.740amongst our folk uh everybody's got a little bit different ideas about reincarnation but on a very
00:44:14.160fundamental level when you name your child after someone who's passed you want to summon some of
00:44:21.920some of that person's essence, some of that person's hymenia, some of that person's character
00:44:26.800to, to inspire that child or to, to live on through that child.
00:44:33.880It's fundamental that the basic idea of naming is you give it nine days to confirm whether the
00:44:41.060child's going to be viable and, and live. And during this time, it's as though when the child's
00:44:50.300born, they're not a complete person yet. They have pieces of their soul complex, but they become a
00:44:57.580complete person when you, the parents, in front of the gods and in front of the folk, ideally
00:45:06.500under the, you know, under the watchful eye of the Gothi and with him performing the ceremony,
00:45:16.800bestow that name and that identity on the child when you do that you're affixing the ancestral
00:45:24.780memory into that into that baby and making them a full and complete person and a full and complete
00:45:32.640member of of your family of your of your folk and so baby namings that we do
00:45:39.820this is what I do. I think it's important, and I pour out a little offering
00:45:46.420to the Norns. I also pour out an offering to Frigga.1.00
00:45:53.680When I pour out an offering to the Norns before the ceremony, I ask that the Norns give that0.98
00:46:01.540child a gift and a blessing to go and help guide things in their life. And so I do a
00:46:09.560rune draw the night before I do a baby name. And I ask, you know, Earth, Skulld, and Verdandi
00:46:17.700to have a blessing that's, for example, I would ask Earth to bless the child with,
00:46:32.480you know a strong knowledge of their past and i'll i'll see what rune uh i pull and i'll use
00:46:41.160that as as part of that blessing i'll ask um for dandy to to give that child something to guide
00:46:50.420them in the present moment and i will draw a rune that way and i'll ask scold to give uh the child
00:46:57.700rune to to guide them towards what to reach for and towards where they should end up and i'll get
00:47:05.060that rune and then when it's naming time um you sprinkle water upon the child on its names you
00:47:13.940know the three names or however many middle names you want to give your child um and then we like
00:47:22.340then i like to trace those runes in mead that uh that the norns inspired me with the night before
00:47:30.820onto the child's forehead and and give them that blessing and it's important to have the family up
00:47:36.820there um close family friends to come up there and then we typically will drink them in a round
00:47:43.940of toasting raising a horn saying something about the child making a vow that will be there for the
00:47:50.020child we'll look after the child we'll welcome them into our folk and then having a toast to
00:47:54.580them we go around in a circle and like to do that with the close family up in the front of
00:47:59.140the area be it a ritual circle outside or be it inside one of our bays
00:48:06.020those are some of the most fun and just beautiful things to be a part of i'm a softie on those i
00:48:12.740can't get through them without just sobbing because it's just so powerful and so special
00:48:18.180And I'm very lucky to have been able to perform quite a bit of those in my time.
00:48:24.000And those are some of the most special things I get to do as a go-thee.
00:48:41.220Mary, you are spot on with that about electronic communications.
00:48:45.240Mary makes the point that one of the reasons things go wrong with electronic communication
00:48:49.560so much is that you don't look someone in the eye and you don't see the effect that
00:48:57.480your words have on them, and you don't see their emotion when they're saying things.
00:49:02.400It's very easy to misinterpret them saying something in a harsh way that maybe they're
00:49:05.980not, but it's also very easy to say something without taking into account other people's
00:53:26.560I'm looking over here at the chat to make sure I'm getting any questions you guys are out there asking.
00:53:31.920I know I'm running a little bit behind on it.
00:53:40.200Do I have any tips or suggestions when studying material, be it for self-knowledge or practical application?
00:53:49.760So if I read that right, you're asking for tips on how to how to study as opposed to what to study.
00:53:59.760I would say it's useful to read things out loud sometimes.
00:54:13.760um i think reading out loud helps something about having to actually say the words especially when
00:54:22.460you're reading you know strange icelandic names and german names and things speaking them out
00:54:29.240loud i think helps a lot so i'd say that um i also we live in a really cool time to be able
00:54:38.680use wikipedia and wikipedia has been very unfair to the astro folk assembly not fans of the people
00:54:44.280that run it but it is a tremendous tool for help um and when you're reading something anything for
00:54:51.080that matter every time you don't know a word or you don't know you're unfamiliar with something
00:54:58.440that they reference you can check on wikipedia right then and just doing that will add such a
00:55:06.920a dimension to what you're studying because you'll get such a fuller understanding of it.
00:55:12.200And it can be tedious and time-consuming. You do that and you go down a rabbit hole on Wikipedia
00:55:15.980and you can be doing that all night. But I think that's one of the best tools to really get a
00:55:25.020deep understanding of a subject is follow those little Wikipedia links when you're reading
00:55:31.020and check those things out. Don't blow by them and think that they're not important. Whatever
00:55:36.820little reference they're making or historical person or event they reference if you don't know
00:55:43.300do that quick wikipedia search it'll add so much to what you're doing i notice without the true
00:55:49.700things when i read culture of the teutons way back when it was very difficult because the author was
00:55:54.980constantly referencing all these primary materials and i was relatively new at the time but the more
00:56:00.660i go back to it after reading those primary sources the better i feel and aha i know what
00:56:06.100what he's talking about. Ah, I remember that. And it makes all the difference. So try to cast that
00:56:12.400wide net with your knowledge and run down the things that you may not know. Go ahead and take
00:56:18.460the time to look it up. Take the time to look up definitions, not just definitions, but take the
00:56:23.420time to look up etymologies of words. And I found that helps tremendously.
00:56:36.100um jason asks how our men can constructively form and express the tradition of manner
00:56:49.300uh manner brunnan in 2021 i think that's difficult and i think that when you call it that
00:56:57.140you presuppose lofty things on something that doesn't have to be
00:57:04.060I think that finding, finding time to get together as men and do things is really important.
00:57:14.560And I think it's not the same as a young band of men going out and fighting wars or doing cattle raids or things that our ancestors may have done.
00:57:24.440But I think we let perfect be the enemy of good.
00:57:27.100But I think getting some guys together and going to the gym is really valuable.
00:57:31.660A couple of workout partners with some lifting or any other sport that you want to do.
00:57:36.280Shoot, getting guys together and having a bowling league.
00:57:39.720Again, that's why I don't want to use big lofty names because I know that's underwhelming.
00:57:44.060But it's guys spending time with other men, talking with other men about men things.
00:57:49.800It's very valuable, whatever form that takes.
00:57:53.120it was something that was really special to me I was able to when I was a bouncer I was
00:58:00.380bouncing to the spot to where we had you know a team of 13 guys so I was able to have you know
00:58:06.100a little bit of shared danger a little bit of shared fisticuffs with some other men that meant
00:58:11.940a lot to me but there's there's other ways that guys can find that and I think like I said going
00:58:17.320to the gym is one a hunting group is one i think going hunting with the guys uh that's much less
00:58:23.960common now than it was a generation ago but i think that's a really good opportunity for that
00:58:29.740but even if some guys want to go hiking you know together or camping um
00:58:34.840like i said not allowing perfect to be the enemy of the good and just get together with some guys
00:58:42.100and do some guy stuff i think that's the first step you can evolve it from there and see what
00:58:46.220works. I think different stuff's going to work for a different group of guys, depending on
00:58:49.740how old they are between, you know, where they're at regionally. Manor Boone was very often
00:58:54.540very young, young members of the tribe. And so I think young men are going to do different
00:59:01.600things together than older men. But I think groups of men coming together is a very important thing,
00:59:07.400no matter what age they are. Sam, talk to me about this a little bit later, because I,
00:59:15.460Like I said, I would like us to have some resources and some ways to help folks in prison that want to learn about Ossetru and want to better their lives and better themselves.
01:01:03.740We've had, uh, AFA members in a number of different places in South America.
01:01:09.640Um, I don't think we've had one in Central America either, uh, but, um, hmm.
01:01:23.620Checking, seeing if I've missed any questions on the side.
01:01:53.620Well, thanks. I really enjoyed doing these video chats once a month. I look forward to them. It's
01:02:10.700really nice to have this kind of conversational. I feel like I'm sitting down. I am sitting down
01:02:14.880with family and talking, and it's very nice. Like I said, I look forward to these, and I'm glad that
01:02:19.700you guys seem to like them. I appreciate all of your questions. It's a lot of dead air if I don't
01:02:25.240have questions, so that's certainly very important, and I'm very thankful for it.
01:02:33.020Sigma, I'm glad you liked it. Thank you for being here and having your questions.
01:02:41.700Okay. All right. We got one question about reincarnation. I'm going to hit here,
01:02:46.440And if you guys got any last questions, go ahead and throw them in. We're getting, you know, an hour here. I'm not in a rush, but probably going to wrap it up here shortly.
01:02:56.480Question about reincarnation. It's complex and there's a lot of people with a lot of ideas on it.
01:03:04.300I think one of the truths that is maybe seems unsatisfying, but is true nonetheless.
01:03:16.440We're not going to know all the ins and outs to the afterlife until we find ourselves there.
01:03:34.040So we believe in a soul complex made up of many different parts.
01:03:37.720um we also believe that some of those parts reincarnate within your family line
01:03:49.900um i don't think it's nearly as clean as your whole personality reincarnates
01:03:58.780over and over and over again as whole personality
01:04:02.320I think that that may happen in some instances.
01:04:10.960Like I mentioned earlier about the baby naming, I think that when you name someone in honor of an ancestor, a piece of them does reincarnate.
01:04:21.140But I don't think that's like them, you know, that's their personality, like you and I speaking with each other.
01:04:28.340but it is a a a piece of their luck it's a piece of of who they are and piece of what they knew
01:04:38.420it's part of that ancestral memory that we speak of so often and that and those kind of traits
01:04:44.900traits certainly reincarnate um knowledge and experience seems to in some instances
01:04:54.380but i think we're limited when we when we reach into the realm of the gods and we reach
01:05:03.860into beyond the veil we're at a loss because we we know the things we know by experience
01:05:13.480and by relating things to things in our lives and you know
01:05:17.400we only have earthly this life experience to try to frame all these other bigger concepts in
01:05:31.120but as much as we do believe in reincarnation in some ways we also believe that our soul and
01:05:40.460our person exists after death as a sentient being. That's why we make offerings and we say
01:05:47.900prayers to our ancestors. If your ancestor is your kid, then who are you talking to when you're at
01:05:55.420your altar? And again, that's one of those questions that doesn't necessarily work with
01:06:00.740the physics that we understand, but that does just because we don't wrap our head around it
01:06:06.700doesn't mean it's not a thing or it doesn't exist. But we know our ancestors interact with us when
01:06:13.060we go to the altar and make offerings. We know that they interact with us at different times
01:06:18.180of the year. We know our DC are consciously look on from beyond and help us out. We know these
01:06:25.640things to be true. Many of us know them for a fact to be true through experience and practices
01:06:33.040that we've been involved in. So it's a sloppy answer, but I think that pieces reincarnate.
01:06:39.620I think that if someone has a lot to do, perhaps bigger chunks reincarnate. But we also do know
01:06:46.380that our ancestors, be they living on in the mound, in the halls of the ancestors,
01:06:52.020or be they ascendant and living on in the halls of the gods,
01:06:56.420that big chunk of who these people were, who these people are, exists in some kind of a whole format
01:07:04.960that way. And I think that was kind of the goal to our ancestors is to survive the death process
01:07:12.640whole and conscious so that you ascend to something higher. I know it's not as clean and as easy as
01:07:20.860folks may like, but I do think that that is as close to approaching the truth as I can get.
01:13:06.000I've got a question. In order to go to Valhalla, we must be warriors. What is our fight slash war to get there? The road to Valhalla and to be carried by Valkyries and go across the Rainbow Bridge is real.
01:13:24.380um i think that we get very very focused on one expression of our faith in one time period
01:13:35.400i think that certainly during the viking age when
01:13:39.840raiding was a yearly activity for men and warfare was a was a way of life and a very common
01:13:49.620struggle that everyone faced, certainly the men faced. The preeminence got placed on
01:13:58.880the idea of Valhalla being this place for dead warriors that are chosen.
01:14:04.980And I think there's a lot to that. I think that's certainly a legitimate thing.
01:14:10.500But I don't think that's the be-all and the end-all of Ascension or of crossing that rainbow
01:14:15.560bridge. I think that at different times and places, that myth looks very different in times of peace
01:14:26.960or in times where there's not wars going on constantly. And I think to hyper-focus on
01:14:32.580needing to die on some battlefield misses the point. I think it's a lot of discussion about
01:14:39.340struggle and struggle in general. I don't think that veterans that die on the battlefield are
01:14:46.880the same as people who battle cancer or something. I don't try to make that equivalency. I think it's
01:14:52.520a false equivalency, but I do think that both people struggle. I think we do ourselves a
01:14:58.400disservice when we spend our time in this life stressing out about the next life.
01:15:04.380I think that the gods have that figured out and have that system figured out pretty well,
01:15:09.160And I don't think that, you know, if you happen to not catch a bullet that you miss out on Valhalla and you miss out on on the good afterlife because you didn't die in battle.
01:15:20.180I just don't think it works like that.
01:15:22.260so i think that your focus on self-betterment on struggling to accomplish for your folk to
01:15:33.460accomplish for your family and to be right with the gods has a lot more to say on where you end
01:15:39.000up than you know the the very small references to you need to die in battle to go to valhalla
01:15:45.920um there's examples of in the lore and i wish i could think of them right off the bat but of
01:15:53.040of kings and people who pass that are assumed to go to valhalla that didn't die in combat
01:15:59.420um so i think that that's a very a very small selection of the mythos about the glorious dead
01:16:07.860and where they end up so i think we have a lot of opportunities i think that if we live nobly and we
01:16:12.980do great deeds, then our ascension is a matter for the gods to decide upon when it's that time.
01:16:21.000I think the best we can is live the most nobly we can and not bow out out of fear.
01:16:25.840And I think that if we do that, the gods will take care of the rest.
01:16:42.980And I also want to say this about Culture of the Teutons. There's a lot of really good information on the side. A lot of people who love Culture of the Teutons. Culture of the Teutons is amazing. I'm a huge proponent of that. I always recommend it.
01:17:02.540But you need to read that in a sober way.
01:17:09.240The author takes everything to the most extreme possible scenario.
01:17:16.000You need to balance your reading of Culture of the Teutons with a little bit of wisdom of how the world works.
01:17:22.460and there is no point in time where our ancestors lived to level 10 what they're saying in culture
01:17:31.340of the teutons all the time so it's really good about talking about principles but sometimes
01:17:37.400uh groenbeck carries those principles to the most exaggerated degree and our ancestors didn't live
01:17:45.520that way. You can't live that way. So factoring in those principles, but in a more realistic
01:17:52.000manner and a more sober manner is really important. All right, guys. Well, it has been great to talk
01:18:06.700to you tonight. I appreciate you guys. Thank you so much for being here. I'm sorry for all the
01:18:12.500delays this month, but I'm glad to get to talk to you today. And I look forward to talking to you
01:18:17.520next month. Y'all have a good night. Hail the gods, hail the folk, hail the AFA.