Ryan Smith

I saw this set of posters at the San Francisco #TeslaTakedown this past Saturday. It was quite a potent example of utilizing popular myth to challenge fascism. Anything we can do to harness positive, empowering myths will help undo the lies spun by fascist forces.

Cinephilia & Beyond @cinephiliabeyond.org

“Put the glasses on! Put 'em on!” cinephiliabeyond.org/live-john-ca...

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I grew up in North County San Diego, a solidly Republican chunk of California. We had three different churches across the street from my high school and a vocally anti-gay AP US Gov & Econ teacher.

Leftists are quite familiar with conservatism. It's part of why lefties like me reject it.

From the Tesla Takedown today. There were substantially more people there this week than last, pedestrians & ppl in cars were supportive, & the signs are getting a bit spicier! If the goal of calling this domestic terrorism was deterrence then that's failed.
#TeslaTakedown #Resist

As a diehard Pagan leftist, I will die on the hill of the Union was unambiguously on the right side of history, the war to destroy slavery was one of America's finest moments, & the greatest failure of that period was how badly the Union fumbled Reconstruction.

May the fires we light this winter sustain us through the return of warmth and light.

#PaganSky
#HeathenSky
#WitchSky

Heathens should talk more about on how hospitality, as presented in the lore, is a form of mutual aid and why we, as a movement, should embrace mutual aid as an extension of hospitality practice.
#HeathenSky
#PaganSky
#WitchSky

Fun fact:

The heroes of Heathen myth do *not* fight fair and neither did the Vikings. They did what worked and employed the tactics of raiders & pirates without shame.

Modern Heathens, Pagans, and Witches struggling for survival or justice could learn from that.
#HeathenSky #PaganSky #WitchSky

Hi everybody!

I'm an antifascist, inclusive Norse Pagan (or Heathen) author and podcaster. My books are "The Way of Fire & Ice" and "Spinning Wyrd". My podcast is "The Wayward Wanderer," which is at wherever you get your podcasts! I also do divination.
#PaganSky
#HeathenSky
#WitchSky
#Spirituality

People really need to appreciate how fundamentally anti-rational fascism is. Fascists embrace action over thought, aesthetics over content, & violence as the best tool for achieving their goals. Smashing scientific institutions fits perfectly in that ideological frame.

Talia "ATTACK DOGS is out now!" Bhatt ⚢ @taliabhatt.itch.io

do you think fascism is underpinned by a great scientific rationality or something

The best part about the Norse myth of the first humans is how it takes bodily autonomy and free will as unspoken assumptions.

There's something beautiful about a belief system which takes as writ that such personal freedom is inherent to all life, full stop.
#PaganSky
#HeathenSky
#Myth
#Pagan

One fun thing about shape-changing in myth is it implies that personal autonomy is so absolute that anyone, with the right skills and tools, can alter their form without needing permission from anyone or anything else.

#HeathenSky
#PaganSky
#WitchSky

I'm not spilling any tears over a health insurance CEO facing terminal consequences.

Reply to @iwriteok.bsky.social

I'm sure that trying to or succeeding in killing 2025's Robin Hood will have no negative consequences for the chainsaw ketamine man presidency.

Today is Trans Day of Remembrance

Rest in Power. Mourn for the dead but fight like hell for the living.

Those who are remembered live.

#PaganSky
#HeathenSky

Reply to @faineg.bsky.social

Gen. Sherman pegged it in 1860:

"You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical, and determined people on Earth — right at your doors. You are bound to fail. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war."

Reply

Newsom, specifically, has also been quite happy to appease the new regime ever since he had Charlie Kirk on his podcast to bash trans people in sports. He's become a stark example of how ambitious, unprincipled people are very quick to go fascist.

Magic, in Pagan, Heathen, and Witch practice, makes a lot more sense when viewed as an empowering way of understanding the world from a place of relationship and connection. It is not, and should never be seen as, a source of impossible solutions.

#HeathenSky
#PaganSky
#WitchSky
#Religion

What is essential in the comings days is to emphasize that any state which is willing to consign so many innocents to death based on non-citizenship is one that will not hesitate to expand that definition to cover new categories of undesirable & keep extending it as the crisis deepens.

I love how incredibly Heathen this sentiment is. Great odds and obstacles are meant to be overcome, defied, and challenged however and in whatever way you can. Even certain defeat calls for resistance, not submission.

In closing, be like Tank Girl.
#HeathenSky #PaganSky

Protip from a community that, until recently, was dominated by white nationalists:

You don't beat fascists by negotiating with them or extending good faith to fascist actors. They will ALWAYS treat such acts as exploitable weaknesses.

#Fascism
#ChristianNationalism
#PaganSky
#HeathenSky
#WitchSky

That is really rich coming from a guy who has described empathy as a weakness. He can reap what he's sown.

Breathe.

Seek ways to exercise agency.

Withhold consent from all tyrants, great & small.

Those seeking a better world do best when we play our game better than the fascists play theirs and offering clear visions of alternatives.
#PaganSky
#WitchSky
#HeathenSky

In Heathenry, how we treat the stranger, the foreigner, and the guest is one of the truest measures of a person.

See the Havamal and the Grimnismal for details.
#HeathenSky
#PaganSky
#Religion
#Spirituality

There's someone who didn't read the room.

GOP Rep. Eyes Medicare, Social Security For DOGE Cuts: ‘We Can Move The Retirement Age Back’

Mark Alford suggested that Medicare and Social Security are on the table to help accomplish the DOGE pledge to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget.