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What are the traditions when a baby is born to asatru parents/into an asatru family? (self.asatru)
submitted 3 years ago by [deleted]
[–]tacmac10 14 points15 points16 points 3 years ago (1 child)
When my daughter was about ten days old my wife and I held a naming ceremony. We based it on some historical/saga pieces we had read, it went like this; we stood before our fire place (October it was chilly but adds some ambiance) with our daughter at our feet . We made a toast/Blot to the Aesir and Vanir, and call upon the ancestors and spirits to join us (all extemporaneous we never script out anything) I then picked up our daughter and claimed her as my own (historically this was important and legally binding). We then named her (Cora Breanne) and swore an oaths to her (something along the lines of protecting her and providing for her, etc) then we each drank a toast to Cora and the assembled ancestors, spirits and gods/goddesses.
[–][deleted] 1 point2 points3 points 3 years ago (0 children)
That sounds truly remarkable. You are amazing parents :)
[–]ThorinRurikssonThe Diplomatic One 8 points9 points10 points 3 years ago (35 children)
Tacmac10's story sounds similar to what I've seen. Others have also brought gifts for the child as well, though most of them obviously been the type of things that had to be held in steward by the parents. I'm not talking baby shower stuff, like toys and whatnot, but old school gifts like fine knives, jewelry and other things. The last one I did was a large bronze Mjolnir pendant I had cast myself.
[–][deleted] 2 points3 points4 points 3 years ago (34 children)
This sounds very interesting, thank you thorin.
Can one parent to these things by them self, or do both parents need to be present and in agreement of these procedures?
[–]aleglad 2 points3 points4 points 3 years ago (32 children)
Historically, what we see are examples of fathers claiming a child. This had a lot of legal implications that I can write about later but the thing to remember is that not all children could be claimed because the father was dead or traveling.
In the case of a dead father we don't really know how such things worked. What I can say is that there is a common belief in the States that a single mother is more than within her rights to perform a naming ceremony and hold in stewardship gifts. We see mythical and historical examples of such things, none of which I can cite off hand. There is no need for a mother to "claim" the child as that side of parentage can't be in doubt or challenged.
There might be something about an uncle naming the child, and sometimes claiming the child as his heir, but I can't recall details on this. In a modern context, the naming of a child doesn't need to include "claiming" and certainly doesn't need the father if he isn't around.
[–]ThorinRurikssonThe Diplomatic One 0 points1 point2 points 3 years ago (25 children)
As I was reading this, I was going to mention the uncle. I'm not sure about this, in historical specificity, but I know the uncle was expected to have a role even if the father was around. Fostering to an uncle was very common, so the uncle stepping in when a father is unavailable seems to be a logical step.
[–]HalfdanAsbjornHeathen of Simplicity 1 point2 points3 points 3 years ago (4 children)
Also with the idea of brotherhood (as I understand it) being a strong and powerful bond it woukd seem logical for the brother/brother-in-law of the father to be an imortant figure to the child aswel. As I'm an only child and my betrothed only has sisters I have predecided (we did this in a conversation as we've been as solid as brothers since we met) who is to be the uncle figure. We are of different beliefs but we respect eachother enough that this doesn't matter and he'd be honoured. Besides, we're much the same in most other areas.
[–]ThorinRurikssonThe Diplomatic One 1 point2 points3 points 3 years ago (3 children)
Much the same here. I'm an only child and my wife has a clutch of sisters and no brothers. My best friend (whom I call brother already anyhow) gets the honor of being uncle.
[–]HalfdanAsbjornHeathen of Simplicity 2 points3 points4 points 3 years ago (2 children)
If anything the brother in spirit is a stronger bond than the brother in birth really.
[–]ThorinRurikssonThe Diplomatic One 1 point2 points3 points 3 years ago (1 child)
It certainly can be.
[–]aleglad 0 points1 point2 points 3 years ago (0 children)
In my case that's true.
[–]skeggoxHedinicus Peregrinus (o. Pāgānus, f. Gentilīcium) 1 point2 points3 points 3 years ago (0 children)
Some North American natives did this. Males could be somewhat transient. So, seeing as how they definitely knew who the mother was, her eldest brother would raise the child within the family.
[–]aleglad 0 points1 point2 points 3 years ago (18 children)
I tend to look at the "claiming" part of it as out of date, except for adopting a child as your own, and tend to look at the naming and presentation to the family as what matters.
[–]ThorinRurikssonThe Diplomatic One 0 points1 point2 points 3 years ago (17 children)
I don't know. I think the claiming is the ceremonial counterpoint to the legal function, kind of like all marriage requires legally is a piece of paper signed by two people and a judge, but a wedding makes it a publicly and religiously official thing.
[–]aleglad 0 points1 point2 points 3 years ago (16 children)
I'm not saying we do away with ceremony, only that claiming the child by the father is out of date in most cases and that the ceremony should focus on naming the child and presenting the named child to the clan.
[–]ThorinRurikssonThe Diplomatic One 0 points1 point2 points 3 years ago (15 children)
How is it any more out of date than any other ritual? Why should the child not be claimed? I'm going to make you justify this, you should just resign yourself to that.
[–]aleglad 0 points1 point2 points 3 years ago (14 children)
I'm headed back to work, so give me some time to get settled and to write the long response that is going to take. While I'm doing that, go take a gander at my last comment regarding clergy. I think it will make you smile.
[–]ThorinRurikssonThe Diplomatic One 2 points3 points4 points 3 years ago (13 children)
I'll await with forgetful indifference, since today is my day off and I'm going to play video games while my wife is at work...
[–]skirlaug 0 points1 point2 points 3 years ago (5 children)
I know you say later on that fathers claiming the child is a bit out of date, and you say that motherhood can't really be challenged, but... If you adopt a child as a baby (like it was set up with the birth mother ahead of time so the child is yours pretty much from birth), would it be appropriate for both parents to claim the child in such a ceremony?
[–]aleglad 0 points1 point2 points 3 years ago (4 children)
First, I think we need to address that adoption is different than the nature of the original question. In the original question we were discussing a child born to a (presumably) married couple and what rites and rituals are associated with that. Buried somewhere deep in the commentary, I commented on adoption, which is a different case. In the case of adoption, then yes, claiming the child as your own is appropriate because it wasn't born part of the clan. The act of claiming an adopted child binds its orlog to that of the clan's. While filing the adoption paperwork fulfills the legal side of inheritance today, the child still needs to be brought into the clan before it can be (assuming it hasn't been named yet) can be invested with a soul that contains clan specific characterisitcs. At this point, despite the genetic differences, the child is no different from a genetically related child as far as all spiritual and social considerations go.
[–]skirlaug 0 points1 point2 points 3 years ago (3 children)
Thank you for the detailed response. (I may not have read it well but your acknowledgement of adoption was more brief and involved a lot of implications I wasn't getting.)
[–]aleglad 0 points1 point2 points 3 years ago (2 children)
I may not have stated it well either. Sometimes I think I'm coherent when I'm anything but.
[–]skirlaug 0 points1 point2 points 3 years ago (1 child)
I think people just tend to gloss over basic information and work with assumptions when talking about something they know a lot about. I'm just glad you're not like my physics teacher. He just thought we were dumb for not getting what he meant the first time around.
Sometimes, failure to comprehend something is the fault of the listener. Much of the time, it is the fault of the speaker. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I get frustrated when poeple don't catch on to what seems the most basic of details to me but often times it's simply because they don't have the frame of reference that I do and it's incumbnat upon me to try and provide that understanding. However, there comes a point where the listener just has to get it or there's nothing you can do. Eh, whatever. Besides, physics is a pain in the arse.
[–]ThorinRurikssonThe Diplomatic One 0 points1 point2 points 3 years ago (0 children)
I suppose it depends on the parents. The big question I suppose is why both parents might not be there. Could it be because one of the parents objects? This is where things get sticky, when parents disagree about religion.
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