Asatru Folk Assembly - January 2020 Facebook Live Discussion

00:00:00.000 Hello, it's like we're starting to get a couple of people joining us here.

00:00:28.480 off, I want to wish every one of you guys a very, very happy new year. It's exciting to

00:00:35.280 close out 2019 and start 2020. And I hope that we can all learn from everything that

00:00:43.840 happened to us in 2019. We can learn from any of our mistakes so the same ones don't

00:00:49.240 happen again. And so we can learn from our successes so that we can get even more, we

00:00:55.580 can handle things even better so hopefully we learn from everything that's happened to us and

00:00:59.460 hopefully we all start out and get 2020 rolling just the way we want appreciate y'all taking the

00:01:07.540 time today to to join me sure you guys have some things going on with friends and family i hope

00:01:12.600 everybody had a very happy yule um it was certainly really busy out here we had a lot of stuff going

00:01:18.580 on at the Hoth, and a lot of things happen in this Yule, so it's good to get back with

00:01:26.400 you guys and get back from all the celebrating and back to work, back heading forward.

00:01:35.860 Thank you, Stephen.

00:01:36.900 I try.

00:01:37.280 I appreciate that.

00:01:38.080 So, the big news and the big thing is, starting today, we're going to spend the rest of the year celebrating Yastru Folk Assembly's 25th anniversary.

00:01:55.160 That's really something when you stop and think about it.

00:01:58.720 It's been a quarter of a century that the AFA has been serving our gods and our folk.

00:02:04.400 it's really something to be said we we live in a time where a lot of things you know come and go

00:02:12.520 and there's a lot of a lot of change a lot of groups that claim to be also true startup and

00:02:18.920 fade away and disappear and the landscape and also true has changed so much but to have that

00:02:24.640 constant of the astro focus simply being there since 1995 is a it's really a testament to what

00:02:32.000 we're doing into our church. So we're extremely excited about that. We're going to spend the

00:02:36.260 entire year celebrating. We're going to try to, you know, share pictures and articles and things

00:02:42.120 about our history and where we've come from. And we're just so very thankful to everybody that put

00:02:48.620 blood, sweat, and tears into making the AFA what it is. The story of the AFA involves so many people.

00:02:56.840 But Steve and Sheila built this thing.

00:03:00.360 They spent uncountable hours and a huge amount of their lives getting this started, moving it forward, developing everything we have today.

00:03:13.520 And over the years, there have been so many people who have helped out, contributed.

00:03:17.020 We're fortunate to have a lot of those people with us still.

00:03:20.840 Some we've lost.

00:03:23.360 to, you know, some have passed, but quite a few have just gone their own ways, but wherever

00:03:31.360 they are, they're all part of the tapestry that made the AFA what it is today, and we're

00:03:35.520 really proud of that.

00:03:36.480 We're proud of where we came from, we're proud of where we are, and we're very excited about

00:03:41.240 where we're going, so it's really a special time, and again, we're going to kick off a

00:03:45.680 year of celebration.

00:03:51.220 Oh, Rob, thanks.

00:03:52.380 I'm glad you liked it.

00:03:53.140 hope it came off well we were Steve and I were both it was a mess we were up at

00:03:57.640 the Hoff and we didn't have internet service so one of our one of our members

00:04:02.320 had a room at the local Brownsville motel there so Steve and I crammed in

00:04:06.140 there around his laptop and tried to get it figured out and the camera wasn't

00:04:09.640 working and I got on my phone and it was it took a little bit of doing but we

00:04:15.880 were really really honored to be able to be on the the red-ice Yule those

00:04:19.900 people who have always been great. Henrik and Lana have been fantastic to us over the years

00:04:24.300 and really appreciate being asked to be on their show even if we didn't have all our tech stuff

00:04:29.180 squared away. So hopefully it worked out all right. I'm glad you're able to catch that.

00:04:35.740 Oh, we're glad to have you with us, Terry.

00:04:48.200 It looks like you had a good time at Yule with Trent and them.

00:04:53.360 I'm glad you're getting to do stuff with those guys.

00:04:56.020 It's really exciting to see things happen in your area, and I'm glad you joined us tonight.

00:05:05.740 Just taking a look at what we have over in the chat, we've got a whole lot of people

00:05:13.700 joining us.

00:05:14.700 It's nice that we've got so many of you guys here.

00:05:20.200 Checking to see if I have anything coming in over here also.

00:05:28.120 All right, well, let's go ahead and get started with what we're doing this evening.

00:05:36.740 Does anybody have any questions?

00:05:38.280 Is there anything anybody wants to start right off the bat getting going on?

00:05:43.520 Anybody have anything to ask or anything they want any kind of commentary on or anything

00:05:48.260 they want us to talk about tonight?

00:05:58.120 Sean, okay so good, I'm going to start out with a hard hitting question, would fighting

00:06:21.720 the defamation against the AFA be a waste of funds wish that I had an answer that was

00:06:30.820 more pleasing but yes absolutely it would be right now certainly with the scope of the

00:06:36.280 funds that we have one of the difficult realities that we've had to face in the AFA as far as

00:06:46.600 just looking at how we're developing, unfortunately, the enemy is able to often get away with things

00:06:54.900 that they shouldn't be able to. It's very easy for them to defame the AFA. It's very

00:07:01.080 easy for them to libel and slander us. While all of those things are not good, in order

00:07:06.680 for us to pursue anything legally takes a tremendous amount of money. It takes an awful

00:07:13.760 lot of money to get a lawyer on retainer to handle something of that scope and then we face countless

00:07:22.240 legal fees for as long as there are continuances and circumstances moving us forward that eventually

00:07:29.920 it's just more than more than we're currently able to to pursue in that avenue so i've talked

00:07:36.320 with Alan Turnage our law speaker. Alan is a lawyer in his own right and we're always trying

00:07:44.240 to figure out what the best thing to do when those situations arise but as it stands now when

00:07:51.440 newspapers or other organizations or groups want to defame the Astro Folk Assembly it's currently

00:07:56.560 not an economic reality for us to start having lawsuits and things like that happen. It's

00:08:02.800 It's unfortunate, but that is what we face, and got to deal with what we have, not what we wish we had.

00:08:13.300 Where's the next big event?

00:08:16.420 So a couple of things.

00:08:18.040 Coming up in January, on January 24th through the 26th, Thorfest is going on in Colorado.

00:08:26.920 That's kind of a local event, but there'll be people from many areas outside of that.

00:08:30.840 Let me rephrase. It's a regional event, but there'll be many people from outside of that locality going to it. I'm going to be driving over for it. Our folk builder, Jason Flirt, over there does a very good job putting this on. It's going to be a second event, or the second Thorfest event. I'm really looking forward to it.

00:08:50.000 it's coming up the 24th and 26th of this month and that's in Colorado there's

00:08:57.000 also going to be a charming of the plow that's a regional event that I'm also

00:09:01.120 planning to go to up in Leavenworth Washington and that's in the beginning

00:09:07.000 of February and I'm excited about that the next national event is in March and

00:09:12.260 that's going to be in South Carolina so that's gonna be a star in the south

00:09:17.240 I'm looking forward to seeing folks there if you can make it.

00:09:22.480 Chase, that may be a little ways from you, but that's in your region.

00:09:25.700 Looks like we can get you there, and we'd love to see you there.

00:09:31.280 Ah, huge.

00:09:39.360 How do you get vetted to attend AFA events?

00:09:42.740 First, you're already vetted if you're an AFA member, that's fine.

00:09:45.840 you're not an afa member you need to contact uh whoever's hosting the event usually the folk

00:09:51.040 builder in that area but if you contact your folk builder they can get you in touch and they can get

00:09:56.480 that process going um we welcome a lot of people we'd be happy to have folks that aren't yet afa

00:10:02.960 members attend a lot of our events but all of our events are family events we've got we've got kids

00:10:08.480 we've got families there and we want to make sure that people who attend we know a little bit about

00:10:13.200 who they are where they're coming from we can keep everybody safe and make sure there's no

00:10:17.200 disruptions so i appreciate you asking that if any of you guys are not afa members and want to

00:10:22.880 attend afa events get with your local folk builder if you don't know how to do that at www.runestone.org

00:10:30.160 we have a contact page any folk builder you get a hold of they'd be happy to get you shuffled to

00:10:36.480 who you need to get to get you vetted and set up so hopefully we can see you at an event

00:10:43.200 Uh, Cameron, if you could narrow that down a little bit, you asked about religious observations

00:11:00.460 for everyday living.

00:11:01.460 If I don't hear back, I'll try to say something about it, but if you could clear that up just

00:11:05.760 a little bit so I know exactly what you're talking about, I think I could do a better

00:11:09.440 job of answering the question.

00:11:11.880 Pam, let's talk about how great 2020 will be. 2020 is going to be fantastic. We've got

00:11:24.760 some really good things going on behind the scenes right now that are pretty exciting.

00:11:30.840 I've told you guys already that we're going to get a second Hoff going very soon. I know

00:11:36.820 I've been saying it for a long time. I promise I've been working this whole time on making

00:11:41.400 that happen and a lot of develops re developments on that front recently so i'm very confident that

00:11:48.920 2020 will absolutely see us with our second half i'm pretty excited and like i say i've got some

00:11:54.840 really good good things going on on the back end right now that are are looking very favorable

00:12:00.040 for that moving forward so we're very excited about it another huge thing in 2020 is our youth

00:12:06.200 program now the afa youth program evolved out of um votons wolves that was a program that cole and

00:12:15.560 tiffany distal started and for as long as i've been involved in ouster troop people wanted to

00:12:20.840 have a youth program or something to do with the kids and everybody was waiting for the right time

00:12:26.520 the right you know the right amount of kids the right amount of spots to make it happen

00:12:30.760 and i was really proud to see cole and tiffany step up and just do it and just make it happen

00:12:35.560 and kids loved Botan's Wolves. It was a really nice thing, but it grew so big, it got a little

00:12:42.220 bit bigger than they were prepared for, and they asked if the AFA would step up and take the ball

00:12:47.280 and run with it and move it forward. So the AFA youth program has evolved from that. Brandy and

00:12:53.640 Jessica are running that, and it's got oversight certainly from our GoTar. They're starting this

00:12:59.880 year's assignments today, and we're very excited about that. If anyone out there has kids that

00:13:06.840 they would like to be involved in the AFA Youth Program, please send messages to youth

00:13:12.700 at roomstone.org, and Brandy and Jessica would be happy to help guide you through that process

00:13:18.580 and get you guys set up.

00:13:29.880 New Year's resolutions, alright, so they're extremely serious, and now it's true, yeah, they can be.

00:13:42.380 One of the things, when you make an oath and you swear to do something, it's not just you committing to trying to do it,

00:13:50.760 it's you promising that you'll follow through on it.

00:13:53.040 Sam this is the answer your question as far as shouldn't just be done on New Year's they

00:14:00.040 should be done throughout the year that's certainly true and it's very important to

00:14:04.400 follow through any oaths and resolutions that you make but that said New Year's is a really

00:14:11.680 it's a really opportune time to start fresh to have a clean slate moving forward and to

00:14:17.600 progress on things that you've recognized within yourself that you want to make better.

00:14:22.820 I would encourage all of us to look into ourselves and our lives and figure out things we want

00:14:27.640 to improve, things this year we're going to resolve to tackle, to accomplish, and to overcome.

00:14:35.360 We should acknowledge those, we should resolve to fix them, and the ones that we want to

00:14:41.260 put our most effort behind.

00:14:44.020 it's something reasonable for us to accomplish we should we should oath into doing that and then at

00:14:49.220 the end we should at the end of the year hopefully we can have this conversation 365 days from now

00:14:54.740 and you guys can tell me all the all the accomplishments that you followed through on

00:14:59.700 i certainly hope i'll be able to do that in my own life

00:15:06.740 yes looks like you're added to the chat now i'm not sure if you asked a question earlier but i

00:15:10.900 I see you now, if you could ask again,

00:15:13.200 I'd be happy to try to get to anything

00:15:15.280 that you may have asked. 0.99

00:15:36.180 Oh, Malinka, don't apologize about hot topics.

00:15:39.260 it's good to have serious conversations here as far as forgiveness goes.

00:15:47.160 Other faiths may demand forgiveness.

00:15:51.520 Forgiveness may be one of their great virtues or an obligation of other faiths.

00:15:57.360 Just because it's not in Ausatru doesn't mean we should function without forgiveness.

00:16:03.700 It doesn't mean we should be such hard-hearted people that we are beyond the ability to forgive.

00:16:09.260 One of the things I talk about us being Arian people, Arian meaning noble, we should have

00:16:16.380 a certain amount of grace with us that we can forgive things, that we can rise above

00:16:21.220 and offer forgiveness for folks that have done things wrong.

00:16:25.800 One of the things that really separates Ausatru from some other faiths is the forgiveness

00:16:31.800 isn't unconditional.

00:16:34.600 We forgive based on people's trying to rectify things they've done wrong.

00:16:39.260 If you break something, you're to do the best you can to fix it or to make whatever you broke whole again.

00:16:47.460 Now, there's a lot of things you can't take back and you can't fix completely evenly,

00:16:54.140 but there's something to be said for the effort of making it right.

00:16:57.740 It's a whole principle our ancestors had of Ware Guild is trying to balance the ledger.

00:17:04.680 And if the party wanting forgiveness tries to make it right, then certainly there's forgiveness in Ausitru.

00:17:11.200 But it's on each noble, you know, lady and gentleman of Ausitru to choose when they choose to forgive or when they cannot accept forgiving.

00:17:21.480 And as noble people, that's our ability to choose.

00:17:25.360 I think that's really important and an important distinction in Ausitru.

00:17:29.200 You ask, what's our position on the death penalty?

00:17:31.900 I don't think there's any great unified position on the concept of the death penalty.

00:17:39.220 Certainly in Alistair True, there have been times where it's completely an appropriate response to a transgression.

00:17:47.280 And so I think in a lot of ways, Alistair True is not, you know, I would never posit that Alistair True is opposed to the death penalty.

00:17:57.380 But I also don't think it's demanded all the time and for all things.

00:18:00.780 Again, I would balance it with what I spoke about earlier on forgiveness. What could people in charge of going out sentences do to right a wrong that's been committed? And perhaps in some instances, that's definitely perhaps in others. That's a certain amount of restitution. That's a certain amount of trying to make something you've done right by repairing what's been broken.

00:18:28.620 i think with most things that depends on the judgment of a particular situation

00:18:34.860 under particular circumstances but uh you know i don't think that austral always demands a

00:18:41.500 death penalty but we're certainly not not opposed to the concept of a death penalty

00:18:57.740 Okay, this just in, apparently we'll be having elk steaks on the 24th if you are fortunate

00:19:12.180 enough to join us at Thorfest.

00:19:15.060 That sounds pretty exciting, I'm glad to know that's on the docket this year.

00:19:19.460 Also apparently there's some amazing auction items, and I believe that at AFA events, we've

00:19:24.680 got some really crafty folks and some guys that put some really amazing things

00:19:27.860 in our auctions so if you attend an event you know make sure you come

00:19:33.740 prepared because there may be some really nice things on that auction table

00:19:36.560 and any money raised from the auction goes towards the AFA it goes towards

00:19:41.480 paying off Hoffs and accomplishing our mission so we're appreciative of anyone

00:19:45.740 who donates to our auctions certainly anyone who purchases items at our

00:19:49.760 auctions yeah keep that in mind if you're coming to Thor for us come come

00:19:55.200 hungry for elk steaks and come with a full wallet for some auction items huge

00:20:04.820 we are absolutely family-friendly the AFA is all about building strong and

00:20:10.040 healthy families 2019 has been a landmark year for AFA babies being born my wife

00:20:18.160 may jump in and correct me but I think we had 22 or so babies born in the AFA in 2019 I think we've

00:20:26.480 got 14 already scheduled to arrive in 2020 so yeah the AFA is absolutely all about families

00:20:35.440 our events are absolutely for families and we hope you guys all bring your families out to our events

00:20:40.400 If you want to participate in the mead competition at Ostara, contact Lane Ashby, our folk builder

00:20:51.740 down in Florida.

00:20:52.740 He's trying to get that all squared away.

00:20:55.240 Hopefully we get some fantastic meads there.

00:20:58.940 Hopefully I will get to sample some.

00:21:10.400 Any events in Arizona?

00:21:14.080 It's a really good question.

00:21:15.160 I would love to see an event happen in Arizona.

00:21:17.840 Right now we don't have the infrastructure

00:21:19.760 and we don't have any big events planned in Arizona,

00:21:22.560 but up in Colorado is not too terribly far,

00:21:26.920 I mean, in the scope of the world from you.

00:21:30.320 Hopefully you can make it up next month or this month.

00:21:33.440 It's already the first.

00:21:34.400 Hopefully you can make it up this month to Thorfest.

00:21:37.420 If you do, we'd love to see you there.

00:21:39.440 And Jason Plurd, who's hosting Thorfest

00:21:43.180 and who's been active in our chat tonight,

00:21:45.440 he's your folk builder in Arizona

00:21:47.120 and he could help you get a little bit more squared away

00:21:49.220 on Arizona things as well.

00:22:05.100 All right, Cameron, some of your questions tonight

00:22:07.220 have just been a little bit broad.

00:22:09.360 more you narrow them the better i can address them but the point you asked about uh negative

00:22:14.160 stigmas and what we can do to portray ourselves in a better light and put our our morals and our

00:22:19.680 values in the open more the best thing we can do is by living our values daily

00:22:28.400 as individuals if we consider ourselves also true and not just that but members of the

00:22:34.160 be out true folk assembly and all the things that we do in the kinds of sons we are and the kinds of

00:22:40.480 husbands we are in the kinds of employees the kinds of employers in the customers or whatever

00:22:48.220 we are in life we should be also true at all of those times we should be living our values and

00:22:54.080 how we conduct ourselves always and one thing I found really useful I mean that all may sound

00:23:00.060 esoteric but it's absolutely true but what i found useful is doing those things while proudly wearing

00:23:06.540 your hammer while wearing an afa pen so when people ask after they've noticed you being a

00:23:12.620 stand-up person and a noble individual hey what's that you you proudly tell them your house are true

00:23:19.020 this is the hammer of thor or see those trihorns that's my church it's the astro folk assembly

00:23:24.620 i think the best thing we can do is live those examples in our life and perception is really

00:23:29.340 important. So I think we should try to present ourselves the best we can. I think we should

00:23:33.760 speak politely. I think we should speak with good, bright words. I think we should try to look our

00:23:39.640 best. We should try to be in the best shape we can be in. We should try to look the best we can

00:23:44.300 at all times so that when people see us, we're a shining example of those values. But I think

00:23:49.900 actions speak a lot louder than words. So living a noble life is the most important thing we can

00:23:55.780 do to combat any negative stereotypes or stigmas that people may have.

00:24:12.040 Congratulations, Rob. We're very excited for you.

00:24:24.480 Jess, that's a good question. So you asked about infidelity in a marriage. I think a

00:24:34.200 lot of the time the particulars of a marriage and those folks commitment to

00:24:41.280 one another and what things I don't know how they handle those issues or are a

00:24:46.920 personal matter that we try not to not to get in the middle of but I think the

00:24:53.220 idea of of loyalty is an extremely important one in all things involved in

00:24:57.720 also true I think the most important key issue as far as infidelity in a

00:25:01.800 marriage when it comes to Ausatru is your your loyalty and the bond that you have with your

00:25:09.960 partner as far as you guys being a team um that loyalty and that ability to be trusted by your

00:25:17.940 partner is at the core of any relationship in Ausatru and as such is very important

00:25:22.740 the ability for uh two people in a marriage to trust one another and to count on each other's

00:25:31.180 loyalty, that's the core of being able to build a strong family and raise kids in a

00:25:38.820 safe and protected environment to where they can develop loyalty themselves.

00:25:45.120 So I think it becomes really a question of loyalty and of trust.

00:25:51.480 Age requirements for the youth program, between 6 and 17.

00:25:57.020 We're also working on developing stuff for kids under the age of six, but it's not quite

00:26:03.000 in the same way like the youth program.

00:26:05.440 It's going to be more on tools and things parents can use to help teach those real little

00:26:10.400 kids stuff that prepares them for the youth program in the future.

00:26:15.320 Shannon, you can reach out direct to me here on Facebook.

00:26:23.320 If you're not already my Facebook friend,

00:26:25.980 not sure if you are or you aren't,

00:26:27.360 but send me an invite after this if you want.

00:26:29.540 That would probably be one of the easiest ways.

00:26:32.000 You could also email me at mattflavell,

00:26:36.100 M-A-T-T-F-L-A-V-E-L, at runestone.org,

00:26:41.420 and I'd be happy to try to help you out there.

00:26:43.660 So please do reach out, Shannon,

00:26:45.680 because I'd like to talk to you about

00:26:47.020 whatever you need to talk about.

00:26:53.320 Rob, we look forward to seeing your leather handmade items that you said you're going

00:27:02.300 to send those fawn down to Ostara.

00:27:04.500 Not sure if you're doing those for individual sale or something for the auction, but Rob

00:27:08.960 is a great craftsman and he makes really beautiful things.

00:27:16.080 Fernando, I'm not sure what you're asking, no, at present we're not asking any money

00:27:31.060 for streaming

00:27:34.460 As far as friends, as far as any gatherings in New Hampshire,

00:28:04.460 i don't know of any in new hampshire right now but closest stuff we have to you going on

00:28:11.720 is our uh stone ship hearth in massachusetts those guys are really solid and they have a lot of

00:28:19.100 things going on there if you can travel a little bit and you're willing to get a little bit out of

00:28:24.440 your way the folks in massachusetts are doing some really good things up there if you reach out to

00:28:28.580 your folk builder, Clifford Erickson, either here or cerickson at runestone.org. He'd be really

00:28:36.260 happy to get you squared away and in contact with our Massachusetts folk.

00:28:58.580 Crystal says, you don't practice Alstatru, you live it.

00:29:09.000 I think that's really important.

00:29:11.240 Alstatru is not about theory.

00:29:13.900 The core of Alstatru is certainly not about theory, and it's not about study.

00:29:17.740 Those things are really important.

00:29:19.660 But what the core of Alstatru is, is action and living and how you conduct yourself and how you live your life.

00:29:26.960 And I think that's something we would all do well to keep in mind.

00:29:35.020 Spud, I would encourage you to reach out to Sheila McMallan at Sheila at runestone.org

00:29:40.420 or to Ryan Harlan, rharlan at runestone.org.

00:29:45.460 Those are the folk builders out in AFA West,

00:29:49.000 and specifically the two of them live in California,

00:29:51.440 and they would be very, very happy

00:29:53.260 to try to connect you with Southern California members.

00:29:56.980 We've got a lot of members in California,

00:29:59.200 and I think we could get you some really good connections

00:30:01.740 if you reach out to them.

00:30:03.640 Hopefully after this, we can try to link you guys up.

00:30:06.740 Antonius there's not any AFA learning groups that I know about our language

00:30:27.080 learning groups that I'm aware of specifically although a lot of our

00:30:30.800 people are learning languages on Duolingo Duolingo is a really good

00:30:35.460 program best thing I've ever found to try to learn languages so yeah I know

00:30:42.780 some of our people try to link up on there and I think they've got a couple

00:30:46.500 different groups going on Duolingo to kind of share their progress but that's

00:30:51.180 what I think most folks are doing when they're trying to learn languages in the

00:30:53.880 AFA.

00:31:15.880 Cameron is asking what steps can be taken

00:31:18.280 to start work on an Indiana Hoff?

00:31:23.060 So, several different things.

00:31:26.640 In order for there to be an AFA Hoff in Indiana,

00:31:29.900 we need to see a lot of activity in the area.

00:31:33.220 We need to see regularity of folks doing events

00:31:37.180 and being willing to show up and volunteer and contribute.

00:31:42.300 It would be nice to see some kindreds in the area.

00:31:45.460 We have one long-standing AFA kindred in Indiana, Heimdahl's Midgard kindred, and that's a great start for that.

00:31:55.140 But we really need to have solid folks there that have been around for some time that have put in consistent effort 1.00

00:32:00.680 so we know that a hoff that we would get there would be well taken care of

00:32:04.500 and would have folks able to attend and make it successful long into the future.

00:32:10.440 We want to be really responsible and think really hard before we decide where we're putting hoffs.

00:32:15.460 and that'd be the thing i would suggest most about getting a hof in indiana the other thing is

00:32:20.540 and this sounds strange but it's absolutely true the best way to get a hof in indiana

00:32:26.560 is to donate and try to help get the next hof established wherever it winds up being established

00:32:32.500 um contributing to the current hof being being worked on and being purchased is the best way

00:32:38.920 to get a hof closer to you because as i've vowed before as soon as we finish with one we start

00:32:44.060 immediately on trying to make that other one happen it's our goal and it's something that 0.93

00:32:48.380 we will do is establishing hoffs around the globe throughout midgard and certainly throughout

00:32:56.780 throughout the country here in the united states so if you want one in your area try to support

00:33:01.980 the current one making that's getting worked on and try to build a solid community to where

00:33:08.220 It's a solid place for us to invest in Haas.

00:33:22.180 Paul, Loki is bad because he is alive with the forces of chaos

00:33:26.060 in opposition to the forces of order of the Aesir.

00:33:29.020 Loki is constantly a source of acting against the order that the Aesir try to provide in the world

00:33:39.840 and teams up with the forces of entropy and the forces of destruction

00:33:44.820 and that's antithetical to everything we're trying to do in Ausatru and in the Ausatru Folk Assembly 0.98

00:33:49.840 April is remarking that some of our ladies better start making more baby blankets.

00:34:02.860 For anybody that's not aware, it's a really beautiful thing that the AFA ladies have taken 0.88

00:34:07.640 upon themselves is our ladies make baby blankets for every new child born into the Astro Folk

00:34:15.540 Assembly. And so when they get born, they get sent a blanket with a little tag on it saying 0.60

00:34:21.820 that they're made by the women of the Ostry Folk Assembly. That's kind of a really, it's a really 0.94

00:34:26.860 special way to welcome children into our church, into our AFA family and show them that, you know,

00:34:35.080 there's people out there that they haven't even met yet that care about them and that, you know,

00:34:38.680 want to wrap them in that loving warmth that that blanket represents.

00:34:45.540 Yes, there are plenty of other symbols, but Thor's hammer is absolutely a symbol for both men and women. It's showing that under the hallowing sign of Thor, that's the symbol of our faith.

00:35:01.320 Certainly in the past, that was a standard symbol of Alcetru in opposition to Christianity as it was encroaching.

00:35:11.140 But the importance of Thor's hammer, it's not just a weapon. 0.68

00:35:14.700 Thor would use the hammer to hallow things.

00:35:17.340 It was a symbol used to hallow weddings.

00:35:20.760 In the lore, he would use it to resurrect his goats each day.

00:35:24.080 um that hammer is not only the strength to to defend against things that want to encroach upon

00:35:31.800 upon that order that i talked about a minute ago but it's a sign of of the divinity and the

00:35:37.960 holiness of the aesir and their authority over over chaos and their ability to stand against

00:35:44.460 chaos so thor's hammer is certainly appropriate for men and women of alsa true to wear to show

00:35:49.260 their loyalty to the ASEER.

00:35:57.960 Clint, any of our AFA GOTHAR are officially ordained and completely legally certified to perform AFA weddings.

00:36:09.280 So if that's something you're interested in, I encourage you to reach out to them.

00:36:19.260 Antonius, in order to be an AFA kindred, every member of the kindred needs to be a member

00:36:27.540 of the Austro-Folk Assembly.

00:36:29.560 Certainly every adult member.

00:36:30.900 I don't know how you would develop your kindred or if you would have people under the age

00:36:35.100 of 18 that were members, but in order to be an AFA member, they do need to be over 18.

00:36:41.320 But assuming they're eligible for AFA membership age-wise, every member of your kindred would

00:36:46.700 need to be an AFA member if it's to be an AFA kindred. Also, this year we're starting

00:36:52.660 to have a probationary period to where we get enough time to where a kindred really

00:36:56.720 knows that being affiliated with the AFA is something that they want and where both sides

00:37:01.720 are very comfortable with that because we want our kindred to stick around for a long

00:37:05.160 time and that relationship to be really something special. It takes three, like I said, three

00:37:13.280 adult AFA members to start an AFA kindred and Jason Gallagher is the man you want to

00:37:18.680 talk to about that and he can get y'all all squared away and tell you the particulars

00:37:23.280 and even help you in the process if it's something that you're developing.

00:37:31.940 Sean, South African Outreach, we've got Volk Voxdom Kindred in South Africa, and they're

00:37:47.660 working right now on a couple of different things.

00:37:50.820 They've already gone in a number of times now to distribute food and blankets directly

00:37:58.000 from the AFA to folks in the squatter camps over there. I believe they've gone to two

00:38:05.700 different camps, but I'm not certain and I got to check on that. So that's currently

00:38:10.100 an ongoing project. Christo, our folk builder over there, is always looking for a better

00:38:16.760 way to do that or ways that are going to be the most efficient at helping people out over

00:38:20.780 there. But yeah, that folk foxton kindred is really digging into that. They're also

00:38:27.920 looking at some community farming ideas and some other things that way. So those guys

00:38:31.960 have their eye on the ball on that.

00:38:35.460 Jess, which languages are AFA members learning? I know of some learning Latin, I know of some

00:38:41.480 learning French, I know of a lot learning German, I know of people who've tried Russian

00:38:47.520 and Swedish on Duolingo so that's what I know as far as that goes.

00:39:12.360 Yes, the AFA is international.

00:39:14.260 We have members right now in 16 countries.

00:39:25.740 Sorry, guys.

00:39:26.460 You guys have asked so many questions tonight.

00:39:28.680 I'm having to go over and catch up on the chat a little bit.

00:39:42.360 Welcome Blaine, I'm glad you joined us tonight.

00:39:55.780 We have talked a little bit about Ostara in the South, but I'd love to talk a little bit

00:40:00.460 more.

00:40:01.460 Blaine would be a great idea, a great person for you guys to reach out.

00:40:04.760 He's been very instrumental in planting Ostara in the South this year.

00:40:09.520 I believe it's the, I'm trying to go back in my head and think how many there have been

00:40:17.520 right now.

00:40:18.520 I think this is the sixth Ostara in the South.

00:40:21.800 It's going to draw people from all up and down the entire southern half of the East

00:40:26.600 Coast.

00:40:28.600 It's going to be in the Carolinas for the third time, so it's going to be a nice spot

00:40:36.160 for people from all over to kind of centrally locate too.

00:40:40.160 I'm really looking forward to it.

00:40:43.840 I think this is going to be a really big year for O-Star in the south.

00:40:47.340 We've had a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and growth in certainly in the AFA's upper

00:40:53.240 south region this last year.

00:40:54.780 It's by far been our most dynamic region as far as people joining and being excited and so much activity.

00:41:03.960 So we've got a lot going on.

00:41:08.520 That's one of the, like I said, that's the most active region as far as growth has been in this last year.

00:41:16.100 So I'm really excited to see all of the new faces at Ostara in the south.

00:41:20.500 There's going to be a lot of AFA leadership there.

00:41:23.100 I think probably the most Gothar at any AFA event of this next year may be at a star in the south.

00:41:31.900 I know we've got a lot of our Gothis and a few of our Githia going to be there,

00:41:36.140 so a star in the south is something you all should make in March if you can.

00:41:53.100 is there anything else folks want to talk about tonight anything been on your guys mind anything

00:42:02.580 you want to make sure i address or we get going forward here in uh in 2020 as we spend the year

00:42:09.520 celebrating the afa's uh 25th anniversary

00:42:13.020 I'll say it out here in case anybody else has missed it or is joining us a little bit

00:42:36.640 like I said one of our big things that we're doing is the youth program this

00:42:42.100 year Brandi and Jessica have put a lot into getting this established and

00:42:49.480 getting January's curriculum all set up I'm very excited about it if any of you

00:42:55.000 listening to this have kids age between 6 and 17 please send a message to youth

00:43:02.400 at www.roomstone.org and we would we'd really like to see your kids getting involved in that

00:43:11.160 that's our future that's what the afa is going to look like in you know the next generation

00:43:20.700 it would be really really nice to get these kids raised up in this so that they're so much further

00:43:27.760 ahead of the game when they're when they're our age and it's really exciting to see that develop

00:43:34.000 i've mentioned before the afa is all about families and moving that forward and one of

00:43:38.640 the big things we've been focusing on is the idea of immortality the key to that immortality is

00:43:43.840 building something that'll be here for our children and for our children's children

00:43:47.840 and that's really what we're doing and that's at the heart of the afa youth program so i'm

00:43:52.800 really excited to watch how that develops and i would encourage anybody who wants to be involved

00:43:56.720 to send an email and let's see what we can do Shannon holding things I know

00:44:12.080 that some house of true or that's a that's a big thing to them no pun

00:44:17.300 intended I know that the Astro Alliance is really big on that and they host an

00:44:22.480 all thing every year going back for decades um in the traditional sense of the thing being a legal

00:44:31.760 court or a place where legal precedents are decided upon um i can't say that that happens too often

00:44:38.960 in a very tangible and real way i've never been to an a astral alliance all things i'm not sure

00:44:44.640 I'm not sure how things are conducted there,

00:44:46.480 but I would say that's fairly rare in today's Austertroup.

00:44:58.320 Jess, it is common for AFA members

00:45:00.520 to have spouses of a different faith.

00:45:04.560 No offense to anybody, though it is common, 0.96

00:45:07.280 that's not the recommended, it's not the optimal situation.

00:45:11.280 situation. But we find ourselves in a time where so many of us are just coming home to Ausatru.

00:45:17.860 We have a lot of people that are already in marriages long established when they find Ausatru.

00:45:22.740 So a lot of people are in that situation and a lot of the times their spouse will come around.

00:45:27.840 They'll see the impact that Ausatru has made in a person's life and it'll really show them an

00:45:33.860 example of great things that occur when you're loyal to our gods. So a lot of the time people

00:45:40.580 start out with a spouse of a different faith and their spouse will come over and join us and be

00:45:45.060 be part of of what we do and be part of Ossetru. So that is common but more and more what's been

00:45:52.340 very exciting to see is folks are finding their mate within Ossetru within the Ossetru folk

00:45:56.820 assembly. We've had a big surge in people meeting people and falling in love and starting families

00:46:02.020 with folks they've met at AFA events. I know that was my case with myself and my wife Mandy so

00:46:10.580 That the face of that is changing as we as we mature as faith

00:46:24.920 So Antonius I need you to reach out to Sean sandin reach out to

00:46:31.640 Yeah, reach out to s

00:46:33.640 sandin at runestone.org or find vb sean here on facebook and hassle him until he gets that

00:46:42.760 merchandise cranked out anybody who doesn't know sean runs the afa merchandise it's a labor of love

00:46:49.720 with him and some help of family and friends out of his garage uh he does an amazing job with that

00:46:57.140 it really is one man show and he's able to do really amazing things for us so we're very

00:47:01.600 appreciative what Shawn does and seriously do reach out to him because he's got plans for a lot

00:47:06.880 of really nice things. Ah Christian I'm sorry I'm not sure when you say northern traditionalists

00:47:28.440 I'm not sure what you mean by that.

00:47:30.700 If you could clarify a little bit, I'd be able to.

00:47:33.180 I'll do my best to try to answer you.

00:47:38.880 Aaron, that's the attitude we like.

00:47:40.620 We'll send them all to you, and hopefully we can get some really good things going on in Michigan.

00:47:50.500 Will, as far as funds for repairs and upkeep at Odenshof, yeah, we absolutely need help with that.

00:47:57.860 Anybody who wants to help with that, there's a donate link button at www.roomestone.org

00:48:03.920 where you can donate specifically to the upkeep of Odenshoff and it's always appreciated.

00:48:08.960 What can folks do to make those funds?

00:48:12.620 I wish there was a more exciting answer, but what needs to happen is people who care need

00:48:19.960 to just be generous and donate.

00:48:23.480 This is kind of a good time to talk about it.

00:48:26.100 One of the best things, or the things that's really helped us move forward in 2019, was

00:48:34.440 people starting to contribute to the Astro Folk Assembly by our Hof Toler.

00:48:40.820 The Hof Toler is a percentage-based giving, where instead of monthly membership dues,

00:48:48.800 as a church, people would donate a percentage of their income to us.

00:48:54.940 little as 1% as much as you'd like but donating based on percent allows us all

00:49:00.820 to share in each other's hardship but also to share in each other's success

00:49:06.160 and each other's you know increase we've had such an amazing ability to move

00:49:12.640 forward in 2019 because people have been so generous and step forward wanting to

00:49:16.660 contribute that way it often doesn't seem like a huge sum you know 1% isn't a

00:49:24.380 big deal to a lot of people but it's a huge deal to us and it just skyrockets our ability to do

00:49:31.340 things our ability to get new hoffs our ability to take care of the hoffs we have and really shine

00:49:37.960 them up into temples to our gods as they ought to be um so i think will that's going to be the thing

00:49:44.300 is getting folks and specifically with odin's hoff to get folks in the afa west region to

00:49:49.840 contributed by Hof Toler I think if we saw our members do that the money to

00:49:54.880 work on the roof and the bathrooms and things that we needed opens off would

00:49:58.520 come through very very quickly if we got people to be willing to contribute in

00:50:02.400 that way

00:50:06.280 Malenka of course there's a place for childless women and couples in the

00:50:09.760 Astro Folk Assembly I have been in the Astro Folk Assembly for a really long

00:50:15.080 time and it's just this last year in 2019 that uh that we got pregnant and my wife's pregnant with

00:50:22.520 with our first and only so far child so you know we're both up there we're both 38 years old 0.99

00:50:29.880 so there's absolutely a place for folks that don't have children in the austro folk assembly

00:50:35.080 or certainly for folks that can't have children in the austro folk assembly

00:50:39.240 um just because we celebrate having children and we want them around and we want you know

00:50:43.960 all of our people to to have these great families that doesn't mean that we don't

00:50:49.160 value people that aren't able to do that no there's absolutely a place for folks 1.00

00:50:53.480 that don't have kids in the astro folks

00:51:06.760 so jason points out guys the afa is an actual church we're legally recognized

00:51:13.880 And as such, folks have a legal right to practice Austria and the Austria Folk Assembly and to not be discriminated against for doing so.

00:51:24.980 And as an official 501c3 church, a lot of protections are afforded to us in this country.

00:51:33.560 And that's something really to keep in mind.

00:51:35.560 And it's something that so far employers and other folks, folks in schools, folks in a lot of places have shown a tremendous amount of respect and restraint for not wanting to mess with that.

00:51:50.840 There's a power that comes with being part of a legitimate church.

00:51:55.760 And Jason just wanted to kind of remind you guys about that.

00:51:58.660 And if folks have concerns ever or whatever, there's a power, there is a protection with that.

00:52:04.580 And that's something you guys should be aware of and help make you feel a little bit more comfortable.

00:52:14.960 Gene, I would encourage you to message youth at runestone.org and ask them the question about what you can do for younger children below the age of six that still want to learn and get kind of primed for the program.

00:52:28.660 that's something we have talked about and ladies there have some advice on it so do reach out to

00:52:33.700 them uh kyle we do not currently have any kindreds in new jersey but we would love to see one happen

00:52:42.900 um closest kindred to you is lansdale true folk over in pennsylvania but they're not far from you

00:52:49.880 And yeah, if you emailed your folk builder, Clifford Erickson, cerickson at runestone.org,

00:52:59.160 he would be really happy to get you connected and see about helping you with that New Jersey

00:53:04.060 kindred if it's something that you want to start and get rolling.

00:53:19.880 Okay, guys, sorry, I'm checking over here on the chat to make sure I'm not missing anybody.

00:53:31.620 Christian, I'm not sure of folks in the AFA that are Northern traditional shaman or do a lot of

00:53:40.100 Northern traditional shamanic medical practices. Again, I'm not really familiar with what you're

00:53:45.260 asking but that's not something I've heard a lot of interest in or that we

00:53:49.700 have practitioners that we may very well it's just not something that I'm

00:53:54.560 particularly aware of Shannon sorry to leave you hanging on the friend request

00:54:02.420 I will absolutely accept the friend request and then please do send me a

00:54:06.240 message if you do have anything that you need to ask or that you want to ask me

00:54:09.500 privately I would be very you know very happy to do what I can to answer it and

00:54:15.200 honored that you'd want to reach out and hear what I have to say about something.

00:54:23.920 Anybody else have questions tonight or anything they want to talk about?

00:54:28.660 Like I said, we're going to be spending all of this year celebrating 25 years of the Astro

00:54:33.240 Folk Assembly.

00:54:34.240 It's a very, very exciting time.

00:54:37.680 We've got the first quarter of a century in the history books now.

00:54:43.400 got a beautiful beautiful foundation to build upon to stand upon got something that folks have worked

00:54:49.880 very very hard to build and to provide for us we always need to be extremely mindful of that legacy

00:54:57.400 and of protecting it preserving it and doing honor to those who've come before and paved the

00:55:02.120 way for us to have the nice things that we have and uh and yes i'm really looking forward to

00:55:07.720 seeing what we can do, what we can accomplish together in 2020. It's really a good time

00:55:15.680 to be involved in Also True and it's an amazing time to be part of the AFA. Anybody else have

00:55:21.340 any questions tonight before I let you guys go? I appreciate you guys joining me. I look

00:55:27.600 forward to these every single month. This makes one year. This has been doing this solidly

00:55:35.100 for one year now these these live chats i hope you enjoy them as much as i do um

00:55:44.140 trying to give you guys a little bit more notice about them i know some of them i popped up on you

00:55:48.300 this last year very quickly with very little notice glad you guys show up and ask questions

00:55:54.140 and hopefully i've gotten all of them like i say if i go back over this and i find ones that i've

00:55:59.980 missed i'm going to try to go back over you know the next day or so and make sure i answer any of

00:56:04.300 of those things. If you can, please make it to Thorfest. If you can, please make it to Charming

00:56:11.060 of the Plough in Washington State. And by all means, please do what you can to get to Ostara

00:56:18.200 in March. I would love to see you guys there. Dates for Ostara in March. Now I'm on the

00:56:26.340 spot and I'm going to try to look. If anybody out there has a date for those, if they can go ahead

00:56:32.280 put it up I will check in the meantime here it's probably a good thing to to

00:56:40.200 have figured out beforehand I do got the dates for Thor fest but I wasn't

00:56:45.300 thinking as far out to Ostara all right starting the south 2020 is going to be

00:56:52.440 March 13th through March 15th so if you can make it would love to see you there

00:56:58.440 tell you what that's what really changed my life I was largely by myself up in

00:57:05.520 Alaska trying to get things rolling I was excited to join the AFA but wasn't

00:57:11.460 part of something you know I didn't feel part of something that much bigger than

00:57:15.600 myself until I made the effort to go to go to my first midsummer and I believe

00:57:22.440 that was mid-summer of 2009. It was life-changing. It opened my eyes to the amazing family that the

00:57:32.300 Astro Folk Assembly is. I made friends and connections there that I have to this day and

00:57:37.280 I cherish. Going to your first AFA event is a huge thing. It absolutely changed my life. I know it

00:57:44.980 changed a lot of folks' lives. If you can make it to an AFA event, if you can come out, please do.

00:57:50.640 it's never something i hear about people regretting it's always something that people are very excited

00:57:56.640 that they did and like i say you connect with family that you know maybe across the country

00:58:03.080 but they'll be they'll be family to you from that point on we really are part of a very special

00:58:08.460 network and very special family and you feel that at those events

00:58:11.440 all right um nobody has anything else i think we'll uh i think we'll call it a night thank

00:58:22.840 you guys so much for joining me thank you for being here and being with us to celebrate uh

00:58:28.640 25 years of the astro folk assembly i am very excited about the things we'll be able to

00:58:34.620 accomplish together here in 2020 and the future is very very bright thank you guys all hope you 0.93

00:58:40.560 have an amazing evening and let's hit this new year let's hit the ground running hell the gods 1.00

00:58:45.240 hell the folk of the afa 0.99

Asatru Folk Assembly - January 02, 2020

January 2020 Facebook Live Discussion

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