To anyone who's been in the Pagan or Spiritual communities for a while now, the appropriation of different traditions, the debates over modernization and the confusion over the term 'Syncretism', is probably something you've witnessed firsthand. When incorporating an aspect of a faith tradition or adding a new deity into your practice, it is important to research the history surrounding that deity or tradition.
𝓐𝓹𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓻𝓲𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷
Appropriation is when a practice, deity or other tradition is taken out of it's cultural or religious context and used inappropriately, some common examples would be non-Indigenous people using smudging supplies and techniques, using offerings or practices that would be considered offensive to a deity's culture when working with specific gods, or practicing certain closed practices without proper initiation.
𝓜𝓸𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓷𝓲𝔃𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷
Modernization is the practice of taking something very old and adapting how you use or practice with that thing to better fit the modern era, modernization in and of itself is not appropriative, and modernizing religious and spiritual practices is often extremely necessary(we can't exactly go around practicing human sacrifice anymore *sigh*), however modernization CAN become appropriative if it is not done with respect and knowledge of the original practices, examples of this would be the commercialization of magical supplies like tarot cards or crystals, offering menstrual blood to hellenic deities, or the wicca-fication of modern paganism.
𝓢𝔂𝓷𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓲𝓼𝓶
Syncretism is the meshing of practices and beliefs, the practice of syncretism is as old as the concept of religion itself, and it is nearly impossible to not practice syncretism, even if you aren't always aware of it! Examples of this would be deity syncretism like Isis-Aphrodite or Serapis, practices such as Folk Catholicism, Santeria or Christopaganism, or folk magic systems.
𝓜𝓸𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓷𝓲𝔃𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓻 𝓢𝔂𝓷𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓲𝔃𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓹𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓫𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓻𝓲𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓿𝓮
Incorporating some level of modernization to your practice is nearly unavoidable, but it is important to have a good grasp of how to do so without becoming appropriative, so here are some Do's and Dont's for modernizing!
𝓓𝓸
♡ Research the history of the practice you are trying to modernize.
♡ Research what was and wasn't considered offensive regarding that practice in ancient times.
♡ Ensure the practice you are interested in is not closed.
♡ Be creative! Modernizing ancient practices takes not only research but creativity, find ways to adjust practices that are appropriate to the practice and are accessible to your lifestyle.
♡ Consider researching historical syncretism if applicable to what you are trying to modernize.
𝓓𝓸𝓷'𝓽
♡ Ignore actions or things that were considered deeply offensive to the original practice(i.e. offering something considered impure or offensive to a specific pantheon).
♡ Steal practices from a closed tradition you are not a part of.
♡ "Research" historical practices purely off social media, if you want to build a practice, you need to dig a little deeper than that!
♡ Push new age/wiccan concepts, guidelines or traditions onto other spiritual traditions.
♡ Ignore people who are more experienced in a specific tradition, take their guidance!
