Stephen A. McNallen | Asatru: A Native European Spirituality | Hour 1 | June 1, 2015

Source: redicecreations.com, runestone.org, AsatruFolkAssembly.org



June 1, 2015–Stephen A. McNallen has been a soldier, a journalist, a juvenile corrections officer, and a schoolteacher. In 1971, McNallen founded the Viking Brotherhood, the first legally recognized religious organization dedicated to the Gods and Goddesses of Northern Europe. Today, McNallen is the head of the Asatru Folk Assembly, the preeminent Asatru organization on the North American continent.

Stephen joins us following the recent publication of his first book, "Asatru: A Native European Spirituality." He begins by clarifying some of the terminology often associated with indigenous northern European religions and traditions, and he gives an overview of the pre-Christian Germanic roots of Asatru along with its Celtic and Nordic connections.

Stephen explains the attitude of Asatru beliefs, which above all consists of an ancestral faith practiced with a sense of freedom as noble men and women who do not need to be saved. He gives emphasis to the essence of connectedness – to our ancestors, our decedents yet to come, our living kin, the Gods and Goddesses, and the Earth and nature – ties that hold benefits and responsibilities.

We discuss the savage Christianization of Germanic tribes that forced the abandonment of their natural spirituality and destroyed the importance of kinship bonds. Steve points to distinctions between the monotheistic father-God religions that view humans as slaves and property, and the polytheistic view of multiple Gods as kin and friends – Holy Powers that are part of one’s integral being. -redicecreations.com

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