The Great Paganism Panic of 2023?
A Reminder That Media Is Not Your Friend
On February 13, 2017, two teenage girls, Abigail Williams & Liberty Germain, were brutally murdered. For over five years, police had no suspects until October of 2022, when Richard Allen’s home was searched on a warrant and he was charged on October 13, 2022.
Now, Allen’s attorneys are on record stating that their client is not guilty, citing that the warrant was based on false probable cause, facts were omitted and this double-homicide of two teenage girls wasn’t caused by one man, certainly not Allen, they claim, but by a cult of Odinist Pagans in a ritual killing.
Note that I am not using the word sacrifice here because that has a completely different referent altogether. Sacrifice is practiced by nearly everyone, everyday and it’s rare if anyone dies from it. People sacrifice their crappy diets or habits in order to improve their health. Some sacrifice their time to help others. In some instances, people sacrifice their own lives to save the ones they care about. In religion, the one group that practices sacrifice most often, are Christians whether they’re giving up something for Lent or whether they’re just giving up something that they once enjoyed in order to further their faith in some way.
Odinism, an early form of Asatru or Heathenism, has a small sect of those that espouse racist ideas. Some, such as the ones Stephen McNallen have gone on record as stating that “ancestry is more important than universalism” and have further used pseudoscientific terms such as “metagenetics” in an attempt to validate his claims. With the advent of freely-sharing information over the internet, this has largely been debunked. His successors in the Asatru Folk Assembly have since taken the thin veil away from the racism to expose it for what it really is.
David Lane, an extremist Wotanist, has written a novella entitled KD Rebel, a story of radical Odinists fighting a guerilla war against modern society.
The Odinic Rite has some issues. Some of the sources cited for works aren’t great and they have a tendency to have members that can be white nationalists and/or white separatists, however, on their site, they do leave political beliefs completely up to the member so long as the member does not conflate the two. Naturally, their referent for Folkism is one that tends to reinforce if not bolster white nationalist, white supremacist or white separatist views.
Similarly on my card that I carry bearing documentation of my ordination with Universal Life Church, it is clear that they will bear no responsibility for the words and actions that I do. That leaves the onus on me. I can’t claim the Church or it’s Ministries made me do it and they can’t claim that my messages or counsel given to someone seeking it are anything official in any way. Personal responsibility through and through. All my decisions are my own as well as actions and ULC Ministries can do as they please without it having any bearing on me, officially speaking. I’m certain ULC Ministries would not want me performing ritual human murder just as I’m certain that ULC Ministries would stand with any charity work that I do, which is logical.
I have noticed something though, in this article, there’s a quote, allow me to share it.
At least one of the alleged cult members knew details about the crime scene that weren’t public knowledge. Another, the filing said, was the subject of a tip to investigators just two days after the girls’ bodies were found. The individual was allegedly a member of “Vinlanders” (another term for Odinist followers) and posted social media photos of “half dead women” and strange “symbols made out of tree branches.”
None of the alleged “cult members” are ever named except as a group called “Vinlanders.” In my research, the only group to have a moniker applied to a group (mostly from the US and Canada) called “Vinlanders” is The Odinic Rite.
The same article also mentioned the following:
Purported Odinism at Westville Correctional Facility
Allen’s attorneys claimed the Odinist connections don’t stop there. In their motion to have Allen moved to a different facility as he awaits trial, Baldwin and Rozzi said prison guards wore patches that appeared to show Odinistic symbols, including one that purportedly said, “In Odin We Trust.”
During later interactions, the guards no longer wore the patches, the attorneys said.
I have some corrections experience that lasted nearly a decade and, at no time, at any institution have I ever seen authorization given to add personal patches to any uniform. In fact, they’re called uniforms for a reason in that everyone wears the same thing with exceptions made for commendations but everything has to have approval prior to being added and then, it must apply to all officers. That’s an oversimplification but I’m curious to see if there is actually any evidence of these claims or if it’s part of some conspiracy theory that the defense is using as a deflection.
From this article, we also have this interesting claim:
The court docs claim that investigators found multiple ritualistic symbols at the murder scene, from sticks arranged on the girls' bodies to an "F" painted on a nearby tree in blood.
An “F” painted on a nearby tree in blood. I only know of two symbols that could be and they are as follows:
This is Fehu, a rune that symbolizes Prosperity, Goods, and Vital Community Wealth. It is a rune of fulfillment, ambition satisfied, love shared and rewards received. It’s also about preserving what was gained because it pertains to our acquired and continued nourishment
This is Ansuz. Literally translated it means “breath” but it’s primary interpretation is that of messages received and communication. It indicates that one should be clear when conveying messages but be ready to listen in circles where wiser people may be present.
It’s strange that these are even being reported nearly without context as, that’s important.
In all the articles (which I will post all links down below, even those previously posted so that you can view them for yourself) there seems to be points parroted such as White Supremacy with sources cited as the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League, again, never once seeking out any actual practicing Heathens whether they’re solo or part of a kindred of any type. Instead, the media here seems to be fixated on the defense’s assertions of some “right-wing dark pagan conspiracy” in which the “cult” are protected by law enforcement and law enforcement has even been infiltrated to incarcerate and keep incarcerated, a man that was allegedly framed.
It’s reminiscent of the Satanic Panic, in which there were nebulous claims of teenagers, daycare caretakers and today, even elements of government were all involved in some widespread conspiracy to murder children. Innocent people were threatened, intimidated, bullied, assaulted, driven to suicide and even imprisoned for much of their lives based on hysteria. Hysteria that media propagated by turning to people who have no idea what the symbols are, what they represent, what their origins are, where they came from and wild, nebulous claims. When the retractions were printed, they were nowhere near as widely or prominently-propagated as the initial stories. In fact, there are still pockets of people to this day that will demonize you for playing a game like Dungeons & Dragons or any variation thereof.
Allen’s defense, if not based in solid fact, is playing a game of gasoline and fire. Without evidence to these claims, the arguments presented in these articles is disingenuous at best and dangerous at worst. It’s akin to setting an entire forest ablaze to kill a deer. In the end, there’s only a swath of destruction caused and one that will, no doubt put both you and me in the crosshairs, even if you’re not of my faith because, if this type of hysteria can be levelled at you, it can be levelled at me and that is not a world we want to revisit.
I’ve seen this movie, it’s not great, I give it a -5 out of 5 due to the ending.
I invite all of you to stop when you see these articles and read them across multiple publications. When you’re done, re-read them. Examine them for yourself and understand that what I’m about to show you is very very real…
Sources:
https://wibc.com/159920/delphi-murderer-defense-claims-killings-were-part-of-nordic-ritual/
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Interesting read. Thanks.
Reminiscent of the Satanic Panic is right. I'm a little too young to have experienced the height of that panic, but some of it did carry on into the 90's and I remember getting comments from school mates who heard old, long standing rumors from its heyday about the fact that my friends and I liked to play D&D or Magic: The Gathering. Comments along the lines of how that stuff had hidden demon summoning in it, right? Those cards are secretly occult, right? Didn't some guy attack his friends from playing that game? All that sort of nonsense.
A lot of what's shown here is reflective of both the lesser experience I had and the myriad stories older gaming friends of mine shared. Accusations of racism and white supremacy today are the equivalent of being called a devil worshiper during the Satanic Panic. While such accusations are already seeing diminishing returns for how overused and blatantly nonsensical they've become, it doesn't make their use in this way any less pernicious.