Uppsala: On Being Folkish

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On Being Folkish

by Rig Svenson

Racism in ASATRU

The White Order of Thule is a group influenced by a diverse combination of re-constructed imagery of Odinism, paganism, pantheism, Greek mythology, and Celtic lore. This is also mirrored on WW2 timeline German Nazi celebration of Nordic myths of the heroic warrior. These myths were the basis of Wagner's Ring opera cycle, and influenced Hitler who merged them with his distorted understanding of Nietzsche's philosophy of the centrality of will and the concept of the Ubermensch which Hitler turned into the idea of an Aryan "Master Race." I do not wish to delve too deeply into the politics of white supremacy, but needless to say it is based on both extremist degrees of fear and hatred of folks who are non whites. Sadly, their worldview of "Racist ASATRU" is that of white Nordic blue eyed blonde haired heroic figures as portrayed by the Nazi imagery of World War 2. Is this imagery correct? Let's take a look.

Nazism created its own version according to which the German people presented the highest virtues of mankind in the world and formed a race of supermen (Übermensch). In the context of this theory it was not difficult to build up a myth about the historical mission of the German nation and its sacred task to impose its authority on the whole of Europe and eventually on the whole world. The Slavic territories lying to the east of Germany were particularly enticing as the Nazis considered their primarily Slavic inhabitants to be subhuman or Untermensch. The Nazis rationalized that the Germans, being a super human (Übermenschlich) race, had a biological right to displace, eliminate and enslave inferiors. This is what folks are buying into when they associate themselves with modern National Socialist ideals. It seems also that they have distorted our holy runic symbols to represent their political party's logos and agendas as did the WW2 Nazis.

On being Folkish

The idea of being folkish originally meant 'popular or commonly' and was later it was used in the sense of 'nationality' especially by the National-Socialists, their emphasis lies in its use on 'people and 'race'. Folkish ASATRU ascribes to the belief that the spirituality of each person is assessed at least in part in the genetic bloodline. The suitability of the individual is thus based on this mis-conception that Aryan genes are requisite to becoming of the Nordic faith.

The problem with this flawed concept is this. Just about everyone today who claims "pure" European descent has a mix of ancestors - from the Germanics, Celts, Slaves, Greeks, Romans and even Semetics. Two major World Wars displaced so many peoples on a scale unthinkable. The cross racial marriages also played a part in this huge cocktail of humanity. Is folkishness verifiable then? No one today can prove his or her entire lineage is not mixed. Since the medieval times, there was an additional mixing of Europeans with people from Africa, China, Russia, Japan, Indonesia, etc. and therefore many people from these countries, could rightly claim to have European ancestors. Air travel today has made the human race truly international. Thus proving this 21st century folkish viewpoint is not really possible, at most, it's more or less 'probable' that one has Germanic ancestors. In all truth, a "folkish ASATRUER" can only verify the colour of his skin. His DNA is another story.

Human Genome Breakthrough

On the initial breakthrough of the genetic coding of genes, analysis of the human genome has totally dispelled the notion propounded since the 19th century by the social Darwinists and others that there is a biological basis for race. Celera compared the genetic material from people who described themselves as Caucasian, Hispanic Mexican, Asian Chinese and African American and found that they were 99.9 per cent identical in their genetic make up. Not one gene could be found that could be linked to race. Genetic variation is as wide or wider within racial groups as between them.

Consider the tropical zones of the world where folks have darker skin due to the severity of the sun.

In the scheme of things, we have flexible, adaptable genes... what you don't "use" you lose. If you do not need a lot of melanin in your skin, naturally it will get lighter. This is evolution of the species and applies to animals as well. I has nothing to do with superiority of race and is a natural process. In fact having pale fair skin can be disadvantageous in a world with a depleted Ozone layer and when you consider the very high instances of skin cancer occurring with fair skinned folks who sun bathe without protection or those who live in the Southern Hemisphere of the globe such as Australia.

Within the animal kingdom there are black bears, brown bears, cinnamon bears and even white polar bears as nature is diverse in her variations of all her creatures great and small. These can be classed as a storehouse of adaptability and diversity to ensure that species survival or extinction. It is possible that the Ice Age or prolonged winter may impact on white colouring to be used as some natural camouflage advantage when stalking prey. All animals have inherent built in variations including disease resistance. There will always be some folks who have some inborn resistance to certain viruses that kills the rest of other folks off. This is a survival of the species issue and not a racial one.

On the Non whites only give disease issue

I have seen so much of this hatred based bullshit of "slants" giving disease e.t.c as in Asian Influenza epidemics of last year and do not agree with white supremist theories that inferior genes mainly affect non whites races. Hence by this rationale, Asians or Semetic races give disease rather then catch it? Taking on the disease issue, European introduced smallpox epidemic strikes in 1520-24; measles in 1531-33; bubonic plague in 1545-1548, decimated both the Native American Indians as a population and further reduced their ability to reproduce as a race. Another on going debate is the lactose intolerance issue suggesting that the Vikings drank milk by the bucketful but when other races such as the Skraelings were offered milk, they got sick and even accused the Vikings of poisoning them?. So what?

By the 1500s smallpox had long been established in the Old World. Although the virus there caused significant mortality, the Old World populations had evolved some level of immunity. Thus it was not possible for smallpox epidemics to completely wipe out a given population. However, this was not the case with the New World in the Americas. Here smallpox was unknown and thus all Native Americans were biologically naive - immunologically susceptible to the most lethal forms of the disease. Smallpox was accidentally introduced to the America's during its first contact with the Europeans. The broad exchange that followed is known as the Columbian Exchange and resulted in a two-way transfer of a number of plant and animal species - as well as virulent pathogens.

This exchange of pathogens, particularly smallpox, was devastating to the Native American societies. This is historical fact.

Example:

In the spring of 1763, during the Indian uprising led by Ottawa Chief Pontiac, a party of Delawares ringed British owned Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), calling for its surrender. Captain Simeon Ecuyer, a Swiss mercenary and the fort's senior officer, saved the garrison by giving the Delawares a gift-two blankets and a handkerchief. The Indians readily accepted the offering, but still demanded that Ecuyer vacate the stockade. They had no inkling that the blankets and kerchief were more deadly than a platoon of English sharpshooters. Ecuyer had ordered the presents deliberately infected with smallpox spores at the post hospital. By mid July, the Delawares were dying as though they had been raked by a grape cannonade.

Ref:

Robert M. Utley and Wilcomb E. Washburn, Indian Wars (New York: American Heritage, 1977; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987

Mark Wheelis, "Biological warfare before 1914," in E. Geissler and J. Moon, Biological and Toxin Weapons: Research, Development and Use from the Middle Ages to 1945 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), pp. 8-34:

The Origins of the Aesir Race

There is strong evidence that our Swedish predecessors were migratory Thracians, an aggressive sea faring race who first came from the ancient city of Troy. Located in northwest Asia Minor (present-day northwest Turkey), the ruins of Troy were discovered in 1870. This was estimated to be during the period beginning about 2500 BC. Historians refer to the Aesir people as the Thraco-Cimmerians, since the Trojans were of Thracian ancestry.

The locals named the Trojan conquerors the "Aes", meaning "Iron People", for their superior weaponry. The tribes of Trojan Aes would eventually move north, settling in present-day Scandinavia. The Aes or Aesar (plural) subsequently became known as the Svear, and then Swedes. Historians refer to the Aes people as "Thraco-Cimmerians" due to their Trojan ancestry. Other tribes of Thracians remained a culture in Asia Minor and southern Europe until the 5th century CE. Many present-day Bulgarians claim to be direct descendants of ancient Thracians.

The Cimmerians were an ancient people who lived among Thracians, and were eventually absorbed into Thracian culture. By co-incidence, is a similar area the discovery of Orhun "runic" monuments and their definitely final decipherment, fanciful theories were fabricated about the Vikings' (or Indo-Germans', or Celts', or Goths') prehistoric emigrations into Central Asia, and the erection of Orhun stones as landmarks of their presence and civilisation dating back to several thousands of years BC in that region.

Ohrun Runes compared with Elder Futhark Runes

The European scholars have come to recognise from the very beginning the obvious similarity between the character forms of the Primitive Norse stones and those of the Central Asian Gokturk monuments, but for certain various reasons have refrained from tackling this point by denying all kinds of plausible relations.

All throughout the period of 160 years that elapsed between the years of 1730 and 1893, that is between the discovery of Orhun monuments and their definitely final decipherment, fanciful theories were fabricated about the Vikings' (or Indo-Germans', or Celts', or Goths') prehistoric emigrations into Central Asia, and the erection of Orhun stones as landmarks of their presence and civilisation dating back to several thousands of years BC in that region.

Only when in 1893, it was understood that these inscriptions were not written in any other tongue but pure Turkish, then those fanciful theories were discarded, and the proposed pre-historic dating were revised to be not earlier than AD 700. Even today, a number of academicians are still straining at finding a Sogdian, Persian or Aramaic origin for Turkish inscriptions, but their efforts at proving their claims all end in vain. A casual comparison of ancient scripts is all needed to see that the characters used in Orhun monuments are more identical with the futhark than any of those alleged originals.

Around the same time, about 90 BC, the Aesir began their exodus from the Black Sea/Caucasus region. Their arrival at the Baltic Sea in Scandinavia has been supported by several scholars and modern archaeological evidence. Snorri Sturluson suggested that the Aesir felt compelled to leave their land to escape Roman invasions by Pompeius, and local tribal wars. Known as Thracian warrior tribes, the aggressive Indo-European nomadic Aesir came north, moving across Europe, bringing all their weapons and belongings in their boats on the rivers of Europe, in successive stages.

Historians believe Odin, who was a very popular Thracian ruler and led a migration about 70 BC with thousands of followers from the Black Sea region to Scandinavia. It is also told that another Thracian tribe came along with them, a people called the Vanir or Vaner. Odin's first established settlement became known as Odense (Odin's Sanctuary or Odin's Shrine), inspiring religious pilgrimages to the city through the Middle Ages. These tribes first settled in present-day Denmark, and then created a power-centre in what is now southern Sweden.

About 800 years later during the Viking era, Odin, the Aesir and Vanir had become gods, and Asgard/Troy was the home of those gods-the foundation for Viking religion. The Aesir warrior gods, and the religious deities of Odin and Thor, were an integral part of the warlike nature of the Vikings, even leading them back down the waterways of Europe to their tribal origins along the Black Sea and Asia Minor. So the question must therefore be that the myth of the Proto-Indo Europeans is ever changing as more archaeological evidence shed new light on our fable past.

What is it to be ASATRU then?

ASATRU is a warrior's way of life to me. If you believe yourself to be a warrior, then you must also acknowledge Othinn as a war god. Our faith is to be found in our hearts and minds of belonging to a code of being that once was which we call today the Northern way. It is not a racially inclined religion, nor political with a view to control others but ascribes to the unwritten Nine Noble Virtues which are:

COURAGE.........We face life's struggles with courage. Without courage as was in olden times, nothing else can be achieved for the Old Man said:

16. The sluggard believes | he shall live forever,

If the fight he faces not;

But age shall not grant him | the gift of peace,

Though spears may spare his life.

48. The lives of the brave | and noble are best,

Sorrows they seldom feed;

But the coward fear | of all things feels,

And not gladly the niggard gives.

Havamol

TRUTH..........We do not follow blindly our faith but dare question all things. This is unlike many blind following religions today that follow parrot fashion the beliefs of their religious hierarchy. In earnests truth is a willingness to listen, to be honest and always speak or act with what one knows to be true.

HONOUR.....We must be honourable both in actions and our deeds as to what we are by our example. Should we fail or fall short in our deeds, it is not through a lack of honour for trying to do what is right by us and our gods.

FIDELITY.....We stand loyal to our faith and our values. Loyalty is the basis for all enduring human activity, and we hold it in the highest esteem.

HOSPITALITY........We are all willing to share what one has with our kindred, especially traveling guests and this is a vital part of our way of life. We do not disrespect other folk's faith either as long as they honour ours in return

DISCIPLINE.............We maintain and hold to the discipline necessary to fulfill our purpose. We stand willing to exercise the self-control and steadfastness necessary in these difficult times.

INDUSTRIOUSNESS.....We believe in keeping busy and taking an active approach to life. We make things happen and are ready always to take necessary risks, watching and wondering what happened we leave to others.

SELF-RELIANCE.......... We depend on our own strength and character to achieve our goals. We seek only the freedom where possible within the laws of the land necessary to achieve our goals or aims whatever it may be.

PERSEVERANCE...........We hold to our path until its completion and are not ashamed to be strong. The cult of the anti-hero will find no support in us, and the gods we follow are not for the weak. This is no religion for quitters or cowards.

78. Cattle die, | and kinsmen die,

And so one dies one's self;

One thing now | that never dies,

The fame of a dead man's deeds.

Havamal