#Syncretic Practice

[yearningforunity]

Jamaican Obeah

Jamaican Obeah refers to the practice of Obeah, a spiritual and magical tradition rooted in West African and Caribbean cultures. Obeah has a significance presence in Jamaica and holds cultural and historical importance on the island. Obeah in Jamaica has its roots in the spiritual beliefs and practices brought to the Caribbean through the transatlantic slave trade. Enslaved Africans brought with them a rich tapestry of religious and spiritual traditions, and Obeah emerged as a distinct syncretic practice in Jamaica. Individuals who practice Obeah are often referred to as "Obeah men" or "Obeah women". These practitioners have a deep understanding of the spiritual realm and are sought after for their abilities in healing, protection, divination and other spiritual services.

It's crucial to approach discussions about Jamaican Obeah with cultural sersitivity, recognizing the diversity of beliefs and practices within the Afro-Caribbean spiritual landscape. Different individuals and communities may have variations in their practices, and interpretations may differ among practioners. Respect for cultural beliefs and traditions is essential and fostering understanding.

[dowsingfordivinity]

Dual faith folk witches

Polish Folk Witch (on instagram and Patreon) has an excellent article on dual faith practice and syncretism among folk witches: Dual Faith: the elephant in the room of the witchcraft community. The topic of dual faith keeps returning on a regular basis in the broader witchcraft community online, especially on the intersection of folk magic, paganism and christian occultism. Folk witches often…

[handweavers]

when reading scripture or religious texts in my studies from a variety of religions (a not-insignificant part of my education has been religious studies) i can appreciate and understand the beauty and appeal of it and make sense of its internal logic system and worldview and feel that i'm picking up what it's putting down even if i don't necessarily identify with it on a personal level, but i gotta be honest i always feel like i'm missing something or losing my mind when i read christian texts like i don't get it and it doesn't make sense to me and nothing about the trinity makes sense to me and the entire worldview feels so harsh and terrifying and bleak for no reason and every time i've asked anyone in my family (on the christian side) to explain any of it to me like sincerely i just feel more baffled and whenever i've had to read passages of the new testament i dont get it at all like even abstractly i don't understand and it makes me feel crazy like what i'm looking at has to be completely different from what other people are seeing and i don't mean it in a reddit atheist smug asshole way like it's genuinely beyond my comprehension I Don't Get It and i don't think i ever will

[eleusinianrites]

ive recently felt called to selene and so many things have shifted in my life since then. its kind of strange but comforting

[bijoumikhawal]

idle curiosity: does anyone I know have any recommendations for researching Buddhism from a more practical perspective, as opposed to the often philosophical/secular one presented in a lot of English texts?

[mxlxdroit]

lmao @ that reblog riffing off someone's post saying they think of wheat fields as mystical and corn fields as less so. the reblogger claims wheat seems magical to the op because it is "tied to the ancestral rituals and beliefs of most white people"

most white people's ancestors have been christian for hundreds if not over a thousand years. i hate to break it to the neopagans but we know very little about most prechristian european religious beliefs and a lot of what we do know comes through roman and/or christian writers. so those "ancestral rituals and beliefs" are vestigial at best and completely gone in most cases.

if they had just said "corn seems spookier than wheat to some white people because white people have been growing wheat for longer than corn and corn is associated with Native Americans and therefore with negative stereotypes," that would have been a defensible thesis

you could argue that when white people became interested in recovering the pre-christian beliefs of their ancestors, they carried existing patterns of meaning (including colonialist and racist bias) into the ways they reconstructed and built on those beliefs. that could explain why someone who finds spiritual meaning in a wheat field finds it there and not in a corn field. but that is a distinctly different argument

[thewitchfarhan]

Currently working on a some syncretism with Hellenic Deities and creating my own personal Hellenic Pantheon. I’ll probably post some graphics once I’m done but if anyone has any direct queries my AskBox is open 🥰

[panvani]

Ig at the end of the day (note that this isn't directed towards any particular person) I just find the practice of specifically 'occult' research to be very silly— it's the acquirement of vast amounts of knowledge without any learning. Esotericism has had historical value as a form of community building, or philisophizing, or even scientific study in the millenia prior to an actual useful understanding of chemistry, but the study of the "occult" tends to be at the explicit exclusion of any attempts to understand current or historical culture/philosophy, and doesn't tend to form community to boot.

[nightmarist]

Hmmmm I wonder if other Latines on campus would be interested in being in a Mexica and Maya social and informative club. We can keep track of the Anahuac calendar and do little things all year. Learn bits of Nahuatl and some of the Maya languages

[coyote-fawn]

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[changingpathsresources]

Folk witches and dual faith

Polish Folk Witch (on instagram and Patreon) has an excellent article on dual faith practice and syncretism among folk witches: Dual Faith: the elephant in the room of the witchcraft community. The topic of dual faith keeps returning on a regular basis in the broader witchcraft community online, especially on the intersection of folk magic, paganism and christian occultism. Folk witches often…

[bijoumikhawal]

"Hath not an augment eyes?" Julian asked. "Or would you prefer it as it is in the original?"

Worf looked away first. "I have never liked that play."

"I have come to find it edifying, in some ways."

[artemis-potnia-theron]

***THIS BLOG IS 18+ ONLY. MINORS DNI***

TERFs/Dianic Wiccans are not welcome here.

Khaire 👋🫂

Welcome to my e-altar dedicated to Lady Artemis Potnia Theron 🌙🏹🦌

(complimentary devotional playlist included with your visit ⬇️)

About Me:

🌙 Taylor

🍄 Animist

🪷 They/Them

🦌 Adult (25+)

🏹 Oathbound devotee/worshiper of my beloved Patron, Divine Mother, and Queen; Mistress Artemis-Diana Potna Thea

Praise to divine Mistress Artemis, architect of my soul and eternal keeper of my heart.

She of the wolves and of the deer. She of the hunt and of the fire. Swift running archer who haunts the forest wilds and roams in the night. The cresent moon, her silver bow. She who dwells at the mountain peak. She of the Earth and the Heavens.

Bestower of death with her showering arrows. Strong-voiced worker from afar who whispers, “Kneel, or be knelt.” Beautiful empress who bears sword and reins on her golden throne. She of the lake, the marsh, and the harbor. Far-shooter. Light-bringer. Dawn-breaker.

Divine virgin, pure and revered, who soothes. Celestial midwife who nurses the young and patron of childbirth. She of the hymns and pastures. Singer of divine songs and leader of the dance. Sweet-garlanded lady of clamors. She of the white bird, the toad, and the berry seed. Bright goddess.

Beloved and loving high priestess of the bear's jaw, whose hymns only beasts can sing. Willow-bound and royal of cedar, walnut, and laurel. Immortal torch-bearer. Ancestral guardian who stands before the door.

Goddess queen of beasts and nymphs. Maiden. Death. Animal. Feral child. Holy mother. Praise be to Lady Diana, deliverer and savior.

Credits:

***user box by Aterios***

***Artemis divider by Renai***

My altar c: / Quote fragment from Sappho / Diana's Bath by Louis Devedeux / Artemis in the 'Pastoral' section of Fantasia (unknown gif maker) / Diana the Huntress by Guillaume Seignac / Detail of Artemis depicted as the Potnia Theron (Lady of the Beasts) from the Francois Vase / Fountian of Artemis (Diana) of Ephesus at Villa d’Este / Quote Fragment from Ursula K. Le Guin

[mamaangiwine]

I can't speak for Hoodoo, but I can tell you from my experience as an Ndn- it's not about skin color. It's about community.

One of the reasons talking about "closed practices" with people is so frustrating is because it seems to trigger an immediate defensiveness, which often leads to a break down of communication when poc are simply trying to be informative. People are allowed to learn about closed practices in a respectful way. People are allowed to be, and are urged to be, curious and ask questions. I personally wouldn't call that being "exclusive"; it simply means that, depending on the practice, your role is that of an observer and not a participant.

Tbh, there are many people who participate in closed practices who are not of the closed practice's culture or heritage- but they were invited. They were taught. It was consensually shared.

I've met many white people who had a better understanding of my Native heritage than I did, because they grew up in close proximity to the reservation and I did not. When I lived in Wyoming I met white people who knew Shoshone and Lakota stories by heart. Who knew how to skin and cure a buffalo hide. Who knew how to sing and dance in a circle because they were taught by a tribal elder. I've met white people who were, in a sense, considered "honorary" tribal members. Granted, this didn't give them legal tribal membership, but it did mean that they were loved and respected by the tribe.

But they also understood what that meant.

They understood that, if they were taught anything of spiritual value, it was a gift. A tool they had been given out of respect and friendship, and that it wasn't their's to share with others without permission. That it didn't entitle them to be a teacher, or to play the part of the sage.

It is completely possible for an outsider to become a participant in some closed practices- but they have to be invited and understand the nature of their participation. They have to undersatnd that they now have a huge responsibility to be respectful, and a caretaker of what was gifted to them.

It also means that there is one very important step before anyone can learn anything-

One must be an ally. They must care about the issues that these groups face. The problems that they are experiencing on a day to day basis. They must become an advocate- because sometimes that struggle is inherent to the spirituality.

However, even then, people must understand that doesn't entitle them to a culture's spiritual heritage or methods. An individual must be an ally selflessly. They must do it while truly expecting nothing in return.

As a syncretic practicioner, I completely understand that cultures don't live in sealed off vacuums. The march of time effects all things. Academia, intermarriage, friendship, and yes, even violence and hatred, can cause the lines of one faith to blur into another. As a person of mixed heritage, I understand this as a complicated truth of my mere exisistence; one I struggle with daily.

But I am tentatively hoping that we can live in more enlightened times. I'm hoping that if some practices and traditions are to intermingle they can do so through mutual respect and sharing; rather than stealing and violence. That there can finally be agency, education and good faith behind our motivations and intentions as practicioners- but that does mean respecting a community's agency and accepting when you are told 'no'.

"Lol Who cares if it's a closed practice? Who's gonna stop me? Who's gonna know? 🤣😝"

The gods.

The gods will know.

[antigonick]

Fascism became an all-purpose term because one can eliminate from a fascist regime one or more features, and it will still be recognizable as fascist. […] But in spite of this fuzziness, I think it is possible to outline a list of features that are typical of what I would like to call Ur-Fascism, or Eternal Fascism. These features cannot be organized into a system; many of them contradict each other, and are also typical of other kinds of despotism or fanaticism. But it is enough that one of them be present to allow fascism to coagulate around it.

The first feature of Ur-Fascism is the cult of tradition [and syncretism]. Syncretism is not only, as the dictionary says, “the combination of different forms of belief or practice”; such a combination must tolerate contradictions. Each of the original messages contains a sliver of wisdom, and whenever they seem to say different or incompatible things it is only because all are alluding, allegorically, to the same primeval truth. As a consequence, there can be no advancement of learning. Truth has been already spelled out once and for all, and we can only keep interpreting its obscure message. […]

Traditionalism implies the rejection of modernism. [… For the Nazis], the rejection of the modern world was disguised as a rebuttal of the capitalistic way of life, but it mainly concerned the rejection of the Spirit of 1789 (and of 1776, of course). The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity. In this sense Ur-Fascism can be defined as irrationalism.

Irrationalism also depends on the cult of action for action’s sake. Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, any previous reflection. Thinking is a form of emasculation. Therefore culture is suspect insofar as it is identified with critical attitudes. […]

No syncretistic faith can withstand analytical criticism. The critical spirit makes distinctions, and to distinguish is a sign of modernism. In modern culture the scientific community praises disagreement as a way to improve knowledge. For Ur-Fascism, disagreement is treason.

Besides, disagreement is a sign of diversity. Ur-Fascism grows up and seeks for consensus by exploiting and exacerbating the natural fear of difference. The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders. Thus Ur-Fascism is racist by definition.

Ur-Fascism derives from individual or social frustration. That is why one of the most typical features of the historical fascism was the appeal to a frustrated middle class, a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation, and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups [or other minorities]. [...]

To people who feel deprived of a clear social identity, Ur-Fascism says that their only privilege is the most common one, to be born in the same country. This is the origin of nationalism. Besides, the only ones who can provide an identity to the nation are its enemies. Thus at the root of the Ur-Fascist psychology there is the obsession with a plot, possibly an international one. [...]

[B]y a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak.

For Ur-Fascism there is no struggle for life but, rather, life is lived for struggle. Thus pacifism is trafficking with the enemy. It is bad because life is permanent warfare. This, however, brings about an Armageddon complex. Since enemies have to be defeated, there must be a final battle, after which the movement will have control of the world. But such a “final solution” implies a further era of peace, a Golden Age, which contradicts the principle of permanent war. No fascist leader has ever succeeded in solving this predicament.

Elitism is a typical aspect of any reactionary ideology, insofar as it is fundamentally aristocratic, and aristocratic and militaristic elitism cruelly implies contempt for the weak. Ur-Fascism can only advocate a popular elitism. Every citizen belongs to the best people of the world, the members of the party are the best among the citizens, every citizen can (or ought to) become a member of the party. But there cannot be patricians without plebeians. Since the group is hierarchically organized (according to a military model), every subordinate leader despises his own underlings, and each of them despises his inferiors. This reinforces the sense of mass elitism.

In such a perspective everybody is educated to become a hero. In every mythology the hero is an exceptional being, but in Ur-Fascist ideology, heroism is the norm. [...] The Ur-Fascist hero craves heroic death, advertised as the best reward for a heroic life. The Ur-Fascist hero is impatient to die. In his impatience, he more frequently sends other people to death.

Since both permanent war and heroism are difficult games to play, the Ur-Fascist transfers his will to power to sexual matters. This is the origin of machismo (which implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality).

Ur-Fascism is based upon a selective populism, a qualitative populism, one might say. [...] For Ur-Fascism, however, individuals as individuals have no rights, and the People is conceived as a quality, a monolithic entity expressing the Common Will. Since no large quantity of human beings can have a common will, the Leader pretends to be their interpreter. Having lost their power of delegation, citizens do not act; they are only called on to play the role of the People. Thus the People is only a theatrical fiction. [...] There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People. Because of its qualitative populism Ur-Fascism must be against “rotten” parliamentary governments. Wherever a politician casts doubt on the legitimacy of a parliament because it no longer represents the Voice of the People, we can smell Ur-Fascism.

Ur-Fascism speaks Newspeak. Newspeak was invented by Orwell, in 1984, as the official language of Ingsoc, English Socialism. But elements of Ur-Fascism are common to different forms of dictatorship. All the Nazi or Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning.

—Umberto Eco, in "Ur-Fascism or Eternal Fascism: Fourteen Ways of Looking at a Blackshirt”

[khaire-traveler]

Polytheist & Pagan Asks

🙏 - Which pantheon(s) do you actively worship?

🌞 - Which deity(ies) are you closest to/do you worship the most often?

✨ - Do you believe in patron deities? If so, do you have any that you know of?

🌍 - Which pantheons do you believe exist?

📜 - Have you ever made an oath, vow, or contract with a deity? If yes, how did it go (you don't have to share)?

📿 - What are three things you're grateful to your deity(ies) for?

🖋️ - If you could say anything to your deity(ies) right now, what would you most want to say?

💌 - What is your favorite form of deity communication?

🎭 - What is an emotionally impactful or a silly worship-related experience you've had?

❤️ - What's one memory of your practice that you reflect the most fondly on?

🥂 - What is your favorite devotional act or offering to give?

🎉 - Do you celebrate any festivals? If so, which ones?

🫂 - Do you syncretize any pantheons with one another? If so, which ones?

🔮 - Do you delve into topics like the occult or the mysteries? Do you do anything esoteric?

⭐ - What is something you wish people outside your practice knew more about?

📖 - Do you like the way your pantheon is most often portrayed in media? Why or why not?

🏛️ - Do you have a favorite statue or temple to your deity(ies)? If yes, what is it?

🔥 - Do you have a favorite myth or tale from your pantheon or others?

🧭 - What led you to your practice?

🧿 - Did you have any other spiritual beliefs before discovering your current practice?

🪽 - Do you believe in angels and/or demons? If yes, do you worship or work with any?

🪄 - Do you practice witchcraft? If yes, do you keep it separate from your deity worship?

🪦 - Do ancestors or human spirits play a big role in your practice?

🐾 - Do animal spirits play a big role in your practice?

🌱 - Does nature - plants, nature spirits, etc. - play a big role in your practice?

💀 - Do you believe in ghosts? If yes, have you ever had an experience with one?

☄️ - Do you believe in astral travel/the astral realm? If so, have you been there before?