I would like to share why I am a universalist Asatruar. I had not given the subject much thought before until I had a dream. I had a dream there was a crow. Then a black eagle swooped down and ate the crow and then wore the feathers of the crow and the eagle then pretended to be the crow. And after that happened I saw the eagle morph into a nazi eagle. The crow is a symbol of Odin and the indigenous spirituality of Western Europe. However a spirituality is essentially a culture and not a race. It is something we can share with people regardless of their race.
Just like how we can share a language with people of all races and in the process of people adopting the language there is added new ways of speaking it by the new people.
I believe that the nazi movement has done things which have tarnished the image of Asatru by co-opting our symbols and our gods. While I respect peoples right to practice a religion however they wish I think it is important that we make it clear and that we verbally state that people who practice Asatru in a racist way do not speak for the wider Asatru community. Asatru is a gift for the world. Asatru is for humanity(that is a good slogan by the way).
If we look at the Zoroastrian religion we can see that it is practiced in an almost entirely folkish manner, and perhaps a result of that is that it has been dwindling for awhile. The number of Zoroastrians has gotten less and less. A good strategy to pursue for the cultural survival of a religion is to make it available to all. Make it so everyone is welcome.
There is so much wisdom in our faith and our way of life can bring us and our community joy. A few days ago I learned an old saying: "a man who is not loved is like a tree without bark". There is joy and love to be had in the world. Asatru is so beautiful and needs to be shared with everyone. The world needs to know of Frigg and Odin. And Loki and everyone.
And if Hollywood wishes to have a black person play the role of Norse god that is great, we have no idea what skin color the Norse gods are(ARE). The more people who feel welcome in our movement the better. Universalist asatru is a great strategy for cultural survival. Lets revive our culture and thrive as a community.
