Paganism and Its Discontents: Enduring Problems of Racialized Identity

Proponents of racist interpretations of pre-Christian Norse-Germanic spiritualities have claimed to be preserving “heritage,” while others belonging to the contemporary Heathen movements have moved to distance themselves from “volkish” thinking. Long-simmering just beneath the surface of American Paganism, racialized Heathenry was on full display in 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The contributions to this volume delineate between two communities that are using shared symbolism for widely different purposes. The book will serve to broaden understanding of the narratives in play here, resulting in mitigation of the rising tide of hate and racialized identity.

Holli S. Emore, MDiv, is Executive Director of Cherry Hill Seminary, USA and author of Constellated Ministry for the Pagan Spiritual Landscape (2021). Committed to building interfaith relationships, both locally and globally, she has served on the Board of Directors of Interfaith Partners of South Carolina since 2012 and as a regional resource for law enforcement, victim services and criminal justice classes since 2004. She is the founder and priestess of Temple Osireion, and served as the first South Carolina Regional Lead for Disaster Spiritual Care for the American Red Cross. Jonathan M. Leader, PhD, is the State of South Carolina Archaeologist and Chair of Archaeology at the University of South Carolina Institute of Anthropology and Archaeology. He has 40 years of archaeological and anthropological experience within diverse communities, providing training, research and consultations on four continents, the islands of Micronesia and the Caribbean. His publications include Catawba Indian Nation Boundary Cemetery Project and Archaeological Prospection: Near Surface Geophysics in Archaeology in South Carolina: Exploring the Hidden Heritage of the Palmetto State.