Tension often arises today between neo-pagans over the question of whether
we are reconstructing an old religion or making up a new one. (As I have
argued elsewhere, I don't believe there's any evidence that Wicca comes
from a pre-Christian religion. However, some pagans are working to
reconstruct pre-Christian traditions, such as Norse, Egyptian, or Greek
practices). In addition, pagans frequently debate questions of
"borrowing." There are those who feel that it is their right to borrow
and/or adapt deities, concepts, and techniques from whatever culture
they please; and there are those who feel that this is disrespectful to
the cultures in question.
Among those who consider that "borrowing" is often disrespectful, there
are two basic solutions proposed. One is that as Pagans, we are already
engaged in creating our own religious traditions, and that we should
continue to invent our own practices, concepts, and even deities. The
second solution is that pagans should be as faithful as possible to old
customs and practices which belong to our own cultural heritage.
The most obvious problem here is summed up in the phrase "as faithful
as possible": no matter how carefully we do our research, the
evidence of old pagan practices is at best fragmentary, and trying to
recreate them will lead to a lot of quibbling over the fine points. But
even setting logistical difficulties aside, we are not Ancient Greeks or
Babylonians; we do not live in their world; and the extent to which we can
participate in their mindset is necessarily limited.
(For these reasons, and for reasons of convenience, many neo-pagans have
deliberately chosen to avoid the path of reconstructionism. Wicca, the
most organized (or best known) group within modern paganism, is itself a
jumble of ceremonial magick, folk customs, and "ancient" magical/ ritual
practices.)
One major problem which arises from the practice of "borrowing" is the
question of whether or not it is legitimate to use only one element from a
given culture without necessarily considering the system from which it
takes its significance. For example, is it fair for me to study the system
of the Kabbalah and use it in my magickal practices, despite the fact that
my belief system is not Jewish?
More thorny issues arise around the question of identity. To use the above
example again, is it disrespectful for me to study the Kabbalah (a)
without being of Jewish heritage and (b) being a woman, who would
traditionally have been denied access to this knowledge? Others prefer to
frame this as an issue of cultural understanding: can I, as someone
brought up Christian in America, ever really understand Hindu philosophy
and religion well enough to accurately honor Kali? Or does it matter
whether or not it's "accurate"? Some would say no.
Personally I see a big difference between borrowing from a dead religion
and borrowing from a living one. The Sumerian goddess Inanna no longer has
living followers in Sumer. So I'm not really stepping on anyone's toes if
I begin to work with her, even if my vision of her is not entirely
accurate to the original Sumerian one (which it probably isn't, given the
cultural gap involved). However, if I start appropriating pieces of Native
American spirituality, I may be disrespecting a living culture.
(Especially when you consider that White people like myself have
exploited Native Americans and their culture countless times throughout
American history.)
Since most pagans are White, I think it is especially important for us to
be sensitive to issues of cultural appropriation. We have to acknowledge
that we
benefit from White privilege, both individually and collectively.
Because of our nation's history of prejudice, unfair treatment, violence,
and outright genocide against non-White groups, it is our responsibility
to work toward ending racism and social injustice. And this includes
respecting non-White peoples'
wishes when it comes to their culture.
Obviously I haven't come up with any easy answers to these questions. But
in my own practice, although I love to learn about other cultures and
other religious customs, I typically choose not to integrate them into my
own, precisely because all of the above questions have not yet been
answered to my satisfaction. I am not entirely consistent on this matter:
for example, I play an African drum and I practice yoga, both of which I
have integrated into ritual at various times. I am still working at
increasing my sensitivity and awareness of other cultures' practices and
attitudes, and avoiding a need to automatically adopt them for myself.
