The Ethnicity of dieties

[Anonymous]

Some one said something to suggest to me that unless you share the ethnicity of that diety you can't call on them or follow them.  I believe they are wrong but if anyone has information that can help either reinforce this isn't true or not can anyone let me know.

Personally, I don't believe that only a celtic can call to a celtic deity or anything like that because so many other aspects of a deity can call to anyone of any race, not to mention that just because you are one race in this life doesn't mean that you've been that race in every life.  However I am a novice and I want to be sure I know what I'm talking about so any insights or information that would be enlightening would be appreciated.

[RedRonin]

Sounds like a giant dumptruck load of cowflops to me.

I seriously doubt the Divine makes all the petty distinctions regarding race, gender, sexual orientation or whatever that we bipeds use in order to feel superior to those not of our ilk.

Placing names, etc. of the dieties is something we do to make what is unknowable more acceptable to our feeble minds.  Making the comment that one can only call on this or that name just goes to demonstrate how feeble some of those minds can be.

[Anonymous]

Thanks.  This is helpful and appreciated.  This type of stupidity isn't new to me, my race opens me up to a lot of this, it wouldn't have stopped me at all, but it feels kind of strengthening that most people are open and without this type of pettiness

[Jennie]

My thoughts on this can be summed up pretty briefly.

What kind of an arrogant fool would tell a *DEITY* who He or She could or could not call as a follower or what names those followers could use

Seems pretty presumptuous of whoever told you this to try to limit who the GODS can interact with. It's bad enough when people try to divide us from each other based on race or ethnicity. It is almost unbelievable when they try to divide us from the Gods whose call we hear within.

Bright blessings,
Jennie

[Anonymous]

There are some who believe this way.  I am not one of them.  An obvious example of a religion that accepts people of all races would be Christianity.

[Anonymous]

Well...I wouldn't go as far as that.

I am uncomfortable with the tendency of some very eclectic people to worship Isis (for example) with Norse rites.... its seems careless, and offensive to me. I think the old advice "shoemaker, stick to your last," is good in religious matters.

As for your ethnicity having been different in other lives, I wouldn't count on it. I don't think that souls bounce around the Globeon their journeys; even allowing for transmigration, one tend to go where we have been before, so to speak, returning to the family and clan in which we were originally born -- as long as we are reborn human, anyway.

That's how it looks to me.

[Anonymous]

I agree, it sets my teeth on edge when people mix the cultural rites, or even call on different pantheons in the same rite.  

Other than that, I have no problem with people following/calling on what ever deity they choose.

[Anonymous]

Some one said something to suggest to me that unless you share the ethnicity of that diety you can't call on them or follow them.  I believe they are wrong but if anyone has information that can help either reinforce this isn't true or not can anyone let me know.

That's almost as silly as another thing I've heard.

A friend of grandma's claimed it's unhealthy for people to eat anything that doesn't grow in the climate they are born in.  

or even call on different pantheons in the same rite.

A question here. not that I tried calling both, but what about the Greek and the Roman gods? most of them are the same thing really, only with a different name (there are some differences in some, but not in all)

[Anonymous]

*cough*BS*cough*

If something about a particular deity calls to you, pay attention to that. Work with it.  I'm a Mexican/Western-European mix, and I find myself strongly attracted to Yoruban deities and Santeria in addition to some of the deities connected to my nationality. And whose bright idea was it that you had to be of a certain nationality to work with certain deities? Heh...if I were a God/dess, I would be pretty PO'd if somebody pulled a stunt like that...you believe what you believe!

Fairest fortune,

Creidwy

[Anonymous]

I agree, it sets my teeth on edge when people mix the cultural rites, or even call on different pantheons in the same rite.quote]

I think this depends on the reasons for the usage of the name in question. If you truly believe in the existence of the deities of a specific pantheon over any others I agree with you.

But if you believe (as i do) that the specific name is only to help attune the paticular psychodrama surely it is best to use the god/goddess that you find most embodies the aspect you are trying to envoke.

[Anonymous]

Some people talk out of their backsides!

Deities do belong to specific cultures but CULTURE IS NOT THE SAME THING AS RACE!!!!!  Culture is made up of and influenced by many things, language, lifestyle, environment, etc.

If you wish to call to a deity, first learn as much as you can about the culture they belong to first.  

Speaking as a Heathen, I get more than a little fed up when I come across idiots who assume that because they have a Germanic ancestry have an automatic understanding of, or "right" to, Germanic culture and beliefs.  

You want Celtic or anything else, you go study it and see if it's right for you.

Wassail

Frog

[Anonymous]

I am of Italian heritage, yet was very strongly drawn to the Welsh myths...I did (and continue to do) a lot of research on Welsh culture, language, customs, etc.  If I am going to adopt the pantheon of a region, I am not going to do it willy-nilly.  

[branwen]

CULTURE IS NOT THE SAME THING AS RACE!!!!

Thank you, Frog!

A little known fact. There are no races.  For years, scientists tried to figure out what distinctions actually exists among races and could not come up with any criteria that fit all cases.  It is a continuum.  Variations in skin pigment, for example, range from the darkest black to the palest white, but skin pigment is an environmental adaptation to the degree of ultraviolet intensity of the sun in a given geographical area.  All other "racial" qualities also form a range.  This is most easily seen in the range of physical characteristics of natives from New Guinea to the Hawaiian Islands.  The fact is, there are no speciation differences, no sub-speciation, nor any other scientific method of distinguishing what are commonly called races.

However, what we call races tend to originate in different geographical locations and have different cultures.  Religion is a part of culture and therefore the deities associated with the religion are part of that culture.  Just as we can learn a foreign language, we can also learn about the deities of different cultures.

As for sharing ethnicity, I guess I'd have to stick with Celtlic deities, being Irish and Scot.  That didn't suit me; it didn't give me everything I needed in the deities.  So, I primarily associate myself with 2 Celtic deities, one Egyptian, one West African (Yoruban), and on occassion, a Roman or Greek deity.

If you wish to call to a deity, first learn as much as you can about the culture they belong to first.

This is absolutely essential.  You can't just pick a deity out of the air and say you'll go with that one.  Learn everything you can about him or her before even attempting to call her.  Someone doesn't become your best friend until you get to know each other well.  It's the same.  You get personal with a deity and you should know what they like and dislike, what their history says of their experiences, etc.

I am uncomfortable with the tendency of some very eclectic people to worship Isis (for example) with Norse rites.... its seems careless, and offensive to me.

Eolas, I agree... I think.  I'm not as familiar with Norse deities as I'd like to be.  If one is going to do a ritual, for example, and call two deities, they should be certain that they would be compatible.  To do otherwise would be careless.  Some eclectics call on different deities in different circumstances so that there isn't that kind of direct confrontation among them.  

I can't imagine a ritual in which I would call every deity I "know" - it just wouldn't make sense (and it would be a difficult ritual to perform.)  For example, if I want to appeal to Oshun (West African Orisha) then she (and Eleggua the gate keeper) would be the only one I invoke.  The ritual involves a lot of offerings (a large pumpkin full), dance, music and other features that are not particularly compatible with other deities.  However, I did ask Oshun and Branwen (Welsh goddess) if they were okay with me calling on both of them.  The answer I received was a very positive sign, and I've never felt like I was offending either of them.

Being eclectic is not just throwing a bunch of ideas together, or even deities.  It is a reasoned selection backed by extensive research.  However, I don't think ethnicity or race enters into it as long as one is careful to consider any cultural factors that might make two deities incompatible.