...Q-Shaman? Really?
Rant-Time: Let’s talk about a certain meme-worthy character of todays events…
Today an unprecedented event occurred as Trump supporters, angered at the supposedly fraudulent election, descended on DC to partake in so-called “stop-the-steal” protests.
We’ve all heard of this, and many people more competent than myself have and will be continuing to cover the events of today, and the egregiously dangerous implications they might have for our democratic society.
Instead, I’m here to muse and vent about something which as relatively minor in the grand scheme of these events it may be, is also something that probably won’t really be addressed much by many outside of neopagan circles. I’m talking about Q-Shaman, or more specifically “Q-Shaman’s” tattoos.
Of course he is in the spotlight and being meme’d to high Hel as the barbarian American flag face paint wearing Braveheart wannabe that led their charge, but what concerns me are the Norse pagan tattoos he has very prominently displayed on his bare chest, in addition to the runes on his hands.
Here we can clearly see a valknut, Yggdrasil, and a Mjolnir down the left side of his chest. Now full disclosure I don’t know much about this man at the time of writing this other than what he did today and what you see here now, and that he has been dubbed Q-Shaman, either by himself or others in reference to the outlandish conspiracy of Q-Anon. I plan to rectify this in the coming days and possibly either make a follow up post or share an article exploring him in greater detail later.
But for now let’s talk about the implications here. The valknut is a symbol of Odin, and it seems to me like he’s using it as a symbol of devotion strongly implying a warrior cult mentality on his part. Assuming he’s aware of the historical context, he’s effectively saying, “strike here, I dare you” while it is also said to serve as a protective charm, only allowing the wearers death to come to pass when Odin sees it fit. If taken in a literal sense as an Odinist’s expression of devotion, it would be safe to assume he’s effectively a neo-pagan warrior cultist, who may well see the fight for Trumpism as his fighting chance to prove himself before Odin one day. Now, Odinists have become rather infamous over the years, as many are warrior cultists with fascist-adjacent if not explicitly fascist or even Neo-Nazi political beliefs. Many Odinist blots around the country are infamous for openly and brazenly displaying Nazi flags and portraits of Adolf Hitler within their lodges.
So now we have some douche canoe with three very important symbols to those of Nordic heritage and faith very prominently tattooed on his bared chest, taking part in what could only be described as some shitty, poorly thought out attempt at an insurrection fueled by right wing conspiracy, by supporters of an authoritarian right wing president that refuse to accept peaceful and democratic defeat.
You see what this could mean for these symbols right? If we don’t watch it these symbols very dear to the hearts of many of Norwegian heritage and of Nordic faiths could very well go the way of the swastika if we let it. As it is right now valknuts are often seen automatically as racist symbols as it is, and Thor’s hammer Mjolnir seems to very quickly be following suit. The fact of the matter is we neither have the right nor the ability to stop them from using these symbols, or from believing in and using Nordic faiths as justifications for their authoritarianisms.
What we can do, and what we must do if we’re to preserve these symbols and by extension help to protect a class of already marginalized religious minorities, is refuse to allow them to appropriate these within the public conscious as symbols entirely their own. That means we have to stand up and be vocal whenever we see people falsely equating these symbols as being inherently symbols of hate no matter the context. We have to stand up when we see voices of hate using these symbols, and make it loud and clear they do not represent us all and will not be tolerated within our communities.
If you’re of a Nordic faith and have the emotional mental and physical energy to do so, it might mean wearing your Mjolnir out proudly in the open, ready to shoot down any accusations of hate with snappy quips, such as “ well this hammer smashes fascists” perhaps. On that note, you can buy shirts with this phrase to make this clear to all who see you if you wish. In fact I’m contemplating making a design of my own for Print-On-Demand websites, though I have no guarantees that I’ll ever get it done.
Anyways, that’s my rant for tonight. I hope it wasn’t too long winded and I certainly have no plans of making a habit of this but I just really needed to get that off my chest.
On a related note, here’s a link to an Etsy page with some very relevant stickers you might want to check out.
#NAZIPAGANSFUCKOFF #THISHAMMERSMASHESFASCISTS
