Asatru Folk Assembly - Change Yourself! (2010)

00:00:00.000 This

00:00:29.860 This is Steve McNallan of the Asatrum Folk Assembly bringing you the latest on the revival of the ancestral faith of Northern Europe and the awakening of the European descended peoples everywhere.

00:00:42.860 The gods and goddesses never went away. They are with us always and now they stir and we reclaim our spiritual birthright.

00:00:53.860 A glorious dawn awaits. Hail, our awakening. Hail, Alsatru, rising.

00:01:04.080 Maurice in New England writes to say,

00:01:06.680 I've always lived in rural areas and feel a deep affinity with nature and the earth, especially here in New England.

00:01:14.020 And the more I thought about it, the stronger the attraction to Alsatru became.

00:01:18.540 When I came upon Asatruh's Nine Noble Virtues, it didn't take long for me to realize that this was and always had been my code, my religion, and the essence of my spirituality.

00:01:34.160 I just hadn't known that it had a name, a history, and organized practitioners.

00:01:40.540 A follower of our faith in California writes to explain why he joined the Asatru Folk Assembly to grow as a man, to evolve, to learn, to lead my people back home, to be a better father, to be the best man that I can.

00:02:02.320 well his determination to grow leads me straight into the subject of this podcast

00:02:09.700 what does it mean to evolve personally why should we do it and how can we change ourselves

00:02:18.280 we've all known people who were not dependable or who betray a trust or who let weakness get

00:02:27.060 the best of them, and unfortunately some of these folks follow our faith of Asatru.

00:02:33.500 No, they're not typical, but even one such person holds us back, tarnishes our

00:02:40.940 reputation, and makes it harder for us to achieve Asatru's potential. Folks are

00:02:47.780 fond of saying that nobody's perfect, and they're right. None of us are. We may not

00:02:53.300 have their particular set of faults but none of us are where we could be if we

00:02:58.280 were we'd be old then but does it matter if also true works for us as individuals

00:03:05.660 isn't that enough my answer to that question is no it's not enough to just

00:03:13.760 sort of stumble along failing dramatically to meet the minimum also

00:03:18.680 TRUE standards. Here is why. We are trying to build ALSA TRUE as a strong coherent way of life

00:03:27.160 in the modern age. We've come a long way. Years ago in the old days, drinking was a problem, but

00:03:34.380 anybody who has been at our gatherings in recent decades can testify that folks who have too much

00:03:40.200 alcohol are rare and they tend to not get invited back. Similarly, we have turned away those addicted

00:03:48.020 to negativity or who have agendas that they would impose on us. We are now much more attractive to

00:03:54.540 normal people with real lives, real jobs, real families. Forging the sword of Ausatru requires 0.71

00:04:02.680 high-grade ore, impurities burned away, tempered and hardened by spiritual discipline into a fine 1.00

00:04:10.260 blade also true maybe the last hope for the European descended peoples I won't

00:04:18.960 attempt to justify that statement in this podcast but all the evidence

00:04:23.820 demographic cultural political spiritual screams that we as a people are in

00:04:31.980 trouble we have a duty to the gods to the ancestors and to those yet to be

00:04:38.580 born to ensure the survival and the high status of our kind. To fulfill our

00:04:46.260 responsibilities, we must develop our virtues, our capabilities, and our

00:04:51.420 spiritual prowess to the highest possible level. Years ago, I had a friend

00:04:57.540 who was deeply involved in politics. He tried it all—newsletters, meetings,

00:05:02.760 distributing literature, forming a community—but as the months turned into

00:05:07.960 years he realized that there was a problem, namely the quality of the people with whom

00:05:13.560 he was trying to work. Some were stupid, others were bright but twisted with negativity, others 1.00

00:05:21.280 were incompetence or cheats or unreliable. Almost no one met the standards needed to 1.00

00:05:27.680 form a functioning community of dedicated activists. Finally, my friend jettisoned the

00:05:34.460 riff-raff. No more meetings, no more newsletters, no more entertaining bums. His ideals remained 1.00

00:05:42.180 unchanged, but he turned to other methods to promote them. In the years that followed,

00:05:48.140 he worked with a relative handful of idealists, teaching meditation techniques for personal

00:05:54.080 spiritual evolution. He accomplished more for his cause and for himself in the next

00:06:00.240 year or two than in all the painful and discouraging years that had gone before.

00:06:07.340 Change yourself and you will change thousands, he wrote.

00:06:12.160 And he was right.

00:06:15.020 The way to purify the iron of Ausatru lies in spiritual evolution.

00:06:21.280 With effort, we can transform it into a fine steel sword with which to hack out our destiny.

00:06:29.600 Strangely enough, Ananda, a yoga community here in Nevada County, provides a shining

00:06:35.020 inspiration for us.

00:06:37.140 Now, yoga is not really my thing, so it took me a few years to overcome my preconceptions

00:06:43.040 about these folks.

00:06:44.800 In time, I came to know quite a few of them, and I realized that they have a lot to teach

00:06:49.420 us.

00:06:50.740 Members of this community are expected to meditate twice a day.

00:06:54.460 Before they are allowed into residence at the community, they undergo a year's screening process that involves living under primitive conditions and meditating a lot. 0.95

00:07:06.200 Once admitted, their financial contributions to Ananda shames most Christians and, almost all, Asatruar. 0.90

00:07:15.360 Of course, you can always dismiss this level of commitment as the result of brainwashing or of cultism.

00:07:21.880 But I've known these people, and I don't believe it. 0.99

00:07:25.420 Some Asatruer rationalize their lack of effort on behalf of the gods

00:07:29.260 and lack of monetary commitment as a sign of independence and freedom. 0.96

00:07:35.480 These are the Asatruer who think they're being generous

00:07:38.400 when they pitch in the change from their beer money. 0.92

00:07:41.200 Similarly, they scoff at any form of spiritual discipline.

00:07:44.740 We're rough, tough Vikings, and we don't do stuff like that.

00:07:49.400 They would have nothing but contempt for the yoga practitioners at Ananda

00:07:52.960 and label them as misguided and exploited.

00:07:57.240 But are the folks at Ananda mindless robots, hypnotized sheep?

00:08:02.240 On the contrary, I found them intelligent, friendly, and dedicated.

00:08:06.940 They are doing a lot of things right,

00:08:09.000 and the root of it all is spiritual practice aimed at spiritual evolution.

00:08:15.540 We all need to work at improving ourselves, not randomly, not in a hit-or-miss manner,

00:08:24.680 but in a systematic and deliberate way.

00:08:28.180 So, how do you do this?

00:08:30.940 Number one, assess yourself.

00:08:35.180 The first step is to take a look at where you are.

00:08:39.120 Edward Thorson, in his book Nine Doors of Midgard,

00:08:42.440 Describes a procedure in which the individual makes two lists

00:08:46.600 One reflecting his or her desirable traits

00:08:49.640 And another of undesirable characteristics

00:08:52.580 This isn't something to be done in a few minutes

00:08:55.760 A number of days should be given to the task

00:08:58.320 Simply put, the idea is to increase or strengthen the good points

00:09:02.920 And decrease or eliminate the bad ones

00:09:05.520 Number two, stress yourself

00:09:10.760 It's easy to get into the habit of just going with the flow.

00:09:15.180 Evolution, however, requires stress.

00:09:18.260 Learn to push yourself in some way every day.

00:09:23.000 This may be physically, mentally, or spiritually, or some combination of these.

00:09:27.680 The important thing is to remind yourself not to take the easy way out.

00:09:34.980 Number three, strive to serve.

00:09:39.880 Alsatru certainly has an individual, private aspect, but we do not live in a vacuum.

00:09:46.600 Our spiritual practice should not be so self-centered that we slip into a sort of narcissism, isolated from others.

00:09:54.660 Our talents and capabilities should be brought to bear in service to the gods, to the growth of Alsatru in general, and to the folk.

00:10:03.400 And number four, exercise your spirituality daily.

00:10:09.880 The Ananda people meditate twice a day, in addition to numerous other religious duties

00:10:16.360 and events.

00:10:18.000 Each of us should seek our equivalent of these daily devotions.

00:10:23.160 My personal routine includes an assortment of simple rituals and rune work.

00:10:27.780 Your own practice will be different, something adapted to your needs.

00:10:32.040 The important thing is to be consistent, to find a program of self-improvement which you

00:10:36.860 can maintain over a long period of time. An overly strenuous regimen, which you

00:10:42.260 drop after a few days, is not as good as a more modest one that becomes a long-term

00:10:48.200 habit. The future of Alsatru depends on us. We are the metal from which the sword

00:10:58.460 is fashioned. If we are weak, Alsatru will be weak. If we are strong, Alsatru

00:11:06.320 will reflect that strength

00:11:08.420 and today

00:11:10.340 is a good day to start.

00:11:13.900 Change yourself

00:11:15.420 and you will change thousands.

00:11:20.360 This is Steve McNallan

00:11:22.400 of the Asatru Folk Assembly

00:11:23.880 www.runestone.org

00:11:26.700 I'll be back next week.

00:11:36.320 We'll be right back.

Asatru Folk Assembly - March 03, 2021

Change Yourself! (2010)

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript