Here are some of the miracles that I have witnessed:
1969: Key individuals turn to Asatru (some without even knowing what to call it) and begin to form the first Asatru kindreds in America. The Gods wake up and begin claiming their kin.
The gods stood around me in 1991 when I was at Ymir's place and asked them to accept me into Asatru. Thor first, then the others all entered me one by one, and I felt the weight of their spirits press into my back as each one entered. I staggered and began to hear them in my mind after that. Obviously no witnesses to this, even though Ymir and Hulda were present what happened there was intensly personal and non-observable to the outside viewpoint. I write it here, mostly to remind myself that it all started on this day.
approx. 1992: When Ymir (and E.R.) prayed to Frigga to return Ymir's daughter to him, the incense burner on his altar (which we had NOT lit) shot up with a gout of flame and thick black smoke poured out of it. It did this with no one near it, and no one having lit it for at least a week. Ymir DID get his daughter back within a few days! This was witnessed by the 10 people present, including my oath-brother T. Hoffman.
appr. 1992: At CMA Beltaine the weather was very overcast and the air was heavy with the smell of rain. The Wiccans (and etc.) were afraid that their day would be ruined and that the Revel fire would not be able to happen that (Saturday) night. When Ymir caught wind of their worries, he asked them why don't they just take control of the weather? They thought he was joking at first. When they realized that he wasn't joking, they seemed scared, or offended. When Ymir realized that they COULDN'T control the weather, he volunteered to clear up the air for them. By now it was darker, and beginning to sprinkle. Ymir called all of E.R. to form up, and we did a hammer-signing, then an adoration to Sunna. After the adoration Ymir asked Sunna to clear the air so that the Wiccans could have their festival, and so that they would know the might of Sunna. Within 30 seconds the rain had stopped, the clouds had parted, the Sun came out, and it was a bright and clear sky directly over us, in any other direction, though the sky was dark, but over us it was clear. Then around about 2:00 PM it had begun to cloud over again, E.R. once again did an adoration and requested Sunna to clear the sky again, and within 10 seconds there was a dramatic change that all present witnessed (several hundred people). Most of the Wiccans (and etc.) seemed to be quite scared at what they saw there that day. But by the end of the weekend, they were unabashedly coming into our campground to learn more about Asatru and to ask us for weather blessings!
Winternights 1992: E.R. was camped on our 10 acre plot of land. There was an alf-tree on our property. We left cookies and ale for the alfs, and walked away. When we came back about 2 minutes later, to drop off some more that someone had brought, we found that of the original 5 cookies, 2 were missing, one was turned and 1 was moved about 6 inches over from where it had been placed, the ale that we left was diminished also. Everyone that got near that tree felt the presence of "something" all around it. I would not normally include such a simple example, as we have dozens of these and they are not individually impressive, but this particular one was accompanied by such a charge of emotion by everyone present that I included it. I don't want to forget it. It was a powerful experience for those present. Witnessed by maybe 8 people.
c. 1993: Vithar is practicing with a Katana in the back yard of a house on Sagehaven Rd. His friend Rick jokingly asks him if he'd remembered to ask the tree's permission to whach its branches off with the sword. Vithar finds this very funny, and full of testoterone, he laughs and says, "The tree can stop me if it CAN!" He then strikes at a small branch about the size of his ring-finger. There is a loud clang, the sword breaks, and Vithar ducks and throws his arms over his head, cowering down as the sword falls down around him in three pieces. The branch, upon examination is cut about 1/4 of the way through. The sword broke completely cleanly in two different places. The sword did not impact the branch at either of the places it broke! Vithar learns to never again grant a tree permission to stop him!!!
Yule 1992: E.R. sacrificed a sow to Odin (and had a barbeque). When the time came, during the blessing for the sacrifice to be made, the pig, who had been quite contrary since arriving at the site that day, calmly walked over to the sacrificial block and laid down on it. No one even had to hold the pig down, the same pig that had run away and drug 4 big guys along with it earlier in the day!
October 1998: Vithar, Ty and Torvald and others from the kindred go to the Renaissance Festival in Plantersville, TX. It is a rainy day and is clouded over. We have the kids with us, and they are looking miserable in the rain. We are there that day to be part of a pagan festival, we are supposed ot meet some other Asatruar for the first time, while we are there. We feel that that justifies asking for Sunna's intervention in the weather patterns. Once we walk into the entry gate and are standing in the main square, we decide to ask Sunna for a clear day and to dry up the mud the rain has caused. Vithar and Ty do an adoration to Sunna, and ask for her to clear up the sky and dry the ground. Within a few second (less than 10) the rain lets up and the sky begins to clear. Within a few minutes the sun is out and shining. Within an hour it is a hot day and the ground is steaming as the water gets evaporated off of it. Within a couple of hours, people around us are commenting on what a hot day it is. We do another adoration and thank Sunna for her earlier help, and ask her if she can back off just a tad. Within a minute or two a few clouds pass over the sun and the day becomes partly cloudy. That day the weather went from dark, windy and rainy to clear and hot, to partly cloudy, all at our request, thanks to Sunna!
March 1997: Vithar and Ty travel to Arizona to meet with Kirby Wise in Bouse, AZ. While there, we decide to drive from Bouse, AZ to Las Vegas, Nevada. On the journey we are accompanied the ENTIRE way by two ravens who follow us from the bottom of AZ to Las Vegas, and from there to the Grand Canyon, then back across the state of AZ to Kirby's place again! A meteorite misses our car by about 2 feet, and in Sedona, AZ Ty receives a verbal and visual message from a godess and I receive a powerful vision from the gods and goddesses as well.
Early 1999: Vithar, Ty and Dick are at the Celtic Festival. It is a rainy day. We do an adoration to Sunna and ask for her help with the weather. Within seconds the weather has cleared up. Witnessed by about 20 people that were standing nearby, but enjoyed by everyone at the Festival!
Midsummer 1999: I.W. holds a Midsummer Festival at Torvald's house in Baytown, TX. It has been raining every day for 2 weeks or so previous to this day. Every day for the week before the event, people (even I.W. members) want to know if we are cancelling the event due to weather. I tell everyone not to worry that Sunna is on our side! The night before the event I arrive at Torvald to help set up. The back yard needs mowing so I undertake to mow the entire lot and a half back yard. It is raining heavily and there is standing water all over, up to 7 inches or more in some places. I mow the whole lot anyway. I don't bother to call on Sunna at this point because I know that it is not good to change the weather patterns at a whim. So far, only I was suffering and that is not reason enough to ask Sunna to intervene. People were worried that the ground would be muddy and no one could walk around on it. I kept reassuring everyone. The next morning at 7:00 AM, Dæg, Torvald, Thorgrim, and I walked out on the front driveway. The day was dark and cloudy, and it was raining (of course). I led an adoration to Sunna, then I prayed that she give us a clear day, dry up the mud, but not hit us with so much heat that the heat was a problem! Within 10 seconds the rain stopped. Within another few second the clouds literally parted in the sky and the sun was visible for the first time in days. The weather stayed clear all day long, one time we got about 40 seconds worth of rain, while standing in bright sunlight, with no clouds in the sky! The ground had NO standing water on it by the time the first guests arrived, and the mud was not a problem. Only one small part of the yard was still muddy and no one had any problem with it. We were able to hold our festival in good, clear weather while all around us in the city people experienced thunderstorms and random showers. Sunna once again proved her value and power! Hail Sunna!!
Sure, Vithar, I have a few of what might be called "miracles". I prefer to think of them as just observations of how much the gods care for me, but that's just sophistry (and you know what a sophist I am <grin>).
The most recent was at Gothic War (an SCA event). The rain shut down the fighting around 2:00 or so in the afternoon. It was pretty warm, though raining, so we mostly just laughed at all those who were packing up to go home. Vicki went over to a merchant's tent where some folks were drumming under their tent, and started dancing in the rain, enjoying Thor's blessing. The land needed this rain, and it was being sent with warm weather.
Later in the day, however, it started getting colder. We intended to stay the night, and wanted to party. There wouldn't be much of a party if everyone left, or if it continued to rain and got colder. So Vicki asked me to go ask for some clear weather.
I took a beer out to a tree near our camp, and asked Njord, Thor, Ullr, and Odin to hold off on executing their watering of the parched earth for a bit, so we could enjoy the evening, maybe recruit some potential Fraymen, and demonstrate their power to a Christian guy with a pretty open mind with whom I'd been arguing religion. Within minutes, a corridor of clear sky opened up, starting directly over us and extending upwind perhaps 10 miles.
After about an hour, the corridor started shrinking, so I took a horn of mead to the tree, and asked the landsvaettir to hold off on their pleas for rain, and asked the gods once more to go easy on us, in addition to thanking them for already showing their hand. The corridor expanded a bit again, and remained all night long. Shortly before dawn, we had a few light showers which were gone before we got up to pack.
We've had a few other experiences, but most have been pretty private - with few or no credible witnesses. This one was very public, and my Christian friend was very impressed.
Here's another example from the Godhi of another kindred:
Hi Vithar, I wanted to share this event that happened to us.
In May we went down to ****** creek to hold an emergency meeting for Rick *********, the one I asked you to pray for. He and his family lost everything. [The person he's referring to lost his house, car, job, some land property -Vithar's note] We prayed and offered up some mead and ale. Not sure exactly who to ask, we prayed to Njord and Thor. He's a machinist, so Thor seemed right. Nothing happened right then, and I called him a couple of days later and nothing had happened.
But 2 week later in first of June Rick told me that his lawsuit reached a settlement, he had found employment, got the settlement money, found a house that the previous owner had a forge in the backyard! I don't if this qualifies, but he had been without work and his lawsuit had been held up for so long that it seemed like a miracle to him.
Send me your miracles! vith ar at go hea_ then dot org If I need to protect your name, obviously I will, but I'd like some letters that can be signed as well.