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THE HOPE FOR TOMORROW

Raven Folk's push for Tribal Land

Ever since I was a child, I have seen certain truths clearly through modern propaganda. Through countless generations of targeted manipulation, people have slowly been enslaved, one link at a time.
I recall the campfires of youth and the simplicity of family and community; of song and love. This has been and will always be our strength. My reputation precedes me as a man of war. Alas, in such a time as this, our men must be men. But my true heart and my most passionate dream for the future is that of a community of safety, devotion to our Gods, and a community that loves each other.
Outward, we must still have warriors. This is nature and we are wolves, but inward, as we shake free from the shackles of modern times, all egos and illusion can also be lost. Let us once again love one another as we are family. As we set forth to plant our flag in our own soil and declare a capitol for our homeland, let this undertaking resonate with each and everyone of the Raven Folk citizens. This tribal Folk Nation is yours! This campaign is your glory! OUR Kingdom will conquer for the Folk and then we will create a place for future generations to thrive!

The magnitude of what we are trying to accomplish is heavy, and as we begin our push I hope each and everyone of you are excited to help us hoist this banner high!

Hail Raven Folk United!
HAIL OUR MIGHTY GODS!

By Michael Sessumes
Hildingr, RFU

Donate to Hrafnlundr-Raven Grove through RFU’s ᛟ Othala Fund:

https://www.ravenfolkunited.org/support

ᚱ Raven Folk Roundtable ᚱ

In a little over an hour from now, join the faith leaders of the many great kindreds of Raven Folk United live!

We will go over their experiences being faith leaders, theological questions, their thoughts about revival today & their vision for the future!

After the interview, we will be having an open question and answer section for you, the audience, to ask these faith leaders whatever you would like!

Take a seat at the Raven Folk Roundtable, only on Pagan Revivalism channel!

https://t.iss.one/Pagan_Revivalism?livestream

ᚱ Raven Folk Roundtable ᚱ

I want to thank the amazing faith leaders of Raven Folk United, the Pacific Northwest Wolfpack & the Sacred Stew for joining the Pagan Revivalist Show! All of them have amazing insights & information so give them a visit. If you're interested in Raven Folk United, check out their website here, or if you'd like to support their work, go to ravenfolkunited.org/suppot

If you love this show & want more like it, follow us @ t.iss.one/Pagan_Revivalism & listen to our amazing backcatalog for free!

ᚱ Timestamps ᚱ
0:00:00 - Introductions

Chapter 1
0:10:26 - Call to Leadership
0:37:42 - Welcoming Womenfolk
0:46:53 - Building Community

Chapter 2
1:15:43 - Of Fate & Free-will
1:31:09 - Wisdom's Journey
1:45:26 - Baldr Worship
1:50:40 - Sources & Methods

Chapter 3
2:01:12 - Outreach & Healing
2:13:04 - Practical Foundations

Chapter 4
2:36:39 - RFU & PNWWP Union
2:47:42 - On Temples & Groves
2:57:28 - Of Gods & Victory
3:08:45 - RFU Special Announcement

Closing Statements
3:12:18 - Conclusions

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Join us this evening for our monthly All Members Call! This is a chance for all of our folk to gather and share their experiences from the past month’s events, and to get excited for what the next month has in store.

On this call, we’ll be reflecting on the activity of April: from a wedding and a podcast interview with the RFU goðar, to moots, blóts, and a baby boom, it was a productive month! We’ll then look ahead to the coming holidays of Sumarmál, May Day, Mother’s Day, and the Feast of the Einherjar I (Memorial Day). We’ll also honor a renowned Heathen hero, King Guðröðr, and talk a little bit about the runes Nauthiz and Isa.

Catch up with your folk and share your own announcements with us! We all rise when our folk are succeeding!

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Raven Folk DNA program
We are very excited and thankful for our Central Jarl Clay Ainsworth!
His work has allowed our membership to download their DNA and submit it to GEDmatch so that we can find out who among us are related.
We are not just connected by ethnicity—we are also families bound by blood, and we are finding each other in droves.

Contact our Jarl Clay to submit your genetics and participate in this program!

Join Raven Folk United Today!!!!
And find your Folk and Family!!

Join Us | Be a Part of Our Growing Community — Raven Folk United
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Happy Summer’s Eve!

In the traditional outlook of our Heathen ancestors, the year was divided into two seasonal halves, called “Misseri” by the Norse. First came the winter half. This cold, dark, and challenging time required folks to plan ahead and stay near the homestead, lest they be swept up by the Wild Hunt. Then came the summer half. A vibrant time for work, travel, trading, and raiding.

When reckoning by the phases of the moon, the first day of summer (Sumarmál) begins on the third full lunation after Midwinter. May 1st of this year.

Times of transition are powerful moments in our faith. As winter becomes summer, there is a brief liminal threshold that belongs to neither season. This may be a time where spirits and omens make themselves known to us. This is one reason Summer’s Eve was a remarkable occasion for our Heathen ancestors, who would stay up late into the night, feasting and holding ritual bonfires—partly to celebrate surviving another winter, and partly for protection against any final winter wights on their way out.

In various parts of Germany, ritual effigies were made of wood, straw, and fir branches. In later folklore, these appear to have represented Winter or Death itself, and were carried away from town to be burnt or tossed into bogs or rivers in order to free the village of the powers of that spirit. However, the festivities of this night were not viewed kindly by Christians. An Anglo-Saxon missionary woman named Walpurga travelled to Germany in the 8th Century in an attempt to convert the Heathens there. After she died, the church renamed the Heathen holiday after her, calling it Walpurgisnacht, German for “Walpurga’s Night”. Then the ancient bonfires were used to burn new effigies which represented the pagans and witches that the Christians wanted to be rid of. In Bavaria, this holiday is now known as Hexennacht, or “Witches’ Night.”

The Gaelic people observed a similar holiday called Beltane, which took place at the Cétshamhain, or “first of summer,” and also featured a sacrificial effigy often referred to as the “wicker man.” This effigy was ritualistically burned, sometimes with additional offerings placed inside his straw limbs.

The English preserved the memory of this holiday in May Eve. After shifting away from the lunisolar calendar, they began to observe the first day of summer on May 1st, called May Day. This year, May 1st and the full moon are on the same day, which is auspicious. In Devon, a tradition is still practiced where a figure known as the Earl of Rone is captured from the forest, paraded through town as he rides backwards on a donkey, and is repeatedly killed until he is thrown into the sea until next year.

According to folklorist Jacob Grimm, the ancient Germans may have called the first day of summer Pholstag, “Phol’s Day.” Phol was likely another name for Baldr, as mentioned in the Second Merseburg Charm, and also used in some place names in Germany, such as Westphalia. In Old English, he was called Bældæġ, which could be broken down to mean “Bale/Pyre Day.” A similar figure may be found in the god for whom the Gaelic Beltane bonfires are lit, as well, known as Belenos. All these names do have rough etymological connections to words meaning “bright.” In light of these similarities, an interesting theory arises which suggests that the original identity of the effigies on the bonfires may have represented Baldr himself, or his brother Hoðr, both being gods who were brought to the funeral pyre.

There are many names for this holiday, but they all celebrate the changing of seasons and a time for blessings of protection over new growth.

Hail the Gods!
Hail the Folk!
Happy Summer’s Eve!

Shade McCurdy
Lawspeaker, RFU
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Hexennacht: The Night Between Fires

Hexennacht, or “Witches’ Night" as it’s often called today, sits on the edge of April and May, right where spring stops whispering and starts stretching its limbs. Fires are lit, strange things are said to stir, and the veil between the ordinary and the slightly less ordinary feels thinner than usual.

You won’t find “Hexennacht” neatly written in the Poetic Edda or laid out in a tidy stanza of the Prose Edda. Our ancestors didn’t leave us a checklist labeled “Night of Witches: Do This.” What they did leave us is a worldview.

For early Germanic and Norse peoples, this time of year was a threshold:
Winter was truly losing its grip. The land was waking up. Boundaries (seasonal, spiritual, and social) were shifting, and when boundaries shift, people get cautious. Fires were lit for warmth, and to ward, mark, and claim space. Communities gathered for celebration, and because being alone on a liminal night felt like a bad idea.

While the name itself is later (more Central European, German folklore), the themes echo in the broader tradition.
In Hávamál, there’s constant warning about watchfulness, unseen dangers, and the need for awareness.

In the sagas, we see repeated concern with night travel, spirits and ill-will, and the importance of guarded space.
In cosmology, the movement between states (night/day, winter/summer) is always treated as meaningful and never neutral.

So what is Hexennacht, really? Think of it less as a fixed ancient holiday and more as a night where the old instincts kick in. A night to light fires, keep close to your people, acknowledge that the world is changing...again. In simple terms, Hexennacht isn’t about broomsticks and caricatures, it’s about transition, caution, fire, and awareness.

A night when the land shifts, the unseen feels closer, and you remember that the world is bigger than what you see in daylight.

-Desirée Alwine
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Sumarmál and the Sigrblót

As mentioned in my previous article about Summer’s Eve, when reckoning our Heathen holidays by the phases of the moon, the first day of summer (Sumarmál) begins on the third full lunation after the Midwinter moon, or May 1st of this year.

Not much is preserved in the Norse literature about how Sumarmál was observed, but we have a few examples that provide a rough picture of this holy tide:

In Ynglinga Saga, Chapter 8, Óðinn declared to the Swedes that “They must sacrifice at the meeting of winter for a good year, then sacrifice at midwinter for good crops, and the third at summer, which was a Sigrblót [victory-sacrifice].”

“It is their custom to hold a sacrificial feast in the autumn to welcome the winter, another at midwinter, and a third in the summer, to welcome the summer.” (Heimskringla Ch. 109)

“During the pagan period, [Sigurðr Þórisson] was accustomed to hold three sacrificial banquets every year, one at the winter nights, the second at midwinter, the third in the summer.” (Heimskringla Ch. 117)

“The following spring King Granmarr went to Uppsalir for a sacrifice, as was the custom at the meeting of summer, to ensure peace.” (Ynglinga Saga Ch. 38)

Additional mentions of a blót specifically taking place at the start of summer appear in Egil’s Saga and Vatnsdæla Saga. What we see is the repetition of there being three sacrificial feasts, also known as “veizlur,” which might have involved the consuming of the very meat which came from the animal offered in blót. Often the connotation of the blót pertains to success—be it by peace or by conquest. There are many other saga references to the general pattern of venturing out in the summer season for exploration of new territories, conducting commerce, going on raids, or waging war, before ultimately returning home in the autumn.

In The One-Eyed God: Odin and the (Indo-)Germanic Männerbunde, Kris Kershaw says that raids “took place during those times when the herds were out away from the village; at these times the youth would both guard the perimeters and make forays into neighboring territories.”

Here we may find a connection to the concept of the *koryos, or the adolescent warband. As a young man came into his own summer, he and his peers would have undergone ecstatic initiations which made them fend for themselves as dogs in the wilderness—akin to outlawed vargr, “wolves.” They owned no land, tended neither cows nor horses, wore no armor, had no wives, and no allies. They were a liability until they proved themselves worthy of belonging to the village (or settling their own).

What god would be more fitting to invoke for success in this rite of passage than Óðinn? He is the Herjaföðr, the Father of Hosts. The animalistic ulfheðnar and berserkir warriors were especially devoted to him. By his blessings in combat and intellect, may the young thane make a name for himself.

“I know an eleventh spell;
if I lead old friends
into a battle,
I enchant their shields
so that they will have the victory;
they will go to battle unharmed,
and return from battle unharmed.
They will come home without harm.”
- Hávamál 156

Whatever your endeavors you embark on this summer, may the gods deliver you to success!

Happy Sumarmál!
Hail Siggautr!
Hail Óðinn!

Shade McCurdy
Lawspeaker, RFU

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May Day belongs to us.
Long before it had a modern name, our Germanic ancestors marked this turning. Hexennacht, the night before, was a time of fire, of gathering, of standing at the edge of the warm season and claiming it. Bonfires burned across the hills. People leapt the flames. They drove their livestock through the smoke for blessing and protection. They knew this moment carried real power and they met it with real intention.
The Vanir are close in this season. Freyr and Freyja, their presence runs through every blooming thing right now. The land is awake. The bright half of the year is here.
Step outside today. Put your feet on the ground. Light a candle or a fire if you can. Speak your gratitude out loud for what carried you through the dark months, and set your intention clearly for what you are growing now.
Wishing all of Raven Folk United a blessed May Day. May your work take root, may your fires burn bright, and may you walk forward in frith, in strength, and in truth.

Harvala Heathor Clinkenbeard
Raven Folk United

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Góablót

Orkneyinga Saga relates a story about a Finnish king named Þorri, whose lineage is traced back to jotnar such as Aegir and Fornjot. The tale says that Þorri held a blót each year at midwinter, and was so dedicated to upholding this tradition, that the blót itself came to be named after him: Þorrablót.

There’s been some speculation about whether this Þorri may actually be a euhemerized version of Þórr, who could have been the recipient of a Þórsblót at midwinter (I wrote about this earlier this year). It does seem a little curious to blót to a jotun, though it’s not out of the question to try placating a winter spirit.

As the story goes, Þorri is said to have two sons, Gór and Nór, and a daughter, Góa, who goes missing. Þorri then holds a blót in hopes that she will return to him, which comes to be called the Góablót. Þorri’s sons set out in search of their sister and eventually find that she had been abducted by King Hrolf of Bjarg. Hrolf bested Nór in a battle and agreed to give his sister as a wife to Nór if he could keep Góa for himself.

If Þorri is a folkloric echo of the god Þórr, who might these other figures in the story be? Þórr is known to have two sons, Magni and Móði, as well as a daughter named Þrúðr. The eddic poem Alvissmál recounts the attempt of a dwarf named Alviss to woo Þórr’s daughter. He comes to Þórr’s hall, where they have a riddle contest until the sun rises and turns Alviss to stone.

There is no surviving myth of Þrúðr being abducted, but in the skáldic poem Ragnarsdrápa, the jotun Hrungnir is referred to as “Þrúðar þjófr,” or “the thief of Þrúðr.”

The skáldic poem Haustlöng and Snorri’s Skáldskaparmál tell about Þórr’s battle with Hrungnir. Snorri says the battle began when Óðinn got into a horse race with Hrungnir, who made it into Ásgarðr and became belligerent. Haustlöng is an ekphrasis poem composed by Þjóðólfr of Hvinir about the mythic images depicted on a shield that was gifted to him. The reason for the duel between Hrungnir and Þórr was not the purpose of the poem, rather the artful description of the battle itself. Some scholars have speculated that in another version of the myth, Þórr may have ridden into battle with Hrungnir to rescue his daughter.

In Snorri’s telling, he says that only Þórr’s son Magni was strong enough to lift Hrungnir’s corpse off of Þórr. Perhaps where Nór failed to win back his sister from Hrolf, Magni succeeded as a worthy ally to his father and family.

So there is some potential narrative convergence here, based on these fragments (of course speculative, as I said), but I would be interested to know other ideas about the identity of Góa and her connection to the end of winter. Some think she might even be the elusive Norse goddess of the dawn and springtime called Ēostre by the Anglo-Saxons.

In any case, it’s good to be grateful for the summer season.

Happy Góablót!
Hail Góa!

Shade McCurdy
Lawspeaker, RFU

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THE WAY WE LIVE AND DIE

Rest well, kinsman CLINT DURNAY!

"Those inside the house rarely know anything about the stranger who knocks at their door, but there is no man so good that he has no flaw, nor a man so bad he's good for nothing." (Havamal - 133)

In this life and all its trials it seems that the visceral and permanent nature of death in regards to the people we love can be one of the most painful and lasting trials a mortal can bear.
In this, our death is as inseparable from life as the very air we currently breathe, and this life on Midgarð is always only temporary.

This week Raven Folk lost a kinsman, a father, and a husband. I knew this individual very well, and after a great number of days of reflection, I chose to write about his life and deeds, not his death.
As his soul travels through the Helthing and the Gods gauge his deeds, let his Fylgia speak true, as I know his heart well.

Clint was in some ways seemingly very average, but I assure you in others he was above most. He personally stood beside me in situations some men would flee from. I've personally watched him be eager for the fray, and quick to defend his kinsman in combat.
I've seen him always be a friend to his friends, even loyal to the point of his own downfall at times. Steadfast and true, loyal and kind, I will miss my friend.
I've watched lesser men gain more fame over the years, so in this time of your passing, I hope the Gods hear me.
This kinsman believed in our Gods and was certainly a man for his folk. In his judgment let the countless selfless acts be counted in his favor, as this world is hard yet his heart was always true.

If I could try and sum up a phrase that will always remind me of Clint, it would be this.

"Be a friend to your friend, but never be a friend to the enemy of your friend." ( Havamal - 43)

Loyalty without exception, courage beyond reproach, and a friend to his friends like no other.
Clint is survived by his son, daughter, and wife. In this kinsman, I hail
CLINT DURNAY!
Rest well, and I hope one day to greet you again in the halls of our ancestors!

By Michael Sessumes
Hildingr, RFU
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