Today, as I watched clips from the alt-right CPAC Trumper conference there was something about the image I was looking at that evoked an old memory. Something blatantly evil. I couldn’t identify it, but the more I watched the stronger the feeling became. I went looking for it and synchronistically within three searches I found it. As I looked at the image I had found I realized that CPAC had done this deliberately. It was a kind of hidden message, a visual dog whistle that would mean something only to people already a part of the CPAC world, and maybe a few people steeped in history. The Republican Party is now, openly for those who know, explicitly fascist, White Supremacist, and neo-Nazi.
[There is no link through]
I wish they hadn’t politicized this it is an OTHALA RUNE and it is part of the Norse alphabet and it means HOMELAND. I am a non-racist, I am an all-inclusive Norse Heathen and the runes are part of my religion. Yes, one branch of the SS used this letter as a signifier in one place – it is NOT however a NAZI symbol in general, you might as well ban the letter “N” for NAZI if you are going to start trying to ban the use of the Norse alphabet. My husband has a Ph.D. in Old Norse studies by the way from Cambridge in the UK. Again, I wish they had not used this design in a political context, however, we can’t ban everything just because someone in WWII thought it was a cool thing to co-opt. or do we ban runestones found all over Scandinavia next? Because I can assure you this rune is on them, so is Tiwaz (looks like a spear) the other letter of the alphabet some people are trying to claim are political statements – it means JUSTICE.
The rune is not the original Norse version, but the Nazi version. The form of the rune that CPAC and Neo-Nazis use—and was used by the Nazi SS—is odal, and has little “feet” at the bottom, not seen in othala of the original Norse, or “elder” futhark alphabet.
And context is everything. There was a time when the swastika was regarded as a positive symbol and included on post cards made and sent in the U.S. There was even a town called swastika, Ontario. It remains a positive symbol in many cultures from Native American peoples to Hindu and Buddhist art.
But not here.
When the organization using the nazi version has many Nazi supporters, and creates a stage based on i, there can be little confusion as to why.
The version of the odal rune (with the serifs) shown on the CPAC stage is the Nazi version of the ancient symbol. Its use is banned in Germany today for that reason. It is a well-known symbol of the German Nazi party (one of the many they used) and it has been appropriated for use by current-day neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups. The National Socialist Movement has used it as their official logo since 2016.
So regardless of its ancient origins and original meaning, today the odal rune is a well-known instantly recognizable symbol of contemporary neo-Nazism and white supremacy and as such it’s use at the CPAC conference cannot be viewed as anything but intentional. It would be like saying “ooops, we accidentally built our stage in the shape of a swastika”.
The swastika is also an ancient symbol. In Sanskrit it means “well-being” and yes “isn’t it a shame” it was also politicized, but today it has only one meaning. Whatever it was once, it is no longer and the same must be said of the odal rune.
Blame the Nazis.
What happened to our country. From it’s beginning it was a progressive country; what could be more progressive than breaking away from British taxes and becoming our own nation? Now the Republicans are becoming more like fascist neo-Nazis! That is not the progressive nation I have pledged to defend when I entered the Vietnam era within the US Army, and lost a lot of good friends who also did it. They thought they were fighting, and dying for a progressive nation. Now we have the other direction being taken by the Republicans. Trump was the worst President in the history of our Progressive country.
Also a proud Army Vietnam vet who took an oath to serve and protect, I agree with Rev. Dean. We are losing our constitutional ideologies that our country was built on. Some are taking many in the wrong direction that will serve no good but to encourage continued lies, divisiveness, chaos and division. Our country is better than that. Many, indeed, sacrificed with their lives to ensure we remained a strong and proud nation.
now used as a neo-nazi tattoo. Odal rune meaning explored: Symbol’s origins and usage in history (thefocus.news)