Hello
I'm Caucasian (mostly Irish ancestry), female, 'Australian'.
To make short my 30 year long 'rage against the machine' alongside Aboriginal friends; I can best explain that I've (hopefully) learnt to 'shut up' and listen, while still offering any help asked for; and to continue to remember that I experience privilege that can blind me to important and sensitive issues and cause me to still be part of the problem/s.
I also try to challenge or further investigate cultural fraud when I encounter it.
I'm aware I have privilege. I may still act unconsciously or insensitively from this blind-spot. I really hope not.
I'm as active as time/health allows in being an ally with Australian Aborigines.
(Land Rights, support of Aboriginal bands/musicians, Aboriginal radio, film, theatre, dance, arts and tv; challenging racist Australians any and every time it's needed. I was fortunate to be tutored by Kunja and Wiradjuri Tribe lecturers during (optional) Indigenous studies units for my BA/Comm. -mid 90's)
I was born and raised as a Catholic. I stopped attending church around 19 yrs old. I was an exchange student to Denmark at 17 and still speak Danish.
I've been slowly learning Irish Gaelic (on and off for about 30 years) - as I identify it as my ancestral language.
I've studied bodhrán (Irish drum) and Sean Nós ('old style' singing - usually in Gaelic). My maternal grandfather was a musician and singer and I was introduced to a lot of Irish and Scottish music through listening to him as a child. His grandparents came to Australia from Tipperary Ireland as farmers in 1850. They had their own experiences with British colonisers in Ireland, and were very sympathetic to Aborigines. They understood struggle and poverty far too well and knew when they saw difficulties far worse than theirs.
My fathers people were Irish/Scottish immigrants to England, socialist, lower working class, and very poor.
Both of my parents had insufficient food, clothing and heating as children/adolescents.
I've also studied Aikido, Tai Chi, and Wing Chun Kung Fu; and after successful treatment with acupuncture became even more interested in the Chi/Hara energy flow systems involved in Aikido and Tai Chi (particularly the former) and in 1994 was formally initiated into the direct lineage of Usui Shiki Ryoho (Usui Reiki). (Founder - Mikao Usui Sensei 1865-1926). (NB: Usui Shiki Reiki Ryoho has had it's own
serious problems with misrepresentation/theft/ fraud since being permitted to be taken from Japan to Hawaii in 1937 and currently has a very mixed reputation as a result.)
I've been a student of Tarot for approximately 25 years.
I generally offer Tarot or Usui Reiki for free or exchange; but sometimes people on high incomes have insisted on paying me a reasonable hourly rate for a tarot reading or Usui Reiki treatment. I've always offered wage appropriate discounts or 'swaps'.
But it isn't my career and my total earnings over a 20 yr period would be approximately $500.
I've had personal spiritual/metaphysical experiences from early childhood. These have not been learnt or taken from other cultures.
I have (however), read a great deal of 'new-age' material; eventually dismissing almost all of it.
I've made a few online American Indian friends (over the last 6 years). Through their sharings, my exposure to the International scale of injustice, discrimination and wannabees has widened.
As a result, I've tried to open white Australians/Europeans eyes to frauds (for eg: Keisha Crowther and Miriam Delicado) and was (eventually) shunned by nearly all the new age 'practitioners' in the 'Spiritualist' 'new-age' community of a small city I lived in, for expressing that people were involved in cultural theft and fraud of Australian/American/Canadian Aborigines*.
I lost many supposed friends and had lots of stress in the whole process - but as one by one they made their lame excuses, or got angry and indignantly defended their money making - and the community shunned me more and more; I realised
how good it was to be rejected by these unthinking, self centred 'friends'. I was being re-directed and that was a big blessing.
*NB: what terms do NAFPS advise be used? Australian Aborigines go by individual Tribe names (Murri/Koori/Kunja/Wiradjuri, etc) - or 'Indigenous Australians'/'Aboriginal' is acceptable. What's preferred varies from person to person. I don't want to cause offence here.
aaanyhooo - I've been a member of this site since 2009 - but only popped by infrequently as I'm more involved with local issues in Australia.
I made my first posts here a few days ago about a Hopi fraud "Hohongwitutiwa".
I've been reading this forum back and forth quite a bit since then and WoW
you have
SO MUCH BS to deal with!
And some of it dares to come here and spout it's BS on
your website too!
I better finish up...
Very best wishes.
In Solidarity
ps: my personal details are available if needed - via pm (ie my real name/dob/etc).
