Watchman's Teaching Letter #48 April 2002

 
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This is my forty-eighth monthly teaching letter and completes my fourth year of publication. While preparing this letter, I have been following the so-called War on Terrorism.” I notice this war is taking on unusual proportions. It seems that the powers that be are allying themselves with very unusual regimes in order to gain their objectives. Everything appears to revolve around who does or doesn’t support the Israelis. With this thought in mind, I’m going to make two predictions based on Scripture.

Isaiah 8:14 speaks of Jerusalem as being for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants (riffraff Jews) of Jerusalem.” Under the U.N. Jerusalem became a burdensome stone for all people”, Zechariah 12:3. In that context, I predict that anyone who supports the Israelis (false Judah) will only be confounded, and their patronage come to naught. Though we pour gigantic sums of money into that rat-hole, it will never, under any circumstance, accomplish peace.” Hence, we are fighting a stalemate battle in this so-called War on Terrorism.” This fact brings us to the second reason why a peace treaty between the so-called Jews” and the Moslem world can never be achieved.

Not only is peace perpetually illusive in that region, but the curse of Cain overshadows those Jews.” That curse being that they should always be fugitives” and vagabonds”, Genesis 4:12. A vagabond is described in any dictionary as: a worthless person; a wanderer without any home.” For a better description, look up #5110 and #5128 in Gesenius’. That is why you’ll find the Jews” are scattered among all nations, but not truly citizens of any. The true Jacobite Israelites, on the other hand, became nations, but the Jews” are only parasite entities within nations. They have never had a permanent home, and they never will! Oh, yes, they are striving for that in Palestine, but try as they might, the curse of Cain by the Almighty will not let that happen either! Their very lifestyle literally screams they are of Cain! Now, if one listens to the anti-seedliners, they will claim the Jews” are not descendants of Cain, thus making the them exempt from any such curse. Therefore, I challenge any or all the anti-seedliners to prove the curse of Cain” is not presently upon those Jews.” Again, based upon this Scriptural premise, I will predict the Jews” will never on God’s green earth establish Palestine as a permanent home! It’s not in the cards! When this Biblical truth is realized by the political governmental prostitutes of our genuine Israel lands, perhaps we can, at last, acquire some semblance of propriety. Until then, we true Israelites can only bleed and die, as we have done in the past, for an unobtainable cause.

The anti-seedline scandalmongers are now spreading the gossip that I’m a very confused man.” If anyone is confused, it’s the anti-seedliners who pretend to be watchmen”! Well, if they’re true watchmen”, what enemy are they watching for? Biblically, a watchman was posted to warn of an intruding enemy. Can one’s flesh” be an intruding enemy? In essence, they are claiming the flesh is the devil. Under that premise, when Yahweh came in the flesh, He became half God and half devil. Col. John R. Niemela, Ret. made that flesh” inference in an E-mail to Willie Martin, which I have in my files. Col. John R. Niemela appears to be an understudy and attack dog for Lt. Col. Jack Mohr.  Furthermore, I am now being condemned by these same people for documenting my materials from the several books in my library. It’s just another rendering of the old adage, much learning hath made thee mad.” May I pose a question? If all fleshly men are fighting an equal war with the flesh, why are the Jews” more evil than the rest? Some of the prisons are now confiscating my Special Notices To All Who Deny Two Seedline brochures and keeping them from the inmates. If the truth be unpopular, So be it!

By the way, Col. John R. Niemela, Ret. is incorrect when he claims in his letter to Willie Martin: No reference to this convoluted [two seedline] doctrine can be found in the early Church ...” According to The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, vol H-L, page 403, The Protevangelium Of James”, written by the half brother of Yahshua was known to the church-father Origen. Chapter 10, verses 1-10 describe clearly Satan’s physical seduction of Eve. What ever happened to the injunction study to show thyself approved”?

As I promised in the last lesson, we will now continue with the subject of Norse Mythology. In the course of that discussion the subject of the millennium came to the fore, demanding some commentary as well. You will need that previous lesson to fully grasp this one. As stated therein, confusion abounds on this subject. In order to see the various views on this, I will now quote from the New Geneva Study Bible from the foreword on the book of Revelation, page 2004 under the heading Interpretive Difficulties”:

... Interpreters disagree concerning the period of time and the manner in which the visions of 6:1—18:24 are fulfilled. Preterists’ think fulfillment occurred in the fall of Jerusalem (if Revelation was written in A.D. 67-68), the fall of the Roman Empire, or both. Futurists’ think fulfillment will occur in a period of final crisis just before the Second Coming. Historicists’ think [that] 6:1—18:24 offers a basically chronological outline of the course of church history from the first century (6:1) until the Second Coming (19:11). Idealists’ think that the scenes of Revelation depict not specific events but principles of spiritual war. The principles are operative throughout the church age and may have repeated embodiments ...”

Primarily, the Historicists’ view is correct, although the Preterists have many things correct, especially on Matthew 24. If, as stated here, Revelation was written in 67-68 A.D., why did John even waste his time, for under this supposition it was fulfilled two years later in 70 A.D. at the fall of Jerusalem? If, as some think, Revelation was written about 90 A.D., the Preterists have it fulfilled before it was written. Oddly enough, most in Identity take the Furturists view on the millennium which corresponds with the rapture of the Church position. If one projects the millennium a thousand years into the future, as most do, then the attack of Gog and Magog on America is not presently imminent. Therefore, presumption of this could be a most dangerous position. To show you the idea of a future millennium was foreign to the reformers, I will now quote from a facsimile of the original Geneva Bible. Although the New Geneva Study Bible is not the same as the old original Geneva Bible, they have some interesting comments. If you’re thinking of purchasing a Geneva Bible, you may be disappointed if you buy the current one. Now quoting from the original Geneva Bible on the facing page to Revelation entitled The Order Of Time” (I will substitute to some extent modern spelling):

THE ORDER OF TIME ... (70 A.D.) When the Church of the Jews was overthrown, the dragon invaded the Catholic Church, all this in the 12th chap. The dragon is bound for a 1000 years, chap 20. The dragon raiseth up the beast with seven heads, and the beast with two heads, which make havoc of the Church Catholic, and her Prophets for 1260 years after the passion of Christ, chaps. 13 & 11. (97 A.D.) The seven Churches are admonished of things present, somewhat before the end of Domitian’s reign, and are forewarned of the persecution to come under Trajan for ten years, chap 2 & 3. God by word and signs provoketh the world, and sealeth the godly, chaps. 6 & 7. He showeth forth examples of his wrath upon all creatures, mankind excepted, chap. 8. (1073 A.D.) The dragon is let loose after 1000 years, and Gregory the VII being Pope, rageth against Henrie the third then Emperor, chap. 20 ...”

While the reformers had a correct historical outlook on this prophecy, they were somewhat blind to the contemporary historical events happening around them. You can plainly see by the notes of the reformers in the Geneva Bible that they indicate the millennium is already past. While lacking insight into prophecy yet unfulfilled in their time, they nevertheless did quite well. Many today project this loosing of Satan a thousand years in the future. My God, don’t tell me we are going to have to go through all this hell we are now experiencing twice! You mean that a thousand years in the future we are going to have to start paying income tax all over again, and all that associated monetary B.S.? Surely, we won’t have to fight and die in Jewish” planned wars once more at that future date. You mean that after Yahshua returns in triumph, He is going to cave-in to Satan (the Jews”)?; that somehow, after His final Victory, He is going to allow us to be deceived anew? Are we, after a thousand years, going to have to go through this miscegenation race-mixing thing once more? If that happens, there won’t be any White people left. Are we to believe that after this so-called future millennium” the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve system will be rechartered so the Jews” might once more gain a foothold on our finances so they can repurchase all the media and deceive all of us Israelites once more? Does this mean that our Redeemer, after his Second Advent, when He will be with us, is going to sit idly by and let the serpent Jews” take over again? Some seem to intimate that poor old God can’t do anything right!

This idea of a future millennium is built around a non-biblical theory called dispensationalism.” It presupposes that after each one thousand years since Adam, the Almighty scrapped His plans and started all over again. This is somehow conjectured to represent a week in God’s calendar. It is hypothesized that the future millennium will represent a Sabbath of rest for the Almighty when He will retire after such a disastrous failure in His program. The only problem is, if we go by the chronological dates of the Septuagint, we are now approximately 7,500 years after Adam. If these dates are correct, it puts us 500 years beyond that so-called millennium period. One of the Scriptures used to reinforce a future millennium is Hosea 6:1-2 which says:

1 Come and let us return unto Yahweh: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.”

Interestingly, future millennium proponents assign each day as 1000 years, with which I agree. They theorize the smiting” as the Crucifixion, placing the millennium about 2037 A.D. Rather than speaking the Crucifixion, this passage addresses three campaigns against Israel and Judah (except for Jerusalem) covering a period from 745 to 681 B.C. Two thousand years from this period would be approximately 1255 to 1319 A.D. This passage indicates only after two days” and the raising up would be in the third day. That brings us up to the date of the great Reformation about 1375 to 1425 A.D.

It appears the Norse, in their unconverted state, had a better handle on this thing than we have now. The amillennialist position (that the millennium is already past) is the only position that makes any sense, for Satan has been loosed from his ghetto and we are now in the era of his great deception. If you don’t believe it, just try telling someone today’s Jews” are not God’s chosen people! You can’t get anymore deceived than that! Do you think the Almighty, after straightening us out on that one, is going to allow us to fall in that ditch again? If you believe in a future millennium, then you do! To believe in a future one thousand year millennium is at variance with 2 Thes. 2:8 which states unequivocally that Satan will be destroyed at Yahshua’s second coming. If that Wicked” is going to be destroyed at that point, how is Satan going to raise his head again a second time? That verse reads:

And then shall that Wicked be revealed whom Yahshua shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.”

If you will check Adam Clarke’s Commentary on The Bible on Rev. 20:2, you will find it was consultation with the Jews” that brought about this futurist view. Yes, the idea of a future millennium is a Jewish” Pharisaically leavened doctrine!

Now let’s take a look at history to see whether or not the 1000 year millennium could be past. If the serpent Jews” were chained in the bottomless pit when Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus in 70 A.D., then we should look for a significant point in history where they were loosed from the ghettos. At this point, if you’re thinking I’m a preterist, I’m not! Yes, there was an important date in history which can show a connection to such a turning point of events. All this happened in a period from 1066-1146 A.D. I will now quote from A History Of The Jews In England by Albert M. Hyamson, chapter 2 entitled Under the Normans”, page 7:

 

Whether Jews were settled in England before the Conquest or not, it is certain that a Jewish immigration into England took place early in the reign of William the Conqueror. The exact date of their settlement is again unknown, but they came from Rouen, and their advent was one of the direct consequences of the conquest.

England at the period of the Norman invasion was inhabited almost entirely by land-holders of various grades, villeins, and Churchmen. A small proportion of the population was engaged in trades, but the commercial class was unrepresented. The country was divided between the upper and lower classes, while of the middle there was as yet neither representative nor substitute. So long as the English were content to remain at home, either on their estates or in their villages, and took no practical interest in external affairs, the ordinary produce of the soil and district was sufficient to supply their wants, and the baron, his retainers, and villeins lived at home in plenty, and found sufficient to enable them to visit their neighbours on either friendly or hostile errands. When, however, the desire to leave that somewhat narrow sphere arose, other needs came. Payment in kind when attempted beyond the smallest limits becomes so cumbersome as to be hardly practicable, and the wider one’s interest spread the more pressing becomes the necessity for a reliable and convenient means of exchange. To satisfy the requirements of the advance in the state of civilization that marked the advent of the Normans to England, in the first place coin, and in the second the machinery of commerce, were required. Both could be supplied by the Jews. Excluded from almost all other callings in life, the Jews of Europe had perforce to devote themselves more and more to finance and trade. In these twin occupations, reinforced by their sharpened intelligence, due doubtless to the almost continuous persecution that Jewry had even then suffered, the Jews of the Middle Ages excelled. In the economy of Norman England the Jews were well fitted to take the place of the middle class, and in the natural course, whether at the special invitation of the king or their own initiative, the Jews must inevitably have found their way into the country.

It has been suggested that a large sum of money was paid by the Jews to William for permission to settle in England. To such an extent, however, was it to the interest of the king that they should cross the Channel that it is not likely there was any need to bribe him. William was specially anxious that the feudal dues should be paid him in coin rather than in kind, but without the assistance of the Jews or a similar capitalist element such payment was impossible. The Jews brought with them coin that speedily got into circulation. The king was enabled to purchase luxuries and to satisfy his military requirements; the barons were assisted to pay their dues; suitors who found it necessary to follow the king’s court from one town to another, or to go to Rome to plead their causes before the Papal Curia, found their course rendered easier by Jewish money. Not only were the Jews instrumental in keeping the royal treasury filled, but they also managed to attract some of the odium that would otherwise have fallen upon the king and his more regularly appointed officials, and to a corresponding degree they were instrumental in relieving the latter. A charter, confirmed by John, was granted, at any rate to individual Jews, by Henry I. By this the Jews were given freedom of movement with their goods in the country, and excused from all customs, tolls. &c., just as the king’s goods were. They were given permission to reside wherever they wished. They might claim redress if molested, and hold lands in pledge until redeemed. They were permitted to buy whatever was brought to them, excepting church property and crimson clothe ... to sell their pledges after holding them a year and a day, to be tried by their peers, and to be sworn on the Pentateuch. A Jew’s oath was considered valid against the oaths of twelve Christians. To a considerable extent the Jews’ transactions consisted of loans on the security of land, and they were by law permitted to charge a very high interest. The king levied a tax on those transactions in return for the protection he extended to the Jews, and as he often accepted money from the Jews’ debtors for the use of his influence on their behalf, the transactions of the Jews proved doubly remunerative to the crown.”

 

From this evidence, we can now comprehend that the Jews” had managed to free themselves from the ghettos at this particular time which figures almost exactly one thousand years after Jerusalem fell to Titus. After this, the Jews” would manage to infiltrate the Catholic Church via the Jesuit system from which Adam Weishaupt emerged, forming the Illuminati. From the Illuminati eventually came the United Nations, the instrument by which the Nations are being deceived, thus fulfilling Revelation 20:2-3. Isn’t it simply amazing that the Illuminati was formed just a couple of months before our day of Independence; May 1, 1776 as compared to July 4, 1776?

At a later time, we will again address more concerning prophecy. We really need to take a short walk through Daniel and Revelation in order to comprehend where various exegetical misinterpretations have been made. Let’s now continue the History Of The Norwegian People by Knut Gjerset, Ph.D., page 104:

 

Another divinity which, especially in Sweden, was worshiped more extensively than Odin himself was Frey, the son of Njørd the god of the sea.  He was the god of weather and of harvests, and was regarded as the giver of riches. He became so enamored with the beautiful Jøtun maiden Gerd that he could neither eat nor sleep. One day he sat on Lidskjalv in Aasgaard and saw her far to the north, and so beautiful was she that she made sky and ocean resplendent with light. He sent his servant, Skirne (Skírnir), to woo her, but in order to win her he had to surrender his greatest treasure, his sword, and when Ragnarok comes, he will be slain by Surt, because he has no weapon/emspan style=/spanspan style= with which to defend himself.”

 

It is very essential here to point out the fact the Norse understood the importance of owning a sword and knowing how to use it. In our day, the gun has become our sword, and likewise, we too, should be familiar with its proper use and its dangers. It appears the Norse lesson to be derived here is: not to get so involved in another important phase of life that we forget the consequence of not having our defensive weapons. Yes, there is a time for love, but there also is a time for war. We really need two swords in our battle against the dragon.” It’s often said: the pen is mightier than the sword.” We should understand the use of that weapon also, and its dangers. Now continuing to quote again:

 

Heimdall, one of the oldest deifications of the heavens, is the sentinel of the gods, and lives at Bifrost, the celestial bridge over which gods and men ride to Valhal. Vidar, the silent one, is, next to Thor, the strongest of the gods. Æge (Ægir) is the ocean god, and Brage the god of poesy and eloquence.

In Norse mythology there are twelve or thirteen principal gods, and an equal number of goddesses (ásynjur). Frigg is Odin’s wife and the queen of heaven, and dwells in Fensale, far to the west where the sun sets in the sea. Freyja, the beautiful goddess of love, lives in Folkvang, where the great hall Sessrymne is found. To her belongs one half of the warriors who fall on the battlefield, and she is accorded the right of first choice. Idun, Brage’s wife, called the good goddess, keeps the apples from which the gods eat to preserve their youth. Thor’s wife is the beautiful Siv (Sif), with hair of gold. Skade, Njørd’s wife, was, like Gerd, of Jøtun race, and Snotra was the goddess of good sense and womanly graces.”

 

With this segment, it is remarkable to notice the Norse had twelve or thirteen principle gods.” It should be immediately noticeable that this corresponds to the twelve or thirteen tribes of Israel, depending how they are counted. Surely this is more than mere coincidence. We notice, at this juncture, the subject of race is also introduced. To show the Norse were very cognizant of race, I will now quote from the book Northern Antiquities, translated from the French of M. Mallet by Bishop Percy, pages 366-367:

The Skald describes the thralls as having black hair, an unsightly countenance, an uncouth appearance, and as being of a low and deformed stature; physiological traits, characteristic of the Lapps, who were probably reduced to a state of vassalage by their Scandinavian conquerors. The destiny of the thralls is, of course, to toil incessantly, in order that by their labour, the churls may obtain sufficient produce from the earth to enable the nobles to live with becoming splendour. The Skald shows his contempt for this cast by giving Thræll’s sons such names as Frousy, Stumpy, Plumpy, Sooty-face, Slowpace, Homespun, &c. and calling his daughters Lazybody, Cranefoot, Smokynose Tearclout &c ... But the Skald reserves all his eloquence for the nobles, who, he tells us, have fair hair, a clear complexion and fine piercing eyes, their sole avocations being to wield the sword, dart and javelin, rein the fiery steed, chase the deer, and other elegant amusements, which Jarl’s descendants still delight to astonish the churls with ...  For our own part we are inclined to regard an aristocratic feeling as one of the inherent psychological traits of the Teutonic race, and this trait was unquestionably, in the olden time, more conspicuous among the nations forming the Scandinavian branch of this race, than among those constituting its Germanic branch.”

This book was written in 1859, and is not the original work by Mallet in French. Today, the Jews” would have a book like this banned as being politically incorrect”! Continuing now quoting the History Of The Norwegian People by Knut Gjerset, Ph.D., page 105:

 

Before Ragnarok evil passes all bounds. For three years there is perpetual strife. Brothers fight and kill each other, the ties of blood relationship are broken, morals are corrupted, and one person has no compassion for the other. Then follow three years of constant winter, the Fimbulwinter (the great winter).  Finally Yggdrasil trembles, Fenre breaks his fetters, and the Midgardsorm comes out of the ocean. Surt, the fire demon, comes; Loke is free again and leads the sons of Muspell and other forces of destruction to the final battle with the gods on the plain Vigrid. Fenre kills Odin, but is in turn slain by the powerful Vidar. Thor and the Midgardsorm kill each other; Frey is slain by Surt; Ty fights against Hel’s hound Garm, and both fall. Surt finally hurls fire over the earth; the sun grows dark, and the earth sinks into the ocean, fire consumes all – the world of strife and bloodshed has disappeared.”

 

Are we not told something similar to this in 2 Tim. 3:1-5?: 1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God: 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

As we continue from The History Of Norway on page 105, see if you can detect anything analogous to Scripture:

 

Out of the ocean, says the volva, rises a new green earth, where grain fields grow without being sown, and where no evil exists. Here, on the Fields of Ida, the gods who have survived Ragnarok reassemble. Balder, who has returned from Hel, is there; also Vidar, Hød, Hønir, and Thor’s sons, Mode and Magne.  A new race of men are also born.

Pursuing her story, the volva says: A hall I see • on the heights of Gimle, • brighter than the sun, • and covered with gold; • righteous men • shall dwell there • in endless happiness.’

This hall is a perfect contrast to Valhal, where the heroes even after death amuse themselves by fighting and slaying each other; in Gimle the righteous live in peace and happiness.  Gimle is the safe and secure home ornamented with precious stones. Sophus Bugge thinks that the Fields of Ida are in reality the Christian Garden of Eden, and the Gimle is the heavenly Jerusalem described in Revelation 21:10-21: ‘10. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11. Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like jasper stone, clear as crystal. 21. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl; and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.’

And, says the volva, bringing her narrative to a closing climax: From above comes • to the great judgment • the powerful one, • the ruler of all.’

This is the ruler of the new world whose name not even the volva knows. In Norse mythology the world is pictured as a scene of perpetual struggle between good and evil, and never-ending combat between the powers of life and the forces of destruction, and it is especially noteworthy that this struggle is a great tragedy in which the gods suffer complete overthrow.  Balder was killed, Loke and Fenre broke their fetters; the struggle against evil has been unsuccessful on every point.  Most of the leading gods themselves are destroyed by the forces of evil in the great final battle at Ragnarok. But evil, too, passes away with the world of strife in which it has existed.  This thought of the overthrow and destruction of the greatest gods seems to be a new feature which could not very well have been developed until the faith in the old divinities was beginning to waver, and people began to feel that there was a heaven higher than Valhal and Vingolv, that true happiness was not to be found in strife, but in peace and righteousness, and that there was a god whom they did not yet know, who was more powerful than the Æsir, and who, in the new world, would establish a reign of justice, peace, and happiness.

The Hyndluljóð’ says: Then comes another god • still mightier, • but his name • I dare not mention; • few can now • see farther • than to Odin’s • meeting with the wolf.’”

 

From this segment, there can be absolutely no doubt that the Norse knew the tenets of Two Seedline doctrine when it says: In Norse mythology the world is pictured as a scene of perpetual struggle between good and evil, and never-ending combat between the powers of life and the forces of destruction ...” How much plainer can it be? Where do all these anti-seedliners get-off promoting their twisted form of theology? Does this statement appear like the Norse applied this struggle to the flesh?” No wonder these anti-seedliners condemn documentation! They continue to go about in their little self-righteous 2x4 world trying to make up their own rules for everyone else to live by, and that without any Biblical, historical or scientific documentation whatsoever. Scripture is replete with examples of false teachers such as these. Now let’s continue on with The History Of Norway:

 

The worship might be carried on privately in the home, where the head of the family would sacrifice to the gods, and bring offerings to their images, but it was usually conducted in temples, hov (O.N. hof), or in simpler sanctuaries, horg (O.N. horgr), of which no description is given in the old writings.  They seem to have been simple structures, stone altars, or the like, erected in the open, and dedicated especially to the worship of goddesses. In the Hyndluljóð’ Freyja says: Horg he built me, • made of stone, • now the stones have turned to glass; • with fresh blood • of oxen he sprinkled them • Ottar always believed in goddesses.’

R. Keyser and P.A. Munch are of the opinion that many of the stone circles found in Norway are remnants of this kind of sanctuaries. These circles, which are formed by placing great stones in an upright position, are often very large, and may have had an altar in the center.

The temple consisted of two parts; the large assembly hall, or nave, and the shrine, a smaller room in the rear end of the building, corresponding to the choir of the Christian churches. The images of the gods were placed in a half-circle in the shrine. At the center stood the altar (stallr), upon which lay a large gold ring (baugr), upon which all solemn oaths were sworn. The bowl containing the blood of the sacrificed animals (hlautbolli) was placed on the altar by the priest (goði), who, with a stick (hlautteinn), sprinkled it on the images of the gods, and on the persons present. The meat of the animals was boiled, and served to the assembled people in the large hall of the temple, where toasts were drunk to the gods for victory and good harvests. The sanctuary and the grounds belonging to it was called vé, a holy or sacred place, and any one who violated its sanctity was called varg i véum (wolf in the sanctuary), and was outlawed. Three religious festivals were held each year: one at the beginning of winter (October 14), the vinternatsblót, or haustblót, to bid winter welcome; another at midwinter (January 14), midvintersblót, for peace and good harvest; and a third, sommerblót, held on the first day of summer (April 14), for victory on military expeditions.

The temples seem to have been quite numerous, but especially well known were the ones at Sigtuna and Upsala in Sweden, at Leire (Hleidra) in Denmark, and at Skiringssal in Norway. There was in the North no distinct class of priests.  The priestly functions were exercised by the herser and the jarls, and even by the king himself. Women, too, might serve as priestesses (gyðja). In Iceland the gode (O.N. goði) held about the same position as the herse in Norway. He was a chieftain, and the temple in which he served as priest was built on his estates.”