00:11:13.660First, I'll do the last first and the first last. Vanatru, I'm unaware of any organization or
00:11:20.860structure that calls themselves that. I know that as a, I guess an idea or a category of
00:11:28.620of groups or belief, that's a thing. From what I've heard in my interaction with people that
00:11:34.060claim that is what they do, it's much more of a primal nature focus. Obviously, by the name,
00:11:44.460they focus more on the Vanir gods instead of the Aesir. This paints with a very broad brush,
00:11:54.940So no offense to anybody this doesn't apply to. They tend to embrace a lot of what I would describe as primitivism. Also, a lot of a lot of very overt sexuality in Vanitru, I'd say.
00:12:10.760it tends to be people that are focused very on
00:12:16.920on the chthonic and much less on the astral um that's what i'd say about vanatru and i don't
00:12:27.760think there's a lot of of adherence i think that's a an other category that a lot of things
00:12:32.320end up having overlap in uh forms say there are a lot of people use that as a generic
00:12:38.020word that means the old way or the old practice and so i think a lot of people consider themselves
00:12:44.500that or use that as a term but i also when i think of that i have to consider the organization
00:12:49.140in scandinavia uh specifically in denmark that's the official organization foreign sailor
00:12:56.180um they're kind of a catch-all over there of ouster troop practitioners we have some afa
00:13:02.260members that are part of that umbrella organization. I think that functions as kind of a tax
00:13:08.320delineation for governmental religious funds over there. So I think that encompasses all
00:13:14.880ALSATRU is some extension or has some involvement in that organization, whether or not everyone in
00:13:20.740that organization has much in common other than claiming ALSATRU, I'm not sure. I know there's a
00:13:26.340lot of universalists involved, but again, any focused practitioners that want to be part of
00:13:31.740what's going on in Denmark. I think they do have to interact with that organization.
00:13:36.220So I think that's more of a big umbrella thing over there than a specific religious creed.
00:13:43.260But that's the most I know about it to give you right now.
00:13:48.480Can I explain how the AFA leadership model is structured? Absolutely. So let's start with this.
00:13:58.140I mentioned the folk builders, the apprentice folk builders volunteering lately, which is a
00:14:02.300really good thing. That's kind of the entry level of our leadership situation. You'll have volunteers
00:14:10.520that step up wanting to be an apprentice folk builder, and they'll usually be in that spot for
00:14:15.780at least a year. Give them an opportunity to see if they want to continue to folk build with us,
00:14:21.100if the job is something that, you know, that they want to do, and if it's something that works out
00:14:26.660with their life and their family and their situation. Also a time that we can see if they're
00:14:31.540a good fit, if they're people that we want in that position. Assuming we want them and they want to
00:14:36.100keep doing what they're doing, then about a year in, they get an opportunity to oath as an oath
00:14:42.340to folk builder. And that's when AFA leadership really starts. They are the local face of the
00:14:50.200House True Folk Assembly, they are, so they're the face of leadership to our membership in
00:14:57.740their area. And they're also the face of their membership to the rest of leadership. It's
00:15:03.440their job to build and to maintain and care for the needs of our membership in that area
00:15:09.820and help make sure everybody's squared away. They have a lot of admin duties behind the
00:15:13.620scenes, but they have a lot of just gathering people together and answering questions and
00:15:18.180facilitating meetings. A lot of folks, when they reach out, they think that we have some AFA genie
00:15:27.500out west somewhere that, or maybe I sit here in this chair and cast some hocus pocus and
00:15:32.820make stuff happen. The stuff happens by dedicated men and women who are willing to step up and do
00:15:39.280things. And the first rung of that is our folk builders. So yeah, as of last year, so we're a
00:15:48.220year into this now, we've combined our Gothar and our folk building programs into one unified
00:15:52.720leadership structure. So if you are a folk builder, you have the opportunity once you're
00:15:59.660oathed to apply to our Gothar program if you want to continue up the ladder. And if being a priest
00:16:06.600for our gods and our goddesses is a call to you if that's something that you feel you want to
00:16:10.960dedicate your life to. If that's the case, you go through about a year-long training process
00:16:17.980again to a year to two years. And the idea is not only to do the book studies that are involved in
00:16:27.380that, but more importantly, say more importantly, but also importantly, to learn counseling,
00:16:34.280to learn leadership skills, to really become a functioning spiritual leader for our groups.
00:16:41.680And all of our regions, they may have multiple folk builders, but all of our regions are under
00:16:49.120the leadership of an AFA Gothi or Githya. Sometimes there's multiple of these in an area,
00:16:56.180but our Gothar, the Gothis and the Githyas, are the ones that manage the folk builders underneath
00:17:03.500them. And then above that, we have the AFA Witten. This is made up of wise and time-tested men that
00:17:12.440have put in the years, put in the effort, put in the dedication to the Austro-Folk Assembly.
00:17:20.060And our Witten forms an advisory council. The Witten oversees the Gothar. And the Witten and I
00:17:27.900discuss the important issues of the AFA. We talk all of the time, but we have two formal meetings
00:17:35.380a month that we make sure we meet on and discuss pressing matters. They advise me on things and
00:17:42.860they help me administer the Astro Folk Assembly. And then above the Whitten is me. As the Al's
00:17:48.860Harrier go, the decisions and the spiritual well-being of the AFA ultimately rest with me
00:17:55.820the buck stops here. And that's kind of how we're structured. It's how we've always been
00:18:02.780structured and that hierarchy works really well for us. I hope that answers your question. I think
00:18:11.180I think it may answer a couple of questions here.
00:18:29.600I appreciate any questions you guys wanna ask.
00:18:31.820Marble Mountain, I don't think the question is really convincing locals.
00:18:44.380I think the controversy with Baldershoff has been fake news.
00:18:49.640We've had a lot of locals reach out and support.
00:18:51.940I think there's probably a lot more locals that really don't care.
00:18:56.180The longer we're there and the less we're hassled by the fake news,
00:19:01.240the better we'll be. We're good neighbors. We're good people. We're going to be a very good asset
00:19:06.740to that community. We're going to treat people well. And they'll see that. I don't have any
00:19:11.360doubts about that. The folks that come in, the outside agitators and the people that want to
00:19:17.940create problems where one doesn't exist, they're the ones causing an issue. They're the ones who
00:19:23.720have trouble. And hopefully they're the ones that are going to disappear. But we'll see. Time will
00:19:27.600tell um yeah I've never heard of rumble as a social media platform it's
00:19:35.580something we'll look into I appreciate all the social media platforms out there
00:19:40.260that are trying to support free speech one of the troubles we won't run into
00:19:43.440is there's so many different ones and everybody has a pet platform that's
00:19:48.280that's their baby that they really like thing is with something like Facebook it
00:19:52.840reaches billions of people some of these others reach hundreds of people and as far as people
00:20:00.200who are our audience or people who we want to get our message to maybe tens of people
00:20:05.080so it's hard to figure that out in a way that's going to be the best use of resources
00:20:09.320and it's going to reach the most people we're trying to reach
00:20:22.840got a question about thor's hammer pendants um asking if they get a bull if there's a blessing
00:20:34.280right for new wearers and if there's any preferred design or vendors um
00:20:43.880the blessing for a new hammer or for a new person wearing a hammer is a very unique thing and i know
00:20:49.160a lot of people depending upon where they come from and where they found house are true have
00:20:53.000different traditions with that we have no specific unified afa tradition on how to bless hammers we
00:20:59.400know a lot of people do a private right when they get a new one um there have been times when we'll
00:21:05.000do a uh usually a wayfarer's bloat in an afa event where people take off their hammers put them all
00:21:11.160you know onto a stone onto the altar and have uh have them blessed at that time but as far as a new
00:21:18.360one. It's a really individual thing that a lot of folks do, but I know a number of people have
00:21:23.220individual blessings that they do with that or when they put their hammer on. I know Steve
00:21:27.720McNallan does that. He's got a personal one that he does. I've done them before. I've done them
00:21:33.660individually for new ones for individuals. So I think that is something that's done, but I wish
00:21:39.420I had a really good layout for you. And I think we may provide one of those coming up soon.
00:21:42.980preferred designs or vendors? No, not really. Sky's the limit. I think that the scope of
00:21:54.520different hammers in our ancestors' day was vast. Many, many different styles and shapes and sizes
00:22:03.400were used in the past, and we're not stuck in the past. There's many different shapes and styles
00:22:09.920used today and some are very beautiful um i know that uh you know ladies especially are always
00:22:17.120searching for nice feminine hammers to still represent thor to still represent our faith0.94
00:22:22.400but to have a hammer that that complements them and that complements their femininity
00:22:26.480and we're seeing some more really cool designs that way um
00:22:31.200all kind of different materials i tend to prefer a prefer a silver hammer
00:22:39.920But yeah, I don't have a particular vendor to send you to. There's a lot of really good places to get them. Way back when I got my first one in Anchorage, Alaska back in 2001, I got it at the museum store. And I'm not sure if that was in the malls down other places where people may be at, but it's a place that sold, you know, replica swords and fancy chess pieces and all kind of little knickknacks in the mall.
00:23:09.520But it also had a section of pendants and a number of Thor's hammer pendants.
00:23:13.600And I got one very much like this, but I got it in brass.
00:23:18.180And I still have that here at the house.
00:23:21.220I gifted it to my daughter at her naming ceremony.
00:30:52.640I don't even speak the language you're speaking,
00:30:54.200but i really would like to make these better and help with them so uh yeah if you have suggestions
00:30:59.080and ideas please do reach out um justin don't be sorry i appreciate you trying to send brandy to
00:31:11.080our website i think that's great i would like everybody to go with questions and check out
00:31:15.640our website because we do try to answer them there and give them good information
00:31:24.200Sorry, guys, I'm looking on the side trying to see, you know, what questions I got a little bit long winded. So there's a lot of a lot of stuff to catch up on.
00:31:31.880Books about Germanic religion. Eli, I would recommend, and I recommend everybody this,
00:31:52.500I think it's really important, is The Culture of the Teutons by Wilhelm Groenbeck.
00:31:56.780uh culture of the teutons it's one of those books that i it's one of the few books that i've read
00:32:02.600i've had to just you know almost just about every chapter certainly in the first half of the book i
00:32:07.600had to set the book down and just absorb what i read it literally just blew my mind the way things
00:32:13.680were uh were expressed in it um some of the concepts i think we all kind of know in a general
00:32:19.880sense but the way it was encapsulated and the way that groenbeck put it in the book i think is
00:32:25.500really profound and has very important implications on how we do what we do.
00:32:32.940So I think that's a really important one I would suggest reading.
00:32:37.820I always suggest Steve's book, Also True, A Native European Spirituality. I think that's
00:32:44.940really important. And it tells a lot about Steve and the life he's led and the
00:32:53.900the reasons of his case for Alcetru and why it is what it is and why it is so important.
00:33:00.060And I think that's a really, really good one to read if you haven't read it.
00:33:04.540So that's the first two I'd recommend.
00:33:06.380white homeland question um i have not seen a viable situation where that's that's a thing
00:33:26.680right now what i do think is a thing and what's really really important with the afa and and i
00:33:32.260and I think is really important for us to focus on, is building that culture within the framework
00:33:38.320that we have. Maybe there will come a day where there's some independent, you know,
00:33:44.520independent white homeland somewhere, and that's a discussion to be had at that time.
00:33:48.400But in the meantime, we live in the world that we live in. What I think is great is creating
00:33:53.400our own golden age within the Astro Folk Assembly that exists within the wolf age that the rest of
00:34:01.760world's in. And we've seen that. One of the really nice things this year, when everybody else has
00:34:07.540been, you know, locking down and hiding indoors, the AFA has gathered, we've done things, we've
00:34:12.880celebrated our gods, no masks, hugging, sharing a horn. We've had these islands of normalcy and of
00:34:22.420wholeness and of how things are supposed to be in a world that's very, very out of whack.
00:34:29.840And we've had that at AFA events. We've had that at AFA Hoffs. And we're building that within the shell of the world we have around us. And I think that's really important. We're providing a place folks can go to be with our people, to celebrate our culture and our gods, and to do it together and make each other stronger.
00:34:52.820and we have that and we're chipping away at it. It may be a few little islands here and there,
00:34:58.340but it's much more than we had when I got involved, and it will be much more than it
00:35:02.820is now in the years to come, and hopefully you want to be a part of that.
00:35:16.340Sally, we absolutely could for each of our Days of Remembrance. As a matter of fact,
00:35:19.940Witten Svon Harrell is working on that as we speak. He's working on that and Githya Katie Erickson already has the first two articles for our Days of Remembrance set up. Hopefully we'll get those on the website sooner rather than later. Matter of fact, when we get done with this very conversation, I'll see about, you know, getting at least the first couple up there.
00:35:49.940Harry, I'm glad you're with us tonight.
00:36:19.940Justin, I'm glad you've been around Asitru for quite a long time joining in or being involved in Asitru since 2007. That's great. And I'm glad you're joining us tonight.
00:36:37.940Can I talk more about our AFA family back in the old countries and prospects for growth in the future?
00:36:42.940the future? Sure, it's hard to accurately forecast prospects for growth in Europe. There's so many
00:36:52.460different things and it all really depends on where you're at and what country you're in.
00:36:56.700But we've seen over the past few years amazing growth for the AFA in Europe. We've seen
00:37:04.620very significant growth in Norway, in Italy, and most recently in Ireland and the United Kingdom,
00:37:12.780We have our very first Irish kindred in December that we pack a McTierre and they're headed
00:37:21.120up by our folk builder for Ireland, Fiona Edgar, and she's doing a great job.
00:37:27.600They've got a fine group of people and they're doing great things.
00:37:30.220I think we'll grow significantly in Ireland and the United Kingdom in the coming years.
01:03:33.240Vox, obviously you and I view our gods differently, but your point of restraining, the point
01:03:55.120that you talked about, about adrenaline and chaining it up to prevent problems.
01:04:03.240And I can't tell tone, so I hope it's a serious point, but one thing I think is worth mentioning in this regardless that comes up is when we mention the idea of order over chaos, there's chaotic elements in life.
01:04:17.380But one of the keys to what the Aesir did and what the Aesir do, and what we do as noble people, is take chaotic things and shape them to our will.
01:04:28.900Chaos exists. As a matter of fact, the Ganunga gap is chaos itself. But what's telling about the Aesir and about Odin is that Odin took chaos and broke it down and shaped it into our reality, shaped it according to his will.
01:04:49.220And that's what we want to do is we want to take chaotic things and and bind them and shape them and utilize them with control.
01:04:59.060We want to bring order to chaos. And I think that's a maybe a better way to put that order chaos relationship for what it's worth.
01:05:19.220Oh, Vox, as I continue to read your posts, I think that's really important too.
01:05:34.640One of the things we want, we don't want to come, and again, I take this out of the Loki thing.
01:05:39.160We reject Loki totally. But the idea of ordered cosmic forces versus more primal forces, we don't want to disregard the primal elements of ourselves, but we want to shape them and guide them with our will and guide them with astral force of order with the Aesir.
01:06:03.300We want the Aesir to guide those more primal parts of ourselves and bring that primal strength in line with our divine will.
01:06:15.200Alan, we do, we have, we tip a lot of our regions and I forget exactly where you're located. A lot
01:06:35.980of our regions are doing video calls regularly. Certainly they're doing conference calls. So get
01:06:43.500in touch with your folk builder and they can get you squared away on on any kind of video
01:06:48.060calls or conference calls in your region because those do absolutely go on anti-antifa follow
01:07:09.020up your question earlier and i think i'm a little bit behind on the comments you said
01:07:12.140what if they aren't noble to us? I'm not asking anybody to treat people who have treated you
01:07:17.300poorly to treat those people. Well, I think they have them all instructs us when people treat us
01:07:22.360poorly to, to treat them back in kind. So I wouldn't ask for you to, to behave nobly to
01:07:30.740people that don't. Well, I say that I wouldn't ask you to treat people well, who treat you poorly,
01:07:36.060But there's a certain bearing carrying yourself with that is noble, even when you're in open opposition to a different person or a different group of people.
01:07:47.580How you behave in the nobility in which you carry yourself, even to the point of combat, speaks really highly of you and the group that you're a part of.
01:07:56.940And it's on display for your ancestors, for the gods, and for those around you to see how you behave.
01:08:03.600So I think you should act noble all the time.
01:08:06.740I think we should treat other people who treat us well.
01:08:09.320I think we owe those people treating them very well.
01:08:12.200And I think people who treat us poorly, we don't owe that too.
01:08:15.480But like I told you, your politics are your own,
01:08:17.880and I'm not in any way trying to criticize them
01:10:38.060One. So another one of our recent apprentice folk builders, Tim Dumas asks what I would say to people that are Christians, agnostics and so forth that want to be involved with the AFA.
01:11:02.640um depends on what involved means first christians agnostics whatever they may be
01:11:11.900if they wish us well and want to you know i guess help us out and be nice to us and give us kindness
01:11:17.400then that's fantastic and we really appreciate it you know one of the nicest things that we heard
01:11:22.040from a non-ousetre in this whole uh situation with baldershoff and you know a number of people
01:11:29.280that you know the social justice warriors are out there decrying what we did we heard from a black
01:11:34.720man a minister uh minister farrakhan muhammad of the nation of islam and he he was he reached out
01:11:41.840and he gave us a you know he appreciated what we were doing he looked at our website he appreciated
01:11:47.040us trying to make our people noble and live to their highest standard and he wished as well
01:11:53.120and what we do with that is we say thank you i appreciate it um depends on how much more they
01:11:59.040want to be involved i think that there's room for christian well i say that
01:12:07.360if people are interested then sure share with them what we do if they're genuinely interested
01:12:13.600in their friends and family they're welcome to uh if they're vouched for attend an event
01:12:18.800and see what we're about if they are christians that are wavering and questioning their christianity
01:12:25.120then by all means show them what we have to offer and show them what we believe and hopefully
01:12:29.620they'll come our way if they're agnostics um and i noticed you said agnostics and not atheists but
01:12:36.460either way they can come to a knowledge of our gods come to an understanding one of the easiest
01:12:41.380things to do is it well i say easiest things to do one more easy avenue for agnostics and atheists
01:12:47.740is an understanding of our ancestors, because whether it's easy or not for people to perceive
01:12:55.700of the gods, certainly our ancestors exist, or at the very least they existed. If they didn't,
01:13:03.300we wouldn't be here. That's common sense. It sounds silly to even say out loud, but it's the
01:13:08.220first step sometimes for agnostics and atheists to understand what we do and to want to be involved
01:13:15.260in it be part of it one of the things i've noticed as far as belief goes um
01:13:23.500there's levels in belief a whole lot of people say they believe
01:13:30.220but one of the most beautiful and amazing things that i've experienced as a gothi
01:13:35.740is watching people's eyes when they thought they believed but all of a sudden it got real
01:13:44.300and you see that at events you see that during ritual and not for everyone all at once no it's
01:13:49.900very special to different people there's some rituals that you know really touch particular
01:13:55.580people and there's some that are you know don't connect as well with them that day but to see
01:14:01.660when all of a sudden it's real not just you think it is not just you believe it is but you know it
01:14:07.980is that's really special and it comes to people at different times so i would encourage christians
01:14:14.780agnostics i say that christians who have questions and are curious and want to know more um i'd
01:14:22.780encourage those people to come around if they can't fully support our faith enough to be a member of
01:14:27.660the afa which i respect then there's other ways they can contribute if they want to donate that's
01:14:32.780great if i and not just not just money i mean i'm not gonna lie money money makes stuff happen
01:14:38.540but if they want to donate effort um labor if there's stuff they want to do to help you know
01:14:44.220with a project at our hof or a project we're involved in we would love to help um if they
01:14:49.420just want to help get our message out there to folks that would be interested we appreciate that
01:14:54.300um there's a lot of stuff that they can do but you do need to be also true to be a be a member
01:14:58.860of our church because we are a religion that's what we what we believe in but no please don't
01:15:03.980discourage christians agnostics anybody else that wants to help out as long as there are folk we
01:15:08.700would love to have them involved in what we're doing in a way that's appropriate to their current
01:15:13.180spirituality uh dan i think that's an interesting question i think how closely rooted you are to an
01:15:27.980individual, non-Germanic, but clearly Indo-European pantheon will dictate how you
01:15:35.680approach them during ritual. In the AFA, so that we're unified in our practice and unified in our
01:15:41.620worship, we use the Norse names for our gods and goddesses. But I do believe that our gods and
01:15:51.080goddesses are Pan-European. And they have different name and some different stories
01:15:59.740depending upon that branch of our Indo-European family. But I think that the divinity is the
01:16:05.360same. And I think that by worshiping our gods under their Norse names in their Germanic context,
01:16:13.240we honor those gods that are Pan-Aryan. And that's really important in our practice,
01:16:19.280especially in the United States, when, as you mentioned, so many of us are from very different
01:16:25.900backgrounds within that common racial structure. And I think there's more that ties us together
01:16:32.240than that separates us by far. But yeah, I don't think there's any conflict between our folk that
01:16:40.860have slavic baltic celtic or other indo-european backgrounds celebrating and worshiping our gods
01:16:50.700in the australian excuse me in the australian folk assembly and i would encourage all those
01:16:55.820folks to join us and join with what we're doing.
01:17:25.500Viking, we're glad you're here listening. I'm glad you guys have all joined tonight. We've got a lot
01:17:29.240of people in the room tonight, a lot of comments on the side. Thank you for putting up with my little
01:17:33.760time I take here to read the questions on the side. I want to make sure I don't miss anybody.
01:17:39.260I also appreciate you guys that are calling me on it if I do miss something, because I'm not
01:17:43.820ducking any comments, but I may not catch everything, especially because there's so many of you guys
01:17:55.500looks like y'all are having a good discussion by yourselves over there that's cool too i
01:18:07.740appreciate it i'm just glad you guys are interested and everybody's having a good conversation um
01:18:12.940There we go. Okay, cool. Yes, Zachary, if you want to become a Gothi in the Ostrou Folk Assembly,
01:18:39.420you need to first go through being a folk builder. And there's a couple of reasons for that.
01:18:46.540A lot of folks, when they conceptualize what being a gothi is, and I'm not saying this is
01:18:53.820your case at all, you may not be like this at all, but I know I was when I first started.
01:18:58.220You picture someone leading ritual and you picture maybe somebody with a lot of lore knowledge.
01:19:05.740and that's a much more abstract idea of what a gothi is at its fundamental level level a gothi
01:19:16.520is a leader of our people they're also a bridge between our people and our gods between our gods
01:19:23.560and our people i think that they are the living embodiment of the alu formula um
01:19:30.560but the duties of a gothi are much much more about organizing our church about helping our
01:19:42.160members with real life questions as a gothi i do a lot more counseling with people asking me
01:19:48.580you know hey i had a tragedy in my family can you help me um you know hey i'm having this
01:19:54.700struggle with my child. Can you give me advice? Hey, there was, you know, one of my loved ones
01:20:00.940died. Can, can you help me through this process? You know, Hey, what do I do? My life's falling
01:20:06.920apart. What do I do? I've, you know, had a bad relationship go wrong, or I've, I've come back
01:20:12.860from a deployment and I'm having trouble or, you know, dealing with the sickness of a parent.
01:20:19.200I deal a lot more with that than I ever deal with, you know, Matt, what's the name of the
01:20:24.360eagle that sits atop the world tree. Lore knowledge is important, but being a Goethe is much more
01:20:32.020about actually helping our folk with the needs that are relevant in their life. And that's a
01:20:37.980skill that's learned as being a folk builder. As a folk builder, you do the hard work. You put in
01:20:43.780the time, you put in the effort, you get to know our members, you get to know their families,
01:20:48.400you get to know our AFA community and what we do, and you become familiar with that. And you're
01:20:53.920willing to put in all the behind-the-scenes work that's not fun, that's not you standing in a circle
01:20:58.360and hollering. And those fundamentals need to be in place before it's appropriate to have you lead
01:21:06.540our folk and lead our folk builders as a Go-Thi. So yes, we do have you go through that stage of
01:21:13.400becoming an Oath folk builder before you're eligible to apply for our Go-Thar program.
01:21:17.880Justin, I have never done a bloat in full or Old North. I'm sorry, Old Norse. I'm not fluent
01:21:39.480in Old Norse, although being with this as long as I have, there's certain things I pick up.
01:21:44.740um the times that i have recited things in old norse i will tell you for me and this isn't
01:21:51.860speaking for everyone um i don't feel that it's fantastic i think that using certain old norse
01:22:00.100names uh for things and for concepts or maybe a phrase is great i think that fully trying to
01:22:07.700memorize or speak something in old norse when when you're not familiar with it is less desirable
01:22:14.740Because when you're in bloat, it's not a show you're performing.
01:22:20.660It's a very literal communing with the gods.
01:22:24.940When I do bloat, I like to speak directly from my heart, from my soul, to our gods or whoever we're giving bloat to.
01:22:35.920I need to do that in a way that's very authentic and very real to me and not in a way that feels put on or feels acted out.
01:22:44.740So it's really important to me to say things in a way that's natural, in a way that I know and communicate precisely in a way that I'm comfortable with.
01:22:55.480If I was a, you know, if I was extremely fluent in Old Norse and very conversational in it, then that may be a great thing.
01:23:03.500The other thing that I mentioned, Agothi being a bridge between the gods and our folk.
01:23:09.420If the folk present don't speak Old Norse, you know, our gods are smart enough.
01:23:14.220I believe they understand any of our languages.
01:23:21.880While I would appreciate the beauty of somebody performing a bloat in a foreign tongue to me or one that's not foreign, but ancient, I don't speak.
01:23:29.220what means more is that they're speaking words that resonate with me that they're speaking words
01:23:36.720that i can agree with or can feel moved by while they're communicating with the gods and that when
01:23:44.220they're communicating with us to build that bridge that it's a way that i can connect with
01:23:49.360and i can be a part of and feel connected to um so you know i hope that answers your question no
01:23:57.880I have not done a bloat and old moose.
01:24:08.680Y'all Knudsen, I do not have a relationship with
01:24:13.340or any contact with Hellenists or other Indo-European groups.
01:25:14.360and I know that I've seen in a lot of those groups,
01:25:17.440especially the Celtic, a huge emphasis on,0.84
01:25:21.300matriarchy and feminism and girl power all the time. And I think that's certainly a distortion
01:25:31.900of our values and of what I think is really beautiful about women.
01:25:39.560I've noticed in a lot of the Hellenic groups, almost exclusively in the Hellenic groups and0.94
01:25:45.480in the Roman groups, a huge push towards the orgy and towards homosexuality. I know in certain0.93
01:25:54.400historical practices that some of that existed in Roman and Hellenic groups way back in antiquity.0.73
01:26:03.920But the second they start doing Hellenism, all of a sudden it starts getting really gay. And
01:26:10.120I find that to be contrary to our values and extremely unbalanced and disrespectful to the gods as they were expressed to the Greeks and the Romans of the day.
01:26:40.120I appreciate Bodie on the side flexing his knowledge about the eagle at the top of the
01:26:52.500world tree that I briefly mentioned. Thank you, Bodie.
01:26:55.540Joe asks what my thoughts are on combating divisive mindsets, people who say Celtic bloodline shouldn't be admitted as an example.
01:27:17.860If Celtic blood should preclude you from being part of the Astro Folk Assembly, I think Steve McNallan would probably probably dislike that.
01:27:28.580I think that our church certainly is founded by a man that's very significantly Celtic.0.88
01:27:35.840I think that's silly. I mentioned it earlier.0.72
01:27:38.780There's a tendency within our folks and especially within a lot of our people today to do the purity spiral.
01:27:46.920and everything has to be the most pure possible expression and when we do that well no we can't
01:27:53.560be pan indo-european we have to be just you know just northern europe okay we can't be just northern
01:28:00.760european we have to be just germanic can't be just germanic we have to be just prussian can't
01:28:06.040be just prussian you have to be in danzig can't be just in danzig you have to be on the the east side
01:28:12.360of you know kaiserstrasse in danzig or else you don't count we have to be on you know in building0.99
01:28:19.400a not building b you can carry that to the most stupid extreme and i don't think everyone does it0.87
01:28:25.800out of silliness but we have this chaotic tendency to eat our own and to find silly stuff to squabble0.98
01:28:36.200over. Just take a look at the world around us. And, you know, what we do, the AFA is doing amazing.
01:28:45.420We're doing the best we've ever done. But our membership is the tiniest fraction of our folk
01:28:52.920out there in the world. Yet we squabble and we need to parse it down more and more into irrelevancy.
01:28:58.820Every time a group of people of our fold get together and start being successful and start winning, you get people, you get egos individually that always feel the need to try to tear it down.
01:29:15.060We get crab in the bucket syndrome, and everybody wants to break it up and balkanize it into the most tiny, insignificant group imaginable.
01:30:07.600So those divisive people, they're welcome to go on their way and build up whatever little group of people they want to do the best way they want to do it.
01:30:16.220But cut them out like cancer because we don't want to lose all the progress we've made so that we're five fat dudes in the backyard arguing over the big piece of chicken.
01:30:25.700all right guys well i think it's about a half an hour longer than the longest previous one
01:30:45.920of these we've done i appreciate you guys being here with me tonight appreciate all of the
01:30:50.560interaction, all of the great questions. I appreciate our champion Bodie going into the
01:30:56.600list over there on the side. We appreciate that. No, this has been great tonight. I've
01:31:02.920had a really good time talking with you. Is there any last questions or final stuff that
01:31:07.520I didn't get to that you guys wanted me to address tonight? Anything?
01:31:20.560Rob, it's a thing. I don't even think I exaggerated very much.
01:31:31.300It's a thing. And I think that you would know from the theodsman that I'm a little bit closer
01:31:38.140to home than other people may realize on that. All right, guys. Well, I really appreciate it
01:31:47.060tonight. Like I said, I look forward to these every month. You guys have been great. Thank you
01:31:51.220so much for all the participation. I hope you guys, you know, I'm going to talk to you throughout
01:31:58.100the year, obviously, but I hope you guys have a really great start to 2021. I'm very, very proud
01:32:03.740to be part of the Auschwitz Folk Assembly. I'm proud to be here with you at the cusp of this new
01:32:07.720year. And I'm very excited about all these things we have ahead of us. We've got some really amazing
01:32:13.100things going on this year so uh stay tuned i look forward to talking to you guys if not sooner uh
01:32:19.980next month for our next live chat here thank you all so much um we appreciate you have a good night
01:32:27.180Hail the gods, hail the foe, hail the AFA.