An Open Letter to Norse Folk
August 24, 2007 – 10:59 pmAn Open Letter to Norse Folk:
“If evil though knowest, then proclaim it to all as evil,
And make no friendship with foes. “
-Havamal
Hail. My name is A.J. Drew. I am the author of several books written to the Wiccan community. But please do not prejudge me based on this as I have some rather unique opinions as a Wiccan author. In fact, I am often charged with the accusation that not only am I not Wiccan, but not pagan. Most Heathens that I converse with seem to think that I am more Heathen than anything else. I might go so far as to say that in the decades since I have become involved in the modern pagan movement that things have certainly progressed away from the values which I once thought were conveyed by the words Pagan and Wiccan. Do I now consider myself Heathen? I do not know that my use of words is nearly as important as the subject at hand. That subject being the growing problem the heathen and pagan community has with sexual predators and especially those who target children.
Recently it has come to my attention that Freya Aswynn may have been involved in child pornography. Let me start by saying that I have greatly respected Freya Aswynn and that there is absolutely no clear evidence that she has had any involvement in promoting or distributing material of this nature. I am not attempting to address the innocence or guilt of any individual. However, her name being referenced in a court of law and the evidence brought forward in that court makes it rather clear that this is another example of the heathen and pagan communities having an involvement in the sexual abuse of children or the promotion of the sexual abuse of children.
Bernard King claims that Freya Aswynn (Elizabeth Hooy-schuur) downloaded 5,518 pornographic photographs including pictures of children engaged in sex. Shortly there after, Freya Aswynn left the country. King was charged with possession of the pornographic material after giving the computer on which the porn was found to a teen-age girl who is also pagan. One can speculate that if he knew the material was on the computer, he would not have given it away without removing the files. However, that would only be speculation.
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1708642006
Should we believe Bernard King’s claims that Freya Aswynn is involved with child pornography? I do not think it matters what we believe. The fact of the matter is the child pornography existed and leaders in the Heathen / Pagan community were somehow involved. Well, unless you think that some secret covert anti heathen organization sent a ninja to put the child pornography on the computer so that King could later claim Aswynn did it. It seems to me it is much more likely that either Bernard King or Freya Aswynn was responsible for the porn.
Bernard King’s books are more of a fantasy fiction genre than Freya Aswynn who is a very well respected member of the Heathen / Pagan Community. Although his name has not been as well known as Freya Aswynn, books in this category are beloved by Heathen and Pagan alike. Who would not say that such things as the Harry Potter series (by a non-pagan author) have not greatly affected our community? So while he is not readily identified as a leader in the Heathen / Pagan community, he is certainly an influential member of our community. In fact, much of the basis for his connection to Freya Aswynn comes from his connection to Aswynn’s commune at Bankhead Farm, Strathaven.
“The court heard that since Mr King’s alleged offences between December 2002 and May 2003 Aswynn had sold Bankhead Farm. Jurors were told that Aswynn, whose website says she is a natural witch, had moved abroad.”
Although there is no clear indication that Freya Aswynn fled the country to avoid prosecution, it was certainly a factor in the jury’s decision to drop the matter against Mr. King. I conclude that while Freya Aswynn was not found guilty in any way, as Mr. King’s defense was that Freya Aswynn was responsible for the child pornography, that in releasing Mr. King the jury and the court have stated firmly that they believe there is reasonable doubt that Mr. King was responsible and thus at least some belief that Freya Aswynn was responsible.
Before I continue: “Some belief” is NOT a conviction. I am NOT in anyway, shape, or form suggesting that Freya Aswynn is guilty of possession, creation, or distribution of child pornography. I am, however, pointing out that there is a problem in our community and I am using this matter of legal record to illustrate just that. You see the community of which Mr. King referred did in fact include children, the person who received the child pornography prior to the court becoming involved in this was in fact the daughter of a fellow pagan who was under the age of 18. Obviously, there is a problem in our community.
The name Freya Aswynn is not new to me. I have respected her published work for much time. She is the author of several of my favorite titles including:
Northern Mysteries and Magick, Songs of Yggdrasil, Principles of Runes, Shades of Yggdrasil, Leaves of Yggdrasil, Power and Principles of the Runes, and other fine titles.
So again, I do not write this to attack her in any way. While I would love discussion from folk who are more in the know of the allegations made by Mr. King, my concern is that there is a problem in the Heathen and Pagan community. With this court case, it has become rather clear that the Heathen community is not immune to this sickness, someone within that community was responsible for these photographs.
I believe the time has come for the Heathen and Pagan community to set aside its bickering and stand up for common values; such as the right of children not to be exploited. I have been spear heading a campaign against Gavin and Yvonne Frost’s promotion of sexual initiation of children as early as the age of 10 years old for some years now.
http://ajdrew.blogs.pagannation.com/defrost-please-read/
In the pagan community, I have found little support. In fact, I have run into such folk as Isaac Bonewits (founder of ADF) who defend Gavin and Yvonne Frost. I have been attacked by Peg Aloi (Media Coordinator for the Witches Voice). I have watched as organizations such as Pagan Pride continue to support the Frosts. I have been attacked by Pagan Pride organizers such as Debra Ravenswood. I have read Oberon Zell (founder Church of All Worlds) befriend the Frosts. I have listened to Janet and Stewart Farrar (well known Wiccan authors) agree that they and the Frosts have been friends for decades. I have seen Chas Clifton (pagan author) defend the Frosts on this issue. I have read Raven Grimassi book The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Wicca in which the Frosts seem to be praised. And yet, I refuse to believe that most folk who call themselves pagan could possibly agree with what Gavin and Yvonne Frost have promoted. I can not believe that the majority of pagans are comfortable with the idea that folk should molest, intoxicate, and rape children of 10 years of age in the name of Wicca. Instead, I believe our leaders have led us down a rather dark road and that these leaders, the authors and organizations that have promoted Gavin and Yvonne Frost need to be removed from favor.
To this end, I solicit your assistance in making this right. To this end, I seek your kinship in protecting children and identifying those sick members of my community who would not only tolerate this behavior, but promote it.
I am the webmaster of PaganNation.com, a site hugely rich in features, which is growing day by day. Please consider joining and helping us to establish a community of the type of morals and ethics that I have come to understand Norse Folk to hold and honor. Please look into this matter and speak out against the evils that Gavin and Yvonne have spread.
“If evil though knowest, then proclaim it to all as evil,
And make no friendship with foes. “
-Havamal
Blessed be and Live Free,
A.J. Drew
http://www.PaganNation.com
7 Responses to “An Open Letter to Norse Folk”
How is her current possible pornographic associations going to be related too at the IRWB?
By MajorTal on Aug 26, 2007
MajorTal - Darn it, you are going to spoil the surprise! Ok, here is the story from the other side. The man who was accused was accused of far more than what was on the computer. That was what they decided they could convict him on. They were wrong. At the last minute, the girls mother changed her story & that is why the man was released.
The man does not seem to have said that Freya Aswynn downloaded the Child Pornography for her own use. He seems to have said that Freya Aswynn put the files on the computer to set him up. There appears to have never been an accusation made in court that Freya Aswynn is a Child Pornographer.
In fact, I have now spoken to not only Freya Aswynn who is more than happy to go on the record (and has) on the matter, but a couple others who are not so happy to go on the record after seeing what has happened to Freya’s reputation, here is why.
Have you seen the way I am attacked by so called passifists because I am not a passifist? If you go to that article, you will note that there is a tremendous rumor mill being generated by folk who are upset with Freya because she is not a passifist, she has been rather upfront about being willing to use magick in a way that would cause harm to those who deserve harm.
Read what the passifists are saying in commenting on that article. They are ripping the woman to shreds because someone charged with Child Pornography defended himself by saying she set him up. Because of that and with no other evidence cited, they are screaming in that article and elsewhere on the Internet that she is a Child Pornographer. What the hell?
Oh now wait, there is more. These same sort of people rush to defend Gavin and Yvonne Frost who have written instructions on molesting children for Wicca, who have provided advice on how to protect the coven legaly if they choose to molest children, how to guard against child support if she becomes pregnant.
The woman is a rape and incest survivor. She was raped repeatedly as a child, beginning at the age of four. She was made a ward of the state and later institutionalized as if being raped by family members would not cause a person to be unbalanced for a time.
As I understand her version of the events, the material was found on the computer after she reported the man for inapropriate actions with a minor. As I understand her story, she has taken an oath of celebacy after the death of her husband George. My conclusion is that the passifists in the Pagan community have jumped on this opportunity to rip the woman to shreds when there is absolutly no evidence that she was ever involved in Child Pornography.
It even appears the person making the accusations in court did not claim she was a Child Pornographer, he seems to have claimed that she was setting him up. Not a legal thing to do, but a damn bit more respectable than being a Child Pornographer. Again, not that it is a legal thing to do and I am not saying she did set the man up, but I would much rather have dinner with someone who would stoop to breaking the law to protect a child than one who would break the law to harm a child.
I think she needs our support until such time that we have a reason to believe elsewise. I also think we need her support, we need examples of pagan and heathen folk standing up for what is right, even when they know they will be persecuted for doing so by those Wiccan Fundamentalists who have given Wicca a bad name.
Yes, I could be wrong in believeing she had nothing to do with it. However, it does seem that at this time, there is absolutly no evidence against her and the accusations being made are simply hatefull for other reasons. Again, please read the comments in that newspaper.
See the hate, see the motivation. What you do not see is evidence.
By A.J. Drew on Aug 26, 2007
Well I didn’t mean to be a spoiler!:P She just never struck me as the type of person to d/l Ray Gold files(#1 file sharer for kiddie porn (korn))
I do think that it will be awesome to have her at the IRWB this year for the de-frosting! I too believe that there is a conspiracy going on. You only have to be right once for it to make you think about other times. My main thought is that what if the Frosts are actually tools of a greater Christian Fundamentalist group,or for the Falwells/Robertsons/Grahams of the world. What if they were place in a Manchurian Candidate way to be influencial in the burgeoning Wiccan movement to create detrimental texts that would cast doubt and speculation on everyone else. And now after 35 years of being “figure heads” someone (you) is finally casting doubt that something is wrong with them and their followers.Here is my tuppance.
By MajorTal on Aug 27, 2007
MajorTal- I had a 16 year old employee at my last show, she now calls me her BFF AJ and I have somehow learned many other teenage texting terms, like TTFN (Ta Ta For Now). I took me a very long time. Now kiddie porn is “korn” and “Ra Gold files” is a reference to… uh korn. I can see I have an entirely new language to learn. The thing is, with the texting that my employee uses in her email, I am not afraid to look that up. I think I am afraid to look up the terms you used.
On the Frost conspiracy, I do not so much think it was thought out. I think it is more of a good ol boys club. I could be wrong but I think if they were a plant (hey, I think they are vegetables) then they would have done a great deal more and would finaly come out about it.
By A.J. Drew on Aug 27, 2007
“Korn” was stated as “Kiddie Porn” by Jonathan Davis, the lead singer of the band Korn. Now as for R@y Gold (with the @ for the “a”, that, which I highly tell you to AVOID TYPING IN on any file sharing programme (limewire/napster/morpheus/etc) it will get you some of the sickest shit out there. A police friend of mine gave me the info on that since I was spending alot of time at PJ(perverted justice).
Now since you and I are both voracious vegetarians….and you stated that the Frosts were vegetables…well…I’d rather eat meat and get sick, than eat them.:D But if they are really plants, see it’s been so long and they have reaped the benefits of being self-proclaimed “pioneers”…..they rake in tons of dough!And it’s tax free! Wouldn’t it be the idyllic job to be a stooge, and a rich one at that!!!I’d be a televangelist if I could get away with the fact that I’m robbing poor gullable people of their needed pensions!Watch “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammo”, it has Tim Curry and Annie Potts….it’s a “blast”…..:D
By MajorTal on Aug 28, 2007
Freya does have a history of vendicativess. Its not that Freya was into child porn but rather she was out to get Bernard by doing the downloads.
By thunorwine on Aug 28, 2007
Thunorwine - I demand you issue an apology for the following. You just stated as a matter of fact that Freya Aswynn downloded the pornography. If that is a factual statement, present you evidence. If it is not apologize for making such a statement without the preface of “I think” or “I believe”.
Next, lets say she did down load the material onto the computer to set the man up. What is your point? Do you feel the man was not deserving of the vendeta?
It seems to me that there are several action movies comming out at which folk will cheer when characters take the law into their own hands, fearing that the legal system will fail justice. Sure, we philosophise about what is right and what is wrong, but if a person is honest about things, they will admit that they are willing to hold a vendeta, break the law, and do other seemingly unscrupulous things if they honestly feel such is required for justice.
I’ll sum up, harm my children and I will start with your toe nails & if your body is found, it will be picked up with tweesers from sites in several different states. The last in a small vial around my neck. Probably your heart, my wife will have dibs on your penis. She likes to make beads.
Does anyone dissagree?
By A.J. Drew on Aug 28, 2007