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Dream Catchers: Popular, But Not Pagan
Peruse any Pagan shop or selling website, and chances are good you’ll stumble, at some point, across dream catchers. While these are popular items that have made into the mainstream, particularly in the metaphysical community, they’re not specifically Pagan, at least not in the context of modern Neopaganism – much of which stems from European beliefs and practices. In fact, dream catchers actually have their beginnings in Native American spirituality. It is believed that dream catchers originated with the Ojibwe, or Chippewa, peoples of North American. Tribal communities existed primarily around the northern part of the United States and the southern regions of Canada, in particular, around the Great Lakes.…
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Cultural Appropriation and Why It Matters
Cultural appropriation is a term you may see referenced in many discussions of modern Pagan religion. It refers to, quite simply, the appropriation of one culture’s practice and belief system by another, but without the true cultural context. For example, NeoWiccans who integrate totem animals, vision quests, and sweat lodge sessions as an homage to Native Americans – but who are not Native Americans themselves, and do not understand the usage of those practices on a cultural level because of it – could arguably be accused of cultural appropriation. Be aware that different people view cultural appropriation in different ways. Some see it as a form of flattery – a…
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Dream Catchers: Totally Not Pagan, You Guys
I love perusing Etsy and Pinterest and getting great ideas and seeing all the clever crafty things that other people are doing to celebrate their spirituality, I really do. But for the love of Zeus’ kidney, y’all. DREAMCATCHERS ARE NOT WICCAN. They’re not even NeoPagan, if we use NeoPagan in the context of “modern Paganism based upon proto-Indo-European religious beliefs.” They’re Native American. And while there’s absolutely nothing wrong with appreciating Native American spirituality, it’s completely a terrible idea to appropriate it. In other words, if you’re not Native American, you are lacking the cultural and societal context in which something sacred like a dream catcher actually works. Now, before…
