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Varg Vikernes is not new to researchers of fascism. In the 1990s, he was a leader in the Nazi Black Metal movement (NSBM) in his home country of Norway. During that time, he burned down historic churches, murdered one of his bandmates, and went to prison for that murder. After prison, he moved to France and quickly married his current wife, an autistic woman named Marie Cachet. Since marrying Cachet, Vikernes has renounced NSBM–although he still defends his murder of a bandmate and he is still a Nazi.
Cachet and Vikernes have several children who they are raising to be Nazis. While living in a small cottage in the mountains of France, Vikernes and Cachet have been the subject of investigations by French authorities for possession of illegal weapons.
Vikernes and Cachet are both leaders of a neo-pagan cult revolving around a supposed ancient bear cult that Cachet is the self-appointed expert of. In 2013, Cachet and Vikernes released an experimental film called “ForeBears” exploring their religion, autism, and what it means to be a boy/man. The film invokes the common fascist call to “reject modernity and embrace tradition” and features original music from Vikernes’ band called Burzum.
Vikernes’ ideology revolves around the concept of being a “Native European” and returning to racial purity. Vikernes believes Judaism (through Christianity and Islam) have ruined “Native Europeans” and their “ForeBears.” He believes that southern Europeans are racially impure, including most people in France. Vikernes advocates for “leaderless resistance” against the “modern world” and a return to “primitive” ways of being.
Vikernes views on autism resemble Aspie Supremacy. It is unclear whether he came up with it independently or whether his wife, who is somewhat involved in neurodiversity spaces, is the reason he has those beliefs. On February 27th, 2020, Vikernes wrote
Autism is a diagnosis… But what if NOT having autism is the actual diagnosis? Being autistic means that you are untamed, wild & [free]. Being a ‘normie’ means that you are tamed, enslaved & subdued. I think the unbroken Native European (Nordic) man is by default ‘autistic’.
twitter.com/GandalftheWhi19/status/1233132964596342785
Later that day, he said that autism only exists in people with “Neanderthal DNA.” Like many aspie supremacists, Vikernes tries to retroactively diagnose historical figures with autism. In reply to a comment on his since-suspended YouTube channel, Vikernes wrote that Hitler and “all great men” likely had autism.
The idea that autism is caused by “Neanderthal DNA” is currently being popularized on TikTok and Twitter by some autistic autism influencers. These influencers do not appear to be followers of Vikernes. However, this popularization of “Neanderthal DNA” theory could help Vikernes recruit white autistic people into his neo-Nazi bear cult.
In 2021, Vikernes started openly identifying as autistic on his Twitter account. Vikernes, like many aspie supremacists, believe “high functioning autism” is not a disability. These and other statements are why Autism Against Fascism characterizes Vikernes as an Aspie Supremacist.
Vikernes’ statements on autism are in contrast to more common views of autism on the far-right. Because of that, his comments has earned him many autistic followers who also believe his far-right, neo-pagan ideology. Autistic supporters of Vikernes’ ideologies readily identify themselves in his tweets about autism. Since most of the far-right is hostile to autistic people, autistic followers are drawn to Varg and Marie’s twitter pages, viewing them as safe spaces to disclose autistic identity.
This trend is consistent with other trends Autism Against Fascism has noticed in autistic subcultures of white nationalist movements. Due to his Aspie Supremacist views, Vikernes also receives ridicule from anti-autistic parts of the far-right. Additionally, far-right Christians use anti-autistic messaging when mocking Vikernes’ views on race, religion, and autism.
It is too early to tell what impact, if any, Vikernes’ expression of Aspie Supremacist views will have on far-right ideas about autism or autistic involvement in the far-right. Within his and his wife’s social circle, Aspie Supremacist ideas are somewhat more common and these views are being integrated into the belief system of individual neo-Nazis.
However, Vikernes and Cachet have relatively few followers compared to other far-right leaders. Because of this, their reach may be limited to their specific neo-Nazi subculture. This dynamic may also have the impact of the far-right associating Aspie Supremacy with Vikernes and his brand of neo-Nazi paganism, thereby marginalizing it to most members of the far-right. Autism Against Fascism will continue monitoring these developments.
Autism Against Fascism 