This week I will discuss certain symbols used in Heathenry, Wicca, Celtic Paganism, and other Pagan belief systems and practices.
Symbolic jewelry I wear daily. Left, a triskele. Right, a pentacle.
Pentagram/Pentacle.
The pentagram is a five-pointed star drawn with one continuous line of five segments. When the star is enclosed in a circle it's called a pentacle. This symbol is commonly used in Wicca and other polytheist belief systems and magical practices. The five points represent the five sacred elements- earth, air, fire, water, and spirit. It's generally used as a positive and protective symbol of the interconnectedness of all life, and appears frequently on modern Pagan altars and jewelry.
Left, a pentagram. Right, a pentacle. Pentacles may show the points inside or outside of the circle.
Inverted (point downward) pentacles and pentagrams are often used to represent Satanism (theistic or non-theistic), demonology, or what is called the left-hand path.
The official emblem of the Church of Satan.
The upward pointed pentagram is also used by street gangs, often to signal affiliation with People Nation, a large alliance of gangs in the Midwest United States.
Bishops gang graffiti in Chicago.
Bloods gang graffiti in Houston.
Solar Cross/Sun Wheel.
The solar cross is an equal armed cross surrounded by a circle. It is one of humanity's most ancient symbols, appearing in petroglyphs in the Americas and Europe dating back thousands of years. A variation of this symbol is used by Christians who call it a Celtic cross. The quadrants of the solar cross may represent the four directions or the four classical elements of earth, air, water, and fire. In Norse Paganism/Heathenry it's known as Odin's cross.
Basic solar cross symbol.
A Native American petroglyph at Three Rivers Petroglyph Site in New Mexico.
A pillar stone in County Kerry, Ireland with solar cross and Ogham inscription.
Modern symbolic jewelry pendant of a solar cross.
It's also very popular with White supremacists, some of whom call it Odin's cross, others calling it a Celtic cross.
The logo of the Stormfront website.
White supremacist tattoos using Celtic cross/Odin's cross imagery.
The blood drop cross of the Ku Klux Klan.
Valknut.
The valknut is a symbol drawn from Norse mythology; it's strongly associated with the god Odin, and is sometimes called "the knot of the slain", symbolic of death in battle, and the afterlife. It appears on Viking age runestone monuments, and is used by members of the modern Pagan religion Heathenry, which is inspired and informed by the pre-Christian practices of ancient Northern Europe.
A modern depiction of the valknut.
Detail of a valknut depicted on the 7th century Stora Hammars I stone in Gotland, Sweden.
Modern symbolic jewelry featuring valknut images.
This symbol is also used by members of the far-right.
The "QAnon shaman" Jake Angeli during the January 6 insurrection. His tattoos include a valknut on his upper chest.
An imaginary new flag for Germany featuring a valknut symbol.
Modified American flag embroidered patch sold on Amazon.
Odal/Othala Rune.
The Odal rune represents the sound of the letter O, and is part of the oldest runic alphabet, the Elder Futhark. This rune also represents the concepts of heritage, inheritance, tradition, unity, and family connections. It's not part of the Younger Futhark and began to disappear from common use in Scandinavian countries around the 8th century CE. It remained in use in England into the 11th century, where it acquired a further meaning of "homeland".
Two forms of the Odal rune. The one at left appears to be a 20th century revision, but I haven't been able to confirm that.
The Elder Futhark consists of 24 runes and was created around the 1st century CE. It appears in inscriptions on Viking stone monuments, weapons, jewelry, and household objects. In our time it's used in a system of divination involving casting or drawing runes, and interpreting the results. The Roman historian Tacitus described a very similar practice in his writings about the people of Northern Europe.
An 8th century Viking runestone in Gotland, Sweden.
A 3rd century CE silver fibula brooch with swastika and runic inscription, found in Denmark. The Odal rune is visible second to the left of the swastika.
A modern set of carved stone runes used in divination. The Odal rune can be seen at lower right.
In the 1940s a construction worker on a Nazi installation in Denmark unearthed a Viking brooch with runic inscriptions and a swastika. The brooch was kept secret at first but other things couldn't be; the Nazis pounced on relics and imagery they could use in propaganda and which they believed confirmed their version of history. Hitler successfully combined aspects of Viking culture with pseudoscience about racial differences. It was nonsense but it worked.
1940s Nazi propaganda poster conflating Nazis with Vikings.
ID photo of a member of the Croatian Einsatzstaffel, Prinz Eugen Division. The Odal rune is visible on the collar.
Among the bits of Viking culture appropriated by Hitler were portions of the runic alphabet. Runes used by the Nazis included Sig and double Sig (the lightning bolt SS insignia of the Schutzstaffel), Tyr, Toten, Leben, Wolfsangel, and Odal, which was used to represent the concept of blood and soil.
Modern silver ring incorporating Nazi imagery drawn from the Croatian Einsatzstaffel, Prinz Eugen Division.
Eighty-odd years later it remains popular with modern neo-Nazis.
Modern Odal flag sold online.
Odal banner at the Charlottesville Virginia Unite the Right rally in 2017.
Blood & Honour tattoo featuring the Odal instead of the usual triskele.
Snopes claimed to be unable to decisively state whether or not a Nazi symbol was literally onstage at CPAC 2021. The designers of the stage claimed to be unaware of any resemblance to Nazi imagery.
Triskele/Triskelion.
The triskele is another symbol of great antiquity. It consists of three arms connected at the center, turning in the same direction. It's a very popular symbol in Celtic Paganism, and is used and worn in other contexts, especially in Ireland and by people of Irish heritage.
Complex and simple Celtic triskele symbols.
It may be the oldest Irish symbol, and appears on megalithic sites in Ireland. This symbol is interpreted in numerous ways, including representing the triple goddess; land, sea, and sky; birth, life, and death; or the physical, spiritual, and celestial realms. I've met at least one Christian who wears it as a symbol of pride in her Irish ancestry and as representing the Christian holy trinity.
One of many triskele symbols to be seen at the Newgrange site in Boyne Valley, County Meath, Ireland. The Newgrange site dates to around 3200 BCE.
Copper symbolic triskele necklace sold on Etsy.
This curved interlocking spiral is the form seen in Ireland and used most often by Pagans. In Ireland it has been adopted by the Irish Hospice Foundation to represent end-of-life care.
An end-of-life keepsake pouch, into which a deceased person's jewelry and other small possessions are placed for return to a family member.
The words triskele and triskelion derive from a Greek word meaning "three legs", and another form of this symbol, the triskeles proper, looks like exactly that. The angular three-legged symbol appears on ancient Greek and Sicilian pottery and coins.
Reconstructed shards of a Sicilian ceramic bowl made during the period of Greek colonization between the 8th and 3rd centuries BCE.
Sicilian silver drachma coin minted during the reign of the Greek king of Sicily Agathocles (304-289 BCE).
It also appears on modern flags, including those of Sicily and the Isle of Man.
The flag of Sicily, sold on Etsy.
The flag of the Isle of Man.
Another angular version of the triskele is used by neo-Nazi hate groups. This one is composed of three shapes resembling the numeral 7, and deliberately evokes the Nazi version of the swastika.
The flag of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, or Afrikaner Resistance Movement of South Africa.
AWB tee shirt sold online.
Members of the AWB in Johannesburg South Africa, 2018.
Blood & Honour is based in the UK where it began as a racist offshoot of the punk rock scene in the 1980s, and re-established in North America in 2005 by the Volksfront group. Branches of this group exist throughout Europe, the US, and Canada.
Emblem of the neo-Nazi hate group Blood & Honour.
Blood & Honour tee shirt sold by the same company as the AWB shirt above.
According to the SPLC a group calling itself Blood & Honour Council USA operate a racist music label in Ohio and a racist video company in Texas. The British spelling "honour" is used in the US as well.
Blood & Honour tattoo with triskele and Nazi totenkopf.
•••
Of all the diaries I've ever written on Daily Kos, I think this one was the most challenging. It was truly difficult at times. I've done my best to be dispassionate and accurate. It took me weeks to accomplish this, mainly because I had to take breaks from it.
I'm thinking about doing a second diary going further into the use of Norse runes by 20th and 21st century Nazis. There is much more to say about that.
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Thank you for reading. This is an open thread, all topics are welcome.
