Odinic Rite

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The Odinic Rite (OR) is a Germanic neopagan organization, practicing a form of Germanic neopaganism termed Odinism after the chief god of Norse mythology, Odin.

Contents

[edit] Odinism

The term Odinism was coined by Orestes Brownson in 1848, in his 1848 Letter to Protestants.[1]. The term was re-introduced in the late 1930s by Alexander Rud Mills in Australia with his First Anglecyn Church of Odin and his book The Call of Our ancient Nordic Religion. In the 1960s and early 1970s, Else Christensen's Odinist Study Group and later the Odinist Fellowship brought the term into usage in North America.

[edit] History

Under the influence of Christensen's group, John Yeowell (or "Stubba") founded the Committee for the Restoration of the Odinic Rite / Odinist Committee in England, 1973.[2] In 1980 the organisation changed its name to The Odinic Rite after it was believed that it had gained enough significant interest in the restoration of the Odinic faith.

In 1988 the Odinic Rite became the first polytheistic religious organisation to be granted "Registered Charity" status in the UK. While the charitable status did not bring much benefit to the organisation, they felt that it was a victory in their fight to have Odinism taken seriously.

In 1989 Yeowell resigned as Director of the OR's governing body, the Court of Gothar. The Court then unanimously elected Heimgest as its Director and he was officially installed in this position on 23rd April 1989 at the White Horse Stone in Kent. Prior to his involvement with the Odinic Rite Heimgest had belonged to a small group known as the Heimdal League[3], a closed group which disbanded in the mid 1980s. Some members of this group joined Heimgest in moving to the OR as they considered it had "the potential to best serve faith, folk and family".[4] Heimgest remains the Director of the Court of Gothar as of 2007.

John Yeowell resigned from the Court of Gothar entirely in 1991 and left the Odinic Rite. Also in 1991, an expelled member of the OR, Ingvar Harrison set up a rival Odinic Rite. In 1996 Yeowell was accepted back into the official OR. Shortly after this, Harrison renamed his group to Odinist Fellowship.

In 1995 an Odinic Rite member from Germany was given permission to form "Odinic Rite Deutschland". Later, under new leadership, this group declared that it was independent from the OR but continued to use the Odinic Rite name. In May 2006 ORD members voted to rename their group "Verein für germanisches Heidentum" and completely ended any ties to the Odinic Rite.

In 1997 the Odinic Rite joined with the Asatru Alliance and Asatru Folk assembly to form the International Asatru Odinic Alliance, a group whose aims were the promotion of and to educate about Odinism/Asatru. They were joined in 1999 by the Assembly of Elder Troth of Australia.[5].

The biggest campaign of the IAOA was against the Project Megiddo report in 1999. The report by the FBI included Odinists in a list of potential domestic terrorist in connection with the millennium.[6]

[edit] Structure

The OR is headed by a Court of Gothar which can consist of up to nine members. The current court has 3 members. They are supported by an administration team and advised by various information officers who make up the information committee.1

The OR has chapters in France (ORF), Australia (1995)[1], North America (ORV, 1997) and the Netherlands (ORN, 2006)[2] and individual members spread over many other countries. The Odinic Rite has legal status in the United Kingdom, Australia and various states in the United States.

The basic unit of the Odinic Rite is the "Hearth", a group of adherents who gather to perform ceremonies known as Blóts or Blotar (See 'Book of Blotar' ), at which they honor their deities and their ancestors. However, a large proportion of the members are lone practitioners. The motto or watch-words of the Odinic Rite are "Faith, Folk & Family". The Odinic Rite is mostly considered a folkish Odinist society.

Upon joining the OR, members have the title "Apprentice" and use the letters AOR (Apprentice Odinic Rite) after their names. After a period of active membership members may request to take the "Oath of Profession". If approved they will take part in a ceremony during which they swear an oath of fealty to the gods and to the Odinic Rite. They must make a "torc", a small crescent-shaped shield said to derive from a historical British military decoration (not to be confused with the "torque"), which they are presented with during the ceremony. Professed members use the letters OR after their names. Members appointed to the Court of Gothar are identified by the letters CG after their names.

The Odinic Rite does accept prisoners as members [7] and has an increasing membership among US prison inmates. In Texas, prison authorities have denied Odinist prisoners material containing runes which they claim are related to hate groups and used as 'secret codes' for communications between gang members. On their web site, the Odinic Rite reacted to this decision with an article entitled Religious and Racial persecution in Texas. [8]

The OR website has a disclaimer to the effect that they are politically neutral and that members who involve themselves in political activity do so as private individuals not as representatives of the Odinic Rite.[9]

[edit] Beliefs

Members of the Odinic Rite are encouraged to live their lives according to the Nine Noble Virtues and the Nine Charges.

Odinic Rite claim that the swastika, which they consistently refer to as the fylfot, is "one of the most holy symbols of Odinism"[3]. To back up this claim, they refer to swastika-like shapes in rock carvings of the Nordic Bronze Age (where they appear as one among many ornamental symbols). An article by one member speculates that the Sowilo rune may in fact represent a "semi-fylfot"[4].

[edit] White Horse Stone Incidents

During the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link between England and France, building work was intended in the area of the fifth century hero Horsa's burial site near the historical site of the Battle of Aylesford in Kent. A retired Stubba and the Odinic Rite campaigned heavily and made numerous media appearances against the destruction of the White Horse Stone site and successfully had the route of the railway diverted.

Later in 2004, due to the previous incident, the Odinic Rite successfully campaigned[5] to block the construction of a radio tower mast near the site with a unanimous rejection of the building application by the Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. Following this second threat the "Guardians of the White Horse Stone"[6] was set up by Odinic Rite members. The group meets regularly at the stone to clear litter and graffiti from the stone and surrounding area.

In May 2006 Orange sought planning permission123 from Maidstone Borough Council to install a telecommunications mast just across the border between the Maidstone and Tonbridge & Malling borough councils. This new proposal was still within 100 metres of the White Horse Stone and so a new campaign was launched by the Odinic Rite. If approved this plan would have seen an 8 metre high mast built in an area designated as an AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest).

This application was refused on 28th July and the following reasons were given:

The proposed mast would be sited in a particular location that would intrude upon views across the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the North Downs Special Landscape Area. In this respect this proposal would be harmful to the natural beauty and scenic quality of the landscape. Furthermore it would also be clearly visible from the North Downs Way and would affect the wider setting of the Ancient Monument for the White Horse Stone. The proposal would therefore be contrary to policies of the Maidstone Borough-Wide Local Plan 2000 and policies of the Kent and Medway Structure Plan 2006.

[edit] Trivia

In 1997 the Director of Gothar, Heimgest, performed Galdor - a magical chanting of the runes - on the Sol Invictus album 'The Blade'.[7]

In 2000 the album Three Nine by Howden/Wakeford (a collaboration between Matt Howden of Sieben and Tony Wakeford of Sol Invictus) featured an album booklet which was written by Heimgest and Valkyrie Holley. [8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Works of Orestes A. Brownson: Containing the Second Part of the Political Writings, ed. Henry Francis Brownson, T. Nourse (1884), p. 257
  2. ^ Pagan Resurrection by Richard Rudgley(2006)p.240
  3. ^ Pagan Resurrection by Richard Rudgley(2006)p.239
  4. ^ Interview With A Gothi (1996) p.14 Published by The Institute of Reasearch into Northern Mythology and Identity ISBN 2-912122-00-7.
  5. ^ Runestone.Org news item. September 27, 2001
  6. ^ CESNURCenter for Studies on New Religions. News release issued jointly by the Odinic Rite, Asatru Alliance, and Asatru Folk Assembly: Religious Group Lashes Out at FBI Report: Cites Violation of First Amendment Rights
  7. ^ Odinic Rite FAQ- Does the OR accept prisoners as members?
  8. ^ The Odinic Rite Religious and Racial persecution in Texas
  9. ^ Odinic Rite FAQ - Does the Odinic Rite take a political viewpoint?

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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