Europe-Jeunesse is a French

neo-pagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Afric ...

scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

organization established in 1973 and influenced by

Nouvelle Droite The Nouvelle Droite (; en, "New Right"), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is at the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Vario ...

values.

History

After a meeting held in December 1972 between GRECE members

Jean Mabire Jean Mabire (8 February 1927—29 March 2006) was a French journalist and essayist. A neo-pagan and nordicist, Mabire is known for the regionalist and euronationalist ideas that he developed in both ''Europe-Action'' and GRECE, as well as his c ...

, Maurice Rollet and

Jean-Claude Valla Jean-Claude Valla (16 May 1944 – 25 February 2010) was a French journalist and a prominent figure of the Nouvelle Droite. Biography Early life Jean-Claude Valla was born on 16 May 1944 in Roanne, Loire. Between 1962 and 1965, he was the le ...

to discuss the creation of a pagan scouting organization, Europe-Jeunesse organized its first camp in

Bussy-en-Othe Bussy-en-Othe () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. See also *Communes of the Yonne department The following is a list of the 423 communes of the Yonne department of France. The commune ...

in July 1973, under the supervision of Raymond Ferrand, a former member of ''

Europe-Action ''Europe-Action'' was a far-right white nationalist and euro-nationalist magazine and movement, founded by Dominique Venner in 1963 and active until 1966. Distancing itself from pre-WWII fascist ideas such as anti-intellectualism, anti-parliame ...

''. Europe-Jeunesse is an attempt at a synthesis between the early French scouting movement of (1875–1914) and the pre-Nazi

German Youth Movement The German Youth Movement (german: Die deutsche Jugendbewegung) is a collective term for a cultural and educational movement that started in 1896. It consists of numerous associations of young people that focus on outdoor activities. The movement ...

. The group adopted the symbol of the defunct ''

'' and the

FEN A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires. T ...

'','' a

hoplite Hoplites ( ) ( grc, ὁπλίτης : hoplítēs) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Polis, city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with ...

helmet. Europe-Jeunesse is made up of ten ethno-cultural ''bans'': "Gallia Belgica" for

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

, "Liguerie" for the

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

region, "Blood and Gold" around

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

, "Armed-Lions" in the Périgord, "Alpine" around

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

and Grenoble, "An Avel Mor" in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

, "Comté Toulousain", "

Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product , blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st , bla ...

", "

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

" and " Normandie". Each group is led by around sixty people who are part in ''maîtrises'' (supervisory staffs). Activities follow natural pagan rhythms: the equinox, the

solstice A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many countr ...

, the gathering of

mistletoe Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemiparasitic plants in the order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they extract water and nutrients from the host plant. ...

, a camp for the Celtic Festival of Samhain, etc.

Members

Yvan Benedetti Yvan Benedetti (born 16 September 1965) is a French far-right activist. The former president of L'Œuvre Française (2012-13), he has been the spokesman of the French Nationalist Party since 2015. Biography Early life Yvan Benedetti was bo ...

was a member of Europe-Jeunesse in his youth, as were the children of

Jean-Yves Le Gallou Jean-Yves Le Gallou (born 4 October 1948) is a French politician. He served as a member of the European Parliament from 1994 until 1999, representing the National Front. Since 2022, he has been a member of Reconquête. Career Le Gallou began ...

References

Bibliography

* * * {{European New Right Scouting and Guiding in France Youth organizations established in 1973 Pan-European nationalism 1973 establishments in France Modern pagan organizations based in France New Right (Europe) Modern pagan organizations established in 1973