Rant time
I am noticing an alarming trend of people acting all holier than thou about other people’s gardens, altars, rituals, spells, and practices. I think I will vomit if I see another blogger claiming another type of practice is empty, that how another person’s altar looks means they aren’t as spiritual or magical, or that the kind of ritual they do is not powerful. Unless the people doing these things feel empty, feel their practice is lacking, are ashamed of their gardening efforts, or are unhappy with the state of their altar, then who is any of us to claim to know?! My rule of thumb is to believe most of the community is doing their best and is sincere.
Someone’s altar is dirty? Maybe it’s because they leave incense ashes and candle wax on it as offerings and keep the same set up for consistency. Someone’s altar clean and spotless? Maybe they wash it every week and change it out seasonally/monthly. And maybe their altar is clean or dirty because they haven’t been able to practice their craft for awhile, they have been facing depression and the judgement and attitude of holier than thou witches online increases the deep spiral. I for one prefer to lift witches up and keep unhelpful opinions to myself and share the helpful ones.
If you do feel stuck in your practice and feel like you should be doing more, you are not alone. If you are facing executive dysfunction and merely stare with guilt at your magical stuff, you are not alone.
I suggest you just do one thing each time you walk by, even if it’s just to pick up one thing and do something with it. Wipe a tool off and hold it for a minute before putting it back. Or saying hello to your spirits or deities while picking off one piece of trash and carrying it to the bathroom or kitchen trash bin with you. Tiny actions add up over time. And think of all the others out there trying with you.
If your witchcraft practice is elaborate and wordy with beautiful grimoires and you find it fulfills your soul, you are not alone or wrong. If you thrive on minimalist approaches and it makes your magic sing you are not alone or wrong. You aren’t a fake witch because your practice is fancy or simple.
If you adore group rituals and they make you feel charged and connected you are not fake, if you only practice alone and feel uncomfortable at large rites you do you! Your experience is not universal and others are not fake or empty or unpowerful if they do witchcraft differently than you do. In fact if you can’t sense the power of someone you have set out to disapprove of from the start they might actually have shielded from you and your like as a point of protection. You are not all knowing. That HPS hosting a celebration for dozens? You bet she may have shielded and grounded to avoid the gaze of malcontents.
And if you are struggling and what you are doing is not working for you, it might be time to shake it up and do something different or revisit the basics. If you went around insulting another type of craft how would it feel to figure out that now it’s what you need? Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to not insult other types of craft because someday they might be just right for you.
This
I literally had some troll come on my actual blog and harass me that my practice was all for show and fake. It was kind of frustrating but absolutely hilarious.
IKR?!
Also, it’s incredibly presumptuous to assume someone is showing you all of your practice publicly online. I always assume someone is holding something back. Everyone witches differently and I couldn’t presume to know the details of practice, so why judge? If something isn’t for you, fine. There’s no reason to be a jerk about it.
Published
Water Witches 