High Steward – Patricia Lafayllve
The Steward program continues to be active and strong. We now have 27 Stewards covering 36
states and 4 countries. This quarter we have seven confirmed Stewards: Carolyn Reyes for
Illinois (serving a second term), Molly Welch for Indiana, Gunnar Wodensgothi for Iowa,
Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Tim Elario for Nebraska, Victoria Clare for Rhode Island,
and Anthony Terpstra for Eastern Canada (serving a second term. We have three proposed
Stewards, Dana Runkle for Northern California, Matthew Dyer for the state of Maine, and Dale
Overman for Utah. Boden Njodsson has volunteered to cover South Carolina as well. As always,
many thanks to those who have chosen to take on this important work.
My oath was witnessed at Trothmoot and I am now the High Steward for the Troth. I cannot
express enough my gratitude for the hard work and dedication of Birgit Knorr, former High
Steward. She has made the transition smooth and flawless. Under Birgit’s term our program
grew to be one of the strongest and most dynamic aspects of The Troth. I hope to follow in her
impressive footsteps and continue to oversee this program’s continued growth in all areas.
At our Steward meeting during Trothmoot, the Stewards decided that having a single Steward to
oversee prison ministry is, at this time, outside of The Troth’s scope and ability to support. We
are in the process of gathering the names of those Troth members participating in prison work, or
willing to serve as contact persons. The goal is to enable the Stewards to help incarcerated
members by networking, sharing their information with those who are adept at prison ministry.
In the meantime, our Shope, Diana Paxson, will continue to handle contacts and requests for
published materials as she has been doing. We thank her for this important piece of aiding
incarcerated heathens.
Regarding the issue of Steward cards, the person who designed our current cards is no longer a
Troth member and has not been able to be contacted. Therefore, the Stewards have decided to redesign the cards. We are currently holding a contest, and entries will be judged by the Stewards,
the winning design becoming the new Steward card. Contest deadline is July 31, 2005.
The Stewards are also currently discussing ways for the clergy program and steward program to
work together, in order to better benefit local heathens.
Finally, I have decided to appoint three Stewards to be my assistants: Gunnar Wodensgothi, Su
“Ratatask” Eaves, and Melanie Rowand. They will be serving one years terms, will learn how
the High Steward position should be run, and will be contacts when I am unavailable. I am
entering Graduate School in the Fall, and I am very grateful that these three people have signed
on to help me out and help our Steward Program maintain its standard of excellence. Ben
Waggoner will continue to assist with the web site and database as he is doing now until the
server transitions are complete.
We are seeking Stewards in the following states: Alabama, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas,
Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New
York State, South Carolina, Vermont and Wyoming. We are also seeking a Steward for Military
members and a Steward for the United Kingdom.
Patricia Lafayllve – Steward Activities
April: April began with a meeting of the ‘heathen ladies’ axuillary’ for High Tea and gossip on
April Fool’s Day. While this began as a joke to get women together to hang out, it has become an
accepted part of Connecticut practice, along with the recently enacted ‘heathen men’s gaming
night.’ Both of these events serve to build our community socially as well as spiritually. The
annual Disir blot held at my home on April 23 was very moving, with women working crafts in
the living room and everyone speaking well-wrought words of memory regarding their disir.
May: May was for the most part taken up with the wedding of my kinswoman, Darlene Marks.
Fellow kinsman Mike Hicks and I performed the ceremony and received rave reviews as the two
families were made into one with Darlene and Steve’s vows. On a personal note I attended a
writer’s conference and received word that one of my poems will be published in an upcoming
edition of New Witch magazine. I was also accepted into graduate school!
June: Trothmoot, Trothmoot, Trothmoot! What else can I say? As always, an excellent event. I
had a great time meeting lots of new people, and led an ancestor blot on Friday evening. My
kindred’s Midsummer was on June 18, as Nichole has already reported. I was also honored to
have been among those invited to attend the Midsummer blot hosted by Othala Acres in New
Hampshire on July 25. Many thiods were present, including New Anglia (our hosts), Frisia, the
Normannii, and others. This was a swine blot, and two swine were sent to the gods on our behalf.
I listened a lot, asked questions, and had a very learning experience there.
Upcoming Events: I leave Saturday to attend a planning session for a seidhr discussion panel to
be held at the East Coast Thing in August. From there I am off to Sirius Rising, where I will
perform two ancestor blots (for the alfar and disir) in the Runestead. I am hosting a private blot
performed by the Frisian Thiod on July 30 before dashing off to my belated honeymoon in
August. Promptly upon returning we leave for the annual East Coast Thing. And then classes
begin on August 29! In September I will be casting runes for divination at a psychic fair and our
kindred’s anniversary/Freyfaxi blot is September 24. Whew!
Other Networks/Items of interest: I continue to administrate the Troth New England Email List,
although my hope is to let this go now that we have three local Stewards. I have been helping
add content to my kindred’s website, http://www.tworavenskindred.org, and am an active
member of several email lists, including NortheastAsatru@yahoogroups.com, Troth-NewEngland@thetroth.org, Troth-New-York@thetroth.org, and others. I am a member of Bjornsal,
Two Ravens Kindred, and a seidhr gild. I am on LiveJournal and participate on the Asatruar and
Theodisc communities there. I am now the High Steward for The Troth, as confirmed by my oath
of office taken at Trothmoot 2005.
Alaska – Danielle Gollihugh
Greetings All;
Things are still moving pretty slow up here in the land of the midnight sun. However, they are
moving, so that is encouraging.
April - The last of the snow flew, and melted, this month. (Yay! Hail Sunna!)
*April 21st - attended Pagan Night Out (PNO). General Pagan community event hosted at local
Denny's by involved Pagan community members.
*April 22nd - as a result of people met and contacts made at PNO, was issued invitation to join
AKPCB, a fledgling organization dedicated to building and strengthening the Pagan community
within Alaska as a whole and Anchorage in particular.
May
*May 1st - attended open Beltaine ritual at UU church. I met another member of AKPCB as well
as approximately a dozen other Pagan/Neo-Pagan/Wiccan and UU types. We all participated in a
delicious and filling potluck afterwards. (Yum!)
*May 13th - officially joined AKPCB as a Council member in the hopes of getting people
together and (hopefully! finally!) meeting some other Heathens up here.
I spent most of the remainder of this month with the other members of AKPCB getting the details
of what we wanted to do, and how, figured out. A PNO was scheduled by some other individuals,
so we did not plan one. Unfortunately, it was a flop.
June
*June 6th - AKPCB hosted it's first Fisrt Monday Moot (FMM). Six people were in attendance;
we considered it a minor success.
*June 17th–19th - A Solstice celebration and camp out was held in Wasilla. At only 40 miles
away Wasilla is considered "nearby" and many people were able to attend. :-) While I was
unable to attend due to work constraints, my friends were and they advised me that it was a blast.
There were, apparently, no Heathens/Asatruar in attendance.
Currently - I am waiting on a shipment of printer ink so that I can print some Troth flyers up and
distribute them and several area stores. I am also hoping to make a couple of trips soon – one
north to Fairbanks and one south to the Kenai Peninsula - in search of networking opportunities.
Once again, these trips are dependent upon timing and finances.
A look forward - we are planning a PNO on July 23rd and a Loaf-Fest/Lammas/Lughnasadh (sp?)
celebration and potluck on July 31st with a FMM to follow on August 1st. I am also
investigating the possibility of starting an Alaska Heathen/Asatru list; although, I’m not at all sure
how successful this venture would be considering the dearth of Asatru/Heathen presence
evidenced thus far. However, I do continue to hold out hope. :-)
Arizona – Karter Neal
Not much to report networking wise from AZ, but I did have my baby on May
23, William Ingus Campbell Hembrough, 6lbs, 12 oz. Everything is great; he is
beautiful. We had a Viking naming ceremony for him at the traditional nine
days over in Mule Creek , New Mexico at Gamlinginn and Gefion's home. Their hof
is coming along nicely; it is going to be huge. Is there a New Mex steward
yet?
Sad to say we missed the SW Moot in Colorado. I hope all went well, I am
sure Thorolf will let us know :)
We are going camping end of July with some Asatru people in the
mountains. I think we have enough new people that I am going to send out word to do
an Arizona get together once the weather cools down.
Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi – Ben Waggoner
The Steward of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi -- ranked 39th, 43rd, and 47th in the US in
average K-12 teacher salaries, and 49th, 36th, and 48th in expenditures per student, in K-12
public schools for fiscal 2003-04 -- hereby and forthwith submits his report for the months of
April, May and June 2005.
The big news locally was the formation of Svartbjorn Kindred
in central Arkansas. Currently we've got three core members, plus at least two who are interested
but not yet full members -- we're not big, yet, but with much potential. We're maintaining strong
links with Northwest Arkansas a.k.a. White Wolf Kindred in the northwestern part of the state.
Lauren, our She-Who-Must- Be-Obeyed, has been doing a hell of a lot of networking in the Little
Rock area. She'll make a fine Steward some day. . .
I was able to drop off some more flyers in witchy shops in Lafayette, Louisiana and El Dorado,
Arkansas, plus some more en route to Trothmoot in Jackson and Nashville, Tennessee. Plus I did
some more writing for Idunna, answered mail to troth-contact, processed on-line memberships
and passed notification on to you folks. I also worked on getting the Almanac out -- the
manuscript's finished, by the way, and has gone on to our Assistant Shope for formatting and
printing. With any luck we'll be able to make copies available by the start of September. However,
the big Troth task that has been consuming my brain since May has been final edits and
proofreading volume 1 of _Our Troth_, and final edits on Volume 2 (and I'm assuming I'll be
proofreading that, too).
April 1 -- attended the Our Meadhall moot for one day. I tried to represent the Troth well, but I'd
driven most of the night to get there, and I was more than a little bit dopey for much of the day.
I'm told I made a lot of unusually bad puns, even by my standards; I'm not sure I remember that.
Still and all, it was a fine meeting and a great bunch of people, including Dave Haxton, Tony
Arndt our then-Steward of Minnesota, Steve McNallen, Karl Donaldson, Pip, and a bunch more
whose names and faces are kind of a blur.
April 30 -- attended the Walpurgis/May Day gathering held by the Northwest Arkansas Kindred,
at Lake Leatherwood near Eureka Springs. Former Troth Steward Laurel Owen was there, as
were Lauren and Shawn from central Arkansas. Our attempt at maypole dancing was rather
laughable, but the mead flowed liberally and the cameraderie was good.
May 8 -- we officially inaugurated Svartbjorn / Black Bear Kindred and immediately moved to
affiliate with the Troth. The Asatru flag flies over Little Rock. . . Our website's up at
http://www.blackbearkindred.org/
June 2-6 -- Trothmoot. Somehow I ended up the Associate Steersman. Aside from that, however,
I had a great time, and got to meet a bunch of Stewards, old and new, some of whom I knew
already and some of whom I didn't.
June 18-20 -- attended the Midsummer Moot at Lake Wedington near Fayetteville, Arkansas,
hosted, yet again, by the NW Arkansas Kindred, and also with Rod Landreth and Jason showing
up. Highlights included Lauren winning the women's axe throwing, and me winning the lore
quiz. . . of course. . . ho hum. . . Rod took second in the lore quiz, so on the whole it was an
excellent showing for the Rede. Leanni of NWA Kindred won a prize for. . . I forget which event,
but it was donated by NWA Kindred member Chad Kieffer -- and it's a year's membership in the
Troth. (Why didn't I think of that? That's a pretty good outreach idea. . .)
Current plans for the future are to try and get a central Arkansas gathering sometime in
September -- as you see, we've enjoyed the hospitality of the Northwest Arkansas Kindred
considerably, and it's time we started reciprocating; a gift looks aye for gain and all that. I've also
got several Pagan Pride Days and similar festivals lined up, although the exact schedule is
currently a bit clouded owing to yet another bout of witch-wars in central Arkansas. Some of the
NWA Kindred people will be down for one of these festivals with the crafts they make, so we'll
have a nice large table there.
And that's the news from Lake Borgne.
California (South) – Chuck Gadda
Was not able to present a 1st quarter report because my mother passed away.
Not much to report. There have been a few renewals and new members; I will have to present a
complete list at a later date as my e-mail is fragmented owing to serious computer problems.
Various area members have been hosting "Lore Nights" - sort of a "Heathen bible study". These
have been very successful, and a new one is upcoming in July.
I will present more information when I can get my e-mails back together.
California (North) – Dana Runkle (proposed)
Wow my first report. Sorry it's late, I figured coming on in June that my first report would be for
3rd quarter.
April - My kindred had our Annual Ostara Moot in April. It was our last gathering at Fernwood
campground. The Kindred gets there a couple of days early, and when we arrived it was like
walking into a construction site. The ground was torn up, trees had been cut down, and
bulldozers were ripping through the site. Instead of peace, when we opened our doors a wave of
pain and sadness washed over us. The landvaettir were in severe distress. The gathering had
about 120 in attendance and the Valkyrie games and first ever Skaldic competition went really
well. Sunday everyone took some time to move rocks for the wights into the forest and most of
us took rocks or branches to offer wights who wanted a way to leave transportation to another
spot. We hope to take some of them to our new gathering spot.
May I attended my kindred's meeting, and the meeting for the Seidh group I am a part of. I am
working on a ritual production of Equus with a local pagan ritual theatre group, and there are
several heathens on board. I attend weekly rehearsals and also am the woo director - meaning I
take people on shamanistic journeys to explore their characters. My heathen company attended
the Pagan Pride day where I contacted a couple of new heathens. I also began the process of
becoming a proposed steward.
In June I attended Trothmoot with Stefn. I had a wonderful time and learned lots. I contacted a
couple of renewals and a new member and welcomed them on board. I also had to spend a lot of
time dealing with family issues as my father is starting a fight against lung cancer. I did manage
to attend the kindred meeting.
That's where I am now, not a lot of activity yet. As soon as my dad is moved (he can no longer
live alone) I am hoping to meet with David the former steward, establish connections with
kindreds in my area and attend more public events.
Colorado – Fred Loucks-Schultz
Hailsa!
April, May, and June were relatively quiet in some
ways, and utterly frantic in others out here in the
Rocky Mountains. We've had 2 renewals among the local
Troth members (yay!), and I'm back on speaking terms
with another member who I lost touch with a few years
back (long story). Local activities are stepping up one of the folks up in Boulder, Kaedrich Olsen, hosted
a Hela's Blot on Walpurgisnacht, which attracted 25
local Heathens! Kaedrich also hosted a Boulder
Coffeemoot in May, which I was unable to attend, but
which was well-received.
In June, I attended Trothmoot and had a great time.
Pretty much the rest of the quarter was devoted to
getting Southwest Moot 2005 going - we've got 40
people registered for at least part of the weekend,
mostly from Colorado with some from New Mexico
attending as well. Once the Moot is done, we'll see
what happens with the locals - there are some folks
interested in formalizing something, but exactly what
will be the subject of discussion (local kindreds, a
state organization, more Troth presence? Gotta get
some brochures printed up.... ;)
Connecticut – Nichole Brunk
This has been a quieter than normal quarter for me, as I have had lots of life going on. In April I
attended a disir blot at my kinswoman's home (also known as our High Steward. Hi Patty!). This
event was attended by many different groups from around the region and was a wonderful
experience. There was a disir altar that was covered, fair to collapsing, with photos and other
memorabilia of the many ancestresses of those in attendance. The sumbel was very moving as the
folks in attendance raised a horn and remembered their disir.
May was more or less consumed with finals, followed by the wedding of my *other* kinswoman,
Darlene. The ceremony was officiated by Patty, as well as my kinsman Mike, a Trothmember. It
was a beautiful ceremony, and much fun was had by all.
June, of course was Trothmoot. Most of y'all were there, and those of you who weren't are
probably sick of hearing us all talk about how great it was. But, it was great! Meeting so many of
you other stewards was one of the highlights for me. I am always impressed by the high caliber of
the folks in this organization, especially those who step up to volunteer where needed. Hail the
stewards!
Later in June, I celebrated Midsummer with my kindred, and we were lucky enough to have some
guests. A couple of folks from the Theodish community joined us, as well as a couple of people
from the local pagan community. Afterwards we had BBQ dinner and played Kubb into the night.
On a personal note, my fiancé and I actually managed to set aside our mutual phobias of
commitment and set a wedding date. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be! Our current
plan is to tie the knot in August of 2007, in his mother's home town of Baltimore, West Cork.
That about wraps up my report for this quarter. If I missed anything, I'm sure Patty will include it
in her report :)
Florida – Alexander Garrote
Hail the Troth!
Hurricane Dennis has come and gone, and we are still
standing strong. Not all the Heathens of the state
have checked in, but so far it seems everyone made it
through OK. Hail Thor!
At present The Troth has 23 active members in Florida.
This includes Demarus, our new Steersman, Andrea, our
new Reckoner of Accounts, and myself, the new Clerk.
May we all serve this organization and Heathenry with
wisdom, heart, and passion while we allowed to do so.
This list of members does not include the youngest
Heathens in the state, Andrew Matthew Witte and
Tatyana Elizabeth Steinback. Andrew was born to Bobby
and Pam Witte of Gullinbursti Hearth of Osprey Bay
Kindred and was named on June 16, 2005. Tatyana is the
first child of Rob and Tanya Steinback of Osprey Bay
Kindred, and was named on July 2, 2005. Hail the
newborns and hail the parents!
The Troth-Florida email list currently has 58 members.
Here’s the breakdown of Heathen activities I
participated in around the state in the second quarter
of 2005.
APRIL
3 – Attended the Ostara Rite held jointly by Osprey
Bay Kindred, Kindred Folk of the Odinist Fellowship,
and Thruthr Frith Sigrun Kindred. The rite took place
at a park in Oldsmar and included a procession through
the park. Afterward, a wain was led around Demarus’ neighborhood and Ostara gifts were given
to some of the neighbors. The day was rounded out with feasting, sumbel, and good conversation.
16 – I performed the wedding of Eric Rhoads and
Cynthia Wallace of Gainesville, Florida. The private
ceremony was conducted at Centennial Park in downtown
Fort Myers. Congratulations to the newlyweds!
17 – I led the Freyja Blot at Koreshan State Historic
Site in Estero, Florida. Some of the local Southwest
Florida Heathens who haven’t had much community in
their neck of the woods were glad to have something
going on locally. The blot went well, and was well
attended by local folks, as well as people from as far
away as the Tampa Bay area.
MAY
5-8 – I attended the Florida Pagan gathering at Boyd
Hill in St Petersburg. While there, I attended a
workshop on the Armanen Runes led by Danok of Thruthr
Frith Sigrun Kindred, and met some Florida Heathens I
had not previously made acquaintance with. It was a
good time, and it was nice to see Heathenry
represented by a workshop at a previously
almost-exclusively Pagan event.
29 – Everte of Osprey Bay Kindred held a Thor’s
Faining at his home in St Petersburg. It was well
attended by Heathens from the Bay Area as well as a
handful of us from Southwest Florida. The blot was to
ward our community from the wrathe of Hurricanes this
season. So far it appears it was well received.
JUNE
In June I accepted the position of Clerk of the Troth.
I now maintain the Troth’s main P.O. Box and handle
the processing of postal correspondence, orders,
memberships, etc. for the organization. I consider
this new post an honor, and hope to make a positive
mark on the organization through my work in it. So the
new address for the Troth, as well as for any
correspondence to the Steward of Florida, is as
follows:
PO Box 2442
Fort Myers, FL 33902
The remainder of my contact information is remaining
the same at present.
10 – I attended the first evening of Freya Aswynn’s
rune workshop hosted by Osprey Bay Kindred. It was
great to see Freya again, and was glad to be there
that night, and sad I was unable to attend the rest of
the workshop the following day. She did an excellent
job of explaining her ideas on the runes to us, and I
found her discussion very interesting and
enlightening. Hail to Freya Aswynn for her visit, and
Hail to Osprey Bay Kindred for bringing her down this
way!
That night was also a rare opportunity to catch up
face-to-face with some of the Heathens from areas
further away. Folk from the Panhandle of Florida, as
well as southeast Georgia, made it down for the
workshop.
And that concludes my Steward Report for the second
quarter of 2005.
Hail Florida!
Hail the Troth!
Georgia – Sara Tholl
2nd Quarter Troth Steward Report for Georgia
April 2005
The month started off with the bi-monthly coffee on the 3rd of April. It was well attended and
this was a nice time to socialize with local Fort Stewart/Hinesville folks that do not know the area
well. Some brochures were handed out and brief heathen topics were discussed, but mainly it
was a time to just get together.
I made contact with an area folk in neighboring Statesboro who arranged to meet with myself and
husband at a local coffee house and get to know us. I had run into this individual nearly a year
ago in a bookstore (not hard to spot a fellow heathen there) and we exchanged email addresses.
We have had sporadic conversations since and pleased to find a very nice individual to add to my
list of contacts. We agreed to keep in contact and I mentioned the Troth as well as local boards
that they may be interested in. He has been invited to join our local Pinewood Heathen Society
monthly discussions.
On the 24th, the Pinewood Heathen Society had their monthly discussion. This month was
Walpurgis and May Day, the traditions now and then. Going to see the Blue Angels perform at a
local air show in the area followed that day's lively discussion. Some folks saw the air show and
others decided to look at the local crafts. At the craft fair there was a wonderful presentation put
on by a blacksmith that was both entertaining and educational. The day was well attended as
being the first of what we hope, many open discussions for those who are only beginning to learn
about Asatur/Heathenism. As always it was great fun and great food. Hope to have many more
of these opportunities to share with others this wonderful faith.
To round out this month - a private blot for Sippe members only was held late on the eve of 30
April 2005, despite the gloomy weather. How nice it was that the rain let up, allowing us to be
outdoors with a fire as we rejoiced in the gods. We topped the night off at midnight with dancing
to Harry Nilsson's song Coconut and drinking margaritas.
May 2005
Didn't take long to kick off the month as the loads of folks from around the area came to the
Pinegrove Hearth to celebrate May Day. The Kieferewald Sippe folks managed to get some sleep
from the night before to welcome the guest as they arrived. We had several faiths represented
and, all had a good time. There were games for the old and young alike, crafts to represent spring
and a sumbel that even those that did not partake in found to be very moving. This was the 3rd
Annual May Day celebration and a tradition that I plan to continue at my hearth.
The following weekend, that of the 8th of May, had the folks from Georgia Heathen Society
going to the Ren Fest there in Atlanta. The local Savannah area folks would have joined them,
but members had tight schedules for the month and a later in the month trip to the fest was
arranged. It was nice to hear that those folks had a good time and look forward to our trip in a
couple of weeks.
On the 22nd of May the folks of the Kieferwald Sippe drove to Atlanta to see the sites at the
annual Ren Fest. It was great fun and so much to see and do. I finally found an Odin Mask ring
that I did not hesitate to purchase. Other area folks had been invited to join in are day of
merriment, but were unable to attend.
June 2005
This month brought about Mid-summer. The temperature up to this point had been extremely
mild for this part of the country, but you were not going to
find any of us complaining. The Kieferfwald Sippe had many things on the
agenda for this month.
Our first thing was a trip to Tampa, Florida to meet up with the fine folks down there and see lots
of familiar faces and some new ones too. The biggest thrill was getting to spend the weekend
with Freya Asywnn and learn from her about the mysteries and wonders of the runes. She is an
amazing woman and lots of fun to be around. The tropical storm didn't dampen our enthusiasm
one bit.
The month rounded out with Mid-summer being held at the Pineneedle Hearth in which Lisa
performed her first blot to Sunna and the Gods showed great favor as the thunder rolled all
around us, the wind blew and Sunna shined (all at the same time). As always, there was great
food, with a low-country boil and plenty of laughs and good times.
I personally ended the month of June rushing back to Iowa for the death of my grandmother Kitty.
She will be missed and the grandkids made sure she was sent off with plenty of fishing equipment
and a deck of cards for those raining days. It is always good to see family and even this event
was a time to joke and laugh as we remember times growing up with Grandma just two blocks
away.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
The Kieferwald Sippe is coordinating the dates for a local Pub-moot with area folks that have
curiosity or interest in Asatru/Heathenism. Dates are not set, but the idea has been well received.
There is also talk of meeting up for coffee at a local college coffee shop, but this is a new iron in
the fire.
Illinois – Carolyn Reyes (confirmed)
Indiana – Molly Welch (confirmed)
Hail the Steward Hall! ļ
This is my first report as an acting steward in Indiana! As such,
there isn¡¦t a lot of exciting news to report, and I¡¦d like the
details of this first report to stay on the Steward¡¦s list for now,
as I¡¦m going to be asking just the Stewards most of these questions
if that is okay? I"m sending Patty and the members a truncated
version of the important information. But here¡¦s what¡¦s happening
so far:
I have been given access to Project Yggdrasil, and have obtained the
membership roster. I was unable, and John hasn¡¦t gotten around to
closing down the old Troth-Indiana Yahoogroup¡Xthis is necessary b/c
I was only a member of that group and could not invite others to
join, so I created indianatroth@yahoogroups.com. I prefer to use
that server b/c I choose on our states list to invite non-troth
members in order to coerce¡Xahem! I mean welcome them to join us in
our efforts ļ.
Of the 9 individual members and the 5 families of members, only 7
members have responded to the invitation to join us on the list.
I¡¦ve also got a neighboring steward from Ohio on the list I¡¦m
thinking of announcing that they are welcome to join it and how to
join it on the general membership list first, then snail mailing,
then telephone. For those whose memberships have lapsed¡Xand I need
to remind myself which Idunna we¡¦re on, I am thinking of inviting
them to rejoin by a postcard, then if they don¡¦t respond, but
sending them a letter asking them to give feedback on why they
haven¡¦t joined. Does anyone already have such a questionnaire that
I can steal?
Between myself and you guys as fellow stewards, people in Indiana
are either closed mouthed, or extra mouthy, so there are a lot of
members that I have never even heard of on Yggdrasil that I am
really interested in pulling into _positive_ activities¡Xthis will
hopefully encourage more people to participate instead of silently
joining and silently disappearing after a year¡Xa problem Hoosiers
seem to have. We also have a problem with some very old time
heathens who belong to other organizations perpetuating myths and
legends about the current Troth in order to keep themselves from
being interested in our org. This problem may never disappear
entirely, but it is slowly eroding now that we have a diverse¡Xeven
though small¡Xmembership that is made up of heathens of varying
beliefs.
Of the members that I have listed on my state list, I took a couple
of polls and it looks like most people would enjoy attending a
Saturday night pub moot a few times a year in the following cities:
Evansville and Indianapolis are tied, followed by South bend and
Lafayette which are tied. I have a member in the Bloomington area,
which is where Indiana University is located, and is somewhat near
Louisville, KY, and I¡¦m thinking about hosting one in that area as
well. This will take some doing this year. However, after this
initial year as Steward I hope that either the members in the
farthest areas will continue with troth pub moots more often then I
can make it up there. South Bend is on the Michigan border, and
Fort-Wayne is on the Northern Ohio border and I¡¦m here down by
Kentucky and Southern Ill. However, something has to be done, and
I¡¦d like to get up there before winter <g>¡K
In August, my kindred will be traveling to Spencer, IN as we have
been invited to blot with an AA/AFA kindred there. They are an old
kindred and have some good contacts in the state that I hope to gain
access to through our activities with them.
So not a heck of a lot going on just yet, but this is what I¡¦ve been
doing since TMoot. As I stated earlier, I¡¦d like this to just be on
this Steward list for now, but if I have a portion of it that I¡¦m
going to put on the members list¡Xjust the highlights.
Thanks for your help in getting started!
Molly Welch
Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota – Gunnar Wodensgothi (Chris Miller)
(confirmed)
Heilsa All,
This is my first report so here goes.
BusinessI have had two renewals, 1 new family, and 2 single memberships since I have taken the reigns
here.
April 2255-
Volkshof Kindred held an Oath Blot. We only had 5 in attendance, but we'll take what we can
get. Great food and lots of mead.
Volkshof Kindred attended a Walpurgisnacht Blot with another local Kindred the Runehof
Asatru Kindred from Lino Lakes, MN.
May 2255Was proposed as Steward for what has been nicknamed "Midwestgard"
Slow month, not much happening here.
June 2255Trothmoot. Had an excellent time. Met a lot of quality Heathens!
Had our yearly Midsummer Blot. 10 Heathens joined us. I only made it until 3:30 before
retiring to my Viking tent. Three of the Folk made until Sunna rose.
Volunteered to do prison outreach at the Rush City Prison.
Volunteered to be Assistant High Steward for 1 year.
Misc.Attended the local coffee moot held on Wednesday. Met with local pagans about a "Gathering
of the Clans" for Sept. Been working on setting up the "Pagan Kegger in the Woods II" event
here in MN, on the land of our previous Steward Tony Arndt.
Maine – Matthew Dyer (proposed)
This will be quick!
Made email contact with the only other Troth Member in the State. She is about 2.5 hours east of
me and makes baskets! If she comes down to the big city we will meet up, and I have a standing
invitation to go up there.
Of course I spent the Mid-Summer holiday with my kinsman of the Raven Kindred North and we
had a general blot with a special emphasis on Balder. We also held a teening ceremony that day
for a kindred member's son who is about to turn 13. A fair amount of non-heathen folks from the
boy's family came to this and it was a really excellent time. If anyone wants details on the
ceremony (which I understand was devised by Ron Branga of Othala Acres) well, just let me
know.
Michigan – Hester Butler-Ehle
Nebraska – Tim Elario (confirmed)
In May, accepted the post of steward, for better and worse.
The bulk of the local Folk in Lincoln are not willing to meet at the present and those
contacted have stated that they are happy as Solitary Heathens and studing quietly alone. There
was an AA Kindred here at one time but is at least inactive and no longer listed. In contrast, there
was the naming of the Iron Bear Kindred in Lincoln. It is a small Kindred of 2 families but
looking for growth. The Wednesday bi-weekly beer pub meet in downtown Lincoln continues.
The gathering is small, usually just 2 of us, but the talk is good. I continue to meet with my
prison contact on a weekly basis. There are 2 kindreds and one brotherhood("society") in the
Lincoln prison, one kindred is Asatruar and the other is Theodisc, totalling about 30-40 members.
The prison has recognised the status of the Asatruar Kindred but, currently, has not recognised
the Theodisc Kindred. The brotherhood has not yet petitioned the prison for official recognition.
There is a rumor of a group/kindred near Omaha of about 15 members but, as yet, I have
not heard from them. There were meeting/greets in Omaha, NE at the new age store, but the
attendance there was sporatic and fliers/contact material for the local Folk are available. I have
not heard if they are continuing or not. My contact in Omaha has been busy, lately, and is
looking to relocate out of state. There is one known Kindred in Omaha, which affiliated with AS
Theodisc in the first quarter this year.
There is a small group in Fairbury, NE that meets on a semi-regular basis. I understand
that they are an ecclectic group of SCA/Wicca/Native American/Asatruar, so far I have not yet
landed an invite and may have to invite myself there to find out more. <grin>
I am tracking a rumor of a person in Pierce, NE that is publishing a newsletter for
prisoners, called "Spear of Odhinn". I am looking to find out more information about the
publisher and its publication. So far, I do not have a response from my contact address, pending.
Most contacts in NE are spred over the whole state rather than concentrating in the cities.
I have had a couple contacts/responses but when they find out that I am not "local", but am a 22.5 hour drive away, they have stoped talking. Even when I tell them I am willing to come there
to meet them. I don't know. It seems a Nebraskan mentality, although I have seen the same
elsewhere.
This should give a good overview of the state, as I know it. I look forward to filling in
the gaps of information as I get them.
Nevada – Chad Hooper
Howdy, all.
Just returned from vacation (and my son's wedding, woo-hoo!) Sunday night.
Now I'm getting all caught up on things.
Things are generally pretty quiet in Nevada on the heathen front, but the
last couple of months things have picked up a bit. Back in May, Stefn
Thorsman performed at one of the local comedy clubs and we declared a
"heathens' night out" for one of his shows. In addition to three Reno-area
heathens, Steve and Sheila McNallen and Stefn's lovely wife Jana attended.
Both before and after the show there was some good discussion and sharing of
good heathen fellowship.
Also in May and as an on-going thing through the rest of the summer, I
started attending planning meetings every three weeks or so for Northern
Nevada Pagan Pride Day. With the help of other members of the Mountain
Hammer Alliance I will be working this year's event with the same goal in
mind as last year, increasing public awareness of heathenry in general.
Stefn has graciously agreed to reprise his "Caller I.D. of the Norse Gods"
workshop from Trothmoot and will be participating in the day's Q&A panel
along with myself and Ed Broneske from CalAsa Kindred.
(Speaking of MHA, who's our Nor Cal Steward? Dana? You certainly qualify
for membership in the regional umbrella org, contact me off-list if you're
interested.)
Now that the hullaballoo of getting ready for Elric's and Kelli's wedding is
past, I also plan to get back to work on starting an Edda reading group at
the local Borders store. Said group will be open to heathens and
non-heathens alike, and I'm thinking of calling it "The Raven's Gift".
We have also gained three new members in Nevada in the last couple of
months, including my friend and Ben's, Erik Hammers from Las Vegas. I'm
hoping this bodes well for a continued increase in heathen presence and
activity here in the Silver State.
New York City – Denise Cruci
Wassail All!
First a bit of a Personal Boast:
As of this past Tuesday (7/12), I have completed graduate school and now may
continue in earnest my job search. Woo-hoo!!! I have earned my master's in
education, elementary grades 1-6. In May I was writing a master's thesis as
well as finishing up my student teaching 4 days a week with a talented and
gifted 5th grade class. This has occupied my time for the last 18 months as
this was an accelerated program. Whew! I am exhausted! :-)
In February of 2005 I had spoken with a new member about starting up a
monthly Lore Night in August. There are a couple of other things I am
thinking about, but they are just seed ideas in my head so I'll not share
them here just yet.
April and May I continued with having monthly pubmoots.
In June I got tied up with two intensive courses in school, so there wasn't
a pubmoot. I did attend a midsummer blot up at Othala Farms in New Hampshire
of which Patty has mentioned who was in attendance. It was quite the
experience! It was moving and filled with great power. I enjoyed seeing
old friends as well as making some new ones. The feeling of tribal
community was also moving. I am sorry that I could not attend Trothmoot,
but funds continue to be pretty low.
I am excited to be able to start a few new things down/over here in NYC now
that grad school is over. Hope everyone is well.
North Carolina, South Carolina – Boden Njordsson (proposed for South Carolina)
Hail, all,
I really don't have anything to report. I made a point
to contact the two renewals that we have had in the
last quarter. I have already reported here about the
group that has formed in the Raleigh-Durham area. They
are not all Troth members, but continue to meet. I
hope to see a kindred formed in the fall. About half
of the subscribers to my Carolina Asatru list are
Troth folk.
Ohio – Ron White and Melanie Rowand
Sorry for the lateness of this report, we've been busy for the last couple of months. We've
returned from Starwood and so here it is. Last quarter, to fit the theme, was a busy one for us. In
April we held the first Cleveland area Pub Moot. While there were only a few of us, the
conversation was good and so was the beer (Great Lakes Brewing Co is a wonderful place). Most
of our spare time was taken up preparing for our wedding, and what time wasn't spare Melanie
was using to finish up her Master's Degree in English. At some point we found time to supply a
number of local pagan stores with Asatru and Troth flyers.
On May 15th Melanie graduated from her Master's program. The week following was hectic as
we were in the home stretch for our wedding on May 21st. The wedding was held at Brushwood
Folklore Center in Sherman, NY and was officiated by Laurel Mendes. The ceremony was
beautifully done and was followed by a feast and then a sumbel. At the sumbel we were doubly
honored by Laurel, for she acted as Valkyrie and carried the horn to all of the hundred or so
guests who were there. Since then, we have had our friends tell us how much they loved the
sumbel and the ceremony and have been asking us for more information. After the sumbel there
was a bonfire with drumming and dancing well into the wee hours of the next morning. On May
28th I attended the Wellspring Gathering for ADF and had many interesting conversations about
Heathenism and heard a great many positive comments about Diana's new book.
June of course was Trothmoot; Melanie was assistant to Tanya in Kitchen Sedition and I spent
my time keeping the peace as I was in charge of
security. What this really means is neither of us sat down much until at
least sundown but after that the conversation and company made it all worthwhile. Returning
from Trothmoot we took a moment to breathe then Melanie continued the job hunting process
and I went back to work. Towards the end of the month we held the second Cleveland Pub Moot
and it proved to be just as enjoyable as the first one and it is something we will be continuing.
Ongoing throughout we have maintained correspondences with Ohio Heathens who either made
contact via the Troth website or one of the various lists we are on. I think that's it for now,
though I am probably forgetting something.
In frith,
Ron and Melanie
Oklahoma – Patrick Dryz
Howdy and Heilsa, Stewards
Sorry I'm late, folks. Here's the late-as-usual report on OK:
Monthly coffee moots in April, May, and June, and a small Midhsumar
blot. June saw one new member from Oklahoma City, and last but
certainly not least,Trothmoot. Personal affairs and scheduling have put
the monthly study groups on hold, but we'll soon be back at it. Neo-Pagan events happen often
enough here in Tulsa, but very little
Heathen activity.
Now that I am more or less recovering from a rather wretched financial
state, I should be able to attend more of those local events. I also
hope to make regular visits to the folks in OKC.
Two weeks ago we had a record attendance at the coffee moot (I'd sure
love to have a pub moot one of these days), with all of 8 Heathens
present. Impressed? I thought so....
Anyway, now that I'm on the Central States Heathen list (and also the
handy dandy Irminsul Aettir Heathen locator) connecting with more local
Heathens should be a little easier. Many who don't answer their emails
keep a very watchful eye on CSH,
it seems.
That's all I have at present.
Oregon – Jane Ruck
Not much happening in the great Pacific Northwest. I haven't been as active as I would like as
I'm waiting for surgery on a rotator cuff injury. Scheduled for July 28th. Haven't had any
requests for info Troth wise.
Have been doing prison blots as usual. The ministry is now active in 8 prisons. I write group
participation blots for 4 and we go there once a quarter for regular blots. We also go monthly to
the 4 other places. NWAM has donated a drinking horn to Stafford Creek in WA for their
kindred there. We are working on donating blot bolli's and horns to all the other facilities. These
will be kept on site for their use so we don't have to have an entire "kit" every time we go. Book
donations have been coming in on a regular basis and we have been spreading them out amongst
the facilities. With 3 new facilities asking it keeps us busy. We did our quarterly trip to WA in
June . My assistant Liane and I are really chalking up miles. WA is about a 475mi. RT. I went to
Shutters Creek with hubby for blots there, another 300 mi RT. My assistant Chris goes once a
month with me also. Our usual mileage per month is about 375mi RT, between the three of us,
without the quarterly visits.
I offered to do an Asatru 101 class at the local beadery. Waiting to hear back from the owner as
to time and date. Had two families , new to area, come and blot with the kindred. One already
wants to join.
Still doing my CASA work.
Found out I've been "bumped" from my position at school and will now work at the middle
school instead of the HS. Will find out what job when school starts. Seems if someone with more
seniority wants your job they can bump you. I'm still doing monthly blots at our Hof and we are
slowly improving it.
That's pretty much about it.
Pennsylvania – Laure Washington
Sorry my report is late; as usual, things have been
hectic.
April – My kindred sister and I missed Vingolf’s
monthly blot because of staying home to take care of a
dying kitten we were trying to save. But the monthly
Philly moot (which in April was at Applebee’s) went on
as planned. At the March moot, Sara and James from
Nine Worlds Kindred proposed the founding of the
Philadelphia Heathen Association, a new coaltion of
kindreds and individuals in the Philadelphia area, to
which we all unanimously agreed. This month, Sara and
James came prepared to propose a plan for the running
of the new organization. Their suggestions included
the appointment/election of three officers: a
president, a vice president, and a
secretary/treasurer. I was asked to serve the first
term as president, and agreed. We then set dates for
the next two moots, discussed when to schedule our
lore nights (which haven’t begun happening yet, mostly
because everyone’s schedules have been busier over the
summer), and decided to have the rune study begin as
an online discussion group which could then schedule
in-person meetings when necessary. I also, at some
point during April, emailed the local Pagan Pride Day
organizer to let him know that PHA is very interested
in being involved with that. Last year’s public Sif
blot, which Vingolf and now-PHA members collaborated
on, was a huge success and I’m hoping to see something
like that happen again this year.
Most of April, however, was taken up by my
preparations for holding Sigrblot at my house on the
30th. We had a pretty good showing, with about six
people showing up. There was a discussion on Odin as
Sigfather and then a three-round blot, followed by a
potluck feast and much drinking of mead. Feedback
from everyone was good, and I think it went rather
well. There's a lot of Odin interest in my immediate
community, and there was even some discussion of
having related blots to other aspects of Odin (such as
master of runes and seidhr, etc.) not necessarily in
relation to a holiday.
May – We made it out to Vingolf’s Gerd blot, which was
preceded by a mead-making demonstration and followed
by a wonderful and very touching sumbel. Later in the
month we held our pub moot, at which all the usual
suspects showed up, and as usual we all had a great
time. A lot of the latter part of the month was taken
up by my preparations to go to Trothmoot.
June – The first weekend of June was Trothmoot, of
course, and it was great to be able to see everyone
there and compare notes on our respective regions. I
also got an opportunity to spend some time with Diana
Paxson, my guide in the clergy program, and that was
really great. Unfortunately, I spent a good deal of
the month of June dealing with personal and financial
crises in my household, such as our refrigerator
deciding to die suddenly in the midst of a heat wave.
Because of financial trouble due to my recent
separation, we were forced to go without a
refrigerator for almost two weeks. Midmonth, my
kindred held a private Freyja blot asking for some
improvement in our finances, and two days later were
offered a free refrigerator by a friend in our
community, if we could arrange to have it transported
to our house. We couldn’t, but a few days later we
managed to find a refurbished fridge for only $140—so
hail Freyja!
The Philadelphia Heathen Association Midsummer blot
was hosted by Nine World’s kindred on the 25th, at
Sara and James’ house. It was a three-round open blot
to all the Norse Gods (with the “Norse” part being
carefully emphasized because not everyone there was
Asatru). I was honored to be asked to explain
Midsummer for the newbies, and I think it was a
wonderful blot. There was a potluck feast and sumbel afterwards, and I had the opportunity to
field quite a few questions about Heathen customs, wyrd, and Odin.
I love watching people who have little or no prior
experience in Heathenry experience that initial
“click” as they realize that this just may be
something that calls to them.
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it to East
Coast Thing this year, due to money issues. However,
I am hoping we can arrange to hold more inter-kindred
blots and also schedule at least one lore night at
some point during the fall. We were originally
planning to have these at a local bookstore or coffee
shop, but people’s schedules have been busy. I have a
feeling I may have to host the first one at my house,
just to get the ball rolling.
On a personal level, I’m a candidate in the clergy
program, and besides that am working on finishing up
the Odin devotional which has been my major writing
project for the year. I’m also doing the final edits
on an article to be submitted to Idunna, and have
plans for several other articles as well as a book
that will be an expansion of an article (on women who
are primarily devoted to male Gods, of all pantheons)
newWitch will be publishing later in the year.
Hope the 3rd quarter goes well for all of you.
Rhode Island – Victoria Clare (confirmed)
Hailsa alle,
This is going to be fast and dirty because i am at work. Have been on vacation, then PC went into
shop so must surreptitiously go online at work!
----------April - attended Disablot at Patty's in CT. Met many great heathens and felt welcomed. Also
attended Pubmoot in CT (was that April?) May - Attended theodish blot at Othala Acres for May
Day. Met many great people and was inspired by the grounds. June - Hosted a midtsommer blot
on a deserted beach to which one had to kayak. We decorated the kayaks with birch branches, as
is customary in Norway. We had a bonfire and our one invited guest did not appear so it was just
Joe and I. The guest, David, did appear at a pubmoot in Providence we attended. David made
himself known and is interested in asatruar in NE. I gave him many weblinks, the Troth
information, suggested he might want to join. At the pubmoot were Rick Oberg, a friend of his,
Amy Ahlberg and her husband, Sarah and Aaron Bennet from MA.
I placed an ad in "All That Matters" for rune readings at a local herb shop, first reading is 7/9.
Brochure is read by 35,000 folks in NE. I applied to teach a rune course through the Newport
Learning Connection, but have not heard back. Joined AFA and am active on elist, as well as
Northeast asatru elist and this one. A subgroup of AFA is petitioning for wolves and lynx in
Norway and I am writing letters for that as well. Here endeth my report!
Tennessee – Cliff Raeder
Texas – Jennifer Culver
Hi all Here is the report for Texas - as it gets hotter, I get a little
slower.......
April - Many things continue as always in this month - Rich and I taught the rune class at the UU church
- Widsith, the seidh group met
- I answered some questions on heathenry on a seekers list
- I talked about the Troth on the Texas list and got support from Raffy
- I checked on other members in the area that are not in our kindred and of
future events
May - I was offered the chance to come to the pagan women's gathering but
couldn't because it was the same weekend as the medieval conference
- I attended a Northen Star gathering
- Widsith met
- the rune class did not go b/c Rich's dad was in the hospital
- I answered more questions on the list and actually had a new member in the
Troth from it :)
June - in June I held a heathen women's retreat that had women from many kindreds
and it was a great event
- I got some emails about Troth and Texas and answered all of them
- attended a couple of Midsummers in the area
- we taught the rune class and scheduled time for a talk at the pagan
community center
Utah – Dale Overman (confirmed)
Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland – Su “Ratatask” Eaves
I'm sorry I'm late on posting my quarterly. I've had a lot going on. This was a super busy quarter
for me, both religiously and personally.
This quarter, there were 2 renewals in Virginia, 2 new members and we got our first West
Virginia member!
In April, there was an ADF festival at my campground. I ran two Norse workshops there and
helped one of my kinswomen in the main ritual. There were a number of local Pagans there who
I was able network with a bit more. April also brought some of my biggest challenges so far.
Gladsheim Kindred, the largest public Kindred in my region, had some serious internal issues that
resulted in some public postings of them splitting up, and then reforming a few days later.
Although everything resolved itself with them before they had to miss any of their monthly blots,
there were some repercussions. When they announced they were dissolving, there was a lot of
concerns within the community. I tried to pass on information on what was going on to local
Heathens who were not on the lists where this situation was developing, I also talked to some of
the members of Gladsheim throughout this time, and posted information of other events that are
going on in the area so people wouldn't panic about the loss of the community. Since the
remaining members of Gladsheim decided to re-form the Kindred, disaster was averted and all
turned out fine.
The other result of all of this is that someone posted a... um... negative critique of the Gladsheim
situation on a Virginia list. I tried to calm things down there and he responded with a very
aggressive response. This resulted in the list moderator banning him, and beginning to
investigate this guy (based also on the threatening emails he received after banning the guy). I
also started hearing stories about this guy. It turns out he has been harassing a lot of people in
both Virginia and Maryland. It became a huge ordeal, especially because this guy was a new
member of a new Kindred in Virginia - a Kindred that formed in January, that I only found out
about in March, so I had only been in contact with them for a very short time. The Kindred
gathered all the information found on this guy and made the decision to outlaw him. I discussed
the situation with a number of people (including my Kindred of course) and decided the best way
to get the word out to people to look out for this guy was to post the outlawry to a few lists, along
with posting support of the outlawry from my Kindred as well as from others who also sent their
support. The best thing that came from all of this was that I developed a good relationship with
some of the members of Hallowed Hall, as well as with a leader of the Theod community in
Virginia Beach. He has apparently had a lot of bad experiences with The Troth as well as with
Asatru in general, so this has given me an opportunity to try to help rebuild some bridges.
In May, I held my first Lore meeting. It was a pretty low turnout, but not bad for my first one.
Plus there was a lot of interest, just a lot of people weren't able to make it. So the interest level
was very encouraging. Hallowed Hall Kindred fell apart. I think it was just too new and too
small to handle an outlawry so early. Anyway, the remaining member of the Kindred and some
remaining friends of the Kindred decided to have a Northern Virginia meetup. I helped in
planning and in bringing some of the members of Mannaheim Kindred to this meetup. After the
meetup, we agreed to continue having these regularly and that they should be organized apart
from Hallowed Hall, so I created a new email group for Northern Virginia Heathens. It currently
has 11 members and we're planning our second meetup for tomorrow.
In June was Trothmoot - yay! It was wonderful getting to meet all of you in person! I'm
particularly pleased to realize that Victorria Wytcherley lives so close to my campground. I'm
hoping we can do more together in the future.
Later in the month a local Pagan group held a Midsummer festival at my campground. I took the
opportunity to hand out Asatru flyers and to give workshops on Asatru topics. I did an intro to
Norse Gods workshop, which turned into a discussion of women's roles in Asatru (ironically that
was the topic of the workshop I had originally planned, but decided against at the last minute),
and I did a workshop on Reconstructionalist Paganism, particularly compared to Wicca, since
most of the local Pagans are very Wiccan. It gave me the opportunity to explain some of the
problems I have been having with them in the past in the guise of giving a workshop! ;-) My
Kindred also ran a blot Friday night of the festival. I usually try to be modest, but my Kindred
totally kicked ass with that blot! It was the best blot ever!!! ;-) Anyway, we had a huge crowd
at the blot, as well as a good turnout at each of my workshops, so it really gave me a great
opportunity to introduce a lot of people to
Asatru. Oh, and a some of my long term Heathen friends, as well as a number of the people on
the newly formed Northern VA Heathen list I created earlier came as well.
On a more personal note, my sister-in-law and kinswoman (along with her husband who is a
kinsman of mine as well) gave birth to twin girls, Freya Marie and Rachel Jade, in June. There
were a lot of complications. She was on bedrest at the hospital for the last month of the
pregnancy and actually delivered after only 24 weeks of pregnancy. The entire month she was on
bedrest she was told frequently that she would lose the babies. My second lore meeting was
supposed to be held in the midst of this. I canceled it when she went into labor. The babies
survived the delivery, but were so small that they needed a lot of care to keep them alive and
growing. Unfortunately, Freya Marie didn't make it. She died early last week. It's been a hard
time on us all. Rachel Jade is still hanging on, but she's not well. She's getting better, but there
are still a lot of complications she's fighting through. We're sending all the good wishes, prayers,
energy, etc. her way right now, but I'm afraid it may not be enough. My entire Kindred is all
holding our breaths in hopes that she'll make it.
Oh, and lastly, my Kindred has decided to host a Heathen Gathering at my campground October
21-23. I've been recruiting vendors and presenters. It's looking like it should turn out to be a
pretty good event. So that's my next thing to focus on.
Did I mention it's been a busy quarter for me?
Washington – Marshall Freeman
Wisconsin – Al Seeger
Greetings from Wisconsin,
Two new memberships these last few months. The most recent one is in River
Falls, the other is a family membership in Shawno, which is fairly close!
I've had several e-mail exchanges with the family from Shawno and hope to
meet them soon. I will also be contacting the new member from River Falls.
Nothing to report for April.
The main event in May was the Spring Sumbel Camping Trip at High Cliff. The
weather was nice and had a few more people than I expected-close to 40. So
in the future I'm going to look into a group site. I had a chance to meet a
few people I hadn't seen in a while and met several new people, inlucding
fellow steward Carolyn with family and Wolfmoon Kindred.
June has been quiet, but I am in the process of planning an event for the
end of this month. Since I now know of more heathens in the area, I hope to
get more events going so i the future I aim to have more to report in next
and future quarters.
Canada (East) – Anthony Terpstra (confirmed)
Canada (West) – Fred Sontheim
Nothing to report. Very quiet.
Canada (British Columbia) – Jaysun O’SCalleigh
Germany – Alex Jahnke
United Kingdom (Contact Only) – Jenny Blain