A Response to Politics.

This comment is a re-post from one I made at The Wild Hunt, in regards to claims of slandering a political branch of Pagans.

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Dreamstalker, I can see where you would consider my statements to be "boilerplate." I must, however, point out that I heard you speaking no such words about those on the right turning this into a Christian nation. I wonder why?

Perhaps making the nation Publicly Atheistic (in terms of government and such) is not turning the nation atheistic. However, my statements about how the political Left (if not the totally of its members) view all religion still stand. This is not boiler plate, this is things I have observed on my own from sources that view the Left in high regard.

You say my political slander against a wing of the Pagan population will not bring unity. You are right, except that I do not slander the Pagans, but merely point out that it would be best if we forgo our "political" identity in favor of our "religious" identity. It is perhaps true that I do not attack the right as often as the left, but I do attack it. If I attack the left, it is because too often I see it held up as the paragon of virtue and dogmatically held as the only way to go. I feel this is not so. WE are Pagans and Heathens, Why should we stick to either one path or the others. We do not work in a dualistic system, we can take a third option, or a fourth, or a fifth. Why should we be Right or Left? Why must we so dogmatically hold to political ideologies that have no respect for us? Who see us only as votes to be counted, numbers to be manipulated and twisted till we give to one side and bash the other with the fervor of monotheistic zealots? When did politics become our Gods and Goddesses, rather than the divine beings themselves. When did Democrats and Republicans become our people, over Wiccans, Asatruar, Satanists, Odinists, Druids, etc?

When did it become that Pagan would threaten Pagan with death, simply because they held a different political viewpoint? Is this what we are? Is this what we all began walking this path to become? I became a heathen because the gods of my people called to me, bid me welcome, and said I was kin. That it didn't matter if i was right or left, republican or democrat, capitalist or socialist. That I was something beyond the petty, venality of politics, that I had family and spirituality that transcended time and space. And that it wasn't just me, it was every other person, from the solo practitioner to the coven, from the Scandinavian to the Greek to the Roman to the Celt to the Slav and Baltic. That we were taking back and rebuilding something that had been stolen away by fire and blood and a selfish, petty god that thought he alone could rule everything. That we didn't have to act petty and childish. That we could be the start of something old made new again.

But all to often I see none of that. I see people being petty when they should be honorable. I see people bashing the right, bashing those who defend the right, and bashing people like me who don't bash the right or defenders of the right as much as they think I should. I see people getting death threats and told that they aren't "really pagans" because they don't believe the same as everyone else and jump on the "correct" political bandwagon.

Do we want to survive? Do we want our ways to be passed on for generations to come? To honor the gods and goddesses until the sun goes nova and then some as we spread beyond this little world? Then we have to put aside the politics. Call against those politicians if you will, but do it against everyone. No playing favorites. Respect our kin on all sides of the political spectrum and remember that We are Pagan and Heathens, Children of the Gods and Goddess, before we are anything political!

It's time we stopped frothing at the mouth like berserks without a lick of sense in their head other than killing the "enemy" and remember that it wasn't politics that brought us to our paths! It was our need to step away from the petty and the venal ways of the other religions, like Christianity, which have so infected this nation, this world, and its politics. It's time we became more, not less.

The Goddesses don't care who you vote for.
The Gods don't give a s*** what your political orientation is.

So why should we? We are people, they are people, they are no better or worse than we are. Move past the politics and remember what is important. Our people and our paths, Not our politics.

Creating a New Era Part 2 Skills

In my last post, I put forth what I feel must be the first step in building pagan and heathen communities. A sense of tribalism, nationalism, whatever you wanna call it, where we move past and set aside what makes us all different, and remember what makes us the same.

Here in Part 2, is the next thing I think we will need to build and sustain a community or communities.

Skills.

Think about it, sure carrying on the traditions of our paths is important, but if we're building a community it's going to be known, and different kinds of communities will require different kinds of skills.

If one is part of a community that is building from scratch on land they've bought in the country, well you're gonna need to know how to build buildings, do wiring, plumbing, farming, and hundreds of other little things we don't normally think about.

Why? Because you would be doing something that hasn't really been done lately. But we do have keys to this. There are trade schools and apprenticeships for most of the basic skills. There are communities like the Amish that we can learn how to work together from, as well as many a good skill to get, as most of us will not be wealthy and so the shiny toys of modernity won't be as available to us as older methods will be.

In the instance of moving into a neighborhood and building a community there, many of the above skills could also be useful as well. In truth all the skills that I can come up with would be needed for both community types.

Diplomacy would be key, both internally and externally. Keeping a bunch of pagans and heathens together, focused, and getting along when the former tend to act like wild cats and the latter like wolves is both a hard task and the most important. As I said in my previous post, without Community, there is no community. Also in dealing with the larger population outside of the Community itself. Getting schools to recognize our views and rights, getting City councils to do the same. Getting the local religions to either back off and play nice, ignore us, or not attack us.

Skill at Arms. This is probably the most controversial skill needed, but by building a community we are painting a target on ourselves and we need to be ready for those that come against us. This means both the ability to use violence on behalf of our communities and the knowledge of how we can use this violence. In the olden days, everyone in pagan societies, especially the Celt, Norse, and Germanic, learned to fight. Martial arts classes are a good idea, the more realistic the training the better. Gun classes, learning to use the weapons of our people, etc, are also good, maybe even a must. Because there are attacks on minority communities, and ours will be no different. Harm none is good, but when they're at the door, remember it's yours or theirs.

Why do I say skills like carpentry, electrical wiring, and plumbing are key and we need members that know these skills? Because there will be those that refuse to serve those needs if they know who we are, or will actively sabotage us. Not only do we need people certified in those skills, we need them to be the best of the best, because there will likely be those who will use any excuse to shut us down.

We will need those who know the law. It's already pretty clear that "lawfare" is a tactic many are willing to use. I've heard tales of children services removing children from pagan homes. There will be lawsuits. We need warriors of the law to guard us and fight back for their communities without the devastation that other law firms will charge.

Farmers, who know how to bring forth food. Gardens are good, and we should each have one, but for the communities in the country, larger food supplies will be needed, for both sustainability and added income into the community.

Capitalism, even though it is much maligned will aid us and we should use it responsibly. Each person must own their own home/land. It should not be communal property. This will invest each person into their own part more fully, and in the case something goes wrong for one, it will not destroy the entire community. We help each other through the hard times, but we own what we own as individuals. That is the Western Way.

Teachers will be a must shortly there after. If needed, homeschooling is an option, but the ability to create a private pagan/heathen school where the community has the direct control of what our next generation learns will be a boon. There are many educational programs out there we can learn from and implement so that our children are the best and brightest, because they will need to be. We cannot let the dogmas of religion and politics influence our children away from their heritage, nor poison their minds against their fellows.

Medical professionals will also be needed, both alternative and modern. The former because it is our way and healthier, the latter because it gives us options and protects us from attacks.

We need to amass the skills needed to protect, sustain, and grow our communities, and more importantly our children. The community's survival is based on its children surviving and thriving to carry on the way of that community. Lose them and all our building and planning is for naught. And we can be sure that there are those who would like to see us fail and will target the next generation. We need to be able to stand up and protect ourselves.

Creating a New Era Part 1 Community

I have noticed, in my travels around the net, that there is a growing movement to begin building pagan and heathen communities. This is not a completely new movement, truth be told, but I believe it is a movement whose time is finally coming about.

Why has it not really happened yet, at least on a large scale? Because we haven't had the people to do it. Much of the history of modern pagan/heathenism has been one of solitary practitioners, small covens or groups, the former of which could be anywhere and the latter of which generally could only be found in larger cities until more recent times, where increased numbers and lowered fears.

So what's changed in the fifty odd years or so since people started reclaiming the paths of the gods and goddesses? What makes now different from then?

Well first of, its a numbers game. Paganism is one of the fastest growing religious affiliations. We're getting more and more people into this little polytheistic party. Also, it's the type of people we're getting in. One of the fastest growing subsections to is "Reconstructinism," at least to my knowledge. One of the big things most of the reconstructionists have is bringing back the way things were done, which requires a community. It's all well and good to live like our ancestors, but trying to make your way thought the world with the values of a 7th century Scandinavian in a 21st century post modern society isn't easy. There's a lot of cross over, true, but there's a lot of values dissonance. The other is that such paths put a strong emphasis on kinship, at least the "folkish" ones do. Building a community, building family who live and practice as you do.

And we are getting the numbers for that now.

Another thing that's changed is that as we've stepped out of the shadow, the broom closet, and the history books, we've drawn a lot more attention to ourselves. Where once cries of occult ritual murders and such would have meant a lot of hysteria, but now they are real attacks against our ways of life. In California, there is still a battle over freedom of religion, where paganism is not counted in the "Big Five" (three of which are Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) and thus "may not have the same rights and protections" as the "big five."

People are looking at us now, and not all of it is friendly. Now, instead of protecting us, our solitary natures are acting as a hindrance. Where once we could hide in ones or twos, now we are open and that means that those who disapprove can attack. People hide who they are because they fear losing their jobs, their children, their families, and much more.

But what if we could change all that? What if we could come together? I think that's what's pushing people more and more into a desire to build communities. I've heard everything from getting run down properties that are going for cheap and making pagan neighborhoods to buying land and making communities from scratch. These are good ideas, they are a start, and its one we need to look at seriously.

So what do we need to do this?

Well, the first thing that we must do to build a community is just that, build community amongst ourselves. Too often I see the pagan and heathen communities online fractured into different factions, while in person, well they're almost as volatile as the Christians as far as keeping groups together. You end up with a bunch of very small, very ideological groups that can't stand each other because of drama and such. Maybe we need to wait until these fractured communities grow large enough to sustain themselves. I don't think we do.

What we have to do is realize that we are pagans/heathens above all else, that for our different patterns of belief, we are that if nothing else. We have to take that and use it to do something that has been bashed, vilified, "discredited," and all together "mad."

We have to build a "Nation," we have to invest ourselves with "Nationalism." "Right," "Left," "Progressive," "Conservative," etc, must become as meaningless words to us. Politics has divided us, kept us separated and hindered us from reaching the true potential we could reach. We must reject the dogma of modern political theory and delve deep into our pagan and heathen ways. There are pagans who have inserted their progressive and leftist views into their teachings, seeking to undo the harm Christianity has done without bothering to learn what is actually Christian in origin and what is originally pagan. Too often, heathens have imparted ways of the right, though not as bad as they could have. Still, we have let politics keep us at each others throats, when we should have been reaching for hands in kinship. We have to move past this, to stop calling the other sides ignorant and shallow. It is our diversity which will help us to move forwards and deal with problems, but not unless we can realize we have more in common with each other than against each other.

There are already plenty enough people out there trying to get rid of us. From the rabid Christians who preach no witch shall live to the Muslims who teach that all must worship Allah or die to the Atheist scientists who insist that there are no gods or that the gods were aliens who pulled a con job on our primitive and stupid ancestors. I don't care if you're a polytheist who believes all the goddesses are representatives of a single being or a hard polytheist like myself who believes each individual god and goddess was their own person. We need to stop bickering, about are the gods and goddesses few or many, about if straight men are as capable as bi-men and all manner of women, about if the recons are racist bastards or the Wiccans are feminists misandric harpies. We need to stop the infighting and bloody well remember that we chose these paths because they accepted us, and its bloody time we put our money were our mouths are and start accepting our Pagan and Heathen Brothers and Sisters.

We need to build community.

An Interpretations of an Imam

I must admit that having lightly delved into the world of Pagan blogs covering the subject of the Ground Zero Mosque/Park 51 Community Center has given me new insights into the matter. Things I had not considered are floating in my head. In someways, it makes the controversy more understandable. In someways, it makes those who are behind the project more terrifying.

The Imam behind the mosque/community center is quoted to have said that America has more innocent Muslim blood on its hands, than Al Qaeda has innocent non-Muslim blood on its hands.

I wish to first state that the Imam is correct, from a certain point of view. Permit me to explain.

I will start with a digression that will become clear as I go along. Christianity. Under Christian teachings, all people are born sinners. While some denominations will disagree about the innocence of children, most will agree that Humanity is born into sin and is stained with that sin until they are saved in the name of Jesus Christ. Indeed, this is the reason that Catholics baptize their children shortly after they are born, so that if they die they may enter heaven, rather than being damned to hell.

What does this have to do with the Imam's words? Well, assuming you haven't figured it out, permit me to continue. If you have, you may now recoil as the true meaning hits you.

Islam is much like Christianity. Everyone is born of sin and is a sinner. This is especially true of non-believers of Islam. The only real difference is that instead of accepting Christ as one's savior to get out of hell, one must Submit to the Will of Allah and follow the teachings of Him and his prophet Mohammad. Otherwise, one is a sinner.

Now, as a sinner, one is damned to hell. Hell is a place for the guilty. No innocent goes to hell.

But, if one does not believe in Allah and follow his teachings...

They are a sinner, they are guilty, and they are a non-Muslim.

Under Islam, there is no such thing as an innocent Non-Muslim, because by dent of being a non-Muslim, they are guilty of sin and have not been purified of that sin by Submission to Allah.

Only by Submitting to Allah, can one be made innocent of their sins. Therefore All Muslims are innocent.

Let us look at the above quote again: America has killed more innocent Muslims than Al Qaeda has killed innocent Non-Muslims.

According to Islam, All Muslims are Innocent through Submission to Allah.

According to Islam, All Non-Muslims are Guilty of Sin and Have Not been made Innocent through Submission to Allah.

Hopefully, this is sending a chill through your very bones. The realization sent a chill through mine. Because what it means is that for the Imam, indeed for most Muslims as they would agree with the Imam, it doesn't matter if a member of Al Qaeda is slitting the throat of a Soldier, that Al Qaeda member is still an Innocent Muslim so long as he submits to Allah. It also means that if an Al Qaeda member suicide bombs in a nursery of new born babies, those babies, if they are non-Muslims, are not innocent.

I speak these words, not in hate, but in warning. My fellow Pagans and Heathens, remember the ways of the Christians, who also viewed us as Guilty Sinners. Remember what they did, even to those ancient and modern followers of the Old Ways, no matter how much we tried to aid our fellows. We were not innocent to the Christians and we are Not Innocent to the Muslims. Asatru, Wiccan, Heathen, Pagan, Buddhist, Maori, Native American, Christian, Jew, or anyone else. We are not Innocent to the Muslim!

We are not innocent to this Imam.

Learn all you can and see with eyes unclouded by fear, hatred, or bigotry. See the reality of this world, no matter how painful and disheartening. To this Imam and those who agree with him, we are the guilty and they are the innocent. It doesn't matter how good we are or how evil the worst Muslim terrorist is. Remember what the Christians did to the "Guilty" Pagans. Know, that the Muslims have done the same, and still believe that those actions are not only acceptable, but will earn them rewards from their God Allah.

Tea or Death?

So, a few bits of news to put up today, one of which I'm really happy about and the other that is frankly terrifying.

So, I'll start with the good news, because I'm not sure what long reaching effect it will have, though I do hope it goes as I would like it too. Namely, a growing number of Christian Leaders and their churches are joining President Obama in the "Progressive" movement to declare the Tea-Party "Unchristian."

If you are of a heathen, pagan, or non-monotheistic mindset, you may now join me in the laughter. For those who don't know why they should be laughing, permit me to explain.

When I look at the Progressive movement, socialism, communism, fascism, and so on, I do see the pinnacle of Christian Ideology. All they've done is replace God with Government (so instead of God will provide it is now Government will provide, or Vengeance is God's it is now Vengeance is the Government's, etc). Charity went from being a divine mandate to being a governmental mandate on behavior. Instead of One Nation under God, it has become One Nation under Government. The basic fundamentals, such as the weak, poor, and disenfranchised taking supremacy over the Strong, "Wealthy", and Empowered, remains a staple of this Progressive Ideology. At it's heart, I count Progressivism as very, very Christian.

As I have studied Heathenism/Asatru, and learned of the greater contributions given by our Scandinavian/Germanic ancestors both in books about my religion and in purely historical works, I have come to realize just how many ideals embraced today by Independents, Libertarians, and Conservatives draw on the ancient traditions of pre-Christian Europe. When I look at what the tea party calls for: Democracy, Lower Taxes, Smaller Government, Freedom of the People to Live As They See Fit, and so on, I see the ancient Heathen and Pagan ways of European peoples from before the Age of Christendom. While many in the Tea Party may believe in Christ (Glenn Beck being a very vocal member of the "Return to Christianity" group inside the Tea Party) that doesn't alter that the fundamental values of the Tea Party are Heathen.

So what do I think will happen with the wide-spread declaration that the Tea Party isn't "Christian"? Well, two things. The Tea Party might lose a few members who can't stand to see themselves as anything less that "True Christians." Honestly, I will account that no great loss, even if I'm not really a member of the Tea Party (mostly because I see too many 'old dogs' trying to manipulate and corrupt it to their own ends). What I hope will also happen is that more people will start to look at the Tea Party in a new light. It isn't racist, a theory that has been pretty much slaughters like an offering to the Gods. I think one of the things that has hindered more people from joining it, myself included, is that it is perceived as "Christian" and thus not friendly to Atheists, Pagans, Heathens, Buddhists, and others. By labeling it "unchristian" the doors will be open to those groups who will be able to see that the Tea Party stands more for Freedom of All Peoples, Equality for All Men and Women, and Justice for People Regardless of Race or Religion. This in turn will make a stronger Tea Party.

The second bit of news comes from Chuck Norris. A while back I was surprised to find out he was a news commentator and on occasion I've had cause to read his articles. The latest, however, is grim. Turns out that President Obama and crew have passed a law which allows them to assassinate U.S. Citizens in order to prevent "terrorism" and "Terrorist Threats." Considering that Obama has in the works (if not completed) a plan that would allow him to hold U.S. Citizens indefinitely for the exact same reason, and that the Obama Administration is willing to consider groups like the Tea Party or similar groups that are Non-Muslim to be "terrorist" or "terrorist leaning" you may draw your own conclusions as to where this will lead.

It's a little like Highlander...

There can be only one. (God)

Much has been made about the current US administration going off the deep end. Personally, I don't thing it's going off the deep end so much as it blasted off with powerful rockets, breaking the speed of light, and traveling to new dimensions which violate the laws of physics. If you watch Glen Beck, odd and emotional man that he is, you'll no doubt be regaled with hours of Progressivism and Obama's part in it. Fair enough, he probably has a point.

Others will speak at length of Obama's Muslim ties. While these are questionable, there is something interesting about the current admins and its relationship with Islam. Namely, the latest bit that has come out.

Jihad is Legit

That's right, Jihad, Terrorism, and Terror are no longer what we fight against. Jihad is legitimate now. Islam may now engage in holy struggle to its hearts content.

Right...

Now, while those Christians and Jews who understand what this means go running around screaming in terror, I would like to address my fellow Heathens and Pagans, be cause this means something more for us than it does for the Christians and Jews. This is because Christians and Jews have special protection under Islam: They are People of the Book, and may be permitted to worship their religions (at a price, mind you). Not so for us who follow the paths of many gods and goddesses. For us there is only two choices: Convert or Die.

This no Cake or Death moment for us, my fellow Heathens. I will admit that when it comes down to it, I'm not sure how many of us will react to the Sword of Islam hanging over our heads at the true, physical moment when we must choose Heathen Gods and Death, or Life under Islamic Submission. I do know/hope that at least amongst those who follow the Asatru, and other paths being reconstructed will have the strength to say no to more monotheistic oppression.

When it comes to the Asatruar, I do think I know what will happen, at least when it comes to myself. Over a thousand years ago, Heathen men and women faced a threat much like this one, and for two hundred years we put such a fear of Heathen peoples into Christianity that they still speak of it with terror.

We have Gods of War.

They have only a God of Submission.

Slaves may kill Freemen, but they can never truly defeat them.

Who I am...

Who I am…

I am a man. I was born this way and I will die this way.

I am straight. I take female lovers, because it is what I desire, despite social pressures and the ideas of other people.

I am a Heathen. I believe in many Gods and Goddesses who demand strength, honor, and nobility from me.

I am White. I come from Scandinavian and Germanic peoples and I feel no shame in this. I am no worse than any other person out there, nor are my people. We have done nothing that everyone else hasn’t done before.

I am Free. I have the Right to speak my mind, no matter how abhorrent others find my views. I have the Right to carry any weapon I desire, because I am a freeman and it is my birth right since old times. I have the right to Life, Liberty, and Property and these rights shall not be stripped from me without me rising up in protest.

I am filled with Pride. I know who I am and where I come from and no one, man or woman, god or slave, shall remove from me my past without first taking my life.

I will die for what I believe in, because there is more to life that living and there is more to death than dying.

I will not hesitate to live what I believe, because if I do any less, how can I say I believe it?

I do not kneel before monotheistic gods of slavery and submission. Their Eastern ways are not mine, for I am a man of the West.

I do not hate because of the color of a man’s skin. I am not superior because I am white. But neither am I lesser for it!

I am tired. I live each day watching my kin fall into the trap of believing they don’t deserve to be free, of believing that Western culture, European culture, Germanic culture, is bad and weak and evil and needs to be done away with in favor of African and Eastern ways. I am tired of the One God leading to One Way, One Government, One World.

I am Tired of being told that those who came before were less evolved than we are now, when the only thing I see having evolved is the ability to delude ourselves into think we are Progressing and that the world wants to be unified with us, when all they want is to see us submit, die off, and become slaves to their ways and lose our history, our stories, our peoples for the rest of time.

I am Tired of people living as if Life was the only thing out there. I am tired of people denying my gods, denying the meaning of our being, in favor of the secular, scientific, nihilistic dreams of men who dreamed of nothing by emptiness and obedience and meaninglessness.

I am tired of people screaming that violence is not the answer, that we shouldn’t fight back, even as wives, children, husbands, and kin are slaughtered, because to take life ourselves is to horrible and it is better to let ours be taken because we are worthless.

I am Tired. Of being told that my views are wrong. That I am inhuman. Simply because I look out for myself first, my family next, and my kin third and tell the rest of the world to screw off.

I am Tired, and I laugh. Because people scream that there are too many of us on this planet and instead of killing other peoples as is the custom of this world, they kill their unborn children, because it is better to kill one’s own people than to kill for them.

I am Tired, and I laugh. For the soldiers called baby killers by people who slaughter entire nations in the womb, unborn, without a chance to fight for life.

I am tired, and I laugh. Being told that because I am straight, I am homophobic, and therefore I must secretly desire to be gay. I laugh, for what need have I to fear mortal men and their sexuality.

I am Tired, and I laugh. Society raises itself on a pedestal made of sand which is being burned away. When did Peace become the norm simply because weak men grew sick of war? Did the Arab, the African, the Mexican, the Chinaman, or anyone else agree to lay down their arms simply because the elite of the Eastern West wanted to never see death again, knowing as they do that there is no hereafter, hinterwelt, or heaven. I have Valhalla, and do not fear my death.

I laugh. The world turns and the striving of the man who follows the Eastern way will fall to the man of the Eastern submission.

I laugh, for the Christ god has killed his followers, in the destruction of freedom, power, and self obtaining.

I laugh, and I weep. For I am a Heathen man, and my kin are Pagan, and the Asatru shall be strong, but everything ends and I foresee only the destruction of my peoples a second time, a final time, as the next form of the East rises up and lays us low in our graves, and all I can do is pray to the Gods and Goddesses that we die fighting as our ancestors did, taste that lost glory one last time, because I am not sure with so few in number that we can win against those who would see us gone.

I laugh, and weep. Tears of joy, for I know the end I choose, and even if I am wrong and there is nothing after, I lived and died in a manner that I can be proud of, regardless.

I weep, and rise up again. Let come the Christian, the Socialist, the Marxist, the Progressive, and the Muslim. Even the Gods will die, but even after Ragnorok there is life and so too will my peoples rise up one more. A hundred years, a thousand, a million, it matters not, because within my peoples are the blood of the free, the strong, the powerful. Make my people slaves, and we shall rise up and destroy our enslavers. We’ve done it again and again in history, the future will be little different.

I rise up, anew. I am filled with hope, for that which is built on slavery will falter. Only freedom is eternal, as long as we carry our sword in hand to ensure it. Let the Christian beat his sword into a plowshare and submit. Let the Muslim bring his War of Peace.

I am a man. I am a Norseman. I am a Warrior, and a Poet, and a Son of ancient peoples.

My existence will not be denied.

My people will not be denied.

My power will not be denied.

Our power will not be denied.

Our Gods will not be denied.

Our Goddesses will not be denied.

Our future will not be denied.

By sword, and gun, and pen, and magic, and everything within the human spirit, we shall rise anew. We shall be as we are, what we are, where ever we are. And not matter what, not death or slavery shall triumph over my people.

Rise up, my kin. Rise up my people. Throw off the Eastern God and his ways. Throw off the sickness of nihilism. Throw off the chains of believing that in order to be equal, you must be lesser than everyone. Look at thy flesh, look in thine own eyes.
Tell yourself you are worth something. Tell yourself that you can have pride. Ours is freedom, democracy, and equality of men and women. Not from a Christian god, but from the HEATHEN! It was our pagan forebears that gave us these! Do not let the Eastern peoples tell you that the West is Evil. We are Good! We have wrought forth so much that has aided mankind. It is the Western man that reached the Moon, because he dreamed not of serving masters of this earth, but of making his own place in the heavens.

Look to the East, and see how they are. They beat there women, enslaving them. We gave ours rights, and freedom. We spake unto them and called them equal unto us long before the Christ god came unto us. But under the Eastern way we too enslaved our women. Return now to the Pagan, and become free, and let women be women, as they were meant to be: feminine and equal and loved, not masculine, superior, and feared.

The West is Evil, yet it was we who first freed all slaves in our lands. We fought a war about it, but that was a war over who was to say when slaves were to go free, not that they shouldn’t. We killed our brothers, not just to free the slaves, but trying to make we didn’t become slaves to a massive government ourselves. Yet those who hate the West still possess their slaves and are slaves themselves in turn.

Will you stand with me?

Will you embrace your heritage, your ancestral Gods and Ways?

Will you throw off the oppression of those who think themselves more evolved,
because they are cut down by the sword rather than doing the cutting?

Will you stand with me?

I shall I stand alone and take all glory and honor for myself and alone be able to face our ancestors and say: “Behold my mighty deeds. I have lived as you lived and died as you died, a Freeman or my peoples.”

Let us Rise as Warrior in this New Age

My goals with this blog are mainly to speak about issues that interest me and to put forth my viewpoint. The original post explained the original name of this site, Varth Lokkur’s Wisdom, reflected this. However, as you may have noticed, I changed the name to Thorkell the Tall. My reasons for this, other than the obscurity of the term Varth Lokkur and my uncertainty as to its historical accuracy, is that I wanted to personalize this site, and myself. There is a blog, now defunct, call Charles Martel that was formed to discuss the issues of Islamification of the West. As I have researched into that issue, I grow more disturbed by what I see happening. It also inspired me to start something similar, but inherently different.

Thorkell the Tall was a Jomsviking Jarl during the reign of King Cnut the Great of Denmark. If you haven’t heard of him, I won’t be surprised, though both men appear in the excellent manga Vinland Saga.( http://www.onemanga.com/Vinland_Saga/ ) Thorkell is portrayed to be a pagan, if not a very religious one, in the series and I suspect he was one in life as well, as the full Christianization of the Norse had not yet occurred. I chose the name because he struck me as a man worthy of respect and of great power.

Power, I feel, that is needed more than ever.

We are quickly becoming a nation, nay a world, without heroes or myths. No sooner does a celebrity or athlete achieve greatness and fame than they are dragged through the mud and defamed. Our culture teaches equality for everyone, but the problem with equality is that no one can rise above his fellow man. It is wrong to insist that because of a man’s skin he is superior or inferior. Society preaches this, but all I often see is the inverse of old systems. Perhaps it is the final, fullest transformation of the Christian philosophy appearing, devoid of god but filled with entitlement and reverse superiority, where the weak are the greatest, the meek hold the power, and the slave owns the master. The hero becomes the villain, and the villain the victim, and the victim is forgotten. I see it in murder cases on the news, where the police are vilified, the murder is decried as the “Victim of Society,” and the only thing you hear about the victim is that their dead. No matter how horrible their death was, or how long it took, or what was done to them, there’s always an excuse and cries of pity for their killer who fell through the cracks of society, who was discriminated against because of his skin color, as if this somehow justifies their act. And the police who arrest them, or patrol the streets, are the villains who perpetrate this evil society.

As a pagan, if not a very religious one, I look at this and wonder what the end result will be. Paganism is about balance, Order and Chaos, Love and Hate, War and Peace, each thing both opposite and the same, each one just as good, noble, honorable, and desirable as the other. But our world is all about an imbalance now. Love, don’t hate (except to hate those who think differently from the liberal, because it’s okay to hate white racists, and heterosexuals that think homosexuality is wrong, and Men because Women have been oppressed). Peace, not War (but it’s okay for others to wage war against us, because we are the evil West, that imperial demon that spread the ideas of equality, democracy, and freedom). Order, but not Chaos (but you can use it to strike against “racists,” “Homophobes,” and other “undesirable peoples” who embody the Western Way and fight the over regulation of society).

In the end, an imbalance cannot hold except by a fierce grip on the reins of power. This society will collapse and something will take its place. What will it look like? I don’t know, but I doubt it will be something pleasant, especially for the pagans.

If the powers that be, who strive against the traditional Scandinavian and Germanic values of Europe, win we may see something like Soviet Russia, but out of all the options I see I doubt it would last very long. A hundred years, at most, before the center fell out. Charismatic leaders die, and those that follow are too weak and things fall apart, or too strong and tear everything apart in their greed. Undoubtedly though, any form of religion will be crushed as bad for society, and European Paganism will fall faster that Christianity

We could see a resurgence in die hard Christianity; Catholic, Protestant, or both. If this happens, little will change in the long run, but in the short run we’ll see a backlash against the Liberal Left and those that stand with it, or simply stand against Christian values. What this means for Homosexuals I can’t say, though they’ll probably have it easiest since the can go back in the proverbial closet, and most will if their lives are on the line. Where I’m primarily concerned is for the Pagan and Heathen peoples, who will no doubt get labeled with the same brush we’ve always been: Devil worshipers who need to be cleansed from this earth in order to bring about God’s divine grace. It will most likely be a world bathed in blood. This will only grow as the Christians turn to face their long time enemy; Islam.

Should people like the blogger Charles Martel, or more properly the folks at Gates of Vienna are correct about the threat of Islam in the west (which I can attest to as a historian) and they succeed where Liberalism and Christianity fall, the end result will be the worst yet. With Liberalism and Christianity, we would see limited rights for those who belonged to the appropriate groups, but with Islam we would see an almost complete lack of rights for everyone. All the progress modern society has made would undoubtedly be lost in the initial fury of take over and power consolidation. Women, who can go topless on a beach and expect to be safe, or walk down the street with their hair in the wind and showing off their skin to everyone and not worry about being attacked, will either have to cover themselves as women do in the Arabia, or face rape and attack as they do in Sweden, from the men around them. Men, who may speak their minds and pray to whatever gods they wish, will be forced to kneel before Allah or die violently. The very things Women’s lib screams about will be true, and there will be no one who can protest. Everyone will lose their freedoms. The Pagan and Heathen will be hunted down and destroyed, our culture rubbed out of existence, and no hope of ever rediscovering our ancestral ways will be left to us or our children, should they even be born.

In the face of this almost insane future, where do we stand? What can we do, as Pagan, Heathen, Norse, Germanic, and Celt, do to protect our future, our children’s future, and the legacy of our ancestors? Is there any hope at all for the Asatru, Wiccan, and others?

There is one. It is a fool’s hope, a fool’s dream, of power and legacy and what might be a fight that will end only in our deaths and loss of everything we ever are, were, and could be.

We fight back.

Not with swords and guns, though I won’t rule out that in the end that might be our only recourse, but with information and without fear. If what I see as being most likely to happen is true, then we are already dead, but then we were dead the day we were born and as Pagan and Heathen we need not fear death. For the Asatru, the afterlife is known and we need not fear it. We, as Europeans, must reach out to our brothers and sisters and let them know the ways of their people. We must instill in ourselves and our children Pride, Strength, Power, and the will to use and guide themselves and others. If the patterns of Multiculturalism continue to the point where they wipe out everything European, we lose and Islam will take over. If Christianity wins, we lose, and will face another thousand years of witch hunts, Verdens, and death. If Islam wins, we’ll face even worse than we will with the Christians.

Only if we can obtain significant numbers do we stand a chance. I’m not advocating going door to door, being Odin’s Witnesses or anything like that. But we can print books, join together to produce movies and music that tell of our epic past and our potentially heroic future, that spread our ideas just as powerfully as any Conservative or Liberal organization. We must move outside of politics and political parties that exist. I know many Pagans are Liberal, and some are Conservative, but the ideals of paganism can be found in both parties, and ideas that are abhorrent to us can be found in both as well. We can start families that don’t buy into the 2.3 kids mentality. One of the ways hard core Christianity is going to have its chance in the future is because they breed like rabbits, the same with Islam. In any governance system, the ideology with the most bodies is the one that rules. We need bodies, to put it crudely, that believe men and women are both containers of sacred, ancient power. We must accept that there are gender roles, but that those they are old and viewed as misogynistic or misandric, once we realize the root of them, they explain how to use that sacred power within ourselves. Modern society places too much emphasis on who is on the front lines and forgets those in the back ground. They focused on the male soldier and said he got all the glory, as if he alone was responsible for winning, never thinking that for every man on the metaphysical and literal field of battle there was a woman, a family, back home supplying and supporting him who were far more important. The fighter jet might make the kills, but without the dozens of people in the hanger who keep it running, it is little more than scrap metal.

This is what we must realize. Without children (lots of them), and adult who join us in our heritage, Heathens and Pagans will be wiped out one more. Because, in a very real sense, there is a war going on over who will control this world. It has existence sense the dawn of time and will until the stars fall from the sky.
If it comes to it, we must be willing and capable of fighting on all levels. I would rather not see it be a last stand, but it if is, if we are truly facing the end of Europe and Paganism and the heritage and progress we’ve made because of it, I would rather die as the Three Hundred Spartans and my Viking ancestors, fighting to defend our very lives and heritage from Eastern Ways, than to kneel down, accept their terms, and lose my head.

McNallen of the AFA has a quote: “The Existence of My People Will Not Be Denied.

I would offer this one: “Victory or Valhalla.”

Thorkell the Tall

Of Tolerance and Intolerance

Life is filled with many paradoxes today, though I feel that since the last election they have only grown starker. With calls for Universal Healthcare to dealing with Climate Change/Global Warming, we have become more and more polarized. The fact that the current president of the United States is black/African American only increases this, with some people being afraid to say what they wish for fear of being called racist and others eagerly calling those who disagree with the President’s ideas out as racists.
Daily, we are bombarded with the idea that we must accept people, that we must be tolerant. We are told not to hate people because they are black, or Hispanic, or GLBT, and that these people are owed the rights that have been kept from them over the years. Fine by me, the more freedoms we have the better. Over the years I have gone from a person who was freaked out by the idea of Gay people to someone who views it as just another part of the world. As for that ever so lovable topic of Gay marriage, marriage was a social contract long ago, an oath before Gods and Men (this including their female counterparts in both the divine and mortal). If Gay people wish to be married, let them.
Yet, there is a rather shocking element to modern Tolerance: Intolerance. Try protesting Gay marriage or homosexuality and you’ll be called a Homophobe, if not worse, and often face allegations that you are secretly gay and that’s why you’re so hateful to The Cause. Personally, I find the idea rather laughable, mostly because I believe a person is fully capable of hating something without secretly wanting to be it, but more on that another time. I admit to being a little weirded out by Gay men, but I freely admit that is mostly because I’m a rather blunt person and if one hit on me I can’t promise I’d be politically correct. I’ve been informed that this is not something I have to worry about as Gay men don’t hit on obviously straight men. Beyond that I have the attitude of live and let live. Lesbians are cool in my book. Bisexuals I can actually understand. I personally, am straight.
Back to the topic marriage, namely who can and can’t be married. For example, raise the idea of polygamy and see what happens. I once wrote a paper on the subject and in my research discovered that it wasn’t people like the Mormons who are on the frontier of the Polygamous movement, but rather Bisexuals. It makes sense, when you like both sexes, why not have one of each for a life partner/spouse. I actually hold that entered into with the proper mindset and understanding, polygamy is possibly a more stable form of marriage than monogamy. My research, though old now, indicated that this had presented the Gay community with a paradox: Support the widening of marriage to include polygamy, one of the most hated forms of marriage, or stand with the traditionalists and insist that marriage should be between only two individuals. I don’t know if this has been resolved in the years since then, but I haven’t seen anything to indicate that it has.
Probably the most relevant and dangerous subject of this concept though, is Race. Nowhere else are people so polarized, so demanding, so judgmental, as in the area of Racism. Let’s be honest, there is a great deal of power to be had in Racism. Now, I do not hold with Racism, it is a stupid way to judge people and divide them. I prefer measuring a man or woman based on their character, accomplishments, and their strength. This is a rather Pagan way of doing things, but then I am rather Pagan. I am an Ethnicitist, thought that means believing people should take pride in their Ethnic backgrounds, regardless of skin color.
Yet here is where the intolerance lies strongest. If a Black person speaks of White Oppression, that White’ control all the banks, all the corporations, and so on, while calling for a change in power from Whites to another racial group that is being oppressed, no one declares them a racist. This has actually happened in front of me, in a civil rights class. It happened in other classes I’ve have which dealt with racism. We are to be tolerant of all men, but I’ll admit I’ve faced intolerance because of my race. While it is true that there is a majority of Whites in positions of power, one must realize that it is simply an effect of Whites having had access for longer. Give it another hundred years at most, without messing with the system, and you’ll probably see an fairly even ratio of all races. Heck, we have a black president, so Whites can’t have all that much power, or at least be using it to keep the minorities down. Studies have been conducted to show that Whites will soon be a minority in this country. Make of that what you will.
It strikes me as so strange that in an age of tolerance, people can be so intolerant. What makes it stranger for me is that I am a rather intolerant person. I despise weakness, I have no tolerance for people who whine about the oppression of decades or centuries passed. I find things like Hate Crimes and their laws abhorrent. I’m not really a fan of affirmative action. Yet, I ask, before you angrily click away, you permit me to explain.
Every race, ethnicity, creed, or ideology and its followers, has been oppressed. My own people, the Norse, had our culture, our gods, and our holy places destroyed by a group of religious fanatics who wanted to “Save our Souls.” It is only in the recent past that people have been able to reclaim our lost ways. Yet every day, we face people saying ours is a false religious, not worthy of the rights of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, or Judaism. Sometimes, we are called racist, because a few misguided souls.
I hate racism, because of what it does to people of all colors. The reason I don’t like things like Hate Crime Laws and Affirmative Action, is because it carries on the idea of racism and promotes it. Affirmative Action was meant to give minorities, namely Blacks, a chance to get into places that they had previously been barred from, like universities and businesses. It was noble idea and one that was needed in some ways. Yet over the years it has been used to give people jobs not based on merit, but on skin color. Hate Crimes create special classes of protected citizens, in effect creating racial and sexual elites. Few people complain about this because the “Elite” of today is the inverse of the “Elite” of yester year. I side with those who declare all crimes acts of hate and don’t see why we need to specially declare something a hateful crime.
While the words of the law may not discriminate, their use does. I have yet to hear of a group of black people tried for committing a hate crime against a white person, though I have read of cases where it is clearly deserved. Nor have I heard of a case where GLBT individuals were charged with a hate crime against a Heterosexual person. Our society functions on the idea that all people are equal. This means that everyone is equally capable of hatred as they are of love, malice as well as kindness, regardless of skin or gender. To say otherwise is to indicate that there are people who are racially or sexually superior to others.
The irony or our day is this. We are an Tolerant Nation that practices Intolerance. The irony of myself is that I and a rather Intolerant person, who lives a life of Tolerance. I judge, when the world says I shouldn’t and I don’t judge, when the world says I should. Maybe this makes me a bad person, maybe not. That answer is not for me to decide. However, before you decide for me, know that in judging you may be violating the very principle of tolerance you are taught to live by.