A tag created by @/ella.harrison @/the.redheadedwitch @/polish.folk.witch
(alt text: #OcculTea. Social Media Witchcraft: Grifters, Aesthetics, Imposter Syndrome, Consumerism, And Gatekeeping. A community conversation about the things that divide us. @/ella.harrison @/the.redheadedwitch @/polish.folk.witch)
Hello beautiful people! Today I am doing a tag called #OcculTea. I plan on creating a video on my YouTube so if you'd rather watch me discuss this in a podcast form. I hope you enjoy this "mini-essay".
YouTube Linked Here
Introduction : Introduce yourself. How long have you been participating in the witchcraft online space? What practices and topics do you discuss primarily?
My name is Ares, my social media is PrettyQueerWitch, I've been practicing for about 7 years now, however my practice changed recently to folk magic (I am most interested in German folk magic and Braucherei but I'm also researching English and Scandinavian folk magic). I've been a part of the witchcraft online community for about 4 years as a consumer but in September 2023 I started my tumblr and started to do book reviews and occasional grimoire pages.
Topic 1 : Impact on Community
~What is my personal reasoning/inspiration behind sharing my practice online? What am I looking to achieve by participating? Do I seek to educate, learn, or connect?
I want to do book reviews that I can make as honest as possible. Along with wanting to build a community that supports, respects one another, and understands the differences in people's practices/opinions. I seek to learn and connect with my audience rather than just educate my audience. I don't share the personal parts of my practice online but I am willing to share my thoughts as well as small parts of my practice and knowledge I have accumulated over the years.
~How do I believe that social media, as a whole, has impacted the community?
I believe that social media has both positively and negatively impacted the witchcraft and occult community. I believe that while it has brought people into the community and connected people there are also rifts in the community between groups. I believe social media also censors the community and some practices.
~How do I think social platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have each impacted education/sharing information?
I am not really on Instagram for witchcraft/occult content but I am on TikTok and YouTube, as well as Tumblr. For TikTok we see the issue of dopamine seeking in the form of short-form content, here's a video on short-form video content, attention spans, and dopamine seeking. There is quite a bit of misinformation on TikTok, as there is on any social media platform, and I believe it is the most rampant there. I don't believe you can thoroughly educate people on TikTok and with so much content going around sometimes you never know what to believe. On YouTube, I see less misinformation but that may be because I'm very selective about who I watch but I am sure there is still misinformation on there. I believe that TikTok and Instagram are great for posting pictures and short videos but not educational videos.
~Is consuming witchcraft content becoming a substitute for practice?
I believe there is a group of people who consume witchcraft content, read books, and put their all into researching but never apply it whether that's out of fear or imposter syndrome. There is another group, that I don't see as often, who consume witchcraft content and say they practice but their practice is just consuming the witchcraft content. I believe some people consider it a substitute but in my opinion, practicing witchcraft is something done with intent and energy. A video I love is this video by Ivy The Occultist which gives advice on how to go from just consuming content and understanding things theoretically to practicing witchcraft and magick.
Topic 2 : Influencer Authority
~Out of what I share on social media, how much of it is staged vs. reality?
For me, I don't share my practice online. If I do it will be very small bits. Maybe I'll share my regular altar space, but I wouldn't share my ancestor altar. Maybe I'll show the informational parts of my grimoire but I wouldn't share my birth chart or personal workings I do. When I do book reviews I try to be as honest as possible. I want to start posting videos on YouTube and those will be videos like "Research with me" or "Fill out my grimoire with me". I want to be as authentic as possible while not diving into the really personal parts of my practices.
~Do I think there is an element of censorship in online spaces? How do I decipher what is "appropriate" to share online vs. what to keep privately? Is this based on "social media etiquette" or a personal preference.
Once again I don't share much of my practice online but I have seen creators who have to censor what they post because they're working with animal parts, animal bones, nude figures, blood, etc. I have seen these creators express that they may want to show these parts of their practices but are unable to due to censorship and community guidelines. Some people do in fact keep it private due to personal preference, however.
~Have I ever encountered or heard of grifters in our community? Do I recognize them? What are significant signs of grifters in the community?
I have definitely seen and heard of grifters in the community. (Grifter - someone who swindles people out of money through fraud). I have seen people who consistently switch what they sell or what content they make depending on what revenue it brings in, I've seen books that aren't totally well made but are popular because they were made popular through social media. I have seen people sell $60 candles and $100+ herb bundles (I don't totally understand buying small amounts of 50 different herbs, I don't think you can totally connect to the herb that way and I also think it's a waste of money). I think significant signs of grifters are those who don't seem to be well-educated on what they're selling, and those who constantly switch what they're selling depending on what is popular.
~What tools are helpful to decipher misinformation, and how can we as a community prevent widespread misinformation?
I believe that you typically have all the resources at your fingers to decipher misinformation. If you are new to a topic and you learn something new, it is best to research it and cross-reference it. Never rely on just one singular resource. I would say that some ways to prevent widespread misinformation are being honest, not being afraid to constructively criticize, and trying not to glamourize it.
~How does a large following impact the perception of the creator? Does this immediately make them an "expert"? Or are there other assumptions as to why they may have a large following?
A large following often leads people to believe that the creator know what they're talking about. It's believed that because they have a big following and make educational witchcraft content, the creator's always right and I don't believe a big following makes someone an expert. I think research, time, energy, practice, etc. makes someone knowledgeable about a topic. Something I see often is people asking creators to basically create their practice for them but no creator is an expert on how someone's practice should be. Ella Harrison mentions that if you have a good camera, good lighting, a nice background, and upload consistently you are more than likely going to gain a following.
~How does one maintain the balance of authenticity and content creation?
I believe that for all content creators, it is difficult to maintain authenticity and content creation in a balance. I'm personally not sure how one would be able to maintain that balance. I think in the witchcraft and occult community, not glamourizing your practice helps with maintaining authenticity while still creating content. I will talk more about the glamourizing towards the end.
Topic 3 : Imposter Syndrome and FOMO
~When I follow other creators in the community space, does it make me feel genuinely inspired and empowered or does it create feelings of FOMO and being less than?
I am very particular about who I follow but the ones that I do follow, interact with, and put my money into, I find myself feeling inspired in my practice by them. I don't often feel FOMO (fear of missing out) from the creators that I follow and interact with regularly.
~If I experience FOMO, has it ever left me feeling vulnerable to be taken advantage of financially, or otherwise? An example would be - the "need" to purchase the latest popular product or book to "fit in"?
I don't experience FOMO a lot but when I do it definitely has made me feel like I absolutely "need" something. However, as of late, I have been feeling more connected to just using what I have.
~When practicing my craft, do I find myself comparing what I do to what I've been seeing people do online?
When indulging in content relating to similar practices that I'm looking into and implementing into my practice, it's very easy to compare. In the next question, I'll talk about how I personally avoid this comparison and imposter syndrome.
~In what ways do I combat imposter syndrome?
I personally have begun to try to stop caring and to acknowledge that my practice, my circumstances, etc. are going to be different than others. However, I also deal with imposter syndrome in the thought that "I don't know enough". Sometimes I feel like because I don't have everything written down or I don't know every little thing I don't know enough to be on social media talking about witchcraft and the occult. Recently I've been trying to get out of that mindset and just let myself learn and write down my knowledge and acknowledge I haven't been doing this as long as others so of course I don't know as much.
~What would my practice look like without the social media influence of other creators?
As someone who has spent most of my time in the online witchcraft community being a consumer, I don't know if my practice would've evolved and progressed the way it did without the influence of other creators. I think I would definitely still be struggling to find my path and practice without the influence of social media.
Topic 4 : Capitalizing Off Community
~Do I consider online communities as equally valid to in-person communities?
I absolutely do. Not everyone has access to an in-person community and I believe that both are valid. It's great if you have one and not the other or if you have both! I find that both sides of it have their benefits and as someone who is a part of multiple communities, I find that online communities can be beautiful and uplifting.
~How have online occult/witchcraft communities impacted me as a person and practitioner?
I believe that online occult/witchcraft communities have given me so many resources for being a better practitioner and have inspired me and my practice. I have met so many wonderful people that I am incredibly grateful for.
~What are some of the dangers of the current phenomenon of capitalizing off the witchcraft community? Have I been personally affected by this, or have I witnessed someone else be affected?
I personally believe the biggest danger is scammers, people who aren't qualified to be doing divination readings, reading birth charts, etc. Scammers are a big thing in any community and what we see a lot of in the witchcraft/occult community is people pretending to be popular content creators and offering tarot readings for money. I also think influencers making their audience think they may need to buy certain things is also a problem in any community.
~Should there be paywalled communities and online courses?
I think if a creator puts time, effort, energy, and knowledge into creating a community and online courses they should get paid for that. That's why Patreon is such a big platform. Creators put time and effort into these communities and courses.
~How does one ensure the authenticity of courses/workshops/memberships/etc. as a financial investment?
Once again research and cross-referencing are big and important things. Look into who you want to financially invest before you do so and make sure that it's worth what you're getting out of it.
Conclusions :
~What are some topics of conversation I'd like to see more of in our community?
I believe more conversations in general about witchcraft and social media, the glamourization of witchcraft, critical thinking, constructive criticism, and more conversations like this tag would be great.
~What are my community needs?
I feel in terms of community needs, a community where everyone is heard, respected, and seen is the kind of community that we need. I also liked The Norse Witches' answer that giving more of a platform to those outside the US, Canada, and Britain is important especially as folk magic becomes more and more prevalent in the community.
~Where would I like to be held and supported?
~Where do I feel like I'm not truly being seen by my community?
I personally don't really have any complaints as I am happy with my community right now!
~How can we help each other in removing the external peer pressure and grow in the community?
Not glamourizing witchcraft/the occult would probably be a good start. Not making it seem like it's so special and so aesthetic and more beautiful. Witchcraft is not all glitz and glam and it doesn't need to be, not everyone needs to have a super aesthetic and 'special' practice because in the end everyone's practice is valid, special to themselves, and beautiful and there shouldn't be this idea that you need certain things or need to do things certain ways to be valid.
~How can we, as a community, come together more with constructive criticism without it seeming shady/passive aggressive?
~How can we, as a community, do better when we do receive criticism/feedback?
As a community, I think listening to each other critically thinking over our responses and looking at their response as a whole is best to not make everything seem like it's shady, passive-aggressive, or an attack on someone. I feel like people often get talked over or talk over each other and go in circles because they don't listen to one another critically or genuinely.
~Who are some community members that I look up to that are reliable resources and aspirations?
Ella Harrison, Ivy The Occultist, The Norse Witch, De Spökenkyker, Chaotic Witch Aunt, The Witch of Wonderlust, Hex Marie, and Hearth Witch.
That's just to name a few
~Further thoughts?
I think I covered most of what I wanted to talk about!
Thank you so much, feel free to join this tag at any time on whatever platform, once again I will eventually also have a video version of this!
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