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Reviews
Llewellyn's 2018 Witches' Companion: An Almanac for Contemporary Living by Llewellyn Publications
chillstock's review
3.0
There is an article in this book about cultural appropriation that I was particularly interested in. Imagine my disappointment when the author, rather than taking the opportunity to discuss the issue, mostly demurs about how she’s being respectful, therefor the appropriation is okay. In addition, the author seems to have a very flimsy grasp on what cultural appropriation is and how it works.
Cultural appropriation is a neutral term that describes the taking of important aspects of one culture, removing them from their context, and using them for the benefit of someone not of that culture. So yes, that means that unless you are part of the culture your God/dess came from, you are appropriating that culture, no matter how respectful you feel you are being (and I think it’s interesting the author considers her behavior respectful without asking a member of the culture whether they would agree).
The worst thing about this is that there is a conversation that needs to be had here. Wicca DOES culturally appropriate whether you like that fact or not, and it is something that should be confronted and wrestled with. There should be conversations had with people who know about and are part of these cultures and spiritual traditions, or historians and sociologists who study them, rather than just books and articles on the Internet. If someone is offended by your use of their God/dess in your worship, they are incredibly entitled to that offense, regardless of what you do in response to it.
This was an opportunity to open up a dialogue about the “history” Wicca likes to cling to as a justification for its rituals and actions and the potential harm that can cause cultures and especially people of color in the religion, and it was dropped in favor of making the author and people the author knows feel better about behavior they know and understand to be problematic.
To be clear, I am not condemning nor encouraging the culturally appropriative practices of Wicca - there is simply a discussion that NEEDS to happen, and this was a shamefully poor attempt at it.
Cultural appropriation is a neutral term that describes the taking of important aspects of one culture, removing them from their context, and using them for the benefit of someone not of that culture. So yes, that means that unless you are part of the culture your God/dess came from, you are appropriating that culture, no matter how respectful you feel you are being (and I think it’s interesting the author considers her behavior respectful without asking a member of the culture whether they would agree).
The worst thing about this is that there is a conversation that needs to be had here. Wicca DOES culturally appropriate whether you like that fact or not, and it is something that should be confronted and wrestled with. There should be conversations had with people who know about and are part of these cultures and spiritual traditions, or historians and sociologists who study them, rather than just books and articles on the Internet. If someone is offended by your use of their God/dess in your worship, they are incredibly entitled to that offense, regardless of what you do in response to it.
This was an opportunity to open up a dialogue about the “history” Wicca likes to cling to as a justification for its rituals and actions and the potential harm that can cause cultures and especially people of color in the religion, and it was dropped in favor of making the author and people the author knows feel better about behavior they know and understand to be problematic.
To be clear, I am not condemning nor encouraging the culturally appropriative practices of Wicca - there is simply a discussion that NEEDS to happen, and this was a shamefully poor attempt at it.
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