A community to discuss Norse paganism and other related Germanic neopagan religions (heathenry, Anglo-Saxon paganism, etc). An open and inclusive space.
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This video was posted on another site, it discusses the trollkors or trollcross and it being a relatively new symbol (from the early 1990s) and despite that being a valid symbol of Norse paganism.
My question regarding it, is its close appearance to the hate symbols based on the Othala rune should it be used? Or is there enough variation that it is its own symbol?
The winged othala rune specifically was created by the Nazis. The historical othala does not have the wings on it. There are certain symbols that are too far gone to really be reclaimed any time soon. The regular Othala is fine, but does carry the risk that uneducated people will see it as the Nazi symbol.
The Mjölnir symbol is fine, along with to some extent the Valknut (although the significance of that symbol, historically speaking, is questionable).
I am questioning the use of the trollkors specifically. I guess my post is poorly worded because all the replies are about other things.
It would be nice to reclaim old symbols. But that's not feasible as long as they're people who remember their misuse and their children, who heard those appalling stories from their parents.
However, I honestly never met with any issue wearing my Mjolnir openly. So far, in Europe.
In which countries did you experience any backlash to wearing Mjolnirs?
I am in the American Southwest, I have never experienced backlash but I do not openly reveal my beliefs, it keep it quite hidden.
Catholicism here is so ingrained that other religions have adopted bits into their faith. Growing up I thought everyone celebrated lent because everyone I knew gave up something, Catholic or not.
My personal stance to all the symbols that are close to Nazi symbols:
Use it at your own risk. Be prepared to be seen as a neonazi or to have to explain that you aren't. If you feel comfortable or inclined to use them, no one's gonna stop you.
I mean we can expand this to everything norse paganism. Thanks to those dipshits in germany we are already in a bit of a bad light even though we're just practicing our spiritual beliefs.
Fuck Nazis
Sidenote: you can also always use symbols that haven't been or aren't used by Nazis at all, since there's a lot of those available
I shy away from displaying anything openly Norse, despite having found my beliefs at age 6 or 7, because I shave my head and I know how a bald white man wearing runes or even a Mjolnir can look to some people. I do always wear my Mjolnir but tend to keep it hidden inside my shirt. If I wore the trollkors I would do the same thing. But I feel it is even more overt should it be seen on accident.
I'm in a similar boat to you, especially as I'm often around leftist circles who tend to be very aware of the connections. Nevertheless, I recently got the courage to get myself a pretty prominent tattoo on a visible, non-hideable spot of my skin.
I made incredibly sure to "de-nazify" the symbol as hard as possible, making it mostly look like it was drawn on with finger paint (since nazis make their shit in a very straight and ordered way without any mistakes).
It does help that I'm openly wearing very leftist symbols on other prominent spots of skin, as well as wearing a visibly left-wing attire.
My point being: there's ways you can openly show your faith without being mistaken for a nazi. Just make sure to de-nazify these things as hard as possible, potentially going into a more tribalist direction, adding symbolics that Nazis wouldn't touch, or being open about explaining yourself at times.
Also: try to avoid symbols that are actively being used by Nazis. I know a lot of folks love their Mjollnir, but not only has it been used by Nazis but its source also stems from the time of christianization (if you flip it around, you got something that resembles a cross. Pretty helpful if you want to trade with christians who only traded with other christians back in those days, while also allowing you to flip it right back when they're gone).
But in the end: do what you want lol. The best thing about norse paganism is that we don't have any rules in books or a church or something like that. Practice however you feel like it's right. Interpret things the way you see it. (with an exceptions to the bullshit that nazis do, though funnily enough, they sometimes admit that they're purposefully doing it wrong but "whatever we just do what we want haha")
Cheers