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.
๐๐น๐น๐ป๐ธ๐น๐ป๐ฒ๐ช๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ธ๐ท
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.
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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.
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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.
๐๐ธ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ป๐ท๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ป ๐ข๐๐ท๐ฌ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐๐ธ๐พ๐ป ๐น๐ป๐ช๐ฌ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ธ๐พ๐ฝ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ช๐น๐น๐ป๐ธ๐น๐ป๐ฒ๐ช๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ
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!
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โก Research the history of the practice you are trying to modernize.
โก Research what was and wasn't considered offensive regarding that practice in ancient times.
โก Ensure the practice you are interested in is not closed.
โก 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.
โก Consider researching historical syncretism if applicable to what you are trying to modernize.
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โก 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).
โก Steal practices from a closed tradition you are not a part of.
โก "Research" historical practices purely off social media, if you want to build a practice, you need to dig a little deeper than that!
โก Push new age/wiccan concepts, guidelines or traditions onto other spiritual traditions.
โก Ignore people who are more experienced in a specific tradition, take their guidance!
