00:09:44.400Oh, Chancey. Hey, good to talk to you. I'm glad you're on. I'm glad you like the pictures and the, you know, getting to see what happened on the trip. That's all thanks to Deedee. Not all, but on our end, that's thanks to Deedee. And then we had quite a few of our Swedes taking really great pictures. But Deedee takes fantastic pictures and I'm really glad she did because I always forget to.
00:10:14.400Bakersfield. You're going to want to talk to Heather Klinkenbeard. It's going to be at hklinkenbeard at runestone.org. Heather would love to help you get situated and find members down there. We have, you know, quite a few members in that part of California. And yeah, talk to Heather and she'd love to help make that happen.
00:10:35.500And like I say, any of these addresses I'm throwing out to you quickly, I'm going to try to go back through the comments after this and tag the relevant fold builders in them and help you guys get set up.
00:10:45.600I appreciate you guys reaching out, and I'll do more than just throwing an email address at you and get you set up.
00:11:02.760All right, well, a whole bunch of people have joined us.
00:11:04.800I appreciate you guys all for coming out.
00:11:34.800It was such a nice event. The family feeling was absolutely there, and it was something really special to have an AFA event to where we had folks from six different countries speaking five different languages at the event, so it really felt like an AFA Europe event.
00:11:50.220we met some truly amazing people and we made some really really good connections it was
00:11:56.940really amazing to me and I think to everybody who went over with me just how close we felt
00:12:03.660to those members even though we're separated by so much distance we were we were immediately like
00:12:09.540close friends and in the course of three or four days we felt like family so uh thank you guys for
00:12:14.820that and I think it's a powerful statement about the AFA and and just what we're building here
00:18:55.480Okay, a little bit more to the whether the deities are real personalities or whether they're personified archetypes.
00:19:08.480Unequivocally, there's absolutely personality when we're reaching out in bloat, we're speaking to a consciousness and that consciousness is interacting with us.
00:19:19.480So I certainly believe that in a very real sense that the divine is real.
00:19:25.480archetypically I think certainly they set divine examples for us to hearken
00:19:31.300towards or bring ourselves in alignment with I think they serve an archetypical
00:19:36.860function but they're more the creators of the archetype than a personification
00:19:43.240of our creation in that sense a question about reincarnation in our lore
00:19:55.480the afterlife is described a number of different ways but i think that there's three basic concepts
00:20:08.500of of what happens and i think that one of the things to consider is is our soul complex is a
00:20:15.960multifaceted thing i think there are elements of ourselves that certainly get passed on within the
00:20:21.700family line we can see that with the practice of naming children after
00:20:27.260ancestors of those ancestors or pieces of those ancestors souls being reborn or
00:20:33.280being imbued in in the shaping of that new child soul I think for most of us
00:20:40.780for most people there's a portion of yourself that lives on in in the mound
00:20:48.220or with your ancestors when we talk about people going to the halls of their
00:20:51.660ancestors i think that for the average person that is that's the the afterlife is going with
00:20:58.460those ancestors watching on after your descendants and interacting in that way i think there's
00:21:04.620probably a reincarnating element into that um i think there's also folks that have messed up so
00:21:14.540badly and are so misusing their space that uh that they get less options that perhaps their
00:21:22.460afterlife has uh has less opportunities and less things but one of the things that also is important
00:21:28.280is the afterlife for the heroes the path of ascension and getting to go and and and feast
00:21:34.080with the gods and pursue struggle with uh the divine when we see the stories of of the eye
00:21:41.660there you are i think that for the heroes there is the possibility of of escaping that sort of
00:21:47.420reincarnating loop and that uh continuing on in an earthly existence and i think that there's heroes
00:21:55.460that go on and have have a higher form and move on to something a little bit different a little
00:22:00.380bit better and i think that's evident in a lot of different aspects of our lore and a lot of
00:22:06.320different closely related lore. Well, thank you, Zach. I'm glad that Brian and myself have fans.
00:22:19.440Brian certainly deserves it. He does a great job. He's always looking for new ways to
00:22:26.600find aspects of our lore and our belief that can help people live productive lives and find
00:22:33.300success in life. I think that's extremely important that he finds ways to put our faith to practical
00:22:38.760use. So yeah, I'm really glad that Brian does have fans.
00:23:03.300A couple of questions related now that we're talking about afterlife and reincarnation. As far as my views on entering Valhalla, I think we do ourselves a disservice when we try to get overly literal with all the passages of the lore and when we try to take one very small story and claim that we know all the depth and breadth of everything because of
00:23:33.300the way Snorri chose to word something I think that at the time a lot of the
00:23:40.140stories originated one of the best paths of the hero one of the best most
00:23:46.560relevant paths of ascension is reaching a place in in battle to where one was
00:23:55.100selfless one was not concerned with outcome one was detached from those
00:24:00.420lesser things and became something higher and a higher version of themselves when they went out
00:24:05.700into into combat and died heroically and i think that's fantastic um and i think that gives birth
00:24:12.420to the description of valhalla i think that when we when we look at people going towards the halls
00:24:18.260of the gods and towards ascension i think there's probably many paths to ascension i don't think
00:24:23.220it's about just living a good honorable life though i think it's about pursuing more than we
00:24:29.140are i think in order to ascend to something better we need to aspire towards greatness
00:24:36.100and you know in this life we're not going to come to perfection but i think that in order to
00:24:42.100get the rewards of a hero we need to live heroically we need to challenge what our
00:24:48.340limitations are and find ways to push our consciousness our souls our our wills past
00:24:55.220that and become something more than we are and i think that's um i think that's one of the keys
00:25:02.660to understanding ascension to the halls of the gods uh matt waldrum to your question on whether
00:25:10.900people reincarnate in whole or in part i don't think our lore really gives us a very clear view
00:25:18.180of that um i think in part certainly in whole perhaps um i tend to think more that there are
00:25:32.900pieces that there are elements of a person that do reincarnate within that family line and i think
00:25:37.860that there are elements that probably don't i think that there are elements that maybe go back
00:26:12.500with different portions of the soil complex but again i don't want to get too far in the weeds on
00:26:17.620that we apparently we have a lot of folks tonight missing my beard um don't worry it's it it may
00:26:28.740very well make a return this fall but summertime it's hot in nevada and i'm gonna keep it clean
00:26:34.740for the next couple of months here, but we'll see a little bit later.
00:26:58.440Well, Steve, you ask about people reincarnating in a family line,
00:27:02.020And, you know, what if someone's childless and what happens with them and reincarnating in the family line?
00:27:10.660And again, I can't tell you with any great degree of certainty on that, but you said no one ever talks about it.
00:27:18.020I think that they don't like to talk about it because it makes people uncomfortable.
00:27:21.920And I say that as someone who has no children.
00:27:27.140Reincarnating in the family line is very important.
00:27:29.220is there some way that maybe you reincarnate into nephews or nieces or things in that regard perhaps
00:27:35.940again i'm not sure um i think that you stand a much better chance of having elements of yourself
00:27:45.120reincarnate into your descendants i think that probably makes the most sense and probably not
00:27:51.720necessarily answer that people like the most but i do think that makes the most sense but i don't
00:27:56.760think that we have reason to believe that you know there aren't exceptions to that and again
00:28:03.480I wish I had the perfect answer that question but I think to get close to it your best your
00:28:08.520best and most direct path reincarnate portions of yourself reincarnating would certainly be within
00:28:13.320your family? Matt Waldron asking again about heroes being reborn in whole I
00:28:33.060think perhaps I think we get a little bit further afield I think that we see
00:28:37.540it in other Aryan traditions things like that but what I was speaking was less
00:28:43.000reincarnation and reincarnation in that sense and more leveling up if you will towards something you
00:28:50.200know closer towards divinity something closer towards the spiritual realms then you know you
00:28:57.000just reincarnating is as you know a bigger better version of yourself here in midgard i think that
00:29:04.120keeps you back in the same loop and the idea is to expand beyond that but again that's that's
00:29:10.600getting a little bit far in the weeds. Thanks Lou, I'm glad you liked the
00:29:16.780conversation. I'm glad people are asking some good questions tonight, some deep
00:29:20.560questions. How do I recommend someone to live a life worthy of the heroes? I think
00:29:31.220that's different depending on your circumstances. One of the things I think
00:29:34.120is really important, heroically, is how you face the struggles you find yourself
00:29:40.240in um i think to our ancestors it was much easier to display that in a martial context because those
00:29:48.880were the struggle of their time i think now some of those struggles are in a lot of different ways
00:29:55.440but whatever the afterlife implications are it is heroic to try to make yourself more than you are
00:30:06.080to go past your limitations and your boundaries and to be willing to be a
00:30:12.020force of will outside of attachment and outside of outcome going out and living
00:30:21.580in a pure way as a force of will unencumbered by all of the fears and
00:30:29.320worries of life, I think that puts you on the right path towards doing things that are truly heroic.
00:30:48.920And yes, Lou, that's one of the big things about the AFA in general. Yes, all ethnic European folk1.00
00:30:56.220are part of an extended family and that's kind of the basis of metagenetics and the basis of
00:31:01.180of why we're here in the Austrian folk assembly um i think we're all in agreement on that
00:31:26.220Zach, I think some of the things you're talking about can be looked at certainly metaphorically. I think that the idea of, you know, going into a cave and accessing the realm of the dead is kind of, kind of fanciful.
00:31:45.540i think the idea of i think some of those things are allegorical to to doing certain things i think
00:31:52.100traveling across the river traveling across the waters in general traditionally is an allegory
00:31:58.980for overcoming chaos for overcoming um the tumultuousness of emotion and attachment
00:32:06.100and being something regal and something more pure of will i think that that's very common when you
00:32:11.140talk about passing over waters and i think that speaks to uh to some of the reference i was talking
00:32:17.060about earlier about the heroic existence and heroic path oh no worries matt i think that's
00:32:30.020good and it furthers the conversation and if you ever want to talk about it more i'm happy
00:32:33.780to talk about it with you it's certainly a fascinating thing to discuss
00:32:41.140Rob asking about if we're going to sell the mid-summer t-shirts.
00:41:31.100Somebody wanted me to talk about that.
00:41:33.820If you are interested, it is a program that Cole and Tiffany Distel started for children within the AFA to be able to learn together and have some activities to do together within our community.
00:41:50.740And people have really, they really seem to like that.
00:42:02.800there's always some reason not to do it and Cole and his wife just stepped up and decided to do it
00:42:07.280one day and so from what I hear it's a fantastic situation if you guys do have AFA kids that you
00:42:14.640want to get involved in it reach out to Cole and Tiffany Distel you can find them on Facebook if
00:42:20.480you reach out to the rest of us we can get you guys in touch if for some reason you're having
00:42:24.080trouble connecting but yeah we're very proud of them and what they've put forth on it they really
00:42:29.280stepped up to a need that we've had. And so far, I've heard nothing but great things about it. So
00:42:34.900I'm really proud of them for doing that. Good, I'm glad, Zach. All right, well, while I have you,
00:42:44.900I had another question that was asked outside of this, but they wanted me to speak about on it.
00:42:50.560And that question was about the Hofftoller. I don't know if you guys are familiar with it,
00:42:55.000if your folk builders have talked about it um i mentioned it uh once this so starting this year
00:43:02.520we've we have another way or a different way for folks to contribute to the astro folk assembly
00:43:08.040that's instead of membership dues um for since our inception we've uh collected membership dues
00:43:18.040like some sort of a club and what we're trying very hard to transition towards is to function
00:43:24.280more like more like a church more like a religious community and so the hoff toller is a is a planned
00:43:30.760giving program that's people stepping up and deciding to give a percentage of their income
00:43:36.760as opposed to a monthly membership dues and it it helps out it allows us to do a lot of things and
00:43:43.880we're so thankful for the folks that have stepped up to do it so far um the hoff toller is a minimum
00:43:50.440of one percent of your income and it goes towards the afa being able to function and do things and
00:43:59.000keep up our mission it's the thing that allows us or that will allow us in the future to be
00:44:05.080successful with our establishments of hoffs throughout the country and around the world
00:44:09.480we're very committed to that we've got big things that we want to do but it does take resources
00:44:15.640and we're very appreciative of anybody that wants to to step up and commit to the afa success on
00:44:21.160that level um it's a really special thing and we're very appreciative of those folks that have
00:44:26.120stepped up and thank you guys very much you know who you are if anybody is interested in uh in
00:44:40.840paying by the hoftoller um we'd be very happy to help your folk builder would be very happy to get
00:44:46.760you all set up it takes the place of the membership dues it also gets you out of a situation where
00:44:52.360you're not having to go uh deal with paypal you're not having to deal with um deal with that hassle
00:45:00.360it goes to it would go directly to the afa and not through a third party that way which is helpful
00:45:06.040and it also makes it very easy if this is something that you itemize with your taxes
00:45:09.960And I want folks to know, all you guys that have been so generous to us, when you donate to the AFA, if you donate to any of our fundraisers or anything like that, we are absolutely a 501c3 recognized charity.
00:45:35.460Zach points out that he is, Zach is actually the first AFA member that signed up for the Hofdoller and his contributions are extremely appreciated. He really was instrumental in blazing that trail and setting that standard and I appreciate it, Zach. Thank you so much. You help us be able to have nice things and do nice things.
00:46:05.460Sorry, guys, I'm just checking in again to make sure I'm not missing stuff.
00:46:11.700I'm glad to see so much talk about Botan's Wolves, and the folks there in Ohio are stepping
00:46:18.000That is home base for that program, and I'm glad we got some people on this conversation
00:46:23.140that have some good information to tell you.
00:46:26.540Like I say, I would love nothing more to see that be successful and all our AFA children
00:46:31.420be able to be involved in that and make those connections.
00:46:34.780Making those connections is the kind of thing that's going to pay off in the years to come
00:46:38.640as they grow up within the AFA, as they grow up within our church and our community.
00:46:43.700Them being friends and making that contact when they're young is going to be crucial to that second generation,
00:46:48.900and it's really beautiful to see that happening.
00:46:58.840All right, guys, I do have a call right after this tonight.
00:47:01.660so we got about I got about 15 minutes left with you guys I'm enjoying talking to you is there
00:47:07.420anything else you guys want to want to ask about want me to speak on anything you're curious about
00:47:12.940or just anything you guys want me to address or to hear me ramble on about
00:47:31.660Looking at the feed. I'm hoping I'm answering folks' questions. Like I say, if you're asking
00:47:44.060something, I'm not ducking you. I promise I will go back in after this and answer stuff
00:47:49.240if I'm missing them. I look forward to this all the time. I'm happy to be able to talk
00:47:54.440to you guys. Oh, while I have you, if you guys haven't seen it on the Facebook page,
00:48:02.240you haven't noticed, we have four new folk builders in the course of the last week.
00:48:09.760Jessica Lambert has stepped up out of Ohio to be an apprentice folk builder in our Midwest region.
00:48:16.200We are extremely excited. I got to meet Jessica at Ostara. I think she is a great lady. I think
00:48:22.960she's going to bring a lot to that region and our folk there, and I'm excited to see what she's
00:48:27.680going to do. Zach, who's been a big part of this conversation, Zach Cato, who is the leader of
00:48:33.680Heimdall's Midgard Kindred in Indiana, has also decided to come back to us as an apprentice folk
00:48:40.540builder, which is fantastic. Zach's been super active trying to get folks together in his area,
00:48:46.260and I think now that he's an official apprentice folk builder with us, that's only going to go
00:48:52.040further and faster. And I think between him and Josh and Jessica, they're going to do really
00:48:57.200great things in the Midwest. And we thank you guys so much for stepping up and helping us out
00:49:01.900in that way. I also want to take the time to acknowledge Christo LaRue. Christo LaRue is a
00:49:08.660member in South Africa. He is one of the leaders of Volk Vakstam Kindred. And he is hitting the
00:49:16.160ground running as far as helping to lead our charitable endeavors there and distribute a
00:49:21.720resources and our relief efforts. He's excited about being our interface with that region and
00:49:28.140building the AFA in South Africa, and it's really something special to have a real live AFA folk
00:49:33.800builder in South Africa helping those people out. I'm very excited about that, and I know Christo
00:49:40.980will do a really good job for us. And then, as I mentioned earlier, if anybody wasn't here at the
00:49:45.760beginning of this call tonight, Rob Stamm has stepped up as our very newest folk builder in
00:49:51.640the Upper South. Rob's in Central Virginia, and he's excited to hit the ground running and be
00:50:00.540part of our Upper South folk building team. Please reach out to Rob if you need anything.
00:50:05.180Rob is fantastic. I got to meet Rob at Ostara as well, and blown away with the guy. I think
00:50:13.500I think the world erupts him, and he's going to do amazing things.
00:50:17.940We're going to do amazing things together.
00:50:29.240Lou, you ask why I prefer the term Aryan over Indo-European.
00:50:33.760Indo-European describes a place and a continent and a spot on a map.
00:50:40.460Aryan is a self-identifier that means noble and it means shining with nobility and I think0.99
00:50:49.340the one is cold and sterile the other is rich with power and and relevance and it's not just0.96
00:51:00.860a pat on the back or a self-congratulatory term to describe our folk it's a challenge for us to
00:51:07.300step up to a standard and us to be more, it's a mandate that we be noble and that we choose to
00:51:13.960shine with nobility. It's setting that bar high for ourselves and not just describing us as people
00:51:20.540that happen to be from Europe or around the Indus Valley. It describes us as the noble people,
00:51:28.520the people that shine with nobility. And I want us to aspire to that. And I don't want us to be
00:51:33.960afraid from being proud of ourselves so that's why I prefer that term oh it's key
00:51:44.100to building in your area key to building in your area is consistency consistency
00:51:51.640and just going into it with the right heart one of the things that I find very
00:51:56.400difficult with people is they get all fired up and they're so excited and they
00:52:00.480want to build something for the AFA they want to build something for their gods
00:52:03.060and their folk and they go out and they take their best swing and it doesn't work and then they're
00:52:08.340defeated and they disappear um i know for uh the work i was doing folk building in alaska it took
00:52:14.340a really long time we've got a great kindred and a great group of people up in alaska now
00:52:19.860but that was a lot of years of trying and it was a lot of times of hosting something and no one
00:52:24.900showing up or maybe you host something and you know only the weirdo shows up that you didn't
00:52:30.020want to show up but you keep a smile on your face and you do it again the next month and the next
00:52:34.900month and the next month and you pick up momentum and eventually it it starts to snowball and it
00:52:40.740grows and you can nurture something but without that consistency it's very hard to make something
00:52:45.700happen so what i say if you want to build something in your area invite people out to to a restaurant
00:52:52.020you and your wife you and your girlfriend like to go to say hey this is an afa event come on out
00:52:58.740worst case scenario you have a nice evening with your wife or girlfriend uh best case scenario you
00:53:04.180get afa members coming out you make friends and you you plant the seed of something that grows
00:53:09.220i think that's a win-win situation and that's what i would really advise to build folks in your area
00:53:19.860i did not see the question about interacting with zealous christian family members
00:53:24.740I appreciate you keeping an eye on that for me.
00:53:27.960If you can, just shoot me what the question was, and I'll get to it.
00:53:31.240If not, I'll try to answer it generally here in just a second.
00:53:39.160What I heard about the rune ban in Sweden, it actually happened while I was over there.
00:53:45.760The discussion of the potential of a rune ban happened while I was over there.
00:53:49.180And ironically, we're getting texts blowing up my phone about this rune ban as I'm in a museum over there looking at a wall full of runic pendants and, you know, runes as far as the eye can see.
00:54:05.000The Swedes at the time thought that it wasn't going to be a big deal.
00:54:09.060That's not something that they were going to do or they were going to enforce.
00:54:12.020It turns out that that's the way it shook out.
00:54:14.020A lot of people may not know, but it was explained to us in Sweden that the way their rules are, they're very contextual and situational.
00:54:23.020Symbols and slogans and things are fine if people who are politically correct and acceptable say them or wear them or display them.
00:54:36.020But if they think you've committed thought crimes or that you don't have the right group think
00:54:41.480Then the exact same symbols and expressions and and things all of a sudden become criminal and some form of hate speech
00:54:49.580So they continue to have that very nebulous situation
00:54:53.460But no, they didn't move forward with that runic band, which would have been0.99
00:54:58.780Disgraceful culturally, but it just would have been a poor decision for them economically the runes and their their Viking heritage
00:55:04.840is such a huge part of their tourist industry it would have been a really silly thing for them to
00:55:09.080have tried to do solitary house true um yeah try not to do that it's a lot better than nothing but
00:55:21.880and a lot of us started out that way i i certainly started out that way but if you can and as soon as
00:55:27.720you can when you find a group of people that are doing it right um astro is about community it's
00:55:33.560It's about the bonds you build while sharing with each other, just in a community building way, but in a metaphysical way as well.
00:55:42.760All of our rituals are designed to synergize with the people around us, and we build a strength and a presence before the divine by interacting as a community and as a group.
00:55:53.340And as soon as you can find a group of folks, and like I say, reach out to us and we'd like to help you find a group, I think that that's certainly the way to go.
00:56:03.560sorry guys we got several people right now trying really hard to access any
00:56:22.880questions that we're missing if we're missing you I'm really sorry but I
00:56:26.540promise you we are Mandy and myself are trying really hard to make sure we get
00:56:30.480them hey Karen thanks for joining us um so going back I didn't see any in a
00:56:45.020specific deal with the what the question was about zealous Christian family
00:56:49.680members that's difficult there's not an easy answer I don't have a magic formula
00:56:55.200that will make that okay and disappear but something I do think is really
00:56:59.980important to consider they're your family they will be your family as long
00:57:06.520as they live you know depending upon who they are in your family they will be
00:57:11.200your ancestors long after they live they will be your descendants they will be
00:57:17.280they will be intricately tied to you into your weird forever try to make
00:57:25.380peace with your family but I wouldn't do that at the sake of compromising your
00:57:28.960beliefs are compromising who you are. The best thing that I've found and that I've seen with
00:57:34.140other people as well is to live nobly and live in a dignified way. If they accept you for how you
00:57:41.160behave and the things that you do, they will be better able to associate that with your belief
00:57:47.240set and the things that you value and believe in. If you live in a way that's consistent with our
00:57:53.700values, there should be a very clear connection between our values and who you are and who your
00:58:00.500family sees you being. And I think over time, that's the best way. But I'd say you do the best
00:58:07.640to try to maintain your cool and maintain your presence within your family without blowing up
00:58:14.160without allowing them to bait you into a situation where there's a family fight or a big family row
00:58:20.400about it the more you can do to exercise sovereignty over your own emotions and your own
00:58:26.080will when dealing with your family and to treat them as your family regardless of of what they
00:58:31.280may do i think will show your steady and even keel values being something to if not outwardly
00:58:40.240embrace to at least have a respect for and i think that's what you can build on and i know
00:58:44.720it's a really general way i'm not sure what the specific question was but that's my advice in
00:58:48.560general on it all right guys so I mentioned I do have another call here in
00:59:00.600a few minutes about AFA business so if there's anything else we have any last
00:59:07.240minute questions anybody would like to ask anything else you guys like to hear
00:59:13.640me give some final words on um until you do and while we give the chance for the last couple
00:59:20.400questions to maybe roll in i just want to say again if you can if it's at all possible get in
00:59:26.220the car stick your thumb out whatever you can do get out to odenshaw for midsummer uh june 21st
00:59:32.980through the 23rd it's going to be something very special i'm looking forward to seeing you there