Organizations:
The Troth - One of the oldest Asatru organizations. Very useful online book; Our Troth. - UPDATE: online version of OT is gone but Volume One of the new hardcover edition may be purchased online.
Asatru Alliance - Another venerable umberella organization. Handy calendar page, though some holiday placement is influenced by modern USA secular holidays.
Asatru Folk Assembly - Third of the big three orgs in Vinland.
Northvegr Félag - A group with a slightly different take on heathenry. Very authenticity-oritented.
Irminen-Gesellschaft - Germanic-style Heathenry.
The Irminsul Aettir - One of the older Asatru resource/networking organizations. Includes a "Contacts" tool for trying to find heathens in your area.
Sampling of Kindreds:
Raven Kindred North - Centered mostly in Massachusetts, "Raven Kindred North (RKN) is one of the oldest traditional Asatru kindreds on the East Coast." One of the three kindreds who host the East Coast Thing.
Vingolf Fellowship - Centered mostly in New Jersey, a very frithful kindred with a long track record of hard work. One of the three kindreds who host the East Coast Thing.
Eplagarthr Kindred - "An Asatru Kindred located in the Northern Shenandoah Valley area in Virginia dedicated to the study and worship of the Norse Gods, the Ancestors and the Landvaettir." Holds events throughout the year including their Winter Nights festival in October.
Gladsheim Kindred Website - Maryland based. Keepers of the first governmentally recognized Hof (Asatru dedicated church building) in the USA! One of the three kindreds who host the East Coast Thing.
Kith of Yggdrasil - Located in The British Isles, "the Kith of Yggdrasil concentrates on the spiritual approach to the mysteries of Odinism, and its work is of relevance to all followers of the Aesir, Vanir and The Northern Tradition."
Hrafnar - Founded way back in 1988, this is the Berkley, CA based kindred of Diana L. Paxson, Shope of The Troth and elder Seidh woman.
Normannii Reik Theod - One of the most active and established Theods on the east coast. A good starting point for learning about Theodism.
Raven Kindred South - Maryland based. Nice sample Blot and several articles.
Medoburg Kindred - Western Pennsylvania based.
Two Ravens Kindred - Connecticut based.
Great Ash Kindred - Ohio based.
Resources and Home Pages:
Asatru-U - A great way for a newbie to start, or an oldie to refresh.
Asatru Archive - Nice general guide site. Much more complete than mine!
The Viking Answer Lady - Very extensive Scandinavian/Norse culture site. One of the very best!
Ravencast - A Heathen Podcast show with some excellent interviews with knowledgable Asatruar. Hosted by memebrsof Raven Kindred North.
Asatru Quick List - "A 10 minute Guide to the Bare Bones Essentials on Asatru."
Frigga's Web - Nice resources site. Heathen family oriented.
Odin Lives Radio - A weekly radio show about Heathenry featuring popular music of the northlands and talks by various Heathen authors and thinkers. Check the archives!
Thorshoff - "in association with Fealcen Stow and Midgard's Web." Nice collection of articles and art.
GotMead.com - Speaks for itself, don't it? Very extensive site! Maybe the best.
Thrudheim - A site dedicated to Thor with a very extensive links page.
Dahrg de Belne - 10th-century recreation of Viking and Saxon traders.
Norse Mythology - Very well organized educational site!
Runesmith's Home Page - Everything you ever wnted to know about runes and runic work.
Marklander Magazine - Long-running Heathen newsletter, now retired. Check the archives for some great articles.
Mountain Thunder Magazine - Collected articles of an old magazine produced by Troth members.
Online translation of Eddas and Sagas - Courtesy of squirrel.com."
Woden's Harrow - Good general site. Home site of the creators of "Heathens against Hate".
Norse God Images Archive - Fun collection of pictures.
Heathen Homesteading - "The views in Asatru and Homesteading are very complimentary in that they both hold great reverence for nature and encourage self-sufficiency and industriousness."
Stav - "a traditional European mind/body/spirit training system" based on the Younger Futhark. No idea how old or authentic this actually is. "Its origins are lost in the mists of time." I hate it when that happens.
Online Groups:
Asatru Yahoo Group - A search on Yahoo Groups for "asatru" brings up about 300 hits. This is a general group. There are many others out there which have a regional or group focus, or specialize in some version of Asatru thought or practices. For example...
Northeast Asatru Yahoo Group - Helps folk from Maine to Pennsylvania chat and coordinate activities.
MidAtlantic Asatru Yahoo Group - Like the above list, but serving PA, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas, etc.
Asa-Parents Asatru Yahoo Group - Great list for any Heathen parent or anyone who works with and for kids on a reguaslr basis. Very supportive.
Heathen Brewers Yahoo Group - Very enthusiastic and helpful list for home brewers. Members include some of our community's best mead makers.
SCA Heathens Yahoo Group - In the SCA and wanting to meet other heathens? Want to find out who's going to Coronation and maybe organize a sumble? Here's where to go!
alt.religion.asatru - Usenet newsgroup.
Asatru-L: - a discussion group hosted by the Irminsul Aettir.
Vinlandic Althing Yahoo Group - A new yahoo group whose focus is "to help Vinlandic Heathens to work together for the best lives that we can manage for ourselves."
The Runes Club Yahoo Group - Rune discussions et al.
Books:
Our Troth Second Edition, Vol. I and II - By Kveldulf Gundarsson and others and published by The Troth. This is an amazingly comprehensive work. Perhaps the best overview and field guide to what Asatru is, who it is, how we do waht we do and why. Highly recommended.
Freyja, Lady, Vanadis: An Introduction to the Goddess - By Patricia M. Lafayllve - examines Freyja, perhaps the best-known goddess of Asatru. Using original source material, extant writings, and scholarship the author builds an image of the goddess as she may have appeared to her followers in pre-Christian Northern Europe. Lafayllve then uses the knowledge she has compiled to speculate on aspects of modern worship of this complex deity. Highly recommended.
Essential Asatru: Walking the Path of Norse Paganism - By Diana L. Paxson. A basic primer in the ways of Heathenry. A good choice for people new to the path or trying to explain Asatru to friends and family.
Taking Up The Runes: A Complete Guide To Using Runes In Spells, Rituals, Divination, And Magic - By Diana L. Paxson. One of the latest and most comprehensive works on the subject. Designed for group study, the book delves into the ancient historical meaning of each rune and explains their contemporary uses and meanings.
Hammer of the Gods : Anglo-Saxon Paganism in Modern Times
by Swain Wodening - A very good resource for any Heathen, though primarily aimed at those following an Anglo-Saxon tradition.
Exploring The Northern Tradition: A Guide To The Gods, Lore, Rites And Celebrations From The Norse, German And Anglo-saxon Traditions - By Galina Krasskova (Author), Swain Wodening (forward). A friendly overview which provides a thorough guide to the cosmology, values, ethics, and rituals practiced by modern Heathens. Includes a look into devotional practices. The faining or blót is examined in rich detail with examples given for personal use.
Pillage and Downloads:
Heathen Art - Gorgeous plaque/statuary images of the AEsir for sale.
The Viking Shield - I have been looking for repro primitive statues for a while. These guys have them. I am sure other merchants do, too, but this was the first site I found.
Ye Ole Viking Bookshop eBay Store - Prints and a few books.
The Viking Answer Lady's Cafepress Store - Viking-themed designs from the Viking Answer Lady Website.
Garb The World - trim useful for making medieval and Norse clothing.
The Pillaged Village - Old SCA merchant with lots of fun stuff including trim and the classic "Viking World Tour" T-shirt.
The Norway Shop - Some very cool stuff from sweaters to jewelry. Most of which I can't afford!
Thor's Hammer Vodka - Even if you're not much of a drinker (I'm not) the bottle is too cool not to snag as a mead container! Check the site, but also your local booze shop.
Munson's Mead Hall at Cafe Press - I am opening a CP store to make some t-shirt designs and other stuff available. I am selling for $1 over the CP minimum only. I just want some cool shirts!
Just in case you're not sure you're Heathen:
In my travels, I have met a lot of different types of Pagan. I assume visitors to this site are interested in Asatru or are already practicing Heathens, but I realize some may be "shopping around" - looking for ideas as they feel out what is the best path for them. That's cool. So, I present these links for those folks, or for anyone curious to know who else is out there. Just remember as you research that it is essential to study hard, avoid New Age/commercial exploitation, and really respect the root cultures you encounter. Just MHO.
Beliefnet.com - Very extensive and useful site for religion research. Yes, they even have Asatru entries, including a prayer circle. If you're a new seeker, check them out and try their "Belief-o-matic Quiz" just for fun. There's also a decent article about reconstructionism.
Religious Tolerance.org - "This is a large religious web site which promotes religious freedom, tolerance and diversity as positive cultural values. It contains over 2,600 essays and menus...We try to explain the full range of religious belief in North America, from Asatru to Christianity to Zoroastrianism."
Nova Roma - Ancient Roman Reconstructionism.
Kemet/Per Ankh - Ancient Egyptian Reconstructionism.
Hellenism/The Hellenion - Ancient Greek Reconstructionism.
Ar nDraiocht Fein - "A Druid Fellowship (ADF) is an international fellowship devoted to creating a public tradition of Neopagan Druidry." My friend who is a Druid recommends this group.
Four Quarters Farm - I am listing them here because they are an inter-faith organization and have some writings on their site about various things. 4QF is actually a really cool retreat in western PA.
Wicca/Witchcraft - Witchvox.com is a witchcraft portal site with a better reputation than most. B-boards range from sincere discussions to silliness.
Native American Spirituality - I wanted to put in a link to a reliable site that discusses NA beliefs, but frankly, I can't find one I am sure about unless it is a single tribe's cultural site. Instead, this is the write-up from Religious Tolerance.org.
Vodun - Le Peristyle Haitian Sanctuary is local to Philly, so I had to give them the linkage. :-)
They sponsor the National African Religion Congress (NARC World). There are tons of Vodun and related path sites out there, but this is probably a good place to start.
More as I find them - If you have a trusted neo-Pagan, Reconstructionist or Old Faith site you'd like to recommend, drop me a line.
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