Cultural heritage and practice
Feb. 12th, 2019 02:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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dreamwidth_pagansSpeaking as a Finn who has lived more than a third of her life abroad, and in the spirit of the comm rules (no elitism, personal attacks, trolling, etc.), I'd like to bring up this topic.
Because a lot of Pagan paths are tied to a particular cultural heritage or then combine or conflate gods or ideas from many strains, I'm often second-guessing myself about my "right" to follow a certain idea or invite a certain God, and on the other hand feeling both connected and disconnected from the Paganism of my own heritage. I tend to make my peace over and over again by reminding myself gods have never stuck to one place only and the thing that matters is that my connection with them is authentic and I approach them with respect. The niggle of self-doubt remains.
As background: The first Pagan path I discovered was Wicca, as is often the case, which is a tradition that conflates. Over the years I've come to believe in a cosmology that differs from the Wiccan one, so while I can still agree with the five points, I'm not sure I want to call that my path anymore. The main sticking point being the idea that all gods are the same god. Yes and no, I think. But more on the "no" side in practical terms. I'd still like to celebrate the Wheel of the Year, and do, because who's stopping me, but it's only this Imbolc that I've really tried to connect with Brighid herself as an individual goddess. This is an ongoing project. But I am not of Irish (or even Celtic) heritage. So it's been on my mind, and the material I've been reading has, if anything, reinforced my hesitation. She appears to "belong" to Irish reconstructionism.
On the other hand I am sitting here in ancient Gaul, where we had the earliest mentions of Brigandu. On yet another hand, I'm sitting where Hekate received sacrifices at least up to the sixth century. Gods travel.
Any thoughts, experiences on the subject of relating your personal cultural heritage with your faith?
Because a lot of Pagan paths are tied to a particular cultural heritage or then combine or conflate gods or ideas from many strains, I'm often second-guessing myself about my "right" to follow a certain idea or invite a certain God, and on the other hand feeling both connected and disconnected from the Paganism of my own heritage. I tend to make my peace over and over again by reminding myself gods have never stuck to one place only and the thing that matters is that my connection with them is authentic and I approach them with respect. The niggle of self-doubt remains.
As background: The first Pagan path I discovered was Wicca, as is often the case, which is a tradition that conflates. Over the years I've come to believe in a cosmology that differs from the Wiccan one, so while I can still agree with the five points, I'm not sure I want to call that my path anymore. The main sticking point being the idea that all gods are the same god. Yes and no, I think. But more on the "no" side in practical terms. I'd still like to celebrate the Wheel of the Year, and do, because who's stopping me, but it's only this Imbolc that I've really tried to connect with Brighid herself as an individual goddess. This is an ongoing project. But I am not of Irish (or even Celtic) heritage. So it's been on my mind, and the material I've been reading has, if anything, reinforced my hesitation. She appears to "belong" to Irish reconstructionism.
On the other hand I am sitting here in ancient Gaul, where we had the earliest mentions of Brigandu. On yet another hand, I'm sitting where Hekate received sacrifices at least up to the sixth century. Gods travel.
Any thoughts, experiences on the subject of relating your personal cultural heritage with your faith?
(no subject)
Date: 2019-02-15 09:55 am (UTC)As for competitions of progressiveness, I spent some years on Tumblr--I'm still on Tumblr but no longer engaging in any Discourse--and I saw, briefly participated in a very similar struggle there. Especially when it's someone whose life is NOT daily visited by prejudice (and I count myself in that group, I have the easiest of all possible gay existences), wanting to be the most progressive is based on one hand on the desire to be good (not a bad person), and on the other the desire to be best (more progressive than thou). It's a tricky thing not to condemn the Discourse or tell people who should be heard to stfu while also acknowledging that the Discourse is occasionally hijacked into the service of egotism. Like I said, I don't participate anymore, but I hear the latest thing on Tumblr is calling practically everyone a pedophile (except actual pedos, of course; it's a pure powerplay over people who would be uncomfortable being called pedophiles).
On the more Pagan/Wicca front, I see the cool thing on Tumblr is making angry posts about "curse-shaming". That's when you tell people not to curse, or if you openly state that you believe in the Law of Return, implying it's "wrong" to cast curses.
Clearly I spend too much time online.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-02-16 09:06 am (UTC)It's not just Them, it's US. We're ALL part of the same system. The thing is with all things Magical and Spiritual is that you need to THINK before you DO and be Willing to Accept the Consequences of your Actions.
If the 3Fold Law was an actual Natural Law there'd be a heckovalot less eejits and arseholes out there...at least acting. Pretty much clean out the political and legal classes;>.
Cheers,
Pat