"Loddfafnir, listen to my counsel:
You will fare well if you follow it,
It will help you much if you heed it.
If aware that another is wicked, say so:
Make no truce or treaty with foes."
Hávamál, St. 127

   It is a sad necessity that requires me to make this page, but because of a few racist, Nazi, and Satanic websites that have a relatively high profile on the WWW, I feel this disclaimer must be placed on my website. The sites to which I refer claim to be Asatru or Norse Heathen while promoting Heathenism as white supremacism or a kind of Satanism. Of course, the practice the Old Northern traditions and other forms of ancient Paganism-- the ancestral religions of much of Europe and the world -- has nothing to do with race hatred or with Satan.

   First, there are avowed Nazis and radical white supremacists who yet call themselves or their groups "Heathen", and who abuse our holy symbols and our Gods' names to promote hatred, violence, and totalitarian political agendas. The truth is, however, that there is nothing less Heathen than blind obedience to a demagogic leader; nothing less Pagan than the promotion of mental slavery over freedom.   These groups try to use the fact that Heathenism is the ancestral ethnic religion of Europe to promote ideologies of race hatred. In this they ape the Nazis who tried to use the ancient symbols of pagan Germany for the same reasons. The truth is that although Heathenism is a modern revival of ancient folk ways, in which honouring the ancestors is important, it certainly does not promote hatred of any other ethnic group or religion.

   Next, there are certain Satanist or Setian groups who foolishly attempt to associate Odin with their system, which is not Northern at all, but merely a reactionary perversion of Judeo-Christian traditions and ceremonial magic. Paganism is a religion of its own, and does not define itself through opposition to some other established religion or God, as Satanism does. There are many Websites now that basically describe Asatru as a kind of Satanism, and this is totally erroneous, as Satan does not exist in the Heathen mythos.

   There is the "Black Metal" music phenomenon also. Some (but of course not all) Black Metal groups claim to be "Heathen", only to use this as an excuse for the avocation of hatred and violence, especially against Christians. Like some of the Satanists, they seem to think that the definition of Heathenism is found merely in "opposition to Christianity," unaware that Paganism defines itself from within, and has its own native cosmology and world view that existed long before the coming of Christianity.

   Most unfortunately, some of these groups are very vocal, and have Websites with a high ranking on search engines. Thus, when someone who is unfamiliar with legitimate Asatru or Heathenism searches for "Odin", for instance, they might come up with a link to a racist or hate site. 6 How are they to know this hate site that claims it is Asatru in fact espouses beliefs that true Heathens strongly oppose?

   In addition to those hate-mongers who wrongly assume the name of Heathen, there are a few people of other faiths who promote hatred of us because we are Heathen. Heathens and Pagans the world over continue to suffer prejudicial treatment because of our religion. To this day, those who practice the old native ethnic religions strive to overcome two thousand years of oppression by fundamentalist religious zealots, who from the beginning of the organised Christian church systematically attempted to eradicate the Pagan religions from the face of the Earth. So it is clear that many misconceptions about our faith and ways have been promulgated by religious fundamentalists, and it is largely due to this anti-Pagan propaganda that false conceptions of Heathenism have arisen.

   As devoted Heathens we oppose hatred and prejudice based on religious differences, and promote religious freedom, tolerance, and open communication. We strive, through education and by living example, to restore our ancient Old Religion to its rightful place among the world's faiths, and to reveal and refute, whenever possible, misrepresentations and propaganda against our beliefs and our Gods.

What is to be done about the extremely "bad press" and misrepresentation that Asatru / Heathenism / Paganism gets from these fringe-groups and non-Pagans?

   Heathens Against Hate is a banner campaign I started after seeing the Pagans Against Fascism banner created by the Wolfshof of Germany. Many legitimate Asatru and Pagan organisations in Europe have had such problems with the negative publicity given to Heathenism by the violent actions of racists, that they have had to put strong anti-Nazi and anti-fascist disclaimers on their Pagan Web sites. These disclaimers let visitors immediately see the orientation of the site. I think that this is a good way to educate the public and encourage non-Pagans to find out the truth about our religion. I originally made this statement as a disclaimer for my own site.

So What is Asatru / Heathenism / Paganism really all about?

   Asatru is the modern recreation of the ancient pre-Christian religion of much of northern Europe. The practitioners of this ancient religion of Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, England, and Iceland came to be called "heathens" by the new Christians, for those who clung longest to the Old Ways were the people who lived outside of organised towns, in the heath lands, or wilderness. In Southern Europe, followers of the Old Gods became known as Pagans (from the Latin pagani, country people 1 ). Heathen and Pagan became words of derision among the Christians, who were taught that the Pagan-folk were Satan worshippers, or simply Godless.

   In the Old Religion there is no Satan. The devil is part of the Christian cosmos, not the Heathen one. Heathens were not Godless; on the contrary, they believed in many Gods, Goddesses, wights (living beings), and innumerable spirits inhabiting everything from stones to trees. All in the Heathen cosmos is alive, and has some level of consciousness.

   The Old Norse Gods and Goddesses, the Aesir and the Vanir, the land wights, Alfar (elves), and Etins 2 , inhabit the modern Asatru cosmos as well. Heathenism is a polytheistic, animistic, and depending on whom you ask, a pantheistic and shamanic form of spirituality. Modern Asatru-folk place their trust in the Aesir and Vanir families of Gods, just as Heathen folk did long ago. Many wonderful Sagas, songs and legends survive to inform the practice of modern Asatru. Heathens today often are quite educated about and interested in these surviving Heathen texts, such as the Icelandic Eddas and Sagas, for they give us insight into the historic practice of our religion.

   However, our Paganism is a living faith, and we have vital
personal relationships with our deities. Although Heathenism is a personal religion without dogma, and the actual personal spiritual practices of Heathen-folk vary as widely as do the people themselves, there are some some concepts Heathens hold in common: the belief that everything is alive, that the Earth is holy, that we can speak directly to our Gods and Goddesses, that we are responsible for our own souls and behaviour, that freedom, honour, duty, loyalty, love, hospitality and courage are our highest principles. Our Gods and Goddesses are benevolent, and are aligned against the forces of destruction. Hatred, racism, and despising the weak are absolutely not a part of Heathenism. 3 Heathens respect all life, and our spiritual texts teach us that we are connected to all creation. According to the laws of Örlög 4, what we do comes back to us, and we believe that hate and senseless violence diminish the perpetrator. 5

Some Related links

Notes 1. There are plentiful historic records of the Catholic Church's campaign of destruction against ethnic (indigenous Pagan) religions all over Europe. A disturbing list of some of these Christian pogroms against Mediterranean area native religions can be found on the Persecutions Against the Pagan Hellenes page. 2. Giants. Elemental beings who are usually, but not always, agents of entropy and chaos. 3. See Hávamál, Stanzas 69-72, and 135, for the words of Odin Himself on the subject. 4. Örlög ("Primal-layer") or Wyrd, is the cosmic web of cause and effect that is influenced by, and influences everyone. Part of our Örlög is determined by the circumstances of our birth, our past lives, surroundings and so on. Örlög is not set in stone, for our choices in the moment are constantly modifying it. In other words, what we do now and have done in the past affects what happens to us in the future. This differs from the concept of "fate", because it does not imply being utterly bound by a predetermined future. Nevertheless, it does mean that we cannot escape the consequences of our actions. 5. Although anger is a normal human emotion, sometimes useful to survival, hatred is not. Hate is blinding to a warrior, breeds irrationality, and poisons the wellspring of the soul. Although Heathens will fight to defend their freedom, families, and faith, xenophobia and hatred are not Heathen family values. 6. If you are interested in seeing for yourself some of the Satanic or white supremacist sites that defame Asatru, Heathenism, and Paganism, Click Here.