Formerly known as Odhahof-Lokabrenna Kindred, Urdabrunnr Kindred was founded in 1996 on the principles of discipline, integrity, courage and a fearless hunger to know the Gods. We are dedicated to developing strong experiential relationships with the Aesir, Vanir & Jotnar; we believe that just as mystical experience needs a good grounding in lore to be adequately conveyed, so is lore and study itself useless without Divine revelation. To that end, we strive to set aside any preconceived notions of all the different Deities and meet Them with open hearts and minds.

We consider Odin to be the head of our kindred though we honor the other Gods and Goddesses as well. To quote Diana Paxson:

"Odin is a god of magicians and warriors, followed by men and loved by women; the patron of all who live by inspiration and intellect. The root word of Odin's name, Odhr, means ecstatic consciousness."

And it is just that type of ecstatic union that we seek to develop and nurture within Urdabrunnr Kindred. We strive to do this through five specific practices:

• Honoring the Ancestors
• Personal Devotions and Meditation
• Ritual Work
• Study of Lore
• Service to the Community

Within the Kindred, everyone is encouraged to develop a personal relationship with their patron Goddess and God and occasionally we do honor Deities outside the Northern Pantheon. Honoring the ancestors and land vaettir form a major part of each and every ritual. Runemal, spaecraft and seidhr are only taught at the more advanced levels of study.

It should be noted that as a Kindred we identify ourselves as warriors and consider the warrior's path one of strictest integrity and balance, a never-ending process of learning to walk confidently, calmly with devotion and conviction. We strive to reflect the heathen ideals of courage, discipline, fidelity, honor, perseverance, industriousness, self-reliance, and truth -- the Nine Noble Virtues.



Meet Our Founder

Rev. Galina Krasskova has been a priest since 1995. Additionally, she has studied interfaith ministry at the oldest interfaith Seminary in the United Steates - the New Seminary in NYC. She continues as a guest lecturer and mentor at the New Seminary, and is part of a team of ministers for the Interfaith Fellowship in NYC, and is registered with the state of NY as a legally ordained (interfaith) minister. Ms. Krasskova holds diplomas from The New Seminary (2000), a B.A. in Religious Studies from Empire State College (2007), and an M.A. in Religious Studies from New York University (2009). She is currently pursuing a second Masters degree prior to taking a PhD in Classics.

Ms. Krasskova currently writes as a columnist for BBI Media’s Witches and Pagans Magazine, and she has a variety of published books available running the gamut from introductory texts on the Northern Tradition, runes, prayer, and devotional practices, with more books on the way. Some of her well known texts include Exploring the Northern Tradition, the first ever Heathen devotional entitled Whisperings of Woden, and Runes: Theory and Practice. These works, and all of her other texts are available on Amazon.com.

To inquire about the kindred please email Ms. Krasskova at: krasskova@gmail.com.



Additional Highlights

We're very proud of the generous spirit of one of our members and ordained gythia, Ms. Hulsman, who is currently funding out of her own checkbook free Sigdrifa's Prayer bookmarks to any currently serving Heathen who is a member of the U. S. military. For details about the program please visit here.

As a Kindred we believe in trying to preserve the beauty of the earth and our seas for future generations, and so annually we donate to the Big Sur Land Trust in California.

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