Trigger warning for Nazis and antisemitism.
I came across the above image being shared by a friend, and I would like to point out some problems with this simplistic approach.
For context, I am a Jewish man, I read and write elder Futhark fluently, I am familiar with runic divination, and I have MANY close Norse neopagan friends: even my sister is a Norse pagan. This post is not an attack on the pagan community. It is a reminder that we MUST address reality, not fantasy.
I understand the sentiment this image is trying to convey, and if you are a Norse pagan, you should resent and defy Nazis for abusing something that is important to you.
However, the reality is that symbols carry meanings given to them by humans, and Nazis have given hateful meanings to Germanic symbols, beginning under the third Reich and continuing to this day. Those symbols include the Futhark runic alphabets, specifically odal and sowilo, as well as symbols like the equal armed cross, the valknut, vegvisir, and mjolnir. These symbols have carried deeply hateful antisemitic meanings since before you, and most of your parents, were born. You CANNOT ignore that, or make it go away.
It would be blind to assert that the swastika does not belong to Nazis, has no antisemitic and evil meaning, and is not tainted by their use of it. Indigenous people groups who value that symbol in their own cultures have reacted differently. For example, some Desi cultures still use it, but the Navajo people do not, because of the Nazi implications it now irrevocably carries. If you are white, you DO NOT get to "reclaim" the swastika, no matter how much you love other cultures.
While I understand that these symbols and others are important to my pagan and wiccan friends, you can't deny the darker meanings that they carry. If you are going to be using them, you are accepting upon yourself an obligation to educate people about their meanings - ALL their meanings - and to make it abundantly clear that you are an ally of the Jewish people.
Unfortunately, when I see people wearing or using Germanic symbols, I WILL think "I wonder if they're a Nazi" every single time. Every time. It is an inescapable reality that these symbols are being used as silent dog whistles for hatred of Jewish people and other "non-whites."
If you don't want people to suspect you of being a Nazi, you have ONLY two options.
1: Don't use Germanic symbols
2: Make it FIERCELY evident that you are an ally to Jews, POC, and queer people
Gentiles, you are invited to reblog this post.
Antisemitism will not be tolerated on this post: specifically, do not speak over Jewish voices on the issues of antisemitism, and do not assert that the claims in this post are false.
