Cultural appropriation

so i've been hearing about cultural appropriation within witchcraft all over tumblr- for example smudging - and i was just wandering what you're ( the SoM members) view is.

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Well it's pretty bad forcing yourself into other practices if not initiated and it can destroy the practice, because I mean colonialism and imperialism has already destroyed a lot of things anyway as it is.

I'm pretty outspoken on tumblr on the subject.

I am very careful to avoid it, and rather meet in dialog with indigenous and closed cultures, as well as sticking to those that I can claim.

As a Scottish-Irish Romany Finn mix, I have a host of places to draw from, as a hedgewitch and animist.

I see too often, white people (they tend noble savage ideas of the natives, and lots of them wear dreads) predominantly, try to use the term Shaman for themselves, when they kind of blatantly rip of and bastardize indigenous practices, and won't choose the European shamanic practices because they are not "exotic" enough, for their tastes.

When presented, I ask this "So you serve your community as an intermediary between the people of your community and the unseen?"

Typically, they stutter.

As for smudging, I don't use sage, largely due to the problems in harvesting (sage is endangered), but also because smudging is a very specific number religious of practices in indigenous american cultures. We have our own equivalent, with our own mixes of herbs, the Recaning of Britain, or simple smoke cleansing as it should be called.

Yes i agree that we should not use terms that are culture specific. Thankyou it was interesting to see you're views on this topic :)

Fera,is right
A rare number of Folks actually avoid this title
By,growing up or living among the cultures most approate
You avoid this by getting permission from the elders
Or being initiated into a sect or system officially
Americans Number one Voodoo Queen is a Jewish woman
People love her because she devoted her life to it and lives in New Orleans and Haiti now.