I get asked a lot of questions about fairies, but what I get asked probably the most is: how do I know Fairies aren't dangerous? Or what about bad fairies? I have simple answers for this. Fairies are the essence of the natural world and the natural world isn't good or bad, it just is. Fairies don't experience the same kind of trauma that often creates the “bad” we experience as humans. But to really understand, we have to go deeper into a larger issue.

Most of the western world, and definitely the US, has structures set up by white colonials from a Jude0-Christian perspective. We all have spent our lives marinating in this propaganda, and it makes it hard to see things outside of that perspective. Most things are seen as hierarchies, battles between good and evil, and everything is either a reward or punishment. These are not natural laws or ways of being, yet we often project them onto the natural world and spirituality that is not Judeo-Christian based.

What am I talking about? We are put into classrooms by age, and the older you are, the higher you are in the hierarchy. This helps enforce the authority of the adults in the system. You are graded and often rewarded or punished for your behavior. That's just school. There are many articles out there about the many microaggressions that happen in our society, and that creates another hierarchy and class system. Add land ownership, financial brackets, and capitalism, and you have more class-based systems, beliefs, and warfare. “Work hard and you will be rewarded” or “Sacrifice for others and you will be taken care in kind” are the mottos of our society. All of these support the superiority of Christianity, capitalism, and class systems.

I feel like I need to put a disclaimer in here. I don't dislike Christianity. I don't want people to think I am attacking their religion. My issue is with the way Christianity has been used in the past to set up systems that benefit the few and use the many. This mindset is still prevalent today and completely separated from Christianity in some cases, with science and technology used as justification. Christianity was the label used for actions, and though it influenced, it did not cause them, and I am very aware of that. It is why I am calling out the way New Age spiritualism is being used in similar ways now.

New Age spirituality was created for privileged white women, mostly. It is used to give them a sense of purpose and fulfillment that they feel they are lacking because they live in an oppressive capitalist system that constantly tells them they are not enough and uses them as a resource also. Why wouldn't you look for answers in distant lands and other realms? It's much easier to go to yoga and trust that karma will get the oppressors than dismantle systems of oppression.

Like every time I hear someone say “Karma is a Bitch,” I want to shake them and say “No, it's not a reward and punishment system! It isn't a judgment-based belief,” but I just keep my mouth shut. In a world where yoga has become an exercise class at gyms, it’s too long a conversation to have. I don’t have the time to explain that using a spiritual practice as a focus to sell clothes, “equipment,” and namaste stickers is not just cultural appropriation, it's missing the biggest part of the teachings. The journey for peace within to gain peace in the world is replaced with the journey for abs and flexibility as well as the ability to flex about how “enlightened” you are, and that's why you are not angry about the state of the world.

Yoga and karma are just a couple of the many culturally appropriated “spiritual” paths. So many have been broken into bits so people (mainly white) can find the parts they can sell, polish, and/or use to show their superiority over the “lesser vibration people.” It's what our forefathers did when they went out and claimed the land that would work best for them and gave infertile land to the “savages” they didn't kill because our ancestors were “God's chosen people” and knew what was best. We have a history of using the resources of other cultures and feeling entitled to them.

This may sound harsh, and it is. I am not exempt from this. These are my ancestors too. I am also guilty of using the lingo of the New Age movement. This is a “we” problem and looking at the harsh truths and facing them is the only way we start changing and doing better. When I talk about Fairies, I talk about how they are in every culture around the world. So I am stealing from every culture. In some ways, at this point in history, we can't help but steal from other cultures because it's all colliding and connected. I'm not even against anyone doing yoga, even if it’s just for fun and flexibility. At this point, it has a culture of its own. What I am against is the using of these things to imply your superiority to others. I am against the use of these things to excuse you from the participation in our society and the transgressions that happen here. I am against the need to look at everything as punishment and reward and the need to prove you are winning at life. Because what I see is how everyone feels like a failure and judges themselves so harshly for being humans having a human experience. We have demonized the natural world and brainwashed ourselves into thinking that certain ways of being are natural. That is the focus of part 2.