#witchcourse

[creature-witch]

You guys'll just slap the title shaman to anything.

[mordcore]

hmm. ok you know what? i refuse to try to force myself to read writings about chaos magic that are hard to understand. either write accessibly or be ignored. i don't have the spoons for this.

it's frustrating to be a disabled chaos witch though because guess what most writing reads like :/ im SURE this could be dumbed down. idk. at least some of these writers give off the vibe that they'd prefer their texts stay elitist and inaccessible.

also sometimes people who uso too many big words and too long sentences don't actually have anything to say. not that i'd know for sure as i cannot parse them but that is totally a thing that happens.

[loki-says-trans-rights]

i think we would benefit from talking about our doubts more. i think that maybe doubts are normal, actually, and trying to supress and pretend them away does us no good.

maybe doubts are a normal part of faith and embracing them can help make everything more relaxed.

but it doesnt seem like we are ready. witchcraft and it's adjacent religious communities tend to be full of elitism, competition and superficial posing. there is little room for speaking about feelings and doubts in it. i hope to help change that eventually, but i have little reach. oh well ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[loki-says-trans-rights]

oh. i noticed a parallel? if you are a gamer, you are either considered an expert or a beginner. there is little acknowledgement of casuals. people who like to dabble and who know their way around but aren't experts or anything.

it's the same in witchcraft. you're either an expert in everything, or pretending to be, or you're a beginner. even intermediate kind of implies that you want to become an expert.

where's my recognition for dabblers? casuals? for those who do witchcraft every once in a while and it's a part of their life but a part among many others? who do 1-10 spells per year whenever the mood strikes and don't mind if they don't interact with the topic for a few months at a time? who are not interested in all areas and prefer to stay in their comfortable niche? who are happy with this and don't want to change anything?

[voredere]

anyway spirit workers, professional witches and wizards, and anyone else who does magic for a living is providing a service involving their personal labour.

tarot readers and astrology experts deserve to eat

people who use their practice for a living deserve to eat

selling your real actual labour is not a scam

die mad about it

[rwbwby]

i feel like the simplification of the divine in modern pagan communities (specifically those in Christian-dominant areas like the U.S.) is both an unfortunate and necessary growing pain of reclaiming a spirituality that feels right to us, and so we run as far as we can from the things that we associate with the mainstream religion. in doing so, though, we fail to see what’s specific to that religion, and what is instead simply a natural part of many paths. we throw the baby out with the bathwater.

i have no problem with people making silly TikToks where they take on the persona of a certain god and use their associated traits for humor. just the same, i see no issue with making light of the stories we know of our gods. have we not reenacted myths with imagined play in the past? have we not dressed ourselves as gods and taken on the role for storytelling purposes, or even as a sacred rite? i think it’s a bit silly to think that the gods we honor wouldn’t have a sense of humor. at least, i’ve certainly never heard of someone receiving divine retribution for posting funny memes.

what’s missing in these examples, i think, is the appropriate reverence we associate with the divine, and i think it’s good to present that side more often, to show others of our kin that it’s okay to be irreverent and silly, to honor the gods with humorous tales of their “divine shenanigans,” but i think it’s also good to say, yes, it’s okay to feel inspired, even overwhelmed, by the sheer magnitude of what we’re offering to. it’s healthy to step back and take a look at how utterly small we are, and to give the gods their due respect.

in doing so, we open ourselves up to that potent alchemy of spirit that religion is beloved for. it’s alright to have fun sometimes, but when we take a moment to step back from putting the gods in boxes so we can understand them better, we realize that true understanding will always evade us. that knowledge is lost on us, as the knowledge of economic theory is lost on an ant. we can bask in that reverence of the whole, of the unseen stream, and it does nothing to cheapen the experience, but rather allows us to see a fuller picture of what the gods are—and, certainly, what they are not.

[upthewitchypunx]

The wheel of tumblr witchcourse is cool and all but I'm holding out for the board game.

[koraki-pharmakis]

About Correspondences

I've got a slight bit of correspondences discourse on my dash so I wanted to say two things:

1. Yes! You don't need correspondences, and you can change them however much you like! Do what you like, go wild, burn it all to the ground and make it up as you go.

2. Certain paths do use correspondences, and some use ones that cant be changed. It's perfectly valid to adhere to correspondences, study them, use them, and not want to or feel comfortable changing them.

I don't think people saying 1 are insinuating 2 isn't true (at least intentionally), and yes, a lot of people are taking an extreme and unhelpful view of 2. But as with any witchy debate, it's important to not invalidate one kind of path in response to invalidation.

Personally, my practice does lean on correspondences. I can't really change many of them without deviating from my own path. And that does not have to be restrictive. It's only an issue if it does you harm--in my case, I get most of my herbs for free, make my own supplies, and get a lot else as gifts. I think correspondences actually help me to focus, and with my religion and path, they do matter.

But I can also use things outside of known correspondences, which is important.

So yes, ditch all correspondences! Use your own intent! But remember that not everyone can, not everyone wants to. Remember that not all people using correspondences think it's the only way and that we don't particularly like being portrayed as elitist, restrictive, or annoying. Feel free to talk about those of us doing harm, just try to also include the people who aren't. Especially when a lot of correspondence-heavy practices and religions are marginalized.