Essential Asatru: Walking the Path of Norse Paganism Paperback – December 1, 2006

A must read for Norse pagans

The product had an affordable price, new, arrived in perfect condition, good packaging and right on time. Looking forward to buy more books from this seller.

Yet another Asatru book that only covers the VERY basics, and yet another book on Asatru that is trying to liberalize the religion. What this book represents is about one step away from "Norse Wicca".As you may or may not know, the media, including book publishers tend to be very liberal. Asatru tends to be very conservative. If you want a liberal "new age" or neo-pagan religion there are plenty of them, Wicca being the main one as well as many new age books etc. The problem is few publishers are willing to publish books on the true nature of the Asatru religion, because it is a heritage based germanic religion which is politically incorrect, even though heritage based Asian religions or native american religions or of any other ethnic group is perfectly ok. If you want a good introduction into typical conservative Asatru moral beliefs take a look at Mark Puryears "The Nature of Asatru: and introduction to the ideals and philosophys of the indigenous religion of northern europe" though flawed in some ways (as I point out in my review) it is very close to what most practicing heathens believe. Also for a much more accurate introduction to Asatru, though of equal liberal bias try Galina Krasskovas exploring the heathen tradition. In other words, I wouldn't consider this book very authoritive because it is NOT presenting true Asatru. The book even admits in the opening that the book may present a "different way of looking at Asatru" and goes on to say that it was mainly written as intoroduction to the religion for Wiccan practicers or people with a relative who practices Asatru and wants to know what the religion is all about. I say it is not accurate because firstly the holy days are mostly wiccan with some germanic cultural elements (almost every day is listed as a holy day, because she simply lifted any day celebrated in german history as a holyday for everyone, and she gives very wiccanish ways of celebrating them rather than typical Asatru practice) and not commonly accepted Asatru holy days. Secondly the general presentation and philosophy is Wiccan with a few Asatru concepts grudgingly allowed.The book seems to also be written for a teenager or someone in their early twenties, in other words geared towards a younger audience. The book is also rather thin. Now to the good parts: Diana Paxson is a fiction writer primarily and the book is very well written. It is an enjoyable read overall, even though its not really presenting true Asatru, it does present some good information for those who want a feminized liberal version of Asatru. The first half of the book is almost completely a detailed acount of the history of Asatru starting with pre-history and what we know about the Proto indo-european practices. It is very detailed, well researched and accurate (though it doesn't list contrary views, there are many theories regarding pre-historical Europe). This alone could make the book worth reading to a serious Asatruar. It also gives some a decent recomended reading list and lists some great folk metal and folk bands (though for some reason omits Midnattsol?).Let me clarify what I mean by "liberal" or "conservative", I do not mean a political affiliation. Liberal= the self is most important. Each individual interprets the religion differently. People are mostly solitary practioners loosely connected into groups of people of various backgrounds. Women for some reason must be promoted to positions of leadership and multiculturalism is strongly promoted. Everything submissive and womanly is praised (yet by default someone is always in charge which makes me theorize at least that people who want to manipulate and control the masses promote religions that teach servitude, and weakness and unquestioning obedience, which the liberal movement seems to be trying to move Asatru back to the very things it was brought back to life to fight against (unquestioning obedience etc.) Womanly virtues are given a disproportianate amount of reverence and manly virtues (bravery, strength, physical prowess, "balls" etc.) is generally looked at as primitive and of the past.Conservative= the family, community, heritage etc. comes first. You put the communities needs above your own and selfishness is frowned upon. Tradition is consider very important (as opposed to liberal views of challenging tradition at every turn). Groups are usually hertiage/familial based and a strong emphasis is put on familial heritage and honoring the ancestors. Men and Women are seen as equals but in totally different ways, each complimenting each other. A man would not take the role of a women because he could not possibly adequately fulfill this role. A woman similiarly is not suited for manly activities. Though at times there are crossovers. Actually the women are sometimes considered more important as their wombs carry the very essense of the folk and it is considered a neccesity to have strong family values, and to have children and carry on the line, in this way women are highly celebrated and revered and is one reason why they are not to take "manly" possitions, because the very survival of a family or folk is more important than whatever gain could be had by placing a woman in battle or politics.Of course there are other differences but those are the primary differences I am speaking of.Overall I felt a bit misled. Instead of "essential Asatru" it should read "a very basic and biased introduction to Asatru"

This book is packed full of valuable information and instruction about the Northern Asatru religion. It is a must have for anyone who is interested in learning.

I love the book

I don't think the little "story" that's told in parts at the beginning of each chapter are necessary or any benefit to the reader. In fact, as a socially awkward and newer heathen, the behavior of those characters at the imaginary kindred gathering made me question whether I should seek a local kindred or stay solitary. They were negatively judgmental of a couple of the members, and I could get treatment like that from blood kin without any effort.There's also way more history than I think was appropriate. I like learning about the ways ancient peoples lived, but this was supposed to be a book about the heathen belief system, and I've seen reviews where people were completely put off from this book because there was so much regional history and not much about tradition, and that really turned them off.I've also seen people blasting this as another "neo-pagan fluff piece", but I don't really agree. For one thing, this book doesn't pander to Christianity, and the author doesn't shy away from saying that Christianity almost destroyed the heathen tradition. Other "neo-pagan fluff" I've read has been all about "love and light" and "harm none" and "you have to accept everybody no matter what". This book didn't do that.This is an okay starter book, but it really feels lacking and leaves you wanting something, but you don't necessarily know exactly what. Since I've heard good things about this author in general, I'm guessing this was just a miss for her and her other books are better.In any case, calling this "essential" is a bit of a stretch, so I guess the big problems come from how you think the book is going to go based on the title. Or, that was how I felt about it. It doesn't live up to that title.

Book was missing Chapter 1 first sixteen pages as per the photo

Great introduction to Asatru, and takes your knowledge a step or three further.

Great book. Great seller. I rwcommend

Paxson's book is one of those books which just about everybody trying to get "into" Asatru will come across at the beginning and to be frank it's an awful book: shallow, silly and mostly composed of Paxson's personal beliefs masquerading as historical lore and some awful songs, poems and drawings which are frankly embarassing. I guess some will enjoy it and i've met neo-pagans who praise this book and often get quite defensive but if you're serious about learning more about heathenry then look elsewhere ... "Our Troth" edited by Gundersson is maybe an imperfect but good place to start ...

this book was just dreadful. and useless too. it doesn't really tell you how to practice Norse Paganism in a meaningful way. the author talks about a few insignificant rituals you may want to practice, but even those aren't that groundbreaking. she doesn't get into the philosophy or meaning of Norse Paganism whatsoever. she doesn't get into the meaning and philosophy of Norse Gods. the author also suggested that people who practice this faith are racist. just junk. There have to be better books about Norse Paganism out there.