Werner Holm of Norway has stepped up to Folkbuild! We have Wanted to see Werner take this step for some time and are very excited to watch AFA Scandinavia continue growing and thriving! Thank you Werner and welcome.
Hail the Aesir!
Hail AFA Scandinavia!
Hail Werner Holm!
Matthew D. Flavel
Alsherjargothi,
Asatru Folk Assembly
We are very excited to announce Fiona Aedgar of the United Kingdom as our newest Apprentice Folkbuilder. Fiona will work alongside Anders Nilsson and Massimo Nobili to build and support our AFA family in the ancestral lands of Europe. We are honored to have Fiona on the team and very excited to watch our European family grow and thrive.
Hail the Aesir!
Hail AFA Europe!
Hail Fiona Aedgar!
Introducing James Ault of Wisconsin, the AFA’s newest Apprentice Folkbuilder serving the Midwest region alongside Zach Cato and Ben Tiemeier. James has been working hard to build things locally and we are very excited to watch the AFA Midwest region flourish with his effort and commitment. Thanks for stepping up James.
Hail the Aesir!
Hail AFA Midwest!
Hail James Ault!
Matthew D. Flavel
Alsherjargothi,
Asatru Folk Assembly
Hail from Volkswachstum AFA-South Africa
Havamal 41 –
“Friends shall gladden each other
with arms and garments,
As each for himself can see;
Gift-givers’ friendships
are longest found,
If fair their fates may be.”
As we entered some unknown dark times with the “pandemic” of the Covid-19, it caused many of us to start stressing about our own jobs, our own businesses that we started to look past the ones who already was jobless and homeless long before the Covid-19 even existed.
Volkswachstum took this time with the generous help from AFA to reach out to the elderly homeless people. This handful people live on the street, their only form of income to buy food and if they are lucky pay R20+ ($2) for a night at a shelter was to stand at local shopping centres and act as car guards and collect tips from people. Due to the Covid-19 it became illegal for them to go out and earn an income leaving them hungry and shelter less.
South African government released over 500 000 food parcels in the time of the “pandemic” to assist the people in need, to date the parcels who did not got stolen by the people intrusted to hand it out and bandits who attack the vehicles that transport these parcels, only townships were helped (non-white settlements). Millions of Rands was also made available to assist families who lost their means of income this includes small business owners and once again only those who qualified got helped (you must fall in the BEE policy to qualify), again only helping the non-white people.
Volkswachtum took a message of hope, we will not reach out to the 100’s of organisations that currently are only reaching out to townships, but we will reach out to OUR OWN FOLK, those who truly needs it most.
We raise a Horn and Hail our Alsherjargothi and Asatru Folk Assembly who made this possible, we in South Africa appreciate the thoughts and endless support we have received from day one.
As Folkbuilder, I raise a Horn and Hail Nathan Small for his support and time he dedicates to our kindred, may the Gods bless you brother.
Christo Le Roux
Folkbuilder – South Africa
Please join me in welcoming Krystal Bailey as the AFA’s newest Apprentice Folkbuilder. Krystal will be working with Gythia Sheila McNallen, Gothi Thorgrun Odden, and Ryan Harlan to build and support our AFA West membership. Those of us in the West have appreciated Krystal’s commitment and hard work first hand at Óðinshof. Welcome to the team Krystal, we are all excited to watch you succeed.
Hail the Aesir!
Hail AFA West!
Hail Krystal Bailey!
Matthew D. Flavel
Alsherjargothi,
Asatru Folk Assembly
by Stephen A. McNallen
from The Runestone Fall – Winter 1999
January 2, 2000
The lights didn’t go out. Hordes of frenzied cannibal yuppies didn’t fill our streets. Instead of the rattle of automatic weapons, popping champagne corks welcomed in the New Year. Y2K, the collapse of the computerizedd infrastructure of modern civilization, was a nonevent.
Now can we all get back to work?
Our apprehensions consumed much of our energy over the last year or so. Many of us, myself included, spent time and money planning for everything from a power outage to a The End Of The World As We Know It. Quite a few Asatruar turned inward, preoccupied with questions of survival, and the energy feeding into our common religious life dropped off noticeably. This was understandable – but hey, folks, we survived. It’s time to focus on both our private spiritual lives and on the tribal, community aspects of Asatru.
Even though the millennium is a Christian milestone with no religious relevance to us, this is still an appropriate time to ponder the future of the Asatru Folk Assembly. I will be giving a lot of thought to this question in the next hundred days or so. At last August’s Gathering of the Tribes I said I would not be doing “status quo Asatru” in a year’s time, and I was entirely serious. We have to continually examine our actions, even to the point of challenging our basic premises, if we are to keep the AFA on the cutting edge of forward movement in Asatru.
One priority for the coming year? Organizing our Asatru community here in northern California. Between now and the next issue of The Runestone, we will make significant physical improvements on the land. At the same time, we will continue attracting quality individuals and families to our area. Our plan is to build a model community, one which will lure still more Asatruar – and which will inspire others to emulate our success in their own localities.
On another topic – Y2K has come and gone, and now it is time to tackle V1K … Vinland One Thousand! Yes, this is the one thousandth year since Leif Erikson’s first voyage to North America and we must use this as an educational opportunity to enlighten others. We are Vinlanders, and by the end of the coming year we need to make the name of our nation a household word from New York to San Diego and every point in between!
Whatever the shape of our various projects in the coming months and years, we must remember that the AFA did not come into being so that Asatru could be practiced by a handful of the faithful, safely out of sight of the larger society around us. We came to lay the groundwork for fundamental historic changes. I, for one, am not interested in anything less. Any smaller vision, any diminutive and unheroic mission, is not worth our trouble. Join with me as we rise to this challenge and prepare to make our mark on the twenty-first century! Hail the AFA!
Please join me in welcoming South Carolina’s Daniel Young as the AFA’s newest Apprentice Folkbuilder. Daniel will be working with Rob Stamm and Gothi Svan Herul to grow and care for our AFA family in the Upper South region. We are very confident in Daniel’s commitment and ability to help the Upper South shine.
Hail Daniel Young!
Hail the Folkbuilders!
Hail the AFA!
Matthew D. Flavel
Alsherjargothi,
Asatru Folk Assembly
I am proud to welcome home The Donar’s Oak Kindred of South Carolina as a official Kindred of the Asatru Folk Assembly. Gaining Kindred recognition is not a easy thing, it takes dedication and loyalty and willingness to stand with our church and family. The Upper South region continues to grow. Recently we acquired our second Hof in North Carolina. And now we have another Kindred to help support this second Hof and Upper South region. Thank you for stepping up and joining our family of local congregations.
Hail the Donar’s Oak Kindred!
Hail our Families!
Hail 25 years of the Asatru Folk Assembly!!!
Jason Gallagher
Kindred Coordinator,
Asatru Folk Assembly
A Statement by Stephen McNallen
from The Runestone Summer 1999 #26
After much discussion and thought, I have submitted the following statement to the Board of Drectors of the Asatru Folk Assembly, which has given it their endorsement:
All members and supporters of the AFA, and indeed all Asatruar within or without our organization, are strongly encouraged to emulate our Mormon friends and set aside a year’s supply of food and other basic provisions.
“Strongly encouraged” means just that – this is not a requirement for association with the AFA, but neither is it a halfhearted recommendation which will be mentioned once and then forgotten. My intention is that a spirit of readiness becomes a permanent part of the “culture” of the Asatru Folk Assembly, and that such precautions become the norm rather than the exception.
This is not done with any particular disaster in mind – neither war nor computer failure nor financial collapse. We are not becoming “survivalists” any more than are the local Mormons when they carry out an identical program.
On the other hand, Asatruar have two parts of our religion which validate a program of preparedness. One is the calamitous time predicted in the Voluspa when the Gods and their allies, and the giants and their minions, will do battle with each other. Asatruar are not bystanders in this conflict, nor will we be spared through some equivalent of the Christian “rapture” which will bear away all believers. I strongly believe we will be here, on the scene, aiding the Gods in whatever way we can – and before anything else, that means surviving as individuals, as families, and as Folk. The exact form of Ragnarok is not known to us, nor is the time of it’s coming, but we would do well to prepare just as do the Einherjar in Odin’s hall.
Additionally, the very spirit of the Havamal – of Odin’s practical advice to the ordinary men and women of Midgard, rather than to his chosen heroes – is one of prudence and preparedness. A program for storing food and other supplies is entirely in keeping with these principles.
In short, the two most renowned poems of the Poetic Edda validate this project: The Vlouspa, with its heroic and cosmic vision, and the Havamal, with its very down-to-earth practicallity. With such documentation, it is clear we are working within the purview of our religion rather than merely responding to temporary crises on the world stage.
Finally, we would not want to be a burden on our neighbors, or on relief efforts, in times of mundane catastrophe. If we are prepared, attention can be given to those who need it more than we do.
With all these things in mind, I am asking each of you to begin setting aside food and essential items sufficient to last your family a year. For those in position to do so, thought should be given to food PRODUCTION in addition to storage. And remember that survival is not merely an individual affair but a group endeavor, so network with your fellow Asatruar where possible to assist each other.
In the weeks and months to come, we will show you ways to do this that are not a drain on your resources, or on your storage capabilities Guidelines will be provided, and advice and assistance given. In the meantime, I suggest that you not wait for further instructions, but exercise your initiative and begin now to prepare.
I would like to introduce to you the Asatru Folk Assembly’s newest Apprentice Folkbuilder, Benjamin Tiemeier of Ohio. The Midwest in general and Ohio in specific has been a area of great growth and enthusiasm in the last year and we see big things on the horizon. Ben will be working with Zach Cato to build the AFA’s Midwest region and help our Midwest family reach their fullest potential. Huge thank you to Ben for stepping forward.
Hail the Doers!
Matthew D. Flavel
Alsherjargothi,
Asatru Folk Assembly