Ethics for Magical People: Cultural Appropriation or Cultural Appreciation (3 of 3) Sources

Works Used:

Aldred, Lisa, “Plastic Shamans and Astroturf Sun Dances: New Age Commercialization of Native American Spirituality,” The American Indian Quarterly, 24:3, 2000,

http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/american_indian_quarterly/v024/24.3aldred.html.

Bennett, Stella, “The Star That Never Walks Around,” Weiser Books, Boston, 2002.

Cole, Joan, “Pseudo Native American Tarot Decks: A Picture is Worth 1000 Words,” 2004, http://www.lelandra.com/comptarot/tarotindian.htm.

Cormack, Bridget, “The ethics of cultural borrowing,” The Australian, 18 December 2012, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/visual-arts/the-ethics-of-cultural-borrowing/story-fn9d3avm-1226538593187.

Donaldson, Laura, “On Medicine Women and White Same-ans: New Age Native Americanism and Commodity Fetishism as Pop Culture Feminism,” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 24: 3, 1999, www.jstor.org/stable/3175322.

DenElder, “The Star That New Walks Around by Stella Bennett,” Blog, 12 March 2013, http://denelder.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-star-that-never-walks-around-by.html.

Dominquez, Jr, Ivo, “Source Struggle,” Witches and Pagans, 12 Mar 2013, http://witchesandpagans.com/EasyBlog/source-struggle.html.

Fontana, David, “The Essential Guide to the Tarot,” Watkins Publishing: London, 2011.

Green, Heather, “The Hula Dance: From Sacred to Commodity,” The Wild Hunt Blog, 23 June 2013, http://wildhunt.org/2013/06/the-hula-dance-from-sacred-to-commodity.html.

Paganaidd, “Cultural appropriation?,” Blog, 12 March 2013, http://paganaiddsblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/cultural-appropriation.html.

Stallings, Ariel, “Liberal bullying: Privilege-checking and semantics-scolding as internet sport,” Off Beat Empire, 15 October 2012, http://offbeatempire.com/2012/10/liberal-bullying.

Young, James and Conrad Bunk, “The Ethics of Cultural Appropriation,” John Wiley: New York, 2011.

Young James, “Profound Offense and Cultural Appropriation,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 63: 2, 2005, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0021-8529.2005.00190.x/full.

Ethics for Magical People: Cultural Appropriation or Cultural Appreciation (2 of 3)

To resolve my dilemma, I needed to know how “cultural appropriation” was defined. Noted art historian and critic, James O. Young observed that as cultures intertwine, their cultural motifs overlap. But he warned that using another culture’s motifs in art “carries with it certain responsibilities.” For example, Paul Simon often used the motifs of African cultures in his music. Since he approached the act of composing music with respect, Simon kept the authentic voices of the Africans intact. For that reason, people do not consider him a cultural appropriator.

            Young concluded, “I urge everyone to avoid making blanket pronouncements about cultural appropriation. As we have seen, cultural appropriation has many forms. Some examples of certain forms are certainly immoral. At the same time, many examples of all forms of cultural appropriation are morally unobjectionable. … Cultural appropriation is sometimes to be condemned but equally to be avoided is a restriction of artists to their cultural homelands.”

            Since many Neo-Pagans integrate the beliefs of various cultures into their practices, Patti Wigington, in “About.Com Paganism/Wicca,” addresses the issue of cultural appropriation. She states, “If you are incorporating a practice into your belief system, ask yourself whether you’re doing it because you’re truly called to do so, or whether you simply saw it in a book and thought it looked appealing. Carefully evaluate the practices you borrow, and make sure if you choose to use them, that you do so with respect and reverence towards their original owners.”

            In regards to Native American cultures, Laura Donaldson (Cherokee) believes that cultural appropriation “strips [them] of any historical specificity of contextual depth and interprets them with a colonial logic of cultural commensurability.” Vine Deloria Jr. (Lakota) adds, “It’s about what white people think Indians should be.” Others include in their commentaries that careless people perpetuate the ‘noble savage’ stereotype, lump diverse cultures together, or imply that Native Americans existed only in the 19^th Century.”

            In her review of “Oracle of Shadows and Light” (Lucy Cavendish & Jasmine Becket-Griffith, 2010), Cat discusses the misuse of cultures in this deck. Kali, the Hindu Goddess of Destruction is displayed as a soulful-eyed being who takes bad things away. Meanwhile Amara, the Menehune is a stereotype of a Native Hawai’i an – soulful-eyed long haired girl, who wears flowers. Since this deck does not provide any cultural context, Cat wonders how Hawai’ians or Indians would react to these skewed depictions of their respective cultures. Moreover, she asserts that the authentic voices of these cultures (and others) are distorted and overwhelmed by “cuteness.”

            In my examination of “The Star that Never Walks Around,” I considered the following. (1) Did the deck portray the dignity of the Plains Cultures of the Native Americans? (2) Were the images of a particular stereotype? (3) Were the images taken out of context to be used for various Tarot meanings?  (4) Does the authentic voice of the Tarot come through?

What bothers me about this deck is how Bennett mixes the Tarot, Astrology, and Native American cultures. For example, “The Tower (XVI)” of the Major Arcana is represented by the Sun Dance, a sacred ceremony of the Lakota peoples. She writes that “The Tower (XVI)” is a “breaking down of Karmic ties,” The message of this card is “Liberating yourself from old ways and old belief systems will provide the path to a higher place within your spirit.” This is troubling to me since it takes a sacred ceremony out of its cultural context. The Sun Dance has a superficial commonality with “The Tower (XVI),” but is contextually different. The Sun Dance is a personal sacrifice for the welfare of the community. Since “The Tower (XVI)” represents an outside catalyst to instigate change for the individual, the Sun Dance is not appropriate for this card.

            A culture can express unique viewpoints of the Tarot, and not be shoehorned into the standard card meanings. I would prefer seeing how the “The Tower (XVI)” is expressed in Native American cultures than fitting those cultures into the “The Tower (XVI).” This is a subtle but important distinction. Unfortunately Bennett removes the original context of the Sun Dance and forces it into an artificial one. This ceremony sanctifies personal sacrifice for the sake of community, and is not “a breaking down of Karmic ties.”         

            Although Astrology and the Tarot are a natural combination, Native American cultures are not. Bennett’s explicit association of Astrology with the Major Arcana Cards implies that Native Americans practiced this form of divination. She makes the logical fallacy that since Native Americans watch the stars, they are astrologers.

Bennett tried to share two important parts of her life. However, she seemed to use Native American cultures to “fill in the blanks” for the Tarot. Rather than depict the various Native American cultures of Montana, she lumps them into one homogeneous group. In the process, she also skews the meaning of the Tarot cards as well. Bennett equates the “Royal Road” of the Tarot to be “Trail to Wisdom” in Native American cultures. This is a subtle form of stereotyping, since it assumes that Native Americans today are the same as those of the 19^th Century.

I find that Stella Bennett’s good intentions are not enough. In my opinion, she violated both the dignity of the Tarot and Native American cultures.  Based on my review, I decided that the ethical thing for me to do is to shelve this deck.

Ethics for Magical People: Cultural Appropriation or Appreciation (1 of 3)

One aspect of the Tarot that I enjoy is how elastic it is. Although the Tarot is a construct of the Western Mystery Tradition, many Tarotists can devise fanciful decks based on themes ranging from baseball to zombies. There are even decks that feature multiple themes such as stories of dragons from African, Chinese, European, and Meso-American cultures. This diversity of decks allows for the deeper exploration of divination by the Tarot.         

One of my favorite decks is Stella Bennett’s “The Star That Never Walks Around.” This dedicated Tarotist created a deck combining her Native American heritage and her vision of the Tarot as the “Guide to Wisdom.” (Her grandmother was of the Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa Indians.) Her title for the deck, “The Star That Never Walks Around” reflects both. (It is the Native Americans’ name for the Polar Star (Polaris).)

Demonstrating her extensive knowledge of the Tarot, Bennett includes its astrological aspects in her cards. For the Court Cards, she pairs each with their Sign. The “Knight of Turtles (Pentacles)” is Capricorn, while the “Queen of Butterflies (Swords)” is Virgo. In the Minor Arcana, she matches the suits’ elements with their respective Zodiac Signs. Bennett writes for the “Three of Thunderbirds (Wands, element of fire):” “Our warrior offers assistance, help, and strength to the ram in distress. The ram represented by the Zodiac Sign Aries and can be headstrong.”

Bennett wrote that designing this deck was a spiritual experience for her. By drawing the cards herself, Bennett could explore the Native American cultures of the Plains, where she lived, more deeply. Each card depicted Native American ceremonies and beliefs. She included ordinary events, since they also carried a message from the Spirits. An example of this was the “Death Card (XIII)” of the Major Arcana. It showed the graves of the men from Custer’s Last Stand next to a platform Indian burial. Bennett wrote, “This card represents the death of the old human spirit and the rebirth of the new spirit of the Grandfathers.”

            Bennett’s infusion of the Tarot with Native American cultures was something that I enjoyed. Whenever I used the deck for readings, I would discover new meanings in her cards. She expanded my knowledge of the Tarot.

However, I felt uneasy in using this deck, since I read that Native Americans objected to their portrayal in various media. Also, they complained that their cultures were being mined for commercial, Neo-Pagan, or New Age uses. For me, the crux of the issue became where on the “continuum between celebrating culture diversity and cultural appropriation” laid Bennett’s deck? The answer would determine if I should continue to use this deck.

Ethics for Magical People: Divining (1 of 2)

People who do divination have a set of responsibilities to both their clients and to the act of divination itself.  Since many people have a desire to know the future, they become open to suggestion when they consult a seer.  Moreover because the diviner acts as an intermediary between the questioner and the Universe, divining becomes a sacred art.  To address these concerns, many seers and diviners have a code of personal ethics.

The practical root for these ethics is that the questioner will remember the reading.  Even if the reading was done at a party, people look to see if the good news will come true.  Meanwhile, they try to dismiss any bad news, but will find ways to confirm that it is going to happen.  This is known as the “confirmation bias” (looking for a confirmation of personal beliefs by the questioner).  In addition, the questioner will regard any future event within the matrix set-up by the diviner during their reading.  Therefore, people will remember the divination that confirmed their beliefs about the future.

The esoteric root is that, throughout history, divination has been practiced to discover the will of various Gods.  The Runes of the Norse were obtained through a sacrifice by Odin, their All Father.  Moreover, many Tarot readers regard the Tarot as a spiritual tool for connecting the Self with the Universe.  To keep a clear channel to the Divine, many of these readers will safeguard their cards from “stray and negative energies.” Therefore, many seers do not approach the act of divining in a casual manner.

In his book, “Ogham: The Secret Language of the Druids,” Robert Ellison, Archdruid emeritas of Ar nDaiocht Fein (ADF), outlines ADF’s suggested principles for seers.  The first principle is to regard that all readings as confidential.  The only exception is if the client is going to attempt something dangerous.  Even in public spaces, seers need to set up ways of to keep the reading private.

The second principle is that the seer should not exert any undue influence over the client.  A person consulting the diviner is usually in a vulnerable state.  He is open to suggestions from the seer, whom he unconsciously regards as the final authority of his fate.  Hence, if the seer has a hidden agenda, she can easily manipulate the unsure client.

The third principle is that the seer needs to impress upon the client that he has options.  An experienced seer knows that the future is never fixed but is usually in flux.  The seer should act as an advisor to the client, and not as the final authority.  Moreover, a seer is never the arbitrator of her client’s fate. 

Adding to ADF’s suggestions, Stella Bennett, an experienced Tarot reader, claims that using the Tarot as a fortune-telling game will tempt the Spirits.  Since she regards divining to be spiritual, Bennett endeavors to show respect to the Tarot cards, herself, and her client.  She believes that showing any disrespect will cause a blowback from the Spirits to either the reader or the client.  Bennett does not want any negativity brought into her life or her clients because of her actions.

Bennett stresses that since many clients are going through trying times, she needs to be positive in her reading, and usually ends her reading in a “uplifting tome.”  Furthermore, she believes that the ethical diviner should not predict death or any other dire event for her client.  Bennett counsels that the seer should caution her client about basing any life decisions on their reading. 

Caitlin Matthews, Celtic shaman and druid, regards divination as the “mirror of the Living Truth in the present.”  Because of this, she sees a cause and effect to her reading, which she should not manipulatively change.  If Matthews does not interpret the reading as it is laid out, the “web of the Universe” can be impaired.  Since the information comes directly from the Living Truth to the client, her task as a seer is simply to relay the message. Matthews has no responsibility to see it carried out.

These particular diviners emphasize that their readings lay out likely scenarios, which are based on the past and present of their clients.  Since the future is fluid, their readings are never absolute.  Each diviner knows only a portion of the future, and not the whole story.

In his blog, “Weaving Wyrd,” Hrafn, Northern-Tradition spirit worker, discusses the boundaries that a seer needs to have.  The boundary between the diviner, the Universe, the reading, and the client needs to be formed.  First, he must establish where the information of the future comes from.  The seer needs to ask himself whether it is from the Divine or from his own ego.  Then the diviner acknowledges his own emotions and reactions to the reading itself.  Without boundaries, each will bleed into the other and the seer will make errors based on hidden biases.