#oh and if you're still using white sage if you aren't directly involved with the natives stewarding it you're a piece of shit ngl

[salixsociety]

Determining Appropriate Herb Usage

On figuring out if an herb is closed, and appropriate usage of cultural plants.

I often see people asking for things like a list of closed herbs/plants. And while I hate to be the bearer of bad news, sometimes you have to accept that what seems like a simple and practical solution can never be made reality. There will never be an exhaustive or complete list of closed herbs, because there are too many. Also, not everybody agrees on what appropriation is, and there are a lot of cultures that should be closed but haven't been appropriated enough for that to be common knowledge/a concern the original culture expresses. So here is how to go over all the necessary considerations to see if you are or could be (mis)appropriating an herb.

Determining if a Plant is Closed/Inappropriate to Use

The best rule of thumb, in my opinion, to check if an herb is not open to you is to answer the following questions. These may be good to apply to other items and practices, too.

Is the plant native to an area of land that is or once was primarily populated by indigenous people(s), or by a cultural group with a history of oppression by external groups?

Is the plant extremely/famously culturally significant to the people stewarding it?

Would it be of detriment to the people of that culture, or the culture itself, if you also used it?

Are you able to use it in the appropriate cultural context?

Have the people of that culture suffered in the past because of the use of that plant by external groups, or by your specific culture/background?

Is the plant endangered?

Not all of these need to be a yes for the plant to be a closed plant. Really, even if you only said yes to two the odds are solid you shouldn't be using it - but you need to factor the necessary nuance.

Below the cut: examples, definitions of closed practices and cultural appropriation, appropriate cultural context, usage dependent appropriation.

EXAMPLES: ---------

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

No

No

This plant is most likely fine for you to use. ---------

Yes

No

Yes

No

No

No

You should not use this plant. ---------

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

You should not use this plant. ---------

Now I can imagine some people upon hearing this will be shocked at how many plants this suddenly rules out. "By this logic, cinnamon is closed too!" And to that I say: there is nothing wrong with that. This leads us into our next topic:

Culturally Appropriate Usage

I can make many arguments for why cinnamon might be closed to certain people, especially Northwestern Europeans. You mean to tell me you use a spice that was a direct reason for age-long exploitation of a giant nation, millions of deaths, slave trading, etc... for prosperity magic, as an English person? That's sounding pretty crazy to me. I am not afraid to point out the flaws in using plants from wildly different parts of the world and wildly different cultures than your own in magic, and this is one of them. What's more is that your local environment probably already has plants or materials that have been associated with prosperity or money *without* slave trade involved, and in learning them and to love them you are contributing to cultural and environmental preservation. (See my post about connecting with local flora). Cinnamon only serves as an example here. There are many plants that may only be closed in certain circumstances, to certain people(s), et cetera. And there are many ways to use plants in both culturally appropriate and inappropriate ways. One situation that is always appropriate is if you were invited by the people of that culture to use their closed plant alongside them, with their guidance. It is also appropriate to use a plant very culturally significant to others if you are able to respect the cultural value, cosmology, traditional way of using, and goals of a plant while using it - you can copy the entire ritual and associated beliefs without doing harm to the original culture. In turn, if you cannot do that, even if your people are not a (historical) oppressor to the culture the plant is native to, consider whether it is really appropriate for you to apply, and if there's something closer to home that serves the same purpose. Also note that if your motivations for wanting to participate in something is that it feels more beautiful, mystical, spiritual, or something else in that vein, that is usually fetishization.

Definition of a 'Closed' Plant, Appropriation

A closed item, practice, etc, is defined as something unique to one cultural/ethnic/racial group and cannot be practised by people outside of the group. You must either be born into the group or initiated into it through ritual by approved authorities. You may be invited to temporarily partake in closed practices by people formally in the group practicing it, but you do not become truly part of the practice, and your right to partake starts and ends with the invitation you received. Something can be closed to you, but not to certain other groups not part of the tradition. This usually occurs if the person wishing to partake is of a background that is associated with harm or hatred to the practicing group. This should be respected. The opposite of a closed something is an open something. Cultural appropriation is unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of certain cultural practices, values, items, beliefs, etc into your own conduct. It is defined as inappropriate when the way you do it, or your doing it at all, brings harm to the people originally practicing. The culture and knowledge about it going lost, being irreversibly changed, being widely misunderstood, watered down or ostracized counts as harm. Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to appropriate open practices and materials.

-- I hope if nothing else this was a helpful guide for you to use as a rule of thumb. Let's all add everything we can to cultural conservation and respect, and teach kindly those who are not yet aware.