Cultic-Warrior
Sunday, 22 December 2024
The Spear of Woden
Tuesday, 28 February 2023
The Germanic Mannerbund - Part Seven
- Red,
- Rad - Wheel,
- Rita - Right Order, Right, Ritual,
- Rod - Rod of Justice,
- Rood - Gallows of Justice = The 'Wolf-Tree',
The Germanic Mannerbund - Part Six
This is where those who are involved in Heathen work and have not taken up this struggle (and there are many of these) will not be able to recreate such Cultic-Warrior Brotherhoods, since they will have no Ancestral Heroes to honour, and although we should honour the 'Mythical Heroes' (of myth and legend) this can in no way be the same as honouring those who have taken up the Sacred Blood Struggle in our own times. This goes for those who cannot recognise the true nature of this struggle, and how the Folkish Movement arose to hold back the Dark Forces at the 'turn of the Great Year'.
Those who are now dead and gone, but who were involved in the Sacred Blood Struggle are still with us in spirit, and we should honour them and invoke them to stand with us in the Last Battle. This can be done (as we have done in the past) through the 'Roll-Call' when each Fallen Hero is named by the Ancestral Call, and those who partake in the Sacred Rite call - 'Here!'. Thus, the Spirit of the Dead Heroes are invoked to be present with those who take part in the rite, and more importantly, and involved in the struggle for freedom. In the Woden Folk-Community this is the role of Woden's Folk as the Esoteric Order.
The Way of the Gods is the period between the Winter Sunstead and the Summer Sunstead, whilst the Way of the Ancestors is the period between the Summer Sunstead and the Winter Sunstead. The latter is the period in which Halloween and Yuletide fall. For the whole of this period of the year (the Dark Time) the Forefathers and Ancestors should be honoured, though the emphasis is usually from the Winter Evennight to the Winter Sunstead.
The colours of the Cultic-Warrior Brotherhood has always been associated with Black, and sometimes the Red (of youth and war). The Cultic-Warriors were black and gather under the Black Flag. One of the main symbols of these Kults is that of the Belt worn around the waist - one belt for the Cultic-Warrior Fury-Leader and two belts for the Cultic-Warriors. These could also be the Sacred Cord worn around the waist.
Thursday, 23 February 2023
The Germanic Mannerbunde - Part Five
In these Cultic Warrior Brotherhoods we find the use of Ritual Dances, weapon-dances undertaken by the cultic-warriors led by a Fuhrer who represents Woden as the Leader of the Bund. We find such dances still alive today (just) in various parts of England, though some of the more martial forms have been watered down into 'Morris Dancing', though the staffs/clubs are still present. However, the meaning is lost and the energy and ecstatic power has been lost with it. It would be very difficult to get young people involved in this today, for obvious reasons.
However, there is a method that can be used to achieve the same ends - Kata or Form. Using the Japanese term to make it clear, and with the English 'form' with it to try to bring this into an English context, kata is a form of Martial Dance, and it can also be used with weapons. Kata is in essence a means to learn basic warrior-moves, fusing a number of moves into a full 'Form'. Some martial artists have dropped the idea of forms, but there is a very ancient meaning to these, and one that is important to a Warrior Cult. There are many uses for this -
- This can be used as an individual training or group-training.
- The best forms would be simple and easy to understand, and easy to learn, thus having only a few moves in the early stages. Unfortunately, many Karate Katas are very long and take time to get right. Better short and easy to learn, and to get right.
- Each Kata is made up of an individual fighting-move, and putting them together creates a kind of Warrior-Dance.
- The forms need some form of self-control, motor-memory, and install self-discipline in the individual. When used in a group they bond together the individuals and create the 'Pack Instinct'.
- In doing a kata/form the individual has to visualise a 'living' opponent in order to attack-defend in the way it would be done with a 'real' opponent.
- There is even room to extend this use of movement by creating short attack-defend moves with one or more opponents, thus mimicking a real fight. This is done in some Martial Arts, but can be altered to suit a more ritual dance type of movement.
The one difference than using Japanese, Chinese, or Korean Martial Arts is that everything done in the Ar-Kan Rune-Lag is done in modern English, thus avoiding the need to learn a foreign tongue rather than concentrating upon the actual fighting techniques. Of course, although learning can be done through non-contact, some of the training must be done with semi-contact and then full-contact or it is useless in real life.
The Germanic Mannerbund - Part Four
The theme of a group of outlaws living wild in the English Forests is connected to the Cultic Warrior Brotherhoods. Robin Hood and his Merry Men was one of these Cultic War-Bands - English Freedom Fighters - who roamed the area of Sherwood Forest. What we know of them is sparse, and the film industry does little to clear up any confusion, and Robin Hood was certainly not a champion of the 'meek and weak', but a bringer of justice. In one of the tales he is said to have held a Mete-Wand which is a staff used for measurement, in this case symbolic of the bringing of justice and right in a time of tyranny and injustice.
Folkish Wodenism uses the theme of Robin i' the Hood as the 'Son' of Herne the Hunter, an aspect of Woden as the One-Eyed Hunter God. In this he is, in line with the Myth of Herne the Hunter, adorned with Stag's Horns on his head, and is the Lord of the Trees, Lord of the Forests, and Lord of the Animals. This is a very ancient Aryan Archetype that is the basis for the Forest God. Of course, Wid-Ar the Avenger is also the 'Forest Warrior' - the 'Forest God'.
The Hooded One is Woden, and running through the theme of Robin Hood and his Outlaw Band is the need for secrecy and to be hidden away from the rest of society as Wolf's Heads. There is something important in this idea, since the time will come when those opposed to this sick, rotten, degenerate society will be forced to get out of it somehow, or forced to move 'underground', much as the secret orders and secret societies had to do in the past.
One such Secret Order was the Geheimgericht (Secret Tribunal) or Tugendbund (Alliance for the Promotion of Virtue), better known as the Fehm-, Behm- or Vehmgericht. It is very difficult to sift fact from fiction when dealing with secret societies, and most start off as something far different than they end up, because these can easily be taken up and used by an oppressive state as a kind of 'secret police'. The Fehm was supposedly started in the time of Charlemagne to suppress the Heathen Saxons; when it was revived in the fourteenth century the members of the Vehm were known as Die Wissenden - The Illuminati.
There are doubts as to what we have been left of this subject, since Guido von List has nothing bad to say of the Vehm. They summarily executed their 'victims' by hanging them on a tree, which may suggest that the term Vehm, in its alternative Behm, derives from Baeume Gericht (Tree Law). Generally, they hung them using a rope of willow twigs, since hemp was forbidden in ancient law, and on a Lime Tree (Linden Tree). The German sacred geographer Joseph Heinsche stated that these were sited on geomantic-points or power-points of the Earth. This suggests something more ancient that the Christianity of Charlemagne.
They used a ritual dagger stuck into the ground to show who was doing the hanging, and to warn others not to interfere, under penalty of the same fate. This dagger bore the letters S.S.G.G. which were said to stand for Strick (Noose), Stein (Stone), Gras (Fear), Grein (Quarrel). This was an Initiation Cult, and most likely developed from the same roots as the Germanic Mannerbund, since the aim was to enforce Justice and Order on society. Their rules were enshrined in The Red Tower which is an Arthurian allegory because in the Forest of the Red Tower Parsifal discovered two knights hanging from a tree.
The act of hanging from a tree as a punishment, and that these took place in the forests of Westphalia, Saxony, suggest some connection to Woden in the very early times. There is no doubt that this idea was taken up and used by Charlemagne and the Christian Franks, but that does not mean that it was invented at this time. The revival and the link to King Arthur also suggest that this was again used for a specific purpose by the state. There have been other examples of this type of secret order arising in times of tyranny, in Germany prior to World War II, the other in the USA.
The importance to us here is that there may come a time when secrecy is indeed needed, and in times of tyranny, though of course using different methods, there is a need to create a balance through the bringing of justice and order. One of the most important things is to revive the symbolism that was used by such orders, since they will be firmly impressed into the Blood Memory, and that will be enough to make people know what is being done to right wrong, even if they do not know consciously.
Wednesday, 22 February 2023
The Germanic Mannerbunde - Part Three.
The Germanic Mannerbunde - Part Two.
"Truthfully, in this age those with intellect have no courage, and those with a modicum of physical courage have no intellect. If things are to alter in the next fifty years then we must embrace Byron's ideal - the Cultured Thug." Jonathon Bowden.
Unfortunately, Jonathon Bowden died before he could see the onslaught that befell us with the 'covid crisis', so we do not have fifty years to achieve this aim, which I see as being the right way to go. I have said before that in my own view we need to go a step further with this, through a three-fold 'New Man' -
- The Warrior-Hero
- The Thinker.
- The Mystic.
- Black & Red which were colours of the Mannerbunde.
- The Hunting-Horn that sounded before the hunt, because this would have been the role of the 'Warner' because this was a sacred hunt, and thus a warning to the uninitiated would be needed.
- The war-cry 'Tally Ho' which is formed from old Germanic cries associated with the Wild Hunt and the One-Eyed Hunter-God.
- The Horses and the Hounds are a major feature of the Wild Hunt and the Wild Host.
- The 'blooding' of the novice would also form part of an ancient ritual cult.
Tuesday, 21 February 2023
The Germanic Mannerbunde - Part One
The whole idea of research and study into the ancient Germanic Mannerbunde is not merely to look back into the past but to take stock of the past and how we can, in our own time, revive some of the most useful concepts of our forefathers. The Mannerbunde was made up of young aethlinga warriors who were sent out as Lone-Wolves or Wolfish Bands into the wilds to hunt and fight for their survival in the most harsh conditions. If young people today were subjected to such rigorous training the social services would seen get involved. And here lies the problem, since young men need to go through some forms of hardship and training in order to become strong men. This is denied them, although parents can, in some small degree, help by not bringing young boys up in totally soft conditions - martial arts, strength-training and survivalism are some ways to do this.
In this Swedish bracteate we see what is most likely Woden as a Horned God, bearing the Solar-Horns & Lunar-Horns, a sword and two spears, in the pose of the Long Man of Wilmington. He seems to be leading a Wolf-Warrior in a war-dance; he is here the leader of the army of the ecstatic wolf-warriors. The Wolf-Warrior is a Wolf-Krieger or Ulfhedhnin, and the horned figure seems to have the right eye missing.
Woden's role in this Warrior Cult is as the Heerfuhrer or 'Leader of the War-Band'; but using the term 'Fuhrer' is not an arbitrary one, since this title links him to the Teuton Fury or Wolf-Fury which is the basis of the Wod-Force, and Woden is the 'Master of Wod'. The word here, here, heri is usually translated as 'army' but its origins lie in the idea of a war-band, a Cultic-Warrior Band. We find this term in the rod for the 'Single Combatants' or Einheriar.
Here we should look at the idea of the Einheriar since they are the Chosen Warriors of Woden who ride out of Valhalla to fight the Last Battle at Ragnarok. They are thus the Warriors of Valhalla in this sense, but in another sense they could be seen as the Lone Wolves who are the last to stand here in Middle-Earth against the Forces of Darkness. They are the One-Harriers who stand alone and isolated in an alien world but who are ready and willing to stand behind the Heerfuhrer when he arises to lead them into the Last Battle.
The Old English hergian, herigan means 'to make a predatory raid, to destroy, to lay waste, to plunder, to despoil, commit ravages', and the modern English 'to harry' and 'harrow' stem from this too. War was razzia, the theft of cattle and the abduction of women; this seems clear from much later times when the Americas were being settled by pioneers, and cattle-rustling was one of the 'pastimes' of this era. In later times, such a the Viking era, we find much the same thing, but at this time it was mainly gold and not cattle, since gold had replaced cattle as a means of barter. This is shown in the rune-poems where the Old English Poem has 'cattle' for Feoh, and later substitute 'gold'. This was called by the PIE *koryo-no-s and the troop were the *koryos; we shall refer here to the war-band as the heri since this is the Germanic title.
These were Cultic Warrior Brotherhoods and Thunor was chided by Loki as being an einheri which tells us that Thunor is the Archetypal Cultic-Warrior. These Cultic-Warriors upheld the Totenkult (Cult of the Dead) and the Ahnenkult (Cult of the Ancestors). Woden its the Totenfuhrer im Totenheer who leads the Army of the Dead, and the dead are the honoured ancestors - the Immortals - whose life force, that divine spark, is far more potent after death than before they died. It matters little whether they died in battle or of old age, it was their life's work that counted. Believing that one has to die on battle to go to Valhalla could mean that the individual only has to fight one fatal battle to do so; this is like the Christian view that it only needs a death-bed 'conversion' to do the trick. The secret lies in a Heroic Life that ends in death, where the Life-Force lives on, but it lives on in its own Immortal Body which cannot die again.
The whole theme of 'Halloween' or 'All-Hallows Eve' is that of an Ancestral Cult and Cult of the Dead. The skeletal dress, the weapons, the ghostly aspect of the dead, the point of the year when the Veils of the World are thinnest, even the 'Trick and Treat' which is supposed to be a modern addition, but which has its roots in the Cultic-Warrior Cults. Between October 31st (Halloween), November 5th (Fire-Festival) and November 11th (Einheriar Day) we have a long ritual period dedicated to the Totenkult and to the Ahnenkult.
Both the Wild Host or Wild Army and the Wild Hunt are connected to these Cultic Brotherhoods, hunting being a kind of practice for warfare at this time. In blackening their faces and body, and wearing masks, these Cultic-Warriors are Woden's Daemonic Warriors - they are the Dead! This is a concept that arises anew in Lord of the Rings where Aragorn leads an 'Army of the Dead' into the Battle of Pelinor Fields.
Sunday, 20 February 2022
The 'Cultured Thug'
Unfortunately, we can see all around us that the mass of our people are little more than sheep - in fact it would probably be insulting to the sheep to say this. They are little more than 'robots', programmed from outside to do the Will of the Lord of Shadows. But we must not forget that this has happened due to incessant indoctrination which has been going on for decades, and which it is hard to fight off. I doubt if any one of us can say that we have not in some way fallen foul of this, because in this society the 'opposition' is in some cases controlled by The System. There is as much disinformation out there as there is information. There are varying degrees as to how far people have been led down the wrong path, and if we think carefully about it we can recognise that it is our role to counter the System Indoctrination. If we make a good job of it then more people will come to see the light, if we don't then things will not change.
- 1. The Thinker.
- 2. The Cultic-Warrior.
- 3. The Mystic-Warrior.
- 1. The Thinker is more on the intellectual side, using logic and intelligence to be able to work things out, analyse, and to process methods of how to further our own aims.
- 2. The Cultic-Warrior is no mere 'fighter' or 'thug' (*) but has a religious outlook on life and is a Spiritual Warrior, which becomes a great advantage if this is done right. Part of this is the ability to use Intuition and 'Gut Feeling', as well as the ability to control the emotions which can be used positively. This also involves self-discipline and order to an extent - mixed with a bit of Chaos for good luck!
- 3. The Mystic-Warrior goes beyond these two since this brings in the Esoteric Arts, and the use of higher states of consciousness. This entails the study of the Occult Arts - of Magic and Mysticism - and the subtle Energy-Forces that are symbolised by the Ancient Runes.
The Death's Head Symbol is important since it is the Sign of the One-Eyed Death-Hunter - Woden. It is symbolic of the Wild Hunter-God - the Wolf-God and Raven-God. The use of the Wolf-Hook Rune is also important, since this is the Rune of Resistance - Withstandan. This is also connected to the Cultic-Warrior and the War-Band who represent the Cult of the Dead - Totenkult.
Thursday, 9 August 2018
The Barbarian
Carl Jung
We English need to recognise our roots in Germania, as part of the Germanic Folk, and then we can try to educate those from other nations who are also ignorant of our roots. We also need to recognise that the Sword of Hengest passed from the 'Fatherland' (Germany) to the 'Land of the Son' (England) as foretold in the Beowulf Saga. It was with this sword that Hengest and his brother Horsa came here to these islands to stop the spread of the 'Religion of Evil' and in turn took the land by the sword for the Germanic Tribes already here, and for the English Tribes who came over with him and after him.
The only reason that the term 'Celtic' is used is because the Old Order is sorely afraid of the arising again of the 'Germanic Barbarian'. Christianity sought to tame the 'Blond Beast' and yet it burst its chains, and since these time fear has been instilled in the enemies of our Gods and Folk - fear of this 'beast' breaking free once more.
'As the Christian view of the world loses its authority, the more menacingly will the blond beast be heard prowling about in its underground prison, ready at any moment to burst out with devastating consequences.'
Carl Jung (1919).
There seems to be some connection between these ideas and the primitive Serpent-Brain said to be the older part of the human brain. Here we need to reconsider the symbolism of Yggdrasil, where the Serpent lies coiled around the roots of the World Tree. We would thus think of the 'base' of the human spine, where in Indian Lore the Goddess Kundalini lies dormant, waiting to be awoken in order to rise along the spinal column. However....since it seems clear that the Sacred Tree is seen to be upside-down then the Serpent must lie coiled at the top and not the bottom. Its movement is both up-and-down as shown by Ratatosk but when considering this the runes run from top-to-bottom, from Feoh down to Gar. Everything in the Warg Age (Kali Yuga) is upside-down hence the reversal of values.
On the Sutton Hoo Mask the Serpent starts at the back of the neck, moving across the crown of the head, and then linking to the 'Mind's Eye' or 'Third Eye' between the eyebrows. The eyebrows and nosepiece make the symbolism of the Irminsul which is another version of Yggdrasil. It has been said that the Serpent-Brain lies at the base of the neck so here we may have a hidden secret relating to the awakening of this 'Primal Beast'. Certainly, this part of the brain seems to be linked to the 'primitive'.
Perhaps the most famous 'barbarian' is Conan the Barbarian the figure created by Robert E. Howard in 1932. The name 'Conan' is from the Irish relating to the 'dog' or the 'wolf' ('canine'); he is said to be a 'Cimmerian', a tribe who lived in the area of the Black Sea next to the Saka or Scythians. These were an Indo-European tribe who obviously migrated there much earlier from more northerly areas of Europe. Howard based it upon a 'pre-Celtic' people originating in Atlantis. In The Phoenix & The Sword he wrote of the time this happened -
'Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas.'
The 'Sons of Aryas' relates to the Aryans, Abir Taha has used the name 'Arya' for the Aryan Goddess of Light in her book Arya. The name was also used in Tibet in such names as the goddess Arya Tara. It is not so well known, and has been kept so, that Howard was in frequent contact with the science-fiction author H.P. Lovecraft and exchanged ideas between them. Lovecraft's work was done through strange and terrifying dreams that he had, dreams of the 'Great Old Ones' and the 'Elder Gods'.
In some way our own era is not so unlike that of the times when Howard set 'Conan the Barbarian', for we are nearing the end of a cycle that has already brought upon us two devastating world wars, a 'war of terror' that continues for ages, and the world on another brink of disaster, just like Atlantis. From the ashes must arise a new Barbarian Age - an Age of Heroes. This is the 'Fifth Age' known to the Greeks, the age that follows the collapsing Dark Age or Age of Iron.
'Wotan's reawakening is a stepping back into the past; the stream was dammed up and broken into its old channel. But the obstruction will not last forever...and the water will overleap the obstacle.'
'Wotan' - Carl Jung.
Woden is associated with the wind, and this is related to his role as a 'Storm-God' or 'God of the Hurricane' (*). In his 'passive' role as Seer and Wise Old Man his 'breath' moves us in a very calm way; in his 'active' mode as the 'Storm-God' he blows like a 'hurricane', smashing down all of the obstacles, breaking the shackles and freeing the 'Blond Beast'. The calm precedes the storm is a common saying that rings true of yesterday and of tomorrow. The Seer and Wise Old Man give way to the 'God of Fury'. This is ever how it shall be.
'He shows that Wotan is not only a god of rage and frenzy who embodies the instinctual and emotional aspect of the unconscious. Its intuitive and inspiring side also manifests itself in him, for he understands the runes and can interpret fate,'
'Wotan' - Carl Jung.
We are back with the idea of balance and in particular the balance of opposites held within the figure of Woden. When we talk of the 'Barbarian' we are certainly not talking of the 'primitive savage'; this is not how Conan the Barbarian is portrayed. Yes, strong, virile, a warrior-hero, indeed a 'king' in his own right for his strength and warrior-hood gain him a kingdom and kingship in the end, but certainly a man of will and intelligence. He is the product if an advanced age - the Age of Atlantis - but an age that collapsed, as today the era we live in is on the brink of collapse.
Jung tells us that Wotan is a 'psychic factor which acts on the high pressure of civilisation like a cyclone and blows it away...' Woden is not a god of 'civilisation' but an archetype that bursts out in a frenzy of energy and fire, smashing down everything in its path. Even when Christianity arose to 'tame the Blond Beast' Woden did not die, he slept in the Sacred Mountain (Kyffhauser) awaiting the time when his Ravens would call him back to 'life' -
'He is the God of Storm and Rage, the one who unleashes passions and the lust of battle; moreover he is a superlative magician and artist in illusion who is skilled in all Occult Secrets.'
'Wotan' - Carl Jung.
We are seeing these 'passions' here within the people of England today, a passion that is being channeled in the wrong direction, so as (once again) to stave off the inevitable - the coming storm. Woden stirs the passions, working not through the intellect but through the emotions and instincts. Instinctively, the English know they are losing their freedom, and they will instinctively fight back. Our great Enemy knows this and has taken steps to channel it away from exposing those who have really taken away their freedom. Nevertheless, Woden works deep within the Soul of the Folk and can break out at any time.
It is down to groups like ours to invoke this aspect of Woden, as we have been doing for some twenty years or more now (this started before WF was founded and was part of the work of the White Dragon Kindred). We recognised that Woden had a very different aspect than the one most Odinists were aware of; in a way this is due to the role of Odin in the Eddas, a work written down by Christian scribes. The figure of 'Arrow-Od' in one of the sagas comes closest to the 'Wild Man of the Woods' with his coat of bark, and even our own figure of 'Robin Hood' has undergone the subtle mellowing through Hollywood. But, from the various bracteates and images of Woden we find a very different god, a much more primal figure, and even with his 'son' (Wid-Ar) we find a return to the image of the Woodland God. This is the image we developed within WF, the archetype of a primal Barbarian God.
Talking of the 'Serpent-Brain' Woden is not often identified with the Serpent, but in a dream back in 1989 I received the image of a Hooded Serpent (Cobra - which is a symbol of Shiva) and we have the knowledge left from Central America that Votan was of the Race of Chan, a name meaning 'Serpent'. In my own dream Woden was clearly master of this 'Serpent-Force' since he sat before it in complete control.
The 'Global Empire of Darkness' will fall as surely as Rome fell to the hordes of barbarians from the East and the North. But there are today no 'barbarians' out there to crash down on a global scale, so the energy and drive must come from within. The Archetypal Myth is unravelling, and will come about no matter what the obstacles are. We clearly see a pattern unfolding through the Archetypal Myth of the Horse Twins; one twin dies whilst the other lives on and conquers, true of every one of the pairs mentioned above, though not in all cases does one slay the other. We can in fact see that there was a link between Hengest and AEtla the Hun, apart from the legend of the sword 'Battle-Flame' being passed to Hengest. Hengest's son, Octa, has the name of a nephew of AEtla the Hun - Octha - which can be no coincidence. Associated with the Divine Twins is a Magical Sword - Sword of Victory. The legend is found in the Legend of Attila the Hun.
(*) The word 'hurricane' stems from a Central American god name Huracan; the two aspects of the name - 'hura' and 'can' suggest links to some form of Woden ('White God of the Americas') or Votan ('Chan'). Even the name of this clan - 'Chan' - based upon the Serpent, can be related to our Kan-Rune which is itself a 'Serpent-Rune' or 'Dragon-Rune' associated with Fire and Knowledge. The root of 'Kundalini' - kun - can be seen in *kan which is an Indo-European root meaning 'to generate' or 'to kindle', clearly associated with Fire.