So this is a post from a white person, to white people getting into paganism and such trying to findĀ ātheir culture.ā Iāve watched a lot of people stumble through this and make same mistakes over and over, so Iām going to talk about some of them.
So first of all, the whole DNA thing. Iāll cut to the chase: you canāt tell whatĀ ācultureā you belong to based on your DNA, and having some DNA commonly associated with certain regions doesnāt necessarily mean you ābelongā to the cultures that live there. The idea that DNA = culture = country is just white supremacy. This whole thing of,Ā āOh, Iām some percent Irish and some percent Swedishā fails to acknowledge how borders and territories have changed throughout the years, and how itās always been normalĀ for people to move around and make babies with people from other parts of the continent.
Your cultureĀ is defined more by who raised youĀ and what they raised you with. Now of course, if youāre a white American, your ancestors might have assimilated intoĀ āAmericanā culture and tried to hide any obvious markers of their heritage; plus that whole thing where a lot of stuff has been appropriated from marginalized people. Like, just because your familyās in the cattle industry doesnāt entitle you to wear faux Native American fashion simply because itās been a thing for years.
That said, your culture is might be much closer to you than you think. What are your parentsā surnames? How about your grandparentsā surnames? Assuming your ancestors didnāt change their names to assimilate, that can be a clue right there. Itās not perfect, because people moved around Europe and surnames got around, but itās a start.
Your family might have traditions, quirks, and whathaveyou that trace back to somewhere in Europe. The kind of things your family chooses to eat and how they cook it. The kind of things they believe about ghosts and fairy beings. Their general assumptions and values. Again, not perfect, because people swap stuff all the time. (Just because my grandmother learned how to make a good marinara sauce and passed that down doesnāt make me Italian, lol.) But it can be a clue.
Youāll probably have to talk to your family and dig up genealogical records, immigration records, and things like that. This, plus the other stuff is going to help inform you on whatĀ āyour cultureā is.
Iāve noticed that thereās this commonplace expectation that your cultureĀ is is going to be this wondrous, idealized fairytale thing thatās going to be so unlike what you know already that itās going to be like stepping into another world. And like, no. Youāre probably going to find that itās fullĀ of things youāre already familiar with just and took for granted. Itās not like we just tossed out everything from our past and started over from scratch.
Also, youāre going to find that a lot of your culture is Christian. Not everything is going to have a pagan origin, even if it doesnāt reallyĀ ālookāĀ āChristian.ā Most of European Christianity has alwaysĀ been syncreticĀ - not because of any wicked plot of the Catholic Church, but because thatās what people who convert do. If youāve grown up being damned sureĀ that fairies exist, you donāt stop believing them just because they arenāt in the Bible. You might, however, try and explain their existence through a Christian lens. Just because somebodyās Christianity includes elements of pre-Christian belief, doesnāt make it any less Christian. And of course Christians are still people who need fun and stimulation and will come up with all kinds of whimsical, silly things to entertain themselves. Puritanicalism is the exception, not the rule.
Also, unlessĀ āyour cultureā is indeed of Greek or Roman origin, donāt expect it to work like Greek or Roman culture. Most Europeans were still into the whole animism, ancestor worship, local clan god thing when they converted to Christianity. They had places of worship, sure. But they didnāt have big urban temples or some big central government to decree what theĀ āofficialā pantheon was.
Be aware that your culture wonāt always be pretty or nice. Thereās going to be some nasty stuff in there somewhere. And there are good odds that your ancestors were notĀ violently forced to convert, but did so willingly.
Anyway, if thereās one thing I hope you take from all of this, itās that people need to understand that while DNA might can give you hintsĀ about what culture(s) you belong to, itās not the be-all, end-all, and what you were brought up with and who those traditions come from is generally more important.
yousharknotpass
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