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I find myself reluctant to say what I think, but there's at least one more of these.
During the violent uprising at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, one of the participants featured prominently in the news photo slideshows was Jake Angeli or Jacob Chansley, a guy in his 30s from Arizona. He was wearing a furry hat with raccoon tails dangling on either side of his face and horns, carrying a US flag with a spear as its pole, and in addition to sleeve tattoos, on the left side of his chest he has a valknut above an Irminsul above a Thor's hammer down the left side of his chest (AP, AP again from his sentencing, clear pic). A Rolling Stone article tries and fails to distinguish between "mjolnir" (Mjǫllnir, and the lack of a capital letter speaks volumes), which, though the writer admits "has become a symbol of identity among modern heathens", they feel compelled to add "is particularly popular among those aligned with the explicitly white supremacist neo-Völkisch or 'folkish' movement" (news to me, but labeling all folkish heathens white supremacist is in any case not fair, what defines them is they're exclusionary) ... and the valknut, which for some reason they describe as "an old Norse runic symbol turned recognized hate symbol that is popular among white supremacists". That despite later explaining: "Heathens now use it to signify that one is ready to be taken into the ranks of Odin's chosen warriors — essentially, to die a warrior's death for the cause." Of course, the next sentence is: "When tattooed on a conservative activist who adheres to a blood libel-style conspiracy like QAnon, it wouldn't even have to mean he was a white supremacist, but rather that conspiratorial world views have a historical context about which their believers should be slightly self-aware." So ... both have become white supremacist symbols, in this writer's view? An adherent of QAnon ought to be self-aware enough ... not to adorn himself with the valknut? Because being willing to die for a cause makes one a white supremacist and is somehow scarier than regular QAnon, even though the writer puts that on the same level as the blood libel?
Jake Angeli / Jacob Chansley is a dangerous fool. It's apparent from his actions on January 6—he's on camera laughing like a hyena, and on November 17 he was sentenced to 41 months in the slammer. He (used to) call himself the QAnon shaman and has also gone by Yellowstone Wolf. His Twitter was USAwolfpack (Alpha Male), where his self-description was: "Spiritual & Political Consultant, Shamanic Practitioner[,] Author, Energetic Healer, Ordained Minister, Seeker of Truth & Servant of God." (I've supplied a missing comma.) And there you have it: a confused twit who calls himself a shaman and has heathen symbols tattooed on his body (I disagree by the way with the Rolling Stone writer's anatomy: to get his heart by "inserting spear here" where he has the valknut, I'd have to strike down while he was on his knees before me) and who serves the Xian god. Who is welcome to his carcass; I wouldn't insult Valfather by dirtying a rope.
Some heathens tried to distance themselves from this nudnik desecrating three of our holy symbols. Predictably, this meant Karl Seigfried had to write a Wild Hunt article disavowing the use of the term "appropriation", apparently by those reporting on their response, such as in the Wild Hunt itself, in Patheos, and on the National Geographic website. This is a touchy business: as Seigfried says, "Issues of power differential are key to cultural appropriation." It's a term reserved for those who perceive a taking of their culture in members of the "dominant culture" aping elements of it, especially when they claim to be doing it somehow better.
However, so far as I can see, that wasn't a word used by the heathens objecting to the "QAnon shaman"'s tats. The Troth, for example, had these two sentences in its statement: "These events were driven by bigotry and hate. Furthermore, several of those who have been most visible in these events have also been bearing symbols many of us hold very dear and even sacred." That's the entirety of their reference to the guy's tats. They objected forthrightly to desecration of the symbols by their association with "bigotry and hate". It sticks in my craw somewhat to have heathenry beaten over the head for misuse of a term reserved for people not of the "dominant culture" when nobody seems to have gone there except the reporters.
But at least Karl Seigfried—heathen clergy—wasn't beating us over the head for wearing Thor's hammers or, shock, horror! a valknut tattoo because some white supremacists do so. I do call the misuse of our symbols by groups like the Aryan Nations cultural appropriation, because they are Xian racist groups, Xian because they regard the U.S. as a Xian country. And I couldn't order one of the lovely Mjǫllnir T-shirts from the OffWorld Designs sale because they're Celtic; that's one minority cultural trad kiping from another, but the Thunderer is not a Celtic god.
Shamanism happens to be a cultural football in the game of claim, counter-claim, cries of appropriation, and New Age reinvention. (I'm pretty sure even I am a better shaman than that fool; if he ever went anywhere, he'd have been eaten by something. And if he were a shaman, I don't think he'd say he did energy healing.) I understand from this nasty little academic paper that one scholar (Laszló Vajda) claims the term exclusively for Siberian practitioners, which must be news to the trance healers in, for example, South America, not to mention the Sami (who have an allied heritage and really have been whalloped by dominant cultures). And whatever the variations in methods and conceptualization, there's a human commonality in trance and in the proprioceptive circuits that fire as the owner of a human brain journeys in Otherwhere. And it's a much more polite term than "witch doctor". Moreover, in the second half the author (Stefanie von Schnurbein, apparently her family was South Tyrolean until after the war) performs a ritual repudiation of modern heathenry and the New Age as Nazi-tainted by virtue of longing for a Germanic past, and therefore the fact that Hrafnar (a large and extremely woo-embracing heathen group in Berzerkeley) teaches seiðr makes them all the more likely to have this taint.
Well. Schnurbein's article has been cited as if it explodes the whole concept of shamanism (except perhaps in one or two Siberian groups), but when she calls it "a concept that is projected onto 'archaic' societies, revealing more about our own deficits, desires, and longings than the societies supposedly in question", she hasn't actually said anything very useful. Shamanism is a fluid term, and there undoubtedly is presumption, even arrogance, in some moderns' claims to perform it (*cough* Jake Angeli). There has also been arrogance in labeling cultures and their religious/magical practices as "archaic"; our records of Sámi beliefs and practices, for example, are horribly condescending. Modern counter-culturalists and religious revivalists who love the idea of shamanism are at least not condemning its "primitivism". Schnurbein thinks exploring alternative religions and practices such as shamanism reveals "deficits" in (German and American) societies; presumably she means we aren't all good Catholics. Too much meta-analysis, not enough about what the mislabeled societies do or did.
I imagine noaidi and their equivalents would have a field day with foolish so-called shamans were they to meet them on another plane. For now, the Internet will have to do. But that shouldn't mean mocking shamanism, for want of a better term. (I'm still waiting for someone to listen respectfully to practitioners of all the different traditions and pass on their terminology.) And shamanism should not be tarnished by association with such fools, just as the misuse of symbols of my gods and my religion must not be allowed to tarnish their reputation.
During the violent uprising at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, one of the participants featured prominently in the news photo slideshows was Jake Angeli or Jacob Chansley, a guy in his 30s from Arizona. He was wearing a furry hat with raccoon tails dangling on either side of his face and horns, carrying a US flag with a spear as its pole, and in addition to sleeve tattoos, on the left side of his chest he has a valknut above an Irminsul above a Thor's hammer down the left side of his chest (AP, AP again from his sentencing, clear pic). A Rolling Stone article tries and fails to distinguish between "mjolnir" (Mjǫllnir, and the lack of a capital letter speaks volumes), which, though the writer admits "has become a symbol of identity among modern heathens", they feel compelled to add "is particularly popular among those aligned with the explicitly white supremacist neo-Völkisch or 'folkish' movement" (news to me, but labeling all folkish heathens white supremacist is in any case not fair, what defines them is they're exclusionary) ... and the valknut, which for some reason they describe as "an old Norse runic symbol turned recognized hate symbol that is popular among white supremacists". That despite later explaining: "Heathens now use it to signify that one is ready to be taken into the ranks of Odin's chosen warriors — essentially, to die a warrior's death for the cause." Of course, the next sentence is: "When tattooed on a conservative activist who adheres to a blood libel-style conspiracy like QAnon, it wouldn't even have to mean he was a white supremacist, but rather that conspiratorial world views have a historical context about which their believers should be slightly self-aware." So ... both have become white supremacist symbols, in this writer's view? An adherent of QAnon ought to be self-aware enough ... not to adorn himself with the valknut? Because being willing to die for a cause makes one a white supremacist and is somehow scarier than regular QAnon, even though the writer puts that on the same level as the blood libel?
Jake Angeli / Jacob Chansley is a dangerous fool. It's apparent from his actions on January 6—he's on camera laughing like a hyena, and on November 17 he was sentenced to 41 months in the slammer. He (used to) call himself the QAnon shaman and has also gone by Yellowstone Wolf. His Twitter was USAwolfpack (Alpha Male), where his self-description was: "Spiritual & Political Consultant, Shamanic Practitioner[,] Author, Energetic Healer, Ordained Minister, Seeker of Truth & Servant of God." (I've supplied a missing comma.) And there you have it: a confused twit who calls himself a shaman and has heathen symbols tattooed on his body (I disagree by the way with the Rolling Stone writer's anatomy: to get his heart by "inserting spear here" where he has the valknut, I'd have to strike down while he was on his knees before me) and who serves the Xian god. Who is welcome to his carcass; I wouldn't insult Valfather by dirtying a rope.
Some heathens tried to distance themselves from this nudnik desecrating three of our holy symbols. Predictably, this meant Karl Seigfried had to write a Wild Hunt article disavowing the use of the term "appropriation", apparently by those reporting on their response, such as in the Wild Hunt itself, in Patheos, and on the National Geographic website. This is a touchy business: as Seigfried says, "Issues of power differential are key to cultural appropriation." It's a term reserved for those who perceive a taking of their culture in members of the "dominant culture" aping elements of it, especially when they claim to be doing it somehow better.
However, so far as I can see, that wasn't a word used by the heathens objecting to the "QAnon shaman"'s tats. The Troth, for example, had these two sentences in its statement: "These events were driven by bigotry and hate. Furthermore, several of those who have been most visible in these events have also been bearing symbols many of us hold very dear and even sacred." That's the entirety of their reference to the guy's tats. They objected forthrightly to desecration of the symbols by their association with "bigotry and hate". It sticks in my craw somewhat to have heathenry beaten over the head for misuse of a term reserved for people not of the "dominant culture" when nobody seems to have gone there except the reporters.
But at least Karl Seigfried—heathen clergy—wasn't beating us over the head for wearing Thor's hammers or, shock, horror! a valknut tattoo because some white supremacists do so. I do call the misuse of our symbols by groups like the Aryan Nations cultural appropriation, because they are Xian racist groups, Xian because they regard the U.S. as a Xian country. And I couldn't order one of the lovely Mjǫllnir T-shirts from the OffWorld Designs sale because they're Celtic; that's one minority cultural trad kiping from another, but the Thunderer is not a Celtic god.
Shamanism happens to be a cultural football in the game of claim, counter-claim, cries of appropriation, and New Age reinvention. (I'm pretty sure even I am a better shaman than that fool; if he ever went anywhere, he'd have been eaten by something. And if he were a shaman, I don't think he'd say he did energy healing.) I understand from this nasty little academic paper that one scholar (Laszló Vajda) claims the term exclusively for Siberian practitioners, which must be news to the trance healers in, for example, South America, not to mention the Sami (who have an allied heritage and really have been whalloped by dominant cultures). And whatever the variations in methods and conceptualization, there's a human commonality in trance and in the proprioceptive circuits that fire as the owner of a human brain journeys in Otherwhere. And it's a much more polite term than "witch doctor". Moreover, in the second half the author (Stefanie von Schnurbein, apparently her family was South Tyrolean until after the war) performs a ritual repudiation of modern heathenry and the New Age as Nazi-tainted by virtue of longing for a Germanic past, and therefore the fact that Hrafnar (a large and extremely woo-embracing heathen group in Berzerkeley) teaches seiðr makes them all the more likely to have this taint.
Well. Schnurbein's article has been cited as if it explodes the whole concept of shamanism (except perhaps in one or two Siberian groups), but when she calls it "a concept that is projected onto 'archaic' societies, revealing more about our own deficits, desires, and longings than the societies supposedly in question", she hasn't actually said anything very useful. Shamanism is a fluid term, and there undoubtedly is presumption, even arrogance, in some moderns' claims to perform it (*cough* Jake Angeli). There has also been arrogance in labeling cultures and their religious/magical practices as "archaic"; our records of Sámi beliefs and practices, for example, are horribly condescending. Modern counter-culturalists and religious revivalists who love the idea of shamanism are at least not condemning its "primitivism". Schnurbein thinks exploring alternative religions and practices such as shamanism reveals "deficits" in (German and American) societies; presumably she means we aren't all good Catholics. Too much meta-analysis, not enough about what the mislabeled societies do or did.
I imagine noaidi and their equivalents would have a field day with foolish so-called shamans were they to meet them on another plane. For now, the Internet will have to do. But that shouldn't mean mocking shamanism, for want of a better term. (I'm still waiting for someone to listen respectfully to practitioners of all the different traditions and pass on their terminology.) And shamanism should not be tarnished by association with such fools, just as the misuse of symbols of my gods and my religion must not be allowed to tarnish their reputation.
From:
no subject
Love,
Pat
From:
no subject
Some of these comfortably-off twits from Xian backgrounds like Angeli exemplify the hoary old "witch doctor" stereotype very well, and from what I know of meditation—most Western practitioners are no more able to achieve it than I can, they're having a bit of a daydream while sneaking glances at the others in the room—they don't even realize they're faking. Berserker werewolf! Probably works for Facebook now.