Id also like to mention, this video is likely not perfect and could not possibly do this huge topic justice in just one video, we really just wanted to maybe start a conversation It definitely was very reflective for me and I absolutely know I am not an authority or ‘the witch police’ and am in no way perfect and likely have done my share of problematic things too It is also so hard/impossible/unfair to judge anyone based on short snapshots and social media content too With all that being said, I hope this video was perhaps reflective for you too, or perhaps you completely disagree with me which is of course absolutely fine and I’d love to hear your different opinions even if they are completely different than mine
hi Ella, you might have answered this in another video but in your opinion, how often *should* someone be engaging in the ceremony as part of their practice? I devote several mornings a week to the deities I venerate. I have a temporary altar space that I set up when I do these devotionals, and I pack it all away once I'm done. I share my space and I like to keep this part of my life private, and away from other's eyes. I engage in folk practices when I have the time to do so, which isn't as often as I would like tbh. I work hard to be a steward of my local landscape, I am involved in several causes that I care about... I have the "mindset" for it, but I just don't feel like I can claim the term "witch" because I don't "do" enough of the spellcraft consistently... Does that make sense? I feel like I need to do a spiritual audit on myself. Life is just so hectic with the 9-5 lifestyle- I can't stand it. (Ps I also have a mood disorder so sometimes it's challenging to suss out whether or not I'm judging myself too harshly or getting in my own way...) I'd appreciate your thoughts on this either here or in a future video!
I typically stay to myself. I'm a left hand path witch. I've been very hesitant to make a video about having two dark goddesses as my matrons while being a black cis straight male who's masculine just because online can be a not so nice place. I don't have the patience for petty nonsense at the age of thirty eight. Most of the witches in my online group are very welcoming and helpful and I'm thankful for my sisters, brothers and fam. I do feel that there's a lot of mispresentation on tiktok. So crones, men as well as the women out there who are not conventionally attractive are not often seen. For me the divine feminine unchains me from the impositions placed on me as man by society and so it is freeing to just feel my emotions, heal from my trauma and face my fears, to be a better human being and better version of myself. My wife isn't a witch but she is supportive. My family are southern baptist so yeah...Darkest Blessings to all. Hail Lilith. Hail Hekate.
If you ever decide you want to publicly participate in witchy spaces like TH-cam, I for one would love to hear about your craft and the path you follow. Your perspective is one we need - real craft experiences from more advanced practitioners.
As someone who has been deeply involved with broader occulture online for a long time the prompts and discussion are very much needed. The impact of centralized algorithm-based platforms is just being begun to be felt in literature and actual practices sadly often for the worst. Armchair practitioners have always existed but the incentives have made the problem a lot worse.
this video showed up on my feed and I have to say, listening to you speak on all the different issues that arise with witchcraft becoming popular on social media, (tiktok especially) is so refreshing. I appreciate your honesty when it comes to how witchcraft practices online are fabricated like anything else and practitioners will often exude an air of “holier than thou” which can make you as the audience feel like they’re on some unattainable level. It is so important to be able to keep things in perspective, and yet so easy to get sucked into the cycle of feeling inadequate in your practice when compared to someone else’s online social media presence. There’s someone I know who got called out on tiktok for appropriating practices and exuding arrogance and left the platform only to move onto another where they have continued to cultivate a following and the new followers don’t know their problematic past. Their level of advancement is smoke and mirrors and yet their level of confidence sells to people. It’s incredibly frustrating to see these kinds of people profit off of scamming and manipulating their audiences. Anyway, I loved this video and listening to your different takes. New sub!
I just want to say, I absolutely love “witchcraft is not for everyone and I stand by that, and the comments proved the point”. I’ve only been practicing for a few years, and the “practice” has been low because my husband wasn’t supportive. So it was mostly educating and small things here and there. As of late, however, he’s in a different mindset about it, as am I, and I’m trying to open myself to it more and be outside and practice more. I remember hearing in the beginning of my practice that eventually “the trend will fade and those left will be those who genuinely love and practice their craft” and I believe that too. Blessed be, thank you for your content ✨🌙
34:28 “Someone just learnt something, and then they immediately go on to sell it, and they immediately capitalize off of what for them is just a hobby” THANK YOU. I feel like you’ve pulled the words from my mouth. This is a problem I’ve noticed here in Hong Kong, and I personally know someone who is just like this ex.they were learning about human design when I met with them, then 3 months later she's selling a course on human design on her instagram. I may know nothing about human design, but I do know you can’t possibly master something as complicated as spiritual matters in only 3 months and be so proficient in it that you are justified in charging larges sums for it. I felt deeply uncomfortable with that, but also can’t really do anything in terms of calling her out. She also claims to work with Freyja, even though she has not read the Poetic Edda, does not speak any nordic language, barely speaks English and only reads Chinese translations of occult books that were already english interpretations/translations of the source material. I’m pretty sure that dilutes the accuracy of the information you’re getting. When I tried to share some book recommendations, she was disinterested. It left me with this growing disgust and anger towards insincerity in the craft and magical practice in spiritual circles that I didn’t voice out loud because, what good would that do? It’s not going to change her and it's not like HK is going to magically un-rampant capitalism itself. That and the doubt of whether I was being overly judgemental and gatekeeping, seeing as i don’t know much about norse practices either. And so, hearing my thoughts in your video was so, so refreshing. The only thing I can say in opposition to your video is that while I agree that we need to practice more, sometimes consuming knowledge vs actual practice is a result of having no energy because of a gruelling job. It’s much easier to passively consume knowledge than to do the practice. That said, obviously to develop as an actual practitioner, you need to practice and theres no way around it and that is fact. I hope to get better at this once I’m done with the work+study life. Thank you Ella for posting this!
I have worked in a grueling job in academia for the last 7 years and my practice dropped off to nothing. Watching videos from creators I respect is a way to stay connected with my practice and learn new things. Sometimes I am even inspired to work a simple spell I have seen with satisfactory results. Thanks for pointing this out.
@@eveywrens Hey I’m glad can help to bring awareness to that. It’s been my case since working full-time in education and similarly I’ve done nothing since starting, and started to feel guilt until I recalled the same situation with the art community (ppl arguing that practicing art every day is the only way to really get better vs. it isn’t necessary etc…) My conclusion to both is the same: we all have different lives and limits, so we work with what we have, and we shouldn’t be ashamed for it. So long as you’re not going professional, it’s fine to not practice so often, it’s just better if you can.
As a marketer, I've stopped using a lot of social media because despite the demand for more authentic content, most of it is just not. And there is so much trust in creators these days that consumers forget to do their own research. I have definitely had experiences in this community where i was attracted to a facet of magick or witchcraft but after checking other sources and understanding the origins of such practices realized that they just weren't for me despite the ideas presented in social media being so attractive. Thank you, Ella, for this video and i hope creators in other communities start having this conversation too!
Thank you for collaborating on the tag. The questions have been extremely eye-opening. And your perspective here has got me shaking my head yes to a lot of them. ❤
So grateful for these topics to be brought out for discussion, it's just the right time to tackle all of this and move into spaces of authenticity. Thanks for starting the conversation!
I agree with most ur saying. I've been practicing for just over 20 years. I'm dedicated to my crafting, I love learning. But I def feel it's become more of an aesthetic. I have a morning routine every morning and evening. I have my own small biz. And I hate when ppl say, " OMG you should do witch-tok" lol Ur doing great doll. Ur def an old soul.
I do agree with you that fraud (using false information to obtain money or resources from others) is a problem and should be self-policed as best as we can within the community. I often hear more experienced practitioners caution beginners with “do your own research,” “check multiple sources,” and “always reflect on your own values and beliefs.” So at least to that degree, sometimes all we can do is warn someone to be careful. I also agree misinformation or UPG being presented as historically or culturally verified gnosis is a problem, if nothing else because it implies higher value over UPG to beginners who are often coming from cultures where “experts” and others’ knowledge is held up on a pedestal as always right for everyone. However, even there, I think it’s worth saying my truth, which is my experience will always take precedence over historical or cultural gnosis any day. “Fact” or not, if I am doing things a certain way or working with a spirit or deity in a way that’s not historically verified, I don’t really care because I’m not asking anyone else to do it too. Therein lies the contrast I think you are meaning, which is making sure people are using their own common sense to recognize that someone else’s practice is not really your business unless you plan to make it your practice too.
Oh absolutely fair! I do think having and working with your UPG is what some may call ‘advanced practitioners’ and I love that! Thats the point of practice I just wish people online would be clear when they make content that is presented as educational if it is UPG or if it is based on some source and which source 😭
@biophiliagreen I lived in Salem for three years, so I saw the very examples of your point: Watered-down for consumers looking for a magical "fix" instead of genuine spiritual practice.
@@dayanaoemerson briefly, I see it as capitalism has our value ONLY as our bodily output to the establishment. With witchcraft we are connected to nature, community and have full authority to ourselves.
I appreciate this video so much. It is so hard to find others who didn’t just pick this up as a hobby or ‘fall off from it.’ Especially those who actually believe in the things they say. ❤
I was a witch before the internet existed. Still am one. I enjoy warching certain people but when all is said and done, I do things my way and do my own research, etc. These days, talks like this is background noise for me. However, I have learned different tidbits here and there from a few witches ive watched, different ways of doing or seeing as well..never too old to learn or appreciate the experience of others
I have started practicing really not long ago. Im very fresh and naive on this topic I feel, cause everything right now makes me very curious and I absorb every droplet of knowledge I can find. Listening to this didn’t make me feel gatekept at all. I’m thankful for all of what you’ve said, im aware of all of the dangers and scams there are online yet this is a great reminder to have my eyes wide open. I hope I can be part of a good community one day cause I don’t really know who to trust out there aside of a friend of mine, who is keeping my feet on the ground right now. Besides that, there isn’t much practice or community where I live, specially not of my field since im sadly living far from my roots and my culture.
I love these Occultea prompts, it's been really nice learning about the differing opinions on the craft and what's been going on societally. I'd love a part two or pod cast
I definitely have come to realize its important to really know yourself & always keep in mind the "highlight reel" of social media. I really had to sit back recently when an artist friend of mine got a community award even though my art sells for way more than there's but this person was able to quit their job and spend hours each day working on content whereas I can not therefore their community reach is much higher than mine over night. It doesn't mean my skills suddenly are worthless, we are on different paths and it took a lot of self reflection to not be so sad about it.
Hi, Ella! Love your Channel! - Consuming Knowledge VS Practicing - I come from a non-witchy background and am university educated. I find my practice HAS TO BE mostly about learning to PLAY CATCH UP with doing coming as a result of learning. At only 2 years into Witchcraft, I am ALMOST intermediate in Knowledge, but still a Novice in Doing. It is a different experience for those that grew up with magic, a gift from Family. For me my teachers are WONDERFUL TH-cam Creators! I feel I have a need to Fast Track myself through knowledge, so when needed I know what to do. **Smile**
I love this conversation. It's very important to understand the influence of social media on our spiritual practice. I just uploaded my VR. Thanks for all the prompts!
❤Just wanted to drop a note...😊...I lived in Germany for a few years and can not remember if Crisco is obtainable there. My point, you can make a very long-lasting candle with it. 😊❤
Thank you for sharing! I am glad that I am not the only one who wonders if I am good enough, do to all the videos and other content. It is good to bring this aspect of “internet practice “ more to the surface, especially for people who don’t know better.
Honestly, I have seen this issue where content creators produce the same type of popular content over and over, and essentially steal from others in many different niches on instagram. It is making the app so mind numbing and repetitive that I deleted it altogether. Ella, your content is amazing. You are so knowledgeable, you provide sources, and you are clearly a lovely and deeply unique and interesting human. You, Leah, and Hannah are pretty much the only witchy content I consume now. I don’t usually leave comments, but I wanted to thank you for being true to yourself and for providing an invaluable resource for those of us who are genuinely practicing. I appreciate you!
Very great reflections, thank you! 🙏 Maybe I even gained the courage to do a video to add to these topics 🙈No promises, because I'm introverted. But lately, I have been feeling the call to also share my voice and to contribute to this amazing community not only by consuming content but also through sharing it. I always had a spiritual drive, I ended up enrolling in an occultist school more focused on ceremonial magic and learned a lot there in the 9 years that I was affiliated. But as I became older, the life challenges start to hump up, and my mental health started to decrease, I had found in witchcraft and I actually got to know it more in depth because of the youtube community, from creators like you Ella, but many others. The liberty of paths that witchcraft offers, where everyone can practice what makes more sense to their own individuality is something that fascinates me, and makes me feel welcome as the person that I am with my own unique background and challenges. So I will thank you, in name of all the content creators of this topic, for sharing your point of view in the best way, and always encouraging others to tho the same, not as an imitation of what is being done, but as a way to show the spectator what can be done having such bases. 🥰
As a magic practitioner since I was 13, I am excited there is more of an open discourse about the path. However I have struggled with the influencer movement that makes it look like you need every special pretty dish and spoon to be a witch.
Hi Ella, thanks for this video, it's an important topic. I think that whilst social media is helping practitioners to connect with others there's a danger that it can be used as a primary, or even the only, source of information for them. Without a broader knowledge base from which to draw there can be less attention paid to the basics - visualisation, energy manipulation, and so on, and a temptation to jump into spellwork with no real understanding of what they are doing. It can also focus practitioners on creating a 'witchy aesthetic' with beautiful altars and gorgeous tools. If that's what someone wants then it's perfectly fine, of course, but surely witchcraft is about actual practice? TikTok and Instagram simply do not have a format suitable for the dissemination of knowledge.
Ok, long semi-rant: I remember buying books on it pre internet days, and occult type items, particularly divination. But my area skews heavily Christian and conservative and so I dropped it, surrounded by Christian family and friends who never would have been ok with it. I had to hide the stuff that I purchased when alone. And my husband was so deeply religiously indoctrinated from such a young age that I felt that there was no way that I could do it. I have to say that for me personally, seeing the prevalence of witches online on the social media platforms has emboldened me to be who I always wanted to be and what always felt right to me in the first place. I am very thankful to have found safe spaces that made me feel less crazy and less alone in this. I will always be grateful for that. Slowly my husband is coming to terms with this as I let more and more of this out in front of him. He’s trying because he loves me. He doesn’t understand it but that’s ok. I don’t need him to be a part of this but I do need him to let me be who I really am. As for social media I just read/listen to everything and then research books separately and decide for myself what I believe in. But it can be disheartening when other witches take the “you can’t be a witch if you do this or buy that or like that or weren’t born into it etc”. There is a lot of gatekeeping by some people. Some people call you a fake if you happen to like and buy witchy things regardless that you ALSO practice actual craft besides that and also work with what’s in nature. It’s like-we get it, ok, you don’t need store bought things to work a spell. Got it. But you can love the aesthetic AND be a witch that practices in her own way just like everyone else has the opportunity to do. We all decorate our homes with what we like. Why does it matter what you buy either way? If you love boho decor and buy it, or modern contemporary and buy that instead, or buy things that looks witchy who cares? You were going to buy SOMETHING to decorate with either way. What difference does it make if it aesthetically fits a witchy decor look or not??? But I swear I routine run into videos/comments/posts about how you don’t have to or shouldn’t buy witchy aesthetic things if you want to be taken seriously. And to them I say “mind your own business. If I wanted rules, I can go to church for those. I ALSO do not need people telling what not to do or buy with my own money in witchcraft spaces” 😂. You “can” love the aesthetic “and” still be a practicing witch working with nature’s bounty. The two are not mutually exclusive. And for me-we host a town wide Halloween (Samhain) event in and around our house for the town in which people go all throughout my home and garden. Hundreds of people go through. For me it simply saves time if my house has a witchy decor style. That just means there’s less to store and decorate when it comes time to let people in here. It’s easier and less expensive for me. One set of decor, already up. Problem solved.
I agree with you, I love aesthetic things and it bugs me endlessly that people think I (or anyone) is not a serious witch just because I like pretty things - this has been a HUGE discussion for the past weeks and I feel like it should be common sense? Just also to clarify in case it didn’t come across like that, I absolutely have no issues with people who are online and who share aesthetic content, obviously as I myself am doing so - however, here I did want to highlight how often people think aesthetic content = authority, or how aesthetic content can boost someone’s following and then the following count = authority. In this case, people take advantage of the situation and thats not cool 🥲
I always encourage others not to feel the need to buy tonnes of stuff; in the mentory stuff I do, I only ask others to seek out second-hand/thrifted, found, extremely inexpensive or free items, or to make things themselves. I do this because there is an historic element to it, our ancestresses used what they had access to. And there is also accessibility issues today for those without much in the way of financial resources. That said, I also encourage others to curate their homes. The witch space, and the witch house, including both practical and aesthetic elements, shouldn't be ignored as some frippery. It's also important. We are sensory, physically embodied, beings, who exist in physical spaces. The Craft does not deny the worldly, the physical, or the sensual, but embraces it and works with, through, and within, it. Our homes are extensions and reflections of ourselves. We express our inner nature outwardly in our homes, in the clothes we wear, in how we ornament our bodies, in our gardens and so-on. The intimate space we occupy, should ideally mirror or enhance our inner world. I think this should ideally be an organic process; gradually removing that which does not accord with our shifting mindset or aspirations, and adding in that which does. And we should enjoy both our space, our bodies, and our Craft. Take pleasure from it, i/ because we can, and ii/ because the Craft celebrates life. And lastly, just f*** self-appointed authorities (who very likely only picked up their own Craft yesterday, or the day before and are filled with some fresh zeal - seasoned witches tend to be a little more phlegmatic in my experience). Your Craft, your home, your life. Unless you're asking, no-one should be telling. Ignore those who try. Thankfully it's easy enough online to achieve that. You simply stop watching or listening to them, and like magick, they are banished.
I too have a nore conservative husband and in the 90s my practise and stuff wasn't full of things. Now I'm much more comfortable with my life on display I finally have witchy stuff everywhere and I enjoy it but my first 30 yrs was based on nature and elements.
Ive seen soooo many people with a mega following that frankly have no knowledge in normal thing, it sounds mean but not just in witchcraft, I've watched several people and been like why do people listen to you and I have to hide or block them or whatever off my yt so they stop popping up in my for you section
I think the word you were looking for at 23:00 was “tutorial”! Anyway this is such an interesting conversation! I 100% agree about social media killing our attention spans. I have avoided joining Tiktok for that exact reason (and many others haha)
I enjoyed your video. And agree. Do research. Go visit a library check out the OLD ( nothing written in the 2002s) books about witchcraft. Then when you have notebooks written with notes, then go read newer ones. Make informative choices/decisions.
It's a really interesting conversation Ella. There are def areas I'd be interested in discussing more. I think it's important to cultivate more safety and inclusivity in our community so thanks to u all for creating and sharing. 🙏
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Lately I’ve felt repulsed by the exploitation of spirituality so this seems like a good time to strengthen discernment and connect more deeply to the natural world. I find myself there, and I know I’m not the only one! I believe 100% that what we are longing for cannot be bought and I think more and more of us are realizing the social media distortion. It’s feels so icky! 😂
Of all the awesome takeaways from this video, I just can’t stop Thinking how much I want your pentacle pendant 😂 thanks so much for this, and all of your work, Ella!
I'm a solitary witch. I've never used TikTok. I have issues with communities. They almost always end up with a small group of people trying to tell everyone else what they can and can't do. It ends up in censorship, inauthenticity and superficiality.
As a practitioner of over 30 years I have all kinds of thoughts and opinions on this. Perhaps I’ll jump on this tag on my ‘business’ page. I’m new to trying to teach in this format, though not new to teaching, and that’s the page where I plan to post my lessons. I agree with a lot of what you said and I know your frustration. As much as I have a web store and sell witchcraft tools and supplies, I’m always telling people to look around your local woods or house to see what nature has to offer you. I like people to buy things because they want to not because they feel like they HAVE to. And, the scammers and hacks… yeesh. It’s like the Wild West out here on the web sometimes.
Thank you for sharing this! I agree with everything you’ve said said far and I’m half way through! Sorry I have to stop for now and go to bed but will watch the rest tomorrow! Not that you need to know that lol but very interested in all of it!
Hon u don’t have to tell me that u deserve recognition more, are beyond and above this social media witch😂 ur background says volume! And thx for sharing ur insights❤
Love this tag so much and I agree with alot of what you said espy the 30 yr olds having 20 years of alleged practice 😂thank you for keeping it so candid
I was at a witchy market on Sunday and I had sma moment of anxiety because there were so many things to buy and I thought am I a bad witch because I don't use lots of candles and crystals and incense. Then I spoke to my boyfriend about it who helped me realise, no, that's marketing.
You are beautiful and you have great views. Don't ever let anyone make you feel bad, ever! I just found this today and I plan to do the # as soon as I can. Being a Crone content creator is harder to build than the younger and more beautiful Maidens & Mothers! Keep up the great work! If you ever want to collaborate, just ask.
Also, something needs to be said about Tarot Readers.....listen, it is sooooo saturated. How many of them would be interested and committed if no views, likes, or financial compensation was involved????
In my experience, the community as a whole is why my personal practice will never ever ever be seen online and why I have left it completely. Aside from two creators I stay far far away. A couple of years ago I wanted to get back to my own roots of folk traditions and culture. This included the American South and my own heritage of English, Scottish, French and German. Each time I would go to research, learn from reputable teachers I would always be policed and told I absolutely could not because I was either appropriating (FOR TRYING TO LEARN), would need to move to Europe for a few years (want to very badly to experience the culture but life had other plans) and if I did not practice "traditionally" I wasn't a witch. It left a very bitter taste in my mouth but I tried to conform to it. It was not for me or for my practice. Now I'm no longer practicing so I can find my own voice within my own practice again.
First off all its a shame that this was the case for you, im sorry to hear that. I will say I fully understand why anyone would not share their personal practice, honestly sometimes I have days where I debate it for myself too I will say I do think a *level* of community involvement and holding each other accountable is good (I wouldn’t call this policing) but there certainly are those who take it too far, who think they are an authority on a culture or who will bash people’s practice for ‘altruistic’ motives when it’s plain jealousy/bitterness/bigotry
One comment on “armchair” or consuming lots of content without practicing. There is a huge amount of emphasis lately on the mental aspect, often to the point where it’s almost suggested there is no point in doing anything with visible elements until you’ve become some kind of higher meditative adept with a mind like a steel trap. Don’t get me wrong I absolutely think all the mental/psychic, visualization, shadow work, etc is a good counterpoint to aestheticism and superficiality. But it might be enough to cause some people to think that “actual practice” is something you kind of have to graduate to. Another thing you mentioned “the devil in witchcraft” but I can’t find any content from you to that effect, at least not per titles. Maybe I didn’t look far enough or maybe you decided against it based on the factors you discuss - that wasn’t clear to me. But I would be interested. My own thought, hardly original of course, is that embracing a “devil” is a confused reaction to Abrahamism which labeled traditional gods as such. On the other hand, there is such a thing as negative spiritual influences, which not being Christian is no excuse to embrace.
Thank you for this! I absolutely agree I feel like it swung so heavily into that mental direction that it again became off balance - as above do below right 😅 So as for the devil content, it has been mostly comments or mentioned briefly here or there but no dedicated content per se but yes I would love to get into that more for example but probably will do so slowly
Ella, sorry das ich jetzt auf deutsch in den Kommentaren schreibe. Aber ich musste so herzlich lachen als du es mit den 🕯im Glas erzähltest. Ich hab dich so gefühlt😂...ich habe es echt auch nicht eingesehen "so viel Geld" für Kerzen auszugeben. Ich habe bis jetzt auf meinem Weg diese Erfahrungen auch gemacht und es war echt ein Process das ich dieses "konsumverhalten" hinterfragt habe. Am Ende hat mich genau dieses hinterfagen mich in meiner craft bestärkt den animistischen grossen Anteil umzusetzen, weil man wird wirklich kreativ. Für mich war die Glas Kerzen Situation (& Heilsteine, Räucherwerk und achso hübschen Tools die auf der Insta Verkaufsplatform) ein Drehpunkt. Ich freue mich sehr auf die kommenden Videos. Grüsse ausm Schwabenland
Ahh danke ja kein Problem! Und freut mich, dass du da gut lachen konntest 😅😂 ja also ist eigentlich ja auch echt dämlich aber da kriegt man echt so ‘fear of missing out’ und schwupp hat man mal 30€ für ne kack Kerze ausgegeben 😭😀
@@EllaHarrison i feel you...sie sind aber auch zu hübsch...sind schon verlockend :) aber humble tools do also the work if you do the craft with respect and love. ist es doch so oder? Hug you✨️🫂
I personally don't call myself a witch im a slavic pagan, I've been called a witch for doing the rituals I do and the items I collect. I just find it interesting that being a "witch" is a trend now meanwhile we never ourself witches, we were herbalists, alchemists and astronomers, etc. Nowadays everybody wants to be a witch or something when most witchcraft is based of pagan traditions that are passed down. the amount of times someone asks me for a love spell or hex is ridiculous as well. If you haven't been taught spells or rituals or it isn't in your ancestry then you shouldn't be following or doing a certain thing.
Witches, like any other community, has good and bad people. I read an article about mystic fairs in spain where i live, and more than 80% of visitors are looking for witches to do hexing/ curse on people that wronged them (family, relationships, work). This was stressful for sellers as they also wanted to just do readings or spread the lightwork. Also, and that is my conclusion, if you reslly believe that spell work is effective, and as a witch you should obviously, you also cant be naive to think it wont be used for bad purposes as we are humans and humans do harm each other sometimes. Therefore, is wrong to assume that all people accused of evil witchcraft were innocent. Obviously, punishment was over the top and evidences and proper processes were non existant. But also was the case for minor thefts and other crimes. If given the opportunity, for sure some people would put a black magic spell onto others. 🤷🏼♀️
I hear what people are saying and I understand, predominantly this is women led and it is often that we always critic feminine energy as men have been profiting off everything forever. To me the practise is always going to be there and those who do not want to participate in the profit area do not have to, we are all always trying to set the rules and laws, its a free world for people to navigate how they may without impeding on anyone else. I do not care, I definitely enjoy hearing your view, and I love your information and knowledge and I do not particular bother who I do not connect with but I do not care enough to worry about their platform, we do too much of that these days, nobody owns anything, you have the freedom to worry about what you do. That is just how I feel and my share. My spiritual way is my own only, and I love listening to others, and if I want to buy something it is up to me. Yes, people in the safety area should be responsible and not share that type of misinformation. That is my perspective, and it is just mind, nobody has to agree but I do get to share!!! Bless be all!!
Nii paljud inimesed ei mõista, et kõik elemendid millega me töötame on ühenduses maaga. Inimesed ei mõista paljusid traditsioone sest nad ei ela sellel maal kus kohast need traditsioonid pärit on. Isegi kui sa saadad oma sõbrale kingi paki maiustustega siis ta ei saa seda efekti sealt nagu siis kui ta külastab seda teatud riiki ja siis sööb seda toitu seal.
I agree it might not be for everyone, but dude, this is not the mathematics department of the TU. It's folklore and private practice, u are not the arbiter of it and tradition is not law. I find this video a bit narrow minded and if u think practice can be "misinformation" - wtf? It's alive, like language. If someone grifts and doesn't actually practice but just performs for the camera that's just sad. But deciding what is right and what is wrong in a solitary practice or telling someone u cant practice witchcraft if u are 10 years old because that's just having imaginary friends is cruel and frankly shows how little understanding u have for this path.
I started practicing at 11 years old and no where did I say that people can’t practice at that age, however one needs to acknowledge the fact that a lot or grifters will use made up ‘witchcraft background’ which often includes their childhood spiritual encounters as justification. Childhood spiritual encounters are incredibly important but not the point here. And sorry, this may not sound nice, but witchcraft is not just made up, there are historical records, there are set traditions in some cases, so yes it is possible to share misinformation especially when talking about folklore and witchcraft. Such misinformation includes examples such as ‘there is no devil in witchcraft’ which is factually, historically, incorrect. UPG is absolutely great but it does not trump anthropological and archeological truth. I absolutely agree I am not some ‘witch police’ and would never go around judging people’s private relationships with their spirits or what have you - however what I am saying in this video is about grifters specifically or a problem I have seen in the community, and that is sharing misinformation - things that are hard facts and researchable - as fact
This video answered a question asked in a shorts of yours I came across earlier, so thanks for that. I 100% would not call myself a witch by any stretch of the word at this point in my life, but I am continually drawn to it all -which is why I find myself commenting here. Spirituality has been a flaming hot mess for me🥲 I do agree that online, most things are just putting on a show so it's scary to follow/do what any content creator posts, no matter what they profess to be knowledgeable about. So basically just do your own thing & don't tell anyone about it is what I got and that resonates
I consider 'witchcraft' as a creative outlet that has nothing to do with reality therefore ALL people who wish to engage in 'witchy' genre can claim to be 'witches' same as ALL people who draw can call themselves 'painter' or ALL who write 'writers'. That, of course, doesn't mean that they will be all accepted as such, or be popular or successful. It's all very subjective.
Id also like to mention, this video is likely not perfect and could not possibly do this huge topic justice in just one video, we really just wanted to maybe start a conversation
It definitely was very reflective for me and I absolutely know I am not an authority or ‘the witch police’ and am in no way perfect and likely have done my share of problematic things too
It is also so hard/impossible/unfair to judge anyone based on short snapshots and social media content too
With all that being said, I hope this video was perhaps reflective for you too, or perhaps you completely disagree with me which is of course absolutely fine and I’d love to hear your different opinions even if they are completely different than mine
hi Ella, you might have answered this in another video but in your opinion, how often *should* someone be engaging in the ceremony as part of their practice? I devote several mornings a week to the deities I venerate. I have a temporary altar space that I set up when I do these devotionals, and I pack it all away once I'm done. I share my space and I like to keep this part of my life private, and away from other's eyes. I engage in folk practices when I have the time to do so, which isn't as often as I would like tbh. I work hard to be a steward of my local landscape, I am involved in several causes that I care about... I have the "mindset" for it, but I just don't feel like I can claim the term "witch" because I don't "do" enough of the spellcraft consistently... Does that make sense? I feel like I need to do a spiritual audit on myself. Life is just so hectic with the 9-5 lifestyle- I can't stand it. (Ps I also have a mood disorder so sometimes it's challenging to suss out whether or not I'm judging myself too harshly or getting in my own way...) I'd appreciate your thoughts on this either here or in a future video!
I’ve been subscribed since you started. I loved growing alongside a beautiful witch such as you. Thank you for being here ❤
I typically stay to myself. I'm a left hand path witch. I've been very hesitant to make a video about having two dark goddesses as my matrons while being a black cis straight male who's masculine just because online can be a not so nice place. I don't have the patience for petty nonsense at the age of thirty eight. Most of the witches in my online group are very welcoming and helpful and I'm thankful for my sisters, brothers and fam. I do feel that there's a lot of mispresentation on tiktok.
So crones, men as well as the women out there who are not conventionally attractive are not often seen. For me the divine feminine unchains me from the impositions placed on me as man by society and so it is freeing to just feel my emotions, heal from my trauma and face my fears, to be a better human being and better version of myself.
My wife isn't a witch but she is supportive. My family are southern baptist so yeah...Darkest Blessings to all. Hail Lilith. Hail Hekate.
I hope you don’t mind me saying but you sound like such a cool person tbh
If you ever decide you want to publicly participate in witchy spaces like TH-cam, I for one would love to hear about your craft and the path you follow. Your perspective is one we need - real craft experiences from more advanced practitioners.
Thank you for this. Beautifully said, and your words capture a real vulnerability that few speak of ❤☠️
I think you should share your journey and experiences, I love to hear what others are doing!
TikTok totally drove me away from itself. Sitting there scrolling for like an hour mindlessly was not healthy for me and I had to delete it lol
Yeah, I personally don't get on it much. Too much drama and negativity lol.
As someone who has been deeply involved with broader occulture online for a long time the prompts and discussion are very much needed. The impact of centralized algorithm-based platforms is just being begun to be felt in literature and actual practices sadly often for the worst. Armchair practitioners have always existed but the incentives have made the problem a lot worse.
this video showed up on my feed and I have to say, listening to you speak on all the different issues that arise with witchcraft becoming popular on social media, (tiktok especially) is so refreshing. I appreciate your honesty when it comes to how witchcraft practices online are fabricated like anything else and practitioners will often exude an air of “holier than thou” which can make you as the audience feel like they’re on some unattainable level. It is so important to be able to keep things in perspective, and yet so easy to get sucked into the cycle of feeling inadequate in your practice when compared to someone else’s online social media presence. There’s someone I know who got called out on tiktok for appropriating practices and exuding arrogance and left the platform only to move onto another where they have continued to cultivate a following and the new followers don’t know their problematic past. Their level of advancement is smoke and mirrors and yet their level of confidence sells to people. It’s incredibly frustrating to see these kinds of people profit off of scamming and manipulating their audiences. Anyway, I loved this video and listening to your different takes. New sub!
You really brought it to the point...agree on everything.
I just want to say, I absolutely love “witchcraft is not for everyone and I stand by that, and the comments proved the point”. I’ve only been practicing for a few years, and the “practice” has been low because my husband wasn’t supportive. So it was mostly educating and small things here and there. As of late, however, he’s in a different mindset about it, as am I, and I’m trying to open myself to it more and be outside and practice more. I remember hearing in the beginning of my practice that eventually “the trend will fade and those left will be those who genuinely love and practice their craft” and I believe that too. Blessed be, thank you for your content ✨🌙
34:28 “Someone just learnt something, and then they immediately go on to sell it, and they immediately capitalize off of what for them is just a hobby”
THANK YOU. I feel like you’ve pulled the words from my mouth. This is a problem I’ve noticed here in Hong Kong, and I personally know someone who is just like this ex.they were learning about human design when I met with them, then 3 months later she's selling a course on human design on her instagram. I may know nothing about human design, but I do know you can’t possibly master something as complicated as spiritual matters in only 3 months and be so proficient in it that you are justified in charging larges sums for it. I felt deeply uncomfortable with that, but also can’t really do anything in terms of calling her out. She also claims to work with Freyja, even though she has not read the Poetic Edda, does not speak any nordic language, barely speaks English and only reads Chinese translations of occult books that were already english interpretations/translations of the source material. I’m pretty sure that dilutes the accuracy of the information you’re getting. When I tried to share some book recommendations, she was disinterested.
It left me with this growing disgust and anger towards insincerity in the craft and magical practice in spiritual circles that I didn’t voice out loud because, what good would that do? It’s not going to change her and it's not like HK is going to magically un-rampant capitalism itself. That and the doubt of whether I was being overly judgemental and gatekeeping, seeing as i don’t know much about norse practices either. And so, hearing my thoughts in your video was so, so refreshing.
The only thing I can say in opposition to your video is that while I agree that we need to practice more, sometimes consuming knowledge vs actual practice is a result of having no energy because of a gruelling job. It’s much easier to passively consume knowledge than to do the practice. That said, obviously to develop as an actual practitioner, you need to practice and theres no way around it and that is fact. I hope to get better at this once I’m done with the work+study life.
Thank you Ella for posting this!
I have worked in a grueling job in academia for the last 7 years and my practice dropped off to nothing. Watching videos from creators I respect is a way to stay connected with my practice and learn new things. Sometimes I am even inspired to work a simple spell I have seen with satisfactory results. Thanks for pointing this out.
@@eveywrens Hey I’m glad can help to bring awareness to that. It’s been my case since working full-time in education and similarly I’ve done nothing since starting, and started to feel guilt until I recalled the same situation with the art community (ppl arguing that practicing art every day is the only way to really get better vs. it isn’t necessary etc…)
My conclusion to both is the same: we all have different lives and limits, so we work with what we have, and we shouldn’t be ashamed for it. So long as you’re not going professional, it’s fine to not practice so often, it’s just better if you can.
As a marketer, I've stopped using a lot of social media because despite the demand for more authentic content, most of it is just not. And there is so much trust in creators these days that consumers forget to do their own research. I have definitely had experiences in this community where i was attracted to a facet of magick or witchcraft but after checking other sources and understanding the origins of such practices realized that they just weren't for me despite the ideas presented in social media being so attractive. Thank you, Ella, for this video and i hope creators in other communities start having this conversation too!
Thank you for collaborating on the tag. The questions have been extremely eye-opening.
And your perspective here has got me shaking my head yes to a lot of them. ❤
So grateful for these topics to be brought out for discussion, it's just the right time to tackle all of this and move into spaces of authenticity. Thanks for starting the conversation!
i can't even anymore. i'm 58 years old and have been "witching" from the age of 18. isn't the point to be oneself? to do things one's own way?
I agree with most ur saying. I've been practicing for just over 20 years. I'm dedicated to my crafting, I love learning. But I def feel it's become more of an aesthetic. I have a morning routine every morning and evening. I have my own small biz. And I hate when ppl say, " OMG you should do witch-tok" lol
Ur doing great doll. Ur def an old soul.
I do agree with you that fraud (using false information to obtain money or resources from others) is a problem and should be self-policed as best as we can within the community. I often hear more experienced practitioners caution beginners with “do your own research,” “check multiple sources,” and “always reflect on your own values and beliefs.” So at least to that degree, sometimes all we can do is warn someone to be careful.
I also agree misinformation or UPG being presented as historically or culturally verified gnosis is a problem, if nothing else because it implies higher value over UPG to beginners who are often coming from cultures where “experts” and others’ knowledge is held up on a pedestal as always right for everyone. However, even there, I think it’s worth saying my truth, which is my experience will always take precedence over historical or cultural gnosis any day. “Fact” or not, if I am doing things a certain way or working with a spirit or deity in a way that’s not historically verified, I don’t really care because I’m not asking anyone else to do it too. Therein lies the contrast I think you are meaning, which is making sure people are using their own common sense to recognize that someone else’s practice is not really your business unless you plan to make it your practice too.
Oh absolutely fair! I do think having and working with your UPG is what some may call ‘advanced practitioners’ and I love that! Thats the point of practice
I just wish people online would be clear when they make content that is presented as educational if it is UPG or if it is based on some source and which source 😭
Witchcraft and capitalism are conflicting ideologies. So the fact that on short form platforms, witchcraft is being “sold” is a major problem.
@biophiliagreen I completely agree. I do not charge for energy readers
I don't know very much about it, that's why I'm making this question: Why witchcraft and capitalism are conflicting ideologies?
@biophiliagreen I lived in Salem for three years, so I saw the very examples of your point: Watered-down for consumers looking for a magical "fix" instead of genuine spiritual practice.
@@dayanaoemerson briefly, I see it as capitalism has our value ONLY as our bodily output to the establishment. With witchcraft we are connected to nature, community and have full authority to ourselves.
I opened the video, had to pause in the first minute, went and made myself the biggest coffee, then came back to enjoy. Thank you Ella!
I appreciate this video so much. It is so hard to find others who didn’t just pick this up as a hobby or ‘fall off from it.’ Especially those who actually believe in the things they say. ❤
Yes!! Yes and yes! More must come out and speak about such things! I am inspired by this-thank you!
I was a witch before the internet existed. Still am one. I enjoy warching certain people but when all is said and done, I do things my way and do my own research, etc. These days, talks like this is background noise for me. However, I have learned different tidbits here and there from a few witches ive watched, different ways of doing or seeing as well..never too old to learn or appreciate the experience of others
I have started practicing really not long ago. Im very fresh and naive on this topic I feel, cause everything right now makes me very curious and I absorb every droplet of knowledge I can find.
Listening to this didn’t make me feel gatekept at all. I’m thankful for all of what you’ve said, im aware of all of the dangers and scams there are online yet this is a great reminder to have my eyes wide open.
I hope I can be part of a good community one day cause I don’t really know who to trust out there aside of a friend of mine, who is keeping my feet on the ground right now. Besides that, there isn’t much practice or community where I live, specially not of my field since im sadly living far from my roots and my culture.
I love these Occultea prompts, it's been really nice learning about the differing opinions on the craft and what's been going on societally. I'd love a part two or pod cast
I definitely have come to realize its important to really know yourself & always keep in mind the "highlight reel" of social media. I really had to sit back recently when an artist friend of mine got a community award even though my art sells for way more than there's but this person was able to quit their job and spend hours each day working on content whereas I can not therefore their community reach is much higher than mine over night. It doesn't mean my skills suddenly are worthless, we are on different paths and it took a lot of self reflection to not be so sad about it.
Hi, Ella! Love your Channel! - Consuming Knowledge VS Practicing - I come from a non-witchy background and am university educated. I find my practice HAS TO BE mostly about learning to PLAY CATCH UP with doing coming as a result of learning. At only 2 years into Witchcraft, I am ALMOST intermediate in Knowledge, but still a Novice in Doing. It is a different experience for those that grew up with magic, a gift from Family. For me my teachers are WONDERFUL TH-cam Creators! I feel I have a need to Fast Track myself through knowledge, so when needed I know what to do. **Smile**
Knowing. Doing. Becoming...
I love this conversation. It's very important to understand the influence of social media on our spiritual practice. I just uploaded my VR. Thanks for all the prompts!
❤Just wanted to drop a note...😊...I lived in Germany for a few years and can not remember if Crisco is obtainable there. My point, you can make a very long-lasting candle with it. 😊❤
Ohh thank you! Yeah I just get regular candles and pop them in a tall glass vase now 😅
Thank you for sharing! I am glad that I am not the only one who wonders if I am good enough, do to all the videos and other content. It is good to bring this aspect of “internet practice “ more to the surface, especially for people who don’t know better.
Nice to meet you ❤ I think you made a lot of good points. 33:00 I see this alot. 😒 This has been such a great conversation and I appreciate it! 😊❤
Honestly, I have seen this issue where content creators produce the same type of popular content over and over, and essentially steal from others in many different niches on instagram. It is making the app so mind numbing and repetitive that I deleted it altogether. Ella, your content is amazing. You are so knowledgeable, you provide sources, and you are clearly a lovely and deeply unique and interesting human. You, Leah, and Hannah are pretty much the only witchy content I consume now. I don’t usually leave comments, but I wanted to thank you for being true to yourself and for providing an invaluable resource for those of us who are genuinely practicing. I appreciate you!
Walk in the woods and you will find everything you need.🙂
Exactly
Very great reflections, thank you! 🙏 Maybe I even gained the courage to do a video to add to these topics 🙈No promises, because I'm introverted. But lately, I have been feeling the call to also share my voice and to contribute to this amazing community not only by consuming content but also through sharing it. I always had a spiritual drive, I ended up enrolling in an occultist school more focused on ceremonial magic and learned a lot there in the 9 years that I was affiliated. But as I became older, the life challenges start to hump up, and my mental health started to decrease, I had found in witchcraft and I actually got to know it more in depth because of the youtube community, from creators like you Ella, but many others. The liberty of paths that witchcraft offers, where everyone can practice what makes more sense to their own individuality is something that fascinates me, and makes me feel welcome as the person that I am with my own unique background and challenges. So I will thank you, in name of all the content creators of this topic, for sharing your point of view in the best way, and always encouraging others to tho the same, not as an imitation of what is being done, but as a way to show the spectator what can be done having such bases. 🥰
As a magic practitioner since I was 13, I am excited there is more of an open discourse about the path. However I have struggled with the influencer movement that makes it look like you need every special pretty dish and spoon to be a witch.
I want to say I appreciate your willingness to come to this conversation as an influencer in the space.
Great discussion, hopefully I'll find time to do a VR. Good to get the community chatting!💜
Hi Ella, thanks for this video, it's an important topic. I think that whilst social media is helping practitioners to connect with others there's a danger that it can be used as a primary, or even the only, source of information for them. Without a broader knowledge base from which to draw there can be less attention paid to the basics - visualisation, energy manipulation, and so on, and a temptation to jump into spellwork with no real understanding of what they are doing. It can also focus practitioners on creating a 'witchy aesthetic' with beautiful altars and gorgeous tools. If that's what someone wants then it's perfectly fine, of course, but surely witchcraft is about actual practice? TikTok and Instagram simply do not have a format suitable for the dissemination of knowledge.
I love your book! I'm doing the abracadabra mirror spell from it today 😊
Thank you! You've really helped my mental health with your beautiful book.
Thanks for the post Ella 🙂🙂
Ok, long semi-rant: I remember buying books on it pre internet days, and occult type items, particularly divination. But my area skews heavily Christian and conservative and so I dropped it, surrounded by Christian family and friends who never would have been ok with it. I had to hide the stuff that I purchased when alone. And my husband was so deeply religiously indoctrinated from such a young age that I felt that there was no way that I could do it. I have to say that for me personally, seeing the prevalence of witches online on the social media platforms has emboldened me to be who I always wanted to be and what always felt right to me in the first place. I am very thankful to have found safe spaces that made me feel less crazy and less alone in this. I will always be grateful for that. Slowly my husband is coming to terms with this as I let more and more of this out in front of him. He’s trying because he loves me. He doesn’t understand it but that’s ok. I don’t need him to be a part of this but I do need him to let me be who I really am. As for social media I just read/listen to everything and then research books separately and decide for myself what I believe in. But it can be disheartening when other witches take the “you can’t be a witch if you do this or buy that or like that or weren’t born into it etc”. There is a lot of gatekeeping by some people. Some people call you a fake if you happen to like and buy witchy things regardless that you ALSO practice actual craft besides that and also work with what’s in nature. It’s like-we get it, ok, you don’t need store bought things to work a spell. Got it. But you can love the aesthetic AND be a witch that practices in her own way just like everyone else has the opportunity to do. We all decorate our homes with what we like. Why does it matter what you buy either way? If you love boho decor and buy it, or modern contemporary and buy that instead, or buy things that looks witchy who cares? You were going to buy SOMETHING to decorate with either way. What difference does it make if it aesthetically fits a witchy decor look or not??? But I swear I routine run into videos/comments/posts about how you don’t have to or shouldn’t buy witchy aesthetic things if you want to be taken seriously. And to them I say “mind your own business. If I wanted rules, I can go to church for those. I ALSO do not need people telling what not to do or buy with my own money in witchcraft spaces” 😂. You “can” love the aesthetic “and” still be a practicing witch working with nature’s bounty. The two are not mutually exclusive. And for me-we host a town wide Halloween (Samhain) event in and around our house for the town in which people go all throughout my home and garden. Hundreds of people go through. For me it simply saves time if my house has a witchy decor style. That just means there’s less to store and decorate when it comes time to let people in here. It’s easier and less expensive for me. One set of decor, already up. Problem solved.
I agree with you, I love aesthetic things and it bugs me endlessly that people think I (or anyone) is not a serious witch just because I like pretty things - this has been a HUGE discussion for the past weeks and I feel like it should be common sense?
Just also to clarify in case it didn’t come across like that, I absolutely have no issues with people who are online and who share aesthetic content, obviously as I myself am doing so - however, here I did want to highlight how often people think aesthetic content = authority, or how aesthetic content can boost someone’s following and then the following count = authority. In this case, people take advantage of the situation and thats not cool 🥲
I always encourage others not to feel the need to buy tonnes of stuff; in the mentory stuff I do, I only ask others to seek out second-hand/thrifted, found, extremely inexpensive or free items, or to make things themselves. I do this because there is an historic element to it, our ancestresses used what they had access to. And there is also accessibility issues today for those without much in the way of financial resources. That said, I also encourage others to curate their homes. The witch space, and the witch house, including both practical and aesthetic elements, shouldn't be ignored as some frippery. It's also important. We are sensory, physically embodied, beings, who exist in physical spaces. The Craft does not deny the worldly, the physical, or the sensual, but embraces it and works with, through, and within, it. Our homes are extensions and reflections of ourselves. We express our inner nature outwardly in our homes, in the clothes we wear, in how we ornament our bodies, in our gardens and so-on. The intimate space we occupy, should ideally mirror or enhance our inner world. I think this should ideally be an organic process; gradually removing that which does not accord with our shifting mindset or aspirations, and adding in that which does. And we should enjoy both our space, our bodies, and our Craft. Take pleasure from it, i/ because we can, and ii/ because the Craft celebrates life. And lastly, just f*** self-appointed authorities (who very likely only picked up their own Craft yesterday, or the day before and are filled with some fresh zeal - seasoned witches tend to be a little more phlegmatic in my experience). Your Craft, your home, your life. Unless you're asking, no-one should be telling. Ignore those who try. Thankfully it's easy enough online to achieve that. You simply stop watching or listening to them, and like magick, they are banished.
I too have a nore conservative husband and in the 90s my practise and stuff wasn't full of things. Now I'm much more comfortable with my life on display I finally have witchy stuff everywhere and I enjoy it but my first 30 yrs was based on nature and elements.
thank you , and please continue making videos!!! 🌠
I hate tiktok it has consumed everyone around me...I'll always be a long content girly
Same tbh
Ive seen soooo many people with a mega following that frankly have no knowledge in normal thing, it sounds mean but not just in witchcraft, I've watched several people and been like why do people listen to you and I have to hide or block them or whatever off my yt so they stop popping up in my for you section
I think the word you were looking for at 23:00 was “tutorial”!
Anyway this is such an interesting conversation! I 100% agree about social media killing our attention spans. I have avoided joining Tiktok for that exact reason (and many others haha)
I enjoyed your video. And agree.
Do research. Go visit a library check out the OLD ( nothing written in the 2002s) books about witchcraft. Then when you have notebooks written with notes, then go read newer ones. Make informative choices/decisions.
It's a really interesting conversation Ella. There are def areas I'd be interested in discussing more. I think it's important to cultivate more safety and inclusivity in our community so thanks to u all for creating and sharing. 🙏
Yes please do!! I personally would love to hear your thoughts 🤍
TH-cam feels like the replacement for blogs and websites… it’s a shame views are tanking here too :/
Hello Ella, I’m in Western Australia
I am just venturing out with Wicca and am very excited in joining with you in your venture
hi Ella thank you for this tag it was sop interesting to listen to your responses ❤
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Lately I’ve felt repulsed by the exploitation of spirituality so this seems like a good time to strengthen discernment and connect more deeply to the natural world. I find myself there, and I know I’m not the only one! I believe 100% that what we are longing for cannot be bought and I think more and more of us are realizing the social media distortion. It’s feels so icky! 😂
Of all the awesome takeaways from this video, I just can’t stop
Thinking how much I want your pentacle pendant 😂 thanks so much for this, and all of your work, Ella!
Aw hahaha thank you its from an Etsy shop called LQCJewellery 🤍
I'm a solitary witch. I've never used TikTok. I have issues with communities. They almost always end up with a small group of people trying to tell everyone else what they can and can't do. It ends up in censorship, inauthenticity and superficiality.
As a practitioner of over 30 years I have all kinds of thoughts and opinions on this. Perhaps I’ll jump on this tag on my ‘business’ page. I’m new to trying to teach in this format, though not new to teaching, and that’s the page where I plan to post my lessons. I agree with a lot of what you said and I know your frustration. As much as I have a web store and sell witchcraft tools and supplies, I’m always telling people to look around your local woods or house to see what nature has to offer you. I like people to buy things because they want to not because they feel like they HAVE to. And, the scammers and hacks… yeesh. It’s like the Wild West out here on the web sometimes.
Nobody shares sources for anything!! I hate it so much.
I love the Aura app, it's so lovely.
Thank you for your videos 😊
Thank you for sharing this! I agree with everything you’ve said said far and I’m half way through! Sorry I have to stop for now and go to bed but will watch the rest tomorrow! Not that you need to know that lol but very interested in all of it!
Hon u don’t have to tell me that u deserve recognition more, are beyond and above this social media witch😂 ur background says volume! And thx for sharing ur insights❤
Love this tag so much and I agree with alot of what you said espy the 30 yr olds having 20 years of alleged practice 😂thank you for keeping it so candid
I was at a witchy market on Sunday and I had sma moment of anxiety because there were so many things to buy and I thought am I a bad witch because I don't use lots of candles and crystals and incense. Then I spoke to my boyfriend about it who helped me realise, no, that's marketing.
You are beautiful and you have great views. Don't ever let anyone make you feel bad, ever! I just found this today and I plan to do the # as soon as I can. Being a Crone content creator is harder to build than the younger and more beautiful Maidens & Mothers! Keep up the great work! If you ever want to collaborate, just ask.
I am very much looking for more content that is not “cute” and “Christianized” witchcraft.
Based on what I have seen online, I realized that I am not actually a witch, I am a Druid and occultist. Would i still be eligible to use this tag?
Absolutely!! We wanted to use ‘Occult’ instead of ‘Witch’ as we hoped this would feel more broad so please absolutely! 🤍
@@EllaHarrison thank you!
Also, something needs to be said about Tarot Readers.....listen, it is sooooo saturated. How many of them would be interested and committed if no views, likes, or financial compensation was involved????
The word is reenacting i think :) thanks for this video
Thank you for properly acknowledging the history of witchcraft. The term “devil in the craft” isn’t one that I’m familiar with, that’d interesting.
On the 7 day candles, I melt them down and make candles specific to my needs.
This is really interesting, especially about TikTok's guidelines. ❤
22:50 Could you mean a condensed dramatization? Regardless, I really enjoy your video. Thank you so much for sharing!
You got it! Cheers & nice vid
Rituals like Theater are Performance Art... to perfect them you have to rehearse what you are doing in order to have them work right.
What are some good research avenues? There are practices that I would love to learn about but resources can be shaky
Thank you for these amazing prompts! It's been literally on tm head in the last month or so seeing how moody the "mystical algorithm" can be
That is the great thing about humans and free will. There aren’t rules. Just scroll by, keep your side of the fence clean.
In my experience, the community as a whole is why my personal practice will never ever ever be seen online and why I have left it completely. Aside from two creators I stay far far away. A couple of years ago I wanted to get back to my own roots of folk traditions and culture. This included the American South and my own heritage of English, Scottish, French and German. Each time I would go to research, learn from reputable teachers I would always be policed and told I absolutely could not because I was either appropriating (FOR TRYING TO LEARN), would need to move to Europe for a few years (want to very badly to experience the culture but life had other plans) and if I did not practice "traditionally" I wasn't a witch. It left a very bitter taste in my mouth but I tried to conform to it. It was not for me or for my practice. Now I'm no longer practicing so I can find my own voice within my own practice again.
First off all its a shame that this was the case for you, im sorry to hear that. I will say I fully understand why anyone would not share their personal practice, honestly sometimes I have days where I debate it for myself too
I will say I do think a *level* of community involvement and holding each other accountable is good (I wouldn’t call this policing) but there certainly are those who take it too far, who think they are an authority on a culture or who will bash people’s practice for ‘altruistic’ motives when it’s plain jealousy/bitterness/bigotry
We must not spiritualize the digital world...or it will become something else....
Crazy, I've been messaged by several accounts claiming to be you and offer me readings and all that, got bad for a while 😅
I wonder would it be ok to still make a video with this tag? Id love to participate but i feel a little late to it.
Of course!!
One comment on “armchair” or consuming lots of content without practicing. There is a huge amount of emphasis lately on the mental aspect, often to the point where it’s almost suggested there is no point in doing anything with visible elements until you’ve become some kind of higher meditative adept with a mind like a steel trap. Don’t get me wrong I absolutely think all the mental/psychic, visualization, shadow work, etc is a good counterpoint to aestheticism and superficiality. But it might be enough to cause some people to think that “actual practice” is something you kind of have to graduate to.
Another thing you mentioned “the devil in witchcraft” but I can’t find any content from you to that effect, at least not per titles. Maybe I didn’t look far enough or maybe you decided against it based on the factors you discuss - that wasn’t clear to me. But I would be interested. My own thought, hardly original of course, is that embracing a “devil” is a confused reaction to Abrahamism which labeled traditional gods as such. On the other hand, there is such a thing as negative spiritual influences, which not being Christian is no excuse to embrace.
Thank you for this! I absolutely agree I feel like it swung so heavily into that mental direction that it again became off balance - as above do below right 😅
So as for the devil content, it has been mostly comments or mentioned briefly here or there but no dedicated content per se but yes I would love to get into that more for example but probably will do so slowly
We have "Strange and Norrell" a very long book on that and a BBC show
Ella, sorry das ich jetzt auf deutsch in den Kommentaren schreibe. Aber ich musste so herzlich lachen als du es mit den 🕯im Glas erzähltest. Ich hab dich so gefühlt😂...ich habe es echt auch nicht eingesehen "so viel Geld" für Kerzen auszugeben. Ich habe bis jetzt auf meinem Weg diese Erfahrungen auch gemacht und es war echt ein Process das ich dieses "konsumverhalten" hinterfragt habe. Am Ende hat mich genau dieses hinterfagen mich in meiner craft bestärkt den animistischen grossen Anteil umzusetzen, weil man wird wirklich kreativ. Für mich war die Glas Kerzen Situation (& Heilsteine, Räucherwerk und achso hübschen Tools die auf der Insta Verkaufsplatform) ein Drehpunkt. Ich freue mich sehr auf die kommenden Videos. Grüsse ausm Schwabenland
Ahh danke ja kein Problem! Und freut mich, dass du da gut lachen konntest 😅😂 ja also ist eigentlich ja auch echt dämlich aber da kriegt man echt so ‘fear of missing out’ und schwupp hat man mal 30€ für ne kack Kerze ausgegeben 😭😀
@@EllaHarrison i feel you...sie sind aber auch zu hübsch...sind schon verlockend :) aber humble tools do also the work if you do the craft with respect and love. ist es doch so oder? Hug you✨️🫂
I personally don't call myself a witch im a slavic pagan, I've been called a witch for doing the rituals I do and the items I collect. I just find it interesting that being a "witch" is a trend now meanwhile we never ourself witches, we were herbalists, alchemists and astronomers, etc. Nowadays everybody wants to be a witch or something when most witchcraft is based of pagan traditions that are passed down. the amount of times someone asks me for a love spell or hex is ridiculous as well. If you haven't been taught spells or rituals or it isn't in your ancestry then you shouldn't be following or doing a certain thing.
I think the word you were searching for is demonstrate?
THANK YOU yes lol
Oh my gosh I so agree… “everything is valid” “don’t gatekeep” “intention is everything” 🤮
Witches, like any other community, has good and bad people. I read an article about mystic fairs in spain where i live, and more than 80% of visitors are looking for witches to do hexing/ curse on people that wronged them (family, relationships, work). This was stressful for sellers as they also wanted to just do readings or spread the lightwork. Also, and that is my conclusion, if you reslly believe that spell work is effective, and as a witch you should obviously, you also cant be naive to think it wont be used for bad purposes as we are humans and humans do harm each other sometimes. Therefore, is wrong to assume that all people accused of evil witchcraft were innocent. Obviously, punishment was over the top and evidences and proper processes were non existant. But also was the case for minor thefts and other crimes. If given the opportunity, for sure some people would put a black magic spell onto others. 🤷🏼♀️
Forgive me for saying this but you are absolutely beautiful!
I hear what people are saying and I understand, predominantly this is women led and it is often that we always critic feminine energy as men have been profiting off everything forever. To me the practise is always going to be there and those who do not want to participate in the profit area do not have to, we are all always trying to set the rules and laws, its a free world for people to navigate how they may without impeding on anyone else. I do not care, I definitely enjoy hearing your view, and I love your information and knowledge and I do not particular bother who I do not connect with but I do not care enough to worry about their platform, we do too much of that these days, nobody owns anything, you have the freedom to worry about what you do. That is just how I feel and my share. My spiritual way is my own only, and I love listening to others, and if I want to buy something it is up to me. Yes, people in the safety area should be responsible and not share that type of misinformation. That is my perspective, and it is just mind, nobody has to agree but I do get to share!!! Bless be all!!
Great video!😁
if i was starting today, I wouldnt had bought that many crystals lol
❤🔥❤🔥❤🔥
I watched a yoga video and they called it evil lol 🤣
I love witches
Im Serpentis Satori contact Hercules Invictus we should have this on my Podcast 😮
The holier than though mentality is also very common within discord servers. It’s also highly faked and gatekeeped.
I actually don’t have a lot of experience with Discord (though I have a server lol but I always forget to check it 🥲) but that sounds frustrating
@@EllaHarrison You aren’t missing much, occult/witchcraft discord is a sewer honestly 😅
Nii paljud inimesed ei mõista, et kõik elemendid millega me töötame on ühenduses maaga. Inimesed ei mõista paljusid traditsioone sest nad ei ela sellel maal kus kohast need traditsioonid pärit on. Isegi kui sa saadad oma sõbrale kingi paki maiustustega siis ta ei saa seda efekti sealt nagu siis kui ta külastab seda teatud riiki ja siis sööb seda toitu seal.
I agree it might not be for everyone, but dude, this is not the mathematics department of the TU. It's folklore and private practice, u are not the arbiter of it and tradition is not law. I find this video a bit narrow minded and if u think practice can be "misinformation" - wtf? It's alive, like language. If someone grifts and doesn't actually practice but just performs for the camera that's just sad. But deciding what is right and what is wrong in a solitary practice or telling someone u cant practice witchcraft if u are 10 years old because that's just having imaginary friends is cruel and frankly shows how little understanding u have for this path.
I started practicing at 11 years old and no where did I say that people can’t practice at that age, however one needs to acknowledge the fact that a lot or grifters will use made up ‘witchcraft background’ which often includes their childhood spiritual encounters as justification. Childhood spiritual encounters are incredibly important but not the point here.
And sorry, this may not sound nice, but witchcraft is not just made up, there are historical records, there are set traditions in some cases, so yes it is possible to share misinformation especially when talking about folklore and witchcraft. Such misinformation includes examples such as ‘there is no devil in witchcraft’ which is factually, historically, incorrect. UPG is absolutely great but it does not trump anthropological and archeological truth.
I absolutely agree I am not some ‘witch police’ and would never go around judging people’s private relationships with their spirits or what have you - however what I am saying in this video is about grifters specifically or a problem I have seen in the community, and that is sharing misinformation - things that are hard facts and researchable - as fact
I'm sorry but bless her soul all I'm hearing is my gramma saying take the spoon out of your cup your gonna poke your eye out. I miss her so much
is this a goth GF tutorial?
I wish
witchcraft is a grift.
This video answered a question asked in a shorts of yours I came across earlier, so thanks for that. I 100% would not call myself a witch by any stretch of the word at this point in my life, but I am continually drawn to it all -which is why I find myself commenting here. Spirituality has been a flaming hot mess for me🥲 I do agree that online, most things are just putting on a show so it's scary to follow/do what any content creator posts, no matter what they profess to be knowledgeable about. So basically just do your own thing & don't tell anyone about it is what I got and that resonates
I know this is a serious vid, but I just had to say that love your glasses, they compliment your face so well!
Thank you! I got them 5 years ago and love them so much too 😁
I consider 'witchcraft' as a creative outlet that has nothing to do with reality therefore ALL people who wish to engage in 'witchy' genre can claim to be 'witches' same as ALL people who draw can call themselves 'painter' or ALL who write 'writers'. That, of course, doesn't mean that they will be all accepted as such, or be popular or successful. It's all very subjective.
Thats fair, I will say lets agree to disagree, but thank you for sharing your perspective!
That is really reductive and dismissive of people's actual spiritual practice that they hold in sincere belief.
@@FloraSprout Not at all.