#ask tac

[theasatrucommunity]

What are your views on being vegan in combination with asatro?

Diet is a personal (or medical) choice and has nothing to do with Asatru. Eat those plants!

[theasatrucommunity]

I will never understand the white supremacist heathens when there's plenty of evidence the Vikings themselves had no problem sharing their religion.

We’ll never understand them either.

“Where you recognise evil, speak out against it, and give no truces to your enemies.” Hávamál 127

[theasatrucommunity]

I am not asatru or norse related, but so glad to see this in the community and that someone is stepping up about the white supremacist problem.

Thank you for your support! The Asatru Community stands firmly behind our zero-tolerance policy on bigotry. Our gods and symbolism have been abused for too long and we hope to see the day when any ties to white supremacy are just a faint memory.

[theasatrucommunity]

I'm rather new to the Asatru comunity. I was wondering if I'd be able to ask you a few questions as I've been finding difficulty in finding information online, what little I did find advised me to seek out a mentor. First I'd like to ask about finding a Patron Deity. I am aware that we honor and follow them all but in my search for information I came across numerous blogs that spoke about Patron Deitys and working with others. Could you provide a rite or ritual enabling me to find my patron?

Thanks for the question!

Patron Deities within Asatru are usually always a hot point of discussion. A lot of people, myself included, are of the opinion that a person will generally levitate towards one on their own. Others feel that it is disrespectful to the rest of the pantheon to worship in such a way, but since that is an opinion I don’t hold I can’t say much about it.

This will be equal parts opinion as it is advice, I am not a be-all end-all encyclopedia of knowledge. Take it as it’s offered: as a grain of information for you to think about and expand upon in your own way.

When it comes to discovering one’s patron deity it depends mostly on the individual. If there is a connection to be made to a single god then it isn’t something you can force. I’m sure some people would tell you of some spell or ritual you could use in some way to bind yourself to the god of your choice but again, I am not of the opinion that a ritual or spell will accomplish the task.

The main piece of advice I can give you is to continue learning, both about yourself and the gods. Patron deities in my experience share traits with those that worship them, which can sometimes make them easier to identify. Asatru and spiritualism in general are a journey. It’s not something you set out to accomplish then pat yourself on the back once you’re done.

Take your time with it and don’t be afraid to feel around. Explore your options and learn about the gods to see which you most feel comfortable with. Really put forth the effort to think about (meditate on) it. If you are the creative type then channel that energy in to creation and it may come to you that way. Sometimes it can come in a dream or a single moment of inspiration as you’re walking down the street. Just keep the wheels turning and keep an open mind. If you are meant to make a connection and have a patron deity it will happen.

[theasatrucommunity]

Do you know of any sites where Heathens can meet each other? For dating and friendship and such?

For a start there is our Facebook group where you can connect with 18,000+ heathens from across the globe.

You can also join us as a Charter Member for free to gain access to our exclusive closed groups which include regional groups where you can find other local heathens and attend events hosted by our regional ambassadors.

If you’re looking for something outside of TAC there are various pages to be found online. I’ve tried a few but the most reliable in my experience is Witchvox. It’s more geared towards wicca and general paganism but it’s a place to start.

[theasatrucommunity]

What does it mean to be kindred?

Kindred[noun]

1.a person’s relatives collectively; kinfolk; kin.

2.a group of persons related to another; family, tribe, or clan.

3.relationship by birth or descent, or sometimes by marriage; kinship.

4.natural relationship; affinity.

[adjective]

5.associated by origin, nature, qualities, etc.*

6.having the same belief, attitude, or feeling*

7.related by birth or descent

8.belonging to kin or relatives

* You do not need to be related or have certain blood to be kin/kindred.

[tacthescribbler]

Hey, saw your reblog on a post about writing, and since I had a creative block that lasted about a decade and kept me from writing or drawing, it resonated with me. A lot of things happened to finally get me out of that block, including changing meds, but a big one was just that stupid Comic Sans trick. (And this coming from someone who also loves writing in notebooks!)

Have you heard of it? You just write in Comic Sans, and it makes it impossible to take your writing seriously, so all the dread of the expectation of truly ~writing~ is lifted from you. I amplify the effect by using Notepad++ (no fancy formatting to distract me), using a theme with candy colors (even harder to take seriously), and keeping the window small (just a little things to ramble and jot notes in, not a big important writing document, goodness no, but if some writing should *happen* to happen...).

I also just don't worry about writing a story linearly. I write scenes as they pop into my head, however short, and then I stitch them together later.

As it is, my story still isn't finished (in part because it's the script for an animated series I'm working through animating at the moment)... But, counting all the AU tangents, I've gotten a Moby Dick length corpus out of it and counting, and I've had a hell of a lot of fun. Writing is back to being fun!! And that's all I could have hoped for.

Hey-o! I'm sorry it took me so long to respond. I drift from one thing to another sometimes and I was hyperfocused on Minecraft for a bit there!

I've heard of the Comic Sans trick, but haven't yet tried it. I tend to use Arial myself, since that's the Google Drive default. Might try it on my next story attempt, though, since I'm moving back to Word and pulling my writing off of Drive. (I want to keep my own backups and not worry about what's synced where.)

I also snagged an app on Steam called Nimble Writer that I want to try out. It apparently has some neat features to help with focus, but I haven't really played with it yet beyond booting it up and checking out the UI.

In terms of trying to write, I often find myself in brainstorming documents where I half-outline, half-brainstorm ideas. I get a lot of character backstory by doing that, and a lot of them have turned into full-blown worldbuilding with magic systems and descriptions of fantasy races, geography, weaponry, and so on. So it's not like I don't write anything, but it's not the prose I'd really like to be writing.

There are some other factors. My sibling is living with me. they're only 22, and they're still figuring things out, but there are also a lot of things they could be doing to be a better roommate. I prefer living alone and I knew I would only be able to tolerate them living with me for a little while, but this has gone far beyond that. I won't write that novel in this post, though. Suffice it to say I'm looking for my own place, and I know my creative productivity will vastly improve once I have a space where I can actually decompress after work.

On the linear writing thing: I used to be a panster. I wrote linearly, but I wrote what was fun. I've never written out of order before, but that has more to do with my ability to keep track of what's happened, and it's easier when I do it chronologically. I think I'll try an out-of-order story just to see if it breaks the block, though. Maybe if I break my own mold, I'll find another shape that fits, to follow the metaphor.

One trick I've been tempted to try is to pick one of my very old fanfictions, from back when I was a wordy teenager who had to describe everything in exacting detail, and copy it all down word-for-word until my writer's brain kicks in and diverges with it. I'm not the same person I used to be, so I'd like to think my old self would drive me just crazy enough to force me into action writing something new. Or maybe the same thing but better. Who knows?

On that last point: You're writing a script?! Am I allowed to ask about it? And animating! I've been wanting to relearn how to draw, but animating seems so daunting! I wish you the best of luck!

Thank you for the ask, and for the chance to get some thoughts out. I'll put some of your suggestions to the test and see what happens. :D

[askaluckytac-blog]

The Carry Dee looked intently at Nahir and adjusted his bowtie once again. "Why my species is known as the Carry Dee, though... err.. we happen to be a minority in Dreamland. You can call me Corin." He chuckled a bit. "Any guest of TAC's brought here is certainly a fair, well-treated guest of mine, considering he works for me. Now now, don't look so frightened. TAC's job is to give me notes, pictures, and longitude and latitude degrees for my project. He can do whatever he wants, as long as I get those notes. I'm going to create the official map of Pop Star one day." He beamed. 

"It's a good deal and all, and he treats me better than that hag over there." TAC said between bites. He was answered with a witch hat thrown in his face. After retrieving the hat back, the Broom Hatter maid went over to Nahir with a kettle.

"Greengreen tea?"  

How strange. TAC almost never brings anyone over. He must be helpful in some way, Corin thought. "Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"  

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((Sorry for the late response! XDDDD))