A New Dawn for Ásatrú: New Clarity Against Racism

As someone who has for many years been sounding the alarm about the dangers of right-wing, white supremacist and racist elements in Paganism, particularly American versions of Norse Paganism, and who has continually called on Pagans to completely reject any and all expressions of racism and white supremacy, I am happy to devote this first blog post of the New Year to praising the major American Ásatrú (aka Heathen or Norse Pagan) organization, the Troth, for its increasingly brave stance in these matters. The Troth has always been the most open and tolerant, and to that extent, left-wing Norse Pagan organization  in America, but in its intention to serve as an umbrella for as broad a range of American Heathens as possible, it has not always taken the racism issue head-on, not wanting to alienate more right-wing and ethnically-oriented Norse Pagans. However, as the anti-immigrant and white supremacist views of prominent right-wing American Norse Pagans like Stephen McNallen have become increasingly evident, the Troth has been more firmly and directly rejecting and denouncing racist sentiment and white supremacist identity construction, and declaring that racism has no place in the Troth. If one goes to the main Troth web page to see its mission statement, this is what they will find:

"...We welcome all people, whatever their religious, cultural, or ancestral background, gender or sexual orientation, who have developed or wish to develop a relationship with our Gods and Goddesses, and would like to know more about Asatru or other forms of Heathenry." (updated as of February 1, 2016).

Note, too, that the Troth  also takes a firm stand of inclusiveness toward the LBGT population and gender diversity.

In many way, in many places, the Troth has taken steps to stamp out the lingering, smoldering embers of white supremacy and racism that are an unfortunate legacy of the past history of Norse Paganism, with  respect to the continuing efforts by Nazis, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists and racists to appropriate Norse Pagan heritage and symbols for their own use. Events like the "Unite the Right"  march Charlottesville in August of 2017 have demonstrated that there continue to be disturbing links between white supremacy and a certain segment of the American Heathen population. Therefore, while I salute the Troth for more and more openly and firmly denouncing racism and white supremacy, the battle is not yet won and perhaps can never be, considering how deeply rooted racism and white supremacy are in American society and history. Indeed, when the right-wingers at Charlottesville declared that they simply wanted to preserve American heritage by protecting statues of Confederate soldiers, they had a point: racism, racial segregation and white supremacy are indeed American traditions of very long standing. Of course, so was slavery, and just because something had a long duration, that does not mean it deserved to exist for the time that it did or that it should continue now. Applying this to Norse Paganism, we might also say that just because it existed in the past, that does not mean that it should exist or be revived now, unless it has something positive to contribute to the world today. If all it has to contribute is a Viking justification for racism, than it does not deserve any respect or support, and we should seeks its demise and disappearance as quickly as possible. The many very spiritual, profound and creative non-racist Norse Pagans I know in Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the USA have reassured me again and again that Norse Paganism can be a worthwhile experiment in blending ancient and modern cultural and religious elements, and I am happy to be in their company, while I reserve the right to walk away from racists and white supremacists.

The thorny issue around which all these discussions revolve is the complex status of modern Norse Paganism, whether we call it Heatheny, Ásatrú, Forn Sið/Sed or by some other term, as a religion rooted in the past history of one particular place and people, that is, the ancient Norse and Germanic peoples of Northern Europe and Iceland, that has now been revived in a world of constantly mixing identities and cultural diversity. It is rather like the English language: it developed among Anglo-Saxons in England but has not become a language spoken worldwide. If tomorrow, the queen of England were to declare that only those residing in England or possessing Angl-Saxon genes wlll henceforth be permitted to speak English, the world would laugh.  The gods, myths, texts and traditions of Norse Paganism are no longer exclusively Scandinavian (or Icelandic, or German, or Northern European, etc.) possessions.They have become the common property of mankind across the globe. There may always be those who will take the view that the whole point of Norse Paganism is to block out the diversity and complexity of modern life and take refuge in an imagined "pure" white, Northern European identity. For the rest of us, Norse Paganism is an interesting and inspiring religious and cultural tradition that was, yes, born in the North but now faces in all directions, much like Yggdrasil, the WORLD tree that is so central in Norse mythology.

Reflections on "Southside With You" and Racism in Paganism

Tonight I saw "Southside With You," the film about Barack and Michelle Obama's first date. It is a poignant study of the beginning of a relationship and an interesting time-capsule of American life 25 or so years ago, with the future Obamas going to see the Spike Lee film, "Do the Right Thing." At several points the two lead characters reflect on the divided, almost split-screen reality they live in, shuttling between the predominantly black American neighborhoods of the South Side of Chicago that they live in and the white-dominated corporate America in the downtown of the city that they go to work in each day. When the Michelle character reflects on how she has to continually perform and achieve at an extra-high level to win respect and status while being black and a woman in America, it made me think of how that has been true for Barack Obama as President. No white President was ever put through the kind of unrelenting scrutiny and vilification that he had to endure. Many people give him no credit at all for major achievements like stabilizing a downward-spiraling economy and not only restoring the stock market but bringing it to record heights, restoring economic growth and rising employment, putting in place regulations that will improve the safety of our air and water for generations to come, reorganizing Federal Student Loans to make it possible for borrowers to pay back on an income-contingent basis--truly a life-saver for those, like your author, with massive educational debt--and improving American's international reputation after the embarrassments of the Bush years. This is not to say the Obama record is perfect; far from it. In fact, I voted for the Green Party in 2012, but that does not mean I do not realize that things could have been much worse and that Obama did make many things better, despite incredible Republican obstruction. There are many disappointing things about his presidency, but to write it off as a nation-wrecking disaster when it was really more of a national Heimlich maneuver is to look at the last eight years through a terribly distorted lens.

Donald Trump is banking on millions of Americans endorsing that twisted view, and he may succeed. Why? There are multiple reasons, one of the foremost being that many economically struggling white Americans are responding to the old, old Pied Piper's tune of racial resentment, which provides scapegoats and rationalizations that many find comforting and reassuring. It is not the increasing power of global capitalism and massive, inhumane business corporations that are causing your declining income, status and job security; it is those nasty Mexicans and Muslims and Chinese. And all of this started when America went down the suicidal road of "political correctness" and voted a black man into the White House, a black man who is probably not even a real American, and who is probably a "Secret Muslim" though he claims to be a Christian. Don't forget that the Dunce-ald got his start in politics by gleefully endorsing the "birther" conspiracy theory that questioned the legitimacy of Barack Obama's presidency by casting doubt on the authenticity of his birth certificate. The birther show was quite a media circus, for a time, but in the end it produced nothing of value and only wasted America's time and attention. If the Golden One were elected, I expect that his presidency would achieve similar results.

The longer I live, the more people I know, the more classes I teach and students I work with, the more clearly I see how the real "birther" problem of America is how this country was founded in racial hostility, economic exploitation and bitter injustice, a nightmarish and haunted legacy from the extermination to the enslavement to the continuing disadvantaging and disrespecting of non-white people, and the more this sickens, saddens and angers me. This is the "original sin" of American life, and it never goes away. It affects all of us who breathe the air and walk the streets and make our homes in America.

And to turn to my own chosen spiritual home in the evolving religious framework of contemporary Paganism, I see how this haunted legacy poisons modern American Paganism too. The recent controversy over statements made by the new leaders of the AFA, the Ásatrú Folk Assembly, that suggest a desire to perpetuate Ásatrú/Heathenry/Norse Paganism for the sake of "our beautiful white children" is repugnant but unsurprising, as this has always been one of the threads women into contemporary Norse Paganism, especially, though not exclusively, in America. As I see it, the desire of these people to employ Norse spirituality in the service of creating a lovely all-white world for their darling pure-gene children is just the old racist American story all over again, if one that is charmingly decorated with runes and eddas.

I do believe that there are well-meaning, generally kind-hearted people who are not deeply or overtly racist who fall into this unawares, not realizing that lore is being used as a lure for the unwary, to gradually indoctrinate them with a racist view of the world. A deeper understanding of American history, including its ugly chapters of racial injustice and brutalized and terrorized populations, would serve them well, as would a visit to the cinema to see "Southside With You."

Hopefully, over time, as they explore more deeply and gain greater experience, at least some who have been lured into more racist forms of Heathenry will come to see that Yggdrasil, that mythical Ash tree that links together different worlds in Norse mythology, is the WORLD tree, not the WHITE tree! Hopefully, they will come to understand that just as the mythology envisions different "races" or types of beings living together in one interlinked universe, interacting and intermingling, combining and creating, so too can we humans of different ethnic hues and backgrounds, and that together, we can breathe new energy into originally Norse-based traditions to make them more vibrant and beautiful than ever.

"Children of Trump" in America: ugly racist attitudes showing

On the 30th of December, my very pleasant one-semester sojourn teaching in the Czech Republic, which had afforded me many wonderful opportunities to travel to other places in Europe from Stockholm to Zagreb, Vilnius to Istanbul, Kraków to Kiev, came to an end. I returned to my homeland, the United States of America, just in time to observe the Donald Trump phenomenon in full swing. I had already been somewhat aware of this while in Europe, while continually hoping that the bubble would burst and the American people grow tired of this mean-spirited charade, but being back in America has made the Trump juggernaut all the more vivid and distressing.

To me, this seems nothing short of the rise of an American form of Fascism, with a charismatic leader who promises to "make America great again," blames foreigners, immigrants and the president, whose American citizenship Trump once questioned as a ringleader of the "birther" movement, for the currently less-than-great state of the nation, and rouses wildly enthusiastic crowds of supporters with promises to ban Muslim migrants and deport Mexican ones, restore Bush-era "waterboarding" of Muslims under suspicion of terrorism, the "enhanced interrogation" program that many condemned as torture, and erect a huge wall on the US-Mexican border to keep out the dirty, criminal foreigners who keep America from being "great." Trump has also displayed an immense capacity for vitriol and vindictiveness by insulting and attacking rivals, protesters and journalists in cruel, petty and personal terms that have generally been understood as "un-presidential" in past electoral cycles, a single incidence of which would have been enough to cripple past presidential campaigns. Sadly, this sadism has not damaged Trump's standing, but only enhanced it, by appealing to what seems a bottomless thirst for sheer aggression among his followers.

Trump's policy proposals are laughably vague, but this does not seem to matter. What appeals most to his devotees is not what he is for--obviously, his goal is to "make American great again"--but who he is against--Mexicans, Muslims, liberals, elites. Considering that he receives his most thunderous applause for his anti-Mexican and anti-Muslim statements, and that his audience is mostly comprised of white Americans, it seems to me that the not-so-very well hidden inner meaning of Trump's "make America great again" slogan is a racist call to "make America white again." The revelation that former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and other white supremacists have expressed their support for Trump bolsters this interpretation.

In this context, Trump's miscellaneous proposals for harsh actions from deportation to torture to mass bombing against racial, ethnic and religious Others become distressingly coherent, a politics of hate whose most skilled and successful past practitioner was none other than Adolf Hitler. It is not clear if Trump is fully conscious of the ugliness that he is tapping into and the dread spectres he is conjuring, or if he is simply an attention-craving opportunist eager to please his audiences with whatever they want to hear, but either way, the appeal of his message demonstrates how far America is from closing the door and healing the wounds of its history of violent racism. If the "Children of Odin" in Finland represent a right-wing response to the Muslim migration crisis in Europe, then surely the "Children of Trump" are the American counterpart.

Having recently finished an article on political viewpoints in Ásatrú, I am conscious of how the Trumpian call to "make America great [and white] again" has a certain echo in some ethnic-oriented forms of modern Paganism. To the extent that such Paganism may be fueled by a desire for ethnic validation among white Americans who feel threatened by the increasing acceptance of diversity in American society, the parallel is clear. AFA founder and prominent conservative Heathen Stephen McNalllen's past statements opposing Mexican immigration as a threat to white European social and political dominance would probably be very well-received at a Trump rally.

This raises the interesting question of how Pagans in America are responding to the political choices offered by the current presidential campaign in the USA. Are the more left-wing and universalist Pagans lining up behind the Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders, and are the more right-wing and ethnically-focused Pagans leaning toward Trump? If anyone has seen information on this, please send links or reports to this blog through the comments section.

Denouncing American Authoritarianism

It has been a dispiriting time in the United States, which feels more and more like a dis-united, deeply divided and disturbingly dissociated society. Again and again we see the same sad drama being repeated of unarmed African-American men being killed in our cities by heavily armed, highly militarized, and seemingly trigger-happy police who are then exonerated by a very forgiving and police-friendly court system for murdering members of the very society who they are duty-sworn to protect. Opinion polls, journalistic and sociological investigations and, I would add, discussions in my own classes reveal that white Americans tend to trust and support the police and excuse what they do as necessary and proper, whereas black Americans are outraged and ready to explode in grief, anger and the cumulative weight of trauma and stress at decades of abuse and threat, living in a violent, hypocritical land where black lives don't seem to matter. This is why many people marching to protest the police's long history of violent actions against African-Americans have taken up the slogan, "Black Lives Matter."

Sadly, this proud assertion bears within it the anguished accusation that black lives may NOT matter to many Americans, a fear that seems borne out by the lack of compassion many white Americans show for the growing numbers of African-American human beings gunned down without mercy by "public safety" officers. Apparently, to some, only authority figures like police and soldiers deserve respect and compassion, and there is plenty of concern on the right wing side of American society that police officers who commit such killings of black Americans might suffer any consequences for their actions. The right-wing defenses of the police range from the hackneyed old favorite, "They were just doing their job," a reliable rehash of the old Nazi Nuremberg defense, to a sense that those who were killed deserved to die because of their own improper conduct. After all, Michael Brown had grabbed some cigars out of a convenience store before his run-in with the police officer Darren Wilson, and young Tamir Rice had dared play around with a toy pellet gun on an empty playground. Clearly, the extermination of such dangerous individuals by our heroic police is not to be questioned or lamented, but applauded and held up to a warning to all African-Americans that they should be more careful about their behavior. I am reminded of Nazi Germany, where the abuse and even slaying of Jews and other "undesirable elements" by Storm Troopers and other uniformed forces would be held up as exemplary. I am also reminded of the Ku Klux Klan, whose ranks have often been known to include police and justice system officials.

The dying words of Eric Garner, "I can't breathe," have also been echoed across the land, including by some leading athletes, showing a moral courage and ethical compass lacking in some previous generations of American sports stars. I find this phrase extremely poignant, even prophetic, because America is becoming a place where many of us feel we can no longer breathe--or speak--or think--freely. Everywhere you turn, rising authoritarianism, what might even be characterized as 21st century Fascism, is stifling the freedom that our society supposedly aspires to. I want to believe in this country's ability to be a place where people can live in peace and security and have a decent life, but that belief is being constantly tested by what I see around me. In addition to the mistreatment of African-Americans, we have the continual grinding down of poor and middle-class Americans by a cold and uncaring corporate economic structure, which expects people to work harder and harder for less and less of a share of the wealth that their labor produces, under harsher and harsher conditions as labor unions and anything else that might give the workers a better shot in life are dismantled. And, with the scarcity of good-paying jobs and the lack of job security even for those with decently-paying positions, the corporate state runs a reign of terror over its labor force, whose members are understandably worried that they will lose whatever security and prosperity they now possess. Many people are too scared to speak out. They "can't breathe" either.

Remember what happened to the Occupy Wall Street protests of Fall 2011? On the very same day in November of 2011, the mayors of many cities activated their police in a coordinated, nation-wide effort to sweep the protestors out of the public spaces where they were conducting their peaceful protests. What was their crime? Were they really a threat to public order? No. They were a threat to Wall Street, our true seat of government. They were challenging the right of the financial order to dictate the terms of life in our society. On that day when the police swept those protestors away, we got to see who the police really work for. And in the pools of blood that congealed around the dead bodies of Michael Brown and Tamir Rice, among others, we have been provided a vivid demonstration of who the police see as expendable enemies.

Occupy Wall Street withered away because of its unfocused leadership structure, which was admirably open and democratic but open and democratic to the point of confusion and disorganization. Nonetheless, the Occupy movement did succeed in raising issues of financial impropriety and income inequality that leaders like Elizabeth Warren are now elevating in the public forum. The new "Black Lives Matter" protest movement seems better organized for the long haul, and I believe it will endure and serve as the backbone of a new civil rights movement that is very much needed in a country sliding backwards into old patterns of discrimination against minorities and indifference by the majority.

As a Pagan who has been striving for some years to oppose racist and militaristic strands in Modern Norse Paganism/Asatry/Heathenry, and in other forms of Paganism as well, I find my resolve hardened and my fighting spirit roused by these recent events. Pagans who like swords and guns and weapons and armies and soldiers may find themselves siding with the police in regards to the situations unfolding in Ferguson, Cleveland, NYC and elsewhere, but I am very proud and clear in my opposition to police brutality and the cult of weapon-love and soldier-worship that can blind us to the inhumanity that soldiers, police and other armed authority officials and state security figures can be tempted to engage in, a temptation that may then come to be seen as a virtue and shut off from rational critique and consideration. I respect policemen, policewomen, soldiers and others who carry out their work with respect for the public and who do not believe that because they wear badges and uniforms and carry guns that they are some kind of master race that society should respect, accept and never question, no matter what they do. As a teacher, I too have power and authority and accept that if I were ever to abuse my power and cause harm to my students, I would be questioned about my actions, disciplined for any misbehavior, and even released from employment and put on trial in the most extreme case. I want to see the same standard applied to police across this land.

And, when I see how racialized perceptions of African-Americans as unreasoning, dangerous beasts seem to have led the police officers involved in the Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice incidents to conclude that these black males had to be subdued with maximum force as quickly as possible, I am all the more committed to advocating for forms of Asatru and Paganism that are not merely non-racist, but anti-racist. We cannot just look away and say, "Too bad about those race problems... now let's enjoy our all-white fellowship." We should actively seek to invite non-white, non-European individuals into our ritual activities and fellowship groups to ensure that our Paganism is most emphatically not a modern form of racism disguised as spirituality with a bit of medieval lore camouflage sprinkled on top. Let us all be conscious of these matters to ensure that our religious groups uphold the highest moral and spiritual values that we can aspire to rather than catering to the most base and regrettable tendencies that continue to haunt our world.

Fighting the Darkness

This seems to me such a dark time in America, with a darkness that is only growing. At every turn, the forces of conservatism, inequality and oligarchy are racking up victories, with little or no or only the most pale and weak-kneed opposition from the more "liberal" or socially progressive voices in our political structure. Though some see rays of hope in such accomplishments as the increasing acceptance of the right of homosexuals to enter into marriage, I see this as only a very small drop in the bucket when we consider the larger problems of stagnant wages for the many and ever-expanding fortunes for the few, the increasing dominance of the wealthy elite and large corporations in many areas of our life. Even the supposedly ultra-liberal cable news network MSNBC runs the self-congratulatory and pro-fracking advertisements of the carbon fuel industry, and the supposedly liberal New York Times increasingly caters to the Wall Street-financial services crowd that now dominates New York City as well as the American economy.

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the largest international body of climate scientists in the world, released a new report on March 31st detailing how the climate is already changing with catastrophic effect, and how the dangers and crises now occurring will only be magnified if the world is unwilling to take action. As an educator, I see the trend toward increasingly standardized and regulated education only gaining strength, as influential figures from the President on down seem to be abandoning the ideals of liberal arts education in favor of increasingly vocational, job skills oriented education. When people are no longer allowed to think freely and openly, to freely explore the riches of cultural heritage and to freely experiment with ideas and activities that are freed from the stifling grip of monetary evaluation, but when the education system only trains the bulk of people to perform the tasks and functions deemed valuable by the high priests of the high-tech companies and the corporate economy, an economy organized around the maximization of corporate profits and stock market dividends, not the fulfillment of human needs, I shudder to think of the cold, heartless, fearful, high-tech prison of a society that we are building for ourselves, digital brick by dividend brick. Profits will increase but human freedom and happiness? I doubt it.

I am starting to reach the conclusion that others before me have, a conclusion that I have always resisted; the feeling that there may be no hope for saving America from its drift and decline. I actually sympathize to some extent with the right-wingers and Tea Partiers who range and rant about our country going wrong; I agree that our society is sick, but I disagree with them about the nature of the malady and the treatment to be administered. Many on the right seem to think that the root of the problem is Big Bad Government; I disagree completely. I would grant that our government can do stupid things, that some policies, regulations and programs may be misguided and counterproductive, but that calls for fixing and improving the policies, regulations and programs, not abolishing them all in favor of an unregulated libertarian utopia. I think that vision, if ever achieved, would only result in a dog-eat-dog, every-gun-for-himself, zero compassion dystopia. I see the problem lying in the power of large corporate business interests to manipulate everything to their advantage, without caring enough about the suffering of the poor or the desecration of the planet. If corporations were able to function as good public citizens and be effective stewards of society and the environment, I would be all in favor of total free market capitalism, but I do not see that being the case at all.

Without pressure from the government with its pesky rules, regulations, policies and taxation, many companies and wealthy individuals would do nothing for the benefit of others or of the world in general, but only seek to further enrich themselves and increase their plunder and power. That's what happened in such periods of economic "freedom" as the "robber baron" era of the late 1800s, in the Roaring Twenties, and in our recent period of financial deregulation and financial collapse. You may have noticed that since the bleakest days of the 2008 downturn, the stock market has recovered, big banks and financial companies are running up great profits, but many people are now working for lower wages than before the crash, many others cannot find work at all, and many people have lost their homes and had their lives ruined. In this case, the government functioned effectively to rescue the financial elite, but not the rest of us. What I conclude from that is not that we need to abolish the government, but need to radically reform it to make it more responsive to human needs. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court's ruling in the McCutcheon case this week will only make our politicians more dependent on big-money, fat-cat donors, so the situation is not likely to improve anytime soon.

I do see a ray of hope in my little corner of the Pagan world. Recent communications with a number of Norse Pagans in America have again demonstrated that I am not alone in wishing to develop a new form of American Asatru that would be politically progressive, environmentally concerned, anti-racist, anti-military, and pro-social justice. I think there are enough of us to do it. So, please do get in touch with me if you are on this wavelength. Send me a message to this blog including your email address, and note that you do NOT want this published on the blog. I will contact you off-blog and we can start networking, sharing ideas and planning. This may be a dark time, but we can do our best to be a source of light and vision, love for the earth and caring for humanity--ALL humanity and ALL the earth. A universal Paganism based in Norse traditions but not limited to them. If this resonates with you, please communicate with me.

We Are All West Virginians Now

The January 9 chemical spill in West Virginia that has deprived some 300,000 people of safe drinking water for the last week is a horrible tragedy. What is even worse is the larger problem of corporate irresponsibility and disregard for mankind and and nature alike that this catastrophe brings into focus. Many large corporations can cause massive damage to the natural environment, to local communities, and/or to ordinary people's lives, health and jobs and get away with it. Oh, they may be slapped with a small or even a very large fine here and there, as recently happened with Goldman Sachs when it was punished for trading irregularities with a $550m penalty, or be required to pay some kind of compensation to victims of corporate malfeasance, as with BP (British Petroleum) and the 2010 oil spill that wreaked havoc with the Gulf of Mexico, killed or sickened marine life, downgraded the health of Gulf waters, and wrecked the lives of local fishermen and others whose livelihood depended on the Gulf of Mexico being a healthy ecosystem and not a toxic cesspool. None of these fines or penalties are ever large or severe enough to actually pose a serious threat to the continued survival of the corporations in question; they are more like additional business expenses that may reduce profits for a time, but can gradually be absorbed and forgotten, without the companies involved having to make any fundamental changes in how they do business. It was calculated that the seemingly huge fine imposed on Goldman Sachs would only cost the financial behemoth about 24 minutes worth of its usual profits. Most of us suffer more financial hardship from traffic fines or parking tickets than do these monstrous companies from billion dollar penalties.

Furthermore, corporations are often able to greatly reduce their fines or wriggle out of paying anything at all through fancy legal maneuvering. When it's big government versus big business in the courtroom, large corporations can often afford more and better lawyers than can the government, and they can also opt to run out the clock, keeping the matter spinning in legal limbo for so long that the government either agrees to a settlement far less costly than the original proposed penalty, or simply gives up. Beyond that, when the government tries to create new regulations or even new government agencies to fight back against corporate greed and malfeasance, corporations are able to bribe, threaten and otherwise influence many legislators and regulators into either halting the new legislation or agency in its tracks or watering it down with loopholes, exclusions and exceptions that essentially thwart the original intent of the legislation or agency. In addition, corporations and their legal teams are able to recruit former politicians and regulators to work for them to circumvent laws and regulations, creating a revolving door situation in which government officials take corporate jobs working against the very laws and agencies that these officials once were in charge of. Another strategy is to leave the laws in place but cut the funding so that the regulatory agencies involved will not be able to enforce or implement the policies they are charged with. Conservatives love to claim that big government regulations are strangling our economy, but I think the truth is more that powerful corporations are strangling our government and leaving the American people with little protection from the depredations and abuses of the corporate elite.

On the night of January 14th, the late-night comedians and political commentators Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert made the trenchant point that if the poisoning of public drinking water in West Virginia had been caused by Islamic terrorists, Americans would be up in arms and screaming for our military forces to attack, invade and obliterate the "bad guy" terrorist in retribution. However, since the toxic spill was perpetrated by American corporations rather than foreign militants, there are only muted and muffled calls for investigations of what went wrong and aid to those affected. This double-standard says volumes about the privileged position occupied by business and corporations in our culture, society, system of government and sense of morality. Business is sacred and given deferential treatment, even when it causes terrible harm to us.

It hasn't always been this bad. The environmental movement was able to gain traction in our political culture in the 1960s and 1970s and scored some notable successes such as the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and cleaning up many polluted sites, such as the Ohio River, which used to be flammable, so thick was it with pollutants. In recent years, though anti-government conservatives have been waging a tireless campaign to reduce what they cynically label "job-killing" environmental regulations and to reduce the funding for the EPA.which some have pronounced Public Enemy #1.

Well, capitalism, corporations and big business may be sacred to anti-government conservatives and Free Market Fundamentalists, but what does all this mean to Pagans?

I know there are a fair number of American Pagans, including Heathens and/or Asatru members among others, who consider themselves conservatives and/or libertarians. They take a very negative view of government authority, which they see as infringing on individual liberty. However, the sacredness of nature is usually considered to be a core component of Pagan beliefs and worldview. I would think it pretty obvious that this puts Pagans on the side of protecting nature, not defending its despoilers. To put it another way, I would think that a true conservative should try to conserve nature, not ally him or herself with "conservatives" who care more for corporate profits than environmental purity. In mythology, there are gods like Thor that protect the earth, but such gods were nowhere in sight when industrial pollution struck the Gulf or West Virginia. In our reality of the present day, it is the government--yes, the big, bad liberal government--that strives to protect nature from corruption and degradation through such agencies as the EPA and by passing and enforcing laws that restrict and punish industrial and corporate pollution. It therefore seems to me that you CANNOT be a self-respecting Pagan of any sort and be in favor of letting businesses and corporations freely pollute our world and destroy our natural environment and be opposed to the government protecting what is supposed to be sacred to you. You should support the government in being the caretaker of our environment, and pray for more and better laws, regulations, policies and agencies to protect nature, NOT less and fewer.

Pagans, stand up for nature! And let's welcome people of other faiths and traditions who also care about the future health of this planet that we all share.

Sad Reminder of the Racist Versions of Norse Paganism in America

I wanted to alert readers to a depressing news story just posted on the HateWatch site operated by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
See http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2013/05/17/veteran-skinhead-forms-new-racist-club-peddles-t-shirts-on-internet/.

This is a sad reminder of the ugly interrelationship between some forms of Norse Paganism, some uses of Nordic heritage, and some groups advocating white supremacist racism in the USA. A man in Indiana with a long history of white supremacist activity has formed a new organization called "American Vikings" that mixes interest in Viking heritage with American right-wing, racist "patriotism."

I have two words of advice to all Norse-Germanic-Asatru Pagans who oppose racism and do not wish to be associated with the kind of ideology and sentiment being packaged in the kind of activity and organization represented by this so-called "American Vikings" group: SPEAK OUT. Denounce such activity and those who engage in it, and tell anyone who will listen that this is NOT what you want Norse Paganism or any other kind of Paganism to be!

Nature, Art and Beauty: European Inspiration

Dear Friends,

On a recent visit to Europe which took me to Iceland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, with very enjoyable stops in Reykjavík, Stockholm, Prague and Brno, I met with members of Ásatrú and other Pagan movements as well. I found that many of the people I spoke with shared my concerns about certain tendencies in the American form of Norse Paganism such that I have often elaborated on this blog. Like me, they are not at all enthusiastic about a military-oriented Paganism, have no intense attachments to guns or other instruments of death, and absolutely understand the need to completely distance any viable modern Paganism that wants to be taken seriously from anything remotely racist or Nazi or neo-Nazi. I am sad to say this, but it is only when I break bread with my European Pagan brothers and sisters that I actually feel hope for Norse Paganism as a peaceful, inspirational spiritual path that is completely free of violence and hatefulness.



Since I have found it very hard to discuss, let alone reach agreement, with American Norse Pagans about the concerns and values that my European friends seem to quite readily understand, I have concluded that my natural spiritual home is probably not in the USA, but in Europe. I see America as a society heavily burdened, if not fatally flawed with a psychologically and spiritually destructive heritage of racism and violence, and this spills over into many products of our culture. Indeed, I do at times wonder about simply relocating to Europe, where in so many ways I feel more at home, but there are other things that tie me to America and will continue to do so for a good many years to come, such as a desire to do my little part to make the country a slightly better or at least less awful and mean-spirited place through my involvement in education. Also, there are practical considerations that would not make such a relocation an easy task to execute. As things stand, I expect to remain in America as an out-of-place, internationalized American for some years to come, and to continue to develop my spirituality in consultation with my European Pagan friends.

In this essay I will focus on explaining the inspiration I received on this trip. The inspiration was in fact of two sorts, one from nature, and one from art. In Iceland, with my old friend Baldur (an actual human being who is a father, husband and teacher, not the god who dies such a tragic, youthful death in Norse mythology!), it was the power of nature that most spoke to me.



I wanted to get out of the city to see mountains and rivers, and we drove north from Reykjavík one cold but clear Sunday.



As had first happened to me during my first sojourn in Iceland in 1996, I was absolutely bowled over by the raw power of nature as it is manifested in the Icelandic landscape.





Everywhere you turn there are mountains in the distance, rivers and streams cutting through the rough countryside, waterfalls rumbling, hot springs erupting,birds wheeling and screeching in the sky.





The wind is strong, the blue in the sky seems more vivid than in other places, and rocky hills and stone outcroppings are easy to understand as the dwellings of sacred beings.



I felt revived and renewed, and remembered that it was in Iceland that I first experienced Ásatrú in a beautiful outdoor ritual in which we gathered around a roaring fire in a stone circle framed by a towering mountain decorated from above by stars twinkling in a dark autumn sky.

The artistic inspiration grew out of both talking with Pagans in Iceland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, and observing my friends and their surroundings. I reflected on how important art is to Paganism, and how the best types of Pagan religion that I have come across have always had a highly developed artistic dimension. The first Ásatrú ritual I ever participated in in Iceland was totally suffused with art, from improvised music by skilled musicians, not just amateurs banging away on acoustic guitars, to a banner on which each person attending was invited to write or draw something of significance to them.

This artistic flair carries over into the leadership, or perhaps the reverse should be said, that the greatest Pagan leaders. in Iceland at least, have often been artists. The first leader of Icelandic Ásatrú, Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, was a poet and singer who was open-minded enough to get on the stage in front of punk bands in the 1980s and recite traditional rímur poetry, though by this time he was a white bearded old man, not someone you would expect to be hanging around with punk musicians, let alone getting on stage with them.



The current high priest of the Ásatrúarféladið (Ásatrú Fellowship) in Iceland is a professional musician and composer, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, who has composed prize-winning film scores among other achievements, and recently released a CD with contemporary musical backing of the very rímur poetry that Sveinbjörn used to write and perform. The CD is called Stafnbúi on the 12 Tonar label, see http://www.12tonar.is/2012/21_steindor-hilmar-stafnbui.php .



Compare American Ásatrú, where two of the founding figures were both military men, Stephen McNallen and Valgard Murray. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and Icelandic Ásatrú accordingly took an artistic direction, and American Ásatrú a martial one. This is not to say that American Ásatrú is lacking in art, as there is a lot of poetry and music that can be found at such sites as http://www.odins-gift.com/index.html , but my own experience is that the artistic impulse is overshadowed by war-related elements. I would be curious if readers know of other examples of artistic contributions playing a major role in Paganism.



In Sweden, two of the leaders of the Swedish Ásatrú group that I know in Stockholm are artists, one a musician and photographer, the other a sculptor.



I am not aware of any of the Pagans I know in the Czech Republic being artists,per se, but one of the places we met, a lovely teahouse in the Castle district in Prague called Čajový klub „Duhovka.“

http://www.duhovka.eu .

.

The Duhovka had a very artistic, bohemian atmosphere. And why shouldn't it be bohemian? The Czechs were the original Bohemians, you see, and Bohemia is the name of one of the Czech regions.





In Lithuania and Latvia, folk musicians have led the way in the most vibrant modern Pagan movements there, such as Lithuanian Romuva, led by the skilled folk singers Jonas and Inija Trinkūnas and their folk ensemble Kūlgrinda.



See http://www.last.fm/music/Kūlgrinda .

Most of the artistic Pagans I know in Iceland and Europe have little interest in war and weapons. Their eyes and art look toward nature and beauty, not anger and death. However, here I must contradict myself. There is another branch of Norse Paganism-inspired music in Europe that does celebrate weapons, war, anger and aggression, this being Pagan-related "death metal" heavy metal music. It is not to my taste, but it certainly has its fans. Taking this into account complicates the nice binary opposition I was speaking of earlier. It requires me to say that yes, there are also things in European Paganism that I do not like! However, I tend to think that this kind of music appeals mainly to young people, and I would speculate that as they mature in both life and spirituality, they will not look at this music the same way anymore. If some grizzled death metal fan in their sixties wants to write in and tell me I am wrong, that they still start and end the day headbanging and chanting angry death lyrics like they did when they were 16 or 22, that is fine!

Age, that is, a person's position in the unstoppable life-cycle, is indeed something to consider. I am 53, closer to old age than to youth, and perhaps some of my preferences and perspectives are rooted in my own aging process. I seek beauty, calm and inspiration in nature, and hope for a form of Paganism that is in tune with those needs and aspirations. Perhaps younger men and women need different things, more angry, energetic and expressive of the stormy passions of youth.

Be that as it may, I also think of this in a broader frame, beyond a strictly Pagan context. Look at any great religious tradition, from Christianity to Judaism to Buddhism to any other, and you will find that art has played a key role in the development, propagation and perpetuation of that religion. In Prague, I stopped into a former medieval convent, now a museum, displaying Czech Christian art. See http://www.avantgarde-prague.com/prague-guide/things-to-see-in-prague/museums/convent-of-st-agnes/ The artwork was overwhelming in its concentrated force of expression. I have had the same experience contemplating ancient Hindu or Buddhist or Greek art. The articulation of religious themes and sensibilities through art is one of the secrets of success to any of the world's most well-known and respected religions. In contrast, there has never been a religion that ever became great or long-lasting simply by celebrating war and martial valor. That makes good patriotic propaganda, but its artistic merit may be limited. I believe the same will apply to Paganism, whether Ásatrú or other types. In the end, whoever comes up with the most profound, powerful and enticing religious art, in whatever media, will also be the ones to create the most enduring and important forms of modern Paganism. So, while some might call for warriors to take up arms, I call on poets to take up their lexicons, painters, their brushes, and sculptors, their clay. Express your spirituality through the most beautiful art you can muster, and we will all be the richer for it!

The Gun Religion in America

The recent debate in America about possible new restrictions and regulations on gun use and ownership has demonstrated that there is a great deal of emotion and personal identity invested in guns in this country. It is indeed very difficult to have any kind of rational discussion on the gun topic because some of the people who are deeply involved in gun use react so extremely strongly whenever there is ANY discussion of putting ANY kind of restriction on gun access, ownership and use. They really, really, really feel an intense emotional bond with their firearms, and get really, really, really scared and angry, very very very fast, if ANYONE dares suggest possible limitations or restrictions on their ability to posses and make use of their guns. Many ask why such people have so much passion and intensity wrapped up in gunpowder and bullets.


As a religious studies scholar, it seems clear to me that what we are dealing with here is something more than a simple desire to enjoy the use of guns for target practice or hunting, or a wish to possess guns for self-defense in the case of a home invasion or some other encounter with a dangerous person. What we are dealing with is a valuing of guns to the point of conferring absolute sacredness upon them, that is to say, A GUN RELIGION. For those who follow this faith, a gun is not a simple weapon or mechanical device. A gun is SACRED. For those baptized in gunpowder (blessed be its name), any attempt by anyone to interfere with access to their holy of holies is a most horrible profanity and an unacceptable violation of their freedom of religion. Only by realizing that guns are sacred to gun-worshippers in the same way that a Torah is holy to Jews or a Qur'an to Muslims or the Virgin Mary to a Catholic can we begin to understand why guns are such an extremely emotional and, pardon the unintentional pun, explosive issue in American politics and in the American psyche.


We can even see something of a creation myth manifesting itself in the discourse of gun zealots in America. For the gun believer, the central moment in world history, a time of unparalleled sacredness, is the addition to the American Constitution of the Second Amendment, which speaks of the "right to bear arms and maintain a well-regulated militia." This is the moment when God revealed the key to salvation and the most important duty of any American citizen, which is to bear arms and love and honor guns above all else in existence, more than life, more than the government, more than patriotism. The Second Amendment itself, typically the only part of the U.S. Constitution or political tradition that gun advocates seem to find worthy of attention, could be seen as a kind of sacred scripture, to be enshrined in every heart and every home.


How and why the gun attained this sacred status is something I will leave aside at this time. All I know is that it certainly seems to be sacred to a substantial class of Americans, and approaching the controversy this way helps us to realize that this is an issue that must be dealt with with the greatest sensitivity, as what we are talking about here is not merely a lifestyle or hobby, but something deadly serious for those whose hearts have been touched and whose understanding of life has been formed or transformed by contact with this Sacred. This is why we find some individuals expressing their willingness, even eagerness, to die in defense of their most sacred of sacreds, most holy of holies. They see the gun as so existentially central and significant that they are ready to offer themselves up for martyrdom and to die holding onto --and firing-- their sacred objects.


How then can American society approach the issue of guns, how to balance the rights of gun-worshippers to have ritual contact with their sacred objects against the rights of non-gun-believers to be protected against the proliferation of something that they see as a menace to public well-being? I am not sure, but I would speculate that part of the solution might be for both sides to make more effort to acknowledge the other's perspective and values. Gun-believers need to realize that non-believers do not share their sense of the sacredness of guns, and have other concerns. Non-gun-believers need to understand that for the gun-faithful, the gun is much more than a mere weapon; it is absolutely central to the gun-believer's world-view and sense of self. I do believe that we need more restrictions and regulations on gun use and gun ownership in America, but to do this, the various congregations of gun-believers need to be reassured that they will retain their right to practice their religion and worship what is sacred to them. Since American society does function more or less successfully with a sense of respecting religious rights while also restricting the time and place of religious activity, I am hopeful that we will eventually be able to work this out.


Applying this line of thinking to Paganism, I see that I may have been unfair in my past judgments and criticisms of Asatru members and other Pagans who seemed to me overly involved with their swords, axes,guns and other weapons. Such things are not sacred to me, as my main association with such objects is violence, carnage and suffering, but I realize that to be fair, there is a need to understand that for some, these are truly holy things. For myself, I still wish to find fellowship with people who do not feel the need to bring weapons into sacred space and activities. I also still tend to think that the historical reasons for guns and other weapons coming to possess sacredness in America are not that pleasant to contemplate, but I will hold off from elaborating on that point today. The main thing is, weapons really are sacred to some people, and this does not mean that those people are deranged or malicious, only that this is the style of sacredness that they have arrived at, for whatever reasons. Provided that their worship of weapons causes no harm, I respect their right to practice such worship, though for myself, I take solace in the immortal words of Herman Melville's short story about Bartleby the Scrivener: "I would prefer not to."

Pagan Peace Process: An Open-Source Experiment

Attending the American Academy of Religion conference in Chicago last week, I was treated to the usual amazing buffet of scholarly research and perspectives on all manner of religious traditions, including a number of fine panels dealing with contemporary forms of Paganism. Conversing with some American scholar-friends who have also been involved in various ways and to differing degrees with Norse Paganism, I was inspired to again consider something I have toyed with in the past. This is the prospect of experimenting with creating a new form of modern Norse Paganism that would consciously de-emphasize, if not altogether discard, certain aspects of Asatru-Heathenry as this has developed in America. It will be no surprise to long-time readers of this blog that I am talking about rejecting overmuch concern with military heroism and warrior machismo, on the one hand, and with ethnic identity on the other, which, as has often been discussed, has an unfortunate tendency to mutate or degenerate into racist sentiment, or provide support or cover for such.

If we took out the macho celebration of weapons and war, the old notion of the ultra-violent Viking, and the appeal to Northern European white identity, would there be anything left, or do these two elements really contain the essence of American Asatru and Heathenry? (Notice how I use the word "American" as a qualifier--I think Scandinavian Asatru is actually on a different track and is not constructed on the same foundations and appeals as the American variety). I have no doubt that there are lots of young men who are drawn to Asatru because of the appeal of warrior machismo, who like to imagine themselves mighty Viking warriors, swinging big swords and axes against the enemies of their tribe and then celebrating their heroic victories with big horns of beer. Certainly there are men in prison coping with daily threats of violence and men away in the military or who come back from Iraq, Afghanistan or other battle zones who find it very meaningful to imagine themselves the heirs of the warrior traditions of old.

However, the prison and the battlefield are not the main reality of life for most people in this country or looking further, on this planet, even though the rapid growth of both the US prison system and the US military might make it seem so to many. The prison and the battlefield are dramatic and painful aspects of our world, to be sure, but should we take them as the template for life in general, requiring a recourse to a religion that rationalizes and celebrates war and violence? Is this how we wish to choose to imagine the world for ourselves and generations to come? To use a scholarly term, is this the "imaginary" that we wish to define our hopes and horizons? Crime, punishment, and war? Survival of the most brutal in a land of endless brutality? Is this all we believe that human beings are capable of? Sometimes it seems our popular culture wishes it so, and we, by purchasing and participating in that popular culture with its endless repackaging of warrior-against-the-world scenarios, from Rambo to World of Warcraft, to Grand Theft Auto to The Hunger Games to The Walking Dead, we add to the strength of that imaginary. It starts to seem normal to think that life is nothing but a violent, manly struggle to survive; there is nothing else. We need gods who will help us fight. 24/7 Ragnarok, we're all gonna die, let's go down fighting. Right?

I say, away with that. Done with that. Close the book on that. Anyone who wants to is free to go play those games and watch those movies and shows, but please don't come to our religion and ask us to sanctify your love of violence or work out your personal PTSD for you. (That is a serious problem, no joke by any means, and if you are suffering from that, there is therapy for that and I sincerely hope you take the step to go get it). We want to imagine the world in a different way. A society that struggles for peace and acceptance, not conquest and punishment, that tries to help people deal with their real problems and not offer them phony, fantasy solutions built around bombs and weapons.

Likewise with a focus on "ancestral tradition" that often sounds an awful lot like a plea for white privilege dressed up in medieval drag. You want White Power? Please, go join the Aryan Nations or the Ku Klux Klan. There are also some really basic problems with Americans claiming to be the heir of "Northern European spiritual tradition." America is a land of mixture and diversity. Most "white" people in America are a mixture of assorted European backgrounds that they have largely forgotten. To cling to "Northern European" and hence Asatru or Heathenry as your ancestral tradition is a bit silly when your most immediate ancestors may have had little knowledge of or interest in any particular country or culture of Northern Europe. If you are an American Heathen or Asatruar, you probably became interested in that region and its traditions as a teen or a young adult, and this is fine, but to say this comes from your ancestors speaking through your genes and not from the books or web sites that you recently encountered is not the most direct or straightforward statement of the course of events, but would seem instead to involve a projection into the past of interests that you just recently hit upon. And honestly, how many truly Pagan ancestors do you actually have knowledge of, rather than just imagination of? Is it possible that most of your ancestors, at least the last thousand years' worth, were Christian? Do you really think they are waiting for you in Valhalla? Doing what, chopping up their Bibles and crucifixes with swords and axes?

For these reasons, I think the claim of ancestral tradition is not legitimate for most Americans interested in Norse Paganism, including myself. I know I came to it through books, later through travels and studies, and I am not ashamed of it. I do not feel I have to dress it up into something more grandiose and impressive by saying "my ancestors are calling me...my Czech and Lithuanian (are they Northern European? hmmm... some would say Eastern or East-Central European) ancestors are calling me to become a Northern European Heathen and worship Odin." Like hell they are! Some of my recent Czech ancestors were Catholic priests and my Lithuanian grandmother was a particularly anti-semitic Catholic, but I can find no record of any Pagans, and certainly no Norse Pagans,among any ancestors that I have information about. If anything, it is the Thor comics of my youth and the Hilda Ellis Davidson books on Norse Paganism that I encountered in college that nudged me in this direction. What I am doing now with my own spirituality is my own choice and responsibility, with nothing to do with my ancestors. If I were to really follow ancestral tradition, I would have to go back to the Church,as that is the only "ancestral" spiritual path I have any real evidence about. And if I found out that I had some Jewish ancestors, which is possible, would I have to then become Jewish on alternate Saturdays?

I am sorry if what I am writing may be annoying or offensive to those American Asatruar or Heathens who have invested a lot of themselves in the claim of ancestral Northern European identity. You have to determine for yourself if that claim really stands up logically against what you actually know of your ancestry. I encourage you to take the test, and if you come out the other end realizing as I have that you cannot honestly or logically attribute your own spiritual inclinations to anything that was bequeathed to you by any ancestors that you actually have knowledge of ....RELAX. It's not so bad. You have now become an independent agent who can think for him or herself about what you want to do or be in matters of religion and spirituality, and of course in regards to life in general.

Returning to the main theme of this essay, if we jettison warrior machismo, weapon fetishes, and claims of Northern European ancestry, is there anything left of Asatru that we can still make use of and build upon? Yes. In fact, there is plenty.

There is still Scandinavia. We can still look to this region as a special, sacred place that we can visit in pilgrimage, like others visit Jerusalem, Varanasi and Mecca. And, no longer being weapon-bearers, we can more easily appreciate what Scandinavia has become since the Viking age: a region with the greatest shared prosperity of any place on earth, and the least militarism. A society that has turned away from making war to making a good life for its people, which was always the goal of the Vikings, in fact. Violent they were, at times, but never for its own sake. They went in search of plunder and economic opportunity. Scandinavians today have proven you can have a good society without overmuch reliance on violence or warfare.

There is still the Scandinavian literature and mythology. We can still study Old Norse and also modern Scandinavian languages, but with our eyes opened to new possibilities. We will pay more attention to the multiple functions of the gods, and not only focus on warrior aspects. We will see new meaning in how Frey gave up his sword, and how Odin was in most of his myths not a warrior king but a seeker of magical wisdom. We will reflect on the myth of Ragnarok as an epitaph for a "world of warcraft" that could not forestall destruction. We will note that after all the madness of war, nature regenerates, the world is restored, and nature proves mightier than war.

We can still enjoy the Saga tales of warrior heroes as a bit of violent entertainment, but without taking their violence as something paradigmatic or sacred. The Sagas were written first and foremost to entertain, and we have to think more about that. Furthermore, when we take a closer look at a figure like Egil Skallagrimsson, we will be more inclined to note that his main occupation was poet, not warrior. With a de-militarized perspective, other more peaceful elements of the old writings will become more clear to us. We will note for example that the Old Norse sagas describe a failed struggle to create a society of laws, not weapons, with a great deal of space devoted to legal proceedings at the regional Thing councils and the annual Althing. We will ponder the extent to which the tragedy of Icelandic history was that endless feuding,the primacy of weapons over law, crippled the early Republic and left it ripe for colonization, first by Norway then Denmark.

We will note too that Iceland gained its independence not through taking up arms and hying to the sea in longships but through a peaceful process of cultural renovation which helped persuade Iceland's colonial rulers in Denmark that the country did deserve respect and autonomy.

What I am writing here may seem strange to Americans who have grown up in American Asatru and Heathenry, which has been so strongly affected by the tastes and predilections of a generation of military men like Stephen McNallen and Valgard Murray. It would not seem strange however to Asatruar or Heathens in Iceland or Scandinavia, however, where war and weapons are not such a priority. When I have attended rituals in Iceland, Norway or Sweden, I felt a peaceful, spiritual mood that I find gets buried in all the militaristic trappings of the American version.

In a de-militarized, de-racialized Norse Paganism, we will still have the Pagan sacredness of nature. We can have renewed appreciation for all the mystery of nature that is upheld in the Eddas and elsewhere. All hail to the World Tree Yggdrasil, the foundation of all life and the living link between all realms of existence. All hail to the ocean, the realm of Njord! All hail to the earth, the mother of Thor!

We will still have rituals like sumbel/symbel and blot, but we will remove the weapons and warrior decorations. We can deck the halls with art that represents the sacredness of nature and the spiritual quest for higher realities. More runes, less rifles, so to speak!

We will still have the love of Norse-Germanic tradition, but without making silly or poorly grounded claims that we love this stuff because it is flowing in our veins,in our bones, our genes, our DNA. Cutting out the "blood and soil," quasi-racist crap will free us to make Asatru truly open to ANYONE who wants to participate, who finds the gods, myths, poems and other aspects of Norse-Germanic culture attractive or inspirational. It will no longer be possible to claim that Asatru-Heathenry is a cover or support for racism, and Asatru-Heathenry will have an easier time standing up against the racist thugs who like to use Norse-Germanic symbolism and folklore for Nazi-istic purposes.

Now is where YOU come in. I would like to ask readers to submit their ideas for rituals and other activities that would draw on Norse-Germanic tradition, but steer clear of racial and military overtones in order to glorify peaceful human existence and the sacredness of nature. Let's experiment. Send in your thoughts, speculations and experiences, and we can put together a rough guide to a non-racist, non-militarist Asatru.

We will probably need a new name for this, as well, to not cause confusion with existing forms of Asatru or Heathenry in America that we are trying to distinguish ourselves from. With my friends at AAR, we proposed Peaceful Tru, or more humorously, Wimp-a-tru, to underline our disinterest in military machismo. Perhaps Tree-Tru with reference to the World Tree as a symbol of nature and the interconnectedness of all life? How about The Great Northern Peace, to be symbolized by that Northern Lights?

Here are some opening suggestions. Imagine a ritual gathering around a fire. We could pass a drinking horn in the manner of a sumbel, but modify the sumbel to have one round of the horn dedicated to participants stating their concerns and intentions for social betterment, world peace, environmental preservation, and other positive goals of this sort. As a sacrifice, we could burn a mock-sword or maybe a mock-bomb made of a flammable substance like paper, cardboard or wood on which we each would have inscribed our wishes for an end to war and a turning away from violence and aggression, including our personal problems with cruelty, aggression and force.

I know there are those who will find this project ridiculous or sacrilegious. That is fine; to each their own. There is room for everyone to develop their own approaches and sensibilities. After all, there is no Asatru Pope, no central authority enforcing orthodox dogma last time I checked. If what I am proposing here doesn't suit you, feel free to ridicule or reject these ideas and stick with what works for you. Those who do see something of worth here are invited to think on these matters and participate as they see fit. As Bob Dylan sang in 1966, "Time will tell/Just who has fell/And who's been left behind/When you go your way/And I go mine." Above all, Let OUR way be a good and productive way!

The Election and the Environment

Another autumn, another horrible storm bearing down on the USA, and just a week away from our 2012 presidential election. We are experiencing these destructive mega-storms with ever-increasing frequency. Just last year on almost the same date, a hurricane that came after many weeks of heavy rain did massive damage, including turning a street near by me into a river when the underground sewer exploded from an excess of water pounding through the pipes. The weather event unfolding today and expected to continue to howl and rage all this week, is truly a monster, called "Frankenstorm" by some, as it combines a hurricane with a couple of other weather fronts to create a huge storm system nearly 1000 miles wide, which means it will move very slowly through the region before it finally dissipates, and subject most of the US East Coast as well as areas well inland to a sustained beating by rain and wind that is sure to cause many people to lose electricity, if not their lives, and many homes, buildings, road and other structures to be severely damaged or even destroyed. Low-lying parts of New York City are already being evacuated, and if the water surge around coastal areas is as expected, major damage could be done to the NYC train and subway system, which could soon be sitting underwater.

This kind of extreme weather is exactly what all the scientific research about global warming has been predicting: more killer storms, ever more frequent, ever more immense, and ever more destructive. The storm bearing down on us today is much larger than the horrendous Katrina storm of 2005, which shows, I suppose, some kind of progress on the climate change issue, but progress in the wrong direction, in that we have succeeded in paving the way for even more destructive weather.

If the storm is half as devastating as some are predicting, one would hope--and pray--that this would be the wake-up call that America has been needing to begin taking serious measures to change our patterns of energy usage and production, in order to at least slow down our descent into a future of hellishly calamitous weather, if not begin to reverse it, but I am not confident that my country has the wisdom, judgment, collective will or long-term vision to step up to the task.

Looking at our ongoing presidential election campaign, I see little cause for confidence. Both candidates are refusing to raise the difficult questions that need to be raised about carbon-based fuels and our need to make a rapid transition to other forms of energy. How fast can we make a transition to cleaner energy sources? How much will it cost? What new structures will have to be created? Instead of speaking to any such concerns, both President Obama and his challenger, Governor Romney, are peddling the same moronic pablum about the need to pursue an "all of the above" energy strategy, meaning continuing to drill for oil and gas, including expanding the controversial, environmentally dubious practice of hydrofracture gas drilling which has been previously addressed on this blog; continuing to extract coal by all means possible, including blowing up mountaintops for coal, ruining the surrounding rivers and streams and kissing goodbye to some of our most cherished landscapes; continuing to press for new nuclear power plants, even after the hard lessons of the Fukushima meltdown of a year and a half ago, not to mention Chernobyl 1996; and also, last and perhaps least in the two candidates' schemes of things, continuing to develop newer, more sustainable energy sources, such as wind, solar and geothermal.

The main area of contention between the two has been over who is more supportive of the coal industry. That's right, COAL: the dirtiest, most polluting carbon-based fuel of all. To listen to Obama and Romney go at each other on this issue, each pointing out how the other has in the past taken measures to limit or turn away from coal production, you might think that the two men were running for King of Coal, not President of the United States. Both keep going on about "clean coal," which does not exist outside of coal industry propaganda. Coal is a dirty, polluting fuel, period, and its extraction wreaks havoc on the environment wherever it is done. The sooner we are done with coal, the better.

Obama is better than Romney on the environmental front, but not by much. Obama's administration did provide funding for weatherization, solar power and other "Green Energy" type businesses, as part of the 2009-10 "Stimulus" program, but has not done much in this area since, caving in to vociferous opposition by conservative Republicans who mock the very concepts of climate change and green energy. He has however advanced higher fuel economy standards for cars and put in place other environmental regulations. Rommey has followed his party in attacking Obama for supporting some green energy businesses that went under, such as the Solyndra, solar power panel company, but continues to claim that he is pro-green, arguing that what was wrong with Solyndra was putting public, taxpayer money at risk when all such new investment should be left to private investment companies.

A major problem with the Romney private investment approach is that it leaves our long-term energy and environmental future to the whims of short-term oriented capitalists and investment brokers, who are not concerned with the fate of the planet in 2100 and 3100, but only the profits to be made in the next few months or years. Romney also talks of rolling back environmental legislation that he characterizes, in official Republican party-line jargon, as "job-killing," painting the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA, as a kind of demonic, cannibalistic force that must be stopped. Ironically, it was President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican, who created the EPA in the first place. That was back when Republicans were still capable of caring about the environment and did not yet view environmentalism as an anti-American conspiracy that they could profit from denouncing.

Sadly, both candidates were in the past far more environmentally aware and far more supportive of government action to combat climate change and global warming than they are today. While governor of Massachusetts, Romney made an appearance in front of a coal-burning power plant and stated the forthright position that he was in favor of shutting down the plant because "it kills" by virtue of the negative health effects of burning coal. Romney now completely rejects this stance. In a similarly breathtaking display of political expediency and environmental hypocrisy, the same Barack Obama who once spoke eloquently about the need to combat climate change and turn toward cleaner forms of energy now hardly ever mentions the word climate change, but has a lot of kind words for coal and hydrofracking.

Obama's betrayal is especially grievous because he was in a position, coming into office after the carbon-fuel based Bush-Cheney administration, to really chart a different energy and environmental course. He has, as noted, put in place regulations that will help create a cleaner environment over time, but Obama has displayed his characteristic timidity and political cowardice in failing to make a strong, loud, public case in favor of clean energy and a greener future. He has been too worried about reelection and so failed to use the presidency as a teaching-tool to educate the population and shape public opinion for the long-term struggles ahead. He took the coward's way out, and now fewer Americans believe that global warming is a real and pressing issue than did when Obama took office. By pursuing a kind of "stealth strategy" on environmental issues, quietly pushing regulations behind closed doors while for the most part keeping silent on the public stage, Obama has ceded ground to the anti-environmental, pro-carbon fuel forces that have swamped the media universe with pro-coal, pro-fracking propaganda, and cast doubt on the need for rapid and decisive action on energy and environmental issues.

So who's a liberal, environmentalist American Pagan to vote for, given this choice between two candidates who have each proven so craven and hypocritical on environmental issues? Well, taking into account other issues like women's health care, abortion rights, ending tax policy that favors the rich, reducing the size of our obese and bloated military, the future composition of the Supreme Court, and preservation of social programs that help the underprivileged, Obama is definitely the better choice, and is still marginally better than Romney on the environmental front, as he has, as stated, supported regulations that will be helpful in the long run. But either way, we will not yet have a President who clearly, boldly, publicly and forthrightly supports a new direction in energy policy for the USA, who is capable of turning away decisively from carbon-based fuels to aggressively promote less polluting energy forms like solar, wind and geothermal in order to preserve the health and well-being of the natural world for the sake of future generations. Voting day this year will be a sad day for environmentalists, regardless of who wins.

There is however another choice: the Green Party candidate Jill Stein for President. She has no chance of actually winning the election, but if the Greens make a stronger showing this year than in years past, it will put pressure on the other political parties to be more pro-environmental, and will also help the Green Party obtain government funding for future election campaigns. I therefore advise liberal, environmentalist Pagans to consider voting for Jill Stein as an alternative to President Obama. However, as the worst result by far would be for Romney to become President, as he is clearly beholden to the extreme right wing of his party, I would advise voters who share my concerns to look at the situation in the following manner.
If you are in a state where Obama is sure to win, such as New York, Massachusetts or California, then consider voting for Jill Stein. Obama will still win the state, but your vote will help promote the only political party currently offering a boldly pro-environmental direction. However, if you are in a state where the election is very close, such as Ohio, Florida or Nevada, I would suggest supporting Obama, not with great enthusiasm, but simply as the necessary expedient to prevent a total right-wing takeover of our system of government. Romney's foreign policy statements and advisers suggest he might well drag us into another Middle Eastern War, and this must absolutely be avoided.

So, if you are a liberal, a Pagan and concerned about the environment, I urge you to consider, depending on where you are, either voting Green or Democrat.

Beyond the election, I hope to see Pagans getting more involved in political causes, especially as regards the environment. As far as I know, reverence for the environment and the sacredness of nature is one of the unifying themes of ALL Paganism from Asatru to Romuva to Wicca. Hopefully we can all make more effort to protect this earth that we all love and value.

White Power, Pagan Weakness: Why Pagans Should Be Concerned

Another week in America, another mass killing by a gun-toting killer. The slaying of six Sikhs worshippers at Sikh temple in Wisconsin on Sunday, August 5th differs from some earlier tragedies of this sort in that the killer is not believed to have been mentally ill or insane. However misguided and morally repugnant his actions, the slayer of the Wisconsin Sikhs, Wade Michael Page, appears to have been entirely rational and purposeful in undertaking his cruel and vicious course of action. Therefore, this sickening event cannot be brushed off as the result of yet another madman having access to dangerous weapons and going on a psychotic rampage. The problem here is not a "sick brain," not mental illness, but a "sick ideology" that guided this man to his horrific destiny. In this, Page appears the transatlantic twin of Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian who took up arms almost exactly a year ago, 22 July 2011, to kill young political activists whom he blamed for what was, to Breivik, the unforgivable crime of allowing Norway to develop the ethnic and religious diversity that included accepting Muslim refugees from countries like Somalia.

In killing the Sikh worshippers, Page was acting on a violently racist ideology that has been circulating for decades in the USA, Europe and elsewhere and was also part of Breivik's frame of reference and world-view. Page was in fact an active propagandist for this movement as far back as the 1990s, playing guitar in a number of "hatecore" bands that used the appeal of heavy metal rock music to attract young people to the White Power cause.

This violent rampage by an active member of the racist White Power movement raises disturbing issues for modern-day Pagans practicing forms of spirituality derived from native Pagan traditions of pre-Christian Europe. There are problems of both appearance and substance that are equally important to address.

The core issue is a certain area of commonality or overlap between the White Power movement and ethnic-based Paganism that I do not believe we can ignore any longer. Both modern ethnic Paganism and the White Power movement are dedicated to preserving, honoring and extending European cultural heritage. They may have different additional goals and apply different perspectives to their pursuits, but on that basic platform, the two movements are in basic alignment. Both movements can also be traced back to nineteenth century folk romanticism, which found new significance in the folk songs, myths, dances, costumes and other traditions of European folk culture.

The Nazis' racist and imperialistic interpretation of German culture and identity also drew on this nineteenth century attention to European folk heritage. Because the Nazis did draw on Pagan symbolism and Norse-Germanic Pagan mythology in this way, modern-day Pagans, particularly those like the Asatru who also draw on Norse-Germanic myth and symbolism, are at constant risk of being perceived as Nazis or neo-Nazis. Disentangling modern Paganism from this set of pernicious associations is difficult enough to begin with. However, when you add into the mix that there really ARE modern-day neo-Nazis and White Power advocates who embrace the Nazis' racist interpretation of history and the need to preserve a "pure" European heritage and people from "pollution" by unwelcome Others such as Jews, Muslims, Africans and...for example...Sikhs... AND who like to make use of Pagan symbolism for their tattoos, for their music, and other aspects of their racist sub-culture, the task is even more difficult and convoluted. Nonetheless, the need to clearly distinguish non-Nazi, non-White Power-oriented, non-racist forms of Paganism from the White Power Movement, from neo-Nazis, and from any other permutation or concealment of racist hatred is of truly paramount importance.

This is a topic I have been passionate about for the last several years, and at great personal cost, I would add. Former friends of mine among the American Asatru community no longer wish to have anything to do with me because they think I have gone too far and been too extreme and alarmist in expressing my opposition to anything that remotely resembles neo-Nazism or White Power or provides any kind of aid, comfort or cover to such hateful and dangerous social movements. I called on Asatru groups as well as other Pagans to be more forthright in denouncing racism and Nazism and in clearly stating in their charters, web sites and other basic documents that they fully reject any such hateful ideologies, and do not welcome as members any people with any racism or sympathy for Nazism in their hearts or heads. Today, I renew that plea.

Beyond simply rejecting racism and Nazism, I would recommend that ethnic Pagans endeavor to prove that they are not merely non-Nazi, but truly un-Nazi and anti-Nazi, anti-racist and anti-White Power by making clear that they welcome people of all racial or ethnic backgrounds to participate in their religious activities and join their groups. The criterion for membership or affiliation should not be skin color or European ancestry, but sincere interest in Pagan forms of spirituality. Yes, these forms did develop in Europe, to form beautiful components of European cultural heritage, but their earliest roots are in very ancient Indo-European culture, which means that Pagan traditions possess Asian ancestry as well as European, and were never only European.

I know that many ethnic Pagans may well disagree with my proposal that modern ethnic Paganism, with an undoubted basis in particular cultural forms that developed among particular ethnic groups in the European past, now open its doors wide to people of all ethnic backgrounds. I just don't see any other way for Paganism to be a responsible and respectable member of the modern world community, at least not if it wants to be respected as a world religion of equal stature with Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and the rest.

I also see too clearly that an ethnic Paganism that maintains an exclusive stance, turning away people from other ethnic backgrounds, can easily be interpreted by racists, neo-Nazis, and White Power advocates to support their promotion of intolerance and hatred, which as the case of Wade Michael Page shows, inevitably leads to violence by those who become most deeply involved in racist causes.

I also think ethnic Pagans need to do soul-searching about their own motivations and values. Are you really interested in Pagan religion as a spiritual path, and if so, where does that path lead? Is your Paganism just a cover for your own desire to be in a white-only community, celebrating European-only culture, and dreaming of a world without diversity? Do you only denounce the murderous actions of Anders Behring Breivik and Wade Michael Page, while quietly agreeing with their ideology? Do you fully understand that their ideology of racism led them to their murderous actions, or do you think it's OK to be a racist, as long as you are a "nice," "polite" racist who does not go around shooting people?

I really do think Pagans should think carefully about these matters. There are likely to be more explosions of racist violence in years ahead, and it is very possible that some of those involved may have some association with ethnic Paganism, which, as it now stands, can easily be interpreted to support racist militarism if a person is so inclined to begin with. It will be much easier to deal with these situations, should they arise, if Pagans can present a clear, undivided, anti-Nazi, anti-racist, anti-White Power, antifa (anti-Fascist) front. Based on my past experience in trying to raise these issues, I don't think this will be possible, at least not in the United States, as American society is going in a very right-wing direction in general that may make it more and more difficult to address such issues in coming years. Let me end then by urging those Pagans who DO see the need to disassociate from racism and Nazism to make every effort to do so, and do it today!

May our slogan be not White Power, but EARTH POWER!

Among the Czechs

In a trip in March of this year to the Czech Republic, which also took me to Hungary, I had some very interesting and stimulating discussions with Czech Pagans in Brno and Prague. All of our meetings took place in pubs, as was quite fitting for a Czech religious discussion as the pub is the most sacred of Czech institutions. Many of those in attendance were familiar with this blog as well as the book Modern Paganism in World Cultures that I helped to put together some years back. In fact, I discovered that portions of the Modern Paganism book have been translated into Czech and circulated on the internet, which was surprising to me and also very flattering, especially since I have Czech ancestry on my father's side.

I was really amazed at the wide variety of forms of Paganism being developed and experimented with and pleased to see that Czech Pagans with quite different ideas and orientations were quite friendly with one another despite their differences. It is the magic of the Czech pub, I guess, or perhaps a secret ingredient in Czech beer that just can't be found in the American Budweiser.

Judging from the people I met in Brno and Prague, I would guess that the two most popular forms of Czech Paganism are Slavic reconstructionist Paganism and Norse-Germanic Paganism or Asatru (in several different varieties, I should emphasize.) I had expected most of the people to be Slavic-oriented, so the large number of Germanic-oriented Asatru followers was a surprise at first. On reflection, I realized that this makes sense in terms of Czech history. The Czech lands have always had a large German population, which is one reason that the Nazis invaded back in the 1930s. I would speculate that the modern Asatru-followers are perhaps inspired by this heritage, but I don't know their motivations deeply. It may also be that Norse-Germanic Paganism is attractive simply because it is well-developed and organized with a lot of sister organizations in other countries.

In my discussions, I raised my usual concerns about ethnic Paganism risking association with problematic political perspectives from racism to fascism. I felt that some Czech Pagans were annoyed with me for bringing up these issues. They see it as very simple, just a matter of standing up for one's land, heritage and traditions. I find this problematic in a region which has provided a home to many different peoples across the centuries: Celts, Jews and Roma (also known as Gypsies or Tsigane) along with Czechs and Germans. Some of the earliest settlers in the region were not "Czechs" in the sense of Slavs, but Central European Celts. The name "Bohemia," one of the major regions of the Czech lands which includes Prague, goes back to the Celtic tribe of the "Boii," noted by Roman writers around 50 BCE. The Slavs came some time later in about the mid-first millennium CE, circa 500 CE, arriving from the north and east. Germans probably established themselves in the region in about the same period, but could have come even earlier. Jews are first reported living in the Czech lands in the late tenth century, in a document dating from 995 CE, with Roma (Gypsies) arriving in about the 15th century or possibly some centuries earlier. There are other smaller groups that could be mentioned, in particular further sub-divisions of Slavs to include Polish, Ukrainian and Slovak Slavs, and also Magyars or Hungarians.

To my knowledge, there is no obvious lasting trace of the Celtic Boii as a distinctive cultural, linguistic or ethnic group in the Czech lands, which suggests that long ago they assimilated into other groups such as the Czech Slavs or Germans. As regards the other four main groups mentioned above (Czech Slavs, Germans, Jews, and Roma), three have been present in the Czech lands for more than a thousand years, while the last-noted Roma have been present for over five hundred. After that long a time in the country, should they not all be counted as Czechs, as part of the Czech culture, heritage and gene-pool?

Taking these different long-term inhabitants of the Czech lands into account, it seems to me important to acknowledge that such concepts as "Czech heritage," "Czech roots," and "Czech tradition" are far from simple matters. Where does Slavic influence end and German begin? What about the centuries-long interaction with Jewish and Roma minorities? That cannot simply be wished away. These diverse groups' presences and contributions are now part of the "blood and soil" and the memory and imagination of the Czech lands. One can apply a very narrow definition of Czech heritage as a Czech Slavic-only tradition, but that would actually leave out a lot of Czech history and culture. All of the above-mentioned groups can lay some claim to some share of Czech heritage, some kind of Czech roots, some piece of Czech tradition, some contribution to Czech culture. I know some of my Czech friends will shake their heads reading this, thinking "Oh, that stupid, arrogant 'multicultural' American! He has spent too much time in New York City eating sushi, shish kebab and Korean tacos with his mixed-race, multi-kulti friends! May all his tiresome preaching about diversity lead him to a good long bout of diarrhea!"

My point is that Czech Pagans as well as other Pagans need to be careful how they draw the boundaries of the identities and communities they want to construct and inhabit, and to keep in mind that cultural diversity and mixing of peoples and traditions is in itself a very old and powerful tradition. Though there are times and places that could be pointed to as exceptions--usually very temporary exceptions, I would point out--diversity and mixing have always been a stimulating force in human history, and in my opinion, we should avoid constructing versions of the past that romanticize it as a mono-ethnic paradise of racial and cultural purity, because it rarely was and if it ever was, it did not stay that way for long. Soon, new peoples will always arrive with new traditions and the contact between cultures stimulates new developments. It is inevitable.

It is one thing to enjoy particular ethnic traditions and seek to continue them, as in worshipping Slavic or Germanic gods and goddesses and finding inspiration in ancient songs, myths, and practices, but over-emphasis on ethnic exclusivity runs the risk of changing Paganism from a celebration of particular traditions into a rallying point for hatred, racism and oppression.

Let me concede that these issues of which traditions to preserve, how to go about preserving them, and who to include or exclude in a community focused on such traditions are all very important issues and not very easy ones to define or navigate. I personally tend to favor preservation of ethnic tradition as the core of any particular style of Paganism, while also allowing for modernization of such tradition, and openness to people of different ethnic backgrounds who are attracted to a particular tradition. I know that others have different ideas, and we should continue to discuss these matters. Until such time as my plans for a world dictatorship under my personal benevolent leadership fully materialize, I am happy to allow such discussions to continue and to contribute what I can.

As I have been researching Eastern European Jewish history for a book project, I have been struck by an intriguing possible parallel between the Eastern European Jews of the past and modern-day ethnic Pagans. If Pagans REALLY want to form separate, closed communities that preserve old customs, beliefs and traditions and resist modern cultural and social trends that seem to push toward diversity and mixing, might not the Jews of Eastern Europe serve as a model for what they seek to develop? You could have a Pagan shtetl right next to a Jewish one, or maybe one ghetto for the Slavic Pagans, another for the Germanic Pagans, and a third one for Jews, and so on. Is this what we want?

I think it is highly interesting that Norse-Germanic Paganism is so popular in the Czech region. It exploded my expectation that Czech Pagans would be strictly devoted to a Slavic-based Reconstructionist Paganism. It was also great to see the Slavic-oriented and Germanic-oriented Pagans getting along quite well.

I also was greatly impressed by some unusual forms of Paganism I had never heard of before. One was a group dedicated, as I understand it, to recreating the hunting lifestyle of the Paleolithic period with a focus on wolves as a sacred animal. A fellow at one of the pubs brought with him a hybrid wolf-dog puppy that quickly became the center of attention of our gathering. Another man spoke of a cult of Cthulu, the divine monster or monstrous divinity of H.P Lovecraft tales. Strictly speaking, this development of religious thought and practice derived from modern fantasy literature might not be considered a "Pagan" tradition per se, but insofar as it is dealing with issues of the sacredness of nature and the boundary-line between the natural and the supernatural, I see it as at least quasi-Pagan or Paganesque or perhaps post-Pagan.

Therefore, I will leave off for today wishing you all the Blessings of the Wolf-God and Cthulu; may they rule our universe in peace and not rip us all to pieces!