“my personal understanding of what I classify a witch to be doesn’t even require casting spells technically... Any person who lives consciously and acts as a creative force of their reality is a witch to me and that doesn’t have a particular skill set or even effort requirement...” A reply I just read on a post about how witchcraft requires effort to achieve results.
The obvious cringe of “uwu magic is whatever you want it to be uwu it’s what ever makes you feel comfy and special inside” and the usual witchblr “implying practices take effort is gatekeeping” nonsense aside, it strikes me that there’s a genuine cultural dissonance going on in a lot of these discussions.
It’s not even necessarily just about witchcraft, and the fact that it’s usually deployed on here as just a catch-all term for any kind of “spiritual practice™”. Magic in general is treated on here by a bunch of people who have never experienced its real miracle-generating capacity as essentially a quirky aesthetic as opposed to the cultivation of a real skill that can bend reality. To reproduce one of my favourite quotes by Jason Miller, which we also have up in our FAQ:
“A Theban Magician did not painstakingly preserve and hide the Greek Magical Papyri with its many formulas because intention was all that mattered. The Grimoires were not passed among a network of underground clergy and literate laity because the precise instruction did not matter. Families of African slaves did not preserve traditions of Congolese Magic in the New World at risk to their life just because your intention is all that matters!” - Jason Miller, The Elements of Spellcrafting
I was born in a part of the world where, among the rural villages, local magicians are relied upon and perform a vital community function. There are no nearby hospitals, so when someone is ill, the local shaman needs to be able to actually heal in the way their title as “shaman” implies. When someone has been cursed because they offended a local faery or guardian spirit, the magician needs to intercede and make right, diagnose the issue, make the proper offerings, and lift the curse. When someone has stolen goods from someone else, they need to be able to figure out who the culprit is using their spirits and divinatory practices. Historically, when invading powers were coming to conquer the region, the magicians were relied upon for protection, negotiation/bargaining with spirits and gods, and creating glamours to buy time for the vulnerable to escape, if not even shield the village from invasion. There are many documented cases of historical battles between the shamans of different communities, often resulting in the weaker dying as their soul never returned to their body during the spirit-flight combat.
What I’m getting at is that “witch”, “magician”, and other such labels were descriptive titles used to denote individuals who had certain skills and were able to reliably perform them. If they couldn’t reliably produce results, no one would go to them, pay them for their services, or acknowledge them as genuine. It wasn’t because the community was “mean”, but because there was and is a real need for these abilities and it had nothing to do with anyone’s feelings. I’m not a lawyer, I’ve never been to law school, I am not qualified to represent anyone legally and provide legal advice. If I start identifying as a lawyer, any clients I manage to get would quickly realize I have no idea what I’m talking about and would rightly dismiss me. If I’m purchasing the services of a blacksmith, jeweler, tailor, etc. - I’m paying for their time and accumulated training/skills. Folk magicians in traditional communities are regarded in much the same way.
I honestly don’t think there’s anything wrong in enjoying and consuming the modern, media-driven aesthetic of witchcraft, but at the end of the day operative magic is about results. Did your job spell work? Did you get the job? Did your petition to receive a particular boon actually succeed? Don’t be intimidated if a ritual doesn’t manifest - no one has a 100% manifestation rate. Even the most famous, skilled lawyers lose cases. Take it as an exciting opportunity to diagnose the issue, consult with your spirits, and hit the target again from another angle. Did you lack sufficient links to the target? Maybe you should seek out the assistance of a stronger spirit? Time your ritual with planetary days and hours?
Think back to any other skill you had to slowly develop over time. Once upon a time I was a horrible swimmer, drawer, and writer, but now I’m quite competent at swimming, decent at drawing, and an excellent creative writer. It all depends on how much effort you put into nurturing each craft. Honestly, getting better at magic is exhilarating; surpassing your goals one by one, coming into contact with more powerful beings and making pacts with them, actually building a set of powers that can reshape your world through your own discipline, etc. Don’t ever let yourself be so proud that you can’t bring yourself to admit you could use improvement. Our predecessors in magic fought, killed, and died for the knowledge that is freely available to us now. What stories of your feats and miracles will the people who knew you pass on after your death?
blakekathryn
izzy806
stormborns
theartofmadeline
2087
germansingergirl
