sonofcern

[sonofcern]

...Q-Shaman? Really?

Rant-Time: Let’s talk about a certain meme-worthy character of todays events…

Today an unprecedented event occurred as Trump supporters, angered at the supposedly fraudulent election, descended on DC to partake in so-called “stop-the-steal” protests.

We’ve all heard of this, and many people more competent than myself have and will be continuing to cover the events of today, and the egregiously dangerous implications they might have for our democratic society.

Instead, I’m here to muse and vent about something which as relatively minor in the grand scheme of these events it may be, is also something that probably won’t really be addressed much by many outside of neopagan circles. I’m talking about Q-Shaman, or more specifically “Q-Shaman’s” tattoos.

Of course he is in the spotlight and being meme’d to high Hel as the barbarian American flag face paint wearing Braveheart wannabe that led their charge, but what concerns me are the Norse pagan tattoos he has very prominently displayed on his bare chest, in addition to the runes on his hands.

Here we can clearly see a valknut, Yggdrasil, and a Mjolnir down the left side of his chest. Now full disclosure I don’t know much about this man at the time of writing this other than what he did today and what you see here now, and that he has been dubbed Q-Shaman, either by himself or others in reference to the outlandish conspiracy of Q-Anon. I plan to rectify this in the coming days and possibly either make a follow up post or share an article exploring him in greater detail later.

But for now let’s talk about the implications here. The valknut is a symbol of Odin, and it seems to me like he’s using it as a symbol of devotion strongly implying a warrior cult mentality on his part. Assuming he’s aware of the historical context, he’s effectively saying, “strike here, I dare you” while it is also said to serve as a protective charm, only allowing the wearers death to come to pass when Odin sees it fit. If taken in a literal sense as an Odinist’s expression of devotion, it would be safe to assume he’s effectively a neo-pagan warrior cultist, who may well see the fight for Trumpism as his fighting chance to prove himself before Odin one day. Now, Odinists have become rather infamous over the years, as many are warrior cultists with fascist-adjacent if not explicitly fascist or even Neo-Nazi political beliefs. Many Odinist blots around the country are infamous for openly and brazenly displaying Nazi flags and portraits of Adolf Hitler within their lodges.

So now we have some douche canoe with three very important symbols to those of Nordic heritage and faith very prominently tattooed on his bared chest, taking part in what could only be described as some shitty, poorly thought out attempt at an insurrection fueled by right wing conspiracy, by supporters of an authoritarian right wing president that refuse to accept peaceful and democratic defeat. 

You see what this could mean for these symbols right? If we don’t watch it these symbols very dear to the hearts of many of Norwegian heritage and of Nordic faiths could very well go the way of the swastika if we let it. As it is right now valknuts are often seen automatically as racist symbols as it is, and Thor’s hammer Mjolnir seems to very quickly be following suit. The fact of the matter is we neither have the right nor the ability to stop them from using these symbols, or from believing in and using Nordic faiths as justifications for their authoritarianisms. 

What we can do, and what we must do if we’re to preserve these symbols and by extension help to protect a class of already marginalized religious minorities, is refuse to allow them to appropriate these within the public conscious as symbols entirely their own. That means we have to stand up and be vocal whenever we see people falsely equating these symbols as being inherently symbols of hate no matter the context. We have to stand up when we see voices of hate using these symbols, and make it loud and clear they do not represent us all and will not be tolerated within our communities. 

If you’re of a Nordic faith and have the emotional mental and physical energy to do so, it might mean wearing your Mjolnir out proudly in the open, ready to shoot down any accusations of hate with snappy quips, such as “ well this hammer smashes fascists” perhaps. On that note, you can buy shirts with this phrase to make this clear to all who see you if you wish. In fact I’m contemplating making a design of my own for Print-On-Demand websites, though I have no guarantees that I’ll ever get it done.

Anyways, that’s my rant for tonight. I hope it wasn’t too long winded and I certainly have no plans of making a habit of this but I just really needed to get that off my chest.

On a related note, here’s a link to an Etsy page with some very relevant stickers you might want to check out.

#NAZIPAGANSFUCKOFF #THISHAMMERSMASHESFASCISTS

[sonofcern]

So I stumbled on a popular neodruidic Facebook page... But they mock environmentalists...

Note: This has honestly sat in my drafts since sometime late 2019 forgotten about as well, life happened and I kind of stopped keeping up with this blog. However I was just checking my old shit now and I still think this needs to be said so here it goes.

The Druid Circle is a neodruidic Facebook page with over 54,000 likes (edit: just checked before posting this draft, now it's up to 69,087) as of me writing this, who posted this meme~

And naturally they got inundated with some criticisms. To which they responded with blocks and bans, and a comment, "sorry about the liberal trolls." Because critiquing the accuracy of a meme makes you a liberal troll now I guess.

That was cringey enough as it was, but then, there's this post:

I don't even think I need to tell anyone that's following my blog just what load of ridiculousness this is it would be preaching to the choir. I mean druids mocking people for trying to be more environmentally friendly based on some dirty vegan hippie stereotypes, (and... cockroach milk? seriously?) then trying to claim they're the "true" druids? Good fucking grief lmao. I don't even know why I bother to make this post and frankly idk if I just want to laugh at the idiots or cry that these are the idiots that may well be getting popular traction within our community and representing us now...

[sonofcern]

The Middle

I wrote and illustrated this story as a birthday present for my partner, I hope you enjoy it!

[sonofcern]

[sonofcern]

What do druids do on christmas? Are they forbidden to celebrate it?

Of the druid orders I’m aware of, none have restrictions on what holidays adherents are permitted to celebrate. Interestingly, I once heard a statistic that roughly 25% of druids also consider themselves Christian. Unfortunately, I can’t find the original source of where I read or heard that stat so that’s now hearsay on my part.

As the winter holiday season unfolds, druids will pronounce well-wishes for each major holiday, usually something like:

Happy Hanukkah to Jewish druids who celebrate it

Happy ________ • Solstice • Alban Arthan • Ard Geimhreadh / Grianstad an Gheimhridh • and the ubiquitous Blessed Yule (despite Yule being Germanic and not Celtic, but it’s a convenient pagan word and takes much less time to say)

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it

Happy Hogmanay (which is a bit obscure and out of my scope)

Culturally a majority of druids probably come from a family that celebrates Christmas at least secularly if not also religiously. The associated trappings just remain part of their continuing family tradition, usually on Christmas day as well. I know of fewer druids who celebrate exclusively on the Midwinter Solstice, usually striving to reclaim the pagan aspects of the winter holiday season. For some it also helps them heal if they came from a toxic Christianist upbringing. 

These days it’s becoming more common for children to be born into households that are practicing paganism or druidry specifically, however Christmas is still very much ingrained in popular culture. Given the overlap and similarities between all these holidays that celebrate feasting, gift giving, and joyful displays of light, it is simply easier for druids to embrace the season in whichever way works best for them.

[sonofcern]

[aggressively supports and encourages young artists]

[sonofcern]

Stupid dreams. Even the good ones are bad, because they remind you how poorly reality measures up.

— Neal Shusterman, Unwind

[sonofcern]

[sonofcern]

i need some of you to realize that call out culture, by design, rewards people who make the most outrageous & aggressive accusations, without regards to truth or context. it encourages people to misconstrue, to erase context, to outright lie. it feeds the instinct to attack, with or without cause. 

and that naturally enables certain types of people (terfs, exclusionists, bigots) who already have a vitriolic bandwagon behind them, to target & harass minority bloggers whose inclusive platforms they do not like to see becoming popular.

this has happened time and again, it has driven good people off this site, it is traumatic and unhealthy to everyone involved. purity culture creates an atmosphere of fear & paranoia, i am begging you to reexamine this attitude of mob violence in online spaces

[sonofcern]

i need some of you to realize that call out culture, by design, rewards people who make the most outrageous & aggressive accusations, without regards to truth or context. it encourages people to misconstrue, to erase context, to outright lie. it feeds the instinct to attack, with or without cause. 

and that naturally enables certain types of people (terfs, exclusionists, bigots) who already have a vitriolic bandwagon behind them, to target & harass minority bloggers whose inclusive platforms they do not like to see becoming popular.

this has happened time and again, it has driven good people off this site, it is traumatic and unhealthy to everyone involved. purity culture creates an atmosphere of fear & paranoia, i am begging you to reexamine this attitude of mob violence in online spaces

[sonofcern]

I made another TikTok 😔

My username is ofdirtandbones

[sonofcern]

Memes And Laughs

[sonofcern]

The old bridge.

[sonofcern]

lately i been haunted by the phrase

'the axe forgets but the tree will always remember' because

for my whole life i been the tree but

i lie awake at night terrified, horrified, wondering

how many times have i been the axe and

forgotten

[sonofcern]

One of the best things about Brotherhood? Every character is smart as hell. No one ever makes a dumb, easily avoidable mistake. Roy doesn’t fly off the handle and kill Maria when he suspects she might have killed Hughes; he looks into the matter to make sure, and then arranges an escape route for her when it becomes clear she’s framed. And he’s got such a tight-knit system set up with his subordinates that they’re able to easily relay important information back and forth without the enemy factions in the military catching on. The whole series is an ever-escalating battle of wits between the heroes and villains, everyone operating at the top of their game to out-plan and out-maneuver their equally skilled opponent. You never know if a plan is going to work, or if the opposing side has a countermeasure in place. It helps keeps the story barreling forward at a refreshing pace while keeping the tension high with every battle; you never know who’s gonna come out on top.

[sonofcern]

if we were both frogs would you inflate your throat sac at me 🥺

[sonofcern]

been thinking about trees