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Article Specs
Article ID: 16036
VoxAcct: 238626
Section: words
Age Group: Adult
Days Up: 148
Times Read: 4,700
RSS Views: 7,502
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Nazis Made Us Change Our Name
Author: Treasach [a WitchVox Sponsor]
Posted: April 30th. 2017
Times Viewed: 4,700
Neopaganism has always had a racism problem, which I personally have written about before, but the current incursion is something new, though not unheard of in history. A branch of the neo-Nazi "alt-right" movement has taken yet another page out of Hitler's book and misappropriated traditional symbols and beliefs as a framework for their white supremacist agenda. Radical Christianity somehow isn't white, patriarchal, warlike, colonizing, and genocidal enough for these monsters, and they have created a revolting and delusional appropriative version of Odinism, also known as Asatru, to justify their hate-mongering world view.
Hitler knew that he needed a mythology to help link his people to an ideal. He very carefully chose the Wagnerian operas and idealized traditional Odinism, or the traditional beliefs of Scandinavian areas, to communicate the concept of a Master Race. Even before the War, those who advocated his beliefs were often identified by an idealized version of traditional dress or hair style. Even though most Germans considered themselves Christian at the time, Valkyries and other mythological figures were re-interpreted and appropriated to symbolize the blond hair, blue eyed ideal Warrior cult.
These neo-Nazis have taken up that mantle and embraced the idealized concepts of a White Warrior race that destroyed everything in its path, that current western culture and Christianity create "cucks" and "homos" and that these traditional "men" were Alpha Males; all of which are totally refuted creations of the PUA culture. They use the symbology of Odinists and other traditional Northern European groups to identify and provide a framework for this worldview, to the horror of actual pagans everywhere. NeoNazis are attempting to re-create these idealized "values" in the modern world.
It’s particularly ironic, considering that Norse, Viking, and other peoples of that area would have no idea what Nazis are talking about. Though there were thousands of tribes, European Aboriginals were usually far more egalitarian than most modern Western culture, within their own groups. So the Nazis have to be rather selective in their interpretations. There were obviously LBGT pagans, and most cultures provided respected space for them. Though rarer, there were always People of Colour in Northern Europe, but most folks identified by *tribe* and not by something as random as skin or hair or eye colour. (The Last Kingdom series depicts this beautifully.) Unfortunately for their narrative, Danes and other groups only went “a-Viking” occasionally. It’s hard to maintain group resources for this pretend “warrior” class. The rest of the time they were farmers and craftpeople, just like everyone else. Ya gotta make a living, folks…
As a fairly recent trend, this new incursion into heathenism hasn't met with much resistance in the neo-pagan movement - largely because it's not a legitimate spiritual offspring, and partly in hopes that they just go away. Modern heathens and Asatru have few tools to cope, since this new version is unlike anything they have ever seen, and it doesn't come from them. It's more of a hostile takeover. Much like the Skinheads trying to brand themselves as Punks in the 70's and 80's, this new sub-group of Neo-Nazis has embraced their own version of heathenism to promote their hate-mongering agenda.
A few answers have already been suggested, but it is far less than the current threat warrants. Like the Punk answer to the Skinhead incursion, it requires decisive and extreme public action - in part to dissociate from this narrative, and to demonstrate in no uncertain terms that it will not be tolerated in our spaces. Action can include statements, such as declarations, but it also needs to be effective. Zero tolerance of all such concepts should be maintained, and concerned issues or policies must be policed and removed. Check your group for equity, and anti-oppressive stances. Any lapse in those is a chink in our armor that these depolorables can take advantage of, as we have seen in many other groups already As there are many links with the alt-right, PUA, and MRA culture, the recent resurgence of misogyny in our ranks is just one such vector that these fascists have found to worm their way in. Real warriors fight for the vulnerable. They do not prey on them. We need to root out this new threat to our spirituality and our identity from those who would corrupt our worldview into framework for something deeply destructive.
To that end, our group has embraced a more inclusive name and identity. Though we greatly debated our choice of name and symbology originally, and embraced the concept of the traditional Mother wisdom of our Northern sisters, we have always been diverse and inclusive. Our founders and Directors have been Rabbis, Oriental spiritualists, and pagan priestesses. Keeping that in mind, we have shifted to a more inclusive image and symbology. We are now the Silver Song Collective, and we will continue to fight with our heathen siblings to eradicate this menace, and will promote solutions to the struggle. Our group has eagerly signed on to the Canadian Pagan Declaration on Intolerance (1) (though, really, we should come up with something better than mere "toleration") and Declaration 127 (2) , which specifically denounces a particular group in it's neo-Nazi world view.
So we have changed our name and image to more accurately reflect our values and our diversity. We have committed to actively make our spaces safer for marginalized and oppressed peoples and help make this a more just and equitable world, since that has always been what we are about. And though they are useful tools, it won't just be with Thoughts and Prayers and Declarations. We will fight these Nazis. They will not dishonour us, our ancestors, or our traditions by hiding behind our narrative for their agenda. We will push them out of paganism.
You have our word on that.
(1) http://pagandeclaration.com/index.php
(2) http://www.declaration127.com/
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