Aesthetic Inspiration vs. Cultural Appropriation

[Yanueh]

Where do you draw the line?  

[Bastemhet]

Yanueh

Where do you draw the line?

When people take what's not theirs to keep.

I assume this question is brought on by eclectic practitioners not knowing their boundaries. I found this guide about eclecticism and the ways it can go wrong (and right) to be helpful. Not that I would ever be interested in it.  

[AniMajor]

I think the line is when a person takes something from a culture or religion and uses it without any regard for what it was supposed to mean in context, and then claims their interpretation (or misappropriation of the term) is just like the original one.

For example, say I had a dream about wolves and decided that wolves were my totem (understanding "totem" as a word for spirit animal, or the representation of my self through the anthropomorphizing [ha, got that the first try!] of animal traits), then claimed that it didn't matter that "totem" refers to something only slightly similar, my usage was just as valid.