The Philosophy of Aesism and Vanism

This is a Skergard Philosophy created in the early 1990’s. The terms “Aesic” and “Vanic”  have managed to work there way into the mainstream “Asatru Movement”, however, I feel that many people do not truly understand the philosophy; the simple reason why is because I have not revealed the philosophy with them in the past.

The following is an introduction to the philosophy of Aesism and Vanism, the example being the summarized evolution of man that leads to the war between the Æsir and Vanir.

Before Mankind was given true consciousness, the Vanir reigned supreme; Earth was in the hands of the Vanir, and nature was taking its course. It was then that Odhinn, Hoenir, and Loki came to the Earth. They were approached by two curious creatures from the trees, who we now know as Ask and Embla, on all fours. See my translation of Voluspa.

Odhinn called to them, and the Æsir became intrigued by these creatures, within them they saw vast potential. Odhinn gave these creatures individual consciusness, Hoenir gave them sense, and Loki gave them the spark of intelligence (only later to give them fire). See my work entitled The Soul.

They then became as individuals, whereas before they were as a collective in all ways. Mankind then became intrinsically Aesic, and began to evolve faster than the other animals of the Earth. They began to abuse nature by hunting and killing the other creatures. They roamed the land in “packs,” overcoming nature wherever they could, then moving on.

Before the Æsir came to the Earth, all life was intrinsically Vanic. Mankind lived in harmony with nautre, and the other animals. All things were provided by nature, and a collective, individual consciousness was unknown to them.

The Vanir did not understand the Aesic actions of Mankind. They watched as Mankind destroyed the Earth, killing the other animals for their own ends. The Vanir are passive, until they are pushed toward aggression; and they will be aggressive if the end result is peace.

The Vanir knew what must be done, so they confronted their Aesic aggressors. The Vanir sent Gullveig to the Æsir as an “ambassador” to express their displeasure with Mankinds’ actions and new ways; and to better understand the givers of Mankinds gifts.

The Æsir did not understand the actions of the Vanir, and feeling threatened, they killed Gullveig. Gullveig, however, was a Vanic Nature-Goddess and was thus reborn like a tree is in the springtime. The Æsir then killed her again, and she was thus reborn. The Æsir killed her a third time, however, this time Loki removed her heart. This action killed Gullveig, her seed being destroyed.

When the Vanir heard of the death of Gullveig, having no other options, they attacked the Æsir.

The war between the Æsir and the Vanir lasted for quite some time. The Æsir took refuge within the walls of Asgard, and the Vanir took refuge within the trees. The Æsir killed many Vanir, though they were simply born again to fight anew; as the Æsir destroyed the trees that harboured and protected the Vanir, they sprouted and were reborn as well. The Æsir were no match for the Vanir, and could not continue fighting a war that they couldn’t win, no matter how advanced their tacticts, for the Vanir would always overcome them. The Vanir were finally able to destroy the walls and conquer the Æsir.

The above example is full of Aesic and Vanic ideologies, and characteristics. Aesism tends to be more aggressive with an underlying passivity. Vanism tends to be more passive with an underlying aggression.

Aesism first confronts Vanism by Æsirising it, bringing Mankind individual consciousness; this may be viewed as aggressive. It is then that Mankind becomes intrinsically Aesic (Aesic is the emulation of Aesism).

The sending of Gullveig is typical of Vanism, being that Vanism is peaceful. For the betterment of the collective, one of the Vanir is put at risk. For the betterment of everyone an attempt to regain peace was attempted; and also an attempt to learn how to work with an unknown element (the Æsir).

The responce was Aesic, what was not understood was destroyed (Gullveig); the betterment of everyone was overlooked for the sake of individualism. This pushed the Vanir to make a confrontation. The Æsir took refuge within their Aesism (walls, or more specifically, a fortress to hide and protect them from nature) and the Vanir took refuge within their Vanism (nature, trees). The Æsir could not win the war because nature always outweighs its opposition; after all, nature (Vanism) is reborn after death, consciousness (Aesism) is extinguished forever, thus allowing the Vanir to win the war.

The Vanir then typify Vanism by stepping down as the victors, allowing the Æsir to lead them. This action allows the Æsir to claim victory by default, however, not without the Vanir’s presence in Asgard to keep the peaceful balance between Aesism and Vanism. Should this balance become unbalanced the results could be terrible; each of the two sides extremes are highly unacceptable, for one stagnates within itself without the other’s influence.

It is this reason that Skergard teaches “Balance”. Balance is even one of our Nine Affirmations, and one that we hold dear. Balance between the Aesic and Vanic is crucial to healthy spirituality, when one focuses on one side they begin to stagnate in it, they may begin on the right track, but eventually their road leads them to disolution and venom.

Some people tell me that they are “Vanic” or that they are not Aesic at all. We are all intrisically Aesic from birth and it takes a lot of effort to break off from the “mainstream” of Aesic thought.

Glossary

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