This is worrisome.

[11ev11]

I love belly dancing but things like this worry me. On one of the LJ belly dance communities there is a promotion for an event, SPIRITUS ~ Rendezvous with the Dead! ~. 
"FAYE 'THE TATTOOED PSYCHIC' will open the door to the otherside and invite you to chat with loved ones who have passed on or receive a psychic reading."
 This worries me because

Comments

[pixeldrift]

That's the way it is with a lot of activities. Take yoga, for example. It's very hard to completely isolate something from its roots and purge the underlying philosophy entirely... Marshal arts is very similar. Good luck at sorting that out.

[undomielelelome]

"Marshal" arts doesn't really have a problem with spirituality being infused into it. Speaking from personal experience it is all about personal defense, physical exercise, and a strong code of respect. There are forms out there that are based around spirituality but it is pretty easy to find a lot of options without spirituality within it.

Yoga I would disagree with you on as well. You can take the physical aspect of yoga easily and use it as a good form of exercise. The same for belly dancing, you can use that for a form of exercise as well separate from the spirituality if you take those steps. Once you elevate them to the performance level though then you have the perceived promotion of spirituality to worry about, which I believe is the situation with Ev right now.

[pixeldrift]

I agree with you about the type of participation that's more of an exercise or hobby type involvement. But as you said, at the higher levels there is definitely at least a strong perception of that connection, even if there may not be for the individual performer. From what I've been told by folks involved in that sort of stuff, it often depends on the particular discipline you follow.

Thankfully, since the fitness movement has become a more prevalent pastime, these are more easily and frequently repackaged and presented side by side with common options like aerobics and ballet.

[esophoricsavior]

i think that they are mixing in new-age and fortune telling in with belly dancing. belly dancing doesn't have any spiritual aspect to it (from what i have seen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belly_Dance) kali is the god of destruction (sort of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali) in hindu religion, and i doubt that that group does belly dances from a place that doesn't really have any. (indians have their own form of dancing that represents gods fighting and stuff, it is really cool, i have only seen it a couple times)

so, don't worry about it. why should you give up something you enjoy because someone else uses it for something you don't like?