Current mood:	thoughtful
Entry tags:	cultural "borrowing"

On Cultural Appropriation...
I am probably insane to wade in here, but based upon the previous few threads, I think we need to recognize one thing about culture -- culture is NOT genetic.

Culture is defined as "the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group" (Merriam-Webster). These are all things which can be studied and LEARNED by people raised outside of a culture, albeit with the knowledge that it is only through an immersion into that culture can they come to have any degree of true understanding of it. Cultural appropriation happens when you adapt a cultural form without proper context, NOT when one has chosen (or felt chosen) to study a culture other than the one to which they are born. I believe that individual Gods manifest as culture-specific reflections of the Divine. As such, they are tied to specific human cultures, not particular human genomes.

This is an important distinction. As someone who has spent the better part of 20 years studying Celtic British archaeology, mythology, history, art, music, material culture and language --and who happens to be a first generation American of Italian descent -- I feel I have come to be more of a cultural Celt than someone whose distant ancestor hailed from "somewhere in Ireland" and thinks that fact alone makes them a Celt.

Ive built a relationship with the Deities I work with over the course of many years, and the deeper my understanding of Their cultural context, the more accessible Ive found Their energies to be. I believe this cultural context is a critical component in understanding, accessing, and HONORING any Deities with whom a modern Pagan chooses to work. There is also a sense of responsibility to honor and support those peoples who ARE a part of the specific living cultures from which we draw religious inspiration -- that includes Native and Indigenous peoples all over the world, including, in my case, the Cymry of the British Isles.

I would never conceive of calling upon a Deity with whom I have not built a relationship, or for whom I have not engaged in serious study beforehand to learn the most appropriate way to honor Them. While I believe intention is important, and that the ideal is not always attainable, I would never ask the Divine to conform to my needs and expectation -- I believe we need, at the very least, to make an effort and tailor our work to reflect Deity, not the other way around. This is why I shudder at the "Deity of The Month" club with their "Fill In the Blank" rituals. To me, THIS is cultural appropriation.