@ Night. Yeah the Asatruar are those that practice some form of Asatru. I say "some form" because like you said paganism (which Asatru is grouped under) is complex and varied and just the practice of Asatru is varied enough to boggle the mind. At the core it is the belief in the Old Norse Pantheon, Cosmology, and Mythology. Within Asatru there are literalists, re-constructionists, deconstructionists, very unfortunately racists, and every other kind of "ist". I got into the Norse, Celt, and Pictish mythology about ten years ago when I traced the primary line of my genealogy to the northeastern coasts of Scotland and the west coasts of Scandinavia. From there I identified with the Norse mythology and its world view and life view and thus began to practice (as best I could, learning along the way) Asatru.

Now, being of a scientific mind, I fall into a group of Asatruar who do not see Odin, Thor, Balder, Loki, Freya, etc as Gods and Goddess in the Christian sense. Rather I see them as ancient ancestors, once living human blood relatives who were once living Kings, Queens, and Heroes who's stories were transformed into the Sagas, and who became these mythical beings used by ancient people to explain a world they scientifically could not understand.

So unlike a literal follower of Asatru I do not believe that Odin watches all or the world was made from the coming together of fire and ice and filled with the leavings of a giants corpse, or that an ash tree holds the world together, that I have a chance to go to a God's hall when I die, or that Ragnarok is coming. I believe in evolution, the big bang, and all the principles of science and that these ancient Norse Gods and Goddess were just human beings (whose stories have become God-like) and I try to live my life by the example of the noble virtues and wisdom of my ancient ancestors set forth in that mythology. That being said I do ascribe to a pagan calendar and holidays because I do believe it is more in sync with the biological cycle of the world.

@ All, I will be more than happy to work out relationships though I do remember most of them between Motya and the returning cast. For the new cast PM me with any ideas and if I do not hear from you in a couple of days I will shoot you a PM myself to get the ball rolling.