{"id":10687,"date":"2019-07-05T14:41:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-05T20:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=10687"},"modified":"2019-07-05T14:47:54","modified_gmt":"2019-07-05T20:47:54","slug":"scottish-academic-runes-are-hate-symbols-also-anti-celtic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=10687","title":{"rendered":"Scottish Academic: Runes are Hate Symbols, also Anti-Celtic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A free download from the journal Temenos<\/em>: “Pagans, Nazis, Gaels, and the Algiz Rune: Addressing Questions of Historical Inaccuracy, Cultural Appropriation, and the Arguable Use of Hate Symbols at the Festivals of Edinburgh\u2019s Beltane Fire Society”<\/a><\/p>\n

The abstract:<\/p>\n

Although Beltaners \u2013 members of Edinburgh\u2019s Beltane Fire Society (BFS) \u2013 can trace the immediate origins of their society\u2019s festivals to the collaborative efforts of anarchist performance artists and folklorists reacting against the Thatcherite government policies of the late 1980s, the ritual celebrations they routinely re-enact in the present ultimately derive from much older traditions associated with Scotland\u2019s highly minoritised Gaelic-speaking population, a cohort to which few modern Beltaners belong. Performers at today\u2019s festivals often incorporate runes into their regalia \u2013 a practice which does not reflect Gaelic tradition, but which is not unknown among ideologues of the far right. This paper interrogates rune use at BFS festivals, asking whether the employment of Germanic cultural elements in Celtic festivals by non-Celtic-speakers represents a distortion of history and debasement of an embattled ethnic minority, and whether it is ethically acceptable for an explicitly anti-racist organisation to share a symbolic repertoire with representatives of known hate groups.<\/p>\n

Based on data derived from fieldwork consisting chiefly of participant observation and on the consultation of relevant academic literature, this paper evaluates the potentially problematic nature of BFS ritual performers\u2019 rune use and related behaviours by analysing the intentions that underlie their actions, the consequences that have resulted from them, and the historical interaction of runes, ethnonationalism, and the occult that has shaped perceptions of runic meaning among those who use runes in modern times.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The runes may be part of your spiritual practice, or maybe you enjoy their literary history, but watch out: Adam Dahmer thinks that they are “problematic.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A free download from the journal Temenos: “Pagans, Nazis, Gaels, and the Algiz Rune: Addressing Questions of Historical Inaccuracy, Cultural Appropriation, and the Arguable Use of Hate Symbols at the Festivals of Edinburgh\u2019s Beltane Fire Society” The abstract: Although Beltaners \u2013 members of Edinburgh\u2019s Beltane Fire Society (BFS) \u2013 can trace the immediate origins of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[61,38,367,130,134,249,4,17],"class_list":["post-10687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-beltane","tag-celts","tag-gaelic-language","tag-heathenry","tag-norse","tag-runes","tag-scholarship","tag-scotland"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-2Mn","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2634,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=2634","url_meta":{"origin":10687,"position":0},"title":"After the Beltane Festival","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"May 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Kinesthetic religion: my left arm was a little sore on Sunday from helping to carry the Maypole in procession\u2014a pine trunk the size of a smallish telephone pole, ridden by a zaftig May Queen. And yes, we heard every ribald variation on \"riding the pole\" shouted from the onlookers. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Beltane\"","block_context":{"text":"Beltane","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=beltane"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13997,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=13997","url_meta":{"origin":10687,"position":1},"title":"Have a Happy All-These-Things Festival Weekend!","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"May 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"(image by Grok 3, which was having trouble with \"Feliz\" and \"Cinco\")","rel":"","context":"In \"Beltane\"","block_context":{"text":"Beltane","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=beltane"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/feliz-6.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/feliz-6.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/feliz-6.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/feliz-6.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":871,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=871","url_meta":{"origin":10687,"position":2},"title":"This is not my Beltane post","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"May 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"But the Beltane post is coming. Maybe tomorrow. It was interesting--meaningful in a kind of low-key way.And should I mention that it is snowing? Just another springtime in the southern Colorado foothills.","rel":"","context":"In \"Colorado\"","block_context":{"text":"Colorado","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=colorado"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1582,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1582","url_meta":{"origin":10687,"position":3},"title":"Gallimaufry with Grosbeaks","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"May 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"If it's Beltane, why I am still splitting firewood? Usually I observe the rhythms of the \"Celtic\" year by turning off the furnace at Beltane and relighting it at Samhain, using just supplemental wood heat otherwise. Not this year. But during a brief sunny interval yesterday morning, the first black-headed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Beltane\"","block_context":{"text":"Beltane","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=beltane"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black-headed grosbeak, evening grosbeak, downy woodpecker. Photo by Chas S. Clifton","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/BeltaneFeeder.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":869,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=869","url_meta":{"origin":10687,"position":4},"title":"What I Will Be Doing for Beltane","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"April 30, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, \"will be doing.\" Some people look at the calendar and say that Beltane is this evening and tomorrow. Others celebrated last weekend, according to the \"weekend nearest the cross-quarter day\" rule. Only by that rule, it comes next weekend.By the Sun, it falls on Saturday the 5th, as this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"archaeology\"","block_context":{"text":"archaeology","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=archaeology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13347,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=13347","url_meta":{"origin":10687,"position":5},"title":"Beltane and the Birds","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"May 1, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Beltane snuck((OK, \"sneaked,\" if you don't like vernacular irregular conjugations.)) up on me this year. While much of Colorado had more snow than usual, here on the creek we did not. It was cold, dry, and windy week after week. Finally, a combination of rain and wet snow brought two\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Beltane\"","block_context":{"text":"Beltane","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=beltane"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/bird-migration-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/bird-migration-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/bird-migration-1024x576.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10687"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10701,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10687\/revisions\/10701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}