So I just got done reading Buying Buddha, Selling Rumi: Orientalism and the Mystical Marketplace by Sophia Rose Arjana, a wonderful introductory text on how people take from other religions and cultures to formulate some spiritual or mystical teaching. I first noticed this spiritual colonialism, cultural appropriation, or what have you as a teenager interested in the occult. I was not the most well-informed child on every cultural tradition, but I knew enough to notice how some Wiccan and witchcraft traditions marketed towards those seeking “something different” often ripped off other traditions. When we discuss this topic, it is not to target individuals who do believe various things; some religions like hoodooism, the Bahai faith, Hinduism, etc. do blend various traditions together. You are not stealing from a religious tradition if you read about, try to understand it, and incorporate some of its traditions in your own. To put it in a better word, it should be organic rather than purposefully window shopping for new ideas. The most common colonial theft items in the mystical market today are yoga, chakras, Buddhism, religious statues of Buddha or a Hindu God for aesthetic reasons, tantra, meditation bowls, Rumi books, sage smudging, bhindi, scarves, tapestry, the evil eye, hamza, dreadlocks, and etc.
Many of the things targeted towards people seeking spiritual fulfillment is from the orient. The Westerner seeks the “exotic” by cherry-picking traditions that they do not understand. There is a reasoning that the West can’t provide spiritual fulfillment because the West is to bogged down by capitalism, so the seeker must look towards the mystic east for answers. As Arjana points out: “Modern beliefs about mysticism are products of a “discursive history that is bound up with the power struggles and theological issues of Western Christianity.”” The very idea of religion was forged by Western Christianity’s comparison with itself, through a Protestant lens. Catholicism was deemed heretical because of its mysticism, today we still call some of the earliest sects of Christianity Gnostics implying that their version was not authentic enough. Because of this, religious scholars have tried to define what could or could not be deemed a religion. For the longest times animistic, ancestor worship, etc were not deemed “religions” because they did not have a “book”; Native people’s religions were outlawed by governments.
The mystic market whitewashes traditions, Christianizing practices. Sufism in particular was separated from Islam, through a process of whitewashing. Buddhism is the most popular religion that is sold on the market, individuals love to claim that Buddhism isn’t technically a religion so they can follow it. The problem with this is….well everything. It is true for some particular sects of Buddhism; followers do not have a god or gods similar to the Abrahamic religions. This does not mean that all Buddhists didn’t have some type of deities. We can see fusions of Hindu deities in the Buddhist tradition, Japan has a statue and temple dedicated to the Goddess Saraswathi. The idea of an afterlife does exist, there are Japanese Buddhist artworks of people who eat meat being chopped up and eaten alive by “demons”. This punishment would end when their bad darma was up. While it is true that Zen Buddhism is technical “atheist” it isn’t as always cut and dry, especially when the indigenous religions are incorporated with this practice. Other Buddhist sites leave offerings to Buddha, to Bodshitvas, the gods, or etc. Buddhism has never been just about meditation and atheism.
Hinduism is another practice that is taken out of context by Westerners. The name “Hinduism” is really an umbrella term for various practices on the Indian subcontinent, a word coined by the….you guessed it….the British. Hinduism is not just about chakras or yoga, in fact, the West’s fascination with yoga brought the practice back into mainstream India. When it comes to South Asia in general, Westerners no matter the color of their skin love to take from this culture. When we think of hippies or “spiritualism” we think of either Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist iconify like the ohm symbol. Scarves paired with harem pants and tank tops are generally defector garb of the “spiritualist”, hippy, vegan, or what have you. Spices are sold on the health market, target as the “newest” thing. Take turmeric for example. Turmeric has been used in South Asia, East Africa, and the Middle East for hundreds of years. I personally cook with it almost every day for all my meals. It is not that the spice is treated as healthy, turmeric does kill bacteria. The issue is that its branded as a “new” discovery and taken out of the cultural practice that it came from. Buyers are unaware of its uses in other cultures. The spices themselves are advertised as ways the user can escape sickness, ills, mental health, and remain beautiful, to have a good spiritual body the user should take on these spices to become “immortal.” This ignores the hundreds of years of its usage, to put it bluntly, while turmeric can kill off bacteria it is not a miracle spice. If all these spices could somehow make you immortal or a super being than all of India would be walking gods right now. “Today, the rebranding of religious identified with the East uses Hinudism, Buddhism, and Islam as source material for New Age, spiritual, and mystical products.” Things like tikkas or Afghan jewelry are sold on both white and Black spiritual markets.
Sophia Rose Arjana’s book is wonderful about discussing this topic more in-depth…if you want to learn more pick up her book. What I want to finish talking about is the stealing of the orient by those in the Wiccan, pagan, and witch communities (w.pw). Something that Arjana did not even remotely touch on. Now, this not a new topic for people in this community and it has gotten better..in my opinion…but I still wanted to address it. This is not an attack on these communities either. Many beginners of these practices come in without knowing…anything. Some individuals are lucky to be born in a family who practices folk magic and do not find the need to steal from other practices. As people looking for things, often the w.p.w. the community will “borrow” from other traditions for their own practice. White sage used for smudging is a prime example. I will link Mintfaery’s video on this very topic because she gives a good explanation with the issue of using it. European cultures already have practices of sage usage for cleansing. If you are of European descent it is not hard to research European traditions, gods, and cultures to incorporate into your own traditions without stealing from Hinduism, Buddhism, Native traditions, etc. These religions are not there for you to cherry-pick what you enjoy and muddle them into some bland stew. W.p.w’s are some of the best people at researching their own cultures, so this not an attack on all w.p.w. In fact, I just want the reader to understand that there is a problem here.
There is also a problem in Islam of converts, not just white ones, who essentially use Islam as “fashion.” There are those who believe if they look the part, i.e. wear hijab, niqab, beard, or whatever then they are in fact Muslim. For any religious tradition, it is easier to look the part than actually practice it. In my opinion, Hinduism is one of the hardest traditions to research and to get a grasp on. Not because religion is confusing, but because there is no such thing as “Hinduism.” It does not have a “unified system of belief encoded in a creed or declaration of faith; it does not have a single system of soteriology, and it does not have centralized authority and bureaucratic structure.” There are the Radhasomi who don’t believe in the Veda as a revelation, they reject many Hindu teachings, and worship God without attributes. This complexity makes it easy for people to steal from this religion.
When I said organic religious borrowing earlier, what I meant was that some peoples who live near other religions will adapt to each other’s doctrines on some level. Take for example Islam in the West, for those Muslims who are born into the faith or converted, Christianity does shape the world view of the practitioner. My professor Sayeed Khan told me that since he grew up in Michigan there was no way he could separate himself from a Christian Western world view. He may have Indian Muslim parents, but he grew up in Christian Western culture. This doesn’t mean that Islam or his particular culture is “Christian”, or he has “white culture”, what it means is what he was taught in school, who he interacted with, his outside culture was shaped by a white Christian American outlook. American Muslims see differently from German ones, that is how culture works. A good example of a bunch of religions sharing off one another would be in South East Asia where Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and indigenous religions merged into each other. It is not odd to see a Muslim making idols for a Hindu. Other positive examples are people who marry into other religious faiths or cultures, adapting their spouses’ culture in small amounts. The abaya has become the go-to outfit for most Muslim women, even though it isn’t technically apart of their culture. You don’t see white converts wearing the elaborate German veils. Christians also have a “Christian” look too. It is okay for cultures and religions to adapt to each other, as long as it is organic and not stealing.
I think it is important to not jump the gun and attack people that we think are culturally appropriating or spiritually colonizing. I do think that the issue of spirituality and mysticism colonization needs to be addressed more than what it is. It is not always going to be cut and dry, for example, one white woman grew up in a cult with a guru. Her guru, an Indian man, had all the followers wear sarees and traditional South Asian clothing. Dreadlocks are another perfect example; they exist in many spiritual traditions. Samson in the Bible wore dreads, and men like him wore them. So a Christian can wear dreads because they have scriptural proof, now should they wear dreads….ehhhh? The issue with dreads is that Black individuals are persecuted for them, even though they are a natural hairstyle for Black folk. It also important to note that this spiritual and mystical colonization is not just a white person problem, others of different races, ethnicities, or etc. are just a fault for cherry-picking traditions and selling them. This topic shouldn’t stop you from doing yoga or reading about other religions. In fact, learn more about religions, so that way you can understand different religious practices and other cultures. I will eventually link a paper I did for a class on Women in Spiritual practices, because it does address some of these issues and how women interpret their own faiths. One woman I interviewed is a West African woman who grew up in Islam but alongside the indigenous religious practices. She notices the clear difference in how West Africans view these traditions vs how Black Americans view West African traditions. I did not go into detail with my interviewee because I feel like this particular topic should be left for a Black individual to explore and write about. I also interviewed a friend of the Norse Pagan tradition, it was interesting to see her views vs someone in Northern Europe who also practices that path. I highly recommend everyone checking out Buying Buddha, Selling Rumi by Sophia Rose Arjana, to read more about this topic. The author does not pick favorites and I love that about her writing.