Else Christensen (1913–2005), affectionately referred to as the Folk Mother, was a pioneering figure in the emergence of Asatru and Odinism in the Post WWII Era. Else Ochsner was born in Esbjerg Denmark in 1913, and met her husband Alex in 1937. She and her husband became syndicalist activists before the war and thus where under heavy scrutiny by the nazi occupation troops. An informant tipped off the German Police that Else and her husband possessed numerous firearms and they were arrested and detained under suspicion of being involved in the partisan underground. They were released, but toward the end of the war Alex spent six months in a camp outside of Elsinore for his syndicalist involvement. 1913 (MCMXIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... satr , also known as Odinism, describes a number of attempts to reconstruct the indigenous religions of Northern Europe. ... Ásatrú describes a number of attempts to reconstruct the indigenous religions of Northern Europe. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Syndicalism refers to a set of ideas, movements and tendencies which share the avowed aim of transforming capitalist society through action by the working class on the industrial front. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... Look up partisan on Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The UR logo Underground Resistance (commonly abbreviated to UR) are a musical collective from Detroit, Michigan, in the United States of America. ... A concentration camp is a large detention center created for political opponents, aliens, specific ethnic or religious groups, civilians of a critical war-zone, or other groups of people, often during a war. ... Elsinore, also known by its Danish name Helsingør, is a city in Helsingør municipality on the northeast coast of the island of Zealand (Sjælland) in eastern Denmark. ...

After the war, the Christensen's emigrated to Canada. In the early 1960's they heard of a Proto-Odinist named Alexander Rud Mills who had an Odinist Church in Australia and had written a small book called The Call of Our Ancient Nordic Religion. In 1969, Else and her husband founded a group called The Odinist Study Group which later evolved into The Odinist Fellowship. Alex died in 1971, and Else continued her work in Odinism, relocating to the United States. Else published a newsletter called The Odinist for many years. 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Alexander Rud Mills (1885-1964) was an early and prominent Odinist in Australia, and one of the earliest proponments of the rebirth of Odinism in the 20th Century whose role in the emergence of Germanic Neopaganism in that country before and during World War II resulted in his arrest and... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ...

Her work

Christensen was one of the earliest advocates of revitalizing Germanic Paganism in the modern age. Her writings greatly influenced many of her contemporaries in groups like the Asatru Folk Assembly, the Asatru Alliance and the Odinic Rite. Christensen is probably most well known for her successful lobbying to get Odinism and Asatru recognized by the prison system in the United States, as well as her networking and letter writing campaigns. For several years Else's xeroxed and stapled Odinist newsletter were the only thing linking the scattered Odinist community across North America. Else was very well regarded for helping many ex-convict Asatruar and Odinists reintegrate as functional members of society, as well as corresponding with hundreds of inmates who adhered to Asatru. Christensen herself, later spent 36 months in a Federal Prison over a narcotics related conviction, allegedly because she had been manipulated into being a drug mule without her knowledge. Christensen was a Canadian citizen, and after serving her prison sentence, she was without transportation, homeless and totally destitute. The Asatru community held a fund raiser to help her get re-established in British Columbia. She resumed her involvement with The Odinist Fellowship and continued publishing The Odinist as the Midgard Page newsletter. At the age of 91 she retired from running her organization and much of the group merged with the Odinic Rite. She died a few days later, on May 5th. Germanic paganism refers to the religion and mythology of the Germanic nations preceding Christianization, including Norse and Anglo-Saxon mythologies, and remnants of pre-Christian beliefs in the folklore of medieval and modern Germanic peoples. ... The Odinic Rite (OR) is a Germanic pagan reconstructivist society whose aims are to promote all aspects of Germanic paganism, termed Odinism after the chief god of Norse mythology, Odin. ... Drug mule - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Official languages English Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 36 6 Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 5th 944,735 km² 2. ... The Odinic Rite (OR) is a Germanic pagan reconstructivist society whose aims are to promote all aspects of Germanic paganism, termed Odinism after the chief god of Norse mythology, Odin. ...

Criticisms

Critics have claimed that Christensen advocated National Socialism, however, it can be clearly seen from her own writings that she actually advocated the anarcho-syndicalism of her youth. She idealized a decentralized folkish communalism with a heavy emphasis on race, ecological awareness, and advocated a pagan back to the land movement.^[1] The neutrality of this article is disputed. ...

Christensen's Odinist Fellowship along with other racially oriented groups which were active in the early days of Germanic Neopaganism contributed to the rise of what has been called "Aryan revolutionary paganism" in the United States and the subsequent infusion of the racist right with pagan religion.^[2] Reconstructions of the traditions of Germanic paganism began with 19th century Romanticism. ... Paganism (from Latin paganus) and Heathenry are catch-all terms which have come to connote a broad set of spiritual/religious beliefs and practices of a natural religion, as opposed to the Abrahamic religions. ...

This is distinctly different from the Folkish beliefs of most Germanic Neo-Pagans who distinctly eschew affiliations with Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists, although sometimes the lines are blurred by terminology and semantics.^[3] ... Reconstructions of the traditions of Germanic paganism began with 19th century Romanticism. ... The terms Neo-Nazism and Neo-Fascism refer to any social or political movement to revive Nazism or Fascism, respectively, and postdates the Second World War. ... White supremacy is a racist ideology which holds that the white race is superior to other races. ...

In a 1986 exchange with Ben Klassen, who was researching materials for his book A Revolution of Values Through Religion, Christensen wrote: 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ben (Bernhardt) Klassen (1918 — 1993) was the main founder of the religion of Creativity. ...

It is our destiny to be born in a historic period where the present cultural period is dying; it will still take maybe a couple of more centuries before the final collapse. The new has not been born yet, but I hope and believe that we are today doing the groundwork for the foundation upon which the new basis for the religious/philosophical moral concepts will be built. They will have to be racial, discriminatory, self-assertive, proud.

Klassen, then dismissed Christensen and Odinism as incompatible and counter-productive to the white supremacist cause and his anti-christian agenda, and stated:

A religion that failed to withstand the Jewish-Christian onslaught a thousand years ago cannot reasonably be expected to roll it back now, under conditions a thousand times more adverse.^[4]

After her time in prison, Christensen was adamant about not infusing politics or race with Odinism. The policies of the newly revived Odinist Fellowship and the tone of her writings were distinctly apolitical and non-racially oriented.^[5]

Notes

1. ^ Gardell, p.173
2. ^ Gardell, ch.4
3. ^ Gardell, p.273
4. ^ Klassen, Book 1, Part XII
5. ^ Gardell, p.177

See also

• Odinism
• Ásatrú

Ásatrú describes a number of attempts to reconstruct the indigenous religions of Northern Europe. ... Ásatrú (Icelandic Æsir faith) is a new religious movement which is attempting to revive the pre-Christian (Viking Age) Nordic religion as described in the Eddas. ...

References

• Gardell, Matthias, Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism, Duke University Press (2003), ISBN 0822330717
• Klassen, Ben, A Revolution of Values Through Religion (1991) ISBN 0963609483 Book 1, Chap Part XII
• An Interview With Else Christensen by Thor Sannet, Vor Tru issue #49, 1993, reprinted in issue #71, 2005

External links

• Odinic Rite annouce Else' official retirement
• Odinic Rite Memorial
• Hail the Folkmother! by Osred
• Odinist Library Memorial Page