Hello everyone.

This has been a strange coupe of years for the GFS. There have been several “power blocs” within the GSF that have come to rapid prominence, and then departed.  In the sprit of collaboration and open-mindedness, I allowed this to happen, and I feel that end the end, the GFS is the worse for it.  Let me assure you of who is going to be setting the direction of the GFS going forward:

I am.

We have gone amiss. We have become a group that has used deliberate and artificially created exclusivity to create a false sense of value for those evaluating our organization. We have created this artificial sense of “value” for the sake of  outsiders, because we have become focused on being a “service” to new members, when were originally intended to be a community, that new people *rendered service to*, in order to be made a real part of it.  Now many new folks participate by climbing the “ranks” or swearing hollow oaths, or schmoozing online, but not by contributing, and not by engaging in the life-way of Fyrnsidu in real life.
Anglo-Saxon culture has always had a tradition of service at its core.  Heathenry today should also be marked by a tradition of Service.  We have forgotten this, I think.  So I need to set the record straight. The GFS is NOT looking for clients, customers, or future leaders. We are not recruiting, nor are we looking for the next newbie who would become Grand High Poohbah.  We welcome newcomers who wish to live Fyrnsidu, teach others about it, and associate with others who do so. We do not aspire to please newcomers with our willingness to mold Fyrnsidu to your tastes. This site explains a lot about what we are–take it or leave it.

We are not looking to build a spiritual “house” for newcomers to live in. We are looking to build a house for our long-time contributing members to live in, and newcomers who wish to live here to too, can pick up a hammer and prove it.  Our longtime members worked hard to make the GFS out of nothing, and they are our focus now, not Johnny Come-Lately. In other words, ask not what the Fellowship can do for you, ask what you can do for the Fellowship. If this seems to be the wrong way of looking at things, you are in the wrong place.

About Gesithas:

Gesithas are our fully-vested, voting members. Historically, a gesith was a common person who had sailed across the sea to trade, and returned three times to tell the tale. Or s/he may have amassed a certain amount of land, or created their own arms and armor.  These deeds made an average Joe worthy of thane-rank, a companion.

We in the GFS used to grant gesithscipe to about anyone who wanted to swear the oath, and who would pay $20 a year. No longer.  I am not receiving any more gesith oaths.  Gesithscipe will be granted by fiat of the Witangemot on the recommendation of a person’s Hiredgerifa, or upon that of another Wita.  We will not be soliciting people to try and become gesithas, and we aren’t taking applications. When you are ready and have earned the privilege of investiture, we will let you know.

New folks:

This does not mean we will become more exclusive. Quite the reverse. I intend to put a resolution before the Witangemot to make associate membership in the GFS free in perpetuity to all comers, as it was before.  Anyone who practices Fyrnsidu is welcome to consider themselves a member.  Associate membership should be freely available to all in the spirit of hospitality, and comes with all the privileges thereunto appertaining, which is to say…pretty much none.

All privileges are reserved for full members, and full membership is reserved for those who earn it. Period. If you want to learn about Fyrnsidu, we have a website, literature, and many kindhearted and learned folks who can teach you about it online or in real life, at their convenience. If you are a compulsive joiner, feel free to join, but we aren’t here for your after-work amusement, we are not an online drama-generator.  We aren’t here to woo you, or take your side against the Troth/AFA/AA/ADF/USSR, Wicca, the Pope, etc. and we aren’t going to set up classes and so forth for you to attend once and then blow off at our expense.  What you need to know, and what you need in order  to learn what you need to know, is on this site somewhere. Go for it.  Take charge of your education. Most importantly, and this is key, if you intend to practice Fyrnsidu: FIND OR FOUND A GROUP IN REAL LIFE AND DO IT. Our structure allows this, and will be modified a bit to encourage it even more.

Full membership and a voice in the running of the GFS at large, is reserved for those who work for it first. So if you want to enjoy the information that this website makes available to you for free and still do nothing for the GFS or your local community, you can do that and even be a “member”. But at that level, you will be getting out of it what you put into it, which is not much. Our goal is foster the creation of functional, local congregations and network them together for mutual learning, assistance and celebration. If you are helping that happen, you are on mission, and you will be given recognition, accolades, and responsibilities in the National Org. If not, you are just hanging out.

Folks worshiping in GFS Hirdas who “aren’t members”:

You are de facto associate members of the GFS, because you keep coming to GFS events and involving yourself. So if you haven’t registered for an account on this website, you cannot see the members-only area of this site, but there the distinction between you and a “GFS member” pretty much ends. Your priest is teaching you Fyrnsidu in person. Your rites are part of Fyrnsidu,  your customs are part of Fyrnsidu, in short–you are a MEMBER. You will be treated and judged like one based on your adherence to our thews, so you can take pride in your membership or live in denial, your choice. You can’t go to a Catholic parish every Sunday for a decade, and then say you aren’t Catholic because you “were scarred by a big Organization once”. Which segues nicely into my next paragraph…

Folks who were scarred by a “Big Organization” once:

You had a bad experience in the AE? You had a bad experience in the ROT? Really? I always thought of going to Federal Prison for 10 years as something thart would be a “bad experience”.  Getting cancer is definitely a  bad experience.  Getting car-jacked in Tijuana? A bad experience. Being derided on the Internet once, by a stranger in a mailing-list  (5 years ago) doesn’t really rate  in terms of bad experiences, does it?  If the GFS interests you, maybe it is time to move beyond this attitude and acknowledge that society is made up of nested groups of ever increasing size, and that the character of your own groups is often determined by you. We make our “groups” what they are. What will you make the GFS? Because if you are reading this, you are probably at least loosely a member of this “group”, so take off your coat and stay a while. Or move on to something that suits you better. But if that something involves more than one other person, you have a group. Be honest about your reasons for doing what you do. If your Asatru Kindred is in the AA, you a member of the AA in every way that matters. Food for thought.