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Alx 🐈

At some point I should write something about indigenous fetishism and why every time I hear the word 'sacred', 'healing', 'spiritual', and 'wisdom' from white people going on 'self-discovery trips' to remote land my skin crawls.
The commodification of cultures is so normalised that even people that talk a lot about 'pluriverse' and 'decolonisation' fail completely to recognise how their 'ayahuasca trip' is and expression of whiteness, not a exchange

@alx i know so many people who need to understand this 👍👍

@Julianoe This toot is somehow getting an (unexpected) attention, which signals (to me) that I'm not the only one with very torn sentiments on the western framing of 'indigenous'. I'll be posting some links later today

@alx in a time when the "new age" spirituality takes so many shapes and is more on the forefront than ever, with its commodification going all out, this kind of perspectives are important to remind!
will be checking out and sharing those links when you post em

@alx I'm not really sure why this is an issue. People travel outside of the US to do Ayahuasca because it's illegal in the US. It is, as far as I'm aware, healthy and potentially beneficial to do Ayahuasca. It has grown into a whole economy which supports the lives of many shaman, their families, and everyone else who is needed to transport people and supplies.
The fetishism may be harmful in some contexts, but it also feeds people.

@alx I agree with many of the criticisms. Capitalism is horrible and it seems like the Ayahuasca industry is causing gentrification and the destruction of the local ecosystem.

This is the part I don't understand:
"People of color want to reclaim their traditions so that they might communicate with and honor their ancestors; white people consume these substances to get away from theirs.

In effect, ayahuasca is nothing more than a Band-Aid for the symptoms of first-world problems: boredom, loneliness, and a lack of real community. It’s no different than the pharmaceutical drugs white people so often turn their noses up at, meds that many people of color struggling to access basic healthcare cannot afford. The heart of whiteness is nothingness, and its function is to consume and destroy. It can never heal so long as it exists."

White people shouldn't do Ayahuasca because... Their problems are "first world" and they can't heal anyways because white people are fundamentally destructive?

@fishybird I think the author there is more an invitation to western people to reflect on why they are constantly looking for some 'mental health' cure/therapy/help. And yes, our culture is destructive, and even self-destructive. I'm not against mental health support, or treatment, but the fact that the numbers of western people is in need (or feels like) of it should be alarming. The self-help industry is mostly a scam capitalising on the anxiety produced by the economy god.