The Twelfth Day of Yuletide
...from the AFA
By now, hopefully, you have taken stock of the year past and thought about what you want to accomplish in the one to come…and that brings up the question of oaths, or at least resolutions, for the new year. I list the two separately because they are very different things.
In ancient times, our people swore oaths on the Yule boar as he was led around the hall. Today, we may use only a loaf of bread baked in the shape of a boar, but the oath is no less binding than if a live, snorting, squealing boar had been brought into your dining room! And oaths, as you know, must be taken very seriously. I have noted that in modern times, many swear oaths when they would gain better reputation by staying silent…
Resolutions are the common fare in American culture, and they are much less binding than oaths. This does NOT mean that they are to be taken casually or halfheartedly, but there is relatively little loss of spiritual might if one fails to attain them. They can be a useful tool for developing the will and making progress toward the high level of attainment that should be the long-term goal of all of us.
When you make your choice, you don't want to be lacking in wisdom!
Light a candle for Wisdom as you wrap up this Yule season, and turn your face toward the new year!
Happy New Year, everyone!
Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
The Eleventh Day of Yuletide
The Eleventh Day of Yuletide
- Thoughts from the Asatru Folk Assembly
When we burn a sunwheel and urge the sun to return at Yule, exactly what are we doing? Are we trying to lend the sun some of our might so that it can come back to us, or are we celebrating something that we know for certain will happen in any case?
We are not childish enough to think that our ritual actions will make the sun return. The sun presumably turned in the heavens before there were humans to witness the fact, and should we annihilate ourselves in a nuclear war tomorrow morning the sun will continue in its course, unseen by human eyes, through the silent centuries. To think otherwise would be to deny the very attributes we recognize in the sun
- dependability, predictability, rhythm, the essence of the rune Raido. This extrapolation from past events demonstrates the fundamentally scientific instincts of our ancestors.
Notwithstanding, there is another dimension to our actions, and it may best be summarized as "participation." The logical process described in the paragraph above applies to the normal world of human experience, but beyond cause and effect there is a level on which we participate in, or become one with, the act of the sun's return. We do not cause the return but we do more than merely observe and celebrate; we become a part of it. It is in this spirit that we burn sunwheels, pour libations, and make invocations - that we may transcend who and what we normally are, and partake of eternity.
So light your candle, and think on Loyalty - including, but not limited to, our loyalty to ourselves and to the highest, God-like potential that is within us.
Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org
- Thoughts from the Asatru Folk Assembly
When we burn a sunwheel and urge the sun to return at Yule, exactly what are we doing? Are we trying to lend the sun some of our might so that it can come back to us, or are we celebrating something that we know for certain will happen in any case?
We are not childish enough to think that our ritual actions will make the sun return. The sun presumably turned in the heavens before there were humans to witness the fact, and should we annihilate ourselves in a nuclear war tomorrow morning the sun will continue in its course, unseen by human eyes, through the silent centuries. To think otherwise would be to deny the very attributes we recognize in the sun
- dependability, predictability, rhythm, the essence of the rune Raido. This extrapolation from past events demonstrates the fundamentally scientific instincts of our ancestors.
Notwithstanding, there is another dimension to our actions, and it may best be summarized as "participation." The logical process described in the paragraph above applies to the normal world of human experience, but beyond cause and effect there is a level on which we participate in, or become one with, the act of the sun's return. We do not cause the return but we do more than merely observe and celebrate; we become a part of it. It is in this spirit that we burn sunwheels, pour libations, and make invocations - that we may transcend who and what we normally are, and partake of eternity.
So light your candle, and think on Loyalty - including, but not limited to, our loyalty to ourselves and to the highest, God-like potential that is within us.
Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org
Monday, December 29, 2008
The Tenth Day of Yuletide
The Tenth Day of Yuletide - from the Asatru Folk Assembly
Steadfastness is not something encouraged in the modern world. Literally, it means to hold firm in our place - and in a world of continual mobility and change, steadfastness becomes almost a liability. Lack of commitment, "hanging loose," flexibility, "not getting hung up" are sometimes praised to the exclusion of holding
fast. And to be fair, flexibility and motion are desirable. The sun itself, that great wheel in the sky, moves. But it is nevertheless faithful, true to its nature as it transits across the extended stead that is its home.
The sun is, in fact, the epitome of commitment and regularity…of steadfastness. It does not abandon its mission or deviate from its course. And neither must we.
Light a candle to Steadfastness, and let it anchor you in the purpose that defines your life.
Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org
Steadfastness is not something encouraged in the modern world. Literally, it means to hold firm in our place - and in a world of continual mobility and change, steadfastness becomes almost a liability. Lack of commitment, "hanging loose," flexibility, "not getting hung up" are sometimes praised to the exclusion of holding
fast. And to be fair, flexibility and motion are desirable. The sun itself, that great wheel in the sky, moves. But it is nevertheless faithful, true to its nature as it transits across the extended stead that is its home.
The sun is, in fact, the epitome of commitment and regularity…of steadfastness. It does not abandon its mission or deviate from its course. And neither must we.
Light a candle to Steadfastness, and let it anchor you in the purpose that defines your life.
Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org
Sunday, December 28, 2008
The Ninth Day of Yuletide
The Ninth Day of Yuletide -
From the Asatru Folk Assembly
It is significant that truth is so often compared to light. The analogy is a powerful one. Perhaps it springs from the fact that light reveals thing as they are, showing that which is hidden, while darkness obscures. In the light, we see what is, not what may be.
This is not to deny the importance of the darkness. Darkness contains all potential. It is not merely the absence of light, but something that is, in its own way, just as vital.
The long nights and short days of winter are pregnant with potential. A creative chaos, the womb of all that is unmanifest, lurks in the shadow. But in the fullness of time it must be replaced by rebirth, by manifestation, by light, by truth rather than ambiguity - and thus we have the return of Sunna, the Sun.
Light a candle to Truth, and define the world.
Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org
From the Asatru Folk Assembly
It is significant that truth is so often compared to light. The analogy is a powerful one. Perhaps it springs from the fact that light reveals thing as they are, showing that which is hidden, while darkness obscures. In the light, we see what is, not what may be.
This is not to deny the importance of the darkness. Darkness contains all potential. It is not merely the absence of light, but something that is, in its own way, just as vital.
The long nights and short days of winter are pregnant with potential. A creative chaos, the womb of all that is unmanifest, lurks in the shadow. But in the fullness of time it must be replaced by rebirth, by manifestation, by light, by truth rather than ambiguity - and thus we have the return of Sunna, the Sun.
Light a candle to Truth, and define the world.
Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org
Saturday, December 27, 2008
The Eighth Day of Yuletide
The Eighth Day of Yuletide - from the Asatru Folk Assembly
On the Seventh Day of Yuletide we lit a candle to Community. Today we light a candle to its apparent opposite, Individuality.
Contradictory? Paradoxical? No, just another fundamental trait of the Northern European psyche, one illustrating the need for a consciously-maintained, dynamic balance rather than the will-less absorption of the self into a featureless consistency.
Historically, the peoples of Europe are comfortable with cooperation and hierarchy - hence the value of Community. We are also the most ego-driven, self-assertive, and individualistic primates on the planet. Both these traits are perfectly capable of existing in the same human heart at the same moment.
So light that candle for Individuality, hold it high, and defy any attempt by the group to blow it out!
Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org
On the Seventh Day of Yuletide we lit a candle to Community. Today we light a candle to its apparent opposite, Individuality.
Contradictory? Paradoxical? No, just another fundamental trait of the Northern European psyche, one illustrating the need for a consciously-maintained, dynamic balance rather than the will-less absorption of the self into a featureless consistency.
Historically, the peoples of Europe are comfortable with cooperation and hierarchy - hence the value of Community. We are also the most ego-driven, self-assertive, and individualistic primates on the planet. Both these traits are perfectly capable of existing in the same human heart at the same moment.
So light that candle for Individuality, hold it high, and defy any attempt by the group to blow it out!
Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org
Friday, December 26, 2008
The Seventh Day of Yuletide
The Seventh Day of Yuletide
I sometimes think that the Yule season’s time-transcending quality derives from nothing more than its regularity, and that almost any other yearly date, if we had strong and pleasant memories to mark it, would serve the same function. I can remember my early childhood - how the tree looked, what my brother and sister were doing, the paper candy cane I gave to the repairman who came to fix our (now) old-fashioned, cabinet-style radio. I know that those things happened at just about this point on the Wheel of the Year, and somehow that gives me comfort. That moment half a century ago is now not so long ago, or far away; I could turn a corner any moment and find myself there again. Somehow, it all…touches.
The Wheel is, of course, central to our understanding of Yule. When Nietzsche conceived the Eternal Return, was he intuitively tapping into a substratum of ancient lore? Only, we might say that instead of a wheel returning to the same point, it is actually a spiral, deviating from its unchanging course by the power of our Will. The spiral nevertheless connects all times, all events, and gives us a glimpse of eternity.
Tonight we light a candle for Community, and think on the cohort of kith and kin that give us love and merriment through the years, as we journey on our endless gyre.
Asatru Folk Assembly
afa@runestone.org
I sometimes think that the Yule season’s time-transcending quality derives from nothing more than its regularity, and that almost any other yearly date, if we had strong and pleasant memories to mark it, would serve the same function. I can remember my early childhood - how the tree looked, what my brother and sister were doing, the paper candy cane I gave to the repairman who came to fix our (now) old-fashioned, cabinet-style radio. I know that those things happened at just about this point on the Wheel of the Year, and somehow that gives me comfort. That moment half a century ago is now not so long ago, or far away; I could turn a corner any moment and find myself there again. Somehow, it all…touches.
The Wheel is, of course, central to our understanding of Yule. When Nietzsche conceived the Eternal Return, was he intuitively tapping into a substratum of ancient lore? Only, we might say that instead of a wheel returning to the same point, it is actually a spiral, deviating from its unchanging course by the power of our Will. The spiral nevertheless connects all times, all events, and gives us a glimpse of eternity.
Tonight we light a candle for Community, and think on the cohort of kith and kin that give us love and merriment through the years, as we journey on our endless gyre.
Asatru Folk Assembly
afa@runestone.org
Thursday, December 25, 2008
The Sixth Day of Yuletide
The Sixth Day of Yuletide - From the Asatru Folk Assembly
A few days ago, I stood on the scales down at the gym and discovered that I had gained four pounds over a period of perhaps a week and a half. Part of the increase resulted from fewer workouts over the period in question, but most of the extra weight came from too much eating and drinking - and worst of all, indulging in eating and drinking just before bedtime!
Clearly, I had not been moderate.
My response was to get on the treadmill and burn off 640 calories, being sure to get in some intense running to keep my metabolism elevated over the next few hours. Come to think of it, that wasn't very moderate of me, either.
The truth is, it's not what we do SOME of the time that makes a difference - whether it's eating or running - but rather what we do MOST of the time. Perhaps we have to be moderate even in our moderation, punctuating our lives with variety in the form of
occasional excess.
Moderation in food and drink is particularly hard this time of year, but it is, after all, a time for celebration. Exercise some control as a matter of principle, but have fun, too.
Light a candle for Moderation, and resolve to keep your sense of humor!
Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org
A few days ago, I stood on the scales down at the gym and discovered that I had gained four pounds over a period of perhaps a week and a half. Part of the increase resulted from fewer workouts over the period in question, but most of the extra weight came from too much eating and drinking - and worst of all, indulging in eating and drinking just before bedtime!
Clearly, I had not been moderate.
My response was to get on the treadmill and burn off 640 calories, being sure to get in some intense running to keep my metabolism elevated over the next few hours. Come to think of it, that wasn't very moderate of me, either.
The truth is, it's not what we do SOME of the time that makes a difference - whether it's eating or running - but rather what we do MOST of the time. Perhaps we have to be moderate even in our moderation, punctuating our lives with variety in the form of
occasional excess.
Moderation in food and drink is particularly hard this time of year, but it is, after all, a time for celebration. Exercise some control as a matter of principle, but have fun, too.
Light a candle for Moderation, and resolve to keep your sense of humor!
Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
The Fifth Day of Yuletide
The Fifth Day of Yuletide - from the Asatru Folk Assembly
Speaking of A Christmas Carol…I recently watched the movie Scrooge, starring Albert Finney in the role of the monumental miser himself. I was struck by the richness, the plenty, associated with the Spirit of Christmas Present. He was a giant figure, masculine, bedecked in holly and wearing a luxurious green robe that barely covered his otherwise bared chest. Indeed, the Spirit was the very figure of wealth. When he informed Scrooge that "I love life…and life loves me" it became plain that - whatever Dickens' intention - we were seeing none other than the God of the Vanir, Frey himself!
The old Gods and Goddesses of our people are alive and well, lurking in the pages of literature produced a thousand years after the official demise of our native faith. They bring a timeless message of life, love, lust, and liberty. With the Yule season upon us, we can do no better than to heed this admonition to happiness and plenty!
Let us light a candle for Hospitality, sharing our prosperity with kin and friends everywhere!
Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org
Speaking of A Christmas Carol…I recently watched the movie Scrooge, starring Albert Finney in the role of the monumental miser himself. I was struck by the richness, the plenty, associated with the Spirit of Christmas Present. He was a giant figure, masculine, bedecked in holly and wearing a luxurious green robe that barely covered his otherwise bared chest. Indeed, the Spirit was the very figure of wealth. When he informed Scrooge that "I love life…and life loves me" it became plain that - whatever Dickens' intention - we were seeing none other than the God of the Vanir, Frey himself!
The old Gods and Goddesses of our people are alive and well, lurking in the pages of literature produced a thousand years after the official demise of our native faith. They bring a timeless message of life, love, lust, and liberty. With the Yule season upon us, we can do no better than to heed this admonition to happiness and plenty!
Let us light a candle for Hospitality, sharing our prosperity with kin and friends everywhere!
Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Fourth Day of Yuletide
The Fourth Day of Yuletide
The Fourth Day of Yuletide - Thoughts of the Season from the Asatru
Folk Assembly
By whatever name one celebrates the winter holiday in the West, the giving of gifts is a central part of the season. Sometimes this descends into rank commercialism, but the idea of gift-giving itself is a thoroughly spiritual one. The giver and the one given to are united through the medium of that which is given. We give, and in a spiritual law as true as Newton's physics, we must then receive - even if the reward is not a material one.
"The generous and bold have the best lives," the Havamal tells us - and note that the two traits are listed together. And is not the power of generosity the whole point of Dickens' marvelous tale, A Christmas Carol? Look closer at the story, and you will see a lesson how open-handedness gives a better life…not to mention an exact parallel between the three Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and To Come and the Norns that move behind the action in our own sagas and Eddas. Generosity is one of the tools we use to forge a good orlog, or "fate" for ourselves.
Light then, a candle for Generosity. Give the brightness of the flame to the world around you, and watch it reflect back on you as well.
Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org
The Fourth Day of Yuletide - Thoughts of the Season from the Asatru
Folk Assembly
By whatever name one celebrates the winter holiday in the West, the giving of gifts is a central part of the season. Sometimes this descends into rank commercialism, but the idea of gift-giving itself is a thoroughly spiritual one. The giver and the one given to are united through the medium of that which is given. We give, and in a spiritual law as true as Newton's physics, we must then receive - even if the reward is not a material one.
"The generous and bold have the best lives," the Havamal tells us - and note that the two traits are listed together. And is not the power of generosity the whole point of Dickens' marvelous tale, A Christmas Carol? Look closer at the story, and you will see a lesson how open-handedness gives a better life…not to mention an exact parallel between the three Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and To Come and the Norns that move behind the action in our own sagas and Eddas. Generosity is one of the tools we use to forge a good orlog, or "fate" for ourselves.
Light then, a candle for Generosity. Give the brightness of the flame to the world around you, and watch it reflect back on you as well.
Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org
Monday, December 22, 2008
The Third Day of Yuletide
The Third Day of Yuletide
The ancestors are always with us, but in some sense their presence is more immediate during Yule. We feel them in the moments of quiet, walking under the stars or through the wintry woods. They linger near the fireplace, too, as the crackling flames cast moving shadows across the dimmed room. And sometimes, when making grandma's favorite Yule recipe or just remembering what this season was like for us as children, the past seems to rub up against the present like a friendly cat that has stealthily, unnoticed, padded into the room. When we set a place for the ancestors at the Yuletide table, we know that in some way we cannot fully fathom, they delight in the attention.
We think on those who have gone before us - their gift of life to us, and our obligation to burnish the family name with love and leave it shining all the more brightly for our having been here.
This third day of Yuletide, light a candle for Courage and let it shine bravely across the years.
This series is sent as a service to the Germanic religious community, and its contents do NOT duplicate those of the AFA’s booklet, The Twelve Days of Yule in Word and Deed.
The ancestors are always with us, but in some sense their presence is more immediate during Yule. We feel them in the moments of quiet, walking under the stars or through the wintry woods. They linger near the fireplace, too, as the crackling flames cast moving shadows across the dimmed room. And sometimes, when making grandma's favorite Yule recipe or just remembering what this season was like for us as children, the past seems to rub up against the present like a friendly cat that has stealthily, unnoticed, padded into the room. When we set a place for the ancestors at the Yuletide table, we know that in some way we cannot fully fathom, they delight in the attention.
We think on those who have gone before us - their gift of life to us, and our obligation to burnish the family name with love and leave it shining all the more brightly for our having been here.
This third day of Yuletide, light a candle for Courage and let it shine bravely across the years.
This series is sent as a service to the Germanic religious community, and its contents do NOT duplicate those of the AFA’s booklet, The Twelve Days of Yule in Word and Deed.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
The Second Day of Yuletide
The Second Day of Yuletide, December 21
Yule is a time of recapitulation, of summary, in which the whole year is represented in twelve days - one month per day.
What else can you do in the remaining eleven days that has this same spirit of recapitulation? Read the Voluspa, perhaps the most beautiful and complete poem in the Elder Edda. In it we find the story of this present cycle of cosmic time, in its arising…its becoming…its falling away…to rise again.
Don’t read it all tonight, however. Spin it out slowly over the days. Finish at Twelfth Night. Read it aloud. Sense it in your body.
Light a candle tonight, for Justice.
And be as just as the driving destiny that shapes the Wyrd of the World. Or, failing that, be as just as you can.
This series is sent as a service to the Germanic religious community, and its contents do NOT duplicate those of the AFA’s booklet, _The Twelve Days of Yule in Word and Deed_.
Yule is a time of recapitulation, of summary, in which the whole year is represented in twelve days - one month per day.
What else can you do in the remaining eleven days that has this same spirit of recapitulation? Read the Voluspa, perhaps the most beautiful and complete poem in the Elder Edda. In it we find the story of this present cycle of cosmic time, in its arising…its becoming…its falling away…to rise again.
Don’t read it all tonight, however. Spin it out slowly over the days. Finish at Twelfth Night. Read it aloud. Sense it in your body.
Light a candle tonight, for Justice.
And be as just as the driving destiny that shapes the Wyrd of the World. Or, failing that, be as just as you can.
This series is sent as a service to the Germanic religious community, and its contents do NOT duplicate those of the AFA’s booklet, _The Twelve Days of Yule in Word and Deed_.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
The First Day of Yuletide
From the Asatru Folk Assembly…
The First Day of Yuletide -
The holy season begins. The big challenge is to stop the commercial feeding frenzy, and to feed our souls instead.
Try to break the cultural (anti-cultural?) trance today. Remember who you are: a person connected to the ancestors…to kin…to descendants…to the Holy Powers…to the natural world.
Light a candle tonight, for the practice of Industiousness.
But you've been industrious. Right now, it is time to do something else, to reap the rewards of your industriousness. Stop the action. Take a break. Go look at the stars or listen to the rain fall or feel the warmth of the fire or touch someone.
Thus begins this Yuletide.
Happy Mother's Night!
This series is sent as a service to the Germanic religious community, and its contents do NOT duplicate those of the AFA’s booklet, The Twelve Days of Yule in Word and Deed.
The First Day of Yuletide -
The holy season begins. The big challenge is to stop the commercial feeding frenzy, and to feed our souls instead.
Try to break the cultural (anti-cultural?) trance today. Remember who you are: a person connected to the ancestors…to kin…to descendants…to the Holy Powers…to the natural world.
Light a candle tonight, for the practice of Industiousness.
But you've been industrious. Right now, it is time to do something else, to reap the rewards of your industriousness. Stop the action. Take a break. Go look at the stars or listen to the rain fall or feel the warmth of the fire or touch someone.
Thus begins this Yuletide.
Happy Mother's Night!
This series is sent as a service to the Germanic religious community, and its contents do NOT duplicate those of the AFA’s booklet, The Twelve Days of Yule in Word and Deed.
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