Need More Pluralism!

Things are about to get real personal from me, so hold on to your hats.

Historically speaking, the native Hawaiians have kind of been shat on a lot by white foreigners.  (And I say “white foreigners” not to imply that y’all are white foreigners, but because white people aren’t the only people to have visited Hawai’i.  I need to distinguish that I’m talking about a particular group here.)  Their Kingdom - which had been officially recognized as an independent nation with its own monarchy by the US 50 years earlier -  was overthrown and then annexed by the US in the 1890s.  After that, a law was passed that made it illegal to speak the native language in schools or the government.  This seriously happened, along with pressure from foreigners (often Christian missionaries) to suppress many aspects of their culture, especially their arts - the most prominent example being hula (which is a major method of transmission of culture between people, pretty much on par with the language in their culture in terms of importance).

And I need everyone to understand how serious that is.  Their ways of teaching the younger generations their culture - through language and arts - was pretty much taken away from them.  This isn’t a joke.  When white foreigners first reached the Hawaiian islands, there were 500,000 native speakers of their language.  By cutting the language out of major parts of life, the number of its speakers was significantly diminished.  After all, why speak a language you can’t use in important situations?  People usually don’t.  They’ll drop a useless language and learn the useful one - and only teach that to their children.

As of 2008 there are only 2,000 native speakers of the Hawaiian language.  Do you need some perspective?  There are 340 million native speakers of English.  The 30th most spoken language of the world - #30 - is Thai, which has 20 million speakers.   2,000 is nothing.  So when I say tell you that their language is on the brink of death, I mean it.  I am not exaggerating.  But, hey, if you want to feel better about this, you can add the 8,000 or so people who speak Hawaiian, but not as their first, primary language.  That means there are about 10,000 people who can speak the language at all.  That makes it so much better, doesn’t it?  Read that last sentence with intensely bitter and angry sarcasm.  Because it doesn’t make it better.

It doesn’t.  There are 1.42 million people living in Hawai’i today.  That’s 1,410,000 more people that live in Hawai’i than there are speakers of the Hawaiian language in the whole world.

The health of a culture is reflected in the health of their language - it is the clearest, most obvious sign.  We know that destroying a language and can destroy a culture.  When a language dies, no one can truly and fully communicate it’s culture to another person.  There are always things that are untranslatable, subtleties and nuances that can make all the difference in the world.  And the loss of those things means the culture can no longer be truly transferred.  Not unless it was meticulously recorded before the death of the language.  And, let’s be honest, no one was interested in meticulously preserving native cultures until very recently in history, after so much damage had already been done.  In the case of the Hawaiians, their language and culture barely survived the invasion of European settlers and the US overthrow of their Kingdom.  Their entire culture was pushed to the brink of destruction.  Am I getting that point across to you?  Do you understand the depth of meaning in that statement?  Do you understand how serious that is?

Their entire culture was pushed to the brink of destruction.

You know what really is great, though?  There’s a revival of their culture.  More Hawaiian natives are becoming interested in their culture.  And that is so wonderful.  There are people trying to bring their language and their culture back from that brink of death.  Yes.  Yes

But a lot of foreigners are making that really hard for them.   Religion, in particular, is a huge deal here.  Have you ever heard of Huna?  You know, “the ancient healing and spiritual shamanism of ancient Hawaii”?  It’s pretty popular.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to be part of the magical religion of that beautiful island paradise known as Hawai’i?

Except that it’s bullshit.  “Huna” (which is in no way related to the word kahuna, as practitioners would have you believe) was invented by this asshole guy named Max Freedom Long in the mid-1900s.  Basically,this foreign white guy went to Hawai’i and was like, “Hawaiian religion is so cool!  I wanna do that!”  And then when he was told no by the natives, he just made up his own shit about metaphysics and philosophy, slapped some Hawaiian words on it, and called it ~~the healing and spiritual beliefs of the Ancient Hawaiians!!!~~  But it’s not.  It’s obviously based in New Thought and Theosophy - very distinctly not Hawaiian things.

Do you think Huna is Hawaiian religion?  Do you see their Gods through this lens?  Stop.  It’s wrong.  It’s so wrong to view this subject through the lens of a white American man who thought misappropriating a native culture was an acceptable response to being told that he was not allowed to participate in it after his people went in and fucked their whole culture up - officially, on paper - around the time of his birth and throughout his whole lifetime.  I’m so ashamed to even live in the state and that he was born in.

And what about the culture? I mean, what do you [person who is reading this] know about Hawai’i?  Were you even aware that their Kingdom was overthrown by the United States before you read this post?   Is your understanding of “Hawaiian” steeped in tiki culture?  Do you see Hawai’i as a tropical paradise, imagine yourself with fruity drinks in coconut shells, served from exotically decorated tiki bars, that you drink while watching half-naked hula dancers in grass skirts swing their hips for your pleasure, the joyous sounds of a luau in the background?  That sentiment is so wrong it makes me nauseous.  Literally - it literally made me nauseous to type that.  If that’s what you think, just, stop.  That’s so wrong.  (Do you even know anything about luaus?)  Do you think of the native Hawaiians - historically- as gentle, peaceful, nature-loving stewards of the land?  Stop it.  If these kinds of things are your understanding, you don’t know jack shit.

But, okay.  Maybe you [the reader] do know some stuff.  You know about the historical interaction between Hawai’i and the US.  I mean, you’ve heard of Lili’uokalani.  You know how isolated the Hawaiian islands are, right?  You can point to them on an unlabeled map, right?  You know how the people got to the islands in the first place, right?  You understand their seafaring skills and knowledge of the stars, right?  You know about their class system, right?  You know a whole bunch about tapu, right?  You know about kahunas, right?  You know their cultural values, their cuisine, their holidays, their fishing and farming skills, their art forms, their calendar - right?

And you [the reader] know about the struggles of native Hawaiians in the modern day, right?  You’ve heard of Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, you know about her - I mean, you’ve seen the documentary, right?  You’ve even read works by Mary Kawena Pukui, and any number of Native Hawaiian writer, right?  You know how they’retrying to revive their culture, right?  You know about Mauna Kea, you know what’s happening there right now, you know why this matter is important, right?  You understand the impact of intense tourism in their country and on their culture, right?

And, obviously, you [the reader] know some stuff about their Gods, right?  You know the myths of the Akua, right?  You know their names and their kinolau, right?  You know how to honor them, their preferred offerings, how to ma a ki’i for each, who was worshiped at what type of heiau, what prayers to make and when, what actions would dishonor them, right?  You know how to honor your ‘Aumakua, right?  You understand mana, right?

Right?

Or did you just read about the Gods on Godchecker?

Do you understand why cultural appropriation (and misappropriation) is so important?  It’s because most closed cultures exist under the very real threat of extinction, and cultural appropriation contributes to that.  Need an example?

Remember earlier, when I was talking about the near-destruction of the Hawaiian language and culture?  All of the cultural and religious (miss)appropriations and abuses here are a really big deal, and are heavily contributing to that, now, modern day, real time.  Remember how the number of native speakers of the language is so small?  As language reflects cultural health, the number of native cultural practitioners is small.  There’s that revival thing - yes, good!  But when these young people go to look into their culture, to learn it and participate in it, they run into the aforementioned bullshit - the tiki culture and the Huna, things like the image portrayed by the tourism industry (which you could write a book about and still not fully understand).  And they might not know the difference, because they weren’t raised in their native culture, because their parents weren’t, because it was taken away from their grandparents and great grandparents by the same people who are feeding them the aforementioned bullshit.  And so they start practicing that instead of their native culture.  And that lowers the number of native cultural practitioners. And that’s a big deal for a culture so small.  That has the potential to kill it.

And I’m not joking, I’m not speaking hypothetically.  I have read conversations between Hawaiians on Huna is Not Hawaiian about this very topic - about people who discover the fake copy of their culture, only to later learn that it was all wrong.

Believe me, Readers - and believe me, Anon.  I know how “cool” the Hawaiian Gods are.  I know because I can look up at my bookshelf and pick out the hundreds of dollars’ worth of books I own and have read.  I know because I’ve spent days and weeks and months of my life trying to understand them, trying to understand their people, trying to find the truth underneath this thick coating of appropriative bullshit.  I understand a lot of the things I asked if you understood above.  And I know that my knowledge is nothing.  I know, despite all that I’ve learned, that I still know practically nothing.  I have barely even scratched the surface.  I do not know enough to practice Hawaiian religion and culture without contributing to the bullshit, without misappropriating it and disgracing it.  Do you?

And I know because five years ago, when I first discovered them, their impact on me was so profound, I connected with them so deeply, that I gave up converting to Judaism when I was already half way through so that I could pursue worshiping them.  I know because - as much as I love and respect and admire the Theoi (which is a lot) - I have never in my life been so profoundly impacted by any other gods or myths.  (And that’s coming from someone who studies anthropology with an emphasis in religion and spirituality, who reads textbooks on world religions for fun.)  I have been, profoundly, moved to tears by certain mele and hula.  I have felt Lono in the rain and winds.  I have seen Hina in the moon.

And, yeah, I understand that it sucks that you can’t be a part of that because of your race and ethnicity.  I understand that so well.  I have so much love and respect for the Akua.  I have so much love and respect for Hawaiian culture and the Hawaiian people.  I understand how painful it can be to become so attached to something like that, only to realize that you can’t have it.  The day I first realized I had no business there shook me to my core, devastated me, hurt more than anything else I’ve ever experienced in life.  I can’t even describe it.  I tried to - my journal entry for that day is made of inklines blurred with tears and shaking hands - but I can’t.  It’s an unfathomable pain and loss that, if you haven’t felt, you’ll never understand.

And it hurts every time I buy a new book.  (I can’t participate, but I can still learn, sill educate others as best I can and point them to accurate resources.)  It hurts every time I learn a new Hawaiian word.  (I can’t be a part of the culture, but I can try to learn the language, to be one more speaker who has to die for it to die.)

And it hurts every time I think of an Akua instead of a Theoi - because I am overstepping my boundaries with one, and taking away from the rightful worship of another.

See, the thing is, if you care about yourself, you can’t do that to yourself.  Don’t make my mistake.  Don’t get attached to something you can never have.

And if you truly care about the Akua and their people (because they come together; you cannot separate them, you cannot have one and not the other), you can’t force your way into participation.  You can’t just pick a few things up and half-ass it.  If you can’t live in Hawai’i, and go to an actual native Hawaiian, and have them accept you, and have them teach you their ways willingly and truly, then you have no business trying to participate.  The only thing you will end up doing is making yourself miserable, and disgracing and disrespecting yourself and their culture and their Gods.

And this goes for any closed culture.  Most closed cultures have situations frighteningly similar to this.  That is why respecting closed cultures and their boundaries is such a big deal.

You have no business worshiping their Gods within their context, and if you try to do so outside of their context you are contributing to the destruction of their culture and beliefs, which I’m sure would earn you the wrath of the Deities you’re trying to worship.

Stay away from their culture.  Stay away from their religion and spirituality.

You have no right to participate.

It is not your culture.

They are not your Gods.

tl;dr   No.  It is not okay to “look into” the Hawaiian Deities.  If you are not Hawaiian, you have no right to participate in Hawaiian culture or religion, or worship their Gods.  Doubly so if you aren’t even willing to read this fucking post about why.

p.s.   I’m sorry if this came across as rude or condescending or arrogant.  I’m just very passionate about this, and it makes me so askdhskdahflsdkahfkdasjfhkjsdakfjh.          Also, I’m sorry if I said anything stupid or ignorant.  As I said, I know nothing.  If any Hawaiians would like to correct me on anything I said, please, please do!  I would greatly appreciate it!

Hawaiian Culture was never pushed to the brink of anything. It may have taken a sideline to the times but it will always be and will always be taught. Hawaiian Natives have always been interested in their culture, they are aware of the practices and use the condensed version so that they don’t wind up sacrificing their brother to a god or something.

You have to be especially thick to not notice what is “Tourist Culture” vs “Island/Hawaiian Culture”. I cannot fathom how you reached those conclusions. Even the mentioned Queen Liliʻuokalani understood the differences and only requested that the children of Hawaii, which by the way actually meant all children currently residing in Hawaii; Hawaiian or not, have a chance at a proper education. That point alone should tell you that Hawaiians WANT you to embrace their culture. To join it. To help shape its future. 

Come and join us, learn about Pele and Maui, how to hula and not break your hips doing the dance, surf with us, join a random luau/barbecue on the beach by asking, sing our songs terribly, embarrass yourself learning the Ukulele and Ipu, get frustrated trying to say our street names.

You aren’t just stupid or ignorant with this post. You are wrong.

Sincerely,

While I don’t appreciate your flinging of insults (which, as a general rule, I find to be extremely unnecessary from anyone, in any situation), I do appreciate your input on the matter.  Like I said, I don’t consider myself to know as much as I could, and I certainly never claimed to be Hawaiian myself, nor to be an expert on the matter.  I openly invited your input, and it truly and honestly means a lot to me that you took the time to give it!

In response, I would first and foremost like to apologize for any and all miscommunication in my first post.  It was a hurried one, barely proof read (and proof read after posting), and very sloppily thrown together.  It came from a rushed place - and an emotional one, too.  Like I said in the above post, I am passionate about Hawaiian culture, and it makes me “so askdhskdahflsdkahfkdasjfhkjsdakfjh.”  Those feelings most definitely led me to a bit of over exaggeration, colored by my perspective as an anthropology student, and as someone who is utterly terrified of the death of cultures.  And I am likewise terrified of cultural appropriation.  (As I have underexageratedly said before, “That shit isn’t cool.”)  It’s just not okay with me, and I try not to sit idly by while it happens, but to stop it, and educate people on the matter as best as I can.  (In my view, education is so important.  Understanding why you can or can’t do something is so important.)  In trying to learn about Hawaiian culture, I feel that I have seen cases of cultural appropriation.  Huna, I think, is the most prominent case of that.  But perhaps I’m wrong.  Perhaps it’s not really happening, or it’s not happening enough to make any sort of difference.  You would know better than I would.  It’s your culture, not mine.  If I am wrong, and if you don’t want me to speak on the matter, please tell me.  If you, as a Hawaiian, do not want me to be concerned about any appropriation of Hawaiian culture, I will not bring the matter up again.

But to me, this whole thing is a very serious matter.  Cultural appropriation and the death of cultures are very serious matters to me.  And, outside of the topic of Hawaiian culture, I feel that my points on closed cultures, in general, still stand.  There are reasons for closed cultures being closed.  Not all of them are in a state of endangerment, no, but some are.  And I think it’s important to be aware of how things like cultural appropriation effect them, and the gravity of the matter.  My mistake on a single culture does not invalidate that point.  Honestly, this is the matter I was truly trying to get at in this post.  I’m sorry that I used a culture that I didn’t realize wasn’t closed to make this point.  That is my mistake.

I apologize for implying that hula ever stopped.  Of course it didn’t - I mean, it’s still here now!  It wouldn’t be, if it had entirely stopped.  I most certainly didn’t mean to imply that it did.  I could have been clearer on the matter, but, as I said, my post was rushed (I was getting ready for work at the time).  And on top of that, I think I just sort of assumed that people would understand that.  I assumed that people would understand that things don’t have to be completely and entirely 100% lost for their decline to make an impact.  But to assume makes an ass out of u and me.   My bad.  I apologize for that.

And I think the same goes for the language.  It’s obviously not dead - there are still people who speak it, and that number is growing.  I tried to express that, but I think, in my effort to express how serious the death of a language is, my words became misleading nonetheless.  And you’re right, I totally didn’t bring up the adaptation of the language - or the culture, for that matter - and that’s my bad.  Like I said, the post was rushed.  I was running late for work.  I spent the whole drive there thinking about how I didn’t talk about the development of the writing system, or the articles I read the other day on Hawaiian pidgin.  Yeah, I left things out that, in hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have.  Yeah, I definitely cherry-picked some information to get my point across.  Who doesn’t?  I’m not saying it’s right, I’m just saying it happens, a lot, all the time, to everybody.  Sometimes it’s intentional and sometimes it’s not.

But I think that the biggest miscommunication of the matter seems to be that, as you have just made me aware, Hawaiian culture is not, in fact, a closed culture.  This misunderstanding is on my part, and for that I sincerely apologize.  About four or so years ago, when I was really starting to dig deeper into Hawaiian culture, I was explicitly told by a few Hawaiians that their culture was closed, and that non-Hawaiians (myself included) had no right to participation.  This is a sentiment I have heard multiple times in the years since, in multiple places, up until relatively recently (within the last few months),  and so I took this fact to be true.  Your response to my post is literally the first and only time I have ever been explicitly told that Hawaiian culture is open.  All of my other experiences have told me that it was closed, or not mentioned the matter at all.  My assumptions that your culture was closed came from being told that your culture was closed.  Likewise, my assumptions on the matter of tourist culture vs island culture came from hearing those things expressed by Hawaiians (though perhaps, in this case, my information was unfairly biased, as upon retrospection I think those comments came from natives who lived stateside).  Perhaps general sentiments have changed since then  Or perhaps I’m just unlucky, and have had a disproportionate number of experiences with a vocal minority.  That’s entirely possible.  Either way, I can only know what is shown to me, and that is what I saw - that is why I believed it, and why I shared that viewpoint.

And in specific reference to your comment on Queen Lili’uokalani, while I am (and was at the time of the above post) aware of that, I have always functioned under the priority of what people of my time tell me, rather than the sentiments of people of the past.  Times change, situations change, people change.  I try to consider the most recent source of information in these kinds of matters.  You have made it apparent that I was wrong to do so, in this situation.  But I would like to say that, to have taken the beliefs of a single member of a group and assumed it to be true across the board, and across a good deal of time, would have made me very uncomfortable, Queen or no.  The idea still makes me uncomfortable.  While you make a very valid point with this statement, which I deeply appreciate and wholeheartedly agree with, it is a little unfair to imply that I should have held that belief before I made the above post.  As someone who openly stated that they feel they don’t know enough about the subject matter, it would have been wrong of me to assert an opinion and attitude of, “Yeah, totally, they want just everyone to come join in.”  It’s like a friend inviting someone to your party that you didn’t invite.  It’s rude.

And is that hypocritical of me, the person who made a sweeping generalization in the opposite direction?  Yes, it is.  I am young.  I am human.  I mess up sometimes.  I don’t always think clearly, I don’t always have all the information, I don’t always completely understand the situation.  No one does.  No one ever does.  And that’s okay.  It’s okay to make mistakes sometimes.  What’s important isn’t the mistake you make, but how you rectify it, respectfully, and how you learn from it.  That’s why I’m here.  That’s why I’m responding to you, rather that just rolling my eyes and moving on with my life.

After thinking about the matter more while I was at work, and then reading your response when I came home, my belief is that I could have done better all around.  I truly read my post for the first time not very long ago, and I completely understand why you feel the way you do.  I communicated very poorly.  That’s my mistake.  I’m willing to own up to that.

I want to make it clear, though, that while I have given reasons for my statements in the above post, I am not really trying to justify or defend them.  I am not making excuses.  None of my reasoning and experiences absolve me of the consequences of my words and actions.  I should have considered these things before I spoke, but I didn’t.  That was wrong of me, and I am owning up to that.  Rather, I am giving these reasoning in the hopes of a greater understanding - for you, for myself, for my followers, and for anyone who reads this post.  There is no value in anger and miscommunication if no one can understand why it occurred.  So I hope that this response helps everyone learn, to be better people, to help make this world that better of a place.

Again, I want to thank you, sincerely, from the bottom of my heart for your response.  It means so much more to me than you know.  I never meant you any disrespect.  I did not intend to misrepresent your culture.  And while I don’t appreciate you insulting me and responding with (an implied, at the least, even if unintentional) rude and inconsiderate demeanor, I can understand why you would say such things.  I can’t really blame you for that.  I was rude and inconsiderate myself.

I am going to tag the people who have reblogged and liked this post, so that they can see your response.  Are you willing to answer any questions from people who might be curious about the matter, or give any accurate and responsible resources on learning about Hawaiian culture?  If not, that’s okay.  All I really want in life is to be able to spread knowledge and understanding, and this is such a perfect learning opportunity!  :D

What you’ll need:

Several cookies. I suggest the ones that come in a big package for a few dollars. Crunchy cookies work the best. Avoid chocolate if you’ll be doing this outside.

A very bad attitude towards whatever is bothering you.

Somewhere to throw cookies.

Take the first cookie and tell it what it represents. Maybe it’s the way people always tell you “Life’s a cookie” whenever you’re feeling down.  Pr maybe it represents your own anxiety or depression. Whatever it is, give it into your head.

Fill the cookie with your emotion and yell “Fuck that!” throwing the cookie onto the ground, shattering it into tiny fragments of worthlessness.

Feel better about whatever was bothering you as you look at it. And also feel good because some birds will probably get a cookie. That’s so nice of you.

All sorts of tools have been found in pre-Christian women’s graves. The only major craft which seems to have been restricted to men only was Blacksmithing. […]

Here are a few examples of jobs done by women in the medieval period: brewer, laundress, barrel and crate maker, soap boiler, candle maker, book binder, doll painter, butcher, keeper of town keys, tax collector, shepherd, musician, rope maker, banker, money lender, inn keeper, spice seller, pie seller, woad trader, wine merchant, steel merchant, copper importer, currency exchanger, pawn shop owner, lake and river fisherwoman, baker, oil presser, builder, mason, plasterer, cartwright, wood turner, clay and lime worker, glazier, ore miner, silver miner, book illuminator, scribe, teacher, office manager, clerk, court assessor, customs officer, porter, tower guard, prison caretaker, surgeon and midwife. […]

There are records of women traders in 1205 in Genoa, Italy. In fact, 21% of people involved in trade contracts there in the 13th Century were women. Women also provided 14% of capital in seafaring ventures at the time. Even earlier, in the 12th Century, there are records of women traders in Georgia, Eastern Europe. Paris tax registers for 1292, 1300, 1313 list lots of craftswomen, many of whom were in different trades to their husbands. […]

Girls might be educated at home, with private tutor, or at a Convent. There were also schools within towns. In some cases girls were excluded from these, or only allowed to enter elementary schools. In other cases they were allowed to enter secondary schools and obtain a much broader education, including Latin and other languages. Some schools were mixed, others were single sex. Town Councils and the Church had some control over schools and over the appointment of teachers. In 1388, a Jewish woman, Sarah of Gorlitz, donated a property to be used as a school for Jewish children. 

Outside of the Guilds, women might be employed as unskilled labourers in vineyards, on building sites and so on. Many more women than men were employed because they could be paid less for doing the same work. In Wurzburg, 1428-1449, for example, there are records of 323 female building site workers, paid 7.7 pfennings a day, and 13 male building site workers, paid 11.6 pfennings a day. In general, it seems that a wide range of professions were open to medieval women, although they were also subject to a variety of restrictions.

Women artists in the medieval period

Women poets throughout history

Women writers by historical period

Medieval women physicians 

Women in medieval warfare

P.S. Herrad Von Landsburg is my eternal fave:

Basically following what the title says. After seeing another witch write “What has [an author] being racist got to do with witchcraft?” today, I am totally fed up with a lot of blogs on here.

Please reblog if you are anti-racist and anti-appropriation in your witchcraft stance so I can find more blogs to follow. As a black newbie witch, I’m seriously tired of bumping into casual and exclusionary racism on here.

For the most part the only European tradition of witchcraft (I know of exactly) that is closed and is trying to be reclaimed is Strega (Italian witchcraft and folk traditions) and that is explained better by draelogor. Most other traditions of witchcraft are either reconstructed or modern interpretations.

Hippie culture is based entirely on the exotification of marginalised cultures.

Hippies have a fundamental misunderstanding of the pieces of the cultures that they use (I.e. Chakras, smudging, dreadlocks, etc.). The understanding that they have of these cultural aspects stems from racist interpretations of these cultures based on anthropology (which is still a very biased discipline), but at the time of the inception of the hippie movement, anthropology was still being used to show that other races were inferior to white people. Hippie culture takes bits and pieces of these cultures that they see as being “counter” the norm which is fundamentally racist because they see cultures of color as being outside the norm which further others people of color in a western context.

white hippies like to think they’re the least racist of all whites or even not racist at all because they travel to ~foreign lands and get to know the natives~ “embrace” dreadlocks, eastern religions and imagery; they think their appropriation of our cultures and history is acceptance when it couldn’t be further from it. the whole point of being a hippy is being “free”, a better and softer word for uncivilised which is what they ultimately consider us.

Also, yes, this.

I apologize again for my errors and poor communication in this post.  If you have anything you would like to add, please feel free to let me know at needmorepluralism.

So I know that the basic message of this has already been said, but I really have to say this.  This is very, very important to me.  As someone with a passion for the Hawaiian culture and religion, I need y’all - Anon, and everybody - to understand that, unless you are a native Hawaiian, you need to stay out of their culture - and most especially stay out of their religion.

Things are about to get real personal from me, so hold on to your hats.

Historically speaking, the native Hawaiians have kind of been shat on a lot by white foreigners.  (And I say “white foreigners” not to imply that y’all are white foreigners, but because white people aren’t the only people to have visited Hawai’i.  I need to distinguish that I’m talking about a particular group here.)  Their Kingdom - which had been officially recognized as an independent nation with its own monarchy by the US 50 years earlier -  was overthrown and then annexed by the US in the 1890s.  After that, a law was passed that made it illegal to speak the native language in schools or the government.  This seriously happened, along with pressure from foreigners (often Christian missionaries) to suppress many aspects of their culture, especially their arts - the most prominent example being hula (which is a major method of transmission of culture between people, pretty much on par with the language in their culture in terms of importance).

And I need everyone to understand how serious that is.  Their ways of teaching the younger generations their culture - through language and arts - was pretty much taken away from them.  This isn’t a joke.  When white foreigners first reached the Hawaiian islands, there were 500,000 native speakers of their language.  By cutting the language out of major parts of life, the number of its speakers was significantly diminished.  After all, why speak a language you can’t use in important situations?  People usually don’t.  They’ll drop a useless language and learn the useful one - and only teach that to their children.

As of 2008 there are only 2,000 native speakers of the Hawaiian language.  Do you need some perspective?  There are 340 million native speakers of English.  The 30th most spoken language of the world - #30 - is Thai, which has 20 million speakers.   2,000 is nothing.  So when I say tell you that their language is on the brink of death, I mean it.  I am not exaggerating.  But, hey, if you want to feel better about this, you can add the 8,000 or so people who speak Hawaiian, but not as their first, primary language.  That means there are about 10,000 people who can speak the language at all.  That makes it so much better, doesn’t it?  Read that last sentence with intensely bitter and angry sarcasm.  Because it doesn’t make it better.

It doesn’t.  There are 1.42 million people living in Hawai’i today.  That’s 1,410,000 more people that live in Hawai’i than there are speakers of the Hawaiian language in the whole world.

The health of a culture is reflected in the health of their language - it is the clearest, most obvious sign.  We know that destroying a language and can destroy a culture.  When a language dies, no one can truly and fully communicate it’s culture to another person.  There are always things that are untranslatable, subtleties and nuances that can make all the difference in the world.  And the loss of those things means the culture can no longer be truly transferred.  Not unless it was meticulously recorded before the death of the language.  And, let’s be honest, no one was interested in meticulously preserving native cultures until very recently in history, after so much damage had already been done.  In the case of the Hawaiians, their language and culture barely survived the invasion of European settlers and the US overthrow of their Kingdom.  Their entire culture was pushed to the brink of destruction.  Am I getting that point across to you?  Do you understand the depth of meaning in that statement?  Do you understand how serious that is?

Their entire culture was pushed to the brink of destruction.

You know what really is great, though?  There’s a revival of their culture.  More Hawaiian natives are becoming interested in their culture.  And that is so wonderful.  There are people trying to bring their language and their culture back from that brink of death.  Yes.  Yes

But a lot of foreigners are making that really hard for them.   Religion, in particular, is a huge deal here.  Have you ever heard of Huna?  You know, “the ancient healing and spiritual shamanism of ancient Hawaii”?  It’s pretty popular.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to be part of the magical religion of that beautiful island paradise known as Hawai’i?

Except that it’s bullshit.  “Huna” (which is in no way related to the word kahuna, as practitioners would have you believe) was invented by this asshole guy named Max Freedom Long in the mid-1900s.  Basically,this foreign white guy went to Hawai’i and was like, “Hawaiian religion is so cool!  I wanna do that!”  And then when he was told no by the natives, he just made up his own shit about metaphysics and philosophy, slapped some Hawaiian words on it, and called it ~~the healing and spiritual beliefs of the Ancient Hawaiians!!!~~  But it’s not.  It’s obviously based in New Thought and Theosophy - very distinctly not Hawaiian things.

Do you think Huna is Hawaiian religion?  Do you see their Gods through this lens?  Stop.  It’s wrong.  It’s so wrong to view this subject through the lens of a white American man who thought misappropriating a native culture was an acceptable response to being told that he was not allowed to participate in it after his people went in and fucked their whole culture up - officially, on paper - around the time of his birth and throughout his whole lifetime.  I’m so ashamed to even live in the state and that he was born in.

And what about the culture? I mean, what do you [person who is reading this] know about Hawai’i?  Were you even aware that their Kingdom was overthrown by the United States before you read this post?   Is your understanding of “Hawaiian” steeped in tiki culture?  Do you see Hawai’i as a tropical paradise, imagine yourself with fruity drinks in coconut shells, served from exotically decorated tiki bars, that you drink while watching half-naked hula dancers in grass skirts swing their hips for your pleasure, the joyous sounds of a luau in the background?  That sentiment is so wrong it makes me nauseous.  Literally - it literally made me nauseous to type that.  If that’s what you think, just, stop.  That’s so wrong.  (Do you even know anything about luaus?)  Do you think of the native Hawaiians - historically- as gentle, peaceful, nature-loving stewards of the land?  Stop it.  If these kinds of things are your understanding, you don’t know jack shit.

But, okay.  Maybe you [the reader] do know some stuff.  You know about the historical interaction between Hawai’i and the US.  I mean, you’ve heard of Lili’uokalani.  You know how isolated the Hawaiian islands are, right?  You can point to them on an unlabeled map, right?  You know how the people got to the islands in the first place, right?  You understand their seafaring skills and knowledge of the stars, right?  You know about their class system, right?  You know a whole bunch about tapu, right?  You know about kahunas, right?  You know their cultural values, their cuisine, their holidays, their fishing and farming skills, their art forms, their calendar - right?

And you [the reader] know about the struggles of native Hawaiians in the modern day, right?  You’ve heard of Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, you know about her - I mean, you’ve seen the documentary, right?  You’ve even read works by Mary Kawena Pukui, and any number of Native Hawaiian writer, right?  You know how they’retrying to revive their culture, right?  You know about Mauna Kea, you know what’s happening there right now, you know why this matter is important, right?  You understand the impact of intense tourism in their country and on their culture, right?

And, obviously, you [the reader] know some stuff about their Gods, right?  You know the myths of the Akua, right?  You know their names and their kinolau, right?  You know how to honor them, their preferred offerings, how to ma a ki’i for each, who was worshiped at what type of heiau, what prayers to make and when, what actions would dishonor them, right?  You know how to honor your ‘Aumakua, right?  You understand mana, right?

Right?

Or did you just read about the Gods on Godchecker?

Do you understand why cultural appropriation (and misappropriation) is so important?  It’s because most closed cultures exist under the very real threat of extinction, and cultural appropriation contributes to that.  Need an example?

Remember earlier, when I was talking about the near-destruction of the Hawaiian language and culture?  All of the cultural and religious (miss)appropriations and abuses here are a really big deal, and are heavily contributing to that, now, modern day, real time.  Remember how the number of native speakers of the language is so small?  As language reflects cultural health, the number of native cultural practitioners is small.  There’s that revival thing - yes, good!  But when these young people go to look into their culture, to learn it and participate in it, they run into the aforementioned bullshit - the tiki culture and the Huna, things like the image portrayed by the tourism industry (which you could write a book about and still not fully understand).  And they might not know the difference, because they weren’t raised in their native culture, because their parents weren’t, because it was taken away from their grandparents and great grandparents by the same people who are feeding them the aforementioned bullshit.  And so they start practicing that instead of their native culture.  And that lowers the number of native cultural practitioners. And that’s a big deal for a culture so small.  That has the potential to kill it.

And I’m not joking, I’m not speaking hypothetically.  I have read conversations between Hawaiians on Huna is Not Hawaiian about this very topic - about people who discover the fake copy of their culture, only to later learn that it was all wrong.

Believe me, Readers - and believe me, Anon.  I know how “cool” the Hawaiian Gods are.  I know because I can look up at my bookshelf and pick out the hundreds of dollars’ worth of books I own and have read.  I know because I’ve spent days and weeks and months of my life trying to understand them, trying to understand their people, trying to find the truth underneath this thick coating of appropriative bullshit.  I understand a lot of the things I asked if you understood above.  And I know that my knowledge is nothing.  I know, despite all that I’ve learned, that I still know practically nothing.  I have barely even scratched the surface.  I do not know enough to practice Hawaiian religion and culture without contributing to the bullshit, without misappropriating it and disgracing it.  Do you?

And I know because five years ago, when I first discovered them, their impact on me was so profound, I connected with them so deeply, that I gave up converting to Judaism when I was already half way through so that I could pursue worshiping them.  I know because - as much as I love and respect and admire the Theoi (which is a lot) - I have never in my life been so profoundly impacted by any other gods or myths.  (And that’s coming from someone who studies anthropology with an emphasis in religion and spirituality, who reads textbooks on world religions for fun.)  I have been, profoundly, moved to tears by certain mele and hula.  I have felt Lono in the rain and winds.  I have seen Hina in the moon.

And, yeah, I understand that it sucks that you can’t be a part of that because of your race and ethnicity.  I understand that so well.  I have so much love and respect for the Akua.  I have so much love and respect for Hawaiian culture and the Hawaiian people.  I understand how painful it can be to become so attached to something like that, only to realize that you can’t have it.  The day I first realized I had no business there shook me to my core, devastated me, hurt more than anything else I’ve ever experienced in life.  I can’t even describe it.  I tried to - my journal entry for that day is made of inklines blurred with tears and shaking hands - but I can’t.  It’s an unfathomable pain and loss that, if you haven’t felt, you’ll never understand.

And it hurts every time I buy a new book.  (I can’t participate, but I can still learn, sill educate others as best I can and point them to accurate resources.)  It hurts every time I learn a new Hawaiian word.  (I can’t be a part of the culture, but I can try to learn the language, to be one more speaker who has to die for it to die.)

And it hurts every time I think of an Akua instead of a Theoi - because I am overstepping my boundaries with one, and taking away from the rightful worship of another.

See, the thing is, if you care about yourself, you can’t do that to yourself.  Don’t make my mistake.  Don’t get attached to something you can never have.

And if you truly care about the Akua and their people (because they come together; you cannot separate them, you cannot have one and not the other), you can’t force your way into participation.  You can’t just pick a few things up and half-ass it.  If you can’t live in Hawai’i, and go to an actual native Hawaiian, and have them accept you, and have them teach you their ways willingly and truly, then you have no business trying to participate.  The only thing you will end up doing is making yourself miserable, and disgracing and disrespecting yourself and their culture and their Gods.

And this goes for any closed culture.  Most closed cultures have situations frighteningly similar to this.  That is why respecting closed cultures and their boundaries is such a big deal.

You have no business worshiping their Gods within their context, and if you try to do so outside of their context you are contributing to the destruction of their culture and beliefs, which I’m sure would earn you the wrath of the Deities you’re trying to worship.

Stay away from their culture.  Stay away from their religion and spirituality.

You have no right to participate.

It is not your culture.

They are not your Gods.

tl;dr   No.  It is not okay to “look into” the Hawaiian Deities.  If you are not Hawaiian, you have no right to participate in Hawaiian culture or religion, or worship their Gods.  Doubly so if you aren’t even willing to read this fucking post about why.

p.s.   I’m sorry if this came across as rude or condescending or arrogant.  I’m just very passionate about this, and it makes me so askdhskdahflsdkahfkdasjfhkjsdakfjh.          Also, I’m sorry if I said anything stupid or ignorant.  As I said, I know nothing.  If any Hawaiians would like to correct me on anything I said, please, please do!  I would greatly appreciate it!

Introduction to magic masterpost

You have probably seen many labels people give themselves, especially in witchcraft. Some witchcraft labels I have seen, off of the top of my head, are

Death

Kitchen

Cottage

Fire

Sea

Water

Earth

Nature

Storm

Wind

Weather

Some people seem to believe that these kind of definitions and labels are necessary, like, “I need to choose what kind of witch I’ll be!” I have been asked several times for a “complete” list of the “types” of witches, presumably so people can check out their options.

I have also received messages from people who want to know if it is “okay” for them to work with elements that are opposed to their Zodiac sign, or if it is “okay” to be a sea witch and still use fire (??)

I don’t understand where these self-limiting ideas came from, but they are not necessary! You don’t have to limit yourself! You don’t have to choose between one or two ‘types’ of magic or one or two elements to work from. It is great to find styles of craft you connect with but that doesn’t mean you are bound to them. These labels do not own you, they are only tools to describe your path to others.

You do not need a deep spiritual connection with something in order to use it for magic.  I get many questions like, “I don’t really connect with water, is it okay if I use it in my practice?” YES, it is okay! I don’t have a deep spiritual connection with my sponge but I still use it every time I do the dishes. It is fine to let your intuition guide you, but that doesn’t mean you are limited to only practice what you immediately connect with.

Like, I see it on those “Who I follow” things and it’s like

“Oh my gawd. You picked meeeee”! xD

Also, the same for skulls.  I can’t see a skull anymore without being like, “Yeah, shipping-the-gods likes skulls, their all about Hades and Thanatos who are all about skulls, kinda, skulls, death, shipping-the-gods, that whole chain of relations.”

I don’t have a patron deity, spirit, or what-have-you, and I’m not particularly interested in finding one.

When I first started out, I desperately wanted one. When one wasnt made apparent to me, I chose one, which is a perfectly acceptable thing to do. I said, you! I like you! Like me, maybe please?

And maybe if I kept it up, maybe if I hadnt had this spiritual dry spell and intense self examination, I would still be trying to get their attention and love.

Now, I dont seek their love, and they dont seek mine. They have my respect and admiration; it is a casual relationship though. I feel like we’re the sort of friends that smile knowingly to each other when we pass and dont feel the need to engage in small talk.