Our Principles

For over 100 years, twelve step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous have maintained a coherent culture and avoided any major public controversy. We believe that they have accomplished this by placing their group mission and principles above individual egos and personalities, and by governing themselves according to their Twelve Traditions.

The Godsring Heathen Fellowship has adopted the Twelve Traditions of AA as our basic principles of governance, and adapted them to suit our group purpose:

  1. Our common welfare should come first; personal spiritual well-being depends upon group unity.
  2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — our gods and goddesses as they express themselves in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
  3. The only requirement for membership in the Godsring is a desire to lead a spiritual life through traditional Germanic folkways.
  4. Each local chapter should be autonomous except in matters affecting other chapters or the Godsring as a whole.
  5. The Godsring has but one primary purpose — to exemplify a spiritual way of life that honors the gods and goddesses of the Germanic traditions.
  6. The Godsring ought never endorse, finance, or lend the Godsring name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
  7. The Godsring and each local chapter ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
  8. The Godsring should remain forever non-professional, but our facilities may employ special workers.
  9. The Godsring ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
  10. The Godsring has no opinion on outside issues; hence the Godsring name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
  11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity in any form of media.
  12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.