#(also I'm in the United States so i am in particular thinking about Asian Americans but this also applies to like intl interaction)

[american-pagan]

Discovering Paganism: White American Identity Crisis & Conceptualizing the "Old World"

If you're a White American, like me, your relationship with your ancestry or ethnicity may be rocky or limited, if not non-existent. For me, this made trying to connect to a non-Christian, non-Abrahamic, culturally appropriate faith really difficult. In fact, this makes a lot of aspects of identity really difficult. And so, I start this diary of things that I've thought about, things that have worked for me, and things that have not in my quest for spiritual reconnection.

CW: White supremacy. This is a long one, for the boys.

P.S. I know that Black and Brown people can be Pagan, but I am focusing on White people in this conversation because I am using the word Pagan to mean a follower of a pre-Christian European religion or a related descendant faith, and most of the descendants of those ancestors are going to be White. Black and Brown Pagans, you are valid and I support your creating a voice for yourselves, I'm just not focusing on you this time.

In Soul-Searching, White Supremacy is Not Your Friend.

It is obvious that White supremacy is bad. Clearly. It harms and has harmed millions upon millions of other human beings, and if you are White, I will stick my neck out and say that it's our responsibility to be the anti-racist firefighters and megaphones of our ancestors' nightmares. But where White supremacy often grants us privilege, the quest for spirituality is not one of those privileges. It is true that we, as White people, (often) have a sense of unique national origin or ethnic identity that many of our Black neighbors whose ancestors were enslaved do not. We also have the ability to build family trees through document-hopping, which is impossible if your ancestors were only recorded as nameless, faceless "property," and not as full and equal human beings. However, we also had much of our historic identities stripped from us by mechanisms of White supremacy, which sets up for us a constructed binary of White vs. not White, and as such conflates all European-Americans into a homogenous, racialized "superior" on the White supremacy pyramid. While this is a lie, the consequence of this construction of race (in the United States) is often an erasure of ethnicity and for White Americans, and comes with the pressure of conformity into the dominant, Anglo-American culture. If you yourself weren't born in Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, or France -- you're not Danish, German, British, or French. You're just White. So the logic goes, with maybe the exception of second-generation immigrants. Of course, this racialization that describes people primarily as Asian or White or Black or Indigenous -- and more or less does not care about ethnic identities -- impacts Americans who are not White just as pervasively, if not more.

If we are all forced to abandon our individual European ethnic identities for assimilation into a White supremacist, Anglo-originated American culture, does that mean all we need to do is rediscover the identities and cultures of our ancestors? "Yes," was my original thought, but I think I was wrong. It's complicated. We are in a bizarre position as White Americans. I do think that rediscovery of ethnic identity can be very important for White Americans to continue to get practice seeing how race and ethnicity are constructed, and the more research into ancient European history you conduct, the more you see how flexible concepts of nationhood and "otherness" are. So yes, in that way, having a distinct European identity can challenge that social structure, but as Americans, we run into big problems with that.

Reasons Finding an Pagan Religion As an American Is Hard

1) We are not 100% any particular ethnicity, usually. Although you may be 100% Romanian or Swedish or Austrian and easily be able to identify your European ethnicity, you are probably not. Many White Americans have British, French, or Spanish ancestry, due to their prolific colonization of North America, but you probably have a big mix. So if you are choosing to follow a particular Pagan pathway, how do you choose which to follow? Genetics? Our ancestors didn't have 23andMe, so maybe that's a weird way to determine origin. There are also people who have strong cultural ties to a particular ethnicity of origin, even if they are only 1/4 or 1/8 that ethnicity "genetically." So culture? A lot of us have been heavily separated from our ancestral cultures as descendants of settler-colonists. We do not live on our ancestral land, so we miss a big tie that can strengthen many spiritual bonds. Even if you have a Dutch name and one or two Dutch Christmas traditions, for example, it might feel weird to say that you are "culturally Dutch," if you have never been to the Netherlands and don't speak the language.

2) Europe still exists, and maybe we're not European. One of the major reasons that I think it was always irritating to me in high school when some White American kid said "yeah, I'm Irish" with his full chest and red-white-and-blue accent, or had a sticker on their laptop of the Norweigan flag, was because Europe still exists. I think we have a tendency as White Americans (at least I do) to think about our identity in "Old World" terms -- ancestral culture and indigenous land. Which isn't inherently bad, though some of us do use it to make us feel special and spicy when we are having an identity crisis (not me??? *cough cough* I would never). But we have distinct cultural and ancestral experiences from modern Europeans, so it feels weird to say, "yes, I'm Irish" when I want to say no... you're American. One of my ancestral ethnicities is a north-central Italian one, but despite my Italian name, fabulous pasta-making abilities, machismo-driven family dynamics, and the consistent pressure to consume insane quantities of red wine at every family gathering -- I'm not Italian. When I meet Italians, people born and raised in Italy, we are totally different. My skin and hair color is atypical for most Italians, I didn't grow up Catholic, I don't speak the language, and I was not born in Italy nor grew up there. So next to an Italian, I'm not one -- I'm an American. I'm only Italian next to my friends with no Italian ancestry. When we talk about countries of origin it is important to remember that many of the cultures we draw or hope to draw our Pagan practices from are still alive. There are living Celtic Pagan Traditions right now in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England, maintained by people who participate in living cultural activities like traditional song and dance and who speak the language on their ancestral land. If you are interested in pulling a Pagan tradition straight out of the history books, be aware that it may be a living tradition with modern Pagans reconstructing it on their ancestral land and with their long-lived ethnocultural practices which may intertwine with their spiritual ones. As such, I recommend thinking about how the adoption of such a tradition has the potential to be culturally appropriative, even if you claim that particular ancestry. This is not me telling you what traditions you can or cannot adopt, I just recommend being mindful.

3) How far back are the "old traditions"? One of the problems you run into when looking at historical Pagan practices that you realize that there Europe has been conquered a lot, so when you're looking at the pre-Christian religions of a particular European place, you will likely notice that it has been conquered many times -- maybe the Romans, before that the Gauls, before that the Celts, etc. Which one do you pick? Because we are not following a tradition handed down to us from our direct family, most likely, we don't have the benefit of guaranteed "authenticity" (or authenticity to a particular area), as modern Christians might. So if historical reconstruction is your Pagan interest, how far back you want to go in the history books is an important thing to consider.

4) Like Christianity, ancient Pagan religions can have problematic messaging. The long history of imperial conquest after imperial conquest and thousands of years of enforced patriarchy means that when you are looking at traditions that are 2-3,000 years old, they are not going to be all sunshine and roses. For example, the Roman god Jupiter had children with Juno. They both shared a father, Saturn, and thus, Jupiter married his half-sister. Does that mean you shouldn't choose a Roman tradition to practice? Or that you are pro-incest if you do? No, it just means if you are looking for a perfect ancient religion in which your ancestors are in harmony with the earth in an egalitarian society, which all came crashing down at the spark of Christianity, I will offer to you that that does not exist. That does not mean you cannot craft your own, well-informed practices that aim to create that world -- or revitalize ancient tradition with a critical eye -- but ancient people were human beings with problematic hierarchies and stories, and an exclusively romantic vision of ancient Pagans is not realistic.

5) A lot of American Paganism can feel scammy. I know not everyone is going to agree with this, but personally, I feel that mainstream Pagan/Pagan-adjacent practices can feel like games, gimmicks, or cash grabs instead of sincere, life-giving religion. Witchy aesthetics can be adopted by non-Pagans with symbols that have real significance to certain sects, like the pentacle. Astrology appears as online compatibility calculators and horoscope apps filled with ads, overlooking the deep celestial knowledge and consequence it brings to believers. Psychics, mediums, or spiritual readers can conduct tarot, palm reading, or interplanar communication for monetary gain and with little to no way of knowing if they are legitimate in the eyes of a particular tradition. As a result, it can create a binary within Pagans, at least from certain (reconstructionist) perspectives. There are those who live on their ancestral homeland, who speak the language and participate in cultural activities handed to them from their immediate family ... and then there are those who are settler-colonists, engage in a compilation of practices from a wide variety of traditions, have a particular interest in spellcasting or clairvoyance, and who focus on modern Pagan spirituality instead of historical tradition or gods. If this was the impression you also got in any learning you have done about Paganism or a Pagan tradition, I want to clarify that I think this is wrong. Even if a practice is not "authentic" in the sense that it reflects ancient historical practice, that doesn't mean that it is less valuable or couldn't be "true." There are plenty of things we do differently, if not better, than we did 2,000 years ago. If a practice, like astrology, is portrayed in an almost disrespectful way or is capitalized on for money, it does not mean that the tradition is bad or wrong, only that it may be abused or not taken seriously. I do not think that a "by the book" historical reconstructionist tradition is better than a modern, syncretic belief -- it is about whatever calls to you and whatever is fulfilling to your soul and world. The whole spectrum from strict tradition to many contemporary changes all have the potential to be lovely and connecting.

Anyway...

These are just some thoughts I have about how American identity impacts the search for Pagan tradition. For me, I was raised Atheist (I know, I'm a rare little snowflake) by a firmly Atheist parent revolting against their Christian upbringing. I imagine many of you are that person, turning away from Christianity but still feeling that spiritual drive to connect with the world more deeply. As such, I have seen Paganism as a way to express the deep spiritual connection to the world that I feel in clear, knowledge-giving, non-Christian terms and with such rituals. But that doesn't mean that finding a faith tradition isn't hard, especially when it's a minority faith in your country. If you're like me and want practices that are culturally ethical, useful, and knowledge-giving, there is more sifting to do. Even more, if you want traditions of ancestral Pagans. Thanks for reading, I know this was long. Feel free to comment your thoughts on this idea! What resonated with you, what you think I got wrong, etc.

TLDR; We're very isolated from ancestral Paganism, so reconnecting with a tradition is hard :((

Best of luck in your faith-seeking journey,

American Pagan

#pagan community #pagan witch #paganlife #pagan #celtic wicca #witchcraft #baby witch #magick #paganism #paganblr #witchblr #witch community #witches of tumblr #wiccablr

[wwwfa2023]

After reading The treatment of Bibi Hadar it made me realize that not everyone is as open or accepting to the disability Community as the US is. Don’t get me wrong we still have a long way to go and there are still so many problems with how people in the United States treat disabled people but I want to shed some light on why I think people were so intent on marrying Bibi off.

Growing up as a white girl in a predominantly South Asian community I've gotten to learn a lot about their culture. I grew up celebrating Christmas with my family but we also celebrated Diwali with my Indian Neighbors. Lunar New Year and Gregorian New Year were talked about with the same gusto. Although most of my experiences in this predominantly South Asian community were positive there was one cultural difference that I couldn't get around, how South Asian cultures view disability. “historically – particularly in many Asian countries – disability has been considered a taboo or shameful thing.” (Dhanda) I had multiple friends who were South Asian and also disabled, they would tell me the painful stories of exclusion and ignorance from their family members or family friends in the same culture.I have plenty of reasons why I think the South Asian community in particular has a hard time accepting disability and one of this may be that their religion is based on omnipotent but not necessarily benevolent Gods, they might think that someone being born with a disability means that the mother is cursed or somebody acquiring a disability means that they did something to deserve it, and even though logically they might eventually understand that is not the case it can be hard to override tradition and religion that have been ingrained in your brain for so long.Another reason why South Asians might have a harder time accepting disability is best said from the South Asian disability advocate Cara Yar Khan “Our community still prescribes to the charity model or the medical model of disability and so it is this idea that because now I have a disability, my life will not be as fulfilling or as happy. Or, hope is only possible if there is a potential treatment or cure for my condition.” (Rajani) By writing about this I'm not trying to hate on my South Asian friends, Or sound racist and if that is what this sounds like please let me know. I am simply trying to bring light to an issue that not a lot of people talk about in many of these cultures. Unfortunately the longer we live the more likely we are to either know someone who is disabled or acquired disability and so the fact that in many of these cultures people with disabilities feel like they cannot authentically be themselves is a problem. I am so thankful for the people that are willing to question tradition and change their thinking.

Works Cited

Dhanda, Shani. “My Culture Can Be Ignorant about Disability - I’m Smashing the Stigma.” Metro.co.uk, 19 Aug. 2021, https://metro.co.uk/2021/08/19/my-culture-can-be-ignorant-about-disability-im-smashing-the-stigma-15118377/.

Rajani, Harshada. “Remaking a World That Wasn’t Built for Us.” South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA), 18 Apr. 2022, https://www.saada.org/tides/article/remaking-a-world.

[jewish-privilege]

Okay so I'm still a bit confused, and google is no help; as you've explained, Jewish people are not white? So does this mean Jewish people are people of color? And how does this affect Jewish people who also happen to be white?

I have to state at the outset that not only did I not write the post you’re referring to, but I also disagree with it and think it’s based on a faulty understanding of race and ethnicity and how they operate worldwide and in the United States. The moderator who wrote that post has abandoned Tumblr and this blog, so in explaining I’m going to contradict a lot of what Joseph wrote because not only do I think he’s wrong, he also does not have a grasp over race, ethnicity, and socio-politics. 

People of color is a term that is not a catch-all for non-white people. It is a political, American term that was popularized to replace term “minorities” and includes only specific minorities. Jewish people as a group in and of itself is not one of those minorities. As an illustration, think about the Latinx ethnicity. I am not saying that being Latinx and being Jewish are the same, just that sometimes it’s necessary to use a comparison to clarify (for example, Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people while Latinx people don’t have a religion specifically tied to their peoplehood). Latinx-ness is an ethnicity, not a race. So what this means is a person can be Latinx and be white, Black, Asian, some mixture thereof, etc. Being white and Latinx doesn’t erase that person’s Latinx-ness; nor does it mean that that person is not subject to anti-Latinx bigotry and xenophobia or that that bigotry may operate along racial lines. The same theory holds true for Jewish people. 

Everyone in my immediate family is a white Jew. This includes my transethnic adopted self, my fellow transethnic adopted brother, my genetically-ethnic Jewish adopted brother, and my genetically-ethnic Jewish parents. We’re all Jewish and white. Being white does not mean that we aren’t Jewish or insulated from antisemitism or xenophobia, that antisemitism doesn’t operate along racial lines, or that white supremacists or some other groups see us as really white.

It also doesn’t mean that antisemitism is an example of “anti-white reverse racism.” First of all, there are Jews of every race. Second of all, people don’t hate Jews because we are white, people hate Jews because we are Jewish. White-ness, perceived or otherwise, has nothing to do with antisemitism. 

Instead of erroneously using the term “white-passing” to describe the passing that Joseph was talking about, I use the term “gentile-passing.” When white/white-skinned Jews are able to pass and blend into greater American WASP culture, we aren’t passing as being white, we’re specifically passing as white gentiles. Like the term “people of color,” “passing for white” means something specific and shouldn’t be universalized to describe all ethnic and racial experiences. 

Nuance may take longer, but when we are discussing social justice and bigotry we shouldn’t be lazy for the sake of boxing groups and people into boxes that are shaped incorrectly.

I’d recommend this following posts, which are in no particular order, for more information:

http://jewish-privilege.tumblr.com/post/123796927844/i-just-read-your-post-about-jewish-people-not

http://jewish-privilege.tumblr.com/post/123507569200/jewish-privilege-thegrumpyopinionist

http://jewish-privilege.tumblr.com/post/154165425815/can-jews-still-assume-theyre-white

http://jewish-privilege.tumblr.com/post/123908612020/i-think-a-lot-of-people-are-having-problems

http://jewish-privilege.tumblr.com/post/148561084405/on-the-discussion-of-race-and-jewishness-ive

http://jewish-privilege.tumblr.com/post/144102117065/questions-to-ask-yourself-before-saying-jews-are

http://jewish-privilege.tumblr.com/post/142819494430/apologies-if-this-seems-like-a-stupid-question

http://jewish-privilege.tumblr.com/post/135777593931

http://agnellina.tumblr.com/post/132404387110/antisemitism-eu-agnellina-antisemitism-eu

#Alexis's posts #vayse yidden #yehudim levanim #anonymous #replies #race