Hail to those who find this page. You may be wondering who I am and why I have founded this page... Who I am and where I come from, that is rather easy... My name is Ayla Wolffe. I currently reside in Columbus, Ohio and am Gydhia of Kindred of the Nine Worlds. I am 39 years old and the non-custodial mother of two sons. I have been a practicing Heathen for close to sixteen years. During that time my opinions and experiences within Heathenry have gone through a lot of changes as anyone who has seen as much as I have will most likely tell you the same. Many will wonder why it is that I feel my opinion is worth putting out there. Well the truth is that is really something that is hard to say. I don't think that I'm really all that controversial... I don't think I'm that conservative either. Some may disagree with me on both fronts that is their right. On some issues I am far more conservative than in the past. On others I am now far less so. I started this page as a way of reaching out and sharing some of my more controversial views I suppose. For some time I have been writing articles that has been my way of reaching out to the Greater Heathen Community. I felt that we needed to find common ground and become allies with one another, give as much as we could and learn what community really meant. But I don't think that this is really viable in today's world. Unfortunately, we as a society have been raised so much to think as 'individuals' that we forget part of community is not to attack those trying to work for the whole but to support them. And I feel within myself the desire to pull back. I know I am not the only person who goes through this. I am not an incredibly social person on a grand scale to begin with; in my small pond I am very social, within the greater ocean it takes a huge amount of work for me to go from reef to reef to reef. Part of this is due to financial hardship, and part of this is due to the fact I have always been something of a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. So when I put myself forth I suppose that I hope, my efforts will be seen. But you cannot expect others to look inside your mind and see all you have experienced over the years much less what you are going through now. So, this is the impetus for this site. This is my outreach to those within the Greater Heathen Community who wish to read those things within my small pond I am very social, within the greater ocean it takes a huge amount of work for me to go from reef to reef to reef. Part of this is due to financial hardship, and part of this is due to the fact I have always been something of a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. So when I put myself forth I suppose that I hope, my efforts will be seen. But you cannot expect others to look inside your mind and see all you have experienced over the years much less what you are going through now. So, this is the impetus for this site. This is my outreach to those within the Greater Heathen Community who wish to read those things which I write. Whether they are articles or whether it is poetry.
Soon enough I intend to be publishing a certain amount of my poetry in a collected book. So it is doubtful that a great deal of my poetry will make its way onto this site at this time. But it is likely that at varied times I will post relevant poetry. I hope that by discussing some of the more pertinent issues here I will be able to convey those things that are closest to my heart.
Why do I call this page, much less myself Every Day Valkyrie? Isn't that presumptuous? Well yes in some ways I guess it is... But I fight for a lot of causes. I fight for those who are Disabled Heathens to be able to be more integrated into the Greater Heathen Community at large. To be able to feel they are included at public blots and not have to worry that they are going to be embarrassed by their disabilities, downgraded for being ‘bottom feeders' for being on disability, or otherwise told that in another place and time they would have been excluded from the community. I fight for the rights of Disabled Heathens to have Non-Alcoholic libation made available to them, for those who are disabled to have seating made available for longer blots and for those with disabilities to have joy in company with those who are part of a greater Troth.
I fight for a sense of dignity and joy in our faith. And I think that being an Every Day Valkyrie, is about being there for those who are part of our every day community and need a shoulder to cry on, for the right to fight for the communities we live in. It is about fighting the challenges we are given ourselves whatever they may be. I also fight for the right of all folk whether Heathen or otherwise to practice their faith(s) without being judged by a portion of the community saying that they are wrong for their beliefs, that they have not given enough weight or what have you to their practice.
I fight for Interfaith Relations as something to be held to with dignity and with joy. Not something to be seen as a duty or worse yet a competition. I fight for the right of all folk to be called by whatever Deity (s) choose them not to be told they are not worthy by someone or other who would not find them within their comfort zone. I fight for human dignity and for the expression of the divine within each of us. I also fight for the need to study, to find that balance between true education and inspiration. Not simply to go off half-cocked because that is where the trend of the times takes one. But to find oneself carried on the trail of that one elusive reason for study, that one thing that has given us the joy for scholarship. Excellence of spirit. When one excels in thought and deed, when honor is carried out in each act and when inspiration brings that unparalled inspiration that no one else would have when gnosis has been achieved I support that with all of my being. For me, that is what it means to be an Every Day Valkyrie. Does this mean I think I am more important than anyone else? Hel No! This is simply an expression of my personal path and I will strive ever onward.
