Bluesky – Nice place to visit

This week, while perusing my feed on Bluesky, I stumbled upon a post in which someone shared that she had just learned that crows can hold a grudge for 17 years and thus declared crows as her new spirit animal. While many responses expressed surprise or shared their own observations, what truly shocked me was the overwhelming number of posts berating her for using the term “spirit animal,” accusing her of cultural insensitivity toward American Indians.

Not one person took the time to explain why this concept is sacred to American Indians. The engineer in me even wondered what percentage of American Indian blood I’d need before I could speak on spirit animals without fear of reproach (rumors abound, but I fear I come up short). Yet, are spirit animals really unique to American Indians?

Here’s the response from Chat GPT: There isn’t a single, precise number because the idea of spirit animals appears in a vast array of cultural traditions. In many indigenous and animistic belief systems—from numerous Native American tribes (such as the Ojibwe and Coast Salish) and Siberian and Sámi shamanistic practices, to Mesoamerican traditions like nagualism and tonalism, and even in parts of Northern European (e.g., Celtic and Norse) and Australian Aboriginal cultures—the concept of a spiritual animal guide or totem is central. Modern neo-shamanic and New Age movements have also adopted and adapted these ideas.

In short, while it’s impossible to count exactly, spirit animal concepts are found in dozens (if not hundreds) of distinct cultural traditions worldwide, each with its own unique interpretation and significance.

A murder of crows

Now I feel empowered to discuss the concept of spirit animals; I’m fairly sure my ancestry qualifies me through at least one of these traditions. However, that’s only tangential to today’s issue. I want to address the surprising number of negative responses to the original post.

We’re witnessing a dangerous rise of fascism in this country. The ideology is disturbingly simple: hate anyone who isn’t like us. Divide people into small groups and then give them some culture to despise—he’s black, she’s a woman, they’re Arabic, he’s gay, she’s left-handed… Hate is effortless; we don’t have to understand others, we don’t need to justify our hatred, we simply hate.

Social media now makes it all too easy to surround ourselves with echo chambers, avoiding any genuine interaction or understanding of other cultures. It’s not just us against them; it’s the toxic belief that only our own group matters.

I proudly say, “I’m American.” Yet, every time I say it these days, I cringe a little—because our divisions have allowed fascists to seize power. They are united by their hate, and we have been fragmented by our cultural differences. For fascism to triumph, they only need to pit one culture against another. To drive fascism out of our country, we must recognize that our personal culture is not the sole culture that matters.

In the spirit of DEI, we must embrace the enriching value of exposure to other cultures. Take the time to truly understand the differences within your community. This doesn’t mean you have to listen to Rap. Truth to say, I hate Rap but I won’t think less of you if you enjoy it.

If we cannot come together and celebrate our differences, we might as well start practicing the Elon Musk salute—you know, the salute popularized by Hitler.

© 2025, Byron Seastrunk. All rights reserved.