Sergeant, honorably discharged Dec 1991, Desert Storm veteran. 1856 CG/USAFE, Ramstein AB, Germany.
Heathen all my adult life, have been studying non-mainstream religion since I was 14. Asatruar (dedicated to worship of the Aesir and Vanir), dedicated Freyja's gydhia (priestess). Shamanic practitioner. Interested in all non-mainstream paths especially Taoism, Hinduism, Celtic and the Altai eagle cult, but more of an "occasional negotiator" than an eclectic. My mead brewing is part and parcel of my religion. I work closely with the spirit of the valkyrie RandgrÃðr, whose name means "Shield of Peace".
As such I work for peace. The current war in Iraq is an abomination and the Bush administration is currently working to destroy all I held dear in my youth and swore to protect and defend as an adult - our precious freedom, a secure future for all rather than some, and over two hundred years of irreplaceable moral equity paid for with the blood of thousands of honorable men and women who went before me. The foundation for the current situation was laid decades ago in previously ignored behavior, and is rooted in the same fascism that tore civilization apart in World War II. It is a clear pattern of action based on greed and implemented with lies, that must be broken if our world is to survive. I pray that this can be accomplished without further needless bloodshed. I am a member of Code Pink, United for Peace and Justice, MoveOn.org and Veterans for Peace. My military experience in a classified environment at a major headquarters command, combined with my service experience in the previous Gulf War has caused me to be able to speak truth to power with an effectiveness that many others can not or dare not enjoin.
In January of 2002 I swore an oath that I would not cut my hair while George W. Bush remained President of the United States. This is based on an oath in our lore that Harald Fairhair made when a woman spurned him, saying that she would not marry him unless he became King of all Norway. It is a manner of calling the attention of the Gods to a plight - a sort of heathen way of "flying the flag upside down".
