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Original Post:
by: Kache on Sep 06, 2013

I've seen this a lot, not only on this site, but with many places that hold what is commonly seen a "New Agers".

There seems to be a belief, especially within the Pagan/Occult community that you can build whatever path you want and call it good. To a very small degree, this is true. However, many times people take concepts that belong to a tradition and demolish them for their own personal purposes, while continuing to use the same name of said concept.

I can't begin to stress how wrong that is.

Whether it's Hoodoo works, Hindi beliefs or even Christian dogma, respect should be shown for the tradition where the information came from.

A perfect example of this cultural appropriation is the Western version of Karma. What many people who ramble off about this fail to realize is that Karma is a Hindu belief. Not only is it a Hindu belief, within the tradition, it does not apply to those outside the tradition. What does that mean? It means if you aren't Hindi, Karma has no effect on you whatsoever.
Somewhere down the line, someone decided to adopt part of this concept and declare it to be true for all, even mixing it with the Rede and making it same or similar to the Harm None suggestion (for what it's worth, your dharma determines your Karma. If your dharma is that you are to be a horrible person, you get "bad" karma for not being a horrible person).

It has been twisted, perverted, destroyed and rebuilt to please the spiritual desires of a group of people and is a classic example of the "I can do what I want , it's my path" mentality.

What so many have failed to realize is, that you insult the methods, techniques and theories that you borrow. You insult everyone in the tradition from which you borrow.

If you are not of the tradition, it is not yours to redo. The moment you take someone else's concept and change it to fit your needs, it's no longer in it's original form, so why use the terms to associate it when you've just destroyed what was there?

We see this in Hoodoo a lot. I heard someone once refer to it as "Post-Christian butt hurt". Christianity is found heavily within Hoodoo, and is not a hot item among many Pagans. But for whatever reason, Pagans don't want to include the Christian elements. While that is perfectly ok, it is not ok to include Hera or Isis or anything else and still call it Hoodoo. Why? Because by including it, you demolished what it was, making it something else. The term no longer applies.

My pipe dream is to have people start to sit down and think about where their concepts come from. Look into the history of the tradition from where they stem. Take the time to appreciate what it is.

If you still want to incorporate it into your path, call it something else. Say "I was inspired by" or "it is similar, but my own" rather than slapping traditionalists in the face by using terms that no longer apply.

/end rant