Yngona Desmond

[MikePutfus]

Yes I was born into a culture Federica, but it's more than that. I also choose to be that culture I was born into. It was a time when being a Native person was not cool thing as it is today. A lot different than someone making stuff up, and ripping stuff off to pass them self's as something they could never be. Most of the time to make a name for them self's or for money. I have run into a lot of them here in the States as well as overseas over the years.

[frederica]

You sure have that one right Mike.

[wyrdbrew]

Modern Heathenry, on the whole, is only about 30 years old.   There are a number of different  approaches, (Asatru, Heidhni, Forn Sedr, Irminist, Theodish...)  practices, terminology and issues that vary from group to group and region to region.  Germanic Heathenry is not monolithic.  Even when looking at two groups that claim to be doing the same thing one will find varying degrees of disagreement about a number of issues.  Because we have to basically unearth old fossilized remains of our cultural belief and practice and then turn it into something that is authentic and still viable there is still some working out of the kinks to accomplish.  This will probably be a feature of heathenry for some time to come.  It can be hard to figure out for an outsider exactly who is doing authentic Germanic heathenry and who is not.  I dunno. Maybe none of us are. 

To say that the majority of heathens are racist is complete conjecture.  There is no solid data on just how many Germanic heathens there are.  No one has ever bothered to study it.  Second there are no reliable numbers on who believes or does what.  As I noted above, there are a  number of approaches to heathenry that vary with one another, sometimes in deep ways.  So how can anyone say for sure?  Anecdotally, I've only ever met a handful of heathens I'd consider flat out racists.  The Troth, is one of the longest existing and largest heathen organizations in the US lets in just about anyone. As far as I can tell, The Troth allows in just about anyone whose yearly dues check doesn't bounce. 

My personal take is that genetic heritage isn't really important as to whether or not someone should practice some form of Germanic heathenry.  The way I decide whether or not a particular person or group of people I want to worship with is determined by what they do.   There are certain groups of 100% Germanic blood that I'd never invite to one of my groups rituals because what they do and how they behave is "out of law" with what we do.  If what they are doing can be recognized as authentically Germanic heathen then I'm interested.  If not then I have no interest.  As far as my theod is concerned, we are concerned first and foremost with what one does not what they look like.  That said, ancestry is important in certain contexts.  For example, certain leadership positions in Theodism require documented genealogies that link one to one of the noble houses of Northern Europe.   

I'll include more info on Theodism in my introduction post. 

Travis

[educatedindian]

Got this link passed onto me. Apparently Desmond has a long history of lying about her supposed advanced degrees.

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http://community.livejournal.com/southeastern_cr/3382.html
aracos
2006-10-06 01:14 pm UTC (link) 
As a Heathen in the Atlanta and Georgia area, I would just like to point a few things out about the above post. Which, btw, I noticed was NOT posted on the South-Eastern list, and for good reason...

"I am the owner of the Nine Worlds list on yahoo and founder of
Hoddmimir's Holt. The first is the oldest, most active, and most
scholar list on Heathen mysticism anywhere on the net, and the last is a Heathen mystery-learning school."

The 9 Worlds list is far from being the "oldest" or the most "scholarly" list anywhere. There are many Heathen based list that pre-date this list and many that, I would at least consider, more scholarly...


"I organize monthly moots, called Lunch and Lore, and a yearly Thing - which is both a camping trip and business meeting."

For the most part this is true. But the "Thing" hasn't happened in the last 2 years due to a riff between the above person and a good # of local Heathens...


"My husband and I have built a Hof - a Heathen community center - and have both been active in our folk faith for 26+ years."

Hmm, Last time I was at their house I saw no "Hof". Nor have I heard mention of it before this post. She does have a yoga studio, I guess that is what she is now calling a "Hof" and community center... 26+yrs... Hmmm, that # seems to get bigger every time I see it...


"I am a member of the American Academy of Religion, and a retired
professor of Religion and Philosophy."

I'll have to check into the AAR membership, but I would ask where she taught!!! She has promoted herself as a PHD in the Heathen community in the past. But, as it turns out, it was "supposedly" an honorary Phd in Eastern Studies for her teaching yoga at a local college. But even that has never been substantiated to any degree that I know of. She has, for the most part, stopped using the Phd title in the Heathen community... I guess teaching yoga now translates into "professor of Religion and Philosophy"....

Heathen here....Ga
tosti40
2006-10-07 12:16 am UTC (link) 

First, I want to say that what Lonnie says is absolutely correct. In fact he is probably understating the case by a fair degree. I am completely familiar with the individual who sent the letter. Almost none of what she says is true. She has been challenged several times to produce evidence of her degree (once by a member of our group who is a real Ph.D and was insulted at the masquerade)and has never been able to do so. I, along with a friend(one of the publishers of the journal Tyr, if you are familiar with it) resigned as officers of the group(non-profit with three officers) she mentioned when we better understood her motivations. We are serious Heathens and do not want to see our practices turned into fodder for those trying to build personality cults. The better part of the group left with us at the time. You will not find this on SE Asatru as that list seems to be just a general list for small talk. It is probably in the Ga Heathen archives. We, of course, kept copies ourselves of our resignations. For all intents and purposes(as a non-profit group) it is defunct.

One of the problems we have had in the Heahen community is the problem of credibility. The general so-called 'pagan' communities are easily dealt with by detractors of a resurgent Heathenry(or Paganism if you prefer), since they are highly porous to the less than stable elements of society and are a haven for fantasists and those who enjoy cherry-picking elements of our ancestors worldview to support their modern appetites. We cannot afford fakes, poseurs, charlatans, or those who seek power over the gullible by means of fantasy coated with a thin veneer of Heathen virtue.

As a small but growing number of people, we need to make very sure that we are presenting a reasonable and well-thought-out version of the spiritual folkways and beliefs of our ancestors. One of the major problems I have with the letter at the head of this thread is that she mentions that she is the founder of a list which she describes as 'The first is the oldest, most active, and most
scholar list on Heathen mysticism anywhere on the net,'.

In fact,there is no such thing as 'Heathen Mysticism'(if you are talking about Germanic Heathenry as she says she is) and the writer betrays her poor understanding of both Heathen ontology and the spiritual worldview of our ancestors by stating it. Many of you may be unfamiliar with broader Asatru/Heathen groups but I can tell you that that something such as that letter would never have been posted to the major and serious Heathen lists because the writer would have come under some derision and would have been forced to prove her claims.

As for authoring a book. She has authored one self-published book that I am aware of. Anyone can do that today and the results are mixed. I asked, my friend, the publisher of the journal Tyr, whether he was going to review the book and he laughed, saying that they thought it 'insignificant', inasmuch as it was not written by a scholar of even someone noted as an expert of the subject in question and really didn't want to help call attention to that sort of thing as it opens us up to ridicule. My guess is that no serious publication will ever review it....

Tosti