Hailsa!
Welcome to HrafnSkjoldr Kindred's web presence. We're as surprised as you to be here.
HrafnSkojldr means "Raven Shield" and we chose the name in honor of the AllFather,Odin, who seems bent on getting our attention.
We are a Kindred formed two short years ago by a group of people who already felt like a kin group. Of course, not everyone we feel is in our kingroup is in our kindred, or we'd be huge. But the six of us felt the need for a Kindred and so we formed one. While most of us are Asatru, a couple of us are Heathen.
What's the difference, you ask? Well, the short version is, Asatru is a Reconstructionist religion in which adherents worship only the Norse Gods. Heathens are Pagans who worship Norse Gods, but often at the same time worship Gods of other cultural backgrounds. Or they are Pagans who worship Norse Gods exclusively, but are not Reconstructionist.
How strange are we? Most of our members are firmly Asatru, but two of our members are also Wiccan. Does this mean we're that "Wicca-Tru" stuff? Not at all! ALL of the Kindred's rituals and ceremonies are firmly Asatru. The Kindred never hails Gods that are not of the Norse culture. If we host an open blot or sumbel, the guests are told no other Gods may be called upon. We try to be nice about it, but there are no exceptions. We are like every other Asatru Kindred in all regards except we have members who are Heathen, not Asatru.
We're a public-oriented Kindred. We play well and often with other types of Pagans. We attend local moots, take an active part in the local First Pantheistic Center and the Pagan Pride Day, can be found at some SCA events, and some ADF rituals, and host Lore Nights and sometimes Seidhr and Sumbel rituals that are open to everyone in our local Pagan community. While we are basically Reconstructionist, we aren't very folkish. We're traditional, but more universalist. You won't hear us say "Oh, sure, lets mix pantheons", but we won't smirk at how you do it. We may back up, or even grab our weapons just in case, but we won't smirk or tell you how wrong you are. To be honest, we think you'll figure that out on your own.
For those who might be offended by this, well, we're sorry you're offended, but it isn't going to change. As I was once told, Asatru has two basic rules: "You ain't the boss of me" and "You're doing it all wrong." When you want to tell us the second, be warned, you'll get the first in response. We're willing to be friendly and keep frith, but we aren't going to told what to do by anyone but the Gods, and none of us hear them complaining.
More coming once I actually write it out.