THE ARCANE ARCHIVE
	a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects.

To: alt.religion.orisha,alt.magick.tyagi
From: catherine yronwode 
Subject: Re: Spiritual Marketing in ATRs
Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 21:06:24 GMT

Regarding "Spiritual marketing" in African Traditional Religions and in
African diaspora communities of the Americas --  

E. C. Ballard (eballard@sas.upenn.edu) wrote:

> There are lots of noises against vendors of spiritual merchandise. 
> These tend to come from certain corners of the community. I think it 
> is important to understand the roots of the industry, the very real
> services which are provided by the overwhelming majority in the 
> business (and the majority are legitimate service providers) as well 
> as the unspoken and probably unrecognized roots behind the 
> objections being raised to them. Things are seldom either/or 
> propositions and one should always be wary when someone attempts to 
> present a situation in simplistic terms.
> 
> First of all, it is not true that in African societies it has always
> required years of study to gain slowly taught knowledge. There are
> traditional cultures in which spiritual fundaments may be gained 
> through commerce or through other situations which cause rapid 
> change and the rapid gaining of spiritual forces. Some traditions 
> work that way, others do not. Sometimes it is a bit of a mix.
> 
> All of that is to say that it is in fact a time honored African
> tradition to sell spiritual foundations. Like it or not, this is 
> well documented in many cultures. Also, it is not simply the result 
> of the decadent influence of Euroopean or other political and 
> colonial influence.
> 
> Now, the people who object to the sale of items often have an agenda
> that is hidden, even from themselves. Some may legitimately be 
> offended that their spiritual traditions are being handled in a way 
> that doesn't coincide with their views of how it is meant to be. 
> There may be legitimate outrage. However, we need to examine and 
> understand a few things as well. Self-examination is good if it 
> leads to more understanding. It may do so with or without a change 
> in viewpoint. But resistance to self-examination suggests that there 
> is something to obscure.
> 
> In Latin America, which is largely influenced by Catholic European
> traditions, African traditions and to varying degrees some Native
> American traditions, there is little objection to commodification in
> religion. It is accepted and one realizes that as in all other areas 
> of human intereaction, the rule of caveat emptor applies. No big 
> deal.
> 
> In North America however, and even more among African Americans in
> English speaking North America, the protestant European ethic reigns
> supreme in religious circles. Much more than a return to Africanity, 
> I view the shifts occuring among those who are involved in the
> "reafricanization" of African religions in North America as a
> "protestant reformation" of African religion. First we get rid of 
> the saints, then we emphasize the distance between Olofi and 
> Orunmila from all the other Orichas, and then we see a very strong 
> discontent with those who sell religious articles along with 
> religious services.
> 
> This has at the very least, some interesting parallels to the
> differences in religious culture that separates Catholic and 
> Protestant Europe. I think it no surprise that the divide between 
> the Latin practice of African religions in the New World and the new 
> revival of interest in African religion in North America cleaves to 
> these now essentially culturally internalized distinctions.
> 
> It is worth noting that in all of this, Hoodoo and traditional
> Rootworking is often viewed as a poor cousin. The level of
> commercialization that has been adopted in that tradition combined 
> with other factors, such as its ambivalent relationship with North 
> American black Christianity and its lack of strong devotional 
> elements combine to make it not appealing to the same community 
> drawn to Orisha traditions currently. All of this tends to reinforce 
> for me anyway, the prosibility that at some level these absorbed 
> cultural values are playing a role in the process.
> 
> I want to say, in anticipation of the inevitable flames, that this 
> is in no way a criticism of any of the parties involved. I try to 
> look beneath the surface of things and to understand the influences 
> that are often at work unbeknownst to the actors. We all have them 
> and we learn more about ourselves by looking critically at what we 
> see.
> 
> Nsambiempongu acutara,
> 
> Eoghan

Thank you for a very interesting post, Eoghan. 

As you noted at the outset, many suppliers of spiritual products -- both
to the Orisha community and to hoodoo rootworkers -- are selling
products and services in a conventional sense: Herbs and herb-derived
preparations, candles, minerals, holy cards and amulets, and books make
up the majority of what they stock and sell. Even those merchants who
also function as readers, workers, priests, and spiritual counsellors
still deserve the respect due to any store-keeper who is providing a
service -- but that respect is sometimes lacking. 

It has been my experience that most customers are quite excited to find
a good spiritual supply shop and grateful that a relaiable supplier
exists to meet their needs -- but it is unfortunately true that
suppliers are also patronized by customers who enjoy the benefits of
having a reliable source for the ritual items they require but at the
same time castigate the merchants for presumed "commercialization" of a
relgion or a system of magic. 

The hypocricy of some of our "better" customers can be astounding at
times. Everyone who has worked as a merchant of spiritual supplies can
tell of customers who look down their noses at the "commercializers"
upon whom they rely to get them properly-labelled herbs and well-made
ritual objects. I am not speaking here of what you caled "legitimate
outrage" -- for instance, anger directed against someone who sells a
cheap Made-in-China knick-knack as a genuine consecrated Eleggua -- i am
speaking of those customers who loftily refer to all the items in a shop
(expect for the rare herbs and roots they themselves are purchasing!) as
"trinkets" or "junk." We may smile and take their money, for we are
merchants after all, but we do not give them our respect, and we do not
call them friends of the community to which we belong. 

Your idea of drawing a parallel between the Protestant movement  and the
curret re-Africanization of Diasporic religions and traditions
fascinates me because it rings true. Obviously there were abuses in the
pre-Protestant Catholic Church -- in regard to the sale of spiritual
sactions, specifically -- which Protestantism sought to overthrow. If
similar commodifications of spiritual attainment exist in some branches
of contemporary African diasporic religions, i can see why there will
arise practitioners who want to put an end to such abuses by
establishing a more stringent line against merchants who act as vendors
of spiritual goods. 

Here is an alternative to simply name-calling and bad-mouthing spiritual
merchants: 

We all agree that urbanization and mass-marketing remove the possibility
of personal responsibility for the items being manufactured. Because
ritual purity of certain spiritual commodities is as important to Jews
as to ATR pracitioners, and because they have institutionalized the
giving out of a "seal of approval" on nmass-marketed spiritual goods,
their experiences might form a useful precednt to African diasporic
practitioners concerned about the sale of "fake Elegguas" and the like.
Leaders of African diasporic religions in the Americas could set up a
watchdog organization similar to the several unions of Jewish Rabbis,
who would then place a special mark or sign on items which had been
consecrated under prescribed conditions -- the African-diasporic
equivalent of the Kosher stamp. 

Sure, it may sound funny the first time you think about it -- but it
holds more possibility for satisfaction than some of the other ideas i
have heard, most of which revolve around bad-mouthing spiritual
merchants behind their backs or in usenet. 

cat yronwode 

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