Matl Blunt Governot Mark S.

James

James F. Keathley Colonel, MSHP

Van Godsey

Ditector, DPS

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 in ancienl religious beliels and polythelsm. Whiie not recerving as much atlention as other pre-hjstoric religions, such as Wicca, AsatrLl and Odinism stem irom simiiar backgrounds. Both are evolulionary or reconstructed forms 01 religior practiced in Europe prior to the spread ol Christianity, meaning that they are moderf interprelations of praclices that may have taken difierent forms in the past. Asatr! and Odinism are of interest to the law eniorcement community becalse many members of while supremacist organizations have chosen them as a white European allernalive to olher rejlgions.

Historical Asatri-Odinism Asatri derives from the Old Norse words Asa (gods) and lr!
(failh). The term was firsl used in a modern contexl in a 1gth

cenl!ry opera, many o{ whjch ai the time (including Wagnefs Ring of the Nibelung, ol "Bide of the valkyries" lamelot

Thor's Ilammer

pride Apocalypse NowIansJ ADocalvDse Nowlans.) evoked a sense of historical Drid that was pad ot Victorian Bomanticism. A polytheistic religion, Germanic paganism maintained a pantheon ol lour major gods and an assorlmenl ol iesser oods. As with other pre-Cbrislian European religions, their rituals centered on sacrifice lmosl of' tef animal, bul sometimes human as well). The view of the afterlile, as with many olher aspects of the re_ ligion in its original iorm, was not wellJormed, with no consistenl belieis on what took place after death The spread of Christianity in the iate Foman perjod and the early lMiddle Ages gradually supplanted the naiive peopje's original beliefs, as kings and their sublects turned to the newer religjon.

Neopaganish
Whiie the term was mentioned in the 1 gth century, 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 to Odinism and ihe 'Church o{ Odin,' the most prominenl ol which was "The Call ol Our Ancienl Nordic Beligion."! ln 1973 a cenlralized group of Odinists was iormed in England. Known firsl as the Commit1ee 10r the Resloration of the Odinic Rite (Odjnlsl Commillee for short), the group disbanded in 1979 and reJormed as The Odinic Rite.3

Sveinbjorn Beilleilsson ar lcelaoo( la'me ounded AsarrJ the roderr o ga__ ized lorm oi Germanjc paganism, and petitioned the lcelandic governmenl lor recognition of lhe religion in 1972. The governmeni did so in 1 973, and was iollowed 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 several groups located in the United Slales as well. Some of these groups have tormed associalions wilh each other and meel lor the religion's higher holy days. Groups in the Uniled States include the Asatr, Folk Assembly, the Asafu Aljiance, The Troth, and the lrminsul tir.

Af

Practices
Modern Asatr, possesses more structure than its ancient predecessor even though there are few texts that provide any iniormation on ancienl riles and riluals. Worship revolves around four malor gods: Odin

ffi

Thor Freyr
F

rcy)a

Ood oJ maqic, poetry, riches, and the dead; ruler 0t VaJhalla sky god who wieJds a hammer, controls the weather, and protects the law and community lerlility god seen as the io!nder of lhe Swedish royal dynasty lertility goddess ol love and beauly, Odin's wife and patron ol tamjlies

Additionally, Asatr! proiesses dedication to a moral code known as the Nine Noble Virtues: Courage, Truth, Honor, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, lnduslriousness, SeJJ-reliance, and Perseverance. Aiso, rites are practiced ai the times of the summer and winter solstice and the sprjng and lall equinox.a The alterlife described by Asatni consists oi a heaveniy paradise of Valhalla tor those who die in battle, a s peaceJ!l place knowr as Hel lor most, and a hellish iate in Hifhel lor the most wicked David Lane and Wotanism David Lane, a while supremacjst member 01 "The Order" who died if prison on May 28, 2007, whiJe serving a 1 90 year sentence ioT acts committed while a member ol "The Order," Jorm!lated his own take on Ger manic paganism. A firm believer ir n!merology, the sludy ol words and numeric values ior hidden meanings, Lane proclaimed to have uncovered a coding system within the King James Versron (KJV) of the Bible that p'oves nim to be a proDher lor a rew vers.on ol oaganisn llown as wo.

Lane ostensibly chose Wotanism as the name tor his religiot because it was 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 he Aryan Nation." Lane viewed other mod' em'day Germanjc paqans as nothing more than "game players, deceivers and universalists who had usurDed the name Odin."/ Several times in his writings Lane lakes lo task J!deo_Christians and neo-pagans for associating God with love. As Lane states it:

lovel! There is j!st law

The iact is, lhe Creator made lions to eat lambs, wolves to eal tawns, hawks to eat sparrows, and the races ol men to tight ior life, women, tood, tetrjlory and power. There is no love iove lai lawll Harsh, somelimes cruel, but still divine lawlls

Lane's views on religion and race, embodied in Wotanrsm, are perhaps besl summed 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 are God's iaws. And the iirsl and highesl law oi nature is lhe preservation of one's own kind."

White Order of Thule

The original Thule (pronounced "Two-Lee") Society was a German occultist society thal served as one 01 the parenl organizations tor Hiiier's Naz pady. Thule was the Greek name lor a my{hical nodbern coun' try. The modern-day White Order oi Thule has its basis in white supremacist belieis with the additional lrappings ol Odinism. Members 01 the White Order ol Thule have shown supporl for members of The O[ der. ln 2002 a member oi ihe Whiie Order of Thule, Leo Felton, was convicted oi plolting to blow up landmarks ,n Boston in the hopes of siading a race war.e

Y@RT$
Life Rune

odin

Rune

odin Rune (variationr

,oJJ:l;:;,", ,#lf:::i: ward otf wolves,

also used bY SS)

Runes that may be seen as tattoos on white supremacislsl0 lmpllcations for Missouri Europe make i1 very attraclive to Germanic paganism s origin in lhe pre-Christian praclices oJ nodhern races This adds to the whilp srrnremaclsis who see it as a rellqlon wilhout the "laint" oi other cultures oI reel can be seen as oi r.i.toii".l 6'ia", as Asalri-odinism is a relision that thev

;;;i; ;;;;;;;;i;;;r ;;"'"

centeied ttran modern

11!lii.iirij,ii",i"""i rJ"rt"","gbi;l'r""irtturethaltheyviewasbeingsrrongerandmorewarrjoL nol in any way make a person

such a ."i. l"iit"o t" L"tg white supreilacist On the contrary, those who are aJfiliated ifon those manner initial be" *f ire""rpremacisis and makethe move to Germanic paganism based ,.r"frjj -eligiol ano ils orlgins w_al rakes ll.alrac_ive lo exlremisls "i"i ". r'.[] ilu"lnq; ou"i" r"oerslanding o lle

society. B;ing an adherenl to Asatd-Odinism does

andhowlhoseextremislsinterprelandmodity"lherelgjonto:uilthelrown.racrslbeliefs'mayassisllaw enlorcenent olftce's lo beilel uldersElo lhe nlndsej ol whlLe suoremaclsls

dps The IVIAC requests ieedback on this producl (email miac@mshp T" S-qYl:: Missouri law entorcement communilv thal mav be utiiized

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;^*. reiigionfacts'com/a-z-religion-index/asatru htnl July 2007' 1t""""" htnll' Julv 2007 ? Catl ofOur AncienL L nuaO Vilts,'tle ""**rrtrtttf://u'ww lordic-ReligioD," thttp://www odinic-rite orShuddmills ]ulv200? ';q""ri["'""4e^*",-abourtheoRandodrnrsm,'ithtp:'w;'wodnj('rrborr/qilhiill hml' lub' 2007 p"g"nisn lhxp://www religionfrcts comi L z+eJ iUon-r nder/naru ' "i*i.r fC""*"l" ''' hrn JulJ /u!/ The Bi; Reli!'on Ch;L rhlrl:rww$ el'tio|iacr'com/brg-rerilror-chrd hhnll' 6 "The Pyramjd ProPhecv lnroduclion ' thnp:/riwu fieetneordeI orc/PvilmrdPrcphecv/PPinuo David Lane,
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i'ent-o"fumaro,iL"ugue, HuteonDtsplay: eVisuollatabaseofgxtrcnrislsyilbols Logos andT!{oos'"

lhst://www-adl.org/hale svmbols/delaull-graPhics
asp.l, 2005

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