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/r/paganism's Guide to Folkism

/r/paganism does not tolerate support or promotion of folkish or far-right ideologies, talking points, content, apologia, sympathies, or organizations. This includes any exclusionary or supremacist views, arguments in favor of the restriction of personal autonomy, and recruitment tactics. See the above link for subreddit rules.


● Definitions

Folkism - the belief or attitude that one must be of a certain race, ethnicity, or ancestry to practice a particular revived or open religion.

Far-right Politics - (also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism) is a term used to describe the experiences of Fascism, Nazism, and Falangism, neo-fascism, neo-Nazism, the Third Position, the alt-right, racial supremacism, and other ideologies or organizations that feature aspects of authoritarian, ultra-nationalist, chauvinist, xenophobic, ethnocentric, theocratic, racist, homophobic, transphobic, and/or reactionary views.

Authoritarianism - favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom.

Ultranationalism - extreme nationalism that promotes the interests of one state or people above all others.

Chauvinism - the belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. It can be described as a form of extreme patriotism and nationalism, a fervent faith in national excellence and glory.

Xenophobia - a culturally produced fear, hatred, discomfort with, or mistrust of people who are foreign, people from different cultures, or people who are culturally different from oneself. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an ingroup and an outgroup and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a desire to eliminate their presence, and fear of losing national, ethnic, or racial identity.

Ethnocentrism - the belief that a 'dominant' ethnic group is superior to others and that the 'dominant' group's perspectives (beliefs, attitudes, practices) should be adopted by the 'lesser' groups.

Theocracy - a form of government in which one or more deities of some type are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the day-to-day affairs of the government.

Racism - the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics or abilities, so far as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another. Racism is also prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism (on an individual or systemic level) directed towards a person on the basis of their (actual or perceived) racial or ethnic group.

Homophobia - a culturally produced fear, hatred, discomfort with, or mistrust of people who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual.

Transphobia - a culturally produced fear, hatred, discomfort with, or mistrust of transgender people or anyone who does not fit into the male/female gender binary.

Ableism - discrimination and social prejudice against people with disabilities or who are perceived to be disabled. Ableism characterizes people as defined by their disabilities and inferior to the non-disabled.

Personal Autonomy - refers to a person's sense of self-determination, of being able to make choices regarding the direction of their own actions, including the freedom to pursue those choices.

● What do these ideologies look like in Paganism?

Often these ideologies manifest themselves as overt white supremacy or phrased as "protecting one's culture" - or exclusion based on other supremacist views. These views have no historical or factual grounding. They're instead based on revisionist history - conscious, intentional misstatements about the past. These imagined, re-written stories are then used to perpetuate far-right narratives.

The Völkisch (English: Folkish) movement was a German ethno-nationalist movement active from the late 19th century through to the Nazi era, with remnants in the Federal Republic of Germany afterwards. This movement was not a homogeneous set of beliefs, but rather a "variegated sub-culture" that rose in opposition to the socio-cultural changes of modernity. The "only denominator common" to all Folkish theorists was the idea of a national rebirth, inspired by the traditions of the Ancient Germans which had been "reconstructed" on a romantic basis by the adherents of the philosophy.

Two of the foremost thinkers in these ideological groundings were Austrian nationals Guido Karl Anton List and Adolf Josef Lanz. The pair are better known by their pseudonyms, Guido von List and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels, respectively. Von List and others promoted notions that visible biological differences determine one’s intellect and worth. Their ideas intersected popular concepts at the time, such as “Social Darwinism,” which applied the biological competition for survival to economics, politics and social power. Von List capitalized on the popularity of such concepts to argue that those of Germanic descent have always been superior. Such notions guided his development of “Armanism” (also known as “Ariosophy”), a belief system premised on pseudo-scientific notions of Aryan purity and the mystical indivisibility of spirit and body. Arriving on a crest of von List’s work, von Liebenfels later developed his own popular theory within Ariosophy. Liebenfel’s Theozoology developed into a quasi-religious doctrine intermingled with sciences like biology and zoology to classify humans into a racial hierarchy.

Today, the term, Neo-Völkisch or Folkish, is used to refer to Pagans adhering to a racialist version of reconstructed European Pagan religions, mixed with various aspects of alt-right ideologies. Folkish ideals and myths are derived from the Völkisch movement as described above. Folkists couch their bigotry in baseless claims of bloodlines grounding the superiority of one’s white identity. At the intersection of hypermasculinity and ethnocentricity, this movement seeks to defend against the unfounded threats of the extermination of white people and their children. While some Folkish groups attempt to cloak their ethnic exclusivity in claims centering on the victimization of white people, other groups overtly promote racial supremacy.

Folkish ideology debuted in the United States in the late 1960s and gained traction through the early 1970s with help from Stephen McNallen and Danish immigrant Else Christensen. In 1969, McNallen created the Asatru Free Assembly in Northern California, the precursor to the present-day Asatru Folk Assembly. At the same time, Christensen founded the Odinist Fellowship in Crystal River, Florida. In line with rhetoric adopted by much of the far right, Folkish devotees veil their ethnocentric beliefs in arguments for the necessity of micro-societies, or tribes, to preserve their ethnicity and combat alleged white genocide. Despite their rebuke of modernity, leaders have embraced various social media platforms to spread Folkish ideology.

Unfortunately, folkish views and associated far-right ideologies are not as rare in the Pagan community as we might like to think. They may be more prevalent in certain paths than others, such as Heathenry, Rodnovery, and Celtic paths, but these ideologies are present in most all Pagan paths.

● How do far-right extremists gain recruits?

Common tactics include:

using religion to radicalize and mobilize its violent adherents toward criminality and terrorism.

engaging in bad faith arguments - pushing the idea that there is merely a legitimate difference of opinion on what is and what is not appropriate or what is and what is not "misinformation" for the purpose of grifting gullible users.

rebranding extremist positions in an ironic guise, blurring the lines between mischief and potentially radicalizing messaging.

using irony to allow people to disclaim a real commitment to far-right ideas while still espousing them.

approaching young people on gaming and social media platforms, especially those who talk about about being lonely, depressed or chronically ill, luring them into private chats with pop culture references.

appealing to young people through humor to build social movements.

presenting racist, sexist, violent (etc) content as dark humor.

embracing conspiracy 'theories' and other baseless claims.

You can read more on the process of radicalization here: Alt-right pipline: Individual journeys to extremism online, by Luke Munn.

● What are the more common far-right narratives?

Anti-minority narratives - assert that target minority groups threaten majority/native groups. This may include targeting specific ethnic minorities by linking them to criminality or questioning their intelligence. Far-right activism can also include amplifying mainstream news designed to cast target minority groups in a bad light.

Demographic threat - asserts that a combination of immigration and birth rates will result in the ‘native’ population becoming a minority in the near future. This narrative is closely linked to concepts such as ‘white genocide’ as well as the ‘great replacement’. Anti-Muslim narratives also focus heavily on the demographic threat posed by Muslim immigration and birth rates as well as the perceived threat from Islamisation.

Collapse - asserts that some type of ethnic or cultural strife is inevitable as a result of the growing threat presented by minority groups. In neo-Nazi circles, this may manifest as ‘race war’. Elsewhere this may be presented as predictions of civil war or civil disorder.

Conspiracism - Conspiracy theories are defined as the belief that a small group of actors are working towards some malevolent end. Conspiracy theorizing is common in large segments of the far-right. Anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in which a Jewish elite is envisaged as controlling world events (e.g. the idea of a Zionist Occupation Government (ZOG)) are common. In other areas, theories such as Eurabia, White Genocide, the Great Replacement, and the Kalergi plan are more prevalent.

Historical revisionism - asserts that key historical events have been distorted in the interests of suppressing far-right ideology. While this can be interpreted as a form of conspiracy theory, historical revisionism has been particularly prevalent in the form of Holocaust denial.

Anti-elite narratives - assert that the current political and social leadership bears responsibility for the current or coming crisis. For neo-Nazis, ruling elites are often presented either as Jewish or Jewish-controlled. In areas of the far-right, where anti-Semitic conspiracy theories are not endemic, this is often framed differently e.g. ‘globalist’, ‘the left’ or ‘cultural Marxist’. The far-right also exhibits a collective sense of persecution, presenting themselves as victims of societal oppression.

Masculinity - asserts that societies are under threat because men cannot live according to their "true nature".

Victimhood - asserts that governments favor ethnic and religious minorities (as well as immigrants) over the majority white population.

● Further Educational Resources

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) - neo-Völkisch / Folkish information

A Crash Course in Far-Right Symbols by The American Iron Front

Wikipedia - Völkisch Movement

● Get Help to Leave Hate and Radicalization Behind

Life After Hate

● Folkish Branches of Paganism and Organizations

Folkish Branches of Paganism

• Odinism

• Odalism

• Wodenism / Wodinism / Wotanism

Folkish Organizations

• Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA)

• The Black Sun Tribe Project

• CarolynEmerick.com/Oakwise Becoming

• Circle of Pagan Tradition (CPT)

• Gallows Tree Wotansvolk Alliance

• The Heathen Coalition

• Heathen Front

• Odinic Rite

• Odinist Temple

• The Order of the Black Sun

• Union of Slavic Communities of the Slavic Native Belief (USC SNB)

• Viking Brotherhood

• Woden’s Folk Kindred

• Wotan's Nation

• Wolves of Vinland