Radio 3Fourteen - Asatru_ Native Spirituality of European Folk

00:00:00.000 Thank you for listening.

00:00:30.000 This is Radio 314 on the Red Ice Radio Network.

00:01:00.000 So many European folk today are attracted to it.

00:01:03.120 Asa True is about roots, connection, and coming home.

00:01:06.340 It's an expression of the native pre-Christian spirituality of Europe.

00:01:10.400 No, it's not role-playing, playing dress-up or something witchy feminist liberals practice. 1.00

00:01:15.240 And we'll talk about this as the AFA has been under fire for being a discriminatory organization.

00:01:20.480 Matt Flayville, up next.

00:01:22.360 Matt Flayville, welcome to the program.

00:01:24.920 Oh, thanks for having me.

00:01:26.100 Yeah, I had the pleasure of meeting you and your lovely wife at an austera celebration.

00:01:29.740 And you were leading a great bloot.

00:01:31.860 So I had a lot of fun at that celebration.

00:01:34.360 I'm glad you enjoyed it.

00:01:35.360 We really liked having you guys there.

00:01:36.920 That was really neat.

00:01:37.740 A lot of our people have been big fans for a long time.

00:01:40.640 Yeah, I was surprised by that.

00:01:41.660 That was fun.

00:01:42.580 I felt like welcomed right away.

00:01:44.160 And so many people knew the show.

00:01:45.640 And it was very warm.

00:01:47.060 I really enjoyed it.

00:01:47.900 I thought that today we'd, you know, start with some of the basics because people always

00:01:51.540 ask me, what is also true?

00:01:53.220 What is it?

00:01:53.980 So maybe we can talk about that and then talk about some of the other recent attacks that

00:01:58.640 are going on towards AFA.

00:02:01.140 So tell us, what does asa true mean?

00:02:03.920 I think that's a really good place to start.

00:02:05.920 Well, asa true is an Icelandic word.

00:02:09.420 It's kind of an old Norse word that means trough or loyalty to the Aesir.

00:02:14.400 So it basically means loyalty to the old gods of Europe.

00:02:18.120 Okay.

00:02:18.740 And then when did it really start?

00:02:20.920 I know it's hard to say that.

00:02:22.820 Well, it's our belief that it started with the dawn of our people way back, you know,

00:02:28.520 as soon as our people became identified as a group.

00:02:31.320 But more recently, it kind of got a restart back in the early 70s.

00:02:36.600 And it was interesting because it got a simultaneous reboot unbeknownst to one another, both in Iceland

00:02:42.260 and in England and then in the United States, and all within about three years of each other

00:02:47.620 back in the early 70s.

00:02:48.980 I guess an easy way to explain it would probably be it's an expression of the native, you know,

00:02:54.040 pre-Christian spirituality of Europe.

00:02:56.200 I know people are attracted to the Abrahamic religions because I think humans, we have a

00:03:00.180 spiritual need to fill.

00:03:01.960 People want community.

00:03:02.860 They want fellowship.

00:03:04.060 They want answers to the big questions.

00:03:06.280 You know, why is the religion of our ancestors best for us, in your view?

00:03:11.600 Well, I mean, I guess let me ask you to answer that in two ways.

00:03:15.920 I'll tell you a little bit about my coming to Alistair and what my thought process was.

00:03:20.980 Because I think it's relevant to this.

00:03:22.760 I was a very spiritual person growing up, and I got into my early adulthood, and I was

00:03:29.460 really spiritual, but I wasn't raised with a lot of religion.

00:03:32.820 And my aunt and their family were Jehovah's Witnesses.

00:03:36.600 And so I got into that for a little bit because I figured, you know, what options do I have

00:03:41.100 if you're going to be religious?

00:03:42.160 There's Christianity.

00:03:43.900 I'm not Jewish. 0.55

00:03:45.140 I'm not Muslim. 0.94

00:03:46.140 So there's Christianity. 0.80

00:03:47.100 That's kind of all that I thought I had.

00:03:48.800 So I tried to do that really hard and found out that it was progressively more and more

00:03:54.520 trying to beat a square peg into a round hole, and it just wasn't good.

00:03:58.640 I examined the biblical God, and I went through and I read my Bible several times.

00:04:04.600 I finally decided that if this is what there is, then the God of the Bible is not someone

00:04:10.020 I want to associate with and not someone I want to be a part of.

00:04:13.440 By human standards, they would be a bad person, and I couldn't be part of that.

00:04:18.960 And so then I broke with Christianity, and I found myself still very spiritual.

00:04:23.800 And so it occurred to me, you know, what did our people have before Christianity?

00:04:28.540 Because, you know, I was a student of history, and I appreciated those things.

00:04:32.340 So I tried to think, what did we have before that?

00:04:34.920 And that got me thinking, got me looking, and soon enough I found the AFA, and I found,

00:04:38.820 you know, I wasn't the only person who thought like that, and that was a really good feeling.

00:04:42.360 It's amazing that our parents and our grandparents, a lot of them don't even know, but it's up

00:04:46.900 to people like us to kind of do the research and kind of bring it back to life.

00:04:51.240 Yeah, and when I think about, you know, Asatru and paganism, I think it was started by our

00:04:56.080 own people, right?

00:04:56.920 Not just some strangers in the Middle East that we don't really have much in common with,

00:05:00.880 right?

00:05:01.620 Well, exactly.

00:05:02.240 You asked, you know, why this is the best for our people, and it's because it's native

00:05:07.640 to our people.

00:05:08.480 It's not an add-on.

00:05:10.620 It springs from the very folk soul, the root of our people.

00:05:15.760 The gods of Asatru are the gods of our blood, of our heritage.

00:05:21.680 They reflect our people and our unique way of dealing with the world.

00:05:25.280 The founder of the AFA, Steve McNeill, and he talks about that when he talks about metagenetics.

00:05:30.220 It's, and it's the idea that your spiritual outlook and your spirituality is passed on

00:05:36.120 genetically, much like your other traits you passed on.

00:05:39.600 So what do you think about the claim, you know, that our ancestors, they were just simple-minded

00:05:44.260 savages, you know, they just ate meat and drank mead.

00:05:47.480 They were just uncivilized.

00:05:48.940 We always hear that when people think of pagans or Vikings.

00:05:51.600 What do you think when you hear this?

00:05:53.400 Well, one of the things that I'd like to clear up that's different from the AFA and, you

00:06:00.200 claim to be doing the same thing.

00:06:02.240 We're not Viking reenactors.

00:06:05.340 You know, I, the Vikings did a lot of cool stuff.

00:06:08.480 I'm not going to try to tell you they didn't.

00:06:09.920 The Vikings are neat.

00:06:10.760 I like them.

00:06:11.540 Everybody likes Vikings.

00:06:12.420 But in the same way that gangster rappers all want to wear Jesus pieces and have their blinged

00:06:20.280 out crosses, they're not an example of the Christian faith.

00:06:24.700 I don't think that Viking marauders are the prime example of thousands of years of European

00:06:29.660 spirituality.

00:06:30.200 We have a spiritual tradition that was very rich and it dates back, you know, into Neolithic

00:06:36.160 times and to isolate it to one very, very small expression at a time where we happened

00:06:42.480 to have just gotten literacy.

00:06:43.640 It's, it's kind of, it's kind of misleading.

00:06:46.880 Yeah.

00:06:47.240 I think too, the Vikings and the various Germanic tribes, they were the source of some of our,

00:06:51.900 you know, finest civilized traditions, if you will.

00:06:54.500 I mean, trial by jury, parliaments, common law, right to bear arms, rights of women, right?

00:07:00.600 Actually, I think the word law even comes from the Norse language.

00:07:03.540 So, I mean, there's not just simpletons that didn't bring anything and just drank and ate. 0.97

00:07:09.280 It's ridiculous. 0.94

00:07:09.560 No, they're not a complex society and they're not a society that's got roots back, you know, 0.95

00:07:15.500 in the Aryan migration period.

00:07:17.140 They've got a really proud spirituality with a lot of really important traditions.

00:07:20.440 The runic tradition was a really very well-developed tradition.

00:07:24.520 Absolutely a profound thing.

00:07:26.280 It certainly wasn't the simple picture that we did with it.

00:07:29.600 It's funny that you mentioned kind of the role-playing or Viking reenactments.

00:07:33.080 A lot of times when we mention paganism, a lot of people just seem to think, oh, that's

00:07:37.740 just LARPing, right?

00:07:38.740 Live-action role-playing, like you're doing dress-up or D&D and doing silly rituals.

00:07:44.640 So, what do you say to that?

00:07:46.780 Well, you know what?

00:07:48.300 Unfortunately, for a lot of folks, as became obvious to me this week, it is about that.

00:07:53.760 And I want to make a very clear separation between the AFA and the folks that that's

00:07:57.160 what they do.

00:07:59.640 Pagan tends to be a category that's, you know, synonymous with other.

00:08:03.260 And if you don't fit in with any of the other religions, y'all get lumped in this big melting 0.97

00:08:09.020 pot coalition of paganism.

00:08:11.960 And we don't want any part of that.

00:08:14.780 A lot of people do that, but it's not what we do.

00:08:17.200 It's a modern religion.

00:08:18.560 It's the religion of our people.

00:08:20.060 It grows with our people.

00:08:21.160 It develops with our people.

00:08:22.220 And as always, it faces the challenges that our people face and becomes and is relevant

00:08:26.640 to those challenges.

00:08:28.120 Exactly.

00:08:28.700 We're not talking about Wiccan witches or these so-called, you know, people practicing

00:08:33.560 white magic or this modern day kind of witchy stuff, which attracts a lot of liberal feminists. 1.00

00:08:39.300 You know, it really bothers me that people, when they think paganism, they think of these

00:08:43.400 witchy liberal feminist types. 1.00

00:08:45.260 And it seems like they've kind of hijacked some of these fun rituals. 0.92

00:08:49.700 Well, they really have.

00:08:51.300 And, you know, I don't want to speak to every single Wiccan out there. 1.00

00:08:54.600 I'm sure that there are some people that do some fairly authentic spiritual practices

00:08:59.100 under that umbrella.

00:09:00.140 But by and large, you're right.

00:09:02.380 There's this big milieu of hyper-liberal paganism that starts out with some kind of form of magic

00:09:09.900 and ritual, but ends up just being an engine for social justice warriors and for very extreme

00:09:15.660 examples.

00:09:17.640 Yeah.

00:09:18.260 Well, recently, I think the AFA was under fire for being racist, sexist, homophobic, discriminatory,

00:09:25.380 blah, blah.

00:09:26.000 So tell us what happened recently.

00:09:27.980 Okay.

00:09:28.280 Well, the AFA and myself in specific stand accused of all manner of evils from racism

00:09:36.560 and bigotry and intolerance and homophobia and this phobia and that phobia.

00:09:41.320 I come find out the AFA, I guess, is scared of a whole lot of things I didn't think that

00:09:44.480 I was afraid of.

00:09:46.220 But because I had the audacity to make this post, so I posted, today we are bombarded with

00:09:52.940 confusion and messages contrary to the values of our ancestors and our folk.

00:09:57.200 The AFA would like to make it clear that we believe gender is not a social construct, it

00:10:02.520 is a beautiful gift from the holy powers and from our ancestors.

00:10:06.540 The AFA celebrates our feminine ladies, our masculine gentlemen, and above all, our beautiful

00:10:12.480 white children.

00:10:14.020 The children of our folk are our shining future and the legacy of all those men and women of

00:10:19.620 our people back at the beginning.

00:10:21.740 Hail the AFA families, now and always.

00:10:25.680 Uh-oh, and then what happens?

00:10:28.180 Uh-oh.

00:10:28.840 Uh-oh is right.

00:10:30.280 It exploded and it reached a shocking number of people.

00:10:38.820 As of right now, I've got 70,519 people reached.

00:10:45.860 So we have, you know, these are numbers that we've never seen before with a post on our website.

00:10:50.500 And unfortunately, a lot of the early shares were to, uh, really extreme social justice

00:10:57.460 warrior crazy groups of people.

00:11:00.180 And so we got, you know, we got floods of people we'd never heard from, never wanted to

00:11:04.220 hear from.

00:11:06.580 Freaking out.

00:11:07.340 And, uh, very few of them had anything productive to say or any honest disagreement.

00:11:11.940 We had a lot of threats, a lot of name calling, and a whole lot of just hate and vitriol because

00:11:17.560 I had the audacity to say what I just told you guys.

00:11:20.640 I mentioned that I appreciate traditional genders and that the AFA likes beautiful white children.

00:11:28.400 That drove certain people absolutely crazy.

00:11:31.580 I mean, it's outrageous. 0.59

00:11:33.520 It would never be an issue with non-whites gathering for their native religion, only when 1.00

00:11:37.600 it's these European people who are preserving and wanting to honor their heritage and have

00:11:42.480 a sense of identity.

00:11:43.880 And it's a problem.

00:11:44.940 You know, no one tells these tribes deep in, you know, South America that they need to add

00:11:49.340 diversity and include everyone.

00:11:51.620 I mean, really, I mean, when did it become a heathen sin to be focused?

00:11:56.000 When did this happen?

00:11:57.440 Um, relatively recently, honestly.

00:12:01.580 Uh, you know, I don't, I certainly don't think that was the case with our ancestors.

00:12:05.060 And at the, the founding of Auschwitz in the United States, that was never a case.

00:12:09.600 We were, it was always a fulgish thing. 1.00

00:12:11.480 It wasn't until so much, much later that we started getting these, uh, what we call universalist,

00:12:16.980 uh, Auschwitz people, universalist heathen people. 0.99

00:12:20.640 And then, then that kind of just became, like I said earlier, that mixed in the pot of this

00:12:25.380 generic other paganism that, uh, really doesn't have a lot of form and is fairly amorphous.

00:12:30.720 And, uh, seems to have coalesced around self-loathing and pushing a hyper-liberal agenda.

00:12:38.540 I mean, it doesn't focus mean it means a tribe, ethnic or a racial group, a nation.

00:12:44.280 It's all about your ancestors.

00:12:45.700 And that means blood and race, right?

00:12:48.560 I mean, that's the very definition of it.

00:12:50.180 It's, it is exclusive.

00:12:52.020 It's not for everyone.

00:12:53.300 It does.

00:12:54.540 And there's a certain number of people that became okay with that on some level, but,

00:12:58.080 uh, you know, I'm having to become familiar with this whole new, whole new liberal lexicon

00:13:04.000 now, but I guess that using, using the word white to identify, uh, to self-identify or to

00:13:09.660 identify our people has, it triggers some folks. 0.95

00:13:13.980 I mean, this is ridiculous.

00:13:15.300 I mean, we really, we don't owe any kind of explanation for this. 0.81

00:13:18.380 We just have to charge forward.

00:13:19.580 But what I notice, isn't it mostly white people that are attacking you over this?

00:13:24.880 Oh yeah.

00:13:25.400 I, I, I'm unaware of any, uh, any other races of people that are, that are speaking out

00:13:32.180 against this.

00:13:33.260 Um, but yeah, self, self-loathing, self-loathing, uh, other white people are the ones that are 0.69

00:13:39.580 taking the biggest issue with our stance.

00:13:42.400 To tell them, okay, well, why don't you go join an African or Asian native religion and 0.95

00:13:47.380 see, see if how, if they welcome you with open arms, right?

00:13:51.280 Yeah.

00:13:51.840 Apparently, apparently that argument has, has very little weight with them.

00:13:54.980 One of the other things that made them very angry is, uh, we didn't allow, we didn't allow,

00:13:59.520 you know, horrible comments on our page.

00:14:01.720 We decided our page wasn't a, uh, a platform for them to spew, spew hatred.

00:14:06.380 And, uh, so we, we didn't let their comments be viewed and that incensed them that how,

00:14:12.460 how dare we not give them, you know, free space to post hatred and threats about us.

00:14:17.480 That's right.

00:14:18.100 It's one way free speech.

00:14:19.480 When we say the truth, it's hate speech, but then they just have the right to be hateful

00:14:23.840 as much as they want all over our platforms.

00:14:25.940 It's funny because I have literally had people advocating violence and death to, uh, to me

00:14:33.300 and to, to our people in the same statement of, because of our hate speech, because of

00:14:39.800 our hate, because of our hate and intolerance, they were going to do this violence to us.

00:14:45.000 So it's amazing how they just, they can't see like what has gone on in their head.

00:14:49.960 They just can't see.

00:14:51.660 I think it's just so much of this Marxist anti-white programming.

00:14:54.720 What do you think?

00:14:55.940 Well, absolutely.

00:14:56.780 I think we've been, we've been bombarded with that.

00:14:58.960 And that's, that's one of the reasons that I posted what I posted is I wanted to be very

00:15:03.460 clear.

00:15:04.540 Um, some people are so conditioned that they, they don't get it.

00:15:08.520 And, uh, I don't know why, but these things, you know, have this guttural reaction that

00:15:14.000 they need to flee from or whatever.

00:15:15.920 I'm, I'm very proud of who I am and I'm very proud of my people and the Astrofocus

00:15:20.520 in me being proud of, of being a proud white organization for the advancement of our

00:15:25.820 people.

00:15:26.820 I mean, worst case scenario, what do these people think is going to happen?

00:15:30.100 You almost want to ask them, what do you think is going to happen?

00:15:32.640 I mean, what are they honestly in their demented view of us think that we're going to do at

00:15:37.380 these meetings?

00:15:37.960 I have the audacity to have a different opinion than me.

00:15:42.700 And I think that in and of itself is, is something that's, that's a step too far for them to be

00:15:47.120 able to stomach, unfortunately.

00:15:49.220 It's almost like too, they think that we're going to be plotting some kind of genocide of

00:15:53.040 other people or something there, you know, Oh, too many white people getting together. 0.79

00:15:56.480 It's going to mean that they're plotting some kind of conquest, right?

00:16:00.220 Well, well, maybe, but I've heard in their very responses to, uh, to my posts, suggestions

00:16:04.960 that they were going to breed us out and that in a generation there wouldn't be any more white 1.00

00:16:09.180 people. 0.85

00:16:09.800 And their advocacy of genocide seems to be, be to the forefront.

00:16:14.460 I've been to a lot of AFA events and never have we discussed genociding any other groups

00:16:18.900 of people.

00:16:20.260 That is correct.

00:16:21.240 That is correct.

00:16:22.380 Wow.

00:16:23.140 Well, the other thing is our ancestors, they didn't talk about trans rights or multiculturalism

00:16:29.100 or racism, did they?

00:16:31.420 No, of course not.

00:16:32.540 Of course not.

00:16:34.480 Worrying about those, you know, those petty things is beneath them.

00:16:38.400 They had other things to do.

00:16:40.660 So do you think now that you're going to get kind of maybe some of these lefty types infiltrating

00:16:45.780 some of your gatherings to spy and keep an eye on you guys?

00:16:50.420 I doubt it.

00:16:51.300 One thing that we're kind of fortunate about is these other groups of people seem to be

00:16:54.740 fairly dysfunctional and, uh, and unable to really, to really come out of the various

00:17:00.220 basements and things and, and, and show up and get things accomplished.

00:17:03.940 One of the suggestions by our supporters in response to this is, hey, if you guys don't

00:17:07.960 like it, how about you guys go do your own thing?

00:17:10.260 How about you guys, you know, get together with groups that support the things that you believe

00:17:15.060 in and things you want to do instead of spending your time complaining.

00:17:17.940 But unfortunately, I guess that's more fun or takes a little bit more effort or, uh, is

00:17:22.840 beyond their capabilities.

00:17:24.320 I mean, what, what would make them happen in their view to, to be acceptable in their

00:17:28.620 eyes? 0.92

00:17:29.000 Would it mean that you would have to be multicultural and have trannies and gay families? 1.00

00:17:34.300 You know, what is it that they want? 0.98

00:17:36.140 Yeah, absolutely.

00:17:37.240 I think that, you know, some of these people, and certainly not everybody who disagrees with

00:17:40.880 me, there's people who disagree with us.

00:17:42.460 They're probably very well-meaning people.

00:17:43.840 Um, but the really, the really vicious ones that made such a stink, I think so.

00:17:48.640 I think anything short of complete and total giving up and praising of their strange lifestyles

00:17:56.340 and their strange choices, anything short of that's unacceptable.

00:17:59.400 I think not only do they want us to accept them, but I think they want us to praise them

00:18:03.520 and champion their, uh, their extreme stances and extreme behaviors.

00:18:08.340 And, uh, you know, I think that if they, some of them literally from what they've said to

00:18:12.620 me would, will only be happy when, uh, our race is no longer a distinguishable group of

00:18:18.360 people.

00:18:18.780 And that's, that's unacceptable.

00:18:20.560 Yeah, it's interesting how, I mean, what we're talking about, this religion, it's in touch

00:18:25.000 with nature and natural cycles, right?

00:18:27.820 Very earthy.

00:18:29.200 So then how is someone who does shots to change their sexuality, what would they relate to

00:18:35.240 this religion for then?

00:18:36.900 It's the complete opposite of what they are.

00:18:39.560 Well, that's, that's a fine question.

00:18:41.100 I often wonder that.

00:18:42.040 And one of the reasons I want to make a clear distinction between us and this greater, greater

00:18:47.600 pagan community is that's just the thing.

00:18:50.620 You get people that for whatever reason, and I don't mean this for every other pagan out

00:18:54.520 there doing different things.

00:18:55.620 This isn't a sweeping statement.

00:18:56.880 This is specifically to the people that I've heard, uh, attack us in the past week.

00:19:01.220 They don't fit in a lot of places.

00:19:03.660 I think quite often they suffer from some rather severe mental illness problems that I don't mean

00:19:09.460 to make light of.

00:19:10.140 But I think there's probably very big problems in those people's lives.

00:19:13.540 Um, they suffer from a lot of these things to where life just doesn't work out for them.

00:19:17.320 And so they get pushed to a fringe and they get marginalized.

00:19:20.200 And unfortunately, that fringe tends to coalesce in, you know, these alternative fringe things,

00:19:26.040 which that greater pagan community seems to be a net that scoops those people up.

00:19:31.040 Yeah, exactly.

00:19:32.100 And then you have, and then you have on the extreme opposite, there's probably some gay people 1.00

00:19:36.820 that are like, yeah, the family unit, that is the healthy way.

00:19:40.400 I respect what you guys are doing, right?

00:19:42.020 Maybe.

00:19:42.520 Do you see any of that kind of behavior?

00:19:45.100 Oh, absolutely.

00:19:45.940 I do.

00:19:46.300 And I think that, you know, I think that you, I think that you guys see that in the alt-right

00:19:49.580 too.

00:19:50.000 You've got, you've got people that, you know, just because it's not their lifestyle or what

00:19:54.220 they're doing, they can still see that the healthy families and traditional families are

00:19:58.560 the building block of society.

00:20:00.360 And obviously our ancestors valued them or we wouldn't be here today having this conversation.

00:20:06.120 Yeah.

00:20:06.260 It's just what times are we in when just the thought of white couples making white babies 0.89

00:20:10.720 is like a cardinal sin, you know?

00:20:12.900 It's like, it's like looking at a gas chamber or something when you see families like that.

00:20:18.720 Well, it seems to, that seems to be the same thing in a lot of these people's heads.

00:20:23.920 And that's unfortunate.

00:20:25.380 You know, looking, looking back and I've looked back and looked over my statement over and

00:20:29.300 over, there's nothing negative said in there at all.

00:20:31.920 There was no slams at any other people in the other communities.

00:20:35.820 There was simply a statement of things that we like and things that we support as an organization.

00:20:40.560 And it's unfortunate that, you know, we can't, we can't specify things that we like without

00:20:46.340 that immediately meaning some kind of hate, some vitriol towards anybody else.

00:20:51.660 Yep.

00:20:52.180 Yeah.

00:20:52.360 It's like they want to police everyone's thoughts where you can't even do things peacefully,

00:20:56.760 organizing and having your group and minding your own business.

00:21:00.240 You can't even do that.

00:21:01.180 They now even want to go into those places and force you to do what they want.

00:21:06.300 Well, the champions of diversity and of tolerance are anything but, and they cannot tolerate

00:21:14.340 you having a different opinion than they have.

00:21:16.520 And that's, that's unfortunate.

00:21:18.220 And it's kind of shocking the level that they will go, like I say, there's been an abdication

00:21:22.580 of violence and of preventing people's rights to have free speech and free exercise of our

00:21:27.140 religious faith.

00:21:28.100 And it's, it's really shocking that they don't get the disconnect between tolerance and the

00:21:34.980 way that they're behaving.

00:21:36.300 So what do you think the future of the AFA would look like if these people got their

00:21:40.640 way?

00:21:42.180 There would be no future of the AFA if these people got their way.

00:21:45.820 If these people got their way, eventually there'll be no separation.

00:21:48.780 And you already see this in some of the other, like I said, universalist organizations.

00:21:54.720 They devolve.

00:21:55.920 They're not, they're not about something that they're, they're positively for.

00:22:01.020 You read their mission statements.

00:22:02.620 They're increasingly about things that they, they're against.

00:22:05.200 Whereas the AFA is for the worship of our gods, for the establishment of our, of our

00:22:10.440 religion, for a positive set of values for, like I mentioned, the things that we believe

00:22:16.280 in.

00:22:16.600 You read theirs and it's, well, we will not tolerate racism.

00:22:20.800 We will not tolerate homophobia.

00:22:22.920 We will not tolerate transphobia.

00:22:24.820 We will not.

00:22:26.020 And they just have a list of will nots and do nots.

00:22:28.700 And that's, that's not the way to do anything.

00:22:30.300 You can't define yourself by all the things you're against.

00:22:32.620 You have to define yourself by a positive vision you have for what you're doing going

00:22:36.620 forward.

00:22:37.160 And that's what the AFA always has done and will continue.

00:22:39.200 Yeah, but you know how it is too.

00:22:41.020 If you keep telling people what they can't do, they're going to want to do exactly those

00:22:44.760 same things.

00:22:45.440 That's why I think a lot of young kids are going to start rebelling against that.

00:22:48.480 But it tells you how controlling they are when now they want to go in there and police

00:22:53.480 even your spirituality, right?

00:22:56.120 Oh, absolutely.

00:22:57.400 You are free to do all manner of very strange things that our grandparents' generation would 0.73

00:23:03.740 be shocked and mortified by it, but you're not free to express your faith if there's

00:23:09.220 any exclusivity to it, assuming that you are heterosexual or white.

00:23:16.340 Any other groups of people, though, by all means, go ahead and do it as exclusive as you

00:23:20.500 want.

00:23:21.360 But I don't know why there's a different set of rules that apply.

00:23:24.260 I find that racist.

00:23:26.400 Now, do you think that you're going to get some kind of organizations trying to peg the

00:23:29.960 AFA as possibly a hate group?

00:23:32.000 Oh, I think people try to do that all the time.

00:23:35.140 But, you know, as I've said before, they won't find anywhere where the AFA is talking about

00:23:39.640 the things we hate because, quite frankly, it's a waste of our time.

00:23:42.480 We have too many good things we're trying to do.

00:23:44.540 That's right.

00:23:45.780 So let's talk about some of those good things that you do there.

00:23:48.540 I mean, what do you guys celebrate?

00:23:50.100 What kind of events do you hold?

00:23:51.720 What do you do when you get together?

00:23:54.680 Well, a lot of different things, honestly.

00:23:57.300 You mentioned earlier that there's a lot of natural cycles that we celebrate.

00:24:01.640 The kind of big things we celebrate are the solstices and the equinoxes.

00:24:06.020 But just about every month, there's something that our folks are celebrating.

00:24:10.180 And we've got now four big celebrations, five big celebrations as of this year that we do

00:24:18.580 on a national level.

00:24:19.660 The next one's coming up in Minnesota this weekend.

00:24:21.820 We get together.

00:24:24.300 We get groups of families and our folk together to give bloat, which is our big worship service

00:24:31.320 to the gods, to kind of share in an offering with the gods.

00:24:36.700 And then we get together.

00:24:38.140 We share meals.

00:24:38.920 We share activities.

00:24:39.700 We talk about our values.

00:24:41.740 We talk about things we'd like to see progress on moving forward, ways to better ourselves

00:24:47.940 physically, mentally, and spiritually.

00:24:50.260 We also do an event called Sumble at these things.

00:24:52.780 And that's kind of a between-people communion ritual of sharing meat as we go around and

00:25:00.760 honor our ancestors and honor the heroes of our folk.

00:25:05.980 Yeah, we get together, have those weekends.

00:25:08.120 But there's a whole lot of smaller events that the AFA does.

00:25:11.120 Just about every weekend, we have an AFA group in some part of the world or another

00:25:14.780 getting together with their community and celebrating our holy gods and our ancestors.

00:25:19.900 Yeah, I think anything that we can do to remember our line, our ancient culture, and inspire

00:25:25.220 young children to be interested in their culture is a positive thing.

00:25:28.860 I mean, I saw kids at the gathering that we went to, and kids love the seasonal celebration.

00:25:34.820 It's really fun.

00:25:35.900 It sticks with them.

00:25:37.120 It's going to be a good association growing up with it.

00:25:39.560 But I think Baluta is also, it's a good way to take time to just slow down and remember

00:25:44.680 and honor the change in season and your ancestors, because we just get so busy.

00:25:49.360 So there's kind of that meditative aspect.

00:25:52.000 But then also, it's a good way to come together, I think, with like-minded people and encourage

00:25:56.520 each other, kind of recharge your batteries and be encouraged and have fellowship, because

00:26:01.180 people do need that in these times we're in, right?

00:26:04.760 Well, our people have always needed that.

00:26:06.420 I run into people that are what we call solitary practitioners, and they're off by themselves

00:26:10.780 trying to do these things.

00:26:12.140 And if that's all they can do in their situation, that's great.

00:26:16.500 It's great that they're doing that.

00:26:17.760 But you really get the feel for it when you have a community and when you get together

00:26:21.920 as a community to do these things.

00:26:24.080 And there's no other feeling like it.

00:26:25.920 We don't have anybody that comes out to our events and then regress it afterwards.

00:26:29.060 I've never heard that.

00:26:30.140 But I have heard a lot of people come out to our events, and it's life-changing for them.

00:26:33.660 I know that was my case when I went to my first one.

00:26:36.860 Now, a lot of times people think, oh, you're just worshiping nature or worshiping your

00:26:40.700 ancestors.

00:26:41.120 But it's not really like that.

00:26:42.760 It's about honoring them, right?

00:26:45.320 Well, yeah.

00:26:45.680 I think, I don't know, words have different meanings to different people.

00:26:49.100 We certainly worship our ancestors, and we worship the gods of our people.

00:26:53.300 But more than that, we try to honor them and respect them.

00:26:57.400 And we view our ancestors, and even gods themselves to a degree, as our ancestors, as our most ancient

00:27:03.840 ancestors.

00:27:05.140 We try to live the values that they inspire in us and have always inspired in our ancestors.

00:27:10.560 It really roots us in who we are and where we come from.

00:27:14.740 And I think you'll find across the board that any people, when they are proud of themselves,

00:27:21.260 proud of the people that they come from, proud of their identity, they function better in

00:27:25.780 society as a whole all across the board.

00:27:27.420 Oh, yeah.

00:27:28.460 Identity is key.

00:27:29.500 Without identity, you're completely lost.

00:27:31.680 You can never function without having some sense of identity.

00:27:36.140 Well, and at the risk of going back to the W word, I think that's why people are so offended by the

00:27:42.740 word of life, because it is a way for us to specifically identify our people.

00:27:49.160 And that angers a lot of people.

00:27:51.460 But we can't even mention, you know, what race of people we are.

00:27:56.720 That's holding us back from our identity.

00:27:58.780 And that's wrong.

00:27:59.540 That's wrong to do to any people.

00:28:01.300 Yeah, it's really evil.

00:28:02.480 And also, you can't stop the truth.

00:28:05.020 This is what we're talking about is rooted in biology.

00:28:07.660 It's rooted in what's right in front of our face.

00:28:09.760 It's rooted in nature.

00:28:11.120 I mean, you're not ever going to stop this or change the fact that we're white.

00:28:16.180 No.

00:28:16.820 And why would you want to?

00:28:19.080 That's the thing.

00:28:20.100 Why would you want to?

00:28:22.260 So let's talk about some of these basic tenets of Asatru, if you can summarize that.

00:28:27.340 All right.

00:28:28.080 Well, some of the basic tenets of Asatru, and this is something that most people generally

00:28:32.820 are very accepting of, is the nine noble virtues.

00:28:37.020 And these are values that come to us through, you know, an understanding of our ancestors

00:28:42.280 and the things that were important to them.

00:28:45.040 And there's ways to apply these and live these in their later lives.

00:28:48.760 First one is courage.

00:28:50.180 The second is truth, honor, fidelity, discipline, hospitality, self-reliance, industriousness,

00:29:03.440 and perseverance.

00:29:04.080 And, you know, we think by living those values and trying to practice those in our daily

00:29:09.460 lives, we can be good people.

00:29:12.240 We can be noble people.

00:29:14.060 And those are good things to live your life by.

00:29:17.560 And things that certainly were very important to our ancestors and to our people from time

00:29:22.200 in the morning.

00:29:22.700 Yeah, it's interesting how people think, where would we be without the Ten Commandments, as 0.95

00:29:27.520 though our ancestors were just wild people who treated everyone like crap and treated each 0.95

00:29:32.700 other awfully. 0.96

00:29:33.580 No, they had these values instilled into them and talked about it all the time, right?

00:29:39.180 Absolutely.

00:29:39.840 A person's reputation and how they behaved was key to our ancestors on how they valued people.

00:29:45.780 There was no blanket system of equality.

00:29:47.900 You were judged by your deeds and by your reputation.

00:29:51.620 And I think they're very, very noble people.

00:29:54.640 It's one of the things when we talk about, you know, the Aryan tribes of people, that's

00:29:58.180 a Sanskrit word that means noble and implies shining nobility.

00:30:03.100 There's a time where our people were identified by how noble they were.

00:30:06.320 And then you can flip all the opposites, too, that they probably despised.

00:30:11.820 And we should learn from that today.

00:30:14.240 Weakness, cowardice, adherence to dogma.

00:30:17.080 All that kind of reminds me of liberalism, actually.

00:30:20.660 Yeah, absolutely.

00:30:21.560 There was definitely things that they didn't tolerate.

00:30:24.040 And the kind of shenanigans I've seen from our detractors this last week, I think our ancestors

00:30:29.140 have been pretty clear in there that are disavowing of that kind of behavior.

00:30:33.060 It's different because back then they could just take it out on the battlefield, right?

00:30:37.060 And just settle the score right there.

00:30:40.140 Absolutely.

00:30:40.820 And I have no doubt that they would have.

00:30:44.600 It's very strange to me.

00:30:45.940 Oftentimes the biggest detractors and these Viking reenactors that we run into, they're

00:30:53.660 the least likely to want to live an authentic lifestyle that our ancestors would have lived

00:30:58.680 that, you know, required industriousness and required courage on the battlefield in doing

00:31:04.000 all these things.

00:31:05.320 We've replaced that, I guess, with courage on the keyboard.

00:31:08.840 God, so sad.

00:31:10.200 So sad.

00:31:10.540 Well, I see a resurgence of things changing, especially in the pro-white scene and also

00:31:15.540 true, you know, more manly men are coming back and people who are more vocal and unapologetic

00:31:21.120 and who have courage.

00:31:22.340 And that's important.

00:31:22.940 And I think that's another reason why our enemies are kind of worried about us getting

00:31:27.680 into our native religions and native history and learning the truth about that because

00:31:32.400 it awakens something powerful and awakens something where we're not, we're not a shame.

00:31:37.380 We just charge head, charge ahead and don't care what they say.

00:31:41.220 Well, I think, I think absolutely.

00:31:42.620 I think that's one thing that's kind of irritated them, you know, in this last week is the response

00:31:47.520 has been overwhelmingly positive and successful as far as people that we would actually want

00:31:52.100 to associate with.

00:31:53.780 We've had support pouring in from all over the place because they were, they felt the

00:31:58.680 need to spread their outcry so far and wide that it, you know, it kind of advertised the

00:32:03.060 positive things that we were about to a lot of different people.

00:32:05.300 So that's been, that's been a really beautiful thing that's come of it.

00:32:08.040 I think our enemies are very incensed that we've been so successful.

00:32:11.380 The Austria Folk Assembly is by far the most successful Austria organization, certainly

00:32:17.160 in the United States.

00:32:18.180 And I believe in the world.

00:32:19.980 It's, it's been consistent.

00:32:21.700 It's been a positive change for good.

00:32:23.420 We've got things going.

00:32:24.680 We've got a hop.

00:32:25.560 We have events around the country.

00:32:27.340 Like I said, just about every weekend, we've got AFA members getting out, doing something,

00:32:31.300 meeting other people and honoring their thoughts.

00:32:33.640 I think there's a lot of anger because we have been so successful.

00:32:36.680 Now you guys are seeing a lot of growth I hear.

00:32:38.660 Now, are you guys expanding into Europe at all?

00:32:40.560 Is there any networks over there and, and Australia and New Zealand?

00:32:44.720 Oh, absolutely.

00:32:45.380 And specifically in Europe, we've got some really, really good people over in Europe.

00:32:49.820 We've got a very, very good group of folks over in Scandinavia.

00:32:53.360 We got to visit our, our Denmark folks a number of years ago, and that was a really positive

00:32:57.940 experience.

00:32:59.460 You know, a lot of, we got, we just got a new, new apprentice folk builder over in Sweden.

00:33:04.660 And his name's Anders, and he's doing really good things over there.

00:33:07.940 We've got folks in Poland.

00:33:09.940 We've got folks in Germany.

00:33:11.040 We've got some in Czech Republic and Slovakia.

00:33:15.540 We've got, we've got a number of people doing things in Europe.

00:33:18.200 We have members in Italy.

00:33:19.360 We've got people, we've got people internationally now.

00:33:22.260 That's, that's really nice.

00:33:23.320 Wouldn't it be great, great to plan a big meetup in Europe for all these different groups

00:33:27.740 to come fly over there and meet in one central place and have a big celebration together?

00:33:33.760 I would love that.

00:33:34.580 I think that'd be fantastic.

00:33:36.580 We should look into that.

00:33:37.460 Maybe plan something like that.

00:33:38.640 That would be fun.

00:33:40.120 Kind of like a mecha trip, you know, a yearly mecha trip.

00:33:42.860 I think we, we need that, you know, all these other groups have that and we've abandoned

00:33:46.360 that.

00:33:47.500 Well, yeah, I'll tell you what, going over to Denmark a few years ago was very much like

00:33:51.120 that for me.

00:33:51.980 Um, got to see a lot of, uh, a lot of ancient burial mounds, got to go visit dolmens and

00:33:58.440 things.

00:33:58.840 We got to do rituals and stone circles that our ancestors have done ritual in, uh, since,

00:34:04.240 since bronze age, at least when most of these places we were at, it was really kind of special

00:34:09.500 because it wasn't like, you know, we weren't looking at history and observing something.

00:34:14.160 We were participating in rituals that our ancestors would have understood and done something very,

00:34:19.180 very similar back for thousands of years.

00:34:21.320 And that was a really special experience.

00:34:22.940 Oh, very special.

00:34:24.220 I wanted to ask you, what is the Asatruz stance on good and evil?

00:34:29.800 Well, there's a lot of detractors out there that want to say our people don't have those.

00:34:35.000 That's an Abrahamic thing, right?

00:34:37.500 What we have that's more similar to that is, is order versus chaos.

00:34:42.160 Our gods are gods of order and the chaotic forces, be it the, be it the Jotuns or any of 1.00

00:34:49.960 these other forces of chaos are things that try to destroy that order.

00:34:55.660 Our gods, they're gods of order and consciousness and their struggle is always to, to beat back

00:35:02.240 chaos and stay one step ahead of it.

00:35:04.420 You know, one, one step ahead of the, the, the maw of the wolves.

00:35:07.700 So that's kind of, that's kind of our things and things that support order and support the

00:35:12.780 structured order of society.

00:35:14.620 Things much like I mentioned in that post are good things.

00:35:18.000 You know, it's true.

00:35:19.560 And any things that are, that are chaotic and want to tear that down, tear down society,

00:35:23.580 tear down, you know, our people.

00:35:25.740 So those are, those are forces of chaos and destruction.

00:35:28.200 And that's, that's the stuff we have to fight against.

00:35:30.000 It's funny because that's the one thing that lefties really worry about. 0.99

00:35:33.900 Even with Trump, they were freaking out about law and order, right?

00:35:37.500 That really freaks them out right away.

00:35:39.480 They start fearing fascism and Nazis and they just want just total chaos all the time.

00:35:45.540 It seems like.

00:35:47.080 Well, I think, I think they thrive on that.

00:35:48.840 I think, especially if you're, if you're dysfunctional in your own life and you're dysfunctional

00:35:54.100 and you can't function in the society that's there, I think you're, you think you're drawn

00:35:57.820 towards chaotic things.

00:35:59.760 The other thing is too, good and evil.

00:36:01.400 They're not really constants, right?

00:36:02.900 What's good in one case may not be good in another.

00:36:05.700 People are going to see that differently.

00:36:07.300 I mean, people view us, what we're talking about right now is evil.

00:36:11.020 Yeah, those people are mistaken, but yeah, I see exactly what you're saying.

00:36:14.960 You know, our ancestors thought, you know, the great good was what was good for your people.

00:36:19.440 What was good for your group?

00:36:20.700 What was good for your tribe?

00:36:21.840 And they, they saw it, you know, evil for lack of a better term.

00:36:26.720 And what was bad for your people, bad for your family and bad for your tribe by extension.

00:36:31.120 That's how the AFA likes to do those kinds of concepts as well.

00:36:34.800 Now, what about thoughts on the afterlife?

00:36:37.380 That's an interesting subject.

00:36:38.700 There's kind of a lot of different thoughts on our afterlife.

00:36:41.740 And a lot of that varied from region to region in Europe.

00:36:45.480 But the focus of the AFA has never been really that focus on the afterlife.

00:36:49.820 Because Alistair True is a life-embracing religion.

00:36:53.040 We're not, we're not trying to, trying to wait from the, for the glorious hereafter.

00:36:57.540 We're trying to make things glorious in the world that we live in now.

00:37:00.980 We're trying to celebrate life and live a good and noble life and be remembered by our, by our families, by our friends, for the noble words and noble deeds.

00:37:10.460 And that afterlife will take care of itself.

00:37:12.020 So, yeah, I think it's, it's about owning your own destiny, making your life happen for yourself, not praying for someone else to do it for you or to open up the opportunities, but forging the path on your own.

00:37:23.800 It's about becoming the hero.

00:37:26.460 That's something we've talked about within the AFA for a while now, is living that noble life and becoming the hero, doing those things for yourself, making those bold stands.

00:37:36.020 You know, for, for, for what is known of our afterlife, heroic action was the surest way to that afterlife, be that in Valhalla or be that just in the songs and the stories of your folk.

00:37:48.180 Yeah, thinking in terms of politics today, it seems like the hero is being ripped down.

00:37:53.700 You know, they might as well just raise up the court jester, right?

00:37:56.640 The victim is the, the highest, most noble thing you can be.

00:38:00.900 Strong and mighty is looked at something like, like it's wrong.

00:38:04.280 Like you should be ashamed for being strong and mighty and wanting to own your destiny and be the best that you can be.

00:38:11.260 Absolutely.

00:38:11.920 Those things have all been pilloried in the world that we live in.

00:38:15.400 And that's something the AFA wants to really fight against.

00:38:18.380 That is the antithesis of what we're about.

00:38:20.480 We're all about the hero.

00:38:22.340 And we're all about each of us becoming as close to that as we can be.

00:38:26.080 It's easy to, to feel, feel victimized or feel downtrodden by, by detractors and by different states of the world.

00:38:34.040 But one thing we can always do is better ourselves.

00:38:36.740 That's the AFA is all about, about making each one of our members, helping them to be better mentally, physically, spiritually,

00:38:43.680 helping them to live a more noble life, have more pride in themselves, hold their head up high and do great things.

00:38:50.140 There's no downside to that.

00:38:51.580 And the only, that's, that's the one thing that we all have control over is ways to make our individual lives better.

00:38:57.240 We can do that.

00:38:58.120 Absolutely. I agree 100%.

00:39:00.340 And then when you guys come together as a whole, you're even stronger because everyone's managed to conquer things in their own life, right?

00:39:07.600 Become the best that they can be.

00:39:08.900 And that's exactly what we need in this interim instead of sitting around and playing victim and seeing what's happening out there.

00:39:14.600 At least we can work on our own lives and get our own houses in order and start planning and being prepared for what's going to come ahead.

00:39:21.460 Absolutely. That coming together as a, as a group and helping each other, because we've been able to be strong ourselves, that's, that's tremendous.

00:39:30.440 There's nothing I'd like better than, you know, we're all, we're all human and we have times where we need help.

00:39:34.460 There's nothing I would like more than to be surrounded by a group of strong people that have been able to fix the things in their lives to help me through it when there's something that I can't fix.

00:39:41.980 And I'd love to be able to do that for, for my fellow people, for members of my tribe.

00:39:46.320 But that's something the AFA does try to do.

00:39:48.800 We have a program called the Folk Services Program to where when we have members of the AFA to go through hardships, go through, you know, natural disasters, things like that, we all step forward as a community and try to help those people out and get them through.

00:40:01.020 And really proud of that.

00:40:02.820 We've been able to be successful with that.

00:40:04.340 So we're all about lifting ourselves up and then by virtue of being able to do that, lifting each other up, coming each other out.

00:40:10.220 Yeah, I think white people have been so, especially in America, we've so been independent and on our own for so long that a lot of people are craving that brotherhood or sisterhood or community or having neighbors that they can just call up and say, hey, can you help me cut down this tree or whatever?

00:40:24.640 A lot of us don't have that, do we?

00:40:27.740 No, and we've lost that within, you know, within a generation or two.

00:40:31.360 You know, in my grandparents' time, my grandparents knew their neighbors.

00:40:34.460 Their neighbors knew them.

00:40:35.360 We had communities.

00:40:36.300 Unfortunately, where we live in today, that's far more scarce.

00:40:40.520 And that's unfortunate.

00:40:41.540 We've always been a people that was about the community and about our folk, about our tribe.

00:40:46.220 So the AFA in a small way is trying to make that happen.

00:40:49.900 We're seeing communities like that pop up throughout the world.

00:40:53.000 It's really good to see.

00:40:54.920 Now, what are some ways that we can incorporate some of these also true tenets or ideas into our daily life?

00:41:01.780 Well, one thing, you know, there's a lot of debate whether it's a religion or a way of life, and it's both.

00:41:10.180 Spirituality to our ancestors wasn't something you did, you know, every once in a while.

00:41:14.240 You didn't go to church on Sunday.

00:41:16.320 It was the way you lived your life.

00:41:17.880 You should be also true with how you do your job at work.

00:41:20.860 You should be also true with the kind of father you are, the kind of mother you are, the kind of husband you are, the kind of son or daughter you are.

00:41:27.340 You should be also true in everything that you do and every way that you do things.

00:41:31.440 If you have that noble ideal in front of you, you know, how would my ancestors be honored by what I'm doing now?

00:41:37.540 Or would they be ashamed of me for what I'm doing now?

00:41:39.980 That's a powerful way to think, and it should affect every aspect of your life.

00:41:44.700 Yeah.

00:41:45.460 So how did our native ways or native spirituality die out in Europe?

00:41:50.200 I know a lot of people say Christianity, but what are your thoughts?

00:41:54.180 Well, certainly that was a big part of it.

00:41:56.560 And I think inherently a lot of those values got passed on in different forms.

00:42:03.280 You find that the Christian church, when it came to Europe, it drastically had to alter its way of doing things to conform to the mindset of our ancestors.

00:42:11.620 You know, most of what we recognize as medieval Christianity came about by blending in a lot of our native folkways in a way that our people would accept.

00:42:21.120 So a lot of the traditions stayed on and kind of laid dormant for a while, and that's important.

00:42:28.100 But yeah, Christianity stomped it out. 0.98

00:42:29.680 But a lot of it was people giving up a faith that was theirs, that was their cultural identity they held on to, and trading it for a universal faith that didn't come from their people, that didn't represent, you know, the things that they needed in their soul.

00:42:46.900 And over time, that just kind of eroded our people, and that's given us a lot of the problems that we have today.

00:42:52.940 Well, thinking in terms of that, with some of those principles still kind of in Christianity, I know the Slavs, they had a dual faith for a couple hundred years, right?

00:43:00.240 Side by side, two different faiths, and they kind of orthodoxy merged a lot of these pagan concepts.

00:43:05.100 But do you think that the Abrahamic religions have done more harm than good? 0.98

00:43:11.220 Yeah, absolutely, in the long term.

00:43:13.420 I think that you see European culture really affecting European Christianity and making it better than it otherwise would be for a while, 0.96

00:43:22.860 and maintaining a lot of our virtues through various ways that the church did things.

00:43:27.780 But yeah, over time, we would have been much better off if we would have been able to keep our ancestral faiths intact and develop them.

00:43:35.900 Who knows how much better off we would be if we didn't have that stunted growth from this foreign creed. 1.00

00:43:41.340 Yeah, it's interesting. I see a lot of these hard Islamic people, they seem to be more concerned about paganism than Christianity. 1.00

00:43:48.880 I don't know if you've noticed that, but they really just go nuts about European pagans, more than Christians. Have you seen that? 0.96

00:43:54.360 You know, I haven't seen a whole lot of that, honestly.

00:43:58.940 That's interesting. I think maybe it's because paganism seems to be on the rise, whereas Christianity, in this age that we live in, has become weaker and weaker and weaker.

00:44:09.820 It's really trailed off with the number of people that are active participants, and the values have just kind of eroded.

00:44:16.020 You have a pope right now that doesn't stand for much of anything that the traditional church stood for, so it's kind of become unrecognizable.

00:44:25.040 So what do you think about the word heathen? A lot of people kind of fight on that.

00:44:28.900 That's what the Christian said, and, you know, it's kind of had bad associations.

00:44:33.060 What about the word heathen to describe people?

00:44:36.260 That's a really good question.

00:44:38.280 That comes up a lot, believe it or not, in our conversations.

00:44:41.960 I tend to not like it, and the reason I tend to not like it is, right now, most of the people that, you know, ended up with their hateful attacks on us last week, they like to identify with the word heathen.

00:44:56.120 They sure do.

00:44:57.380 Yeah, I've noticed that, too.

00:44:59.240 So a lot of the things that they do, I try to keep my distance from as much as possible for obvious reasons.

00:45:07.300 So that's my only issue with it.

00:45:08.700 I know a lot of people, certainly people within the AFA and people that are good friends of mine, like to use it just fine.

00:45:14.680 And the only problem I have with it is it associates us with a group of people that I would kind of not like to be associated with.

00:45:21.500 Yeah, I think it's good to come up with new terms, too.

00:45:24.280 Why not?

00:45:25.800 Well, yeah, I noticed that their response to a lot of what we do is they don't want to use the term house to true anymore now.

00:45:31.200 Good.

00:45:32.320 Reject the term, which is fine.

00:45:34.320 Cool.

00:45:34.780 Yeah.

00:45:35.040 It's ours.

00:45:35.540 I'd like to own it.

00:45:36.860 You guys can go figure out what you'd like to call it.

00:45:39.600 I wonder what their meetups are like. 0.54

00:45:41.260 Do they sit around and talk about, you know, feminism and sexism and our evil white ancestors?

00:45:47.460 I mean, how does that work with what they do? 0.62

00:45:49.900 It's supposed to be a religion of your ancestors and here they are, like bashing their own people. 1.00

00:45:55.580 Yeah, I truly have no idea.

00:45:57.100 I think that a lot of what they do is confined to the Internet and various things that they can stay from the safety and comfort of their or their parents' basements.

00:46:07.700 I think that when you get those groups and they do get together, I think that they probably have a pretty fun Viking-themed barbecue.

00:46:15.160 But I don't think that they have the same, in my experience and from what I hear, I don't think they have the same level of spirituality at their events.

00:46:21.860 And I think they're really missing that connection.

00:46:24.020 And I think that's probably what you face.

00:46:26.560 Maybe they're just heathen because it's anti-Christian, right? 1.00

00:46:29.420 They hate Europe and Europe they think is Christianity.

00:46:31.940 So it's a way for them just to rebel against that.

00:46:35.800 I think that's interesting.

00:46:36.820 There's an awful lot of rebellious strain, especially when somebody first is new to Ausatru.

00:46:43.140 They want to throw out anything that has any Christianity associated to it.

00:46:47.680 And that could be the opposition between Eden and Christian.

00:46:51.780 That could be a big thing.

00:46:53.420 A lot of people ask, well, how can the Norse myths help us?

00:46:56.860 What can they teach us?

00:46:58.540 What can you say?

00:46:59.140 Well, I think that they give us a unique window into a time of our people's development.

00:47:07.660 And it gives you a window into the things that they value.

00:47:11.140 And the trick is being able to apply those things in a modern context.

00:47:16.520 Very few of us get the opportunity to go get on our longboat and go raiding things.

00:47:21.200 So figuring out ways to exhibit the courage of a warrior in your own life, that's a challenge.

00:47:28.560 But I think that if you find ways to internalize those things, it does a lot.

00:47:34.220 A lot of those myths, once you have a historical context for them, really helps you to internalize the values, the way that our ancestors saw the divine, the way that our ancestors saw our interactions with the divine, and the way that our ancestors saw their interactions with other people and with nature.

00:47:52.260 So what else do you want people to know about Ossetru as we come to the end here?

00:47:57.960 Well, I want you to know that Ossetru, specifically practiced by the Ossetru Folk Assembly, is a modern faith for modern people.

00:48:07.280 We're not about dressing up like Vikings.

00:48:09.800 We're not about pretending and finding how historically accurate we can larp.

00:48:15.200 What we're about doing is practicing the ancestral faith of our people back to the beginning of time and establishing that and practicing that in our modern world and meet our modern needs.

00:48:27.300 It's absolutely a faith that has serious things that we talk about, serious things that we do that are relevant to the modern families, modern people living in the world that we live in.

00:48:38.160 It has relevant answers for people's lives and helping the betterment of ourselves individually and the betterment of our people.

00:48:45.300 And tell us what the AFA has coming up next.

00:48:48.840 Well, coming up next, as I said earlier, we've got Fall Fest up in Minnesota this weekend.

00:48:55.280 And that should be really cool.

00:48:56.420 That's the first time we've done that event.

00:48:57.980 It's a part of the country we haven't had a national event in before, so I'm really excited to see what we've got going up there.

00:49:02.940 We've also got Winter Nights in Poconos coming up in October, and that's always one of our big events.

00:49:11.220 That is perhaps our biggest event of the year, and it's always spectacular.

00:49:16.220 That's coming up mid-October, and that's going to be really good, and we're looking forward to that.

00:49:20.460 Great. Well, thank you so much, Matt.

00:49:21.800 It's been a pleasure.

00:49:22.720 I've really enjoyed this, and hopefully people are going to check it out.

00:49:26.080 Also, truefolkassembly.org.

00:49:27.500 You guys also have a good reading list there, correct?

00:49:29.380 We do. We do.

00:49:30.040 You'll find a lot of information on there.

00:49:31.420 If you read it, if it's something that you like, please feel free to join us, because we'd love to have you with us.

00:49:38.200 Thanks, Matt. I appreciate it.

00:49:39.780 Thanks for having me.

00:49:40.920 There's nothing more grounded than being in tune with the Earth's natural cycles and honoring your ancestors.

00:49:46.860 Pre-Christian seasonal celebrations are a way to rejuvenate yourself, step back from your busy modern life, and connect back with nature and your folk.

00:49:54.820 I find when I get too busy and I'm on the computer too much, crave being outside in nature, away from the noise, away from the artificial aspects of life.

00:50:04.020 Too much of it is unhealthy, and, well, it kind of makes us crazy.

00:50:07.240 As unpredictable as our lives and future might be, the one constant we can count on is seasonal cycles.

00:50:13.600 Nature always does its thing.

00:50:15.260 Without it, we'd all be dead.

00:50:16.660 It's easy to get beaten down and fed up with the ongoing war on our folk.

00:50:21.560 That's why it's important to meet up with like-minded people as a way to find encouragement, inspiration, and new energy.

00:50:28.040 The planet is constantly in a state of death and renewal, and so are we.

00:50:32.140 I think it's important to take the time to be conscious of that process and where we are in that cycle.

00:50:37.180 Balance is missing from so many of our lives.

00:50:41.080 For some, it's too much work.

00:50:42.540 For others, it's too much play.

00:50:44.360 When one thing is out of whack, it can cause havoc and suffering in our lives.

00:50:48.440 So come to an Also True meetup or honor the seasons and folk with your friends, or privately.

00:50:53.280 But take the time to do it.

00:50:54.500 You'll notice a big difference in your life when you do.

00:50:56.940 Whether we admit it or not, humans crave spirituality and need meditative, contemplative time,

00:51:01.880 and they need to connect with those of their tribe.

00:51:04.360 This is a basic human need.

00:51:06.000 And like I said in the interview, children love celebrating pre-Christian traditions.

00:51:10.600 It's the best way to anchor them into the ways of their folk and their ancient culture. 0.87

00:51:15.300 Tune in this Saturday for another Weekend Warrior,

00:51:17.760 where Henrik and I talk about the latest news and events from an alt-right perspective.

00:51:21.880 Redice.tv is the website, and if you'd like to help support us with our Red Ice membership

00:51:26.700 and access all our material, including over 1,000 plus radio shows in our archives,

00:51:31.680 go to redicemembers.com.

00:51:33.420 We're also updating the design for that, too, by the way.

00:51:36.560 Much love.

00:51:37.220 Have a productive week.

00:51:38.100 Eugene, monitoring the podcast, shoved on the abbreviation.

00:51:41.980 Good night for 펜.

00:51:42.900 Good night for you.

00:51:58.060 Thanks.

00:51:58.920 Bye.

00:51:59.360 Bye.

00:51:59.940 Bye.

00:52:00.980 Bye.

00:52:01.620 Bye.

00:52:01.940 Bye.

00:52:02.880 Thank you.

00:52:32.880 Thank you.

00:53:02.880 Thank you.

00:53:32.880 Thank you.

00:54:02.880 Thank you.

00:54:32.880 Thank you.

00:55:02.880 Thank you.

00:55:32.880 Thank you.

00:56:02.880 Thank you.

00:56:32.880 Thank you.

00:57:02.880 Thank you.

Radio 3Fourteen - August 31, 2016

Asatru_ Native Spirituality of European Folk

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