What it's All About:
In this revisit, I’m going back into a significant topic that you, my dedicated listeners, selected in last month's poll: Racism in Paganism. Join me as I reexamine the complex issues surrounding this topic and discuss the steps we can take to address racism within the pagan community. Our call to action remains as vital as ever: let's keep the dialogue open, promote inclusivity, and work towards a more harmonious and respectful pagan community. Together, we can continue to confront and overcome racism within our ranks and make a lasting impact.
Songs Featured:
Links Mentioned:
Polls:
November Choose a New Logo Poll:
Choose an Old Yule Episode for December:
Get in Touch Through Social Media:
Spirit Guide of the Week:
Dove
Dream Symbol:
Snake
Transcript:
(05:36)
Welcome to another episode of the Music from the Goddess' Vault Podcast. I am your host, Midnight Starr. You just heard Avalon Rising with Do You Love an Apple. The topic of today's show is one that you all chose from last month's poll, and it is something that I have already revisited time and time again: Racism in Paganism. Before I go into today's topic, I've got exciting news! Two polls await you: one to pick a new logo and another to pick which episodes I'll revisit. Cast your vote in the show notes or scan the QR codes on the blog and Substack page. Act fast – these polls run for a month. Updates on both polls: no one has voted yet on either of them. Attention, new listeners, you're more than welcome to join in! You'll find links to both polls in the show notes. Exciting news for Canadian Pagan musicians – your music can be featured on the Music from the Goddess' Vault Podcast! International musicians, you're welcome too – reach out to join and be heard. But before I continue, I'd like to invite you to explore my newsletter at musicgoddessvault.substack.com. You have three subscription options: $7 monthly, $70 yearly, or a free subscription. Your support matters! Stay tuned for an upcoming poll to gather your input on additional offerings for subscribers. Do you want to share your show ideas, spirit guide suggestions, or dream symbols? You can connect with me on various platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, X, Mastodon, my blog at goddessvault1.wixsite.com/home, and Threads. Now, let's revisit the 'Racism in Paganism' episode from 2017. This is a popular choice and a listener favorite, and I've played it during major events involving white supremacy myself. The last time was during the poorly organized Freedom Convoy Protest in Canada, which turned out to be a White Supremacists' Rally not related to the Covid mandates. Us as pagans are grappling with challenges from two extremes. Alt-Right Christian extremists still thinking that we are devil worshipers and White Supremacist groups pose as Asatru and Norse pagans also within the Extreme Right-Wing. I heard someone suggest the New Age movement leads to Right-Wing Extremism. While I disagree, history shows an infamous, yet important figure from World War II who believed in Spiritualism. We must avoid repeating that history, making educating everyone about this important. Anyway, I've resolved an editing error in this podcast, and it includes the Spirit Guide of the Week and Dream Symbol. There is no Meditation or a Story, but I've included both old and new links. And I did notice that there are numerous articles on the web which discuss extremist White Supremacists pretending to be Asatru and Pagan. Now, this is the show you voted for.
(17:04)
Welcome to another episode of The Music from the Goddess Vault Podcast. I'm your host, Midnight Starr. That song that you heard was No One Said it Would be Easy by Anharmonic. It's from the Pagan Folks Against Fascism compilation album. I'm going to be playing four songs off that album because the topic of today's episode is Racism in Paganism. Yup, there are racist pagans out there. Not all pagans are racist, though. It's almost the same as saying Satanism is not paganism. But before I forget, on the music from the Goddess' Vault Facebook page, if you scroll down, there are two articles that I want you to read. The first is about pagan fundamentalists or fundies. Yes, we do have them. And the other is titled Andreatta: Pagan says Chickenpox Vaccine is against His Religion. This guy, who is a Norse Pagan, doesn't want his nine-year-old daughter to be vaccinated. Number one rule when it comes to paganism, or any religion for that matter, is do not make it an excuse for anything you do or believe. The whole vaccine debate was because of some misinformation online about an ingredient. It's never been proven that vaccines causes autism. Number two, I did post this on a pagan group, and most do agree with me. Paganism is not an excuse for not getting vaccinated. I had the chickenpox when I was a kid. In a few years, I'm going to have to do the shingles vaccine. That girl is going to have medical problems if she doesn't get vaccinated. So not all pagans agree with you, Joseph. And don't make religion an excuse for medical reasons, either. Speaking of making paganism an excuse, I'm going to talk about the specific group that has some racist members in it, later on. Again, not all pagans are racist. I'm going to repeat that all throughout the show. I think that I'm going to make this podcast longer because I have some personal things to say about it. It seems to me that history is repeating with a few differences. I'm going to compare what was going on in 1917 and now. Right now, groups that are being discriminated against are racial minorities, Jews and the LGBT community. A hundred years ago, it was still those groups plus women, the Irish, and people whose English as a second language. I'm talking mostly in North America here. The other big difference is that today it's against the law to discriminate against anyone, regardless of gender, sexuality, religion, or ethnicity. We can't say the N-word or the F-word. The particular three and six F-word is more offensive to the LGBT community. A hundred years ago, there were no discrimination laws. So racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia was rampant. Otherwise, it was okay to be a bigot back then. Anyway, there's not going to be a meditation in this show because I have a lot to say about the subject. But you can go and find meditation for peace on YouTube, afterward. Here's another song from the Pagan Folks Against Fascism album. This one is Damh the Bard singing Merlin and I (Live).
(25:54)
I'm going back to the animal kingdom for this week's Spirit Guide or Totem Animal and talk about the dove. The dove symbolizes peace, tranquility, harmony, affection and innocence. If dove is your power animal, that means that you are gentle, serene, passionate, calm, and a very giving person. You express your love to as many people as possible, and you rather be more domestic and stay at home. Dove is telling you that it's very important to love and nurture yourself. The best way for you to do that is something like a spa day, or a Me day. That is the only way for you to soar above and be successful in life is when you put yourself first. Totem animal Dove is also telling you to stop and meditate. You need to let go of the turmoil that is currently going on in your life right now. Power Animal Dove is also telling you that someone you know who has recently passed away has made a smooth transition between the veil. If you are currently feeling troubled, worried, distraught, anxious, doubtful, and uncertain about your spiritual path or upset, call on totem animal dove to help you out.
(32:47)
I am first generation Canadian. I was born in Canada to a Hungarian immigrant, which is my mother. She came to Canada in the 1960s and I am a child of a Hungarian refugee, which is my now deceased father. My mother was only 11 years old and living in a small village while my father was 20 and working as a laborer in Budapest when the Hungarian Revolution started in October of 1956. The revolt first started off as a student protest against the Soviets at a radio station, and it quickly escalated from there. It got to the point where civilians became freedom fighters and started to pick up guns for the very first time. Among those freedom fighters were nine, ten and 11 year old boys. I think that my dad was also a freedom fighter. The only thing that I remember about what my dad told me about that time was when he, my mother and myself were watching Ray Fiennes in the Hungarian Canadian movie Sunshine. Everyone knows Ray Fiennes as Voldemort in the Harry Potter series. In the movie Sunshine, he played three characters in three generations of a Hungarian Jewish family. There was a scene in the movie where the people were taking down a statue of Stalin in 1956.Then my dad said I was there. The Soviets took over Hungary. Other countries tried to help, but the U.N. was distracted by the Suez crisis. But all those distracted countries did help bring all the Hungarian refugees, including my dad, to start a new life in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere. My dad decided to leave Hungary when he was forced to enlist into the red Army. He didn't see fighting as a way to solve conflict, so he left and came to Canada. My parents, like all immigrants and refugees before and after them, bring with them
great work ethics. That's what I have learned from them. I'm not saying that those that have lived in North America for generations don't have good work ethic either. For those people who are still arguing that immigrants are taking over their jobs, this was the case 100 years ago too. I have to ask you this question. I don't mean to be stereotypical here, but do you want to spend the rest of your life working for minimum wage at jobs like McDonald's, driving a cab, a barista being a maid, a laborer, or picking apples? No. Those are the jobs that immigrants and refugees do. So do something good for the cab driver that drove it home when you were drunk or the barista that gave you coffee every morning or the janitor the cleans your kid's school. They don't get enough credit except when their kids go off to college for a better career. And when you go to the Grocery store, do you use the Self-Checkout, do you use the internet for all your banking, or go onto Amazon to do all your shopping? Automation is what is taking over our jobs not immigrants. These Syrians, Mexicans and others escape to their country because they want to live and work elsewhere in peace. They're not all going to be terrorist. The only terrorists that we in North America have to fear are those who are born in North America and are Alt Right Extremists like the next ones that I will explain to you, whom also make paganism their excuse for their hatred.
(45:57)
Today's dream symbol is the snake. This is one that has many ways to interpret it. I will only mention two. So please look it up online. One is as the phallic symbol representing temptation, danger and forbidden sexuality. The second way to look at snakes in dreams is looking at who in your waking life is callous, ruthless, and not to be trusted. If you are afraid of snakes in real life and you have a dream with one in it, it represents your fear of sex, intimacy and commitment. If you dream that you see a snake on your bed, it symbolizes you feeling sexually overpowered or threatened in your real life. If you dreamt that you are being eaten by a snake, that dream is telling you that someone in your life is taking advantage of you. If the snake is eating other people in your dream, it means that in your waking life someone is being ruthless. If in your dreams you see or are bitten by a snake, it represents your real life fears and worries that are threatening you. And if you see a snake with two heads at each end, that dream is telling you that you are being pulled in two different directions. Or perhaps you are in a love triangle.
(42:03)
When I first came into paganism, I thought that I might be discriminated against because people think that I am a devil worshiper. I think that still is the case now. But I have never thought that there will be a group of pagans that are racist. Again, not all pagans are racist. That gets me thinking of another pagan podcaster that I heard a number of years ago. I can't remember the name of the guy or the podcast, but I do remember that this pagan had an American Southern accent. I know that not all Americans with Southern accents are racist. He was rambling like I am right now, but in the middle of his speech he mentioned that he didn't like Muslims and that all Muslims are terrorists. Well, I quickly turn that off and never listen to that guy's podcast again. A week before the Charlottesville incident, I was watching a Canadian news show and they did talk about the group that I am going to mention. The reporters did say in this program did say that Pagans were also involved and strange ritual, but the show mostly focused on racism, which I think they did a good job in doing. By the way, not all people who practice in the Asatru path are racists. There is an offshoot that I would like to put more focus on. First, the Asatru. People who practice asatru consider themselves more heathen than pagan. Asatru is a Scandinavian faith. "Asa" is referring to the Germanic gods and goddesses, usually in Norse mythology and "tru" means faith. Asatru have been around since before Christianity. When Christianity came,
they converted. Odinism, which is the offshoot is the ancient. religion of gods in the Norse pantheon. Asatru was resurrected in the 19th century. However, I would like to focus on the modern day resurrection of both Asatru reconstructionists and Odinism. Before that, here's another new word for some of you new pagans. I looked everywhere for a simpler meaning for this word "folkish", but it is confusing. Here's what a friend of mine interpreted Folkish as meaning going back to the old ways. But this going back to the old ways means, for example, if you don't have any German or Norse ancestry in your DNA, you are not welcomed to join this or that coven. The word "Folkish" should be abolished from all of paganism. The second revival of the Asatru faith came in the late sixties and early seventies in Iceland. In 1973, it was recognized as an official religion there. Then it spread to Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and it's gaining ground in North America. Again, not every asatru heathen are racist. Now comes their offshoot, which is Odinism. Odinism is a religion that aligns itself with racism, exclusion and the American prison system. In 1976, the Asatru Folk Assembly, also known as the AFA, was formed in Nevada. It soon became more Folkish and also racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, homophobic and transphobic. The AFA's belief was that all races should be separated. In Europe, the Asatru followers worshiped Norse gods without the emphasis on race or ethnic origin. To think of it now, most of those European groups do that, but there is a growing number that is discriminatory. Again, not all asatru heathens are racist. By the way, the AFA in their tweets and Facebook posts are confusing to their followers and saying that they are not racist, but they do discriminate against people who are not European. There are other groups that the AFA are discriminatory towards too. More on that later. Some US Asatru followers became Odinists. This is especially true in their prison system thanks to a California inmate who was a former member of the Aryan Brotherhood. This guy is currently serving a life sentence for murder and is running the Holy Nation of Odin Inc from his jail cell. I found out that some Odinist are pagans and some are just white supremacist turned pagan. Also, there is a group that is called either Soldiers or Sons of Odin that have chapters here in Canada. According to Loop Green-Wolf and John Cleland Host, in their article Honoring our Ancestors, Racism Rears its Head - Here's what the Odinist belief system sounds like. You can find this article on humanist paganism dot com. First point is that Odinist believes that white people are in danger and that we need to protect ourselves and our genes. White people are not in any danger of anything except becoming White Supremacists. Both Greenwood and Host are right in saying that white people have been traveling for centuries and intermarrying with non-Europeans. So there's no such thing as white purity. I wish those idiot Odinists would take those DNA tests and see for themselves that they are not as pure white as they thought they would be. I also agree with Green Wolf and Host in thinking that European paganism should not be closed off to those who are not of European ancestry. Odinist do want it closed off and exclusively white. Odinists also discriminated against a term that I don't like using which is "quiltbag". It's their acronym for queers, undecided, Intersex, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, asexual or gay. Odinists believe that men should be masculine and women should be feminine and submissive to them. That is something that I, as a straight female, am offended by. I do not want to be treated as a second class citizen again.I want to be equal to men like all women do. The second reason why I am offended by these misogynistic Odinist has something to do with their belief in anything Viking related. I am not against anything Norse, I am just offended that they are using Norse gods for their own self discriminatory needs. I actually posted a video on the music from the Goddesses Vault Facebook page
that has a scene from a show, which I can't remember the name of. This video mentions
and shows that there was a 10th century Viking tomb that was examined in Sweden in the 1880s. Recent DNA tests shows that these bones belonged to a high ranking female Viking warrior. So these Odinists are a bunch of hypocrites. And finally, the Odinists believes that real families are nuclear heterosexual ones and not blended, single parents, childless, or gay parents. To quote Greenway and host, "that is not my paganism." There was another thing that was forgotten in the article, but I did come across it on Facebook in a Folkish video. These Odinist want the swastika to be a pagan symbol. Newsflash it's not, and it will never be a pagan symbol, thanks to Hitler. I did find some evidence of the swastika in nurse mythology. It was associated with Thor, representing his hammer. But do not think that it is a pagan symbol because non pagans still think of it as a symbol for racism. Otherwise, it's ingrained in the human psyche for 70 some odd years as a symbol for hate. Again, thanks to you know who. I don't want non pagans to think that the rest of us, non-Odin as pagans, are racist. If you want to bring the swastika back, give it back to the Buddhist, Hindus and Janists in East and Southeast Asia. They were the first to use it. And Swastika is originally a Sanskrit word, Sanskrit as and this word came from India. Anyway, Swastika is a Sanskrit word,
meaning to be good. Unfortunately, thanks to Hitler, it is not. Just to reiterate, not all pagans that follow the Norse pantheon are Odinists or racist. By the way, I also found a book online called Bringing Race to the Table: Exploring racism in the Pagan Community by Crystal Blanton. Go buy that one on Amazon. I'm going to talk about one ethnic group that is constantly being ignored by the US media. But not in Canada. I'm going to do a brief history on them. I know that these white supremacists think that white people were the first to be in North America. That is not true. These racist idiots obviously forgot about the Native Americans who were here long before the Vikings. White people came and stole their land that was rightfully theirs to begin with. These settlers and explorers gave them smallpox, which thousands of Native Americans have died from. I know that Col. Custer was the person responsible for giving one tribe alcohol so that he can claim their land for the white people. And white people were the ones to pull generations of Native American children away from their families and put them in residential schools in these schools. These Native children were physically, mentally and sexually abused by white adults who wanted to, (First, I have to apologize about the racist language here), and I quote: "Take the Indian out of the children." Which is now unsuccessful. Now, there are generations of Aboriginals in North America that are still suffering from these abuses. Yes, African Americans also had a tough, too. They were chained and forced out of Africa because the white slave owners were too lazy to pick cotton and other crops themselves. And now hopefully there will be a way to peacefully get rid of these white supremacist who call themselves pagan. I know that one way to do this is to educate future generations. If you want to know more about racism in Paganism, go to heathensunited.org.
(58:17)
That was Wicker Man by Jim Faupal. That is it for this show. Again, I am your host, Midnight Starr. I'm excited to invite you to be a part of something exciting for this podcast. I’m running two polls, and I really want to hear your thoughts. First off, I’m looking for a cool new logo, and I'd love your input to help me choose the best one. You can find the links in the show notes, on my blog, or on the Substack page. And if you're tech-savvy, there are QR codes for a quick way to check out the options. Now, onto the second poll – Revisiting one of the earlier episodes. Your insights will be great to make it even better. Same deal – links are in the show notes, on the blog, and Substack, or use the QR codes. Once the votes are in, I'll reveal the winning logo. And that logo will go up against four new contenders. I’m waiting for the one that you all like to be the Music from the Goddess’ Vault new logo. As for the old episode - that will be ongoing. You've got a whole month to make your decisions. No need to wait – do it now, click away. This is your chance to make a lasting impact, and I'm eager to see where you take this show. Do you have a show topic, a spirit guide, or a dream symbol in mind? Share t on the website at https://goddessvault1.wixsite.com/home or on popular social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, X, Mastodon, and Thread. I can't wait to hear your ideas! If you're a Canadian Pagan musician, I'd love to hear from you. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me. I can't wait to discover and feature more Canadian Pagan music! And if you want to be the first to hear the latest episodes, you can sign up for the newsletter at https://musicgoddessvault.substack.com. To wrap up this show, I'm going to play Clarion Call Paul Mitchell . Blessed be.
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