A friendly warning about Tiktok and social media paganism
In the past days and weeks, I've noticed a rise of interest towards a side of the pagan/witchy content on Tiktok, and not in a good way. Before I go on, I just want to make it clear that I know there is good content/responsible tiktokers on there too and that the platform can be a good way to display and share your routine, altars etc... This post is not targeting those people. If everything was fine I wouldn't be writing this damn post.
Anyway, in about a week, there has been this along with so many asks on @thepastelpriestess 's blog (withtok tag, for those who want to read that).
Aside from the blatant misinformation that is circulating on Tiktok, there'a more worrying phenomenon: some people are claiming to be threatened, or mistreated by the gods. Others are saying their physical ailments are caused by unsatisfied deities. Example here, but I've also been told of another similar story about Hades circulating on TikTok. I'm sure there's much more that I'm just not aware of. Those kind of claims are not without consequences, it creates fear for some, doubt for others. Overall, it creates a very unhealthy environment that plays with people’s insecurities and anxiety, when it doesn’t straight up generate anxiety.
I can’t stress enough how dangerous that can potentially be, and I don’t mean on a spiritual level. I mean that it is also the perfect environment for abuse to occur. Having a fearful, weakened following makes it easier to hook people to believe whatever and do whatever and/or push an agenda. It’s manipulation 101 and spiritual communities are especially fragile to this because claims cannot be proven right or wrong and always rely on the feeling of trust the audience has towards the person.
So please, please, be critical of what you hear and who you follow. Don't just assume that everyone is informed or has good intentions. Spiritual subjectivity is not an excuse to brush off all cautiousness.
