I’m just going to add a tad bit more to this list(please, if you know something that I don’t; inform me):
This originates from Indian culture. New agers love this sacred sound and spiritual icon, we get tattoos of it all the time!! I love it because I love yoga. But this symbol means so much more than “yoga is cool and I’m totally zen now.”
White yoga is an appropriation topic all of its own outside (or perhaps alongside) Wicca, and if I get into it here this post will be unimaginably long, so I’ll drop a quote and leave you with the knowledge that yes, colonization still hurts Indian cultures and every time we buy some cute water bottle or a magazine with a white yogi on the front we are contributing to that problem.
Have you ever exclaimed “what a gip!” after you’ve been ripped off? That price is too much, you’re being robbed! What a jip / gip / gyp. I believe they even have this saying in Australia where there are believed to be between 5,000 and 25,000 Romani. If we’re not slandering Gypsies as thieves, we’re using the word as a trendy way to say “free-spirited”, but Gypsies are real people. They aren’t like faires.
Occasionally you’ll meet someone who believes they have fairy or dragon blood, or that they were unicorns in a past life, and you do that smile say “oh cool,” and you let it go. So “I’m a unicorn Wiccan” is fine, Fairy witch? Cool, Gypsy witch? No, unless you’re Romani. And if you were, you probably wouldn’t call yourself a Gypsy because it’s a slur.
Be free and wild and barefoot all you want, but find another way to describe your brand of magick. There are whole communities of Travellers (nomadic people, generally Irish) and Gypsies living their lives off the grid right now. They aren’t some myth half-lost in history, they are real people, and they’re right there.
Egg limpa cleanse/divination
Please stop, you’re doing it wrong. For starters, you’re supposed to have this done for you – even if it’s your life’s work – you don’t do it for yourself. Secondly, so many of these traditions were born as a direct result of slavery and oppression by white people. If you’re white, these spirits don’t want to hang with you. Leave it alone, and stop posting your egg in a glass on Facebook asking “what does it mean?” If you have to ask, you obviously don’t have the skills and shouldn’t be dicking around with this practice.
Going forward… Some things within Wicca are taken and re-appropriated. Like, they’re second-hand stolen undies, and one can’t quite detect the origins at first glance. It’s going to take me a while to study this topic, so welcome to my Crisis of Faith. I hope you enjoy the ride.
PLEASE do your OWN research on things that you’d like to incorporate!!
Anyways, I hope I wasn’t speaking out of line on any of the subjects listed above... if I did, I’m extremely sorry, but; please tell me so I can never make that mistake again!! Also, I’m not sure if I should’ve asked the “op” as we call them here in Tumblr land if I was allowed to repost this... So I’m sorry about this too!! But it’s super important to me that people are aware of closed practices, and that they RESPECT the fact that they are CLOSED!
Have a wonderful day and stay safe, everyone!!
