By Arinbjorn OR
Many years have passed since I first found the pathways that would lead me back to the High Gods, return me to the natural order of life, and show me the truths about the world. I can still remember those first “clicks” that made so much sense that I wondered why I hadn’t seen them before. I remember the first time I read of the Odinic Rite and knew that one day I would be amongst their ranks.
Many years have passed, filled with many experiences. From my first contacts with local Asatru groups, my first contacts with the OR and the sense of welcome found there. It was almost immediately that I saw the differences between the two groups and knew that the Odinic Rite is where I belonged.
Within the Rite I found a place to expand my knowledge and understanding, people who had experience not only with worshiping the High Gods, but living daily with the standards that have separated the OR from the rest of the pack. What was found in the Odinic Rite was living and doing, not reading and saying, and that spoke to me. I knew then that that feeling I had years before was right, I belonged with the OR.
In the time that followed I had the opportunity and privilege to go to London and attend the Great Moot and meet some of the people I had known only on-line. Once again I learned from the OR. I learned of camaraderie in practice. The hospitality and nobility of the “rank and file” inspired me.
After returning from the GM, I began to again look for people around my area. My previous experience was less than stellar, and being a solitary person in general, I had not put much effort into connecting with local Odinists before. But soon I began meeting people who thought and believed like I did, and the bonds of camaraderie and brotherhood were formed.
Over the next year I had the privilege to take part in the forming of Endr-Lifga Hearth. And through the good times and bad, the bonds grew stronger as did my ties with the OR.
I had come to the point where I was ready to take the next step within the Odinic Rite. I had experienced the reach and hospitality of the OR from a distance and in person, I had experienced the power of the OR to inspire a group of people to strive for great things, and through the OR I had developed my own relationship and understanding of the divine powers within and around me. It was time to profess.
Profession into the Odinic Rite may seem like a simple oath of loyalty to an organization, and, on the surface, it is, but looking deeper we find it is an oath to yourself. Within the words of the rite, lies a commitment to uphold the duties and honor of not just the OR but of yourself and those who stand with you. It is a commitment to better the OR by bettering yourself. The part and whole, inseparable, growing together towards greater things.
It wasn’t until Midsummer of 2009 that my time would come, while attending the Odinic Rite Vinland Summer Moot.
Over the course of the weekend, much was done, from good conversation to pressing business, good food and games, and some powerful blots. It was during the Midsummer Blot that I and my new comrade Teufelhund OR were to be professed. I had the honor of having Heimgest DCG conduct my profession.
When the time came, Heimgest called me in front of those assembled, including my mother Lani, and my hearth brother Jon, and many friends, new and old.
As Heimgest spoke the words and phrases of the Rite of Profession and I answered in turn, I felt the energies welling up around me. Slow and quiet at first and settled around my feet, it grew as I swore my oaths to the High Gods. The vibrations grew as they rose to my chest as I swore by my Ancestors, who I could feel watching and smiling. As the rite progressed, the energies I felt continued to grow and envelop me. As I swore my final oaths, before all, by honor, blood and being, my body vibrated and the energies hummed in my ears, my fingers tingled, and my heartbeat quickened.
Heimgest finished the rite and I stepped back to my place in the circle. I felt light and energized, my spine quaked like a tree in tornado. Heimgest continued with the rest of the Midsummer blot, and when the mead horn came to me, the mead was sweeter, and coursed through me, the words of those assembled rang truer and I was feeling great. A truly powerful blot.
We ended the weekend with smiles and promises of quick returns and well-wishes. I was sad to see it end but glad to be heading home.
After returning home, I resumed my nightly ritual routine and have found the same vibrations and energies return every time I place my torc around my neck. I feel the connections with my Gods, my Ancestors, and my Comrades. I feel the weight of my oaths across my shoulders. But I welcome the weight, it is only by carrying this weight that I will become stronger, and as I grow stronger, so will the Odinic Rite, so will my brothers and sister, so will my folk.
Hail the High Gods
Hail the Odinic Rite
Hail the People of the Rite
Faith-Folk-Family
