Gender and Sexuality

Together with deep ecology and bio-regionalism, eco-feminism is considered one of the strands of the ecology movement with the most prominent spiritual elements. Closely connected with feminist or women-centered varieties of Neopaganism, eco-feminism takes women’s alleged proximity to nature and its cycles as its logical basis. The hope is that a spiritual approach of cooperation between (wo)man and nature will replace dominance and exploitation. Traditionally, alternative religions and spiritual movements, especially theosophy (which inspired many strands of Neopaganism), have provided opportunities for women to rise into influential positions. The opposite is the case for Germanic Faith in the early 20th century, as well as for contemporary Asatru. Whereas the former shared the outspoken masculinism of the völkisch movement and centered on warrior heroism, the latter, especially the North American Asatru revival in the 1970s, was initially borne out of an enthusiasm for the figure of the Viking, the male warrior, adventurer, and conqueror, and his war-gods Thor, Odin, and Tyr. Imagery of male physical power and violence still forms the external perception of Asatru and is reflected in the gender ratio of most groups, most commonly 60–70% men.1 Nevertheless, women have been active in Germanic Neopaganism all along. By forging links to other, more women-centered varieties of earth and goddess spirituality and Neopaganism, such as Wicca, which puts an emphasis on female deities and priestesses, they have contributed to popular images of Asatru and its gods and goddesses. As we have seen in the previous chapter, disillusionment with a destructive attitude toward the natural environment and human nature alike is a strong motivation to turn away from mainstream Christianity and search for alternative religious models. Women, femininity, corporeality, and sexuality have traditionally been equated with nature. Thus, another strong motive for the alienation from established religion is the desire to revalue these factors and search for arenas of equality, permission, and experimentation with regard to gender and sexuality in alternative spiritual movements. This search has been one of the driving forces in modern Western occultism and Neopaganism. Like ecologism, the related movements – feminism, libertarianism, and the queer movement – have a reputation for belonging to the political left. And just