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Chapter 7. At the Well of Urð 175
they had known while growing up. They fail to realize that they don’t have to make
things up as they go along; they can reclaim their own ancestral philosophy which
could not only provide them with a cohesive and workable value system but a sense
of history and historical pride as well.
Those wishing to “find their roots” in an earth-based religion might do well to
look in their own backyard.
“To moot a man should ride washed and fed
Even if he is not well dressed.
No man should be ashamed of boots or breeches,
Nor even of a horse that’s no good” 5
There is an integrity and a sense of comfort in being able to embrace one’s own
ancestral values even though they might not look as pretty as some others on the
surface. No one needs to “look good” for “by his actions will the man be known.”
Since the late 1950’s, there has been a move to restore various Heathen religions
of northern and eastern Europe as accurately as possible. This appears to
have been an off-shoot of the appearance of the earth-based religions á la Frazer/
Robert Graves, particularly a branch known as Wicca started in its modern form
by Gerald B. Gardner. These “restored” religions started with Druidism and Celtic
Christianity, but now includes Romuva (Slavic), Hellenism (Greek), and the Ása
Faith (Germanic), plus a variety of smaller groups. Most of these groups have
attempted to reconstruct the ancient religions as accurately as possible basing their
information on literature, court records, archeology, and folklore both ancient and
modern, utilizing comparative approaches similar to those used in this book.
The Ása Faith, or Ásatrú as it is called in America (Odinism, Vanatrú or the
Northern Way), appears to have begun in its most current regeneration in the early
1970’s, and although its membership is still relatively small in numbers, it has grown
into an international organization and continues to attract members at a slow even
pace. Some of the groups have attracted members also associated with neo-Nazism
while others, in an attempt to “clean up” the Germanic image, are very vocal about
being opposed to any kind of intolerance based on “ethnicity, creed, color, sexual
preference, or any other divisive criteria,” to use their own words. There are at least
two dozen regional councils in the United States alone.
These organizations stress the reconstructed religious aspects of ancient Teutonic
peoples as well as the practice of spiritual values of everyday life. They in no
way are forceful in their observance festivals; participation is voluntary, there are
no initiations, and the only purpose of the gatherings is to honor the lineages of
5 Page, R. I., p. 142.