The Great Plague of 2020 and Its Impact on the Asatru Folk

This is more of a matter of opinion rather than fact, but it seems to me that the Great Plague of Covid-19 has had a major impact on the Asatru and the people who practice its many variations. I know that in my circle or circles it put a stop to progress and positive change withing our extended family.

In Asatru today we are widely spread out across the landscape and our innangardh tends to be a bit wider than it was during the days of The Ancestors. Just before the plague struck my area, I was working on building a local Asatru community. By local, I literally mean local, right here in my little town and a few miles afield of that. It is my personal opinion that Heathenry is local and if you cannot be local you cannot be global. I was making connections and plan a moot at the local pub. That all fell apart when they closed the pubs, the restaurants, and just about everything.

On a larger scale some rouge members of a national Asatru organization were planning a coup that failed and thus we were cast out. We were working closely together through social media and the internet to form a new national organization. As the plague rage on we lost motivation. It seemed that loss of motivation and drive was universal across the nation and the world during the plague times. Even now I have to work much harder to be motivated.

So, what happened next seems to be a natural erosion of the bonds and associations we had nationally and locally. My communication with anyone in the Asatru world has been limited to my blog and what I see posted on social media. The only interaction I have with other pagans/heathens is with my kids.

So, what is on the other side? When vaccinations and the number of folks who have survived the plague out numbers the number of the sick, what will happen to the folk of Asatru? I assume that the plague will subside, and we will be able to emerge from darkness. However, I am unsure if our connections will reconnect. 

I believe that to some extent heathens will start to reconnect, at least those who have already establish bonds. Those who were primarily living in isolation ad only connecting on social media may have a more difficult time creating in-person connections. For myself, I moved away from the place of my birth and an aria I lived for over thirty-two years. May of my tribe also migrated out of the area, thus leaving us scattered across the region. My efforts to reconnect and rebuild have ben through social media. Ultimately, I have been left adrift.

Today, The Kindred of Hammerhof is myself and my two children. My attempts to reconnect with other heathens halted when the plague struck our region. I was left to social media and a feeling of disconnect that left me wondering if I should event try to build a local heathen/pagan community. I believe that many of us have been left feeling this way. My only advice is to look into your heart and seek the truth within you.