Embracing the Fight
Witan Young recently wrote a great article, "Rejecting the Black Pill." I highly recommend reading it if you have not already. In case you haven't read it, I'll give a brief summary.
The world our ancestors knew has been twisted and corrupted, but we are still standing. Our ancestors live here through us, and our noble Gods see our good deeds. Not all is lost, but spending all of your time wallowing in doom and gloom will certainly push your mind, body, and spirit to feel the effects of that negativity. Our world is not a fairytale, but it is OUR world, and it is beautiful. Our Folk can still be industrious, and courageous, and strong, and free.
Witan Young’s message is not that life is perfect and that we should completely close ourselves off from reality, but rather that we should go gladly into this reality and use our will to shape it in a way that will provide for our Folk and honor our Gods.
As expected from any Goði or Gythia of the Asatru Folk Assembly, Witan Young’s words convey one of the most important messages found in the Havamal:
"The noble man is thoughtful, silent and bold in battle. But every man should be cheerful and happy until the day of his death.” — Stanza 15
We absolutely should be aware of the various dangers and issues of our world, and we should be ever-ready to stand against chaos when it threatens our Gods and our Folk. We should train to be strong, we should practice courage, we should teach our children to be steadfast in every endeavor.
All of that being said, we do ourselves a profound disservice when we live this life by ourselves in an echo chamber of negativity. There are "battles" to be fought, yes, but there is no reason to fight them sad and alone.
To borrow from Witan Young again, our Folk have a community to be a part of, with four Hofs and another 70 acres of land. There has never been a better time to be Asatru in the last thousand years, as the AFA is making unprecedented strides in building a world for ourselves and our descendants. We should be rejoicing at the realization of this, no matter the state of the outside world.
Let's take stock- of our blessings, our victories, our strength as a united Folk- and go forth gladly into this world. We will continue to bring glory to our Gods, with smiles on our faces and courage in our hearts.
Hail the AFA!
Gothi Trent East
