Hammerhof

TO I watched this video ( The Future of Heathenry and the Field of Dreams - YouTube ) and I first I was a bit hurt. In the first few moments of the video, he speaks about private property temples and communities, what he calls the field of dreams concept. Basically, this is the idea of building a private property Hof and then building a community around it. Sort of something I have thought of doing. He goes on to talk about the current state, nature, of modern heathen communities. on these issues I agree. Watch the video, then come back. In the past I have written about this and said that if I build it when you come? I have also spoken about community building, the big nationals or "umbrella groups", and I written about solitary practice. Over the decades I have been involved in Heathenry I have gone back and forth between solitary and communal in my practice. I have also gone back and forth on if community building is really all that great at all. I have also said, act local...

Heathens have been struggling to build communities for about five decades now. These communities are like the ocean in that they come in waves. The swell in the sea and break on the banks of the Earth. I have seen many Heathen communities grow, shrink, scatter, splinter, and simple break. There ae so many causes for these destructive forces, but the main reason is that we are a modern people and we live in a modern world. People come and go as individuals or families and simply disappear. It is just the way our society is structured. In ancient times people moved in tribal units. The depended on each for survival. We know there were tribal customs and eventually laws about the disabled, lame, and those who were a “burden to the tribe” wherein these folks could be ritually sacrificed or simply left to die in the wilderness. These acts were for the good of the tribe, but today are unheard of in our modern world. The tribal peoples needed to stick together, be health, strong, and willing ...

I have spent the greater part of the past 30 years community building in the Heathen community. I have learned that community building with Heathens has its ups and downs. Sometimes the dam bursts and you are overwhelmed by support and Heathens coming out of the woodwork. Other times you are alone in the woods praying to the gods and considering going it alone. Most of my years as a Heathen have been going it alone. It seems that is just the way it goes in the modern Heathen world, most of the time you are alone. I have my kids, they were raised Heathen and have known nothing else. At one time we hade a big tribe, 4 families and a about ten individuals. In the modern world that was short lived. People move about for work, school, or just out of wander lust. It is the way of the world. I have gone back and forth on going it alone and community building many times in my years in the Heathen realm. Even now as I contemplate building a temple, for Heathens, I still doubt that I want to i...

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 th...