Erin
New Member
Practotioner of the Creideamh Si and flamekeeper/priestess of Brigit.
Posts: 40
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Post by Erin on Jun 26, 2014 17:15:21 GMT -8
HI all,
I was wondering- where our polytheisms are often grounded within cultural constructs of historical peoples and/or tribes, do y'all here tend to feel, in this case, that you are practicing indigenous spiritual traditions (in which the concept of religion is so built-in that it is not conceived of as a separate, discrete entity per se, and so informs all they do), or that you are practicing modern, western religions (recognizing some are not quite western per se, but that said traditions are approached as discrete entities called religions, in the modern western sense) whose self-concepts and structures mirror modern western religions, like congregations and personal relationships as seen in christian traditions? Why do you relate with the option that you choose, and have you ever considered the other view, or would you?
Thanks, and many blessings,
Erin
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Post by Haloveir on Jun 27, 2014 19:52:58 GMT -8
I think of "indigenous" as being the faith practiced by the first peoples here in the USA. While I think it is beautiful and respect it and can count some of my ancestors among them, it's not MY faith. That's not to say, however, that learning about indigenous faiths hasn't influenced my own practices. It's easy to find valuable lessons in other faiths that can apply to yours, after all. I'm mostly concerned with finding common threads in different religions, both indigenous and "modern", when constructing my own path. I'll never be able to do things exactly the way other peoples have done it, since I'm coming from a different place culturally, but I think by following common threads we can find bits of truth that remain true no matter the context you place them in. I have no idea if anything I just said made sense. I just got off work, and while it seems clear to me it's possible my tired mind is playing tricks on me.  |
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Erin
New Member
Practotioner of the Creideamh Si and flamekeeper/priestess of Brigit.
Posts: 40
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Post by Erin on Jun 28, 2014 9:07:15 GMT -8
Hi Holivier. I didn't mean indigenous to the US, since most of us here practice European-derived traditions. Those are indigenous to Europe, of course, so that is the context in which I am posing the question.
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Post by spookymuffin on Jul 3, 2014 9:36:20 GMT -8
I personally don't think I'm practicing any indigenous tradition. I was born in the United States and insofar as I work with and honor spirits of place (desert, mountain, dead sea), I have a sort of indigenous practice but that's as far as it goes. Nearly half my ancestors were born in what was later called North America but I have no way of knowing precisely who they were. The rest came from various parts of Europe (Spain and Italy primarily) but finding out precisely what group they might have come from is probably impossible. Though I spent some time trying to connect with Northern European recon trads it was a poor fit at the best of times. Though I study various aspects of Hinduism and include certain Hindu deities in my personal worship activities, that has a lot more in common with modern forms of Gaudiya Vaishnavism than with the greater modern Hindu tradition.
I guess you could say I'm a modern practitioner in the sense that I'm not a recon of any variety and Western in the sense that I live and work and worship in North America but I'm not part of a tradition as such. I participate in many different traditions in order to make sense of my religious experience and to refine my practice but I've never joined or converted or allied with any of them.
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