Odinism In The Age Of Man: The Dark Age Before the Return of Our Gods

by Wyatt Kaldenberg

Odinism In the Age of Man advocates a return to family centered tribalism, ancestral traditions, and the Gods and Goddesses of our people.

Wyatt Kaldenberg’s Odinism In the Age of Man argues that the modern world is corrupt and in rapid decline. He believes that the answers our popular culture offer are not answers at all, but part of the bigger problem. He feels contemporary political solutions cannot resolve the dilemma of the decaying West.

According to Mr. Kaldenberg, Western civilization is in spiritual decay and the only workable response to our spiritually dead society is to reject the Age of Man and return to our own Gods and Goddesses.

Kaldenberg shows that political movements such as liberalism, conservativism, socialism, capitalism, neo-Nazism, and fascism are materialistic world views that progressively lead the West down a road to doom. He claims the declining Age of Man is an open door to the coming Age of the Gods.

Kaldenberg writes, “Being born in the Age of Man is our destiny. We were brought into this world for a reason. We must become men and women of our time. We must go forth and meet our destiny as men and women of a new horizon.

Odinism must return our people to the Age of the Gods.”

As Christian churches decrease in attendance, young people are increasingly turning to polytheism for spiritual answers. Modern people are reverting to their native spiritual roots.

Contemporary Heathenism is forming into a number of separate theological branches such as Asatru, Odinism, Theodism, Norse Wicca, and Wotanism.

Wyatt Kaldenberg’s book, Odinism In The Age Of Man, seeks to define a branch of the modern Heathen reawakening known as Odinism. The Odinic religion is rooted in Northern European ancestor worship. Odinism is sometimes called the Viking religion or Norse Paganism. It draws from the pre-Christian native beliefs of the Anglo-Saxon, Frankish, Germanic, and Nordic peoples. Odinism is a polytheistic religion. Odinism is a family centered faith. The chief Gods and Goddesses of the religion are Odin, Frigga, Thor, Frey, Freyja, Ostara, Heimdall, Tyr, Sunna, Eartha, and Ullr.

This book contains the

About Odinism In The Age of Man

The Declining Western Civilization

Odinism in an Alien World

Odinism Must Stand Separate From Everything

Marxism, National Socialism, and Odinism

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Utopianism, American Mythology, and the Dictatorship of Money

Odinism Must Take Our People Out Of the Age of Man

170 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 8, 2011

Reviews

[Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book about the social, spiritual, and economic consequences of a culture that's losing it’s moral compass.

This book, from my perspective, presented an accurate diagnosis of the problem in the current nuclear age that we live in. Mr. Kaldenberg couldn’t have phrased this era any better, than by calling it the, "Age of Man". Evidence presented throughout the book about how Modern capitalist and socialistic societies are gradually sliding into obscurity and decadence, make both heathens and non-heathens realize that a transition to a more sustainable and moral cultural model, needs to happen soon. The way to do this, which this book made clear, was to listen to the voices of our ancestors. History has shown that traditionalist societies are more stable and less exploitive of it's citizens. This book has made this clear to me.

Odinism as a replacement for our current sand-castle virtues and liberal worldviews is a well thought-out idea by Mr. Kaldenberg that only further reminded me that America's value-system is immoral. Our economic reality is that centralized banking, fiat currency, and consumerism is drawing us away from our ancestors’ more functional worldviews. Everything that i've learned from personal research on economics and high crime rates, presents a problem that this book may shed some light on. In the advent of the return of the, "Age of the Gods", I believe that many of our problems caused by the current trends mentioned in the book can be alleviated. I'd like to think of the author's ideas as blueprints to the end of economic serfdom and a new age of reason. The Gods are very reasonable people.

[Erin Lale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts out by making it very clear that American Odinism is not Asatru. It’s a completely different branch of heathenry with its own separate traditions and belief systems. Then this book goes on to tell what the author thinks about various modern political issues from his perspective as an American Odinist and also from his personal experiences growing up in an oil-lease village. He is against both democracy and capitalism, and advocates a family-centered theocracy instead. While I disagree with the author on many points, and found some of the language rather startling to find in a work of nonfiction, we’re in agreement that both Communism and National Socialism are evil forms of Statism. Applying the classical Greek idea of the Age of Man to modern American social issues made me think.

Erin Lale
author of Asatru For Beginners

[Cwn_annwn_13 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its not that often that I run across a book by modern practicing Odinists or Asatruers that isn't rehashing things that have already been said ad nauseum elsewhere. Just that this book delves into new territory and attempts to break outside the box in itself makes this a book worth reading.

This book deals more with the social and to a lesser extent political aspects of the world in its current state than the practice of the religion itself. A good bulk of this book is an indictment against Democracy, what a scam it is and how in the end it always leads to Tyranny from the wealthy elite due to the masses being a dumb herd that is easily manipulated. Lots of good comparisons of what your brainwashed into believing Democracy is and the reality of it. The Chapter on Americas so called founding Fathers does a good job of debunking a lot of the Mythology of the American Revolution and what the people behind its true motivations were. Also the sham of the concept that all humans are equal is talked about. I agree that the concept of all people being equal is a laughable joke but I also think everyone should be treated in a just and fair manner. I believe Wyatt himself once wrote that Odinic law is justice. The rulers should have to live up to their end of the bargain too. Actually they have even more of an obligation to do the right thing. In the days of old the Kings fought and died on the battlefield. You have to respect that even if some of them weren't just rulers. Now with democracy you have a bunch of coke bottle glasses wearing chicken necks that look like Alan Greenspan sending poor and working class people out to die in wars that work against their best interest to begin with.

Wyatts solution is what he calls an Odinic Theocracy, or Thingism. There never has and never will be a Utopia or perfect society but Thingism is probably a workable system. He does not believe it should be dogmatic or totalitarian. Being dogmatic or having the my way or the highway will only serve as an iron curtain that seperates us from our Gods. The Gods are our leaders not men. We aren't Christians that have to use Priests, Reverends or Ministers as a go between and if we had something along those lines it would only serve to seperate us further from them. In other words Wyatt is a lot more liberal than a lot of people (maybe including himself) would care to admit.

A lot of ink in Odinism in the Age of Man is also devoted to pointing out the hypocrisy of the left and their anti-Nazi obsession while at the same time they hide the oceans of blood they have on their hands via various Communist regimes in the name of enforcing their idea of equality and their Orwellian habit of labeling anything they disagree with as hate. One thing I wish he would have done is differentiate between between Communism and different types of Socialism. I am not a fan of the Globalist Fabian Socialism but I don't think all Socialism is bad. I like the pro-white working class version of Socialism promoted by Jack London (Call of the Wild is one of the most Odinic books ever written) and the Scandinavian version worked well for a long time and even though they are slowly dismantling it, it still works well compared to the rest of the world. So my point being all Socialism isn't necessarily Communism light like the moronic Tea Baggers who label putting any constraints on the big Capitalists as Socialism. And besides that isn't Tribalism, which more or less all Odinists promote, and even the family unit both forms of Socialism when you get down to it.

Wyatt also talks about the process of social engineering and how it sped up the decline of the west during his lifetime. In some ways he does idealize the so called good old days but doesn't overdo it either. He talks quite a bit about how the rich people and the oil companies screwed over the working class in the small oil town he grew up in.

There are some things I disagree with him on in this book. Wyatt to his credit includes some opposing viewpoints and debates between him and other Odinists in Age of Man though. For one on the socio-political front not that he doesn't have criticisms of both but overall I think he is way too easy on Christians and Jews. Also he sees Muslims as some sort of centralized power in league with the uber-Capitalists. I am around those people every day. Muslims are not centralizing anything. There is more internal conflict among Muslims than any other people or religion on Earth. They have differences in interpretations of Islam, differences in race, ethnicity, culture. These differences range from from ignoring and not associating with each other to out and out violence. Also even very wealthy Muslims who make it into Europe are not being allowed into the circles of power. While the white and Jewish elites seem to want to create a new lumpen proletariot in Europe via Muslim immigration the idea that these people are going to take over anything or take the reigns of power in the west is utterly laughable.

Also on the religion end of things I strongly disagree with his belief that the Vanir were only let into Asgard as thralls to the Æsir. I also strongly disagree with his views that the Gods of the Germanic pantheon should not be viewed in a Pan-Aryan way. What I mean is that many if not most of the Gods were worshipped by all the people in the Indo-European family even if they called them by other names. I have referred to myself as a Pan-Aryan Odinist for a long time. I mean seriously the one eyed spear carrying Celtic God Lugh and the God with the same attributes that the Romans said the Celts worshipped wasn't Odin? The Slavic and Baltic Perun/Perkunas or the Celtic Taranis both of whom toted Hammers, rode in the sky in chariots and were associated with thunder, lightning and Oak trees wasn't a manifestation of Thor? To me its silly to think otherwise. I believe some of the lesser Gods may have been more specific to different sections of the Indo-European family but the major ones manifested themselves to all Indo-European Heathens.

But anyway other things I really loved about this book was Wyatts explanation of Odinic conceptions of the cycles of time, life, death and rebirth. Also his concept of the movie Its a Wonderful Life as an Odinist allegory is brilliant stuff. At the end of the day this is the type of book that Odinists need to be reading and/or writing. Odinism should be treated as a living religion not a re-enactment group or an excuse to put on a Viking tunic and drink mead out of a drinking horn a few times a year. Stop treating our Gods like they are dead. They aren't. We may not have the true answer and be like dogs chasing their tail for a long time trying to figure it all out and there will be disagreements but we have to try.

[Revules · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book isn't lore interpretation as you would expect from most titles in it's genre. It is about how society has lost it's contact with the divine.How it has evolved into the chaos of present day issues. The 'Age of Man' connotates the literal naturalist and/or humanist stance of the masses and how it leads to the greed and corruption associated with one unconcerned with divine direction. It is very non-biased often incorporating the opinions of some who are opposed to the Author's viewpoints. The 'Age of Man' is musings of world current events relating to the threats of western civilization,the heavily diabolical schematics of government and how one of the Odinist belief must mind his place in it all. This book's musings have such a large range of ground it would be hard to summarize in a simple review.Although a short book,densely packed with deep decisions to ponder about the future. Mr. Kaldenberg even takes the against the grain stance of siding with Israel for protecting the solidarity of the west. The last couple chapters hit me quite hard. They spoke of the true American Revolution which did not involve the noble virtues taught in grammar school. Used comparisons of ancient Rome and various wars to show the evil imperialist natures that fuel 'The Age of Man'. Regardless of whether you a hundred percent agree with things stated,it will leave you thinking of things that you probably didn't before.

[Keith Preston · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating and unique work from Mr. Kaldenberg. He offers his diagnosis of the institutional and cultural rot of modern society. It is a diagnosis that many conservatives and traditionalists would agree with. Yet rather than call for a return to Judeo-Christian values, American flag-waving or some other solution typically offered by the mainstream right-wing, Kaldenberg instead holds up the faith of Odinism as the worldview most capable of resurrecting Western civilization. He is careful to distinguish Odinism from other faiths outside the Judeo-Christian paradigm such as Asatru, Wicca, Neo-Paganism, or Satanism. Mr. Kaldenberg is an unabashed polytheist who champions a return to republican societies rooted firmly in the values of family, clan, community, and tribe. He draws a sharp distinction between these values and those of modern political ideologies like Capitalism, Democracy, Socialism, Marxism, Fascism, and National Socialism. Kaldenberg provides an interesting discussion of his upbringing in a small, low-income California village during the 1950s and 1960s. There was no local government, only families and a community held together by common values. It is Kaldenberg's early experiences with small-town America as it was in the years before the Age of Aquarias that no doubt prompt him to find the tribal communitarian values of Odinism so compelling. A good read. Highly recommended.

[Benjamin Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an honest book about Odinism, I think that the book was well written as well as it cited one of my works in a must read list which I am grateful about. The only the thing I disagree about the book is that it alienates Wotanists and maintains that Wotanists are inherently not Odinists. The point is that both still follow the teach the teachings of Odin so regardless both the people that are the author's audience and those that he is trying to alienate from being Odinists believe in Odin nonetheless and the only distinction is a political distinction which is not really about religion and more about political conviction. However in my book I also note the importance of Political structures within the religion to set the moral standard for the conduct of said religion and followers.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this one twice. Great straightforward style.