Cultural appropriation

Lol. Thats a funny take on it... And thats how i felt when it was happening to me. Seriously. And your right. If i had a piece of paper that was recognized by all initiates in the tradition i chose then i could always hope to be taken seriously by just those people. And i am no exception. I follow elders direction simply because i respect them, as long as it doesnt cross any personal moral bounds that every human has a right to. And its not the same as going into someones house and doing those things, to me. They have been done to me. And on numerous occasions. By other practitioners. To an extent you would think too personal to post here. Im not speaking of voudoo, as the original post first mentioned ecclectic. Nobody, and i mean nobody owns knowledge that can be tapped into by anyone with a shred of psychic ability or internet access. Nobody has a right to tell someone they are not allowed to talk about what they practice unless it is breaking secrecy in some way. Gently urging is cool if you care.

I just see myself being so results oriented that I get past myself and don't think of what im doing.

That's why I get concerned because im not into being unbelievably insensitive, more than any typical guy, I guess. but I get super a type with results.

Whereas, really practicing a religion or spells from a religion has a context to it. it is not just follow this formula and get this result...theres more to it...

~Thor

Well, keep in mind thor, what you do in the privacy of your own home is your business.

If someone is sitting at home putting Isis oil in their hot foot or..putting Ra next to Legba, that's on them.

It's that moment when it stops being personal practice and starts to be announced everywhere else. Which is what we see a lot of online. UPG is great. We all have it. But that's what the P is for - personal. So long as it remains personal, it's between that person and the spirits of the tradition they are borrowing from.

Once it's present to others in a factual manner..that's when we cross lines.

That's an important distinction Con!

Agreed. That is why when i am doing spellwork, which isnt always. Like right now. I just finished my alter yesterday and today i am trying to catch up on my book of shadows. But when i do, i dont like to try to do something that would label me another path as i have chosen mine and i understand what it means. I would just like to point out that all religions borrow from each other in private and in public. Some are pretty obvious without having to do much research.

Just to stir the pot with the gumbo ,I am going to throw in the idea of so called plural psyche or collective unconscious.
I do not know how other eclectic practitioners choose the elements of different traditions they add to theirs,but I rather let elements to find their way in mine.Most people judging eclectic practitioners (in general not in this post) assume often not so correctly that the practitioner picked and chose whatever they pleased consciously ,just because they had to add new things to make their path more colorful and just because they felt like insulting the tradition of someone else.Yes,there are people who do that and do not back up ,when someone tells them that is not the way to go about things,but sometimes Entity,Deity or other type of spiritual being from certain path chose to work with you instead and let say they gave you different instructions to follow when worshiping them or working with them.What way will be more valid then the one that you have been given to practice or is it the way of those that worked for many years with the entity in question ?This is more related to the personal relation between the practitioner and the forces he or she work with ,but there is also the notion that on certain level we are all connected and that most paths/religions streamed from the same source ,but since humans are incarnated spirits their cultural background and their connection to their body demanded for certain taboos.
Many taboos stem from the physical and cultural element in us,not from the soul.So while the plural psyche unites us culture and taboos divide us.Culture is important ,because that is where our roots developed ,but we should not forget also that the scope of the mystic is to ascend beyond physical or cultural things eventually.It is questionable that one can achieve such transformation ,while holding on too tightly to" terms and condition", as I call them.I do not believe that arguing with others all day along for their wrong ways really does any good to you and the other person.When told off people tend to persist that their way is the best way for them ,and some traditionalist simply get way too obsessed with the idea of others insulting their tradition or practice,so both sides resist to see other side views and a lot of tension is created.I will rather hold on for the bliss and peace in my soul.

I see nothing wrong with being eclectic. Tons of people are vodouisants and practice hoodoo, but they do not mix the two. So, like wise, when working with two sets of spirits, I would not dare mix them. I also feel that different spirits are more lenient than others with traditions, but this is if the SPIRIT wants it, not if you want to change it.

The big cause of cultural appropriation is:

1. The internet's vast array of knowledge and accessibility.
2. People having a "do it yourself" mentality.

People are not accepting of anything being closed off or a practice where one is called. Being told "no" makes them just want to take what they can get, fill in some blanks wrongly, and pass themselves off as practicing that tradition.

Vodou, hoodoo, granny magic, and witchcraft all have rootwork in them, but they're all distinct practices. Hoodoo and conjure are Christian influenced practices. Take that influence out, you have rootwork. not hoodoo or conjure. Vodou is specific to the Haitian region, so a bath is not going to be the same as the African-American practice hoodoo. They both have the same basis of rootwork, but are independent and should not be mixed or considered the same.

This is not to say a person can not practice witchcraft, hoodoo, and granny magic at the same time, it saying mixing them all together and considering it the same is wrong.

I know that within First Nations peoples there is a great deal of resentment towards those who are not First Nations who "borrow" or think they borrow rituals and practices from those cultures. For instance, things like sweat lodges that are used without the slightest understanding or how that particular ritual was used within First Nations culture. People who claim to follow the "Good Red Road" are particularly annoying when they are not from one of the indigenous tribes. And they have good reason to be annoyed.

When the Europeans came to the Americas they stole everything they could from the indigenous peoples here, their land, their culture, even their children were sent off to "white-man's schools." They were forbidden to speak their own languages and to follow their own religions. Only recently have they begun to reclaim their cultural practices including their religion. And what happens? Along come the non-Native folks again and steal bits and pieces of the recovering religion just because they can make money from it. Can you truly blame the First Nations peoples from being angry at this latest violation of their precious cultural practices? And believe me, they really don't like either the New Age nor the Neo-Pagans who do this. Go on a First Nations message board and you'll get an earful about how wrong cultural appropriation is.

Amen to that, Lark.

I think one would be hard pressed to find true practitioners of any art who would not find something positive in someone who is genuinely curious and respectful of their beliefs. Even to go so far as incorporate that spiritual knowledge into their personal beliefs.

Like I said, I love results and have curiosity.

Where it really starts to go wrong is when it becomes commercialized and incorporated into the cult of capitalism. Buying kachina dolls made in Chinese sweat shops the bizarre mix of cultural twisting garbage when someone "sells" spellwork that just doesn't make sense from a spiritual standpoint, but does from a marketing standpoint...

it cheapens the whole experience of appreciating an eclectic approach to practicing "craft."