[Jewelry making - Article 00505] - Re: [Orchid] Jewelry and "Cultural Property"

[Deewo]

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    Sometimes very strict adherents to a cultural tenet or a religious
    belief take umbrage at its adoption by a non-believer. They assume
    that it will be put to profane use by said person, and they regard
    that as an ultimate desecration of their sacred symbol. Perhaps they
    should pause and consider that nobody is going to try to use a symbol
    such as a dream-catcher for any other purpose than that for which it
    was originally intended: (if it worked for these guys, maybe I should
    try it for my bad dreams). 

    My take on this is that if people deliberately profane someone
    else's sacred symbols, they will reap their just rewards at the hands
    of the profanee sometime in this life or the next. 

    However, if they do this out of innocence or ignorance, they should
    be enlightened as to what they are messing with, and how and why what
    they do is offensive. Raising a person's consciousness is much more
    effective than punching him in the nose. 

    That having been said,...you'd be surprised at how many requests
    I've had for any kind of wearable talisman to ward off the 'evil
    eye'. 

    I believe that most people who adopt a talisman or symbol from
    another culture or belief, do so out of desperation, when they feel
    that all their current relisious efforts to deal with a problem have
    been inadequate....so they borrow from somebody else's. It's just
    insurance, or hopefully, better medicine, not blasphemy. Be kind. 

Dee
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