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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in swastika
An Open Letter to Defenders of the Confederate Battle Flag

So, a symbol that you love deeply and consider sacred has been hijacked by hate.

Well, I know how you feel; the same thing happened to us.

Based on our experience, I'd like to tender a few recommendations.

Lay down the battle. You've already lost. Regardless of what it may or may not mean to you, to others it means hate. Fair or not, to defend it in public now only taints you by association.

Lay off the public display. Honestly, other people find it offensive. Keep it for use in private, where people know what it means—and what it doesn't.

Choose something else for public display. Do your research. You really do have other options here. Inform yourself.

Be patient. If your values are true, time will not diminish them. It may not happen in a lifetime, or two, or three. What is truly sacred cannot be fouled forever.

Last modified on

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
The Swastika and the Flag

 

Some  Southern Pagans, have criticized  comments I made elsewhere on W&P and on Patheos supporting removing the Confederacy’s battle flag from all public displays in the South.  They thought I unfairly maligned Southern culture by saying it was inextricable from racism.  Some thought I must not know anything about the South. For the record I was born in Southwest Virginia, raised in the half-Southern state of Kansas with relatives whose views ranged from a relatively benign racism to endorsing Southern slavery.  For much of my life I frequently visited my Virginia and Arkansas relatives. I am not a Southerner, but I have fairly substantial experience with Southern culture, usually in a positive context. That experience plus their defense of the Confederacy's battle flag as a symbol of Southern culture has led to this post, dedicated to Southern Pagans.

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  • Helena
    Helena says #
    Thank you so much for this. Perhaps a few people will be reached.
  • Gus diZerega
    Gus diZerega says #
    Thank you Heather. I don't know how important they are within their community because I am not a Heathen and rarely attend their d
  • Heather Freysdottir
    Heather Freysdottir says #
    As a Southerner who also whole heartedly approves of the removal of the confederate flag from public spaces, I very much appreciat

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Thunder Cross

How do you purify a desecrated symbol?

Some friends of mine who own a Baltic imports store had just come back from a buying trip to Latvia. “Come see this,” said Sean, when I walked in the door. “It's very special.”

He was right. The Thunder brooch was beautiful, bronze, big and solid enough to heft in the palm of a hand. A Sun Wheel, but this was a Sun filled with lightnings: Sun and Thunder in union. “It's a wonderful piece,” he said, “but I can't put it out on the floor.” I was on the verge of asking why not when suddenly I saw why not.

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  • Piper
    Piper says #
    Yeah, I wear sterling bracelets my great uncle made in the early 1900s for the Harvey house trade. Both have whirling logs all ove

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

Symbols are motifs, letters, numbers, figures and characters that represent something else.

Ultimately, symbols are short-cuts. Like the tip of the funnel, they lead to something wider and deeper. But the entrance to that "biggerness" lies at the point of symbol.

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