Please don't smudge the Hawaiian

[Leilehua]

Aloha kakou, greetings to us all!

Ok, something that is my kuleana.

Something which has been happening more frequently is a practice I call "drive by smudging." Because many of our wahi pana, our revered sites, are in national parks, many of our protocols are pretty much open to the public. There seems to be a growing number of New Age people who have appointed themselves to handle purification for all and sundry. Three times, now, when I have been conducting protocol, someone has come from out of the blue and started smudging me. I think they think they are "helping." We actually have a hi`uwai or pikai we perform before engaging in ceremony, so we already are ceremonially clean.

Also, Hawaiians do not practice smudging. We do have protocols which use smoke, but it is not at all similar to the smudging that I have seen.
 
My questions are:
Is this also happening on the continental US?
Has anyone heard of someone teaching this practice? If so, who and where?
Or do you think people learn about smudging and, like a new toy, pull it out and play with it anywhere and everywhere?
 
Mahalo,
Leilehua

[debbieredbear]

I can't say for sure, but I am betting it's the tendency of the nuagers to treat indigenous traditions as a buffet: a little of that, some of this, and so on.  They do not understand the concept of respect. They do not get that mixing everything into one size fits all is not a good thing and can cause great harm.

[milehighsalute]

"There seems to be a growing number of New Age people who have appointed themselves to handle purification for all and sundry."

aint that always the case?

[Sturmboe]

Thought:

Some frauds work a sophysticated system. (Not everybody works like this.) Those frauds take a little from that, some of this, without a deeper context to the culture. It also seems to me this "missing link" is requestet, the ground and the deeper background here is missed, and the person / client stands on shaky grounds, being in suspence. In this case, emotional security and help can be offered by frauds, maybe under their conditions.

Some take a little from that, some of this, they take from different cultures ceremonies, medicine and cure, psychology to serve their aim, they mix them and also they leave (unconsciously or) consciously some important therapeutic aspects.

It can be, frauds skip conciently those therapeutic aspects, which go along for that those persons can understand semselves better, acting self-responsible and to be pro - active. These persons should not try to get to the bottom of the practices, there should be not a room for criticism. Frauds aim to get a controllable denpendency of their clients. Purification could support this aim in a abuse, could, but must not.
For e. g. If the purification does not operate its cause could be (in the frauds eyes) the clients lack of deeper knowledge, unbalance or wrongdoing, it is the guilt of the client. His guilt and helplessnes appear the fraud on the scene to help the client with goodwill and maybe this put the client under supression and helplessness. It is a devils circle.

It is not invariably the case to assume from other cultures, for. e. g. ceremonies or approaches of life. The livingways, living conditions and the coherence of nations are so different, that a transfer of a culture or some aspects into another way of life can develope to a strong psychic stress for some clients.
If we see some common things in different cultures or the lack in our life we thought we find in other cultures, this does not mean, it is a good and fullfilling way to assume those cultural aspects we wish to own.