Folkish Heathen of the Far-Right

Edited by Aaron Michael Ullrey.

This Research Reflection by Helen Berger, Visiting Scholar, is part of an ongoing series spotlighting the academic study of religions.

Christian Nationalism is not the only religion influencing far-right political movements in the USA. Folkish Heathenry, a “white-only” minority religion, provides symbols, rhetoric, and rituals that shape far-right identity and political action. Their presence and influence, however, are obscured because they appear to be acting as individuals, not as part of a movement. Press and law enforcement often do not recognize their symbols and activities. Not taking this minority religion seriously conceals folkish Heathens’ influence. 

Heathenry, generally, is a form of contemporary Paganism, a loosely organized set of religions. Wicca and Witchcraft are the best-known Paganisms. Pagan religious paths bear common aspects such as drawing on ancient spiritual traditions, viewing the Earth as sacred, yearly cycles of rituals to celebrate seasons, the goddess(es) worshipped exclusively or in addition to god(s), and practicing magic. There are no central Pagan organizations, but umbrella organizations, such as EarthSpirit Community, offer retreats, public-facing rituals, and newsletters. Some groups, like Circle Sanctuary, own land used for ritual and community events and also provide burial sites for Pagans. These Pagan organizations are not Heathen, but they don’t restrict membership to any ethnicity or spiritual path. Heathens, as Pagans, can join and participate.

Heathenry is part of a growing strand of ethnic Paganisms that aim to re-create older religions derived from specific geographic regions like Northern Europe, Greece, or Egypt. They rely on archeology and mythology, as well as literature, movies, and other forms of Paganism, to create religions that are informed by older spiritual practices but consistent with contemporary values and sensibilities.

Heathens are polytheistic, worshipping the “Old Gods” of Northern Europe. They draw from many sources. Medieval Icelandic literary works about gods and heroes, including the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, set out an ethical distinction for interacting with group members and outsiders. Folkish Heathens apply this distinction to ethnic groups they consider members and those they do not. White Northern Europeans are members, and all other groups are not. Only those they consider ethnically “pure” can become part of the folk, those who belong. 

Folkish Heathens are exclusive, rejecting those who are not of white, Northern European descent. Inclusive Heathens believe their religion is open to all who hear the call of the Northern Gods, regardless of their ethnicity by birth. Inclusive Heathens are the strongest opponents to folkish Heathenry, speaking out against them in the press, organizing petitions among Pagans standing against white-only policies, and protesting in towns where folkish Heathens have open white-only churches.  

Folkish Heathens have made the news. Protesters displayed folkish symbols on flags and shields at the Unite the Right march in Charlottesville in 2017. Folkish Heathen symbols have been found inscribed on guns used in, and manifestos left after, racially-motivated mass killings, including at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018 and the Tops grocery store in Buffalo in 2022. Their symbols were observed on the tattooed body of the so-called Q-anon Shaman in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capital. 

Folkish Heathens’ presence at the Unite the Right march was noticed at the time, but their participation has been mostly hidden since then. In her September 13, 2024, newsletter, historian Heather Cox Richardson discussed the part played by the group Blood Tribe in the prelude to Haitian immigrants in Ohio being falsely accused of eating their neighbors’ pets. Blood Tribe is a neo-Nazi group, she noted. She did not explain, and she might not know, that Blood Tribe is also a folkish Heathen group, and their religion influences their rhetoric. 

From California to Minnesota to North Carolina, abandoned rural churches and derelict granges have been purchased by folkish Heathens; there, they create hofs, considered churches.  Martin Luther King Jr. observed in 1963 that churches, generally, are the most segregated places in America, but folkish hofs are explicitly segregated, plainly declaring the exclusion of all but whites. 

Folkish hofs have been controversial, but none have been legally challenged. Lawyers warn that attempts to refuse a permit for these hofs would not hold up in court, because churches are private property. Once established in towns, folkish Heathens integrate themselves into communities, including opening food pantries. They also participate as religious leaders in prison outreach, providing incarcerated white prisoners a white-only religion in racially volatile prisons.

Consequentially, even those who are not Heathen on the US far right continue to adopt folkish Heathen imagery and rituals. For example, the Q-anon Shaman, whose spirituality is best described as "New Age" is covered with their symbols, even though he does not practice their religion. Clifford Geertz profoundly explains that symbols powerfully affect our moods and motivations. Not all far-right symbols are Heathen, but many are. They carry the spiritual weight of the folkish Heathen religion and its commitment to a “pure” white race. 

Jacob Chansley, AKA “Q-Anon Shaman.” Tattooed on his chest are several symbols associated with folkish Heathens, including the Mjölnir (Thor’s Hammer), the Yggrasil (Norse world tree), the interlocking triangle symbol called Valknut, and the Sonnenrad (the Black Sun).