Spiritual Appropriation: Exploiting the Rituals of Others

Taking rituals and ceremonies that aren’t yours and using them contrary to their original purpose: this form of cultural appropriation commonly happens with spiritual practice. In a time when interspirituality has become common, what is important to consider about the appropriation of the beliefs and rituals of others?

The following is a text version of this blog.

We live in an interesting time.  In no other era have people borrowed so freely from the spiritual practices, rituals, ceremonies, and beliefs of others.  Therapists encourage people to adopt Buddhist meditation practices without any understanding of Buddhism.  Some people burn sage and sweet grass to get rid of evil spirits or negative energy without realizing that this is a ceremony of prayer meant to bring people wholeness and peace.  Others think that by attending a class at a health club and stretching on a mat they are yogis, like the great teachers of India.  Whether they mean to or not, many people use the spiritual practices of other cultures in a way that appropriates the cultures of others and is an extension of colonialism.  How can we engage in spiritual practices in ways that aren’t cultural appropriation?  What does it mean to de-colonize spiritual practices?

Many people find that spiritual practices different from the ones they practice in their families can be very fulfilling.  If a practice is from a different culture or religion than yours, does that mean you shouldn’t engage in it?  Not necessarily.  It depends a great deal on how we learn and engage in those practices.

In the 1970s, Native American scholar Vine Deloria wrote an important book about religion and spirituality from the perspective of Native American communities and cultures. The title of the book is God is Red. One of the topics he addressed was the way that Euro-American people freely adopted Native practices.  Yes, there’s the irony that the culture that invaded Native land and outlawed Native ceremonies began to adopt some of those ceremonies.  Deloria was clear that just because a non-Native person engaged in the ceremony didn’t mean that it was the actual ceremony.  He used an analogy to make his point.  As Deloria put it, imagine that a Native American person walked into a Roman Catholic Cathedral, put on the vestments of a priest, went to the altar, and read the prayers from the book, does that mean that he said Mass?  Not only would such an action be a scandal for a Catholic, but it would also be a misappropriation of the ritual at the heart of Catholicism.  It would not be a Catholic Mass. 

Similarly, when someone takes the ritual and ceremonies of another belief system or culture and engages in them, it’s stealing from that culture.  It’s also reducing that ritual or ceremony to something of a mockery because it has lost its cultural context.  It is not only Indigenous peoples who have voiced this complaint.  So have Buddhists and Hindus. 

Does this mean that someone should never participate in rituals or ceremonies outside of their own culture?  No.  Instead, what matters is how you participate.

I’ve been fortunate enough to learn from teachers and spiritual leaders who were Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, and Native American.  I’ve spoken about that in other videos on this channel and in my writing.  But I’ve never claimed to be any of those things.  In each case, I was either invited into the group or asked to learn from the spiritual teacher or elder.  In some cases, that meant that I was asked to give something in return for what I learned.  For example, when learning from a Hindu guru, he asked that in return I teach classes on Christian spirituality to a few members of the ashram who were interested in knowing more.  With Native American medicine people, I was taught that bringing gifts of tobacco as well as material items for the community was not just expected but was considered respectful and honoring the culture.  In most cases, the right way of learning is based on reciprocity.  

There were times when I asked teachers or elders questions and they told me that they could not answer those questions.  This was particularly true with indigenous people.  In some tribes, some things are not shared with anyone outside of the tribe, including other indigenous people. 

If your goal is to lead an authentic spiritual life, incorporating spiritual practices in a way that respects the origin of those traditions, then consider carefully whether you are inadvertently engaging in cultural appropriation or spiritual colonialism.  Rather than just freely taking from traditions and cultures that are not your own, one simple thing you can do is find ways to give back and support people from those cultures.