Antisemitism in Witchy Spaces
I decided to start writing down every time I saw/experienced something in hopes that it will help shed light on some specific stuff Jewitches go through. My hope is that people will see antisemitism as a community-wide issue and not the fault of just a few individuals. We all play a part in making it better.
Facebook Witch Group: post is made by a user with a profile picture of a clear nazi swastika. After being notified, admin declares the user is allowed to stay because the group is a “judgement free zone.”
Facebook Witch Group: Jewitch witches were assumed white by default and pitted against other groups, as if Jewish people are leveraging their identity to “play up” their own oppression and undermine others. Many openly Jewish witches are harassed out of the group.
A witchy discord group implements a rule that outlaws all mention of all closed practices (including Judaism) “to protect from appropriation,” even if the person has legitimate claim to the practice. When I pointed out this basically forced me into hiding, admin says, “you can be Jewish. Just not here.”
A user identified themselves as a Kabbalist. Later in the discussion, they were surprised to learn Kabbalah was Jewish in origin, admitted they didn’t know a single Jewish person in real life, and argued that Kabbalah couldn’t be that bad because Arianna Grande also used it. (”Are you saying she’s wrong too??”)
Another user is called out for appropriating Kabbalah and proceeds to sling antisemitic jokes until they are banned.
Just. So many more people appropriating Kabbalah and just becoming really nasty towards any Jewish person that expresses discomfort. (Including one person that even gave themselves a Hebrew username)
A group of users too big to argue with talking about how amaaaazing working with Lilith is. A few Jewish folks respectfully ask them to be mindful of her origins. They’re not given attention. (Or what attention they are given is only to debate her origin.)
Discord server has rooms for every major subcategory of Paganism and one room for “Abrahamic.” Christian witches completely dominate the conversation.
I mention on my blog that I am a proud Jewish person. One of the comments shortly after is “go be Jewish in Israel.”
A Nazi sympathizer joins a Discord group, reveals themselves, is banned, and proceeds to try and join again over and over again through different accounts.
I’m checking my blog activity and see a nazi witchy blog had gone through my blogged and liked a ton of stuff so I’d be sure to see their username (they did this to other notable tumblr blogs as well.) Looking at their bio revealed their agenda of proving Nazis “weren’t all bad,” and their dash included an open invite to a holocaust denial discord server.
A tumblr thread gets big of a bunch of witches arguing to cancel the word Sabbat because of supposed antisemitic origins. Jewish people chime in to insist that we really don’t give a shit about Wiccans using the word Sabbat, and not to speak over Jewish people and declare what we’re offended by. Tumblr arguments ensue.
I get “called out” for baking challah. That’s not antisemitism but it made me laugh really hard. (It’s okay for goyim to bake bread, obviously. Just don’t be weird about it.)
“High magic” and ceremonial practitioners ignoring or brushing off their tradition’s origin in blatant appropriation.
A user shares a magical chant to a group for everyone to use. The chant is in Hebrew. It includes a name of Gd. They didn’t realize that was a part of it.
Another discord group asserts in the rules that members of closed cultures may be openly themselves and discuss their craft, but not in an educational way. A mod practices exclusively Hermetic Kabbalah. I don’t have the strength to get into it. (Thankfully we had an actually decent discussion but it still made me feel kinda shitty.)
Everyone is free to reblog. Jewish witches, please feel free to add your own experiences!
