probably my favorite thing about witchcraft is how diy it is. like, I used to be catholic and it was like “this has power because it was anointed by a priest” and witchcraft is like “fuck that. anoint it yourself. you have all the power of the universe in your little hands” and I love it.
Cultural appropriation in magick has always been a sticky
issue. From Crowley incorporating yoga into his magick outside of the Hindu
belief structure, to the Romans stealing entire pantheons of gods, people seeking
spiritual experience have always seen the neighbor’s grass and felt envy. Most
of this comes from a genuine respect of those cultures, and a feeling that
their own culture doesn’t have what they need to express their own
spirituality. So they steal.
For the magus, the biggest danger here comes from taking
things out of context. No spiritual practice occurs in a vacuum. The people whose
traditions are being stolen have every right to say, “No. You’re doing it
wrong. That’s not how that works.” Because their practice only works in their
specific cultural milieu. In most instances, you will never get it right and
you will never understand because you were not raised in that culture.
Not to mention that this kind of stealing most often comes
in the context of colonialism. Greece was Rome’s colony when they decided to
make off with an entire pantheon of gods.
But this doesn’t mean you can’t learn from other cultures.
It doesn’t mean you can’t use their concepts as a part of your own practice. It
takes some work. But if you’re willing to do it right and put things in the
context of your own culture and your own locality, it’s going to work better
for you in the long run.
Here’s an example. In my attempt to rebuild by own paradigm
with a stronger foundation, I’m still doing a lot of ancestor work, but I am
thinking about the next step. In the working theory of Emergent Animism that
means contacting a wider range of spirits, which includes spirits of place or
spirits of the land. Recently, one of my followers (thank you again @aweandimagination)
reminded me about Shintoism’s strong animistic beliefs. So I did some poking
around, and one thing I noticed right away were the shrines, some huge and
elaborate structures, but others tiny roadside shrines dedicated to local Kami.
So I want to do something similar. I think building a shrine
to leave offerings and make a connection to land spirits would be extremely beneficial
in getting to know those spirits and honoring them. But I certainly don’t want
to build a “Thai Spirit House.” I’m not in Thailand. Why would the spirits near
me understand the symbolism and motifs of that culture? So I did some more
research.
Actually, I already knew that the Ancient Greeks created
thousands of tiny shrines to local ancestors and spirits. In fact, the general
populace in Greece were much more concerned with those spirits than they were
with the fuckery of Zeus, Apollo, and their buddies. Those are gods for the
nobles. They have rich people problems. The commoners were much more concerned
about how they can appease the spirit of that big ass rock so they don’t piss
it off when they go plowing all the land around it. What I didn’t know was that
the practice continues to this day. The names have changed, with the shrines
being dedicated to saints, but they sure look like a continuation of the
ancient traditions.
Chances are, if you see a magical practice in another
culture that appeals to you, dig just a bit, and you’ll find something similar
in your own culture. That practice will probably make more sense to you, and
even if it doesn’t, why not give it a try? You should also be tailoring it to
local traditions and listen to the spirits and ask them what they want.
So I’m not going to build a Shinto shrine or a Thai Spirit
House. It won’t have peaked and curved Asian architecture. I won’t leave
strings of tropical flowers as offerings. I won’t be including Eastern Orthodox
icons either. Incense, water, beads, these things are universal, and
appropriate. But I will be using local products and things that resonant in my
culture.
You should research other cultures and be inspired by their
magick. You should be awed by the great variety of spiritual practice in this
world. But you should also be amazed when you learn that the core concepts
themselves cut across cultures and across time. A true thief steals because they
are lazy and don’t want to do the work themselves. Do the work.
Once again, I ain’t saying tumblr is going down. But it doesn’t hurt to plan for the future and take precautions. So here is a quick and dirty WordPress import of my main tumblr blog. It was easier than I thought.
Being a potter in Ancient Greece was not a great job. It was
heavy, dirty, back-breaking work to keep the wheels spinning. The pots
themselves were used to store grain, olive oil, and other household goods. They
were the shopping bag of their time. A way to haul your purchases away and
store them, not a piece of art.
Yet the potters felt compelled to paint them. They created
their own style and their own art form. Probably just to sell more pots.
Now, those pots are seen as some of the greatest works of
art in the Western world. They sell for millions of dollars, and the creativity
and skill of their creators lauded by art lovers everywhere.
Think of this the next time you work on your art. Think of
this the next time you craft something by hand.
Am I the last asshole who actually enjoys tumblr and has made some good friends here?
I’ve got too much love and magick in this site for it to die. Everyone put your apocalyptic hard-ons away. Frater T gonna take care of this shit. I’m callin’ in the spirits. If I have to save tumblr single-handedly I’ll do it.
I think I may have magicked too well. Tumblr is still here and Facebook is down.
