Public Health Policy Reviews 45:
Vinyasa Bliss #5 - Sacred Sunday - Featuring I Riden Så by Gjallarhorn (1997 -covered by Myrkur in 2017).
Kate, a Belarusian foreign language academic, explained the Swedish folk origins of I Riden Så by Gjallarhorn (1997 -covered by Myrkur in 2017).
The fifth installment of Vinyasa Bliss, Sacred Sunday features an old Swedish folk song titled “I Riden Så.”
As Kate explains in the video above, this version of the song is by a band from Finland named Gjallarhorn. We regret that we could not find a downloadable version of the Gjallarhorn song.
The video stitch at the end of Kate’s explanation is a cover of the Gjallarhorn version, performed by a Danish singer named Amalie Bruun. Ms. Bruun also curates a solo “black metal” project titled “Myrkur.”
Amalie Bruun performing as Myrkur at St John’s Church in Bethnal Green, London, in 2018. Photo image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.
Myrkur skips the last three stanzas of I Riden Så. Those who want to hear the full version of I Riden Så can visit Gjallarhorn’s rendition in the YouTube video at this link.
We are currently working on a two-week blog series titled VALKYRIES. We did not plan to be in the midst of writing an extended project series with Nordic themes while simultaneously presenting I Riden Så to our readers this Sunday morning.
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Walkyrien (c. 1905) by German illustrator and graphic artist Emil Doepler (1855–1922). Photo image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.
However, we cannot ignore the unexpected connection that has emerged as we work on our public health policy project.
At a basic, logical level – most people fail to comprehend how White women can freely abdicate the personal freedoms, reproductive autonomy, and civil liberties that they surely must know they will lose by placing Donald Trump back in the US White House. VALKYRIES helps readers understand why so many White women are forging a political alliance with the “MAGA” movement as the 2024 US presidential election inches closer in November.
Still, as we contemplate what those supporting Mr. Trump will get by returning him to power, we realize that the attitudes that “MAGA” evokes are not based on logic. The people advocating for “Trumpism” and MAGA are making emotional appeals based on anger, fear, and romantic notions of returning to a mythical time when “things were better” in America—under repressive socio-economic circumstances, the cultural rules of White supremacy, and racial segregation.
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Photo by Ben White on Unsplash.
White evangelical Christian families are concerned about the lack of reverence for their memories of a glorious country and fear losing the future of the United States to an arcane, multicultural vision from a Democratic Party they find morally deficient.
In yoga, the term “Yama” stresses the importance of ethical standards and a strong sense of integrity. Donald Trump’s supporters cannot argue that the former president embodies “Yama.”
Yet, consider the nationwide gaslighting media project First Lady Jill Biden has been imposing on the country since Mr. Biden’s disastrous debate performance on June 27th. The First Lady, her cohorts in the US Congress, and their allies on MSNBC are telling us that we DID NOT see what our eyes revealed to all Americans about President Joe Biden’s physical and mental deterioration.
Dr. Jill Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also clearly lack ethical standards and integrity.
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Photo by Andre Sebastian on Unsplash.
American culture prioritizes the pursuit of wealth, materialism, and social achievement.
Family heritage often determines individual self-worth, as do social connections and the ability to earn money in the free market economy. Why wouldn’t whole communities retreat to what might seem safer and more familiar with Donald Trump and his “MAGA” movement if the Bidens and the Democratic Party are going to operate from a similar ethical rubric?