The Long Journey. Fleeing the Cross and the Pentacle: Resistance and Opposition in the Maintenance of Collective Identity -- Neo-Heathens and Reconstructionists: The Project and Problems of Constructing a Heathen Nomos -- Cyber Hofs and Armchair Vikings: Building Community through Social Networks (but Not without Problems) -- Valkyries and Frithweavers: Women's Shifting Roles--from Warriors to Domestic Caretakers -- Honoring the Ancestors: Dealing with Issues of Race, Ethnicity, and Whiteness in Constructing an Ethnic Folkway -- The Long Journey.
Summary:
American Heathens is the first in-depth ethnographic study about the largely misunderstood practice of American Heathenry (Germanic Paganism). Jennifer Snook - who has been Pagan since her early teens and a Heathen since eighteen - traces the development and trajectory of Heathenry as a new religious movement in America, one in which all identities are political and all politics matter. Snook explores the complexities of pagan reconstruction in today's divisive political climate. She considers the impact of social media on Heathen collectivities, and offers a glimpse of the world in Heathen meanings, rituals, and philosophy. In American Heathens, Snook presents the stories and perspectives of modern practitioners in engaging detail. She treats Heathens as members of a religious movement, rather than simply a subculture reenacting myths and stories of enchantment. Her book shrewdly addresses how people construct ethnicity in a reconstructionist (historically-minded) faith system with no central authority. -- from back cover.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.