ALT

Happy International Asexuality Day!!! 🖤🩶🤍💜

Hey, don't be afraid of things that challenge your faith. Seriously, don't.

Either they'll give you a new perspective on things, or you'll become more secure and confident in your current beliefs. But avoiding the hard questions leaves you in an echo chamber with half-baked ideas and an insecurity in yourself. Step out of your comfort zone so you have room to grow.

Literally every New Ager's prediction for the near future could just say "big things are coming!" and save everyone forty five minutes of listening to why this upcoming astrological shift is going to change the world for real this time.

Avoiding scams in witchcraft

Originally posted by jinxgirl600

Not sure if someone has made a post like this or not, but I am seeing more and more obvious scams on my dash daily. As an experienced witch, let me tell you, I've come across my fair share of scams.

Here's how you can identify them:

1. "I have SECRETS that NO ONE ELSE has!! Also, NO ONE ELSE will teach you these secrets because they are MEAN and SECRETIVE. BUT I'M NOT. I will teach you. For a small fee for the 'risk'." You do not have to pay someone for "secrets" of any nature. Especially not as a beginner or even intermediate witch - you have so much information freely available to you. The most you might pay is the price of a book.
2. "I'm a psychic and I'm coming out of left field to tell you that you've been cursed, but no worries, I can lift it for you!! For a fee. :)" You would think this is obvious but verify, verify, verify. Also as a rule don't trust the spells of someone you don't know unless you know someone they've helped.
3. Be CAREFUL about magical services in general. People won't tell you this cause they want to make money, but SO MUCH is easy to fake. Jewelry with a companion in it? Bought that bulk for $1 a pop and scribbled in a .50 journal about it, sell for $35. No magic performed. Copy-pasted tarot, rune, and psychic readings. Sure, I cast that spell, send me $50. The thing is, unless you're talented enough to cast it yourself in the first place, you won't know when someone's conning you.
4. "This is DEFINITELY allnaturalorganicsupersafe scrub/balm/soap/lotion to apply to your *insert sensitive area* and yes it IS worth $85 I went to the rainforest myself to collect the ingredients." Just use some quick googling and your common sense, here. Certain herbs and essential oils are not meant for certain things. Just because they sell this stuff, doesn't mean they know what they're talking about.
5. Another good rule - if you're working with a vendor and they make an appeal to your guilt, your grief, your loneliness, etc.? Really good chance they're pressing that button to get you to spend. Some examples: "I see you are lonely let me cast a love spell $5 off for this thing you weren't going to get in the first place." "I can channel the spirit of your dead grandma via ouija. *disappears for three days* I was SHOOK her presence was SO powerful she said she loves you and she's happy, no I didn't ask her any identifying questions... $40 please."
6. "Ready to ADVANCE your CAREER as a WITCH??? WELL COME ON DOWN to LADY OF THE SILVER CHALICE DRAWN DOWN MOON DRAGON, ESQ.'s temple where I will PERSONALLY sign a $2 certificate saying you're a 3rd degree Ancient Knowing One after 3 sessions of 90 minutes of me ranting about how aliens built Egypt." Do some traditions observe degree systems? Yes. Make sure you're dealing with a reputable source before you fork over $300.
7. Cults. There are many good posts and online resources about this, but most cults are made to serve the creator in two ways: 1) Power/control. 2) Money. For me, it's not so easy to notice the power and control issues due to past trauma, but money? I sure as hell notice that. If they are pressuring you to make more, spend more, contribute more, and you can barely pay your bills? Get the fuck out of there.
8. If someone is giving you a service and they're asking for ANY method of payment that is not trackable, be wary. Now, it might be an old family friend and you hand cash over yourself, which is safer. But someone online asking to be paid through giftcards, or someone asking you to mail cash? Oof. Bad energy.
9. People can not so much "con" you but cost you extra money by playing the middle man for certain transactions. Sometimes it's worth it to have the middle-man; that can mean higher quality products and reliable delivery. But you could save yourself money if you know the item you're buying and go directly to the supplier. Often middle-men jack prices up considerably, sometimes more than they're worth, or even trade in worse quality products than they advertise. Consider your finances, look at who you're buying from, and look at the price tag.
10. Yes, it sucks to say, but some psychics really ARE just good cold readers (i.e., people who can read things off you with good questions and observing body language). Some may not even know it themselves. Any form of divination may suffer from this. Again, stick with those you trust, or at least consider that when you put down that money, it's a gamble.
11. "I can definitely make ALL your problems go away!!! except *insert small technicality I know won't make you say no*, with just 8 easy payments of $29.99!!" Big grandiose promises that ALMOST sound too good to be true are easier to let slide because they admitted there's a problem! They must be telling the truth! No, hon. They know exactly what they're doing. They're making big promises to get big money, and when you complain, they point to their terms of service and say "This was entertainment only." That exists there for a REASON, yes, and it does serve to protect legitamite practioners when, say, a tarot reading is slightly off because those readings are meant to guess at the future and that future can be changed. Some vendors abuse the hell out of it, though.

There ARE legitamite vendors and good reasons to spend cash in the community if you want to. But be careful out there.

What I've Done Instead of Shadow Work

This is going to be the last thing I say on the topic of shadow work, because, honestly I'm getting bored of the subject and would rather go back to talking about spirit work, or spells, or any of the many other subjects that I care a thousand times more about.

Some folks seem to be hearing “I refuse to do any introspection” when I say "I have never and will never do shadow work". I have done lots of introspection, I've done therapy that follows evidence based practices, I just see no reason do try and guide myself through a method of therapy with little to no scientific evidence. But in case anyone's curious, or wants some tips, here's what I've done instead!

Mindfulness exercises: I love mindfulness exercises that train you to think about your thoughts, but not judge them. Consistent mindfulness practice has really helped me become more aware of my internal thought processes, what I get hung up on, what I struggle with, what emotions I’m feeling and what caused them.

The Artist Way & Embrace Your Weird: These are both self help books for creative folks with a heavy emphasis on journaling and self expression. I found both of these helpful in different ways when I felt like I was struggling with creative burnout or felt like I was stuck in the daily grind of my day job.

Journaling: I keep multiple journals! One is a commonplace book that I fill up with on the spot thoughts, quotes, song lyrics, etc. just stuff I want to remember. The other I write in every morning when I first wake up, a continuation of the morning pages from the Artist’s Way, to just unpack and process whatever going on in my head.

Therapy: Actual real therapy with a licensed professional. I specifically see a pain psychologist because most of what we focus on is the impact my chronic pain has on my and developing healthy coping mechanisms for that.

I think what gets a bee in my bonnet the most about the few negative reactions I’ve gotten on this topic is that these folks seem most concerned about the trauma and “inner demons” aspects of shadow work. There’s always something about how dangerous or unhealthy it is for me or even those around me for me to have not delt with my trauma via shadow work. I don’t like that they presume to know my life and mental health history without having ever spoken to me. And I really don’t like the insistance that everyone has the same kind of trauma that needs to be healed in the same way.

Since one or two folks have expressed “disappointment” in me because of my “shadow work isn’t a requirement for practicing magic” post, I’m doubling down and reminding everyone that as far as I’m concerned nothing is a requirement for practicing magic except actually practicing magic. Nothing is a requirement for being a witch except practicing magic and choosing to call yourself a witch.

I have a theory that some people find themselves unable to progress in their practices until they master a certain skill because that skill was a requirement FOR THEM, for their particular practice, laid out for them by their specific spirits, to accommodate their specific needs. And then sometimes they assume that their experience is universal. Did you have to 100% master protect spells, banishments, and divination before you could get spirit contact to work for you consistently? Then maybe those were the requirements for your particular path to get to spirit work. That wasn’t my experience. I started with spirit work, no pre-requisites to speak of. We had different paths to get to same goal, and that’s fine. Some people are born with amazing singing voices, some people have to take years of lessons to be able to carry tune. We’re all doing our own thing, and it’s going to look different for everyone - even two people in the same lineage with the same teacher are going to have variations.

So let’s stop pretending that there are universal milestones that everyone and their mother has to acomplish. You can do what you believe is necessary for you, and I will continue to never do shadow work.

Fine. Here you have it. The one true rule of witchcraft:

Stop bitching about other people's practices and focus on your own

For new witches:

You don’t have to accept everything you’re told, your journey is yours to create. Don’t feel pressured to label yourself or fit into someone else’s idea of what a witch should be. Trust your instincts, explore what resonates with you and remember that your craft is deeply personal and will evolve over time.

i made a post like this the other day but deleted it because 1. it got rambly and ranty and 2. i was admittedy afraid of backlash or being accused of attacking someone. so i'll try to keep this short. i'm not writing this in any sort of animosity, but simply as a reminder of basic cult and internet safety.

please please please question people (particularly people you do not know) behaving as a priest-level educator or teacher on helpol.

this goes double if this is a single person going off the deity's word alone, and this goes triple for if they're inexperienced in the actual religion itself or have little or no tangible history in the community.

it's suspicious at best and cult behaviour + dangerous at worst.

please don't put some random person on the internet on a pedestal. this kind of behaviour should not be normalised.

they are not a prophet.

they are not an authority.

don't let anyone else but you dictate how you worship.