Holy Places are Dark Places

“ It is life and strength, not knowledge and words, that we get in them. Holy wisdom is not clear and thin like water, but thick and dark like blood.”  Asatru is a religion dating back thousands of years, derived from ancient Norse beliefs. There is no clear founder of the religion, but it was revived by the Icelandic farmer Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson around 1972. Due to pagan religions dating back to the vikings, Asatru is an established religion in Iceland, and has a growing influence in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden.

The number of Asatru followers is unknown, ranging from the tens of thousands to one million.  Asatru followers do believe that there is a higher power, but unlike the larger religions, they believe that the celestial being is interdependent with us – that we affect it, and it affects us. They also believe that the divine energy shows itself to the world through gods and goddesses, leading the Asatru people to be polytheistic.

The Asatru religion does not follow any sort of writings, they believe that “living spiritual guidance is better than any dusty, dogmatic ‘holy book’, whose writings are often so ambiguous that even clerical scholars disagree and whose interpretations change with the politics of the times.” (The Asatru Alliance) While the Asatru religion strays away from a rigid social structure found in most religions, they do have somewhat of a priesthood called the Gothar. Gothar preform blots, although you are deemed worthy of becoming a Gothar after the ritual. A blot is at its plainest, a sacrifice to the gods.

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In ancient times, pagan offerings would consist of animal slaughterings – focusing on the related pagan word “blood.” In modern days, asatru followers commonly offer honey mead or other alcoholic drinks.

A gothi or gythia officiates the blot and invokes the god or goddess to be honored. A combination of rune drawing, chalices, and evergreen take part in this ritual where the deity takes its presence in one of the members and the mead is passed around, blessing it.  Gender roles are quite complicated in the Asatru religion. Coming from vikings, strength was prized both in men and women, but women were generally tasked with supporting their husbands. Although in faith, there are both gods and goddesses, not to mention that both male and female can become Gothar. Men’s valued strength is balanced by the belief that women are more spiritually inclined.