What is Odinism-Ásatrú?

  • Although we consider Ásatrú to be the cornerstone that brings together the various tendencies of the ancient tradition, from the perspective of Odinism—which defines our identity as the Odinist Community of Spain—we cannot view certain tendencies as mere alternatives. This is simply because, in our understanding, they stray from the core doctrine; when we make such a statement, we must emphasize that when we speak of Odinism, we do so as something tangible, concrete, and seamless.The debate between universalist and ethnicist (folkish) stances within Ásatrú and Nordic-Germanic paganism is one of the greatest points of friction within contemporary pagan movements.From our traditional perspective, the central argument is that faith, culture, biological heritage, and territory are intrinsically connected. Those of us who defend this viewpoint argue that Odinism, specifically, is the native spiritual expression of the Nordic-Germanic peoples; therefore, assimilating it into a modern universalist context distorts its original essence.* The Folkish Argument vs. Universalism (or the «Anything Goes» approach)
    • For Odinism—often mislabeled as folkish—Ásatrú is not a religion of blind faith or written dogmas, but rather ancestor worship. Following this logic, if one does not share a blood tie (blood calls to faith) or heritage with those ancestors, the worship loses its organic root and becomes a purely aesthetic or intellectual adoption.The Æsir and Vanir deities, as well as the nature spirits (Landvættir), are deeply bound to the geography, climate, and myths of Europe. Critics of inclusive universalism argue that exporting these deities abstractly to any part of the world ignores the local and animistic character of the original faith.From this viewpoint, universalism is perceived as an influence of Western Judeo-Christian thought (which is inherently proselytizing and universal) or contemporary, allegedly progressive political currents (woke), which seek to dilute specific cultural identities in favor of a globalized inclusion.
    * The Analogy with Japanese ShintoThe parallel with Shinto is a frequent argument within traditionalist circles due to its structural similarities:Shinto is the native spirituality of Japan, based on the worship of the kami (spirits/deities) and reverence for the ancestors and geography of the Japanese islands. A universal Shinto, detached from Japanese identity and land, is inconceivable.Those who defend the folkish stance argue that just as the world respects and understands that Shinto belongs to the people and land of Japan, Odinism or Germanic paganism should be treated with the same criteria of cultural and ethnic preservation, without the pressure to open itself up globally.* The Counterpart: The Universalist Argument (Inclusive Ásatrú)To understand the full picture, universalists (or inclusive practitioners, often associated with the Hague Declaration or Declaration 127) maintain that historical myths do not mention racial exclusion. They argue that the sagas and poems focus on loyalty, honor, and actions, rather than genetic purity.Historically, Norse peoples, for instance, traveled, traded, and intermingled with various cultures (Slavs, Celts, Arabs, Anglo-Saxons), adopting and adapting spiritual influences without strict biological barriers. They defend syncretism, but they omit that a large part of these mixtures corresponded to the capture and trade of slaves (thralls); to a large extent, forced assimilation through captivity is not voluntary syncretism; it is survival under coercion.They claim that the gods choose those who honor them based on their spiritual affinity and values, regardless of their family tree. What they fail to explain, or purposely omit, is why a Zulu or a Motilon from the Amazon does not receive that Indo-European Germanic call and instead limits themselves to their own traditional gods—Unkulunkulu in the case of the Zulus, and Sabaseba in Barí mythology.In short, the critique of inclusive universalism from an Odinist perspective lies in the idea that trying to satisfy the diversity standards of modern Western society ends up stripping Ásatrú of its tribal, folkloric, and historical character, transforming it into a mass-consumption religion similar to the New Age. For a Zulu to attempt to worship Odin, or for a Scandinavian to attempt to practice Amazonian shamanism or Shinto, is perceived as a disconnection from one’s own roots. We believe that each person must seek and honor the ancestors from whom they actually descend; otherwise, they fall into a kind of «spiritual tourism» or cultural appropriation promoted by the globalist woke movement, which only seeks to eliminate the identity of peoples. A grey society without roots is a society of slaves.* How do universalists justify this «call»?To understand this clash of stances, inclusive universalists do not view the gods as entities strictly tied to the DNA of a European tribe, but rather as cosmic forces or universal archetypes. They argue that Nordic-Germanic gods represent concepts such as honor, strength, self-improvement, or poetry. They maintain that any human being who resonates with those values can be claimed by those forces, regardless of genetic heritage. They purposely omit the existence of traditions and deities belonging to other peoples.Those who defend inclusion recall that in antiquity (such as in the Roman Empire or along Viking trade routes), syncretism was common. In fact, syncretism is their only argument. Foreigners adopted local cults, and locals adopted foreign gods if they considered those gods to be real and powerful.Ultimately, the division is irreconcilable because we start from two different philosophical premises: for the folkish, faith is heritage and blood; for the inclusive universalist, religion is experience and free spiritual choice.Inclusive universalist Ásatrú and its adoption of contemporary diversity, gender identity, and social justice agendas is, indeed, the main cultural battlefield within modern northern paganism. While traditionalists are accused of being a breeding ground for supremacist and far-right movements, they remain silent or ramble when those «anything goes» movements are clearly weaponized by the woke movement to adapt a warrior, tribal, and patriarchal faith to the standards of Western political correctness. The introduction of modern concepts such as transgender identity or the deconstruction of gender roles within paganism is not a natural evolution, but a forced ideological distortion that denatures the original tradition.The debate centers primarily on the interpretation of myths and history, where both currents clash drastically. For us, even if inclusive universalists nominally share gods and certain myths and legends—even if they might look similar, attract a wider diversity of people and mystical-cultural subgroups, and might even be very entertaining… THEY ARE NOT OURS!The Traditionalist Perspective on Gender Roles
    • We, as Odinists, defend that pre-Christian Nordic-Germanic societies, as well as their myths, were based on clearly defined and complementary gender roles essential for the survival of the tribe: the warrior, the provider, the weaver of destiny, and respect for motherhood.We consider that projecting 21st-century gender theories onto medieval texts (such as the Eddas) is an absurd anachronism whose only purpose is to please and justify current political fashions with lies or half-truths. For Odinists, the gods represent the natural order, and altering the polarity of the masculine and the feminine is to break that cosmogonic order.
    * The Arguments of Inclusive Ásatrú to Justify DiversityFor their part, inclusive groups try to justify their position by pointing out that the historical Nordic pantheon and practices already contained elements that broke with the strict gender norms of the subsequent Christian era. The most common examples used by this current are:
    • The Seiðr and Odin: Seiðr magic was considered a predominantly female practice. Sources mention that Odin practiced it; in Lokasenna (The Insults of Loki), the rebellious Loki shows up uninvited to a banquet of the gods and begins to insult each one of them, revealing their darkest secrets and breaking the social rules of hospitality. Loki accused Odin of ergi because of this. Once again, the inclusive argument omits that Germanic societies considered ergi to be entirely improper for a man, and it was applied to refer to a tendency toward passive homosexual behavior.
    «They say you practiced magic on Samsø,
    and beat the drum like the seers (völvas);
    in the guise of a sorcerer you traveled among men,
    and that I consider to be effeminate behavior (ergi).»
    — Lokasenna, stanza 24.To understand the severity of the accusation, in medieval Nordic-Germanic society, the term ergi was a grave offense. To accuse a man of ergi implied saying he had renounced his masculine role, that he was a coward, or that he assumed a passive role. Legally, in the Icelandic laws known as Grágás, hurling this insult justified a duel to the death or allowed the offender to be killed without punishment.The figure of a vitki (pl. vitkar) is rarely mentioned, but they existed as a shamanic figure during pre-Christian medieval Scandinavia, sometimes compared to prophets and oracles. The ambiguous image and gender fluidity of the vitkar was evident—as an exception of high spiritual status, healing, and prophecy—since it was believed they possessed the wisdom of both sexes.Loki uses this insult to attack Odin’s honor and virility before all the gods, reminding him that to obtain the knowledge of magic, he was willing to cross the boundary of what the society of that time considered acceptable for a warrior and a king.
    • Loki and Shape-Shifting: In mythology, Loki changes shape and gender frequently. Not only does he transform into a woman, but in the form of a mare, he conceives and gives birth to Sleipnir, Odin’s eight-legged horse. Inclusive universalists use this as a mythological archetype of gender fluidity.Thor Disguised as a Bride: In the poem Þrymskviða (The Lay of Thrym), Thor disguises himself as the goddess Freyja, wearing women’s clothing and a bridal veil, to trick a giant who had stolen his hammer, Mjölnir. Here we apply the fact that the concept of lying in Germanic societies has nothing to do with Abrahamic sin; it validates strategic cunning and deception in conflict situations, resembling Odin himself (who is also a deity of deception). However, globalist woke ideology distorts this to justify its postulates.
    * Two Conflicting Visions of the Same PantheonThis conflict within Ásatrú reflects a much deeper division occurring across Western society:
    • For one side, the true essence of the West is preserved by maintaining rootedness, ethnic identity, the traditional family structure, and the heritage of the ancestors against what we consider a globalist moral decay.For the other, the West (and by extension modern paganism) should be a space for individual freedom, constant evolution, and the assimilation of new social realities. What complicates this stance is that they merge their argument with proclamas that have nothing to do with the doctrine of faith—for example, «without feminism, there is no Odinism,» a crude copy of the old «without feminism, there is no socialism» from the communist parties of the 1970s. This is not spiritual evolution, but a process of secularization and politization of the sacred. Attempting to mix 21st-century secular concerns and demands with the faith doctrine of the ancients is a senseless absurdity that only causes confusion and detachment.
    Since there is no central authority, no «Pope» or dogmatic sacred book in Ásatrú, both positions coexist in constant tension, operating in entirely separate communities, organizations, and rituals. The resulting fundamentalism—the seed of dogmas and absolute truths—accentuates these differences. What exclusive universalists do is, quite simply, what globalism always does in every sphere: use a text, out of context, as a pretext.* The Odinism as a Collective Heritage: Beyond ScandinaviaThe Error of «Exclusive Scandinavism»People often fall into the reductionism of assimilating Odinism solely into the modern geography of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and ultimately Iceland and the Faroe Islands. However, archaeology, linguistics, and history prove that the worship of this cosmogonic force was neither born nor died in the Scandinavian fjords. Limiting Odinism to Scandinavia means ignoring half of European history.* The Pan-Germanization and the Map of Greater GermaniaThe expansion of Germanic tribes transformed the map of the continent. From the migrations of the Visigoths in the Iberian Peninsula (Lisbon, Toledo) to the Ostrogoths in the eastern steppes (the Urals and the Black Sea), passing through the Angles and Saxons in Britannia, and the Franks and Alamanni in the heart of Europe, the religious and mythological substrate was shared.
    All these peoples shared the same linguistic root, the same social structure based on the clan (Sippe), and fundamentally, the worship of the same pantheon of deities.* The True UniversalityThe essence of our faith does not depend on current political borders, but on the common thread of Germanic heritage. The debate over the name is purely dialectal, not theological:
    • Gaut (or Gapt): The divine ancestor and the deity from whom the Gothic kings in Spain and Eastern Europe claimed descent, as documented by the historian Jordanes.Wotan (or Woden): The god of fury, ecstasy, and wisdom worshiped by continental tribes and the Saxons prior to the forced Christianization by Charlemagne.Óðinn: The Nordic-Scandinavian version, late and better preserved literarily thanks to the Icelandic Eddas.
    * Conclusion: We Odinists Are the Return to the Root, Not an Aesthetic CopyWhen we practice Odinism outside of Scandinavia, we are not performing an act of cultural imitation nor «stealing» Swedish or Norwegian folklore. We are awakening the archaeological and spiritual substrate that our own Germanic ancestors (such as the Goths or Suebi in southern Europe) brought with them. The god of the spear, knowledge, and fury is the same in the forests of Thuringia, the plains of the Don, or the Iberian mountains. Therefore, Odinism is not a regional Scandinavian faith, but the legitimate and native spirituality of the great family of Germanic peoples.
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