by

Ralph Berger

Recently, Bob Blumetti asked me to read an article written by Stephen A. McNallen. We consider McNallen a giant in the Neo-Pagan movement. His timeless efforts, determination, and dedication to the Gods, is unequaled. No one has done more to help facilitate a Pagan Renaissance than McNallen. His article, entitled, Three Decades of the Asatru Revival in America, was printed in the publication Tyr, which is highly recommended reading. In his article he reviews his life’s work in building paganism in America. But Blumetti and I were amazed by the last part of the article entitled, A Critical Reflection. In this reflection, McNallen lays out seven points in which he examines what has been done wrong in building the Pagan movement in America, and they correspond almost exactly to our own criticism about the pagan movement. Let me lay out for you what McNallen said and how we agree or disagree with them.

McNallen’s first point is, "The narrow focus on the Vikings." He points out that it is a mistake to focus purely on the Norse experience, and instead of being "Norse centered," we should include all Germanic traditions, including the Anglo-Saxon tradition. On the surface, we agree, but we go further. It is our contention that all Indo-European pagan religions worshiped the same Gods in different guises, and that all these Gods are the same Gods, visualized in various manifestations by Indo-Europeans who separated after the collapse of the ancient Aryan civilization that once existed along the coasts of the Black Sea, these Indo-European survivors migrated out across Eurasia into different climates and began, over millenniums to give different interpretations to the original Gods that our ancestors worshiped.

While we concentrate on a pantheon of Gods, using the names and identities of the Gods that the Norse worshiped, we feel that it is important to understand that what we are really attempting to accomplish is, forge new bonds with the original Gods worshiped by our lost Aryan ancestors.

McNallen’s second point is, Lack of hierarchy and a disregard for leaders. He claims that, "Our romanticized, historically incomplete picture of the Vikings hurt us in another way: it seduced us into thinking we did not need leaders or hierarchy. Asatru today has too many mediocre men and women who, believing ‘we are all equal,’ have no notion of the bond between leaders and followers so central to Germanic society."

We could not agree more and intend to build a church with hierarchy and leadership. Our church must have a priestly order of religious leaders. All Indo-European societies maintained priestly orders and hierarchy and that included the Norse, the Germans, the Celts, the Greeks, the Vedic and especially the Romans. Any church that we build, will be led by a structured and orderly priesthood.

We are entering a new Age of Darkness--a Fimbulvetr Age--of great chaos and destruction. A group of fun-loving, role-playing, costumed "Vikings" are not going to weather the darkness that the world will be plunged into. The only way we will survive is through a structured organization led by a dedicated and spiritually determined leadership.

McNallen’s third "malady afflicting" the Pagan movement is "the penchant for adopting Viking Age clothing and mannerisms." He makes the point that many good people who could have contributed to building a truly vibrant Pagan movement were turned off by the people dressing up in Norse tunics and Viking dress, playing with swords and axes that gave gatherings an air more commonly associated with historical re-enactment groups than a serious and pious religious movement.

Again, we agree. Members of any church that we organize must wear modern dress so that they can fit into our twenty-first century civilization. There is no reason why garments and robes cannot be worn in religious services, but only during those ceremonies that are private and closed to the public. Our priestly leadership can also wear especially designed robes, just like the Protestant and Catholic clergy. But when our congregations meet to give celebration to our Gods, we should dress with the same reverence that any other religious group does when they meet on their holy days.

This brings us to McNallen’s next point--Lack of dignity and reserve. He writes, "Related to the ‘dress up’ syndrome is a lack of seriousness and a proper dignity among many of us." McNallen criticizes the mistake of exposing "our most sacred rites to the glassy eye of the media." He warns against the inclination to expose our religious ceremonies to "public scoffing, and allows the Holy Powers themselves to be ridiculed."

He recommends the need to maintain and "enforce" what he refers to as "a holy reserve," in regard to the Sacredness of our religious beliefs. We must not only hold ourselves with a dignity and seriousness for our beliefs, but must act in a mature way, so that other will take seriously our beliefs. Rather than placing images of people wearing T-shirts and dressing up in costumes, pouring bear and wearing beards, they should see images of men and women, and even whole families in serious contemplation, working together in building a new community and establishing a wholesome way of life that returns meaning and spirituality to our lives.

The fifth point McNallen makes, is the--Lack of philosophical depth. McNallen states rightly that the Edda, the Havamal, the Volsungasaga are not sufficient to express our beliefs intellectually. Blumetti is tirelessly working on laying the philosophical and theological foundation for a new church. Once the church has been established, we hope to recruit others to assist in laying the foundation of a deeper and wider intellectual and theological expression of our beliefs.

Next, McNallen addresses, Marketing to the wrong audience. McNallen wrote, "Instead of advertising among survivalists, pagans, and the political fringe (all of which occupy minuscule and marginalized niches in our society) we need to reach out to young families, college students, business executives, and the creative thinkers who shape our world." We could not agree more. This is why it is imperative for use to be part of society, and not "dress up" in costumes or playact at role gaming. If you want to play Viking, go join a Dungeons and Dragons game.

Our Church must seek out people from everyday life. People who have become disgusted with the secularization of the Christian churches, with the multicultural nature of modern life in our civilization and want to reconnect with their past and heritage. We must seek out people who are looking for a spiritualism in their lives, but we have to find people, and families, of quality--professionals, creative people, and most of all, successful people.

Finally, McNallen brings up the issue of, Under-capitalization. Simply put--you can build anything without money. We could attract hundreds, thousands and even hundreds of thousands of people, but if they are all too poor to contribute to building the church, the church will never become a reality. For the church to become a reality, we need serious funding. Unpaid, part-time volunteers accomplish nothing. Everybody promises to contribute, but most don’t and most of the work falls on the shoulders of a few individuals. Once the church is established, we might require members to contribute 1 to 5 percent of their income (according to one's ability to pay), as many churches do, but for now, we need people who are wealthy and desire to establish a church and spiritual movement that will survive into the dark days that lie ahead. We need to find philanthropists who will give unselfishly so that we can build a new spiritual movement, but we must first be worthy of their generosity and prove that we have truly re-forged bond between Midgard and Asgard. We have to rebuild the rainbow bridge between us and the Gods, and once we do, those who have will give.

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