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Matl BluntGovernotMark
S.
James
Ditector,
DPSJames
F.
Keathley
Colonel, MSHP
Van
Godsey
Dirccto| MIAC
MIAC
Bulletin
Asatru-Odinisnr
a7-1
9-O7
Recenl decades
have
seen a
proiiieration
oi
different
religions
and
sects.
Pad
oi
this movemenl
has been a
reslrgence
of in
lerest inancienl
religious
beliels
and
polythelsm.Whiie not
re-
.
cerving
as muchatlention as
otherpre-hjstoric
religions, such
asWicca,AsatrLl and Odinism
stem
irom simiiarbackgrounds.Both
are evolulionary
or reconstructedforms
01
religiorprac-ticed in Europe
priorto
the spreadol
Christianity,
meaning that
they
are
moderf
interprelations
ofpraclices
that
may have
takendifierent forms
in
thepast.
Asatr!
and Odinism areof
interest tothe
law
eniorcement community becalse
many
members
of
whilesupremacist organizations
have chosen them
as
a
whiteEuropean allernalivetoolher
rejlgions.
Historical Asatri-OdinismAsatri
derives
from
the
Old
Norse
words Asa(gods)and
lr!
(failh).The term
was
firsl used in
amodern
contexl in a
1gth
cenl!ry
opera, many
o{
whjch ai
the time(including
Wagnefs
Thor's
Ilammer
Ring of
theNibelung, ol"Bideof the
valkyries"
lamelot
ADocalvDse Nowlans.)
evoked
a sense of historical
Drid
pocalypse NowIansJevoked
a senseof historicalpride
thatwas
pad
ot
Victorian
Bomanticism.
A
polytheisticreligion, Germanic
paganismmaintained
apantheon
ollour
major
godsand an assorlmenlol
iesser
oods.
As
with otherpre-Cbrislian
European
religions, theirrituals
centered
on sacrificelmosl
of'tef
animal, bul sometimes human
as
well).
The viewof
the afterlile, aswith
many
olher aspects
of
the
re_
ligion
in its original iorm,
was
not
wellJormed,
with
no
consistenl belieis on
what took
placeafter
deathThe
spread
of
Christianity
in
theiate
Fomanperjodand
theearly
lMiddle
Agesgraduallysupplanted the
naiive
peopje'soriginal beliefs,
as kingsand their
sublects turned
to
the
newer
religjon.
Neopaganish
Whiie
thetermwas mentioned
in
the
1
gthcentury,
Odinism as
a
modern
religious
movement began
in
the
1
930s. Australiaf Alexander Budd
Mills wrole a
series
of
books
in
the
1
930s
relaled
toOdinism
and
ihe'Church
o{
Odin,' the
most
prominenl
olwhich
was
"TheCall
ol
Our Ancienl
Nordic
Beligion."!
ln
1973
a
cenlralizedgroup
of Odinists
was iormed
in
England.
Known
firsl as
the
Commit-
1ee 10r
theResloration
of
theOdinic
Rite(Odjnlsl
Commillee for short), the
group
disbanded in
1979andreJormed as The OdinicRite.3
Sveinbjorn
Beilleilsson
arlcelaoo(
la'me
ounded
AsarrJ
the
roderr
o
ga__
ized
lormoi
Germanjc
paganism,
andpetitioned
thelcelandicgovernmenl
lor
recognition
of
lhereligion
in
1972.
Thegovernmeni
did so in
1
973,
andwas iol-
lowed
by Denmark and
Norway.Since
that time,
small
groups
of
Asatrli
adherenls
have sprung
up
around the
world,
predominately
in
Scandinavian
co!nfies,
bu1
with
severalgroupslocated
in
the United
Slalesas
well.
Some
of thesegroupshave
tormed associalions wilh
eachother and
meel lor the religion's
higher holy
days.
Groups in
the Uniled States
in-
clude
the
Asatr,
Folk
Assembly, the Asafu
Aljiance,
The Troth,
and
the
lrminsul
Af
tir.
Practices
Modern
Asatr,
possessesmore
structure thanits
ancientpredecessoreven though
there
are
few
texts
that
provide
anyiniormation
on ancienl riles
and
riluals.
Worship
revolves
around
four malor
gods:Ood
oJ
maqic,
poetry,riches, and
thedead; ruler
0t VaJhalla
sky
god
who
wieJds a hammer,
controls theweather, andprotectsthe law
and
communitylerlility
god
seen
as the
io!nder
of
lhe Swedish
royal
dynastylertilitygoddessol
loveand
beauly, Odin's wife
and
patronol tamjlies
Additionally,
Asatr!
proiesses
dedication toa moral
code known
as
the Nine
Noble
Virtues:Courage,
Truth,
Honor, Fidelity, Discipline,
Hospitality,
lnduslriousness,
SeJJ-reliance,
and Perseverance.
Aiso,ritesare
practicedai the times
of
the
summer andwinter
solstice
and
the sprjng
and
lall
equinox.aThe
alterlife described
by
Asatni
consists
oi
aheaveniy
paradise
of
Valhalla torthosewho
die
inbattle,
apeaceJ!l
place
knowr
as Hel
lor
most, and a hellish
iate
in Hifhel
lorthemost wicked
s
David
Lane andWotanism
David Lane,a
while supremacjst
member
01
"The Order"
who died
if
prison
on
May
28,2007,
whiJe
serving
a
1
90year
sentence
ioT
acts
com-
mitted
while
a
member ol
"TheOrder,"
Jorm!lated
his own
take
on
Ger
manic
paganism.
A
firm believer
ir
n!merology, thesludy ol words and
numeric
values
ior
hidden meanings,
Laneproclaimed
tohaveuncovered
a
coding
system
within
the
King
James
Versron
(KJV)
of
the
Bible
that
p'oves
nim
to
be
aproDher
lorarew
vers.on
ol oaganisn
llown
as
wo.
Lane
ostensibly choseWotanism
as thename
tor
his
religiot because
itwas the
iorm used
in
central Europe,
as opposed
to Odinism
in
Scandina'via. Additionally,
"Wo1an"
appealed
10
Lane
because
o{its
value
as
an ac
ronym, to
stand for
"lryill
9l f
heAryan
Nation."
Lane
viewed other mod'em'day Germanjcpaqans
as
nothing
morethan"game
players,deceivers
and universalists
who
had usurDed
the
name
Odin."/
Several
times
in
hiswritings
Lane
lakeslo
task
J!deo_Christiansand neo-pagans forassociatingGod
with
love. As
Lane
states
it:
The iact
is,
lheCreator made
lions to eat lambs,
wolves
to
eal tawns, hawks
to
eat sparrows,
and
the races ol
men
to
tight
ior
life, women,tood,
tetrjloryand
power.
There isno
love
iove
lovel!
There
is
j!st
law
lai
lawll
Harsh,
somelimescruel,
but
still divinelawlls
Lane's
views
on
religion
and
race,
embodiedin
Wotanrsm,
are
perhapsbeslsummed
up
by anolher
slalement
oi
Lane's.
"Nature and nalure's
laws
are
the
work oi the Creator,"
Lane
wote.
"Thereiore
na'
ture's laws
areGod's iaws. And the iirsl
and
highesl
law
oi nature
is
lhepreservation
of
one's ownkind."WhiteOrder of
Thule
Theoriginal
Thule(pronounced
"Two-Lee")Societywasa
Germanoccultist society thal servedas one
01
theparenl
organizationstor Hiiier's Nazpady.Thule was
the
Greek namelor
a
my{hical nodberncoun'try.
The
modern-dayWhiteOrderoi
Thule hasits
basis
in
white supremacist belieis
with
the additional
lrappings
ol
Odinism.
Members
01
the
White
Order
ol
Thule
have
shown supporlfor members
of
The
O[
der.
ln 2002
a member oi iheWhiie
Order of
Thule,Leo
Felton, was
convicted oiploltingto blow
uplandmarks,n
Boston
in
the hopes
of
siading
a
race
war.e
ffi
Odin
ThorFreyr
F
rcy)a
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