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Traditie 2007/3

The autumn equinox issue of the magazine of the Flemish Asatru group Traditie finally made it to me. In the last months there has been some thinking and discussion about the future of the periodical. The articles were regarded too long and too difficult for/by the average reader, so from the spring equinox 2008 issue, there is supposed to be more variety, lower-level articles and more input of the members of Traditie. Also the articles should be less historical and more focussed on the present and our religion in daily life. It seems that for this issue some of those remarks have been kept in mind, because the founder of the movement Koenraad Logghe has written an article about “our mental attitude” which deals with the ‘pagan’ position in the hastiness of our time. Current chairman Stefaan van den Eynde wrote about the ‘heathen’ conception of time, which is not as linear as modern man sees it and in which the present is also the future. Other articles are the always amusing opener of Herman Vanhove, this time about a ‘goody-goody’ under-priest which proved to be a beloved and wise man; Jurgen Vandebotermet writes about the “Nekker” and other “pagan motives”; further we have Benny Vangelder about “the Celtic Odin” and Sonja Vanmeiren who tells us something about the spirituality of doing the garden.
As always the periodical is well-printed, written in Dutch (Flemish) and available from Koenraad Logghe.
Link: Traditie (website will some be completely reworked.)

Rûna magazine issue 20

I had to wait so long for this (almost three months) that I completely forgot about it, so I was surprised when I found my copy in my mailbox. When I started to page through the issue it appeared to be a Tolkien issue with not too interesting articles. It opens with an article on Tolkien and dragons and continues with “Tolkien: a radical traditionalist?”. The first article is an alright read, the other is too, but I wonder why such a ‘new coined term’ has to be applied to Tolkien. But things get better with a short article on the Dagaz rune, an interesting article on “the ninth wave” (and of course Heimdallr, but it seems that the writer didn’t know Dumézil’s remarks on this very subject) and Stephen Flowers on “the comparative method”, not really new, but he put things very nicely in a page and a half. I haven’t really read anything yet (save for the intro), but since it is quite a wait, I decided to announce it nonetheless.
UK citizens best contact the publisher at read[at]fremdheit.fsnet.co.uk
Contental Europeans can send an email to runamagazin[at]yahoo.de
USA citizens can contact Rûna Raven Press

Werkgroep Hagal presents: Wende I

While Werkgroep Traditie is pondering what direction the magazine will follow for its 14th year of publication ‘the other Flemish Asatru organisation’ Werkgroep Hagal launches its own magazine. This is not entirely unexpected, since there have been two publications earlier (see book reviews section). “Wende” (litt. “turning point”, but mostly referring to the solstitiae) became an A5 photocopied magazine of 34 pages with 7 articles, poems and songs and a foreword.
Werkgroep Hagal is a relatively (in comparison to Traditie) young organisation that on one side fills the gap that Traditie leaves in far West of Flanders (Belgium may not be big, but if you have to travel from West Flanders to the Traditie lectures, it is still quite a drive), but on the other side plays more into the needs of the ‘younger’ pagans. While Traditie is a ‘traditional’ organisation (they started as a group of families living in the old fashion), Hagal is more like a ‘neopagan’ group with a unmistakable lower average age than Traditie. There is more Sturm und Drang in Hagal and they are proud of it and it of course shows in the magazine. Slogans such as “I am proud to be a pagan”, “a life without honour is no longer a life” or “honourable, servient, resistant” (this sounds better in Dutch!) can be found throughout the publication. Also the group leans a bit more towards ‘politics’ (and I only said leans).
In any case, a new Asatru magazine in Dutch with an article about the “sibbe” (Dutch) / “Sippe” (German), dwarves, sword dances, the famous grave of Kivik, Sweden, Germanic virtues and flaws (a text of Jan de Vries) and “housemarks” (rune-like family signs), for a large part written by main man Wolf Pyck, who is also a gifted stone cutter. Get in contact with Werkgroup Hagal if you are interested.

Traditie 2/2007

The summer solstice edition of the magazine of the Flemish “Werkgroep Traditie vzw.” is available. Again printed on heavier paper and with a nice colour front and backcover. The magazine as always opens with a nice article by Herman Vanhove, this time called Mijn boezemvijand; an article about Loki and breastcancer. Then follows Benny Vangelder with a text about Being happy (however the Dutch term “gelukkig” is a bit stronger than just happy). Chairman Stefaan van den Eynde has a lengthy interview with the ‘Amerindian’ Franci Taylor about traditional living in a anti-traditional world. Founder Koenraad Logghe continues his series about Myth and rite. Jurgen Vandebotermet closes this issue with women/femininity (in a very broad context) in mythology and folklore.
Of course the magazine is in Dutch/Flemish. If you are interested in the magazine or the Asatru movement Traditie, visit their website by clicking on the cover of the magazine.
If all goes as planned this is the last issue in the current concept. There are plans to change the magazine a bit in order to appeal to a wider (and non-Traditie) audience. The results I will of course give you somewhere around autumn equinox.