Well, a project is nearing completion - in the sense that the beginning is almost complete. There's still much work to do.

I mailed the following letter this evening to all of the Asatrurar I know of (and have email addresses for) in Indiana. It tells the story of the Indiana Asatru Council ....

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Hailsa Hoosier Heathens:

Please forgive the unsolicited email, but having met or corresponded with all of you in the recent past, I am reasonably certain that you'll be interested in the news I bear.

I would like to announce the re-formation of the Indiana Asatru Council, Inc. To my fellow Hoosier Heathens I feel that some explanation is in order as to how this came about, and why.

I was one of the co-founders of the Indiana Asatru Council in 1994, representing the Kindred of Ravenswood. The Council was incorporated in 1995. Almost from the beginning the organization was plagued by politics and infighting. By the end of 1996 all of the original founding kindred’s had either dropped their association with the Council or ceased to operate at all. In 1998 the Indiana Asatru Council formally changed it’s legal name to The Church of the Elder Faith, Inc., apparently reconstituting itself as a local Asatru church. Despite this change in name as well as in character, the organization continued to use “Indiana Asatru Council, Inc.” on websites and in mailings to the folk. The Church of the Elder Faith, Inc. was administratively dissolved in 2000 for non-payment of fees and failure to file the requisite reports.

On April 7, 2003 I registered the name ‘Indiana Asatru Council, Inc.’ with the Secretary of State in Indianapolis, and filed Articles of Incorporation for it, with myself as sole incorporator and registered agent in Indiana. Hence I have legal title to the name.

I notified the owner of the websites and mailing lists of my newly acquired title, and suggested they remove infringing references to the “Indiana Asatru Council, Inc.” from their content. I was ignored. On 30 April 2003, on the advice of my attorney, I filed notices with the Internet service providers for the infringing sites under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, requesting that they enforce my rights the to corporate name for which I was the registered agent. As of today, they have complied. The old sites containing references to our corporate name are no longer available.

There is a new website representing the Indiana Asatru Council, Inc.

The Indiana Asatru Council, Inc. will once more host a yearly Indiana Moot. We will not be involved in any networking efforts with other non-Christian groups. Our sole function is to facilitate communication and interaction between Heathens in Indiana. The Wiccans, Christians, Muslims, etc., can have their own councils, as well as internetworks. The Indiana Asatru Council, Inc. is an organization for Asatrurar in Indiana only.

So who is an Asatrurar in Indiana?

If you follow the religion of Asatru exclusively, you’re an Asatrurar. Asatrurar who are living or working in Indiana (or are oathed to a kindred located here) are Indiana Asatrurar. It's that simple.

Indiana has always been a hotbed of heathenry. There are folks in this state who have served on the boards and in other capacities with many national Asatru organization. We have, in Ravenswood and Hofbrau, two of the larger and more nationally respected kindreds in their respective communities.

We have other kindred’s as well – Gyrfalcon and Wolf Run come to mind. We have many solitaries scattered across the state, unaffiliated with any kindred. In fact, as an intelligent guesstimate, I believe that we are the second or third state in sheer numbers of Asatrurar (as well as first in quality) in the US.

The Indiana Asatru Council, Inc. is first and foremost a method of communicating between ourselves to realize our strength. This involves an annual moot and an informal Internet mailing list and website. If this letter was addressed to you, you’re on the list.

What’s the list going to consist of? Once a month missives like this one. Ideas submitted back to me by readers. Announcements from readers about activities and events in Indiana involving Asatru.

And the website? Links to Indiana kindred’s, solitaries and contacts. Articles and papers from Indiana Asatru craftsmen. Businesses run by Heathens in Indiana. Networking for Hoosier Heathens.

This mailing is going out to the folks I know of Indiana. If you know somebody else here that would be interested in this news, feel free to forward it to them. If they'd like to receive furture mailings have them drop me a line to the address below.

If you’re not interested in the new Indiana Asatru Council and don’t want to get any more mail from it, just drop a note to: allsherjagodi@indianaasatrucouncil.org

and say as much. Ditto if you’ve an article to share, a link to a kindred homepage, an announcement – you get the idea.

I'd also appreciate any input you care to share on the structure of the organization itself. I'm not sure I want to restart the "kindred membership" model or move to an individual membership model or even no membership at all. Help me decide!

Together we can claim our rightful place as the Most Heathen State in the Union!

May the Shining Gods and Goddesses of Our Folk Guide Your Paths and Ward Your Steads,

Daithi M Haxton
Allsherjagodi
Indiana Asatru Council, Inc.
Thorntown, Indiana

8:37:15 PM     comment []