00:08:25.760we have a very very accomplished and quality batch of gothar that are are
00:08:33.260fixing to be ordained here in the near future got a lot of really great folks
00:08:37.340that have put in dedication to the Austria folk assembly put in dedication
00:08:41.580to our gods and to our people some people were going to be very proud to to
00:08:47.620be ordaining here in the coming months so you guys will be seeing those and like
00:08:52.340said we're very proud of this year's class ah hail to you Terry glad you're
00:08:59.720joining us hope you're hope you're doing all right there with the storm coming
00:09:05.740your way hope all of our folks down in the deep south are doing okay with the
00:09:09.620storm if any of you guys are in the areas affected by the storm and you need
00:09:16.220anything or you find yourself in a rough spot please reach out to us please reach
00:09:21.380out to your folk builders. We definitely want to hear from you, and if there's any
00:09:25.820way we can help, we'd like to do that also.
00:09:33.820Hey Bodie, good you can join us tonight. So let's answer some questions.
00:09:46.060What do you guys want to talk about this evening? What's on y'all's mind?
00:09:51.380Well, we're glad you're safe, Terry, and out of the path of the storm.
00:10:06.600Oh, so for anybody tonight, we are looking, we're looking on the phone and on here on the side to try to get everybody's questions answered.
00:10:18.620it's really tricky we're still trying to figure it out i know i don't always see your comments
00:10:24.100when you make them so please know we are we're trying to be aware of that and we're trying to
00:10:29.640trying to get that better um as always if you guys ask anything that i don't get to for some
00:10:35.900reason or i don't see i'm not ducking yet i promise i will get to it either after this call
00:10:41.240tonight or you know the coming day or so uh to make sure i'm answering any anything you guys
00:10:47.240have or anything, any questions you guys have. It's all very much deserving of an answer
00:10:52.900and I want to be able to do that for you. Update on HOF number two. Okay. So, and a correction
00:11:12.660because Steve is asking, and it may colloquially be in the Midwest, but it's in our Northern
00:11:19.420Plains region that we've been looking. We have a property that we've looked at that looks very
00:11:24.920nice. We're in the process right now of, again, trying to figure out the situation with the
00:11:31.780seller. Like I've said a couple of times now, and I promise this is moving forward,
00:11:37.680but we're in a really good spot. We're in a spot where we get to make the decision on what we want
00:11:42.000to commit to and what we don't and we're not at the whim of you know trying to figure out finances
00:11:47.840or desperately scraping we're in a really nice spot now coming you know just eight months after
00:11:54.460we paid off odin's off now we're in a spot where we can take a good look and we can choose the spot
00:11:59.320that we want and we're trying to be very responsible about making a good choice one of the previous
00:12:04.080ones we came close on i'd had a mold problem so we had to pass it up like i say we want to we want
00:12:10.220to do the right things have a have a hoff that's going to honor our gods appropriately that's going
00:12:14.640to be quality for our afa family and and that's gonna gonna look good and serve us well in the
00:12:22.140right place at the right time so with the guidance of the divine we are trying to to do that the best
00:12:28.980we can and like i said we've got a really nice one that we're looking at right now so got good
00:12:34.160folks up in minnesota we're doing a lot of work for us on the ground trying to get it squared
00:12:37.780So I think we'll have some news on that sooner rather than later, and I will keep you guys in the loop on it
00:19:12.080And when you form a kindred, there's a process.
00:19:15.280A lot of people will have a certain vetting process before they allow people to join their kindred.
00:19:19.440They'll have, you know, maybe we need to know each other for three months or six months
00:19:24.400and then become formal members of the kindred.
00:19:27.600So there's a lot of intermediate steps in that sense, but as far as forming an AFA kindred, once you have three members, three AFA members that are adults that, you know, want to take that step and be an AFA kindred, then you need to contact Jason Gallagher.
00:19:44.880he'll send you our kindred application and try to get you set up talk to you a
00:19:49.980little bit more about it and yeah then the next step is to get yourself a cool
00:19:55.620name and a and a flag that represents who you guys are and how you want to be
00:20:00.540seen and yeah we would love to welcome more AFA kindreds so if that's something
00:20:06.360you're interested in like I say Jason Gallagher is the kindred coordinator and
00:20:10.380and he'd be really happy to help you with that process.
00:20:21.340Speaking of that, we got one of our Brazilian members
00:37:57.840I think it's been that way probably for a while there in Brazil, but it's really nice to have you guys with us.
00:38:03.520I don't think we can do anything today that's magically going to fix everything going on in your country and the concerns you have.
00:38:11.860But being here and being part of it is the start of fixing it in your life, in the life of your kindred, in the life of your community.
00:38:20.380And we're really happy to have you with us.
00:38:23.320All of us go through difficult times in our areas and we look around and see things we don't like.0.52
00:38:27.980But this here, this here is a pocket of golden age that we can build, that we can maintain, and that we can grow here within a wolf age, a Kali Yuga around us.1.00
00:38:38.960The Astru Folk Assembly is our opportunity to construct the world we want within the decaying one that we have around us.0.99
00:38:46.940And to focus on beauty and building and something really great, even when things aren't necessarily the way we want outside.0.86
00:38:52.740We can focus on what we have inside with our folk and with the Astru Folk Assembly.
00:38:57.260and I'm excited about that process and have you guys with us for it that's
00:39:05.060great Jessica Jessica mentions that the Midwest region is all getting in one
00:39:10.100huge caravan coming down there I hope that's the case we would love to see you
00:39:14.060guys it's it's really a great event at winter nights anyone who hasn't been
00:39:20.020love to have you there it's a magical place if you come be sure to check out
00:39:24.500the waterfall is one of the most beautiful spectacular things that that
00:39:29.180you get the opportunity to see winter nights is great I love it come on out
00:39:34.460please if coming out to AFA events is so important that was one of my first
00:39:39.800things that's what really sunk in the reality of the AFA to me is when I went
00:39:44.300to my first midsummer and I have chased after going to as many events as I could
00:39:48.980ever since then because i realized that you know the 360 days a year that weren't at an event with
00:39:56.900my folk with the afa were all preparation and wanting to be back there with my folk
00:40:03.700so please if you can make it to one of our events get out of the house come to afa events and
00:40:10.820participate because that's where it happens and that's where it's real and we've had such a surge
00:40:14.980and participation. We'd love everybody to be part of it.
00:40:20.020All right, so we're getting a question from
00:40:50.020one of our Brazilian ladies, and it's not quite translating the best.
00:40:57.180I'm not sure what moisture people are, but I think it's fascinating,
00:41:04.600and I'm very entertained by the possibilities, I guess.
00:41:08.020Why a lot of people that aren't our folk are interested in the Aesir and in Alstutra lately.
00:41:14.500I think some of it's pop culture. I think some of it is just Vikings are cool.
00:41:18.300I think that's a factor that we always contend with.
00:41:21.420The other thing that I think affects a lot of people, and not just us,
00:41:25.580especially in the West, as we've seen a decline in Christianity and the church,
00:41:39.460They're not connected with their roots or their ancestors or their gods.
00:41:43.420And so they look for something that seems authentic.
00:41:46.840And I think it speaks well of us that we do have people from, you know, other backgrounds that like what we do and are inspired by it.
00:41:54.140I hope that we can send those people on their way to their own gods, their own ancestors.
00:41:59.740But the fact that they look to us as what we're doing is legitimate and they want some of what we have.
00:42:05.040It's a little bit like how in the 70s and 80s, our folk used to look to the Native Americans and think that they had such a great thing with their connectedness to their ancestors.0.75
00:42:16.100and their ancestral faith, and it was important we stepped away from that0.98
00:42:20.220and drunk from our own well, and so I would encourage those people to do
00:42:24.220that as well, but I think it speaks highly of us that other people see what
00:42:28.240we're doing and want a piece of that. They should go out and build it and find it for themselves
00:42:32.400in their own community, and I hope they're inspired to do so.
00:42:40.240I'm looking forward to that DCR bloat also.
00:42:42.300So, fun fact, a de-sear bloated a few winter nights ago was the most powerful ritual I've ever been a part of.
00:42:52.780It was visceral and real and powerful and shook everyone there to their very cores.
00:42:59.180So, de-sear bloats can be extremely powerful, and I'm sure this one will be.
00:43:02.660that's great rob i'm glad you feel that way about uh rob says that being at an event's like like
00:43:15.900coming home and that's certainly certainly what we try for and uh that's certainly what i felt
00:43:22.860that's what we hear from our from our membership all the time and i hope that all of our afa family
00:43:27.400feel like they come home when they come to one of our events
00:43:29.540that's hmm so Jason that's a it's a complex question but I think the answer is kind of
00:43:53.660simple uh jason asks what is your advice from shifting your focus from causes to meaningful
00:44:00.300spirituality and from white victimization to becoming successful and powerful along the path
00:44:05.820of ostrich it's almost as though that question answers itself when you read it shifting your
00:44:13.420focus from external things to internal things that you have some control over and that doesn't mean
00:44:19.740just being passive about the political situations in life or other things in life you have to deal
00:44:25.280with. But as far as the Austro-Folk Assembly is concerned, I think that what's really important
00:44:31.860is making that focus about things that you can build and things that are positive, like our folk,
00:44:38.000like our church, like your kindred. You have the opportunity to affect hundreds, perhaps thousands
00:44:44.400of people in meaningful ways by focusing your attention on making that better make yourself
00:44:51.200your life your family your kindred better make the afa better by you succeeding and by you keeping
00:44:57.760your head up and focusing on on the big picture and what you want to build and what you want to
00:45:02.560accomplish it's very easy to focus on all of the things that you don't like or the things you wish
00:45:07.680you could tear down but that doesn't accomplish anything it burns you out and it burns your soul
00:45:12.960out. What I think's great, and one of the reasons I love talking to you guys every month like this,
00:45:18.680is we can focus on building what we have, making that greater, making that better. And I'm watching
00:45:24.240that happens a little bit every year. I talked earlier about building a golden age within the
00:45:31.220wolf age that surrounds us. And we're doing that. And I think that's the way to do it. I think when
00:45:37.080he mentions victimization it's very easy to look out at any problem and find
00:45:43.500whose fault it is and don't get me wrong there are plenty of things that happen
00:45:48.960to you that are someone else's fault somebody gave you you know short end of
00:45:52.800the stick somebody did you wrong but that doesn't get you anywhere when you
00:45:58.320take responsibility and everything is your fault then everything is within
00:46:02.880in your power to fix, to change. Any route you're going on that's going in a direction you don't
00:46:09.440want, you can change it. You can turn it around. You can make yourself better. We can all do that
00:46:14.420starting today. There's not one of us here, no matter how bad we've been victimized, that can't
00:46:19.240make tomorrow a little bit better than today by focusing on what we can build and not what's been
00:46:25.140taken from us or what, you know, we feel we've been blocked from building. We have so much
00:46:30.340opportunity ahead of us. The sky is the limit. You know what? The sky's not even the limit. Our
00:46:36.120folk are the space-faring folk. We've traveled to the moon. The sky is no longer our limit.
00:46:41.020But we've got to stand together, and we've got to push, and we've got to achieve great things,
00:46:44.380and try things. And when we try, we succeed as a folk.
00:46:55.480You're right, Lane, by building community. And that's what we're talking about, and that's what
00:46:59.420doing and matter of fact since the last call lane you've stepped up as a folk builder for
00:47:04.700the deep south anybody who's not aware lane ashby of florida is an afa apprentice folk
00:47:09.420builder now in the deep south so lane you are you are working to build that community we appreciate
00:47:14.460it a lot. So our folk in the southern hemisphere, it's pointed out that everything's opposite there
00:47:34.880as far as the calendar goes. And Yule there is when we're celebrating midsummer and vice versa.
00:47:41.560I don't think there's really a wrong way to do it. It's a process we've been discussing, but certainly our folk in New Zealand and Australia have some pretty ingrained traditions in how they celebrate, and they've kind of made it their own.
00:47:54.900I think it's really interesting, and I think it speaks to the scope of the Austro-Folk Assembly, that we have AFA family in both hemispheres.
00:48:06.360It's something special, I always think, when we're celebrating Yule, and I see our folk down in the Southern Hemisphere celebrating Midsummer.
00:48:15.040It's something really special that we can say that, that I don't think other people can.
00:48:18.860And it's really, I think it's really a special thing.
00:48:23.340And I think that, you know, you're certainly free to do it the opposite if you want to sync up with what we're doing.
00:48:29.540But the fact that we have the ability and the scope and the range of members in our family that can celebrate at those different times really speaks to how big that we are.
00:48:40.460Something that I've enjoyed saying lately is the sun never sets on the Astro Folk Assembly.
00:52:25.420I know it's a special thing and I'm excited to see you and as many as Sandhills kindred that can make it up there as possible.
00:52:32.320It's really going to be a nice one this year.
00:52:38.440Oh, that'd be great if Blaine could come. We'd love to have him back out there. It's been a while.
00:52:49.040I think that's interesting, Jessica, again, talking about the charity work as far as getting pre-certified to help out with Disaster Stride.
00:52:55.420It's something that Mandy and I learned when we were in Santa Rosa and we wanted to help