As I try to reconnect with my spiritual side, I encounter an interesting situation. During my research, I find many different paths, but only a few are popular enough to attract most people. This often occurs when individuals move beyond their family belief systems to find their own. For instance, the major categories like Norse, Greek, and Wicca fall under various pagan subcategories. I don’t mean to suggest these are bad, but they highlight how simple the human race can be.
The debate over close practices revolves around the delicate boundary between appreciation, appropriation, mimicry, commercialization, and erasure. This issue has persisted for centuries, with those in authority often attempting to define each. Many of our modern holidays, tracking systems, and ways of celebration originate from diverse cultures and beliefs that were merged through war and forced conversions.
Conversions have historically impacted people and continue to do so today. An example of forced conversions can be seen during Roman times, before and after embracing Christianity. During that period, there was a shift from multiple belief systems to a singular religion, resulting in many cultural practices being lost over time. Families who could trace their lineage back to the Roman Empire often lost their individual belief identities. Many still struggle today to reclaim their cultural roots. However, because these events happened so long ago, they are often forgotten. Nonetheless, history tends to repeat itself. Current examples include indigenous tribes worldwide, such as the Sami and Native Americans in North, Central, and South America, who are still working to recover their cultural identities.
Then there’s the debate about heritage and your DNA’s influence. DNA tells an incredible story of how far your ancestors’ bloodline traveled to create you, but that’s only part of the story. Some people try to misuse their DNA for power— for example, claiming to be inherently native and authoritarian about it. Inherently, they seek to reconnect with a culture they’ve been denied, while authoritarian figures may exploit this knowledge to justify their actions.
I am Dominican, which means my genetic makeup is more diverse compared to most European, Asian, and African populations. This diversity results from colonialism and the slave trade. I can trace my ancestry back to my great-grandfather from Spain, who contributed most of my European DNA, while the slave trade accounts for the majority of my genetic heritage. Additionally, I have enough indigenous ancestry to identify my initial roots, which predates the colonial period.
Due to colonialism, many people lacking knowledge of their cultural history or deep roots find it hard to access information about cultures that remain largely invisible to outsiders. If I hadn’t been raised closely with my grandmother and mother’s family, many cultural and belief systems would remain out of reach for me. The person I call dad belongs to a completely different family tree, yet I have inherited some of his family’s cultural and belief practices.
This is why many individuals find it difficult to discover belief systems outside their family religion. How can you identify your core beliefs when your culture and heritage have been taken from you?
