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Frequently Asked Question: Why do some people say Asatru is a religion and some say it's a folkway? What's the difference and who is right?

My answer: There are heathens who practice only the religion, heathens who practice only the folkway, and heathens who practice both. There are also xians and secular communities who practice various of the folkways we heathens claim as heathen, and some pagans who practice them too, for example maypole customs. Whichever way you want to do your heathenry is fine.

I was invited to do a community booth for the Halloween Spooktacular sponsored by Haven Craft, an interfaith nonprofit organization in Las Vegas. It was on short notice, so I had to try to pull it off with just what I already had, and I decided on a Take a Photo with a Viking booth for the Heathen Visibility Project. I already had Viking garb.

I also already had a battle axe, which was not sharp. I asked the event organizer Melissa if heathens attending as Viking garb performers could have traditional weapons, and got the go-ahead on that before loading it into my truck. This axe was traded to me by its maker, Tony Mortimer-Kalama, under the Steel for Steel local custom. I posed for lots of photos holding my axe, but this is the only one taken with my own camera. Most of the other photos in which I'm posing with the axe are pictures in which children in Halloween costumes are getting their pictures taken with a Viking by their parents. Lots of kids wanted a picture, and I am wearing heathen symbols on my garb, so the booth was successful in furthering heathen visibility.

Some Asatruars have embraced the new pop culture holiday Wolfenoot, invented by a child as a holiday to honor canines, including dogs and wolves, and the people who love them. Some Asatruars have also started their own animal related holidays in reaction to Wolfenoot, including Kitten Nacht and Bearenfornia.

The 7 year old boy who invented Wolfenoot wanted a holiday in which the wolf spirit brings gifts to people who have been kind to dogs. It is celebrated by eating roast meats and a cake decorated to look like the full moon. It is celebrated on Nov. 23rd; the child stated that was the date when the Great Wolf died, according to the original post by the boy's mother, Jax Goss.

Last Saturday, Prudence Priest and I conducted an Asatru sumbel ritual at Las Vegas Pagan Pride Day 2018, at the Unitarian Universalist Church. I acted as gythia (priestess, aka gydhja) and Prudence acted as valkyrie (mead woman.) We were in the workshop space, rather than the speaker space, because sumbel is an audience participation ritual where everyone makes a toast. Our ritual was packed, and went very well.

Before beginning the ritual, while waiting for all participants to assemble, I explained the Heathen Visibility Project (see my post with that title) and let participants know where to sit or stand if they wished to be in the photos or to not be in the photos. More photos of this event are available on my Facebook, Twitter, and DeviantArt pages.

Frequently Asked Question: Am I supposed to have a patron god?

My answer:  Some people have relationships with gods, and some don't. Some of those relationships are like a patron, like a father, like a co-worker, like a friend to relax and have a beer with, like all kinds of different sorts of relationships. Person A can have relationship type 1 with x god and type 4 with z god, while Person B can have relationship type 12 with gods a, b, and c, and think x god is too scary to work with and decline to have a relationship with them, and that's all OK. 

The Havamal or "Sayings of the High One" is a poem within the Poetic Edda. The High One is Odin, and the Sayings of the High One are said to be the words of Odin. A question that came up on the Asatru Facebook Forum I admin is, Who is the Havamal for? My answer:

The Havamal in general is for whoever wants it, but specific passages are specific advice for specific purposes. General advice: don't get too drunk at the assembly. Specific advice: IF you want to take something from an opponent THEN get out of bed and get it done. Some passages in the Havamal are literal if/ then statements, like BASIC computer code. They flow as binary logic: off, on, off. IF you want x, THEN do y. IF the "if" doesn't apply to you THEN you skip it.