Note: This piece by Gandalf Freyasson, Elder in True North EuroFaith. This is something that speaks to me on a very deep level.
Am I conservative or liberal? No. Am I Democrat? Never in life. Am I Republican? No. I am libertarian. My single philosophy is “You Do You, I’ll Do Me. We’ll Part Ways Where We Can’t Agree.” I believe that total liberty can be reasonable and can be enjoyed by reasonable people. I have seen unreasonable people doing and saying unreasonable things. Primarily among them that “You cannot be X if you’re B.” You can sub out the X and B variables for yourself. I’ve seen that since I was a kid. The problem with that type of thought and mentality is that it robs someone of their individuality. I don’t have to like it if you’re worshipping Loki as a god of gender fluidity. You’re free to do that, though. I’m not required to do it myself. All the threats of social ostracism, name-calling, ad-hominem attack or bullying won’t ingratiate me to your way of thinking. That’s what Gandalf covers here and it’s a long, but worthwhile read. It’s taken me awhile to post this because there are so many things going on that it was hard to get to. Full disclosure, I copied this text from the email he sent me, whole cloth. The only editing I did was for formatting. Not one jot or tittle was changed. I wanted you to read it in his own words and see just how well-thought-out his message was. Whenever someone tells you you can’t be a certain way because, without or whatever, just let them know, “I can…and I am.”
We Can & We Are:
A growing number of us consider ourselves to be both Pagans and conservatives (and patriots). Many of us have endured the unpleasant experience of running into some of those who are determined to bother us with their unwanted aggravation.
One bunch wants to superimpose their political ideology onto what is supposed to be a religious movement or community. They bully others under the obnoxious pretense that you cannot be a Pagan unless you are a leftist. Another bunch wants to subordinate what is supposed to be a political or social movement under their version of their religion. They are just as insufferably arrogant with their allegation that you cannot be a conservative unless you are what they consider to be a Christian. Both are wrong.
Growth & Changes:
There are some who insist that you cannot be Pagan unless you are a far-left ideologue, or at least a “liberal”. Because some of those who push this fiction monopolize several Pagan forums, too many get the false impression that almost all of what may be called the “Pagan community” is left leaning.
Prior to the last few decades of the 20th century, what would later become known as Neo-Paganism or the Pagan revival, was hardly leftist in orientation. Many in the Pagan community then were not leftists. More than some are willing to admit still are not. A major change was caused during the 70’s when large numbers of “hippies”, with what they called their “counter culture”, turned to the Pagan faith as part of their “social rebellion”. Many were more “New Age” than Pagan.
This infusion of “New Age” followers inflated the number of those who were called “Pagan.” These “New Age” converts brought their leftist political outlooks with them. However, as our EuroFaith Folk religion awakened during the past few decades, inspiring more to heed the call to return to our true Gods and Goddesses of our people, a substantial number of others with more traditional views also became Pagans. Because they were more focused on sharing fellowship in group rituals and other events, most Pagans were able to share spiritual gatherings with other Pagans with similar religious beliefs but who had different political opinions. It was rare to see a discussion among Pagans about any political subject.
Intruders with a Poisonous Agenda:
Coming in with the leftists are those who may mimic the more sincere liberals, but they are fanatic neo-marxists determined to impose their ideology on everyone else. They scream the loudest about what they call “tolerance”, but are extremely intolerant of anyone who differs even slightly from them, their ideology, or their agenda.
There has been a concerted push by neo-marxists to co-opt Pagan forums and groups. They ostracize genuine Pagans. Pagans who follow, as much as possible, our original beliefs and principles of our revived EuroFaith religion and traditions. Neo-marxists falsely accuse actual Pagans, who were here first, and who remain faithful to real Pagan principles, of being the ones trying to hijack our Pagan revival. Neo-marxists want to hijack our Pagan revival because it was growing before they took over so many forums. Neo-marxists, and those deceived or bullied into going along with them, hype the fraud that one has to be a leftist to be a Pagan. Another deception. Neo-marxists want to be called “progressives”, but they are nothing more than recycled communists.
Genuine Pagan Principles:
Neo-marxists have provoked growing resistance from those who choose to adhere to genuine Pagan principles. The EuroFaith values and guiding principles of our EuroFolk ancestors create spiritually strong, independent, rational people. Neo-marxists want blind followers they can lead anywhere they want to take them. We who strive to be authentic Pagans believe we should not have to redefine what we are supposed to believe and practice when they conflict with whatever the latest leftist narrative happens to be. Sincere and real Pagans prefer to recognize reality and what is natural. We will not allow our perceptions to be warped by whatever “control” delusions neo-marxists want to impose on us.
Every genuine Pagan revived tradition that I know of, whether Celtic, Germanic, Slavic, Hellenic, or who may be more eclectic, recognizes feminine and masculine energies as fundamental. This includes a belief in divine feminine and divine masculine. Our very Gods masculine and our very Goddesses feminine. Pagan EuroFolk cultures recognized that both feminine and masculine energies are indispensable. They are natural. They create life. And there are two, and only two, genders whose purposes, roles, and energies, complement and enhance each other. They need each other to survive.
In Pagan Germanic and Celtic cultures, women had more rights than in other areas. Women had as much right to inheritance, property, leadership, and to just about anything else, as men did. This recognition of women having as many rights as men was reflected in their marriage customs. Tacitus wrote that among Germanic tribes, men had only one wife. Germanic women were respected. In the cultures in which Christianity and Islam arose, women had few if any rights. Women were viewed more as possessions than as persons in their own right. What limited the number of wives a man was allowed to have was the same as what limited how much livestock he could own. He was limited to having only what he could to afford to maintain.
The concept of marriage being defined as between one man and one woman is Pagan in origin. Family being valued as the foundation of the tribe, later of ones nation, was originally a Pagan tradition. These Pagan concepts are now recognized as modern conservative ideals, but with which modern leftists apparently have a problem.
Conservative Influence in Revival of EuroFaith Paganism:
During the 19th and early 20th Centuries, there was increasing interest in a revival of EuroFolk Paganism. One of the more influential was Gerald Gardner. He was a main founder of Wicca. Gardner was initiated into a coven in 1939. This was one of several covens which claimed a long descent over generations from earlier covens. The founders of Gardnerian Wicca, as well as of other Wiccan traditions, considered what they believed in and practiced to be a resurfacing Folk religion. They resumed the use of terms such as “old ways” or “older Gods.” Influenced by genuine Pagan principles discerned from lore, they were conservative in outlook and attitude. As were many others who could be called Wiccan or Pagan, Gardner was a loyal supporter of the British Conservative Party.
During the 19th Century, beginning in Germany and also attracting followers in other countries, a growing number felt called to revived Germanic Paganism. This revival created what we now know as Asatru, Odinism, or Heathenry. The Nine Noble Virtues outlined in the Havamal are guiding principles for modern Heathens, and are basic value concepts of the EuroFolk handed down through eons of time. Because of the influence of the Havamal and other lore, modern Heathens have long been recognized as social conservatives. Even if sometimes phrased differently, these Noble Virtues are also recognized as guiding principles and ideals for modern conservatism.
Principles and traditions of our Pagan ancestors were by their very nature conservative. Paganism is naturally conservative.
Repressive Radicals:
There is another bunch of prevaricators, along with their self-righteous but deluded dupes, who allege that you cannot be conservative unless you are a Christian.
Those who want to preserve the culture, traditions, and self-determination of their people view with trepidation the rise of a radical movement determined to impose their control over everything and everyone else. Proponents of this authoritarian movement deride as ignorant rubes anyone who clings to the traditions and beliefs of their people. They are intolerant of others with different beliefs. They “deplatform” or prevent from meeting or speaking those with opinions they dislike. They censor the written material of anyone expressing ideas which contradict their world view. They co-opt what they can’t repress, which they distort into something which advances their agenda. They resort to violence to repress anyone with whom they disagree. They even riot, tear down statues, destroy property, and assault people.
But wait. I’m not talking about neo-marxists and the modern conservatives they attack. I’m describing early Christians who persecuted the original Pagans who would not accept the new Abrahamic creed.
Like modern marxists, early Christians plotted to gain power by tearing down the current order and replacing it with one which they controlled. They allied themselves with ambitious political and military leaders. Ruthless political leaders wanted to eliminate all competition for political power. The main leaders of the early Christians wanted to eliminate all other religions, even competing sects claiming to follow a different version of their own religion. Each used the other to obtain and secure their own power. Empowered by political allies, and operating under the guise of government, Christian leaders and proselytizers imposed their new religion by terror and force against any remaining Pagans who refused to abandon their ancient faith. This was how Christianity became the only legal religion, first in the Roman Empire, then later in the smaller kingdoms and mini-empires which came after Rome’s fall.
The Original Thought Police:
Earlier Pagans recognized that each people had their own traditions, religions, and Deities. There was mutual tolerance. Pagans did not force their faith on anyone nor seek “converts.” Christians claim to be universal, their Deity the only one, and their religion the only one which should be allowed. Pagan temples and sacred sites which were not destroyed were taken over or “Christianized” to be centers for the practice of their new religion. Local traditions and holy days which were not suppressed were warped into something which enabled them to control even the most intimate aspects of the personal lives of those upon whom they forced Christianity.
Christian leaders were the first to criminalize ideas and beliefs not approved by them. Those who didn’t conform to what they decreed were violently repressed. Ideas or beliefs not taught by them were labelled by church officials as “heresy.” The infamous “witch hunts” were began, not against alleged “witches”, but to root out and eliminate those who the church called “heretics”. Others would later call those not believing or thinking the way they wanted “infidels”, “reactionaries”, “politically incorrect”, “insurrectionists”, or other terms. What they really mean is what Orwell called them. “Thought criminals” guilty of “thought crime”.
Ideological Descendants:
Other movements came later which said they were an “improved” version of what Christianity claimed to be. Islam improved on methods Christianity used by promising extra special rewards in the afterlife to those who killed “infidels” or forcibly imposed its religion and ideology on others. Marxism when new presented itself as a revolutionary secular version promising to create the kind of society Christianity was supposed to.
Marxists have long employed the tactics the early Christians used to influence or control others, and to secure power. As have many others, I have stated a number of times that marxism is an ideological grandchild of earlier repressive creeds. Well, apparently also agreeing that what became marxism is descended from early Christianity is none other than the Roman Catholic Pope Francis. In November, 2022, Pope Francis was interviewed by the editor of a leftist oriented Jesuit magazine called America. During the interview Pope Francis declared: “If I see the Gospel in a sociological way only, yes, I am a communist, and so too is Jesus…The communists stole some of our Christian values.” Francis may have gotten this idea from such Biblical passages as Acts 2:44, which says about early Christians that for a time: “All who believed were together and had all things in common.” They lived in their own little communes, in which no one owned their own personal property. Everything was shared by everyone as community property. It is from the notion that property should be owned and shared equally by everyone as community property that we get the term “communism”.
And this is supposed to be the religion you mandate if we are conservative?
Origin of American Ideals for Liberty:
What about the allegation that the United States was supposedly founded as a Christian nation? That the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and America’s traditions and principles of liberty which are enshrined in these documents, come from Christianity? Christians in earlier ages rewrote history so that it would not contradict whatever their narrative may have been at the time. Their marxist ideological offspring continue to do this today. They likewise suppressed true accounts of what the Founding Fathers and other early Americans actually said and did. Their version of American history was devised to enable them to perpetuate their influence and control.
Pre-Christian Germanic peoples had long-standing traditions respecting the rights of the individual. Tribes were governed more by tribal leaders or chieftains than by what could be called kings. Tribal leaders were often chosen by popular consent. Their rulers never had absolute power. What authority or powers they did have was limited by laws which secured the rights of the individual. The enactment of new laws and the altering or repealing of older ones, and the passing of judgments on disputes or litigation between citizens of the community, was democratically decided in assemblies of free people called the Thing.
Fighting to be a Free People:
After subjugating the Celtic tribes in what is now France, in 9 CE the Romans attempted to expand their empire by sending three legions across the Rhine into the area they called Germania. To resist the invaders, an alliance of several Germanic tribes united under the leadership of the chieftain Hermann, also known by his Roman name Arminius. This alliance of Germanic freedom fighters wiped out the invading legions in the Teutoberg Forest. Teutoberg was among the most decisive battles in the history of the Germanic peoples, and one of Rome’s most fateful defeats. Around 69 CE Roman military forces would again cross the Rhine to attempt to invade and conquer Germania. This time an alliance of an even greater number of Germanic tribes arose under the inspiration of the priestess Veleda. Again, German freedom fighters won victories which preserved their freedom. The Rhine River became the permanent eastern boundary of the Roman Empire in Western Europe.
The Germanic tribes of Western Germany remained free of foreign domination, and preserved their traditions, customs, and culture. When the Romans withdrew from Britain, Germanic Saxons, accompanied by some from the allied tribe of the Angles, moved in and took over. This was how the British came to be called Anglo-Saxons. The Anglo-Saxons treasured what were originally the Pagan traditions of personal liberty and individual rights, and being governed by rulers approved by the people. They resisted those who attempted to deny British citizens these treasured rights.
There was the momentous rebellion against one monarch who, perhaps believing he was justified by the Christian-inspired doctrine known as the “divine right of kings”, tried to become an absolute ruler unrestrained by the law or by anything or anyone else. The defeated would-be tyrant was instead compelled to sign into law what is known as the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta formally enacted into Anglo-Saxon law the Pagan-inspired principle that the people have a right to be free of oppression and tyranny. The concept that people have a right to rebel against and replace oppressive government is foundational to the later Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. Rights enumerated in the Maga Carta found their way into our Bill of Rights. The main author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, proclaimed: “Christianity neither is, nor ever was, a part of the common law.”
Non-Christian Founding Fathers:
America’s Founding fathers were not all Christians. Many of those who signed the Declaration of Independence, or who were delegates to the Constitutional Convention which drafted our Constitution, were Deists. Many others who were actively involved in winning our independence and founding our Republic in other ways, were Deists. The first four Presidents of the United States were also Deists and not Christians.
Deism was a philosophy and religious outlook popular in the 18th and early 19th Centuries among the learned in the British and American colonial upper and middle classes. Deists believed that an understanding of the Divine can be discerned through a rational observation of nature and of the laws of nature. These concepts are compatible with original EuroFolk Pagan teachings, and modern Pagan traditions. Polytheist Pagans perceive that there are multiple forces in nature and in the universe, and not just one sole power.
Deists did not believe in the Abrahamic concept of a “revealed god” accessible only through their cults. When you see such terms as “Providence”, “Nature’s God”, or “the Creator”, those who wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were not referring to the Christian or Abrahamic god. The Founding Fathers who drafted these documents were referring to what the Deists understood the Divine to be.
The Deist Founding Father and second President of the United States John Adams wrote: “The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.” The Deist Founding Father, acclaimed as the father our country, and first President George Washington proclaimed: “The United States of America should have a foundation free from the influence of clergy.” Affirming Deism’s recognition of natural rights (originally a Western European Pagan concept), Deist Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and third President Thomas Jefferson noted: “In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.” The United States has been such a “different” and successful nation and government because it was carefully and deliberately not founded as a Christian nation.
Modern American conservatives will agree that their political beliefs are based on the ideals and principles upon which our Republic was founded. These principles were written into America’s founding documents by those who believed in a religious philosophy which was definitely not Christian. Principles which are more consistent with older Pagan concepts than with anything any of the Abrahamic creeds ever came up with. Conservative ideals were inspired by genuine Pagan principles.
We Can Be & We Are Proudly Both:
Anyone who says you cannot be a Pagan unless you are some kind of leftist, and anyone who claims you cannot be a conservative unless you’re (their kind of) Christian, is wrong. Those who push either of these fallacies either rewrite, suppress, or just ignore, real history. They want you to be misinformed or ignorant about what really happened, and what was actually done or said, in the past.
Occasionally, “woke” or “pc pagan” authors write that it is to them “problematic” that many of those who played a major role in bringing about our modern Pagan revival, were conservative. “Woke” or “pc pagans” can’t handle the realization that, but for those conservative Pagan teachers and leaders, it is unlikely that we would be free to be Pagans today. They will ignore what were the real beliefs of those who did so much to revive our ancient religion and traditions, or even misrepresent them as having been leftists. Their neo-marxist ideology will always be more important to the “woke” or “pc pagan” than our Pagan religion and traditions. If they had to, they would choose to impose marxism and eliminate Paganism. You can’t be Pagan unless you’re a leftist? Or, should the question be, can you be real Pagan if you are a neo-marxist or call yourself some other leftist term which means the same thing?
The perpetrators of the other fraud continue with the centuries-old Abrahamic practices of rewriting history. They are past masters of the ploy of coercing others into converting to their version of their religion by threatening to deprive others of something they need or desire. Christians have been at it a lot longer than the marxists. It is from them that the marxists got these ideas.
If they have no other option, Funnymentalist Christians will choose their version of their religion over everything else, including modern conservatism, American patriotism, and even our American Republic. As did their predecessors, they will either supplant or eradicate everything else to compel everyone else to conform to their creed. You can’t be a conservative (and also a patriot) unless you are what they consider to be a Christian? Or, should the question be, can you be a real conservative (or a real patriot) if you are first and foremost a Funnymentalist Christian?
We can’t be a Pagan if we’re not a leftist? We can’t be a conservative if we’re not a Christian? We can’t be both a Pagan and a conservative patriot? We can’t?! Yes, we can! And, yes, we are! We can be a conservative Pagan! A growing number of us are! And we’re proud of it!
Reclaim Paganism, Conservatism & Patriotism:
I’m losing count of the number of Pagans who report they were harassed by leftists LARPing as “pagans” because they are patriotic or conservative and who also (gasp) actually believe in genuine Pagan principles rather than leftist fantasies. Other Pagans who are also patriots were subjected to hostile encounters by Funnymentalist Xtians under the delusion that modern American conservatism is somehow supposed to be an extension of their church cult. Many Pagans ask has anyone written anything countering either bunch. This special edition is our response to fulfill this need. Rowana helped compose some of what we now publish.
The purpose of this essay is to provide you with information which will enable you to refute characters from both groups. We ask you to share this edition with as many as you can. Share by forwarding this as e-mail as it comes to you. Post in other media and include contact information.
Our True North EuroFaith:
The term “true north” refers to a line which leads directly to the north pole, regardless of the wrong direction misleading guides or defective instruments may erroneously point you. “True north” has become a phrase meaning “one’s true course”. To “find your true north” means to discover and follow the real direction in which you should go. Rowana coined the term “EuroFaith”. This name more correctly describes the religions and traditions of our Pagan Eurofolk ancestors we now revive, believe in, and practice.
We want to believe in and practice our True North EuroFaith. This includes honoring and revering the true Gods and Goddesses of our people who now call to us to return. We invite anyone who wants to heed the call to join us in fellowship in our True North EuroFaith. Tell others they can be added to the e-mail list to receive this newsletter by contacting us at gandalf.freyasson@gmail.com. And any poetry, prose, invocations, or other information you may want to share with other Pagans, is always welcome.
-Gandalf Freyasson, EuroFaith Elder
Yep.
I've always been in the middle of the political spectrum. I didn't move. I'm a fiscal conservative who believes in smaller govt. A bud once called me a Libertarian with a lower case "L".
I've never voted Demoncrat and never will. They lie about everything (I know, all politicians lie - but their party has taken it as an art form), want to erase all of the hate they caused throughout our history, and only crave power over the masses. The goal is a class society of THEM and the little people begging for govt scraps. They've been destroying the education system and the Middle Class for the past few decades. Just nowadays, they don't hide it. They lie to our faces, discount facts, steal our money to line their pockets, and fan the flames of hate. They'd rather rule over the ashes than represent We the People.
When I was younger, I voted 3rd party. As I got older and realized the deck was stacked, I had to choose a side. Republicans are more in line with what I see as American patriotism than the other side. They've a proven track record of not screwing Veterans over. So, they get my vote... at least until we can wipe out the lie that is bi-partisan politics.
I was in the Army when I truly saw their destructive nature. The Clinton era started it. They used the military as a social experiment and continued to erode discipline, pride, and patriotism out of our armed forces. That era started the "months" - nothing more than a divisive tactic that grew into a bush of hate. Prior to that, we were Army Green... nothing else mattered. That is how it should be.
Now, some might ask "As an Agnostic Jew who believes in legalizing pot" how could I support the "Conservative Party"... simple. The other side sucks MORE.
On to the other topic.
I married a pagan hillbilly native witch. Yep, she is all that. She is truly an amazing person. The kindest most giving soul I've ever met. She believes in the older ways and just avoids politics. She schools me often about herbs, myths, and concepts I'd never thought of or just dismissed. She does it in such a way that I enjoy hearing it. I may not always agree, but I respect her devout belief in the earth. She is a truly spiritual person - not like the fakes.
Like me, she laughs at hippies. Especially the hippies of this age... wow... I thought it was ridiculous as a kid in the 70s - this new movement is just pure lazy and believes everything the computer tells them. Which is the opposite of the hippies of my youth who believed NOTHING that any box told them.
Ok, I am a bit harder on hippies than she is. But, I lived it. My mom was a Jew born again pentacostal hippie gypsy and it sucked. Seriously, I can't make that shit up!
As an old fart - 56 in 2 days - I've seen our society erode from within. It was sad at first... now it is infuriating. To watch an entire generation led by senseless emotional responses, fads, and every lie they're told, and rewarded when they throw tantrums and destroy cities... mostly so they can avoid actual work. We're living in the dystopia Orwell and others warned us about.
Those who control the past, control the future.
So, to avoid the masses of asses, I keep to myself. My wife tends to her ever-growing gardens and I write my gaming books. While the world burns, at least I know my pagan wife can produce food and I'm still a decent shot with survival and combat skills who will do anything to protect my loved ones.