The word "asatru" literally means "faithful to the Aesir". It is a reconstruction of the pre-Christian religion of northern Europe, focused broadly upon honoring the Aesir and Vanir, who are the two tribes of gods historically followed by the Old Norse and other Teutonic/Germanic cultures. Although the name Asatru refers specifically to the Aesir, the Vanir are held in equal regard.
In addition to the Aesir and Vanir, most asatruar (followers of Asatru) also honor our ancestors and a variety of spirits of the land, spirits of place, and otherworldly beings, collectively known as "wights".
We do not "worship" our gods in the common sense of bowing down before their greatness, for they are our Elder Kin. Kneeling in supplication before Odin is just as silly as kneeling in supplication before your grandfather or the spirit of his grandfather. It could also, therefore, be said that asatru is based on reverence for your ancestors, with the gods being the greatest and most powerful of our forebears.
Beyond that, the core beliefs of Asatru are somewhat difficult to pin down, as we tend to be fiercely independent - if we will not subjugate ourselves to the gods, we are certainly not going to allow any man to tell us what we must believe! A commonly-held approximation of our beliefs can be found in the Nine Noble Virtues: Courage, Truth, Honor, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, Industriousness, Self-Reliance, and Steadfastness. But they are not the Nine Commandments, to be unthinkingly followed at all times. Truth, for example, is a great Virtue, but the Havamal ("Sayings of the High One (i.e., Odin)") tells us to "repay lies for lies."
Although they are not often talked about in the same sense as the Nine Virtues, I see two greater ideals towering above them from which all else flows: Accountability and Frith.
Accountability is easily understood. When you act, you must accept the consequences of your actions, whether foreseen or not. There are complex interrelationships between all things (known within Asatru as "wyrd"; the overall concept of wyrd is similar to those of "fate" or "karma") and every word spoken, every act undertaken, has a weight with which it shapes your wyrd and the wyrd of those around you. By building wyrd carefully, you bring good things upon yourself and others, but careless words and unthinking deeds will bring disaster.
"Frith" is not so easily explained, as there is no equivalent word in English. It is often translated as meaning "peace", but this is a grave error, as true frith requires that threats be vanquished rather than submitted to. The closest one-phrase approximation I can think of is "looking out for your own". We protect and preserve those close to us against those more distant because their wyrd is most closely bound to our own. Internal conflicts are taken as challenges and opportunities for growth rather than allowed to become destructive, but are set aside in the face of external threats.
So, given the great demands placed upon asatruar by these virtues and ideals, why would anyone choose this religion? Most of us would answer, quite simply, "Who says I had a choice?" My own personal experience is that I started out with a study of runecraft, which turned to a study of runelore, and before long I found myself reading a book on the religion of the Old Norse. As I read it, everything just seemed Right - it took dozens of seemingly unrelated views, interests, and quirks from various areas of my life, put them in a nice little package with a bow on top, and handed it to me as a gift. I did not choose to become Asatru; I discovered that it was what I had always been. In conversations with other asatruar, I have found that most of them have had similar experiences. These are the ways of our ancestors and they are an inborn part of us as well.
In addition to Asatru, there are several other reconstructionist northern European religions which commonly refer to themselves (and each other) by the blanket term "heathen". Among these groups are Forn Sed, the Angelseaxisce Ealdriht, Anglo-Saxon Heathenry, Odinism, the Irminsul Aettir, and several others. The primary difference between these groups is in their level of focus on one specific northern European culture - the Anglo-Saxon groups obviously focus on Anglo-Saxon areas, Asatru may focus on Norway or Iceland (or it may not, as "Asatru" is also used as a collective term for all of these groups) while those of Swedish descent often use the Swedish spelling, "Asetro", usw. The beliefs and practices of all forms of heathenry are largely identical, however, despite the variations in naming and terminology.
Heathens are, however, generally distinct from those who call themselves "Norse Pagan". We prefer "heathen" over "pagan" for a variety of reasons, but the two most significant are their origins and their current associations.
Linguistically, the argument is very simple and straightforward. "Heathen" derives from northern European roots (and exists, in some form, in every modern northern European language), while "pagan" is derived from Latin. We follow a northern European folk religion, therefore the northern term is more appropriate than the Latin one.
The matter of current associations is a little more politically charged, but it essentially boils down to the tendency of most people today to associate "pagan" with "wiccan" and, in the words of a long-forgotten poster to alt.religion.asatru, "Asatru has as much to do with Wicca as it has to do with Christianity, which is to say absolutely nothing." Asatru is not an offshoot or derivative of Wicca in any way, save by historical accident that, at this time, Wicca is probably the most common route by which people are becoming familiar with Asatru. Our beliefs are distinct, our rituals are religious rather than magical, and those few heathens who practice magic do so within a tradition very unlike those typically found within Wicca.
The most prominent cause of contention between asatruar and wiccans is in the use of our gods. Asatruar are generally hard polytheists, believing that Thor is no more an aspect of The Lord than I am an aspect of The Man and that claiming Odin to be equivalent to Zeus is as offensive as saying that Bill Clinton is equivalent to George Bush (either one). The gods are gods - distinct beings, each with a personality and abilities all his own - not a collection of interchangable names of power. Likewise, it is demeaning to Frey if you call on him once or twice a year to make demands rather than cultivating an actual relationship with him and occasionally requesting that he provide a gift to you in return for the gifts you have given him.
As much as we dislike being mistaken for wiccans, though, there is one other group that heathens are often confused with which is an even greater thorn in our collective side: Nazis.
This confusion is understandable from a casual observer's standpoint, as the roots of the rise of German nationalism and the heathen revival both tap into the same historical and cultural bedrock. Hitler's infamous swastika was the sunwheel, a holy symbol of our ancestors. The double lightning bolt symbol of the SS troopers was a pair of sig runes. If you look at Asatru symbology and Nazi symbology, there is an undeniable similarity.
Compounding this, there are many racist and neo-Nazi groups who claim to be "Asatru" or "Odinist" in an attempt to justify their hate. In this, they are no better than those who have called themselves "Christians" to justify the harassment or murder of abortion clinic staff. If these people embrace the religions they claim, they are on the lunatic fringe, at best, and have adopted a version of the religion which has been twisted to suit their own ends.
With all that said, however, the greatest split within Asatru today is that of universalist Asatru vs. folkish Asatru. At the extremes of the spectrum, universalists believe that the gods will call whom they will and it is not for us to question that, while folkish Asatru believe that Asatru is only for those who are of northern European descent. Obviously, the folkish beliefs can easily be interpreted as racist (and there are a minority of folkish asatruar whom I believe that term can be rightfully applied to), but they are not inherently so. The basic folkish argument is that when I (assuming for the moment that I were folkish) stand before my ancestors, I wish to be surrounded by those who share that ancestry. Those folkish who would refuse to worship beside someone of Japanese descent would consider themselves equally unfit to attend a Shinto ceremony unless they have Japanese ancestors. The folkish belief is not "we're better than you because of who our ancestors are", but rather "each of us should follow the ways of his own ancestors, not those of somebody else's". (The universalist counterargument is that our ancestors had many ways to become a part of their family aside from being born into it - marriage, adoption, fostering, blood-brotherhood, oath-brotherhood, usw.)
So there you have a (not-so-)brief overview of Asatru. If what you have seen here resonates with your spirit, I would encourage you to look into Asatru more closely. There are many websites on the topic (just try to steer clear of those that are run by racists or Norse wiccans) as well as a number of excellent books. (Seek out those by Kveldulf Gundarsson or Edred Thorsson to start with and avoid those by Ralph Blum, D.J. Conway, or Ed Fitch.) If it does not ring true to you, and you are seeking a religion that suits you, I would suggest that you learn who your ancestors were and what they believed. You may find that their beliefs are exactly what you're looking for.
Health and Luck
- Dave Sherohman