00:00:00.000Hello. Hope everybody's doing great tonight. I hope you all had a fantastic October. I know
00:00:17.340that I did, and I know that the AFA sure did. Stuff to talk about since the last time I
00:00:29.260joined you on one of these live discussions. I have, I've been doing a lot of traveling and got
00:00:35.960a lot of stuff done in the month of October. I was lucky enough that I celebrated three winter
00:00:44.120nights in three weeks with three de-seer bloats, all of which were very powerful. I want to thank
00:00:53.160the the githias of the astro folk assembly for performing those i believe all of our githias
00:01:02.040performed um performed one of those one of those uh dc or bloats for the winter
00:01:08.920nights gatherings and really brought the power of our female ancestors to us very very thankful for
00:01:16.680that. At Odentoff, Githya McNallan did an amazing de-sear bloat that was beautiful and powerful.
00:01:27.800At Winter Nights in the Poconos, Githya Katie Erickson did a fantastic, fantastic,
00:01:36.840probably her best yet, I think, de-sear bloat. There's a lot of theatrical elements to it.
00:01:45.400it was really beautiful and then uh at Baldershof um Githya now plurred and uh
00:01:55.560and Witten Callahan did a just a fantastic de-sear bloat um
00:02:05.240it really really moved me that one um so it's a really powerful time of year
00:02:12.260Some of you may not know what we're talking about.
00:02:13.980In October and on into the fall, we start off by celebrating winter nights.
00:02:19.340And 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.
00:02:32.160This 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
00:02:41.480and that's really powerfully demonstrated by the desir bloat and the desir are female ancestors0.99
00:02:48.420and doing bloat to them and inviting them to be with us some of the most powerful times0.56
00:02:56.760I've ever had in house of true so we got that going on um
00:03:02.320winter nights this year winter nights 10 this is the 10th year that we've celebrated winter nights
00:03:13.320at camp natimus in the poconos in pennsylvania um
00:03:18.480it's a neat time of of reflection for me i'm i'm lucky enough i've been at every single one
00:03:26.480those winter nights events we've had there and i'm able to look back and see you know how we started
00:03:33.200where we came from with that how it's grown how it's developed and where we're at now
00:03:39.920this year was the second biggest numerically but it was by far the biggest quality wise
00:03:48.320so we had some big years early on but in those times individual groups would kind of break off
00:03:54.880by themselves they were little little groups of friends or local kindreds um everyone who was
00:04:00.800there you know we still have some guests but i'd say it was you know probably 50 guests and not afa
00:04:06.320members uh back in the day now it's almost all afa members or specifically invited guests um
00:04:13.840those first events people break off by themselves hang out in their cabin go do various other things
00:04:18.880so they're very seldom all in one place at one time this year everyone was at everything all
00:04:26.240of the time so we felt everybody there with us at all of our rituals at uh at any of the things
00:04:33.360that we were doing and it was really special to get to share that with so many so many members
00:04:37.440of my afa family it was a great great winter nights um the ericsson's take a lead in putting
00:04:44.960that on each year and they did a fantastic job this year seemed to go very smoothly and uh yeah
00:04:51.840it was a really powerful experience um i look forward to it every year i love it and looking
00:04:58.320back on it just to see where we come from uh like those first few it was you know we had one big long
00:05:05.120section of tables all filled up for for sumble on that at that first one and we all thought that was
00:05:10.880the biggest sumble in the world like that was this marathon sumble that would never end and
00:05:16.400so many people probably had three times that for sumble at uh at this last one and that just
00:05:22.480seemed perfectly natural um those first couple of winter nights we had there it was a whole lot
00:05:28.240of single guys um we've seen i'd say especially the last two or three years but it's been a trend0.68
00:05:35.840that's been going for the last five or six so many families kids everywhere pregnant ladies
00:05:45.280little kids medium-sized kids all playing together so many women everyone you know it was really
00:05:53.600a family-friendly community people from all age groups uh within our folk were there and it was
00:06:02.240really nice to see that really nice to have that family feeling there that we've had the past few
00:06:06.720years to watch where we started and where we've come from in those 10 years of winter nights has
00:06:11.760been really special those of you may not know 10 years ago when we had winter nights in the
00:06:15.760poconos that was a big deal for us um that was the first big afa event outside of outside of
00:06:22.400california up until that point that's true folk assembly was largely a west coast phenomenon and
00:06:28.640And we had, you know, members spread out, but the majority of our members were in the western part of the United States.
00:06:36.000Now, 10 years later, that map looks completely different.
00:06:40.200A full half of the AFA's membership is east of the Mississippi.
00:06:46.080We've got international membership now we didn't have then.
00:06:51.600And 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.
00:07:00.620So it's been neat to look back and reflect on that a little bit this year.
00:07:04.340And last but not least, I'd like to congratulate Gauthier and Githya Plurred.
00:07:11.560Jason and Anna, I was able to have the honor of officiating their wedding last weekend.
00:07:17.600Truly a power couple within the AusTrue Folk Assembly.
00:07:21.600Two people that I deeply respect and love and get to watch them develop over the past years.
00:07:30.160Getting 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.
00:07:37.080It was a beautiful service. They're an amazing couple, and I'm so very, very happy for them.
00:09:14.440When 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
00:09:26.440A 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.
00:09:40.200I think people hearing the story about how Meister von List was gifted the runes during his period of blindness due to his cataract surgery.
00:09:50.640People hear that and it sounds ridiculous and how he's just some blind guy came up with some crazy stuff.
00:09:57.320And 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.
00:10:15.020And, 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.
00:10:24.180um we can only assume that our runes that we have in the elder futhark and the younger
00:10:29.700in the anglo-saxon futhark and other systems we can only assume that those were the development of
00:10:38.020personal revelations to ancient gothar and ancient uh elders and seers just in the very same way
00:10:46.500that the Arminen system was gifted to Von List.
00:11:09.480I think the Arminen system is much harder to galder.
00:11:12.340I think they lend themselves less to intonation than the Elder Futhark.
00:11:19.860But no, I think the arm and arm system is very powerful, and I certainly make use of it.
00:11:26.380I think there's a time and a place for all of our runic systems.
00:11:42.340um got a question from our our south american all right let's guess that's presumptuous we
00:11:55.180got our southern hemisphere family now um for those of you who don't know the afa has members
00:12:01.000we have one member in south america right now we have a few members in south africa and we
00:12:07.120quite a few members in australia and new zealand um so uh reuben asks if those folks are going to
00:12:17.040be in the new nordshoff district once that district is established uh south america and
00:12:26.000our folks in south africa yes absolutely um but our folks in australia and new zealand they're in
00:12:32.240our odenshoff district um and that'll be the case until we're we're able to get a hoff closer to
00:12:40.160them and then we'll change districts accordingly but yeah our folks in australia and new zealand
00:12:44.160will remain in the odenshoff district and folks in the continent of africa and south america will be
00:12:51.520will be part of the new new york's hoff district as soon as we get that hoff all settled
00:12:55.680i got a request for me to talk a little bit about queen sigrid
00:13:04.800we're going to be celebrating a day of remembrance i would encourage you guys
00:13:09.620all to look her up sometimes known as sigrid the hottie
00:13:14.960she is a really interesting example of a woman in her time who was able to1.00
00:13:23.840bestow and manipulate power structures with kings and powerful men relationships with her
00:13:35.080marriage with her was a politically extremely important asset in that day and age0.78
00:13:40.740and what's one thing that I think is very important about her and I'd like for our ladies to
00:13:49.460take example from or inspiration from is that she she held herself in high value
00:14:00.780she held her lineage who she was what how she was a part of where she came from in high value
00:14:07.320and she held her station in high value she didn't sell herself cheaply she didn't
00:14:14.960she didn't allow herself to be treated poorly she didn't allow herself to be
00:14:23.420treated without respect she held her head high like a like a noble Aryan queen that she was
00:14:30.680and she keenly felt the value she had in herself and clearly the other men who were her suitors
00:14:39.920saw that she had tremendous value they didn't show that value the same respect oftentimes
00:14:45.700But 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.
00:14:54.680When any of us, male or female, but especially our ladies, find themselves in relationships.
00:15:03.760What'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.
00:15:14.700And carrying that with them and holding themselves in that place of value is so very important.
00:15:21.800And certainly I want our men to treat our women as if they have that value.
00:15:26.840And 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.
00:19:31.760I 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
00:19:48.640But an apprentice folk builder is the it's the entry level to being involved in AFA leadership and AFA volunteerism.
00:19:56.640Um, 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.
00:20:17.160so they can represent the members in their area to all the rest of the AFA and to us higher up in
00:20:23.320the AFA, and they can represent us and what the whole AFA is doing to their local members and
00:20:29.360help make sure that local people feel a part of the bigger AFA. Folk builders take care of
00:20:35.600recruiting new members if they can, of welcoming new members in that show interest, of making sure
00:20:41.960members in each of their areas are well taken care of and you know that we know what's going
00:20:47.400on with them and in their family and in their lives if they need any help um folk builders do
00:20:53.720a lot of the hard work they do a lot of our database work and stuff behind the scenes and
00:20:58.760yeah they help make the afa a living breathing thing in all of the places where we have members
00:21:06.040and not just in the big hot spots that's why we have so many folk builders spread out around the
00:21:10.840the world. And the apprenticeship, when you first become a folk builder, you spend probably at least
00:21:17.020a year being an apprentice and feeling it out, whether it's something that you feel like you're
00:21:22.660a good fit for and something that we feel like you're a good fit for. And then if you're willing
00:21:27.080to be committed to that and you're doing a good job and we want to continue that, then you would
00:21:32.200take an oath and become a full-fledged folk builder. And this last month, we had Heather
00:21:38.420Young, Tim Dumas, Jessica Lambert, and Cody Rayner take their oaths as full AFA folk builders.
00:21:50.500While I'm on it, I'd also like to congratulate Daniel Young, Trent East, and Rob Stam. They are
00:21:58.180your new gothies, newly ordained, official and recognized priests of our gods and goddesses
00:22:06.340within the astro folk assembly these gentlemen have worked very hard to earn that and to put in
00:22:12.020the work and in the study and the deep relationship to our with our gods in order to have that in
00:22:20.340their life and rise to that position i'm so very very impressed with all three of these gentlemen
00:22:25.860and i'm excited that they get to serve as priests and help our afa family in the ways that they do
00:22:36.340Bobby, I'm sorry that you feel that way.
00:22:45.020I certainly never promised you a plaque, but what I did promise was a name on our donor plaque.
00:22:50.640The donor plaque at Thorshof is absolutely being worked on.
00:22:54.000I spoke to Daniel Young and Svon Harrell about that this week.
00:22:58.640I'm sorry that's taken longer than it could have.
00:23:05.360um we will absolutely have your name up on that plaque when it gets up um
00:23:12.160we do absolutely keep our word we certainly do our best to do it and like i say i'm sorry that
00:23:17.200you feel that way but your name will be on that plaque when it goes up and we will make sure that
00:23:20.880plaque does go up uh we do not have a kindred in the las vegas area at present we would love to
00:23:32.880to see one there we do have some afa members in the area and we would love to see one um in southern
00:23:39.320nevada uh reuben asks a question about murdoch and how things are at baldershoff wants to know
00:23:55.720if we're still the boogeyman after all the initial turmoil or if things have quieted down
00:23:59.400if you are external fake news media we're still the the evil scary boogeyman and fake news
00:24:09.220continues to do what they do and tell an inaccurate story if you're a person who lives in Murdoch or
00:24:15.040the surrounding towns it's not the case I've been really happy this year I've been out to Murdoch
00:24:20.160three times so far this year and those people have treated us tremendously well our neighbors
00:24:27.480seem to genuinely love us. Last week, we had folks bringing us by cupcakes up there.
00:24:37.480We've got people that drive by every time we're out there and honk and wave and stop by with
00:24:42.920positive messages. Got a lot of old timers in the community that used to be members of the
00:24:47.480Lutheran church that used to occupy that building. They come by and look and see what we've done and
00:24:53.640are thrilled with how we've taken care of the place and made it beautiful again, share with
00:24:58.440us stories about weddings that they had there years ago. We've had great interactions with our
00:25:04.520neighbors and great interactions in the community. Can't say everybody there loves us, but see no
00:25:10.620reason to think that they don't. We've had a really, really positive experience, and I'm very
00:25:15.480happy about that. News is going to make up whatever they're going to make up, but being there and
00:25:20.240getting to experience it firsthand. It's really a special feeling. And those people have been
00:25:24.140very, very kind to us. Okay. Tim asks if I could explain the Alu formula. For those of you that
00:25:47.340don't know the alu formula is a runic formula of ansuz laguz and uruz
00:25:56.220it's something that's been found archaeologically as one of the
00:26:01.820one of the ancient runic formulas in the elder futhark also sometimes you'll see it backwards as
00:26:09.580as, I guess, Ula, I don't know how you pronounce it, but as Uruz, Laguz, and Ansuz.
00:26:22.100It has a lot of meanings and a lot of correlations, and there's a lot of ways you can take it and
00:26:28.800apply it. What I think is very fundamental to the way that we worship, the way that we interact with
00:26:35.760our gods and that very sacred sharing that we have is answers representing the higher the astral
00:26:44.520the gods lagu's representing the fluid of transmission be that mead and ritual be that
00:26:53.420our energy be that our very blood and then urus representing the primal or representing the folk
00:27:00.980and passing that energy back and forth the transfer of energy as we share in our rituals
00:27:08.380when we do bloat from heart to hand to horn putting our energy into the horn into that mead
00:27:13.300and then consuming that and offering that up to the gods makes that alu connection and the gods
00:27:21.000blessing the mead and then us sprinkling it on the uh our full our assembled folk
00:27:26.900takes that power from from the gods to the mead to us and that relationship up and down back and
00:27:35.140forth cycling with with our gods is very very important it's essential to all that we do
00:27:40.260um and in a in another sense that lagus that connection between the gods and the folk and
00:27:49.120the medium that connects that that's the function that our gothar try to perform to the best of our
00:27:55.200ability. On our Gotar ring, I've got a circle around it of Ansuz, Laguz, Uruz, Laguz, Ansuz,
00:28:05.480and so on, repeating forever in a ring, in a circle, because that never-ending cycle of
00:28:14.380us sharing with the gods and the gods sharing with us, us to the gods, the gods to us,
00:28:19.980That is the very nature of our religiosity and how we connect to the divine and how we feel the divine in our lives.
00:28:27.740So 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.
00:28:36.780um so i'm getting a hard time because i'm having people over this weekend and i'm making a
00:28:49.220traditional friesian dish uh sauerkraut and bananas if you guys haven't tried it it sounds
00:28:55.280disgusting it's not it's delicious um i don't have a particular mat recipe for it i googled it just
00:29:02.600like you can, and you will get recipes and find out I didn't make it up. But it's neat. It makes
00:29:07.600kind of a shepherd's pie or a cottage pie, and it has all the good fixings on that. But for the
00:29:13.520gravy in it, it's a layer of bananas and a layer of sauerkraut. And the sweet and the sour makes
00:29:19.640a delicious goo that ties the whole thing together. Give it a try. You'll be happy that you did.
00:29:32.600is there an afa district within the greater indianapolis metropolitan area um
00:29:54.840or in the state of wisconsin or in joplin missouri uh not a specific district no our districts are
00:30:05.160based around our hofs but we do have kindreds both we have kindred in missouri we have a very
00:30:10.840active a very active kindred in missouri we have a very active kindred um in wisconsin and um
00:30:19.960we have a very active kindred in indiana i'd have to look on the map and see where it is
00:30:23.640in relation to Indianapolis. We also have a lot of activity in all the surrounding states around
00:30:29.820Indiana. We have two folk builders in the state of Indiana. So over on the side, hopefully my wife
00:30:38.020and the other AFA leaders we have on the side can direct you to Melissa Mills, who runs the0.82
00:30:43.600Kindred in Missouri. James Ault, who runs the Kindred in Wisconsin. And then
00:30:51.200John Rock and Zach Cato, who are folk building in Indiana. And hopefully we can get you set up
00:30:59.360with one or all of those folks, because they'd love to help you get connected with people.
00:31:07.580Okay. Eric asks, how does one become an apprentice?
00:31:13.600And 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.
00:31:23.420And he just stepped up to be an apprentice folk builder this last week.
00:42:41.200The 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.
00:43:02.980sharing that in that very holy place in that time with family, with warmth, with all the
00:43:09.900beautiful things we've all come to love about Yule. It's hard to put into words, but it touches
00:43:15.320your heart. It's touching. You watch all those kids playing together. You watch people who've
00:43:19.760never met each other meet for the first time and over the course of an afternoon become close
00:43:24.260friends and family. Being out there and standing in the ritual circle and sharing that, sharing
00:43:31.900that celebration with our folk and making those friends and making those connections to be
00:43:37.660surrounded by that many people that you consider family and that are close to you is it's beautiful
00:43:44.780beyond words and i hope you all get to experience yule at one of our hoffs this year we're working
00:43:52.280very hard to make sure that if you don't then we'll have a hoff near you one of these years
00:43:56.400coming up soon. You'll be able to share that there. And like I say, if you guys want to drive
00:44:02.560and you can make it out to one of our hosts for Yule, any of them would love to have you there.
00:44:17.600Ox, I'm glad you approve of the banana and sauerkraut recipe. It's good, I promise. It's
00:44:23.260really good. I made it the first time just because it seemed really strange. It's a Frisian dish.
00:44:27.880So we were looking up Frisian dishes to celebrate a day of remembrance for King Radbod one year.
00:44:36.080And this one sounded really off the wall. So we wanted to give it a try. Now, I don't believe
00:44:40.380in Radbod's day. There was bananas in Frisia, but that's come to be a dish over there that they like.
00:44:50.200So we figured we'd give it a try. And I was really surprised. It's very good. I like it.
00:45:29.080California 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.
00:45:42.260I think you see the population of AFA members much closer together on the East Coast because those states are tiny and very close.
00:45:50.200But California's got our our members. It's got Odin's Hoff, which I was just talking about.
00:45:55.040That'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.
00:46:05.880But we have members down in Southern California as well. Reach out.
00:46:10.420Somebody on the side can get you in touch with all of our folk builders and leadership we have in California.
00:46:16.040And and yeah, we'd be excited to get you connected with those folks.
00:46:20.200As usual, I am blessed with the most beautiful co-host ever here for her little special guest appearance.
00:46:30.860She is going to be 19 months old here soon.
00:46:35.040She'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.
00:46:50.200I'm looking for more questions on the side hey um so Cliff asked me a question and I think he's
00:47:14.360asking it jokingly but I think people on the other team would ask it seriously no when I was ordained
00:47:18.840as i was harry goethe i didn't uh i didn't wear a funny homemade headdress thing that looked like
00:47:24.600it was made out of a box um there was also not an accompanying soundtrack just so you would know that
00:47:30.920something ominous or cool was happening um apparently that is what happened on on that
00:47:40.520video with folks on the other team but uh i missed out so if there is a cardboard hat that i was
00:47:46.360supposed to inherit at some point uh you guys can send that to me thank you very much for joining
00:47:52.680me obbs thanks for bringing her mandy um yeah i think it was described as a coors light box that
00:48:00.360was cut into decorative vikingy designs so no i did not get one of those hats um st
00:48:14.360your questions about becoming a member depends where you are if you tell us where you're located
00:48:19.860we can tell you who to talk to you are always welcome to talk to me directly on it uh matt
00:48:25.640flavell f-l-a-v-e-l at runestone.org and i'd be happy to answer anything i could
00:48:31.200um and we'll get you we'll get you the question the answers that you need
00:48:35.060Well, hi, Jill. Please tell your kids that I said hello, and it was good to get to meet them at winter nights.
00:48:53.920Looks like I'm a little bit behind on my questions, so if somebody's already gotten to the answers, that's great.
00:48:59.920We may have a little bit of redundancy, but that may help others who listen to this down the road.
00:49:05.060OX, I figured that your health question was alluding to the vax in some way.
00:49:15.320Yeah, I think a lot of us are on a very similar page. I try to be very careful. I don't think
00:49:21.540that the Astro Folk Assembly has a specific doctrine on COVID or on this specific vaccination.0.69
00:49:27.860We don't. But a lot of us share a common worldview and share a common view about about this whole situation.
00:49:37.380I 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.
00:50:00.280People 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.
00:50:30.280Reuben if you want to bring your wife that'd be fine.
00:50:43.160We would like all of our members to bring their family members to events and to share
00:55:16.480And in Pacific Northwest is a place that one of the next couple of Hoffs we're looking to put one in.
00:55:22.940Your closest physical Hoff is going to be in Brownsville, California.
00:55:27.640but you've got a very active group of people in your area that I would encourage you to get in
00:55:31.720contact with because they're doing a lot of really cool stuff up there and we would love
00:55:35.960for you to be able to build those bonds.
00:55:57.640I appreciate you guys making all these connections over on the side.
00:56:18.700This has been a really good side chat tonight.
00:56:21.520I'm hoping you guys are getting together with the folks you need to.
00:56:25.400Do we have any more questions tonight?
00:56:27.180Anything 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?
00:56:33.940If there is, please let me know and I'd be happy to do what I can.
00:56:42.680So another thing, if you guys have questions throughout the month and you're just not on the spot here with them,
00:56:49.260please feel free to email those to me and I'll do my best to answer them.
00:56:53.100um i'm happy to answer them you know just as a private email if you'd like but if you'd like
00:56:58.980me to answer them on the next live chat i'd be happy to do that as well so please always feel
00:57:04.620free you don't just get to talk to me for an hour a month um if you guys ever have a question or
00:57:11.480anything i can help you guys out with please email me matt flavel at runestone.org and i would
00:57:17.420be very happy to do my best to help you out or give you an answer to any questions you might have
00:57:22.440It's an open door, so please feel really free to do that.
00:57:49.240Okay, we've got a couple of questions.
00:57:50.600So 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.
00:58:19.880We have members who have served their countries no matter where they're from.
00:58:25.920And we want to celebrate that and we want to honor that.
00:58:28.440We want to honor that great martial tradition.
00:58:30.700We want to honor the courage and the sacrifice of our brave men who stepped up to that call
00:58:39.300and who have put their life in forfeit for a king, for a country, for the guy next to
00:58:48.460their courage to go out there and do that speaks of something very, very special in the soul of
00:58:58.280our people and something that so many of us have never experienced and don't share that bond with
00:59:04.840them. We want to celebrate that and give them a day where we're, where we're honoring them. And
00:59:11.520also it's a good time to honor your ancestors who served. I know we all have proud veterans
00:59:16.360and our families and to give them honor on that day and thanks and appreciation is is a really
00:59:22.360special thing to do as well um as far as yule stuff within the family at home um for those of
00:59:32.880you in the united states and i think this extends to our folk a lot of places all the things that
00:59:38.400are fun about Christmas is Yule stuff. Jesus in the manger is not Yule stuff, but Christmas
00:59:46.980trees or Yule trees, any of those caroling, celebrations, wassailing, any of the things
00:59:56.060that culturally we've all loved about Christmas, those are all Yule traditions. That's why
01:00:03.680they resonate so much with our folk soul. Also, also on this channel where you're watching this
01:00:09.640right now, we've got loaded up the 12 days of Yule by our founder, Steve McNallan, where he talks
01:00:15.960about lighting a candle to one of our values for each of those days. And so I'd encourage you guys
01:00:21.460to listen to those on the appropriate days, or heck, listen to them now if you want to.
01:00:26.920We always make sure to listen to those every year during the 12 days of Yuletide. So I would
01:00:32.200encourage that for your family. Okay, so we got somebody who asked a question, I'm just going to
01:00:44.700take it at face value. I want to know about what the gods think of masculine gayness.
01:00:53.840it's not a difficult question but I'm always hesitant to tell you this is what the gods think
01:01:07.680I'm too reverent for that I don't want to put words in the mouth of our gods0.98
01:01:14.760but I have every reason to believe that our gods do not approve of male homosexuality1.00
01:01:23.440I 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
01:01:37.520Within the House True Folk Assembly, we don't allow it for a number of reasons.1.00
01:01:43.200Fundamentally, we think homosexuality is a mental illness, and it's a dangerous one at that.0.96
01:01:50.940it destroys lives it sets a very very bad very confusing example to our young people0.99
01:02:01.440and we want to keep our families safe and the inclusion of male homosexuals in our family1.00
01:02:11.980oriented gatherings would present a risk to our children that I don't feel is appropriate for us1.00
01:02:17.900to take. So we do not accept homosexuals into the Austrofolk1.00
01:02:21.680Assembly. And I do not believe that our gods approve of that in1.00
01:04:32.340would I do to, or what advice do I have about communicating what Alcetru is about, what the
01:04:39.080AFA is about to non-Alcetru or people that you meet in the outside world? All of the things I've
01:04:46.320said previously about being the example, showing them who you are, and then explaining that Alcetru
01:04:54.460has helped you become that person is hugely important. The other thing I'd really suggest,
01:05:00.280And 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.
01:05:07.240But 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.
01:05:18.780I would share those with those people. They get to see us at our best.
01:05:23.000They get to see what we look like, what one of our gatherings is like, what our Hoffs are like.
01:05:29.580They get to really get a feel of what that is and what kind of people practice that.
01:05:35.280And our families, our smiling faces, our special moments at those events, I think those are one of the best testimonies about who we are.