Asatru Folk Assembly - November 2021 Live Discussion

00:00:00.000 Hello. Hope everybody's doing great tonight. I hope you all had a fantastic October. I know

00:00:17.340 that I did, and I know that the AFA sure did. Stuff to talk about since the last time I

00:00:29.260 joined you on one of these live discussions. I have, I've been doing a lot of traveling and got

00:00:35.960 a lot of stuff done in the month of October. I was lucky enough that I celebrated three winter

00:00:44.120 nights in three weeks with three de-seer bloats, all of which were very powerful. I want to thank

00:00:53.160 the the githias of the astro folk assembly for performing those i believe all of our githias

00:01:02.040 performed um performed one of those one of those uh dc or bloats for the winter

00:01:08.920 nights gatherings and really brought the power of our female ancestors to us very very thankful for

00:01:16.680 that. At Odentoff, Githya McNallan did an amazing de-sear bloat that was beautiful and powerful.

00:01:27.800 At Winter Nights in the Poconos, Githya Katie Erickson did a fantastic, fantastic,

00:01:36.840 probably her best yet, I think, de-sear bloat. There's a lot of theatrical elements to it.

00:01:45.400 it was really beautiful and then uh at Baldershof um Githya now plurred and uh

00:01:55.560 and Witten Callahan did a just a fantastic de-sear bloat um

00:02:05.240 it really really moved me that one um so it's a really powerful time of year

00:02:12.260 Some of you may not know what we're talking about.

00:02:13.980 In October and on into the fall, we start off by celebrating winter nights.

00:02:19.340 And we believe that, you know, in the fall and through to the springtime and that part of the year, the veil between the worlds, the veil between the living and the dead is much thinner.

00:02:32.160 This time of year where it's easier for us to make contact with our ancestors and for our ancestors to make contact with us. 0.97

00:02:41.480 and that's really powerfully demonstrated by the desir bloat and the desir are female ancestors 0.99

00:02:48.420 and doing bloat to them and inviting them to be with us some of the most powerful times 0.56

00:02:56.760 I've ever had in house of true so we got that going on um

00:03:02.320 winter nights this year winter nights 10 this is the 10th year that we've celebrated winter nights

00:03:13.320 at camp natimus in the poconos in pennsylvania um

00:03:18.480 it's a neat time of of reflection for me i'm i'm lucky enough i've been at every single one

00:03:26.480 those winter nights events we've had there and i'm able to look back and see you know how we started

00:03:33.200 where we came from with that how it's grown how it's developed and where we're at now

00:03:39.920 this year was the second biggest numerically but it was by far the biggest quality wise

00:03:48.320 so we had some big years early on but in those times individual groups would kind of break off

00:03:54.880 by themselves they were little little groups of friends or local kindreds um everyone who was

00:04:00.800 there you know we still have some guests but i'd say it was you know probably 50 guests and not afa

00:04:06.320 members uh back in the day now it's almost all afa members or specifically invited guests um

00:04:13.840 those first events people break off by themselves hang out in their cabin go do various other things

00:04:18.880 so they're very seldom all in one place at one time this year everyone was at everything all

00:04:26.240 of the time so we felt everybody there with us at all of our rituals at uh at any of the things

00:04:33.360 that we were doing and it was really special to get to share that with so many so many members

00:04:37.440 of my afa family it was a great great winter nights um the ericsson's take a lead in putting

00:04:44.960 that on each year and they did a fantastic job this year seemed to go very smoothly and uh yeah

00:04:51.840 it was a really powerful experience um i look forward to it every year i love it and looking

00:04:58.320 back on it just to see where we come from uh like those first few it was you know we had one big long

00:05:05.120 section of tables all filled up for for sumble on that at that first one and we all thought that was

00:05:10.880 the biggest sumble in the world like that was this marathon sumble that would never end and

00:05:16.400 so many people probably had three times that for sumble at uh at this last one and that just

00:05:22.480 seemed perfectly natural um those first couple of winter nights we had there it was a whole lot

00:05:28.240 of single guys um we've seen i'd say especially the last two or three years but it's been a trend 0.68

00:05:35.840 that's been going for the last five or six so many families kids everywhere pregnant ladies

00:05:45.280 little kids medium-sized kids all playing together so many women everyone you know it was really

00:05:53.600 a family-friendly community people from all age groups uh within our folk were there and it was

00:06:02.240 really nice to see that really nice to have that family feeling there that we've had the past few

00:06:06.720 years to watch where we started and where we've come from in those 10 years of winter nights has

00:06:11.760 been really special those of you may not know 10 years ago when we had winter nights in the

00:06:15.760 poconos that was a big deal for us um that was the first big afa event outside of outside of

00:06:22.400 california up until that point that's true folk assembly was largely a west coast phenomenon and

00:06:28.640 And we had, you know, members spread out, but the majority of our members were in the western part of the United States.

00:06:36.000 Now, 10 years later, that map looks completely different.

00:06:40.200 A full half of the AFA's membership is east of the Mississippi.

00:06:46.080 We've got international membership now we didn't have then.

00:06:49.860 We really have grown.

00:06:51.600 And that first winter nights was kind of that first step out there, making this something so much bigger than just the western part of the United States.

00:07:00.620 So it's been neat to look back and reflect on that a little bit this year.

00:07:04.340 And last but not least, I'd like to congratulate Gauthier and Githya Plurred.

00:07:11.560 Jason and Anna, I was able to have the honor of officiating their wedding last weekend.

00:07:17.600 Truly a power couple within the AusTrue Folk Assembly.

00:07:21.600 Two people that I deeply respect and love and get to watch them develop over the past years.

00:07:30.160 Getting to be part of that, getting to be there to experience their wedding with them and to join them together was really a special thing.

00:07:37.080 It was a beautiful service. They're an amazing couple, and I'm so very, very happy for them.

00:07:43.220 What do we got for questions tonight?

00:07:51.600 as joel points out in missouri this next week we've got feast of the iron er it's kind of a

00:08:01.320 regional uh afa event but we got people coming from all over the country it's going to be a

00:08:05.620 pretty big one it's going to be really nice i'm looking forward to it so if you guys can make it

00:08:10.240 out this next weekend here in missouri it's going to be or there in missouri rather it's going to be

00:08:15.520 really nice event and i'm looking forward to that um welcome rachel we're glad you're here

00:08:23.040 we're glad you joined us tonight these are a lot of fun at least i think they're a lot of fun so

00:08:27.440 Yeah, we're glad you can make it this evening.

00:08:53.960 Okay, we've got a question.

00:08:57.440 Any thoughts about using the arm and in runes for spiritual applications.

00:09:06.440 Yeah, I think that's great.

00:09:10.440 I left.

00:09:14.440 When I first got involved with also true the arm and in runes seemed kind of I don't know inaccessible or I suffered from a

00:09:26.440 A myth that I think a lot of us have in our brain to where if something's ancient, we tend to think that it's more special or more valid than something more modern.

00:09:40.200 I think people hearing the story about how Meister von List was gifted the runes during his period of blindness due to his cataract surgery.

00:09:50.640 People hear that and it sounds ridiculous and how he's just some blind guy came up with some crazy stuff.

00:09:57.320 And then they imagine in their head that there was some time back, you know, where some ancient Viking like Odin rode down from from Asgard on Sleipnir and and handed some ancient Viking a bag of carved sticks and says, here's the runes.

00:10:15.020 And, you know, if you ask somebody, well, when did that happen? You know, could you draw me a picture of that? Could you imagine yourself being there for that? Well, no, that sounds kind of silly.

00:10:24.180 um we can only assume that our runes that we have in the elder futhark and the younger

00:10:29.700 in the anglo-saxon futhark and other systems we can only assume that those were the development of

00:10:38.020 personal revelations to ancient gothar and ancient uh elders and seers just in the very same way

00:10:46.500 that the Arminen system was gifted to Von List.

00:10:51.480 And I think they're very powerful.

00:10:53.320 Certainly, we saw a lot of awakening of our folk

00:10:57.900 in those early years

00:10:59.340 when that runic system was being developed.

00:11:02.240 I think they're extremely powerful runes.

00:11:04.240 I think they're extremely powerful

00:11:05.460 for operative magic purposes.

00:11:09.480 I think the Arminen system is much harder to galder.

00:11:12.340 I think they lend themselves less to intonation than the Elder Futhark.

00:11:19.860 But no, I think the arm and arm system is very powerful, and I certainly make use of it.

00:11:26.380 I think there's a time and a place for all of our runic systems.

00:11:42.340 um got a question from our our south american all right let's guess that's presumptuous we

00:11:55.180 got our southern hemisphere family now um for those of you who don't know the afa has members

00:12:01.000 we have one member in south america right now we have a few members in south africa and we

00:12:07.120 quite a few members in australia and new zealand um so uh reuben asks if those folks are going to

00:12:17.040 be in the new nordshoff district once that district is established uh south america and

00:12:26.000 our folks in south africa yes absolutely um but our folks in australia and new zealand they're in

00:12:32.240 our odenshoff district um and that'll be the case until we're we're able to get a hoff closer to

00:12:40.160 them and then we'll change districts accordingly but yeah our folks in australia and new zealand

00:12:44.160 will remain in the odenshoff district and folks in the continent of africa and south america will be

00:12:51.520 will be part of the new new york's hoff district as soon as we get that hoff all settled

00:12:55.680 i got a request for me to talk a little bit about queen sigrid

00:13:04.800 we're going to be celebrating a day of remembrance i would encourage you guys

00:13:09.620 all to look her up sometimes known as sigrid the hottie

00:13:14.960 she is a really interesting example of a woman in her time who was able to 1.00

00:13:23.840 bestow and manipulate power structures with kings and powerful men relationships with her

00:13:35.080 marriage with her was a politically extremely important asset in that day and age 0.78

00:13:40.740 and what's one thing that I think is very important about her and I'd like for our ladies to

00:13:49.460 take example from or inspiration from is that she she held herself in high value

00:14:00.780 she held her lineage who she was what how she was a part of where she came from in high value

00:14:07.320 and she held her station in high value she didn't sell herself cheaply she didn't

00:14:14.960 she didn't allow herself to be treated poorly she didn't allow herself to be

00:14:23.420 treated without respect she held her head high like a like a noble Aryan queen that she was

00:14:30.680 and she keenly felt the value she had in herself and clearly the other men who were her suitors

00:14:39.920 saw that she had tremendous value they didn't show that value the same respect oftentimes

00:14:45.700 But she was a woman very aware of the power that she had and the value that she had and not willing to compromise on her worth.

00:14:54.680 When any of us, male or female, but especially our ladies, find themselves in relationships.

00:15:03.760 What's at stake isn't just their dignity, but it's the dignity and the honor of their clan, of their of their people, of all their ancestors that came before them.

00:15:14.700 And carrying that with them and holding themselves in that place of value is so very important.

00:15:21.800 And certainly I want our men to treat our women as if they have that value.

00:15:26.840 And I want our women to embody that nobility, to live up to that standard and to act with the nobility and regality that comes from their long line of ancestors that got them here.

00:15:43.500 So I think that's a powerful example.

00:15:53.180 Okay, Rachel asks, updates on Yortoff. Great, great things are happening on Yortoff.

00:15:59.860 it's unfortunate in the world that we live in today that we've got to be a little bit

00:16:06.820 a little bit hush hush once we get to super specifics because we've got a lot of enemies

00:16:12.140 out there that would like nothing better than to to make that more difficult for us

00:16:17.200 but no we've had some very very good properties come up we have one of those right now that we

00:16:23.820 are actively engaged in negotiations on. So I'm hoping my next live chat will have something

00:16:34.720 really exciting to tell you. Not going to praise the ice before it's crossed, but I'm looking

00:16:42.000 very forward to that. Got a lot of good leads, very excited on it. And like I said, we've got

00:16:47.540 something that we are working on specifically. And that's going to be in the state of Florida.

00:16:54.780 also with that question is how that's going to affect our current districts

00:17:02.220 um pull up a little map here that'll and forgive me if i uh

00:17:11.980 leave something out here looks like and this is just an idea don't hold me to it but the current

00:17:17.500 plan when the Njortzhoff district is in place well that would like I said earlier be South America

00:17:23.900 would be Africa anything that we may have in the Caribbean at some point would also be Florida

00:17:31.260 Georgia Alabama Mississippi Louisiana Arkansas Oklahoma and Texas that's the plan as it looks

00:17:41.340 right now I realize that Texas and Oklahoma are a little bit far afield but if you look at our map

00:17:46.620 that's kind of the best place to put them um but yeah these districts will change and get cut up

00:17:52.780 as we have you know continue to have more hoffs to our gods but that's what the new

00:17:58.700 njortof district is looking like at this point um as far as what folks can do to help make sure

00:18:11.420 in your top happens. We're currently dialing in all of the funding and lending. If anybody out

00:18:19.800 here is able to lend significant sums in the tens of thousands, do reach out. We'd be happy to

00:18:29.440 engage with you and even pay like a 6% interest rate on that. As always, any donations that you

00:18:39.580 guys make, just go ahead and donating to our New York's Hoff fundraiser helps tremendously.

00:18:45.340 That has already helped. That is already just because of you all's generosity on this.

00:18:50.920 In about three months time, that has raised about $35,000 just for this Hoff. So that's amazing.

00:18:58.660 I am blown away by your generosity. If we keep that up, we'll not only will we acquire it,

00:19:03.940 but we'll be able to pay it off in no time.

00:19:08.280 Okay.

00:19:12.220 Got somebody asking, Eric's asking,

00:19:15.640 what exactly is an apprentice folk builder?

00:19:18.080 And is that the same thing as starting a new branch of the AFA?

00:19:22.220 So the AFA doesn't really work in branches.

00:19:26.620 We're very unified and that unity is important.

00:19:30.180 We all work together in teams.

00:19:31.760 I think the closest thing to a branch of the AFA would be our districts, like I was talking about with with the Njordshof district and our current existing districts, Odenshof, Thorshof, and then in the middle of the country, Baldershof district. 0.89

00:19:48.640 But an apprentice folk builder is the it's the entry level to being involved in AFA leadership and AFA volunteerism.

00:19:56.640 Um, our folk builders are the folks that, I guess in the most broad sense, connect AFA leadership with our membership and connect our, uh, connect our membership with us.

00:20:17.160 so they can represent the members in their area to all the rest of the AFA and to us higher up in

00:20:23.320 the AFA, and they can represent us and what the whole AFA is doing to their local members and

00:20:29.360 help make sure that local people feel a part of the bigger AFA. Folk builders take care of

00:20:35.600 recruiting new members if they can, of welcoming new members in that show interest, of making sure

00:20:41.960 members in each of their areas are well taken care of and you know that we know what's going

00:20:47.400 on with them and in their family and in their lives if they need any help um folk builders do

00:20:53.720 a lot of the hard work they do a lot of our database work and stuff behind the scenes and

00:20:58.760 yeah they help make the afa a living breathing thing in all of the places where we have members

00:21:06.040 and not just in the big hot spots that's why we have so many folk builders spread out around the

00:21:10.840 the world. And the apprenticeship, when you first become a folk builder, you spend probably at least

00:21:17.020 a year being an apprentice and feeling it out, whether it's something that you feel like you're

00:21:22.660 a good fit for and something that we feel like you're a good fit for. And then if you're willing

00:21:27.080 to be committed to that and you're doing a good job and we want to continue that, then you would

00:21:32.200 take an oath and become a full-fledged folk builder. And this last month, we had Heather

00:21:38.420 Young, Tim Dumas, Jessica Lambert, and Cody Rayner take their oaths as full AFA folk builders.

00:21:50.500 While I'm on it, I'd also like to congratulate Daniel Young, Trent East, and Rob Stam. They are

00:21:58.180 your new gothies, newly ordained, official and recognized priests of our gods and goddesses

00:22:06.340 within the astro folk assembly these gentlemen have worked very hard to earn that and to put in

00:22:12.020 the work and in the study and the deep relationship to our with our gods in order to have that in

00:22:20.340 their life and rise to that position i'm so very very impressed with all three of these gentlemen

00:22:25.860 and i'm excited that they get to serve as priests and help our afa family in the ways that they do

00:22:36.340 Bobby, I'm sorry that you feel that way.

00:22:45.020 I certainly never promised you a plaque, but what I did promise was a name on our donor plaque.

00:22:50.640 The donor plaque at Thorshof is absolutely being worked on.

00:22:54.000 I spoke to Daniel Young and Svon Harrell about that this week.

00:22:58.640 I'm sorry that's taken longer than it could have.

00:23:04.020 We are working on that.

00:23:05.360 um we will absolutely have your name up on that plaque when it gets up um

00:23:12.160 we do absolutely keep our word we certainly do our best to do it and like i say i'm sorry that

00:23:17.200 you feel that way but your name will be on that plaque when it goes up and we will make sure that

00:23:20.880 plaque does go up uh we do not have a kindred in the las vegas area at present we would love to

00:23:32.880 to see one there we do have some afa members in the area and we would love to see one um in southern

00:23:39.320 nevada uh reuben asks a question about murdoch and how things are at baldershoff wants to know

00:23:55.720 if we're still the boogeyman after all the initial turmoil or if things have quieted down

00:23:59.400 if you are external fake news media we're still the the evil scary boogeyman and fake news

00:24:09.220 continues to do what they do and tell an inaccurate story if you're a person who lives in Murdoch or

00:24:15.040 the surrounding towns it's not the case I've been really happy this year I've been out to Murdoch

00:24:20.160 three times so far this year and those people have treated us tremendously well our neighbors

00:24:27.480 seem to genuinely love us. Last week, we had folks bringing us by cupcakes up there.

00:24:37.480 We've got people that drive by every time we're out there and honk and wave and stop by with

00:24:42.920 positive messages. Got a lot of old timers in the community that used to be members of the

00:24:47.480 Lutheran church that used to occupy that building. They come by and look and see what we've done and

00:24:53.640 are thrilled with how we've taken care of the place and made it beautiful again, share with

00:24:58.440 us stories about weddings that they had there years ago. We've had great interactions with our

00:25:04.520 neighbors and great interactions in the community. Can't say everybody there loves us, but see no

00:25:10.620 reason to think that they don't. We've had a really, really positive experience, and I'm very

00:25:15.480 happy about that. News is going to make up whatever they're going to make up, but being there and

00:25:20.240 getting to experience it firsthand. It's really a special feeling. And those people have been

00:25:24.140 very, very kind to us. Okay. Tim asks if I could explain the Alu formula. For those of you that

00:25:47.340 don't know the alu formula is a runic formula of ansuz laguz and uruz

00:25:56.220 it's something that's been found archaeologically as one of the

00:26:01.820 one of the ancient runic formulas in the elder futhark also sometimes you'll see it backwards as

00:26:09.580 as, I guess, Ula, I don't know how you pronounce it, but as Uruz, Laguz, and Ansuz.

00:26:22.100 It has a lot of meanings and a lot of correlations, and there's a lot of ways you can take it and

00:26:28.800 apply it. What I think is very fundamental to the way that we worship, the way that we interact with

00:26:35.760 our gods and that very sacred sharing that we have is answers representing the higher the astral

00:26:44.520 the gods lagu's representing the fluid of transmission be that mead and ritual be that

00:26:53.420 our energy be that our very blood and then urus representing the primal or representing the folk

00:27:00.980 and passing that energy back and forth the transfer of energy as we share in our rituals

00:27:08.380 when we do bloat from heart to hand to horn putting our energy into the horn into that mead

00:27:13.300 and then consuming that and offering that up to the gods makes that alu connection and the gods

00:27:21.000 blessing the mead and then us sprinkling it on the uh our full our assembled folk

00:27:26.900 takes that power from from the gods to the mead to us and that relationship up and down back and

00:27:35.140 forth cycling with with our gods is very very important it's essential to all that we do

00:27:40.260 um and in a in another sense that lagus that connection between the gods and the folk and

00:27:49.120 the medium that connects that that's the function that our gothar try to perform to the best of our

00:27:55.200 ability. On our Gotar ring, I've got a circle around it of Ansuz, Laguz, Uruz, Laguz, Ansuz,

00:28:05.480 and so on, repeating forever in a ring, in a circle, because that never-ending cycle of

00:28:14.380 us sharing with the gods and the gods sharing with us, us to the gods, the gods to us,

00:28:19.980 That is the very nature of our religiosity and how we connect to the divine and how we feel the divine in our lives.

00:28:27.740 So it's really significant how we worship. It's also very significant in the role in which our Gothar play for our folk and for our gods.

00:28:36.780 um so i'm getting a hard time because i'm having people over this weekend and i'm making a

00:28:49.220 traditional friesian dish uh sauerkraut and bananas if you guys haven't tried it it sounds

00:28:55.280 disgusting it's not it's delicious um i don't have a particular mat recipe for it i googled it just

00:29:02.600 like you can, and you will get recipes and find out I didn't make it up. But it's neat. It makes

00:29:07.600 kind of a shepherd's pie or a cottage pie, and it has all the good fixings on that. But for the

00:29:13.520 gravy in it, it's a layer of bananas and a layer of sauerkraut. And the sweet and the sour makes

00:29:19.640 a delicious goo that ties the whole thing together. Give it a try. You'll be happy that you did.

00:29:32.600 is there an afa district within the greater indianapolis metropolitan area um

00:29:54.840 or in the state of wisconsin or in joplin missouri uh not a specific district no our districts are

00:30:05.160 based around our hofs but we do have kindreds both we have kindred in missouri we have a very

00:30:10.840 active a very active kindred in missouri we have a very active kindred um in wisconsin and um

00:30:19.960 we have a very active kindred in indiana i'd have to look on the map and see where it is

00:30:23.640 in relation to Indianapolis. We also have a lot of activity in all the surrounding states around

00:30:29.820 Indiana. We have two folk builders in the state of Indiana. So over on the side, hopefully my wife

00:30:38.020 and the other AFA leaders we have on the side can direct you to Melissa Mills, who runs the 0.82

00:30:43.600 Kindred in Missouri. James Ault, who runs the Kindred in Wisconsin. And then

00:30:51.200 John Rock and Zach Cato, who are folk building in Indiana. And hopefully we can get you set up

00:30:59.360 with one or all of those folks, because they'd love to help you get connected with people.

00:31:07.580 Okay. Eric asks, how does one become an apprentice?

00:31:13.600 And he just noticed that one of our members, Trevor Siderinko in Manitoba, Canada, he is our first Canadian folk builder in a very long time.

00:31:23.420 And he just stepped up to be an apprentice folk builder this last week.

00:31:28.320 And he finds that really encouraging.

00:31:30.360 This gentleman, Eric's in Alberta.

00:31:33.940 So cool.

00:31:34.880 Eric, first thing, again, I'm not sure your name or whether you're currently an AFA member or not.

00:31:40.800 You need to be a member.

00:31:41.420 and once you're a member what you need to do is reach out to myself and if you are in

00:31:49.400 you are in Alberta trying to think of the best best person for you to reach out to

00:31:56.300 um if you're in Alberta let's have you reach out to anyone in the Odenshof district if you could

00:32:03.800 reach out to either uh Gauthier Joe Rosenick or Githia Sheila McNallan they can talk to you a

00:32:10.860 little bit about it. Um, we've got, uh, we're of the mind that we want to give, uh, everybody who

00:32:17.620 wants to try as a, as an apprentice folk builder, we're very, we want to give people a shot. If

00:32:23.800 people are excited, they want to build our church, build Ausitru, build what we're doing. We would

00:32:28.900 love to have that help. So if you're interested, reach out, uh, to me after this, um, after this

00:32:35.800 live tonight or to Sheila or to uh go through Rzenik um and Matt Flavell f-l-a-v-e-l at

00:32:45.920 runestone.org is my email address and we'd love to talk to you about that that's exciting and

00:32:50.940 thank you for thinking about wanting to help in that way

00:33:05.800 cool we have some of our folks over on the side i see helping out and directing questions and

00:33:14.760 getting people connected that's awesome thanks guys

00:33:19.080 the food distribution has helped amazingly so asking about our hoffs and community interaction

00:33:25.240 one of the one of the best things we do for the communities and for building our fame and our

00:33:33.400 reputation within the communities that we're in is so far at all three of our Hoffs we are actively

00:33:39.320 involved in food charities so each of our Hoff runs their own food shelf food pantry some call

00:33:47.000 it different things in different places but at least once a month we get together and we

00:33:53.160 distribute food to families who are in need and folks who are hungry in our communities

00:33:57.960 and that has opened a lot of doors it's built a lot of a lot of goodwill and it's built a lot

00:34:04.340 of good relationships with the people in these communities it's helpful to the people who are

00:34:11.440 hungry in the communities and it's good for them but it's also very very good for us it's nice it

00:34:18.640 brings you know it's good for public relations but on a deeper level so many of us spend so much

00:34:26.340 of our time, myself included, focused on things out there in the world that we don't like, things

00:34:31.420 that are negative, things that we wish we could fix but don't have a real way to go out and fix

00:34:37.240 it right now. But what we can do and what we have been able to do in each of our Hoffs is set aside

00:34:43.440 some time to where we can do something for an afternoon that genuinely helps people, that makes

00:34:49.800 some family, some group of family's day a little bit better and make sure that hungry people have

00:34:55.780 food. It's a nice thing to do and it's good for our soul. So we're really, really blessed that

00:35:01.860 we're able to do that and help out our communities in those ways. And I'm so thankful for everybody

00:35:07.720 out there who is listening to this that has volunteered, does volunteer at those food

00:35:12.760 pantries. What you guys do does so much for our Alcitru Folk Assembly, does so much for the good

00:35:20.140 name of Alcitru and the good name of our gods. Thank you guys so much for helping.

00:35:25.780 Are there any groups in Arkansas, Texas, or Alaska? Yes. Our Arkansas people typically

00:35:38.580 team up with the folks we have in Missouri and get together with them, but we absolutely have

00:35:45.620 folks in Arkansas. I would encourage you to reach out to Michael Sesmus. Somebody can put his

00:35:51.500 contact information over on the side for me um texas absolutely we have two folk builders in

00:35:57.580 texas we have justin day and thomas gleason their contact information is on the website or like i

00:36:04.320 say somebody will probably pop them up in side chat and then in alaska alaska is is my home state

00:36:11.020 where i come from a very good friend of mine eric wisman's a folk builder up there uh kindred that

00:36:16.480 was involved in in the foundation of is still going strong in alaska we have a gothe another

00:36:22.240 very good friend of mine steve morrell up in south central alaska that's doing that and we have our

00:36:27.840 newest apprentice folk builder michael connor that is is starting his folk building up there in

00:36:33.680 alaska so alaska's got a lot of activity going on and we'd love to see that increase and contact

00:36:39.200 information again you can find it on the website and hopefully somebody will pop it up on the side

00:36:46.480 Um, Joel mentions our, uh, recent hit piece that the Guardian ran on us.

00:37:06.720 Um, Guardian is probably the most dishonest of media outfits that has done a story on 0.97

00:37:12.120 us so far, but they were so silly and they spent so much time focusing on, uh, the universalists 0.96

00:37:21.900 that claim also true as their faith, but are really kind of silly. One benefit from it that 0.98

00:37:28.260 Joel was pointing out on the side is it really made a distinction between us, who we are and

00:37:34.220 what we do. And those other folks that I think look rather silly and, uh, rather insincere with 0.95

00:37:41.460 the shenanigans that they do, and I think it did a good job of clarifying that there's a very big

00:37:46.020 difference between the two of us, and that's helpful. For anybody that might be concerned

00:37:50.640 because of, you know, the intended damage by the Guardian with their piece, we've gotten

00:37:56.880 multiple members from that so far, and we've got a handful of others that have reached out who are

00:38:03.740 curious, who are interested in becoming members, that all found us because of that particular media

00:38:08.880 outlets, misportrayal portrayal of us. So even when even when the media seeks to slander us or

00:38:16.240 to paint us in a dishonest and negative light, we have good things that happen from it. I think

00:38:24.460 that's because of all of the good things that you guys are doing. And I think it's also because of

00:38:29.900 the blessings of our gods. And I really believe that. And I've seen that. I've seen that happen

00:38:34.060 over the years so that's going on and I'm happy for that well thank you Rachel I'm glad that you

00:38:49.780 liked how the AFA presented ourselves in in that

00:39:04.060 I'm trying to think. I'm reading Ox's question. He says, I believe in having a strong stance

00:39:14.760 within the realm of self-research in regards of health. I believe well-being on one's will

00:39:22.900 undeterred by power is essential as well. Are these thoughts out of line? I hope I'm

00:39:31.580 understanding what you're asking. I think willpower and taking responsibility for our own

00:39:39.840 health is extremely important. I don't think that's out of line at all. I think that extends

00:39:44.700 to certainly to medical things, but also to general health and fitness and healthy lifestyle

00:39:51.940 things. And I think doing your own research and finding your own answers is really important.

00:39:57.680 I think it's plenty valuable to listen to people that you trust and follow their advice,

00:40:02.780 certainly following the advice of people who've achieved results that you want to achieve.

00:40:07.840 But you taking that responsibility and exercising your own willpower to make positive changes for

00:40:13.960 you and your family's health makes really important. And I'm absolutely in support of that.

00:40:18.220 hey bobby first seriously i'm really sorry that that plaque's not up yet um that's been a pet

00:40:34.980 peeve of mine that we've been working on but it's been too slow to come i really appreciate your

00:40:40.200 donation um i appreciate your helping out that plaque will be up as soon as the plaque is up we

00:40:46.920 will share pictures around of it and you'll see that your name is on it. And I don't know what

00:40:54.980 more we could say or do that would make you happy with it tonight, but I am sorry it's taken so long

00:41:01.540 and I promise that plaque will go up. There'll be a plaque with those donors up in all of our

00:41:06.620 Hoffs. I'm sorry one hasn't gone up faster in Thor's Hoff, but we're doing our best from this

00:41:12.040 day forward to get that up quickly. We're going to see how fast we can get that up because we

00:41:16.800 We do want to follow through with that.

00:41:30.780 So Tim talks about how he was inspired by his time at Ewell at Odenshof to want to become

00:41:36.020 an apprentice folk builder.

00:41:38.120 Tim just oathed in as a full folk builder and he is one of our very best folk builders.

00:41:43.120 he wanted me to share with you guys kind of what you could experience at an AFA event like Yule

00:41:47.520 if you've never been to one. And I should be better at putting that into words than I am.

00:41:53.560 It's hard to convey the weight of that feeling in words. Yule is really like Yule is a magical

00:42:02.820 time of year in general. I think we all know that. And to celebrate Yule surrounded by our folk

00:42:11.200 in one of our Hoffs

00:42:12.800 dedicated to one of our gods,

00:42:15.100 it's huge.

00:42:17.460 We all know that it's huge,

00:42:18.940 but when you're actually there doing it,

00:42:21.560 then you can really feel

00:42:24.200 the weight of how special that is.

00:42:27.820 I found out it's true in a time

00:42:29.200 where we didn't have Hoffs to our gods. 0.96

00:42:32.280 It was kind of a distant dream

00:42:33.720 that maybe we would have one day.

00:42:35.560 Now we have three.

00:42:39.440 The reality of that

00:42:41.200 The reality, and I know I've said this a lot, the reality of sharing that with my daughter, my wife, and my family getting to spend the holy tides in a hoff that's full of, I think Odentoff, usually we get north of 75 people at our Yule event.

00:43:02.980 sharing that in that very holy place in that time with family, with warmth, with all the

00:43:09.900 beautiful things we've all come to love about Yule. It's hard to put into words, but it touches

00:43:15.320 your heart. It's touching. You watch all those kids playing together. You watch people who've

00:43:19.760 never met each other meet for the first time and over the course of an afternoon become close

00:43:24.260 friends and family. Being out there and standing in the ritual circle and sharing that, sharing

00:43:31.900 that celebration with our folk and making those friends and making those connections to be

00:43:37.660 surrounded by that many people that you consider family and that are close to you is it's beautiful

00:43:44.780 beyond words and i hope you all get to experience yule at one of our hoffs this year we're working

00:43:52.280 very hard to make sure that if you don't then we'll have a hoff near you one of these years

00:43:56.400 coming up soon. You'll be able to share that there. And like I say, if you guys want to drive

00:44:02.560 and you can make it out to one of our hosts for Yule, any of them would love to have you there.

00:44:17.600 Ox, I'm glad you approve of the banana and sauerkraut recipe. It's good, I promise. It's

00:44:23.260 really good. I made it the first time just because it seemed really strange. It's a Frisian dish.

00:44:27.880 So we were looking up Frisian dishes to celebrate a day of remembrance for King Radbod one year.

00:44:36.080 And this one sounded really off the wall. So we wanted to give it a try. Now, I don't believe

00:44:40.380 in Radbod's day. There was bananas in Frisia, but that's come to be a dish over there that they like.

00:44:50.200 So we figured we'd give it a try. And I was really surprised. It's very good. I like it.

00:44:54.440 So I'm fixing to make some more.

00:45:01.320 Sorry, guys, looking over here on the side to see what other other stuff people have asked or brought up.

00:45:20.200 Kevin, we have tons in California.

00:45:29.080 California is kind of the AFA's home stomping ground, where we started, where we currently, California is the state with the biggest population of AFA members.

00:45:42.260 I think you see the population of AFA members much closer together on the East Coast because those states are tiny and very close.

00:45:50.200 But California's got our our members. It's got Odin's Hoff, which I was just talking about.

00:45:55.040 That's our Hoff that gets the most members at it for an event that's in Brownsville, California, up in northern California, in the foothills of the Sierras.

00:46:05.880 But we have members down in Southern California as well. Reach out.

00:46:10.420 Somebody on the side can get you in touch with all of our folk builders and leadership we have in California.

00:46:16.040 And and yeah, we'd be excited to get you connected with those folks.

00:46:20.200 As usual, I am blessed with the most beautiful co-host ever here for her little special guest appearance.

00:46:28.900 It's my lovely daughter, Aubrey.

00:46:30.860 She is going to be 19 months old here soon.

00:46:35.040 She's eating some snacks, and I appreciate her joining me here for a few minutes and me getting to show her off because I'm so proud of her.

00:46:43.600 And look how beautiful she is.

00:46:45.200 She is amazing.

00:46:46.780 Best baby ever.

00:46:48.520 Don't even try to tell me otherwise.

00:46:50.200 I'm looking for more questions on the side hey um so Cliff asked me a question and I think he's

00:47:14.360 asking it jokingly but I think people on the other team would ask it seriously no when I was ordained

00:47:18.840 as i was harry goethe i didn't uh i didn't wear a funny homemade headdress thing that looked like

00:47:24.600 it was made out of a box um there was also not an accompanying soundtrack just so you would know that

00:47:30.920 something ominous or cool was happening um apparently that is what happened on on that

00:47:40.520 video with folks on the other team but uh i missed out so if there is a cardboard hat that i was

00:47:46.360 supposed to inherit at some point uh you guys can send that to me thank you very much for joining

00:47:52.680 me obbs thanks for bringing her mandy um yeah i think it was described as a coors light box that

00:48:00.360 was cut into decorative vikingy designs so no i did not get one of those hats um st

00:48:14.360 your questions about becoming a member depends where you are if you tell us where you're located

00:48:19.860 we can tell you who to talk to you are always welcome to talk to me directly on it uh matt

00:48:25.640 flavell f-l-a-v-e-l at runestone.org and i'd be happy to answer anything i could

00:48:31.200 um and we'll get you we'll get you the question the answers that you need

00:48:35.060 Well, hi, Jill. Please tell your kids that I said hello, and it was good to get to meet them at winter nights.

00:48:53.920 Looks like I'm a little bit behind on my questions, so if somebody's already gotten to the answers, that's great.

00:48:59.920 We may have a little bit of redundancy, but that may help others who listen to this down the road.

00:49:05.060 OX, I figured that your health question was alluding to the vax in some way.

00:49:15.320 Yeah, I think a lot of us are on a very similar page. I try to be very careful. I don't think

00:49:21.540 that the Astro Folk Assembly has a specific doctrine on COVID or on this specific vaccination. 0.69

00:49:27.860 We don't. But a lot of us share a common worldview and share a common view about about this whole situation.

00:49:37.380 I would encourage everyone to do what is best for themselves and for their family, to give any of these health things a very serious look, to do your research, like Ox suggested on the side, and to make the decision that you believe is going to be the best thing for the health and well-being of yourself and your family.

00:50:00.280 People got to do different things to survive and to maintain their jobs and various other things. I'm not looking to to judge anybody on that or to, you know, pressure anybody into doing anything. But I think his point about doing your research and taking your own responsibility in making choices for yourself and your family is very well taken.

00:50:30.280 Reuben if you want to bring your wife that'd be fine.

00:50:43.160 We would like all of our members to bring their family members to events and to share

00:50:47.400 that with them.

00:50:49.320 If your wife is a Christian as long as she's going to be respectful at our events. 0.82

00:50:54.080 If she's a committed Christian she should probably not directly participate in our rituals

00:50:59.240 at the events, but her attending with you and sharing that experience with you, we'd love to

00:51:03.400 have her come to those events. Please feel very free to bring your family.

00:51:21.400 Looks like we got a good musical conversation going in there. I think Joel's got that handled.

00:51:26.700 Joel has got quite an insight into music.

00:51:35.960 As a new member, how would you start doing more as far as advancing our gods and folk,

00:51:42.300 especially in the Portland, Oregon area?

00:51:45.580 Reach out.

00:51:46.800 Reach out if you're not already in contact with local folk builders up there.

00:51:51.100 i would encourage you to reach out to mason johnson m johnson at runestone.org or to go

00:51:57.820 the joe rosinic who's in the portland area j rosinic at runestone.org somebody will post their

00:52:05.740 addresses over on the side i hope and if not their contact information is on our website

00:52:11.340 they're doing great things in the pacific northwest um there's stuff going on in portland

00:52:16.860 there's stuff going on a little bit closer to seattle we have great things going on and

00:52:20.940 idaho and we've got people who get together at points in between all those places

00:52:25.660 so the first thing i'd recommend is you reach out to your folk builder and your local gofi and

00:52:29.820 try to get involved and attend stuff there's not necessarily some immediate big thing you

00:52:36.620 can do to advance it what advances our gods and our folk is us getting together and worshiping

00:52:42.300 them celebrating them and building bonds and relationships within the afa building families

00:52:48.220 do that get together engage in rituals with other afa members that will do amazing things

00:52:57.840 for the advancement of what we're trying to do get involved and see what that what doors that

00:53:02.800 opens for you but that's the first thing is to reach out to those guys and make the effort even

00:53:08.000 if it means driving a couple hours make that effort to get together with our folk and i promise

00:53:13.520 you, it is so very worth it. Fortunately, I did that and it has changed my life in ways I couldn't

00:53:20.120 even imagine. Ruben, I'm not sure what you're asking if there's a video of.

00:53:43.520 oh we got another person over on the side asking about folks in vegas that makes three vegas people

00:53:53.180 on this meeting in the side you guys should talk to each other and figure something out because

00:53:58.940 we would love to see our people down there get together if you guys got something going on and

00:54:03.080 i'm able to i'd love to drive down um to to vegas and help and help some of that sometime

00:54:08.900 sorry guys just reading up on the questions think i'm a little bit behind

00:54:38.900 I appreciate all the humor about some of the nonsense of the other team and funny hats and shenanigans.

00:54:57.900 So Firebug, Western Washington's got great things going on.

00:55:01.900 We've got Tyler Heinlein and Mason Johnson folk building in the state of Washington in the western side.

00:55:10.480 They're getting together very often and doing great stuff.

00:55:14.300 That's a very vibrant area.

00:55:16.480 And in Pacific Northwest is a place that one of the next couple of Hoffs we're looking to put one in.

00:55:22.940 Your closest physical Hoff is going to be in Brownsville, California.

00:55:27.640 but you've got a very active group of people in your area that I would encourage you to get in

00:55:31.720 contact with because they're doing a lot of really cool stuff up there and we would love

00:55:35.960 for you to be able to build those bonds.

00:55:57.640 I appreciate you guys making all these connections over on the side.

00:56:18.700 This has been a really good side chat tonight.

00:56:21.520 I'm hoping you guys are getting together with the folks you need to.

00:56:25.400 Do we have any more questions tonight?

00:56:27.180 Anything you guys would like me to speak on or any questions you'd like me to answer for you in the last couple of minutes here?

00:56:33.940 If there is, please let me know and I'd be happy to do what I can.

00:56:42.680 So another thing, if you guys have questions throughout the month and you're just not on the spot here with them,

00:56:49.260 please feel free to email those to me and I'll do my best to answer them.

00:56:53.100 um i'm happy to answer them you know just as a private email if you'd like but if you'd like

00:56:58.980 me to answer them on the next live chat i'd be happy to do that as well so please always feel

00:57:04.620 free you don't just get to talk to me for an hour a month um if you guys ever have a question or

00:57:11.480 anything i can help you guys out with please email me matt flavel at runestone.org and i would

00:57:17.420 be very happy to do my best to help you out or give you an answer to any questions you might have

00:57:22.440 It's an open door, so please feel really free to do that.

00:57:49.240 Okay, we've got a couple of questions.

00:57:50.600 So Feast of the Einherjahr, what it entails. It is a celebration of our veterans. I think the concept is bigger than that in a way, but the Feast of the Einherjahr was specifically designed as a modern Alcatruz celebration to celebrate our veterans, and that goes for anyone who's served in that capacity anywhere in Midgard.

00:58:19.880 We have members who have served their countries no matter where they're from.

00:58:25.920 And we want to celebrate that and we want to honor that.

00:58:28.440 We want to honor that great martial tradition.

00:58:30.700 We want to honor the courage and the sacrifice of our brave men who stepped up to that call

00:58:39.300 and who have put their life in forfeit for a king, for a country, for the guy next to

00:58:46.340 them, for whatever.

00:58:48.460 their courage to go out there and do that speaks of something very, very special in the soul of

00:58:58.280 our people and something that so many of us have never experienced and don't share that bond with

00:59:04.840 them. We want to celebrate that and give them a day where we're, where we're honoring them. And

00:59:11.520 also it's a good time to honor your ancestors who served. I know we all have proud veterans

00:59:16.360 and our families and to give them honor on that day and thanks and appreciation is is a really

00:59:22.360 special thing to do as well um as far as yule stuff within the family at home um for those of

00:59:32.880 you in the united states and i think this extends to our folk a lot of places all the things that

00:59:38.400 are fun about Christmas is Yule stuff. Jesus in the manger is not Yule stuff, but Christmas

00:59:46.980 trees or Yule trees, any of those caroling, celebrations, wassailing, any of the things

00:59:56.060 that culturally we've all loved about Christmas, those are all Yule traditions. That's why

01:00:03.680 they resonate so much with our folk soul. Also, also on this channel where you're watching this

01:00:09.640 right now, we've got loaded up the 12 days of Yule by our founder, Steve McNallan, where he talks

01:00:15.960 about lighting a candle to one of our values for each of those days. And so I'd encourage you guys

01:00:21.460 to listen to those on the appropriate days, or heck, listen to them now if you want to.

01:00:26.920 We always make sure to listen to those every year during the 12 days of Yuletide. So I would

01:00:32.200 encourage that for your family. Okay, so we got somebody who asked a question, I'm just going to

01:00:44.700 take it at face value. I want to know about what the gods think of masculine gayness.

01:00:53.840 it's not a difficult question but I'm always hesitant to tell you this is what the gods think

01:01:07.680 I'm too reverent for that I don't want to put words in the mouth of our gods 0.98

01:01:14.760 but I have every reason to believe that our gods do not approve of male homosexuality 1.00

01:01:23.440 I have every reason to believe that it is against the nature and the way that they've constructed us and the way that they've constructed orderly and healthy Aryan mankind. 0.99

01:01:37.520 Within the House True Folk Assembly, we don't allow it for a number of reasons. 1.00

01:01:43.200 Fundamentally, we think homosexuality is a mental illness, and it's a dangerous one at that. 0.96

01:01:50.940 it destroys lives it sets a very very bad very confusing example to our young people 0.99

01:02:01.440 and we want to keep our families safe and the inclusion of male homosexuals in our family 1.00

01:02:11.980 oriented gatherings would present a risk to our children that I don't feel is appropriate for us 1.00

01:02:17.900 to take. So we do not accept homosexuals into the Austrofolk 1.00

01:02:21.680 Assembly. And I do not believe that our gods approve of that in 1.00

01:02:25.820 any way, shape or form.

01:02:43.700 Alright, couple last things here. So has anyone talked about

01:02:47.360 relocation for safe places within the community um i think that there's levels of that certainly

01:02:55.680 some of our individual members have had those discussions um one thing that i would like to see

01:03:03.680 and this may be a softer example than you're asking

01:03:08.320 but conceptually it's really what we're trying to do with the afa we're trying to build those

01:03:12.640 safe places being our Hoffs. Our Hoffs were gathering food to distribute at our food

01:03:18.540 distribution. It's a rallying point where our family and our people can come together.

01:03:24.140 Those have been safe places during the current COVID restrictions. It's been a place where our

01:03:31.800 people have a refuge from all of the insanity of the outside world to come and to hug and share a

01:03:39.800 horn and show their beautiful faces and worship our gods, whereas so many people in this country

01:03:46.060 have not been able to go and worship. They've not been able to gather with loved ones. They've not

01:03:51.840 been able to expose their smiles. They've not been able to experience life fully these past

01:03:57.600 couple of years. We have. And the key to that has been we've got our own properties. So our

01:04:03.600 Our Hoffs are a safe place for our people to go.

01:04:07.200 Our Hoffs are not fortresses in a physical sense, but in a way they are.

01:04:12.500 They're a place where our community can stand together, can share together and can congregate

01:04:16.900 together.

01:04:17.900 So they're the first thing that we have as far as safe places for our people to go when

01:04:23.200 things are crazy outside.

01:04:32.340 would I do to, or what advice do I have about communicating what Alcetru is about, what the

01:04:39.080 AFA is about to non-Alcetru or people that you meet in the outside world? All of the things I've

01:04:46.320 said previously about being the example, showing them who you are, and then explaining that Alcetru

01:04:54.460 has helped you become that person is hugely important. The other thing I'd really suggest,

01:05:00.280 And it's a reason that I do some of the videos I do. I mean, they may not want to come and just listen to me talk.

01:05:07.240 But what I think they would like every time we have an event, a national level event, at least I do a video slideshow and I put it on the same YouTube channel.

01:05:18.780 I would share those with those people. They get to see us at our best.

01:05:23.000 They get to see what we look like, what one of our gatherings is like, what our Hoffs are like.

01:05:29.580 They get to really get a feel of what that is and what kind of people practice that.

01:05:35.280 And our families, our smiling faces, our special moments at those events, I think those are one of the best testimonies about who we are.

01:05:46.240 So I would suggest sharing those.

01:05:48.240 those are just a couple minutes long and they're you know to a little music thing

01:05:52.320 and they're they're a really nice way to put our best foot forward so i'd suggest showing folks

01:05:56.640 those um yes we will accept donations from folks however you guys are comfortable donating we

01:06:17.760 we will make that work. We have a question about money orders. We can do that. It's a little bit

01:06:24.960 more hassle on your end and on our end, perhaps, but we appreciate the generosity. And if that's

01:06:29.800 the way folks would like to donate, we are very appreciative and we'll make that work.

01:06:33.520 All right, guys. Well, I have enjoyed talking to you guys tonight. I hope you guys have an

01:06:51.320 amazing November. I hope you guys are spending time connecting with your families, connecting

01:06:57.900 with your ancestors, and participating in House of Truth with the rest of us. I hope I get to see

01:07:02.680 you guys at Feast of the Einherjar in Missouri. And yeah, I look forward to talking to you guys

01:07:08.480 again next month. Hail the gods, hail the folk, hail the AFA.

Asatru Folk Assembly - November 05, 2021

November 2021 Live Discussion

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