So I'm fairly new on this path, and one of the things that I first learned about was the different cultural traditions/deities within paganism/spell craft like Norse, Greek, African, etc. I feel extremely connected to Norse mythology and always have been, my great grandfather and great grandmother were from Norway and I still have some family there. I have always loved Nordic themes and aesthetic; I love things like Skyrim, the show Vikings, etc.
However, in my journey to learn more about Nordic traditions and deities I discovered that there is a long and ugly connection to white supremacist groups (funny story; I bought a necklace with the valknut symbol and my boyfriend commented that he knew a guy in high school who was a neo-nazi that had the symbol tattooed on him, this led to some serious and disappointing googling).
After this sad discovery, I also began to think if other aspects of my practice might be considered cultural appropriation. I practice yoga frequently and I know a lot of people practice Charkas and other East Asian ideas/tools. Also, several people use spirit guides and animal totems in their spell work. All of which could very well be considered at some level cultural appropriation. I'm very passionate about social justice, and I want my practice to be sensitive to it too.
So my questions is this: how have you personally dealt with some of the baggage that comes with eclectic nature of paganism/spell craft? Are you just careful with what symbols you wear, or what tools you purchase? Are there any kind of guidelines you created for yourself so that your practice doesn't do any harm?
Thank you all for your answers!
Re: Ethical Question? By: SilentSyren
Post # 2 Nov 18, 2016
For Greek I can provide you sources and help you out a bit. For Norse LokisDottir, Eissy, and NorseHippie are the best people to talk to. If you want to start a conversation about these in Skype by all means! I'm sure many people will join in and give you even more sources and pieces of information. Keep in mind Theoi is supreme for Greek stuff. The wiki is not bad since they site sources and one of the main ones IS Theoi. The third link is our coven YouTube which I am working on putting together a documentary section. I will be putting things from Hellenic, Heathenery, Kermetic, and so forth. I was already planning that so your in luck! There isn't many right now but I will try to update it frequently. CrystalLinks I like for more than just deities they actually do have good information on stones as well. Is there any more particular Greek deities you are looking for? If so I can try to provide even more specific information to further assist you.
Every religion has their crazy extremists. The important thing to remember is that the group is a small minority. I'm a Norse Pagan, but that doesn't make me a neo-nazi or a white supremacist. I strongly disagree with Heathens who say only those with Nordic blood, who are white, straight, etc. can practice Heathenry.
Personally, I think those sorts of people use their "beliefs" as a way to justify their racism and hate. It's not okay, period.
If you feel a connection to Norse gods, or you like their traditions, do not let idiots ruin that for you. Do what you love and what feels right for you.
I have yet to have an issue with people for being a Norse Pagan, mostly because many people in my area have no idea what that is. But, if someone were to call me a neo-nazi because of my religion, I would explain to them why they are wrong, and I would explain my beliefs. Hopefully by that point they would have a better understanding of my religion, and would understand that not everyone in that religion is a racist.
If someone is uncomfortable with my beliefs, that's their problem, not mine. I know what I am, I know I don't advocate hate, and I know I at least try to be respectful of the views of others. If someone can't see past the misconception that Heathens are racists, then they are not someone I would want to be around in the first place.
I'm not going to stop wearing a Mjolnir necklace simply because it offends someone. Again, that's their problem, not mine. I'm not here to hold their hand while they cry and complain.
I'm starting to go off on a rant so I will end this here. I hope I at least answered some of your questions.
I think Wolf answered this question very thoroughly. The amount of people involved in Heathenry who are neo-nazi is slim. Every group has some extremists and that is actually what that group of Norse pagans is. The rest of the community tends to shun and disown them, and has very different beliefs. The symbols used as well as not inherently racist - just have been used by groups that are.
I'm in a few Norse Pagan groups on Facebook as well as I've been a part of the Pagan community on Tumblr - the racists and extremists may be a minority, but they are loud. Whether it is because of racists or because of social justice, a lot of Norse Paganism is inherently tied to politics because of it's heavy inclination towards community efforts. Some even treat Heathenry as more than a religion, and more of a way of life involving other Heathens - this has lead to the Folkish mentality that the ancestors are more important than the Gods and I think, while it may be innocent in intent, it is horribly misguided.My mother has even been to a Danishman's club who perpetuated that the Danes were the only "real Vikings" and that the others were just pretenders.
Community is important and if it weren't for our ancestors, we wouldn't be here. However, I do not have to honor all of my ancestors as they were not all honorable, nor do I know if any of them were practicing Pagans even though I do have Danish and Norwegian ancestry. Someone even tried telling me that "communities would honor the same Disir at each blot" and didn't have a comeback when I said that the Disir are female ancestors and you could only honor the same ones if the entire community was a family, which would either need to branch out to other communities, and thus, other Disir, or be entirely incestuous, which we know from archaeological studies that the Scandinavians weren't. In fact, there is a lot more evidence one can find of Scandinavian polytheists being more genetically diverse than people might think.
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To answer your question about cultural appropriation, one has to consider first that "Paganism" by common definition is an umbrella term to refer to dead polytheistic religions (though I specify that they are specific to European Polytheism because it was not historically applied elsewhere and to do so now only feeds into Euro-centric ideas that blanket and ignore the diversity of the rest of the world). When I say dead religions, I do not mean disrespect - I mean simply that they are religions that are not a part of living traditions, as in, they were not continually practiced from then till now. By that idea, every European polytheistic religion has to be reconstructed, which is always a personal endeavor because we have to interpret the material given to us (which scholars can't even fully agree on, so it is impossible to have a singular standard for any Pagan religion).
If you were to learn something that is a part of a living tradition, it would affect the lives of the people tied to it. If you take from people who do not wish to share or make a joke out of someone's culture, that is the definition of appropriation. Religions within Norse Paganism cannot be appropriated because the people whose lives were affected by them have been dead for nearly a thousand years (so if you see anyone crying white genocide or spewing hatred for multi-culturalism, you at least now know those are serious red flags for racists and purists).
I promise you that most people don't even know what Norse Paganism is. The most irritable anyone gets over peoples views of our religions is that people mistake them for Marvel's Thor and every character inspired by Norse deities and spirits tied to that. The thing about fictional inspiration from older religions is that... nearly everything we get in the fantasy genre was inspired by folklore and polytheistic religions. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series are both heavily influenced by Germanic Paganism because Tolkien was a scholar whose field specifically was Germanic Paganism in England.
I really could go on about any of this, so feel free to pick things apart or ask questions to further explore answers. Ultimately you will decide what is right for you, but we can help make sure what is right for you isn't something that negatively impacts others.
Thank you all so much for you answers! You all have great points-I think this community is inherently inclusive and like any other open-minded group we're quick to get rid of any "bad apples" and do our best to encourage inclusive discussions.
