History:
Most religious historians believe that the Bahá'í Faith arose from Islam, similar to the way Christianity arose from Judaism. However, many Bahá'í's believe that it is a unique religion with no historical connections to other faiths. It has grown to be a worldwide faith. It is most commonly spelled Baha'i, although alternate spellings of Ba'Hai, Bahai, and Bah'ai are sometimes seen.

Siyyid 'Ali-Muhammad (1819-1850 CE) assumed the title Bab which means the Gate. In 1844-MAY-23 He announced the "Declaration of the Bab." He explained that the purpose of His mission was to herald the arrival of "One greater than Himself", Who would fulfill the prophetic expectations of all the great religions. This date is regarded as the founding of the Bahá'í Faith. His followers became known as Babis. 20,000 were martyred for their beliefs. His movement caused much religious ferment. This led to His execution in 1850 by order of the Shah's chief minister and at the instigation of Muslim clerics, who saw His movement as a threat to orthodox Islam.

In 1863, one of the Bab's followers, Mirza Husayn-'Ali-i-Nuri (1817-1892), a prominent follower of the Bab to Whom the Bab had given several indications of His future station, confided to some of his followers and to His eldest son that He was the Manifestation predicted by the Bab. On 1863-APR-21, He began proclaiming his station openly and publicly to the world at large. His assumed title, Baha'u'llah, by which He is generally known, was the title the Bab used to refer to Him. The last forty years of Baha'u'llah's life were spent in prison or in exile. The last 22 years were spent in or near Acre, then a prison city. The world headquarters of the Bahá'í Faith is located in the Holy Land today as a result.

Baha'u'llah's son 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921), was appointed by His father to be leader of the movement after His father's death.

The religion came to North America in 1893. The Bahá'í Faith states that it currently has about 6 million members worldwide: about 2.5 million adherents in India and 140,000 in the US. The Canadian census found 14,730 in Canada in 1991. There have been many discussions on Bahá'í mailing lists which have tended to estimate a total of 1 million members worldwide. BSome claim that the US figure is grossly inflated, and that the number of active members might be much lower. Barry Kosmin and Seymour Lachman estimated 28,000 adult US Bahá'ís in their 1993 book "One Nation Under God." Fredrick Glaysher estimates 26,600. 1

According to the 1992 Encyclopaedia Britannica Book of the Year, the Bahá'í Faith has established "significant communities" in more countries and territories than any other religion except for Christianity. They are organized in 205 areas vs. 254 for Christianity. According to The Baha'i World, this has increased to 235 countries and territories, including over 2,100 racial, ethnic and tribal groups. They number about 5 million members worldwide.

The official "Bahá'í Faith website" is at: http://www.bahai.org/ National pages are at http://www.us.bahai.org/ for Americans, and http://www.ca.bahai.org/ for Canadian.

Bahá'í faith is still looked upon by many Muslims as a breakaway sect of Islam. Bahá'ís are heavily persecuted in some countries because of this, in violation of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.



Beliefs:
Bahá'ís believe that there is only one God who is the source of all creation.
God is transcendent and unknowable. However, He has sent, and will continue to send, great prophets to humanity, through which the Holy Spirit has revealed the "Word of God." The Great Manifestations of God up to this time have been:
Adam (? BCE)
Abraham (? BCE)
Moses (1456 BCE)
Krishna (1249 BCE)
Zoroaster (1000 BCE)
Buddha (757 BCE)
Jesus Christ (34 CE)
Mohammed (613 CE)
The Bab (1844 CE)
Baha'u'llah (1863 CE)


(Dates shown are common estimates from historical and Christian sources; BCE dates are very approximate) A new prophet is not expected for many centuries.

The Bahá'í's believe in an essential unity of the great religions of the world. However, this does not mean they believe the various religious creeds and doctrines are identical. Rather, they view all religions as having sprung from the same spiritual source. The social and outer forms of different religions vary due to the circumstances at the time that they were founded. Other differences in doctrine and belief can be attributed to later accretions, after the death of the founder.
Every person has an immortal soul. Unlike everything else in creation, it is not subject to decomposition. At death, the soul is freed to travel through the spirit world. The latter is viewed as a "a timeless and placeless extension of our own universe--and not some physically remote or removed place."
Some of Baha'u'llah's most famous sayings are: "The best beloved of all things in my sight is justice,"
"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens"
"The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established."

Bahá'í beliefs promoted major social changes when originated in the 19th century: they supported gender and race equality; world government; freedom of expression and assembly; and world peace. In many ways, they were a century or more ahead of many other faiths. Followers are heavily involved in promoting these concepts today. Also, unlike many other religions, Bahá'ís view scientific inquiry as essential to expand human knowledge and deepen their members' faith. They feel that science needs to be guided by spiritual principle so that its applications are beneficial to all humanity. Notably missing from the Baha'u'llah's teachings is the acceptance of homosexuality as a normal, natural sexual orientation for a minority of humans. Neither the official Bahá'í website, 8 or the national web sites in Canada 19 or the U.S. 21 appear to contain any reference to homosexuality. The Canadian web site, for example, states:

"The Bahá'í teachings promote the elimination of all forms of prejudice and uphold equal dignity and respect for all peoples, regardless of their racial, ethnic, religious or national background. Equality of men and women, the elimination of extremes of poverty and wealth and economic justice for all peoples, universal education, and the dignity of the individual are central Bahá'í principles." 20

However, sexual orientation is notably absent from their list of protected classes of humans.

Another policy, which appears to contradict the faith's promotion of gender equality, is the exclusion of women from serving on its highest religious court.

They believe that there will eventually be a single world government, to be led by Bahá'ís, and based on the Faith's administrative framework.



Practices:
The Universal House of Justice in Haifa, Israel, is the global governing body; its functions were set out by Baha'u'llah. It is an all-male body.
National Spiritual Assemblies (NSA) supervise affairs in each country. The American NSA is located in Wilmette IL at the site of a Bahá'í House of Worship, one of 7 worldwide.
In each locality where there are more than nine adult believers, affairs are administered by local spiritual assemblies. Each of these institutions has nine members and is elected, not appointed. Their functions have been defined by Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha in Bahá'í scripture.
Bahá'ís have no clergy, sacraments or rituals.
Members: pray each day
observe the 9 holy days
fast 19 days a year
work to abolish prejudice
regard work as a form of worship
make at least one pilgrimage, if they are able, to the Shrine of the Bab and the houses in which Baha'u'llah lived, which are situated near the Bahá'í world headquarters.
Reflecting their origins in Shiite Islam, Bahá'ís do not consume alcohol.




Sacred texts:
Bahá'í scripture comprises the writings of the Bab and Baha'u'llah, together with the writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha. Among the better known writings of Baha'u'llah are, The Most Holy Book, The Book of Certitude, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, The Hidden Words and The Seven Valleys. There are many others books of Bahá'í scripture.



Holy days:
The Bahá'ís have a new calendar. Its year begins on March 21, the spring equinox. Other seasonal days of celebration or commemoration are:

April 21, 29 & May 2: Baha'u'llah's public declaration of his mission
May 23: Bab's declaration of his mission
May 29: Passing of Baha'u'llah
July 9: Martyrdom of the Bab
October 20: Birth of Bab
November 12: Birth of Baha'u'llah



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Persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran:
There are about 350,000 Bahá'ís in Iran who are experiencing oppressive government persecution for their religious beliefs. They are looked on as heretics, because of Baha'u'llah's claim to be the latest prophet of God. Mohammed, the founder of Islam, declared himself to be the final prophet centuries earlier.

In 1996-APR, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights expressed concern about the state of religious freedom in that country for members of the Bahá'í and other minority faiths. On 1996-MAY-14, Reuters news service quoted the most senior judge in Iran, Ayatollah Mohammed Yazdi, saying that the Bahá'í faith "is not a religion but an espionage establishment". Since the late 1970's, the government of Iran has accused Bahá'ís of spying for other countries. The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States stated on 1996-MAY-15: "Since the Islamic regime took power, more than 200 Bahá'ís have been executed on account of their religion, and thousands have been imprisoned. Bahá'ís have systematically been denied access to education, jobs and pensions, and both personal and Bahá'í community properties have been confiscated."



Freedom of expression within the Bahá'í Faith:
Although Bahá'ís have been very active in the promotion of freedom of expression around the world, there are significant restrictions on freedoms of individual Baha'i members. These are enforced through shunning or expelling non-conforming adherents. Some examples are:

Gay males and lesbians in monogamous, committed relationships who have held union services to recognize their partnerships have had had their religious rights removed. Similarly, heterosexual Baha'i couples who were married in a non-Baha'i ceremony have had their rights removed.
The Bahá'í authorities have imposed pre-publication censorship on all material written by members about the Faith. Until recently, all such material has to be first scanned by a review committee of the Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly of the country in which the text is to be published. This was a temporary policy introduced many decades ago. It was slightly modified in 2001-JAN for U.S. materials. Censorship responsibility has been transferred to local authorities. No changes have been made elsewhere in the world.
The "Talisman" mailing list was closed down in 1996-MAY, after several of its prominent academic posters were investigated at the orders of the Baha'i World Center in Haifa, Israel. Several, including the list owner, were allegedly threatened with being shunned ("coming into conflict with the Covenant") if they did not fall silent. 2 Baha'i authorities have denied that they caused the list to close. Juan Cole was one of those allegedly threatened. He resigned from the faith in 1996-MAY, but declared his private belief in Baha'u'llah in 1999-FEB. He maintains a new talisman list. 3
The Bahá'í electoral process does not permit public nominations or discussion of the candidates. As a result, there has been no change in the nine person US National Spiritual Assembly since 1961, except for those caused by deaths, retirements, or a member leaving the country.
Michael McKenny, a Canadian fantasy writer was expelled from the church because of his views expressed in Emails.



Divisions within the Bahá'í Faith
All religions evolve. Followers of established religions break away and form new sects. Many schisms are triggered by the death of the founder of the religion, or a successor. Typically, the leaders of the splinter group follow most of the beliefs and practices of their religion of origin; they generally regard their own faith group as being the true representative of the religion. In this way, most observers believe that the Bahá'í Faith arose from Islam, and Christianity arose from Judaism, and the Mormons split away from Protestant Christianity. Sometimes, the sect becomes the dominant group. The Bahá'í Faith itself has experienced a number of schisms.

The founder of the Bahá'í Faith, Baha'u'llah, selected Abdu'l-Baha to interpret the Baha'i writings after his death. Some members refused to accept the authority of the new leader. After the death of Abdu'l-Baha, the authority passed to Shoghi Effendi, "the infallible Center of the Baha'i faith," the "Center of the Cause," the generally accepted sole interpreter of the Baha'i teachings. Again, some members refused to accept his authority. After his unexpected death in 1957, controversy developed over his successor. One webmaster 4 states that there are now 7 faith groups in the world who claim to be the "true" Bahá'í Faith. Of the six new groups, five were created shortly after the death of Shoghi Effendi, The sixth broke off later. All of the new groups have very small numbers of members compared to Bahá'í World Faith. All have been declared covenant breakers by the Universal House of Justice:

The World Faith is followed by the vast majority of believers. In the United States, it is headed by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States. Authority once exercised by Shoghi Effendi is now transferred to the Universal House of Justice in Haifa, Israel.
Bahá'ís Under the Provisions of the Covenant who recognized Mason Remey as the guardian who succeeded Shoghi Effendi. They have organized a series of International Baha'i Councils (IBC). They claim a membership approaching 144,000. Their Baha'i Center is located in Missoula, MT. 5,6
Faith of God, (a.k.a. the House of Mankind and the Universal Palace of Order), who followed Jamshid Ma'ani. They "are no longer active (listed as 'defunct' in Gordon Melton's Encyclopedia of Religions)." 7
The Orthodox Bahá'í Faith," (a.k.a. Mother Bahá'í Council), who follow Joel Marangella.
The Orthodox Baha'i Faith Under the Regency, who follow Rex King.
The Charles Mason Remey Society, who follow Donald Harvey and Francis Spataro.
A dissident group organized around The Friends Newsletter.

Another group teaches that a Third Manifestation is coming in the immediate future

History:
K'ung Fu Tzu (commonly pronounced Confucius in English) was born in 551 BCE in the state of Lu (modern day Shantung Province). He lived during the Chou dynasty, and era known for its moral laxity. Later in life, he wandered through many states of China, giving advice to their rulers. He accumulated a small band of students during this time. The last years of his life were spent back in Lu, where he devoted himself to teaching.

His writings deal primarily with individual morality and ethics, and the proper exercise of political power by the rulers.

In China, and some other areas in Asia, the social ethics and moral teachings of Confucius are blended with the Taoist communion with nature and Buddhist concepts of the afterlife, to form a set of complementary, peacefully co-existent and ecumenical religions.

There are approximately 6 million Confucians in the world. About 26,000 live in North America; almost all of the remainder are found throughout China and the rest of Asia.



Beliefs:
Confucian ethical teachings include the following values:

Li: includes ritual, propriety, etiquette, etc.
Hsiao: love within the family: love of parents for their children and of children for their parents
Yi: righteousness
Xin: honesty and trustworthiness
Jen: benevolence, humaneness towards others; the highest Confucian virtue
Chung: loyalty to the state, etc.



Practices:
Confucianism does not contain all of the elements of some other religions, like Christianity and Islam. It is primarily an ethical system to which rituals at important times during one's lifetime have been added.

Since the time of the Han dynasty (206 CE) four life passages have been recognized and regulated by Confucian tradition:

birth: The T'ai-shen (spirit of the fetus) protects the expectant woman and deals harshly with anyone who harasses the mother to be. A special procedure is followed when the placenta is disposed of. The mother is given a special diet and is allowed rest for a month after delivery. The mother's family of origin supplies all the items required by the baby on the first, fourth and twelfth monthly anniversary of the birth.
reaching maturity: This life passage is no longer being celebrated, except in traditional families. It takes the form of a group meal in which the young adult is served chicken.
marriage: This is performed in six stages: Proposal: the couple exchange the eight characters: the year, month, day and hour of each of their births. If any unpropitious event occurs within the bride-to-be's family during the next three days, then the woman is believed to have rejected the proposal.
Engagement: after the wedding day is chosen, the bride announces the wedding with invitations and a gift of cookies made in the shape of the moon.
Dowry: This is carried to the groom's home in a solemn procession. The bride-price is then sent to the bride by the groom's parents. Gifts by the groom to the bride, equal in value to the dowry, are sent to her.
Procession: The groom visits the bride's home and brings her back to his place, with much fanfare.
Marriage and Reception: The couple recite their vows, toast each other with wine, and then take center stage at a banquet.
Morning after: The bride serves breakfast to the groom's parents, who then reciprocate.

death: At death, the relatives cry out aloud to inform the neighbors. The family starts mourning and puts on clothes made of a coarse material. The corpse is washed and placed in a coffin. Mourners bring incense and money to offset the cost of the funeral. Food and significant objects of the deceased are placed into the coffin. A Buddhist or Taoist priest (or even a Christian minister) performs the burial ritual. Friends and family follow the coffin to the cemetery, along with a willow branch which symbolizes the soul of the person who has died. The latter is carried back to the family altar where it is used to "install" the spirit of the deceased. Liturgies are performed on the 7th, 9th, 49th day after the burial and on the first and third anniversaries of the death.



Schools of Confucianism
There are six schools: Han Confucianism, Neo-Confucianism, Contemporary Neo-Confucianism, Korean Confucianism, Japanese Confucianism and Singapore Confucianism.



Sacred Texts
These were assembled by Chu Hsi (1130-1200 CE) during the Sung dynasty. They include:

The Si Shu or Four Books: The Lun Yu the Analects of Confucius
The Chung Yung or the Doctrine of the Mean
The Ta Hsueh or the Great Learning
The Meng Tzu the writings of Meng Tzu (371-289 BCE) a philosopher who, like Confucius, traveled from state to state conversing with the government rulers

The Wu Jing or Five Classics: Shu Ching or Classic of History: writings and speeches from ancient Chinese rulers
The Shih Ching or Classic of Odes: 300 poems and songs
The I Ching or Classic of Changes: the description of a divinitory system involving 64 hexagrams. The hexagrams are symbols composed of broken and continuous lines; one is selected to foretell the future based on the casting of 49 sticks.
The Ch'un Ch'iu or Spring and Autumn Annals: a history of the state of Lu from 722 to 484 BCE.
The Li Ching or Classic of Rites: a group of three books on the LI the rites of propriety

History:
Asatru is frequently regarded as one of the Neopagan family of religions. That family includes Wicca, Celtic Druidism, and re-creations of Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and other ancient Pagan religions. However, many Asatruers prefer the term "Heathen" to "Neopagan" and look upon their tradition as "not just a branch on the Neopagan tree" but as a separate tree. Unlike Wicca, which has gradually evolved into many different traditions, the reconstruction of Asatru has been based on the surviving historical record; it has been maintained as closely as possible to the original religion of the Norse people.

Some sources state that Asatru or Ásatrú is an Icelandic word, derived from the Danish word Asetro. Others state that it is a Norse word. It was "first seen in 1885 in an article in the periodical "Fjallkonan". The next recorded instance was in "Heiðinn siður á Íslandi" by Ólafur Briem (Reykjavík, 1945)." The title means "Heathen traditions in Iceland."

In Scandinavia the religion is called Forn Siðr (which means the Ancient way or tradition), Forn sed (the Old custom), Nordisk sed (Nordic custom), or Hedensk sed (Pagan custom). The religion's origin is lost in antiquity. At its peak, it covered all of Northern Europe. In 1000 CE, Iceland became the second last Norse culture to convert to Christianity. Their prime motivation was economic. Sweden was ruled by a Pagan king until 1085 CE.

Icelandic poet Gothi Sveinbjorn Beinteinsson promoted government recognition of Asatru as a legitimate religion; this status was granted in 1972. Since the early 1970's, the religion has been in a period of rapid growth in the former Norse countries, in Europe and North America.

It is not unknown for otherwise decent religions to become corrupted by incorporating racist, sexist, anti-semitic, and homophobic beliefs. For example, the Christian Identity movement is one wing of the Christian religion which has adsorbed such beliefs. During the early part of the 20th Century, The National Socialist Party in Germany under Adolf Hitler attempted to pervert Asatru by grafting parts of the religion onto the Nazi racist beliefs. This blasphemy died by the end of World War II, although some neo-Nazi groups -- largely in the U.S. -- are now attempting to continue the practice. This activity is in no way related to the restoration of Asatru as a legitimate Heathen religion. There is a very strong anti-racist, anti-Nazi stance among national Asatru groups in the Scandinavian countries. This is also found in almost all Asatru groups in English speaking countries. They typically have a clear rejection of racism written into their constitutions. Unfortunately, some anti-racism groups like the Southern Poverty law Center and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (in its Megiddo report) have mistakenly accused the entire religion of racism.

Many people are exposed to the name "Asatru" through role playing games, such as Mage: The Ascension. Unfortunately, the Asatru of these games bear little resemblance to the real religion.



Asatru Beliefs:
Asatru is a polytheistic religion. There are three races of Deities in the Norse pantheon. They are all regarded as living beings who are involved in human life: The Aesir: These are the Gods of the tribe or clan, representing Kingship, order, craft, etc.
The Vanir: These represent the fertility of the earth and forces of nature. They are associated with the clan but are not part of it.
The Jotnar: These are giants who are in a constant state of war with the Aesir. They represent chaos and destruction. At the battle of Ragnarök, many of the Gods will die, the world will come to an end and be reborn.

Specific Gods: Some of the more important are: Thor is the Thunderer, who wields Mjolnir, the divine Hammer. His chariot racing across the sky generates thunder. Thursday (Thor's Day) was named after him.
Odin is the one-eyed God; he gave up one of his eyes in order to drink from the Fount of Wisdom. He is a magician and wise one. He learned the secrets of the runes (Northern European alphabet) by hanging himself on the tree Yggdrasil for nine nights.
Frey is the God of Yule (born on the Winter Solstice, typically December 21). He is a God of peace and plenty who brings fertility and prosperity. His father was Njord.

Specific Goddesses: Some important ones are: Freya (aka Freyja) is the Goddess of love, beauty and sexuality, and perhaps a dozen other attributes. She leads the Valkyries who take the souls of slain soldiers to Valhalla (Odin's great hall).
Frigg is Odin's wife. Her name has been secularized to a slang term which refers to sexual intercourse. She is the patroness of the household and of married women.
Skadi is the Goddess of independence, death, hunting and skiing. Scandinavia was named after her; the English words shadow, skullduggery and shade came from her name.
Ostara, is a Goddess of fertility who is celebrated at the time of the Spring equinox. She was known by the Saxons as Eostre, the Goddess of Spring, from whom we have derived the word Easter. Ostara's symbols are the hare and the egg.

Other Entities Other Deities are Aegir, Balder, Bragi, Forseti, Heimdall, Loki, Njord, Ran, Tyr, Ull and Vithar. They also honor the Landvaettir (land spirits) of the forest, earth and streams.
Life Values: They follow the Nine Noble Virtues: Courage, Truth, Honor, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, Industriousness, Self-Reliance and Perseverance. The family is greatly valued and honored. They reject any form of discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, language, nationality, race, sexual orientation, or "other divisive criteria".
Origins: Humanity is literally descended from the Gods. Three brothers, Odin, Vili, and Ve created people from two trees and gave them the names Ask and Embla. One deity, Rig visited the earth and established the social classes.
Od: This is the gift of ecstasy provided to humans by the Gods. It is what separates humanity from other animals, and is our eternal link with the Gods.
Creation Story: A poem Voluspa (Prophecy of the Seeress) contains an Asatru story of the creation of the universe. Between Muspelheim (The Land of Fire) and Niflheim the Land of Ice was an empty space called Ginnungigap. The fire and ice moved towards each other; when they collided, the universe came into being. Odin, Vili and Ve later created the world from the body of a giant that they had slain.
After death: Those who die in battle will be carried to Valhalla by the Valkyries. There they will eat Särimner (a pig that is daily slaughtered and resurrected) with the Gods. Those who have lived very evil and treacherous lives go to Hifhel, a place of torment. The remainder go to Hel. This is a place of calmness and peace, and is unrelated to the Christian Hell.



Asatru Rituals and Practices:
Their local religious communities are called Kindreds, Hearths, or Garths. Priests are called Gothi; priestesses are Gythia
The Blot: (pronounced "bloats") This is their most common religious ritual; it is a sacrifice to the Gods. In olden days, as with almost all ancient religions, an animal was consecrated to the deities and then slaughtered. This was not seen as a bribe or as a method of capturing the power of the dying animal. It is simply the way in which the ancient Norse shared their bounty with a gift to the Gods. Currently, the animal sacrifice has been replaced by the offer of beer, juice or mead. Afterwards, those present are either sprinkled with the liquid, or drink it in sequence.
The Sumbel: This is a ritual drinking celebration, in which a horn filled with a drink is passed around the group. Each person delivers a greeting; a toast to the Gods, ancient heroes, or one's ancestors; or a story, song or poem. He or she then drinks from the horn.
Profession or Adoption: This is the act of making a commitment to Asatru to the exclusion of other faiths, by solemnly giving an oath of allegiance and kinship to the Gods of Asgard, the Aesir and Vanir. It is a simple ceremony usually done in the presence of a Gothi or Gythia and the rest of the Kindred, Hearth or Garth. It is taken on an oath ring or some other sacred object.



Seasonal Days of Celebration
In common with most Neo-Pagan faiths, their main holy days are:

Summer Finding, at the spring equinox, typically March 21. This is dedicated to Ostara.
Winter Finding, at the fall equinox, typically September 21
Midsummer, at the summer solstice, typically June 21
Yule, which starts on the winter solstice (typically December 21) on the Mother Night of Yule. It lasts for 12 days or more. This is the most important day of the year. Many Norse symbols have been adsorbed by the Christian celebration of Christmas: evergreen trees, Yule logs, holly, etc.

Many also celebrate days between the solstices and equinoxes. Various traditions within Asatru observe them on different dates:

The Charming of the Plow on February 1st weekend, a celebration of Freya and the Disir
Merry-Moon on May 1st weekend, celebration of spring dedicated to Njord and Nerthus.
Harvest or Freyfaxi on August 1st weekend, the first harvest and celebration of Frey and his horse
Fogmoon on November 1st weekend, a celebration of war-dead and Ragnarök Dedicated to Odin and Freya.

Einherjar is held on November 11 and coincides with Armistice or Veterans Day. It honours those who have been killed in battle and have joined Odon's warriors in Valhalla. Some groups hold a feast on the 9th of each month to honor Norse heroes. Other groups hold rituals at full moons. Additional days are celebrated at other times during the year by different traditions.