The Eighth Day of Yuletide

From the Asatru Folk Assembly:

On the Seventh Day of Yuletide we lit a candle to Community. Today we light a candle to its apparent opposite, Individuality.

Contradictory? Paradoxical? No, just another fundamental trait of the Northern European psyche, one illustrating the need for a consciously-maintained, dynamic balance rather than the will-less absorption of the self into a featureless consistency.

Historically, the peoples of Europe are comfortable with cooperation and hierarchy - hence the value of Community. We are also the most ego-driven, self-assertive, and individualistic primates on the planet. Both these traits are perfectly capable of existing in the same human heart at the same moment.

So light that candle for Individuality, hold it high, and defy any attempt by the group to blow it out!