We will all go through many trials in life. Tough times may seem like they will never end in the midst of them. Our thoughts govern so much more of our ability to navigate even the darkest of depressions or the tightest moments of anxiety. Yet we have made it through them time and again. We have all approached this faith with the idea and hope of something better. Our gods and ancestors have shown us by their actions that we do indeed have what it takes to take control of our lives. There is so much potential with that idea in action in our lives we might hardly comprehend it. So what does it look like when we quit finding other things to become upset about in our new faith? Well, we have an image of that as well.

LIII. Then spake Gangleri: “Shall any of the gods live then, or shall there be then any earth or heaven?”

Because that is the real question of the day. What will I look like if I let go of all the things I am supposed to be outraged about? What if I let go of all the pain I think makes me important or worthy of attention in someone else’s eyes? What will I feel if I am no longer anxious about every waking moment and what people think? Will I still be important? Is there some kind of divine in my life if I let go of the self-imposed sense of struggle so common in social issues?

Hárr answered: “In that time the earth shall emerge out of the sea and shall then be green and fair; then shall the fruits of it be brought forth unsown. Vídarr and Váli shall be living, inasmuch as neither sea nor the fire of Surtr shall have harmed them; and they shall dwell at Ida-Plain, where Ásgard was before. And then the sons of Thor, Módi and Magni, shall come there, and they shall have Mjöllnir there. After that Baldr shall come thither, and Hödr, from Hel; then all shall sit down together and hold speech. with one another, and call to mind their secret wisdom, and speak of those happenings which have been before: of the Midgard Serpent and of Fenris-Wolf. Then they shall find in the grass those golden chess-pieces which the Æsir had had; thus is it said:

In the deities’ shrines | shall dwell Vídarr and Váli,
   When the Fire of Surtr is slackened;
Módi and Magni | shall have Mjöllnir
   At the ceasing of Thor’s strife.

In the place called Hoddmímir’s Holt there shall lie hidden during the Fire of Surtr two of mankind, who are called thus: Líf and Lífthrasir, and for food they shall have the morning-dews. From these folk shall come so numerous an offspring that all the world shall be peopled, even as is said here:

Líf and Lífthrasir, | these shall lurk hidden
   In the Holt of Hoddmímir;
The morning dews | their meat shall be;
   Thence are gendered the generations.

And it may seem wonderful to thee, that the sun shall have borne a daughter not less fair than herself; and the daughter shall then tread in the steps of her mother, as is said here:

The Elfin-beam | shall bear a daughter,
Ere Fenris drags her forth;
That maid shall go, | when the great gods die,
To ride her mother’s road.

But now, if thou art able to ask yet further, then indeed I know not whence answer shall come to thee, for I never heard any man tell forth at greater length the course of the world; and now avail thyself of that which thou hast heard.”

Once we begin to let go of certain self-sabotaging ideas, given to us by others, our perception of the Gods themselves change. The sons of Gods and Goddesses lead the way into a new, far green horizon. Where we might reminisce about our pasts and chuckle about the mistakes of our life as we have seen our grandparents do. Laughing at their failures and smiling towards the sunset. Sunsets they know they will see fewer and fewer of as their life nears an end. Our children will lead the way into this bright future. But right now, the battle is ours. To relinquish patterns and old behaviors we have given a fresh coat of paint. Our children will be the ones who recognize the best of the changes within us. They will see it as the sun shining brightly on the promise of their future.

LIV. Thereupon Gangleri heard great noises on every side of him; and then, when he had looked about him more, lo, he stood out of doors on a level plain, and saw no hall there and no castle. Then he went his way forth and came home into his kingdom, and told those tidings which he had seen and heard; and after him each man told these tales to the other.

Our children will see this and they will tell others of the power of these old gods and how it made their moms and dads so much better people. That is how we ensure a future for the descendants of the ancient tribes of Northern Europe. With love, right here in our own homes.

Bryan Wilton
Gothi,
Asatru Folk Assembly