ā¦I didnāt want to be the one to start this because, as a white person, Iām not qualified to speak on this topic. But Iāve yet to see any serious, ongoing discussions about racism in pagan and witch communities. That canāt slide.
Pagans and witches are not exempt from returning sovereignty to Black, Indigenous, and Witches/Pagans of Color in our communities. Itās time to act and make these changes in our spaces.
Allyship is an ongoing practice that doesnāt end, and this list ofĀ ādoāsā andĀ ādonātāsā is only meant to get you started. Iām sure this list is far from complete, so if youāre BIPOC and want me to add anything, Iāll gladly do so. Readers, please check back on the OP periodically for these contributions.
Please read all the way through before reblogging.
Afford BIPOC communal and cultural influence in ALL pagan/witchy spaces, be they Wiccan, Heathen, Hellenic, etc. Paganism and witchcraft are global and intersectional. BIPOC influence in paganism and witchcraft does not begin and end with BIPOC-specific magic and practices.
Confront your internalized racism.Ā I promise you have it, and ignoring it wonāt solve it. Having internalized racism doesnāt make you a bad person, but it DOES mean youāre responsible for working on it. Begin by examining any racist tendencies you may have. Sit with it and educate yourself on what you can do to move past it.
Buy direct from BIPOC! Support BIPOC-created art and spiritual shops! If you canāt support financially, use your social media platforms to boost shop links and other BIPOC-created content. Buying from BIPOC also allows for cultural appreciation rather than appropriation.
Use your privilege as a white person to uplift the voices of BIPOC in witch and pagan communities. This looks like giving platform to their thoughts and feelings without trying to co-opt their message for yourself. Find blog posts written by BIPOC that talk about racism or appropriation in our spaces and give them platform.
Recognize helpful allyship vs. performative allyship. Saying you hate racism or that the gods hate racism is a nice sentiment, but unfortunately it doesnāt actually do anything to solve racism. Make sure you back it up with allyship that actively helps BIPOC in our communities!
Read the following: Closed cultures are cultures that have experienced (or are currently experiencing) aggressive colonization and have decided to close off their cultures to their colonizers. In this case of Black Cultures, Indigenous Cultures, and Cultures of Color, their colonizers are white people. White people have only ever been colonized by other white people so white people canāt close their cultures to BIPOC. There. Now you know how that works.
Donāt appropriate. Seriously. This is baseline at this point. We all start at a place of ignorance, but itās our job as white witches and pagans to learn whatās appropriation and what isnāt. This includes adapting your practice if you discover youāre appropriating. If you know you appropriate and defend it, you admit your magic only works because itās stolen. Do you think this truly serves you or anyone else?
Donāt compare the subjugation of BIPOC to the burning of witches or being part of a religious minority. No matter your intention is with this, it wonāt come off as commiseration or showing sympathy. Racism is a systemic form of oppression that canāt be compared to any other kind of prejudice. Understand that you canāt understand.
Avoid being a āwhite savior.āĀ Tackling racism isnāt supposed to feel comfortable, rewarding, or heroic for a white person. It should actually feel like shadow-work. Likewise, donāt expect acclaim or reward for proper allyship.
Donāt work with spirits, deities, or concepts from closed cultures unless itās permitted by that culture, and only within the context permitted. If you think a spirit from a closed culture is trying to interact with you, seek out a community-recognized spiritual leader from that spiritās culture to talk to about it.
Donāt say āpolitics should stay out of spiritual spacesā when it comes to human rights issues. Thereās many problems with this: First, Human rights issues and politics are very different. Second, if you want to have a truly inclusive environment, that environment needs to be intersectional. This means allowing other identities to overlap into paganism and witchcraft, including their issues. Regardless of your intention, itās oppressive to deny room for those issues for the sake of ālove and light.ā Your ālove and lightā is not aboutĀ healing, then, but about maintaining the status-quo.
Remember, true justice isnāt something that happens after a wrong. Itās something that prevents that wrong from ever happening. If we want justice in our pagan and witchcraft communities, we need to do the right work to achieve it.
titsay
romaincrisis
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