The Way of the Einherjar

Hung I was on the windswept tree;

Nine full nights I hung,

Pierced by a spear, a pledge to the god,

To Odin, myself to myself,

On that tree, which none can know the source

From whence its root has run.

None gave me bread, none brought a horn.

Then low to earth I looked.

I caught up the runes, roaring I took them,

And fainting, back I fell.

Nine mighty lays I learned from the son

Of Bolthorn, Bestla’s father,

And a draught I had of the holy mead

Poured out of Ordrerir.

Then fruitful I grew, and greatly to thrive,

In wisdom began to wax.

A single word to a second word led,

A single poem a second found.

–Odin's Song
Hávamál, stanzas 138 – 141

(emphasis added)

'One of my first mentors—a Jesuit priest, Martinist initiate, and Christian mystic in his own right, Frater I:.N:. I shall call him—insisted that I study, of all things, my own ancestral “old testament”. Fra. I:.N:. often stressed that, while adopted by the Christian church to act as the “catholic,” or “universal,” folk religion for all its initiates, the Old Testament of the Bible is actually specific to the tribes of Israel, as it is a record of their ancient religion and how they interpreted the divine within their particular culture.[i]

Being of South American descent himself, Fra. I:.N:., in conjunction with and compliment of his own studies in the Christian Mysteries, had made it a point to also study the ancient religions of the Incan, Aztec, and Mayan tribes.[ii] It was Fra. I:.N:.’s connection with, appreciation for, and perspective from his ancestral religion which he considered the most significant contributing factors in his own spiritual pilgrimage and religious experience.

As the “Northern-gnostic” among his protégés, Fra. I:.N:. naturally directed my studies toward the Pre-Christian folk religion of the indigenous Europeans (the Celtic, Scandinavian, and Germanic tribes)[iii] and that of their even earlier ancestors, the Proto-Indo-European Aryans.[iv]

Fra. I:.N:. strongly believed (and passed that belief onto me), that our deepest, most innermost and meaningful spiritual experiences, as well as the keys to unlocking their mysteries, are inherently linked to our knowledge of ourselves, our ancestors, and our cultural heritage.[v] This eternal principle, he would point out, is embedded within Wagner’s Parsifal, allegorized within the Hermetic text Pistis Sophia or the Christian parable of the Prodigal Son, shadowed within and echoed throughout the lectures of a masonic lodge, and even portrayed and cinematized as part of Neo’s introduction to the Oracle or Luke Skywalker’s training under Yoda.[vi] 
In addition to Fra. I:.N:.’s parallel instruction on modern metagenetics and DNA gnosticism,[vii] to “know thyself” has been a vital element in the spiritual training of aspiring priests and clerics since antiquity. The ancients were astutely aware of the significance which past events, and one’s responses and actions to them, had in providing insight into the aspirant’s ministerial forte. These ancients recognized and taught that one’s experiences of “self-healing” both provided and indicated the arena in which one would discover and develop their specific niche in the service and healing of others.[viii]
Adamantly emphasized in modern Ministry programs as well, within just weeks after beginning my graduate studies I had been assigned the Spiritual Transformation Inventory (STI), the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the Strong Interest Inventory (SII), the Spiritual Gifts Inventory, and the DVC Learning Styles Inventory. Expressed within such formal academic settings however, the admonishment to know one’s self does not typically stem from an attitude eager to foster celebration in one’s spiritual victories. Contemporary factors for the administering of these inventories include: 1) the necessity for clergy to have a realistic view of their strengths and limitations so that they might accurately focus their efforts to the betterment of their ministerial community; and 2) to prevent the unconscious influence of the clergy’s own experiences, preconceptions, stereotypes and prejudices to be projected upon individual community members.[ix]
Donald Tyson, author of New Millennium Magic: A Complete System of Self-Realization, summarizes his thought on self-knowledge for every individual, clergy or laity, when he writes:

Only through self-knowledge—needs, desires, limitations, and abilities—and by being receptive to the guidance of the light can the magus hope with reasonable confidence to tread the single true way of his or her life. This is the esoteric Tao of Chinese philosophy, always unique yet always perfectly suited to each individual.[x]

The path of Asatru is a path to the Source which traverses the most Northern route, cleared and marked specifically for the European psyche. It is a path traveled by our Initiator Odin Himself and then revealed to us by Him as a journey distinguished by one’s self-discovery and self-awareness of, self-celebration in, and eventual self-sacrifice to one’s Self.
Those who travel the path of Asatru as Einherjar—or, as Edred Thorsson might refer to them as, modern day “operative runologist”—

…must first and foremost be dedicated to the development of the self—of the very capacity or ability to do magic. This development consists of three components, the internalization of three things: staves, myths, and culture. The meanings and very living essence of each of the rune staves must be absorbed into one’s very being. The myths must likewise be synthesized into one’s being. Finally, the general underlying cultural principles which eternally give shape to our mysteries must be understood and absorbed. This is a process which requires time and considerable effort. But without it operative runology is difficult to effect.[xi]

These “living deads” of Odin, the Einherjar, protect this ancient Norse tradition. Each day they rise and hone their battle skills in “the uncreated place where the battle surges.” These warriors are commissioned for eternity to protect Bifrost, that “royal road” to Asgard and they are ever attentive to the sound of the Gjallarhorn, that call from the Guardian Heimdall, which signals a threat to their tradition’s safety.
At the end of each day, before they are welcomed to feast peacefully among the gods, their character is judged, not by any man, but by the Goddess Freya and Warlord Odin Themselves. The development of noble virtues, the conquest of vices, and the mastery over base passions has always been that ancient path to divinity. It is along this path that the Einherjar find the opportunity to uphold their warrior’s oath while pursuing a wizard’s wealth.

Ultimately, as depicted within our myths, these “commanders-of-one” and “peer-less” warriors

are destined to become the Philosopher-Kings of themselves, ever striving to emulate both the Patriarch of their order Heimdall and their Vitki, All-Father Odin.'

Excerpts from:

EINHERJAR-GNOSTIC WARRIORS OF THE NORTH

WAY OF THE EINHERJAR, VOL. 1.

By Roland Jos. L’Heureux

Published February 27, 2017
Available at https://www.createspace.com/5928930

“Spiritual Healing through Educational Empowerment and Cultural Awareness” 

___________________________

[i] For further study in this area see John Barton, The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998). Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for all its Worth (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003).

[ii] Patheos Online Religious Library: South America. http://www.patheos.com/Library/South-American

[iii] Donald A. Mackenzie, Teutonic Myth and Legend: An Introduction to the Eddas & Sagas, Beowolf, The Nibelungenlied, etc. (London: Gresham Publications, 1912); Hans F. K. Gunther, The Religious Attitude of the Indo-Europeans, Vivian Bird, trans. (London: Clair Press, 1963); H. R. Ellis Davidson, Gods & Myths of Northern Europe (London: Penguin books Ltd, 1990); Ranko Matasouie, A Reader in Comparative Indo-European Religion (Zageb: University of Zageb, 2010); Stephen A. McNallen, Asatru: a Native European Spirituality (Nevada City: Runestone Press, 2015), 191; Viktor Rydberg, Teutonic Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of the Northland (New York: Norrœna Society, 1907).

[iv] Albert Pike, Indo-Aryan Deities and Worship—As Contained in the Rig Veda (Louisville: Standard Printing Co., 1930); Charles Morris, Aryan Sun-Myths: The Origin of Religions (New York: Nims and Knight, 1889); David Frawley, Wisdom of the Ancient Seers: Mantras of the Rig Veda (Salt Lake City: Passage Press, 1992); Stefan Arvidsson, Aryan Idols: Indo-European Mythology as Ideology and Science, trans. Sonia Wichmann (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006).

[v] Dan Rayner, Asatru Mindset & Reinvigorating the European Spirit. Red Ice TV, published July 21, 2014. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3KEbgdCBBA&t=2217s; Edred Thorsson, ALU: An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology (San Francisco: Weiser, 2012) 145-161; Moe Bedard, The Order of the Gnostics: Ancient Teachings for the Modern Gnostic (Moeseo, Inc., 2015); Stephen E. Flowers, Restoring the Indo-European Religion. Red Ice TV, published March 16, 2016. Retrieved from https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=VomiUEsqvAg; Stephen A. McNallen, Ancestral Roots & Metagenetics. Red Ice TV, published July 12, 2014. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= B546mQQZ-sE&t=270s; Asatru: A Native European Spirituality (Nevada City: Runestone Press, 2015), 76-83.

[vi] Pistis Sophia, retrieved from http://www.gnosis.org/ library/pistis-sophia/index.htm, Biblical text from the Gospel of Luke, 15: 11-32; Max Heindel, Parsifal: Wagner’s Famous Mystic Music Drama, “Rosicrucian Christianity”, Series no. 12 (Oceanside: The Rosicrucian Fellowship, 1909) 8, 13; Richard Carlile, Manuel of Freemasonry (Leeds: Celephais Press, 2005); Star Wars, written and directed by George Lucas (1977, Lucasfilm Ltd., 20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2011), Blu-ray Disc; The Matrix, written and directed by The Wachawski Brothers (1999, Warner Bros., Warner Home Entertainment, 2009), Blu-ray Disc.

[vii] Dan Rayner, Asatru Mindset & Reinvigorating the European Spirit. Red Ice TV, published July 21, 2014. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3KEbgdCBBA&t=2217s; Edred Thorsson, ALU: An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology (San Francisco: Weiser, 2012) 145-161; Moe Bedard, The Order of the Gnostics: Ancient Teachings for the Modern Gnostic (Moeseo, Inc., 2015); Stephen E. Flowers, Restoring the Indo-European Religion. Red Ice TV, published March 16, 2016. Retrieved from https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=VomiUEsqvAg; Stephen A. McNallen, Ancestral Roots & Metagenetics. Red Ice TV, published July 12, 2014. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= B546mQQZ-sE&t=270s; Asatru: A Native European Spirituality (Nevada City: Runestone Press, 2015), 76-83.

[viii] Shelly West, Kabbalistic Psychology, Gnostic Warrior, published February 1, 2017. Retrieved from gnosticwarrior.com/shelly-west-2.html.

[ix] American Association of Pastoral Counselors (2012). Code of Ethics Retrieved from http://aapc.org/Default.aspx?ssid=74&NavPTypeId=1161; American Counseling Association (2005). Code of ethics and standards of practice. Retrieved from http://www.counseling.org/Resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf; American Psychological Association. (2010). American psychological association: Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/principles.pdf

[x] St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications, 1996, 309.

[xi] ALU: An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology (San Francisco, CA: Weiser Books, 2012), 166.