Non-fiction / white magic

a review of ‘Gods Of The Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism’ by Mattias Gardell, Duke University Press, 2003

Since the 1960s rise of the neo-pagan counterculture many aspects of the pagan milieu have been explored by many authors. Swedish professor Mattias Gardell now introduces the first book-length study of Norse paganism and related creeds, Gods Of The Blood. More than simply an examination of the history of (re)constructed Norse paganism and its rituals and beliefs, Gardells book quite skillfully weaves discussions of the concept of “race,” cultural appropriation, nationalism, revolution and the transforming landscape of American racism into its pages. It is a fascinating book, underscored by Gardells belief that as the forces of globalization and international capitalism seem destined at times to squash all cultures of difference into one suburbanized mall, these same forces are meeting resistance from ethnic, religious and political minorities. Gardell points to a time in some ways similar to our own, “the take off phase of globalization, from 1880 to 1924.” These were the years in which the seeds of todays pagan revival were sprouted. -

This was the time of Wagner, Nietzsche, Evola, Blavatsky, Crowley, Jung, Von List, and Spengler – all philosophers and artists who also exert a powerful influence in the current pagan revival. Out of that earlier environment, the fascist and national socialist projects were eventually constructed, suggesting that the trajectory of the new pagan revival should be taken quite seriously. (18)

Anyone taking Norse paganism and its related subfields (heathenism, asatru, Odinism) quite seriously cannot escape dealing with the elephant in the room, in this case Nazi politics and white nationalism. Are all heathens racist? Was Hitlers Germany of swastikas and lightning bolts an outgrowth of Norse spirituality? The short answer is no, many, perhaps a slim majority of Norse pagans are vocal about their anti-racism, they do not see their spirituality directly connected to their ethnicity or “race.” (For excellent discussions of non-racial asatru see Modern Pagans, edited by V. Vale)

Whereas non-racial heathens tend to veer left politically; into the environmental, green anarchist and primitivist scenes, racialist followers of the old gods go to the far right. National socialists, revolutionary white nationalists, etc are all represented in the racist and ethnic Norse paganism. The author Gardell understands this underground far better than most who have written about it. He is careful to subtitle his book with the phrase, “white separatism,” instead of the usual blanket term, “white supremacy.” Clearly many white racists believe whites to be superior, but perhaps more often (especially in pagan circles) is the belief that whites are not superior, but unique. As Gardell explains -

Somehow the pagan god/desses of the ancestors are encoded in the genes of their progeny and might therefore reassert their presence to replace the” alien” religion of Christianity when conditions allow. In some, but not all, versions this is elaborated to mean that the race, or ethnic tribe, “by nature,” is divine. (30)

Gardell divides these believers in the “gods of the blood,” into two distinct positions – aryan revolutionary paganism (Odinism or Wotanism”), and ethnic asatru. Odinism flittered around the edges of the national socialist movement as far back as the 1920s. Despite rumors to the contrary, Hitler was interested in political soldiers not mystics, and although his regime appropriated some symbols from Norse paganism it remained essentially secular. Odinism washed ashore in America in the 1960s. Eventually it would inspire the infamous organization White Aryan Resistance, but its most notable adherent (and martyr) would be Aryan revolutionary Bob Matthews. Matthews led the underground group The Order.” Through its war of 84’ and his continued influence is still deeply felt among Odinists. Several incarcerated members of the Order would eventually convert to Odinism, and during the 1990s they would use their prestige and notoriety (as elder “prisoners of war,”) to make varieties of Odinism a dynamic and fast-growing religious movement. Much of this was a prison revival, in the late 1990s entire prison gangs would convert to Odinism. Especially profound was the influence of Order member David Lanes organization, Wotansvolk. As of 30 January, 2001 Wotansvolk catered to 50000 prisoners. (217)

Wotansvolk and other aryan revolutionary Odinists regard the imperialist Christianity as just another “integral part of the grand Jewish conspiracy to establish global tyranny.” As Lane himself would explain – “If Aryans are to survive as a race, the other-worldly and self-denying Christianity must be abandoned in favor of Odinism, a religion, “that preaches war, plunder and sex.” (202)

To insure “aryan survival” Wotansvolk pairs their ancient gods with a social program of paramilitary activity and “total white revolution.” They take Jungs 1960 statement not as warning but a promise – “We are very much in the same predicament as the pre-National Socialist Germany of the Twenties, ie, we are apt to undergo the risk of a further, but this time world-wide Wotanistic experiment.” (212) Gardell ends his examination of aryan revolutionary paganism by noting Wotansvolk had chapters in forty-one countries as of the year 2000.

Unlike the white revolutionary Odinists/Wotanists, ethnic asatruers attempt to seek out a “third position,” between non-racial and racial Norse paganism. While the ethnics are not overt racists, and few claim any notions of white superiority, they share with the Odinists the genetic theory of spirituality. As Gardell correctly states, “The notion of an organic relation between ethnicity and religion obviously implies the assumption that genetics somehow determine mentality, ethos and ethics.” (258) Despite the history of their Norse ancestors having no concept of “race,” and often intermarrying with outsiders, for ethnic asatruers religion and lore are a product of nature not nurture.

Though racial in outlook and faith, ethnic asatruers are dismissive of national socialism, and politically they can be gauged as neither right nor left as a movement. Wary of the nation-state and materialism of both communism and capitalism, ethnic asaturers often emphasis “back to the land” environmentalism and eco-farming, self-reliance and self-defense and “retribalizing” the continent. Gardell defines the general political orientation of ethnic asatruers as “ethnonationalist,” These ethnic politics have led the asatruers toward the support of -

ethnic seperatist and national liberation movements around the world, from Tibet and East Timor over to the Karen in Burma, Igb in Nigeria and Zapatistas in Chiapas, to the Boer Afrikanner. “We are all in this together,” Stephen McNallen asserts, “The Saami, the Sioux, the Frisians, and the Tibetans are all trying to maintain their identity. When we stand alongside any of these other native/tribal/ indigenous groups we stand in opposition to a common foe.” (288)

It seems allies against the “common foe,” of monolithic market culture makes for disparate fellows and Gardells book also includes interesting descriptions of Norse pagan rites and rituals, digressions into the monotheistic primitivism of Christian Identity, black metal, the Kennewick Man controversy, and short histories of white nationalism in America, the murder-spawning World Church of the Creator and “darkside asatru,” where the old Norse gods mingle with the Manson family and Satanism.

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