ORGANIZATION RULES
Skergard (pronounced “skur-gard”) when translated from Old Norse means roughly “Cliff Enclosure” or “Enclosure of Cliffs” from Sker meaning “cliff” or “rock” and Gard meaning “enclosure”. The name was chosen because the organization was founded in a valley with mountains, cliffs and rock in all directions. The name is also important because cliffs hold a sacred place in the Asa-Faith, often acting as doorways to the afterlife or even gateways through Yggdrasil itself to the worlds beyond. Skergard was founded in the summer of 1992 in El Paso, Texas.
The logo was designed to be a merging of the Aesir and Vanir, the Aesic and Vanic, and represent what makes Skergard unique unto itself. The Rune Ansuz was chosen to represent the Aesir and the Aesic, as well as its ability to represent Speech. The Rune rises from the Rune Berkano as a tree growing and nurtured in the mountains. Berkano represents the Vanir, the Vanic, and the Cliff-Enclosure or mountains. The mirror image of Ansuz is Green and represents The Tree, or humanity as a collaboration of Aesic and Vanic, the Aesir and Vanir.
Skergard is unique because its’ members share a belief in personal revelation. Personal Revelation is viewed similar to the words spoken during ceremonies of the ancient art of Seidhr. “…that there were means by which man could prevail on the Gods to make known their will, or to reveal things which otherwise, in the order of Nature, must remain hidden from the human understanding. This kind of inquiry was named, sometimes, frétt—an interrogation, investigation—(from frétta, to ask), and to undertake it was “at ganga til fréttar,” to consult the oracle; and sometimes it was termed spá, or plural, spár—prophecy, divination—and to make application to it was “at spyrja spá,” to inquire out the prophecy—or “at lyða spám,” to listen to prophecies.” –Keyser, 1854ce. Personal revelation is recorded, written down, and then researched before it is submitted to The Council who further research it before deciding to add it to the Lore. One of the defining revelations is the belief that Odin has a Sister as referred to in Havamal “or who is my Sister also” by Odin in reference to a secret. Not unlike Odin, she is referred to by many different names, but more commonly as “Holde”.
Shortly after Skergard was founded, the magazine Fjallabók (Book of the Mountain) began monthly publication as a digest sized, black and white magazine. The purpose of the magazine was to spread Skergard members’ research and personal revelations to others within the United States. Later it also served as a means of communicating organizational events and developments to out-of-state and international affiliates and groups. As the organization expanded the magazine matured into black and white, digest size, issues with approximately 80 pages and a full color cover. Fjallabok ceased publication in 1995 and was archived in 1997, and is preserved here on this site.
Some of Skergards’ other accomplishments during the 1990’s include: The first Asa-Faith organization to adopt a highway, to be listed in the yellow pages, maintain toll free phone number that spans the United States and Canada, maintain a web site containing the Poetic Edda, and to translate their works and web site into Spanish, German, and Russian (no longer available).
In 2000ce it is believed that the goddess Holde appeared in a vision shared by several members on Mount La Grange during a ceremony at the base of a cliff encouraging the rule of silence and “In silence is All-There-Is“. This was interpreted as a sign for Skergard to keep to itself while keeping ties to other organizations to a minimum; this level of secrecy and silence has lead to much speculation about Skergard, its’ membership and its’ teachings.
Now that the Silence has ended it should be noted that Skergard does not regulate the actions of its’ membership, though most prefer to remain silent observers in regard to other organizations, or even act as solitary practitioners as a general rule. It is not uncommon to find Skergard members in all walks of life and organizational diversity, and of all ages.
Skergard is lead by a ruling council, known simply as The Council. Participation in The Council is not mandatory, although it is recommended that each group maintain a point of contact. The Council is advised by The Elders (all Skergard members over 65 that wish to participate) and represents the organizational interests of Skergard. The membership of the Council is not limited, and each group affiliated with Skergard selects someone (anyone) in their group to represent them to The Council, this person is known as a Rede. There are no requirements other than that the individual be a Skergard member in good standing and the group that they represent may change their representative any time they see fit, for any reason. The Rede does not need to be the leader of the group, but will act on the groups behalf. Members who are not part of a group are represented by The Elders; however, any points of view may be shared by anyone at any time. Besides the Redes, The Founder is also a voting member of The Council. The Council uses a voting system based on seniority, for example each member of The Council has one vote for every year they have been a member Skergard.
Each year, at Ostara, a High Rede is appointed based on the order of group seniority. The position of High Rede is rotated among the Redes and acts as the leader of The Council, the office rotates from March 21st through March 21st of the following year, term of office is 1 year. The High Rede works closely with The Founder in keeping the organization on track with his vision and the organizations Purpose. In the event that it is a Rede’s turn and that Rede wishes to pass on the responsibility he or she may do so and the next Rede in line will be appointed.
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