Esoteric & Creepy, & Hilarious @enlightenmentcraft - Tumblr Blog

There is no shared white history. Europeans all hated each other from the first settlers up until the 1500s. No Italian has even fucking heard the word “Odin” until long after (”white”) christian missionaries nearly eradicated that religion. If you and I are both white than our ancestors probably fucking hated each other. Hell, if you’re a white mutt like me, various roots of your own family tree fucking hated each other and considered each other foreign savage barbarians. The only thing that unifies the white race is skin color and privilege, and neither of those things fill me with any kind of pride.

keep-hauntingme

What's the thoughts on terms like "white witchcraft" or "white magic"? Because I feel very uncomfortable with those terms, especially since white witchcraft encourages the idea that white = good (and likewise that black magic equates to bad or evil). But as a white person, I don't want to be overstepping and saying it's wrong or that we shouldn't be using it, if it's not actually a problem?

greenleafwitchery

I take umbrage with both terms, personally. Both for the racist tones and simply for the inane categorization of magic into "good" or "bad". It feels incredibly twee and juvenile.

This has been an issue/argument for forever, mind you.

Magic just is. Witchcraft just is. It's a tool, and, like any tool, people will do good and bad with it.

heavenly-curse

Also when they draw this arbitrary line of "white/ black = good/ evil" pay attention to what the general population is assigning each of those to. It's common that good/ white magic will reference any European traditions or neo-pagan practices mostly inhabited by white people. Often bad/ black magic is used in reference to indigenous practices, hoodoo, voodoo, santeria, etc.

When they coined these terms, they were not subtle about which ones they wanted to consider "good" and which ones they considered "bad".

There was a common trend briefly in media as well, around the early 2000s where they attempted to designate a difference between "wiccan and witch" that called wiccans good and witches bad. (Witches in this context were pretty much anyone that deviated from the constant "love and light" concept).

Eventually the word witch became more universal, but the terms for white and black magic still lingered. Even now that large groups are against its usage at all, there's still a constant influx of books touting it as truth.

And aside from racist connotations, as mentioned, magic is just not that simple.

A blessing can be in bad faith if it's done without consent, or directly against someones wishes or religious beliefs.

A hex can be a form of righteous justice to protect those who are most vulnerable.

There's nothing inherently good or bad. It's all in your intentions and how you use it. Shaving it down to ANY simple dichotomy is really only going to do you a disservice in developing your craft.

therestlesswitch

I have a bonus podcast episode all about the literal racist roots of how we use the terms white and black magic and the roots of Magick (with the K)

the men of the age of enlightenment were literally working to try and prove that the colours white and black had inherently ‘good/orderly’ and ‘bad/irrational’ natures in order to justify white supremacy.

Racism?? In MY Magick? - Witchcraft for the Restless

marigoldwitch

This is why I prefer the terms “light” and “dark” rather than using color as terms.

My simple logic is that dark = absence of light. It can be scary, mysterious and confusing. It’s not about color. At night. In a dark room. When there is 0 light. It can be terrifying to most. I am 29 and still straight up afraid of the dark lol.

And dark magic doesn’t mean black. Black is a color in which I use for protection just as much as I use for hexing. Just as I use white for cleansing just as much as I use it for cursing.

Dark magic, for me, is the act of hexing. Not the color in which the candle I use to hex is.

Light magic, for me, is the act of healing. Not the color in which the candle is I use to heal is.

*i use candles as an example. please don’t think i’m implying that this only relates to candles*

therestlesswitch

Exactly! This is touched on indirectly in the episode because Light has been used to mean 'enlightened/wise/closer to the divine' and later 'good' for way long than White was used to mean those things. The age of enlightenment men were actively working to conflate the two.

thecolorsfucked

light and dark are the same as black and white magic and is still centering european witchcraft as divine while ATRs are dark like

marigoldwitch

Dark magic = magic intended to cause negative reactions.

Light magic = magic intended to cause positive reactions.

No tradition is excluded from these definitions. Dark and light magic can be practiced by any tradition, and is usually found in ALL traditions. This includes European traditions, religions and practices.

Dark doesn’t mean black.

Light doesn’t mean white.

thecolorsfucked

light literally means positive and dark negative here like what are u missing its still racist

catgirldragon

the comparison between "light/dark" may seem like a washed-out way to say "black/white", but as @therestlesswitch said, the use of light/dark predates the racist connotations intentionally created by the Age of Enlightenment.

thecolorsfucked

IT DOESNT MATTER WE NOT IN THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT WE IN 2020 AND ITD RACIST STOP DOING CRACK LMAO

citizenshipandsocialjustice

feetdavidson

i hate hate HATE the impossible beauty standards in the trans community i hate people especially cis people (but even other trans people are guilty of this) sharing pictures of the same conventionally attractive trans models as "proof" that we can look "normal" (read: not only cis-passing but also extremely conventionally attractive) why the fuck do you need trans people to be supermodels and nothing less for you to respect us. why.

cis ppl can rb just dont add any stupid shit

typhlonectes

granny-witch-deactivated2022030

Been taking a wisteria and redbud , creating a natural arch

I love love love

🌿

kernaka

op: @thefive15

xx666xxanaxx666xx

cedar-glade

Interior Low Plateaus’ Cave alumroot near dormant state.

Heuchera parviflora var. parviflora

couldn’t help stopping by this population for fun

this species var. is only found in the sub region of the Appalachian mountains ranging from the Ohio River Valley down through Dan Boone into the Cumberland Gap passing the cedar barrens of central TN basin into Alabama dolomites and sandstone hills known as the Interior Low Plateaus.

this specific photo is from Red River Gorge, Ky

The Interior Low Plateaus are a remnant of upheval events caused by several arch events that caused secondary mountain formation along the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. This fraction of ecoregion is usually lumped into the Interior Centeral Lowlands due to glacial events being it’s primary cause.

The core of this section where the upheavals, dome deformation, and glacial weathering events have occurred in their own stratification really seem like they are a hotspot for these biological variation and local endemism events ( its honestly the part of Appalachia I am most enamored by because of how unusual it is.)

As you may know, the Interior lowlands of the North were pretty much smacked by the Wisconsin glaciation,Illinoisan glaciation, and of course the Pre Illinoisan glaciation which caused the upper prairie peninsula in Appalachia; but, it did little compared to the outwash and deposition events following the true glaciation events of the Pleistocene epoch and the rebounding and upheaval that caused glacial lakes to be depleted, platuelands to be formed, and dome formation/ depletion that followed.

Refugiums and bare rocks penetrated by prairie and Pleistocene ripperian forests in the forms of sandstone/ lime/dolostone gorges, cedar glades, and fragipan enforced fens in these regions were set into motion to eventually have population isolation events and high levels to low levels of endemism occurrences.

This region of upheaval caused by the Cincinnati arch and the upper flanks of Findlay Arch and Kankakee arches which caused the creation of the Nashville dome and its degeneration is the very same that caused the upheaval of semi concreted sandstone from preillinoisan outwash and the upheaval of the nearly to completely horizontal beds of Paleozoic sandstone, shales, and calcareous sedimentary rocks. These are the Interior Low Plateaus

The limestone of the province is marked by well-developed karst topography which can be seen in many different forms of formation, undercutting, talussing , and water weathering. Mammoth Cave National Park is considered one such location where all forms of calcareous karst formation seem to be present in some shape and form. There are even some subsurface tavertine exposures. When it comes to Sandstone formations I may be a bit biased to Red River Gorge, but many locations exist with sandstone cliff endemism.