REVIEW BY MAX DASHU
Ancient Spirit Rising by Pegi Eyers is dense with insight, resources, useful naming, and a no-holds-barred analysis of what decolonization means. She quotes liberally from Native writers such as Lee Maracle, Leslie Marmon Silko and John Mohawk, who speak of “the spiritual call of the re-indigenization of the world."
Eyers examines the mythologies of “race” and racism, and the loss of respectful intercultural (as well as interpersonal) protocols. She looks deeply into what cultural appropriation is, and critiques the commercialization of “shamanism” on the New Age market. Among her many suggestions on how to go about "correcting course," she discusses the quest for recovery of European IK - Indigenous Knowledge, alongside the principle of “respectful non-interference."
She warns about New Age ideologies and tokenism, and points to the importance of authentically sourced knowledge - in other words, “Who Gave You Permission?" In the chapter "New Age Thinking" Eyers has assembled a very educational list of statements by white seekers - I’ve heard many of those myself - defending and denying their privileged appropriation of Native spiritual culture, against the rightful holders trying to protect their IK.
The examples, illustrations, and suggestions for white allies she offers will be meaningful to many. The “white” Settler perspective has been centered for so long that it forms an unconscious backdrop of assumptions, and very little meaningful knowledge about Original Peoples. That wall of ignorance and entitlement has to be taken apart, and Ancient Spirit Rising provides many insights on how that can be accomplished.
Thank you Pegi Eyers, for all the work that went into writing this book ~!
Eyers examines the mythologies of “race” and racism, and the loss of respectful intercultural (as well as interpersonal) protocols. She looks deeply into what cultural appropriation is, and critiques the commercialization of “shamanism” on the New Age market. Among her many suggestions on how to go about "correcting course," she discusses the quest for recovery of European IK - Indigenous Knowledge, alongside the principle of “respectful non-interference."
She warns about New Age ideologies and tokenism, and points to the importance of authentically sourced knowledge - in other words, “Who Gave You Permission?" In the chapter "New Age Thinking" Eyers has assembled a very educational list of statements by white seekers - I’ve heard many of those myself - defending and denying their privileged appropriation of Native spiritual culture, against the rightful holders trying to protect their IK.
The examples, illustrations, and suggestions for white allies she offers will be meaningful to many. The “white” Settler perspective has been centered for so long that it forms an unconscious backdrop of assumptions, and very little meaningful knowledge about Original Peoples. That wall of ignorance and entitlement has to be taken apart, and Ancient Spirit Rising provides many insights on how that can be accomplished.
Thank you Pegi Eyers, for all the work that went into writing this book ~!
Max Dashu has spent over 48 years excavating the western canon for evidence of women of power in Old Europe, early medieval history and indigenous societies. She founded the Suppressed Histories Archives in 1970, and her ongoing research engages with "Herstory" worldwide. As an author, activist and artist, she continues to offer a rich collection of visual presentations, exhibits, courses, workshops, webcasts, and keynote talks that highlight women's resistance to patriarchal oppression, challenge stereotypes of race and class, and interrogate the structures of Empire. Max Dashu's most recent book is Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion 700-1100 available from Veleda Press.
Image © Max Dashu
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