Every few months, as Editor-in-Chief of our quarterly newsletter, I put out a call for submissions. This newsletter, called Odin’s Auga, is something very dear to my heart, and I put a lot of time and effort into putting it together. More often than not, it is a threadbare collection of articles, recipes, etc. from only a handful of people. Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not trying to call anyone out. And those of you who always send me content for it– I see you and I adore you.
I just want to point out the fact that it is for all of us. And if it’s for all of us, then it should be by all of us. I dream of a newsletter that is so jam packed with stuff from our member base that I have to compress it several times just to email it out (okay, maybe not that drastic, but you get the idea). I sit and I rack my brain for ways to get everyone involved in this thing, but I think I’ve been coming a it from the wrong angle.
We have so many members who are aching to contribute to the organization. I hear it in their voices and see it in their chats on our discord server and the facebook pages. If this desire exists, why the silence when it comes to the newsletter?
Perhaps it’s because no one is really sure what it is, or what it is supposed to be. That is my fault, my failing, and my job to correct. Generally speaking, a newsletter is a publication meant to brief members of an organization on the goings-on. Announcements, reminders, that sort of thing. Ours is the same, but it could be so much more. As an international organization with members spread far and wide, a lot of information gets missed and falls through the cracks. Having all of that in one place is great as a reminder, and also to show in one place the sheer amount of things we’ve got going on! That’s not the point I want to dwell on.
I want to talk about what gets you fired up about heathenry. What excites you about it? What annoys you about it? What are you passionate about? How do you connect to the gods? To the spirits? To the ancestors? I know it can be scary to talk about it, and scarier to put yourself out there for the whole organization to see, but those things that make your eyes light up and bring a grin to your lips are what ultimately makes this organization tick. It’s that individualism, that passion. That weird thing that you really like in that one saga and are dying to talk to someone about.
This is how we grow. And I’m not trying to sit here and say that my newsletter is the be-all-end-all of publications. I have no delusions of grandeur. I will not win a Pulitzer for it. But when it comes to bridging the distance gaps between us and giving us a platform to share our thoughts and ideas and passions, it’s pretty great, if I say so myself.
So my challenge to you this Sunnas day is to send me something. Send me art. Poetry. Send me your great great great grandmother’s recipe for pickled herring. Send me your thoughts on Haustblot and the ways you observe it. Help me help you be heard.
Submissions are due by September 4th, 2022 and may be sent to editor@awakenthenorth.org
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