Maybe this is controversial but I heavily disagree with your first point. I'm white and Polish but have stayed at Buddhist monasteries on resorts, and Buddhists believe their religion is for EVERYONE and truly even a passing interest is enough for them to welcome you with open arms. As long as you are respectful and take the time to research different traditions and belief systems there's no reason not to borrow ideas from systems all around the world for your personal practise. Witchcraft is for the individual and it seems silly to me to not allow ourselves to practise ideas that resonate with us based on our skin colour and genetics... it feels like a different kind of racism to me. I'm polish and there's very little info out there about traditional Polish witchcraft due to the early Christianisation and book burning during WW2. Should I not be able to practise at all because the knowledge related to my ancestry hasn't survived? I've lived in the UK since I was 6 and often find people saying I'm culturally appropriately old English witchcraft and honestly it makes me feel unwanted in this country. Just my 2p
Great content. I'm sure it was tempting to go the Wiccan path but good for you for finding your own path and blessings to your mum for respecting that choice. Yule blessings from Devon. 📚🐛
I really want to be initiated into Alexandrian initiatory lineaged witchcraft, they tend incorporate a lot more occultism into their practice. I belong to Initiatory Goetic Witchcraft (Goetia)
Really interesting video! I love your channel, I've just discovered folk witchcraft and brittonic paganism too and am trying to get into a more localised practice so your videos are a great source of inspiration and it's really nice having someone else in the UK following a similar path! I definitely agree with wishing I knew about that earlier!
I'm a (white) american so connecting with my local (unceded indigenous) land also can be cultural appropriation. I'm kind of stuck in a bind where I can't connect to the land which isn't mine and the traditions associated with it, but it's also weird to practice traditions of my own relatives who immigrated 3-5 generations ago and to whom I'm pretty much culturally severed from due to assimilation. So I don't know, I'm still figuring stuff out. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
okay i see what you're saying, and I also think it's important to recognize that when we talk about Christian infused spirituality/traditions of many people of color, it was in many cases a result of colonization. what's beautiful about if someone chooses to not infuse Christianity into their practice is that they're trying to connect with a more traditional essence of their path prior to colonization and Christianization. And ofcourse that's not to say that there aren't many practitioners who have infused Christianity and find much connection and authenticity in that. Many people of color do! So to each their own.
I definitely agree! The beauty of magical practice is that it's personal to the individual, and they can practice how they see fit 😊 Even with English folk magic, which has strong elements of Christianity, many people disuse those elements and favour a more pagan centered perspective. Definitely to each their own!
Terrible memory... I connect! I like to think that all I come in touch with leaves some trace in me, even if I don't seem to remember anything afterwards. I guess I'm absorbing what is useful and discarding what is useless... and also something that is useful, actually, but maybe it's okay. As for the problems with excess, I completely agree. Gathering stuff and information can become your main activity if you let it, but that's not practicing witchcraft. 🌿
Thank you Ari. This was very interesting. Back a number of years ago i very nearly went down the Wicca path then found High Magick when i was finnishing Uni which I practiced for a while but it was not clicking for me.A while back i found my real path which is a religious solitary eclectic hedgewitch. I have found to much stuff is good for my craft is not good as it just confuses you but i do get a lot of books. If they are not any good I recycle them which i find ebay good for. I am trying to mostly locallise my craft as much as i.
Great video and I agree with you - I have started to question a lot of my purchases ... and why I actually purchased them - especially the crystals - and all the candles. I do have a question - more out of curiosity - do you use a wand at all? - I ask as I am not sure the Wiccan path is for me - many of the "rites" are heavy on using the athame for casting circles( which I'm not comfortable using) So was just curious as to what tools if any you use.
but you have to know at least the basic things! for example is soul the name of the celtic sun-soul or is it not? (if it´s sulis, then sul, then sol). because if it is it might be the breath soul or the life giving one (at least for us it comes down in sun rays). it´s just strange to me that no one´s(?) talking about the IE souls even if they seem to be right there in the language (god might be the odd-soul, moon, maybe on-soul, or luna, una-soul, pronoums like me, my elf and i, relative words like mother and father, moth). i´m a foreigner and they jump out to me, there must be some actual study on it? how can you even do shamanic soul work if you don´t know the souls (that´s like a big part of witch work here, what a lot of the vocabulary describes, witches doing trips to the other worlds). also people might get the completely false idea of a single soul.. pretty much everywhere (i´ve read) it used to be two (creators) at least (equaling two main souls), and no, neither was called the devil.. that´s the (bad) rewriters (yes, it´s true, by demonizing one they made it 50% dumber).
also for the fact that (in our lore) there´s often three creators (souls) i´ve come up with some explanations. the first one (because i have a dirty (normal) mind) is that it was customary for great men to keep two wives (which by itself explains it, they started the tribe and thus became the creator gods).. of course it could also have been one female and two males (even if i´ve seen no proof of this, i guess you´d just sleep in the middle). the second one is the actual conditions at the time of creation (birth that is), where babies come from (real portal here, unlike the new age ones) and what forces they encounter when arriving to the world (they actually introduced the babies to the local elements, the real ones, not the fake four). the third one is the number of families.. because they often travelled in groups of three to five related families.. so it could have been simply their family deities put together, equals start of a new tribe (maybe not so likely). however in the (what most consider older) totemic records it´s usually just two creators.. the difference being that one is pure animal and the other half animal half man.. so it´s more about merging with certain sacred animal (i guess a third wheel is pretty rare in nature, they´re more like serial monogamists or just whoever happens to cross their path, get it while you can, short summers and all that).
also i don´t think people dislike the rewriters because it´s reconstruction (all religion is really), it´s because it´s dumb reconstruction (leaving out all the natural elements, completely fucking up the balance of genders, highlighting evil as main god, etc, etc) there´s no coming back from devious shit like that (no amount of apologies will do it). if anyone doubts the evil (forceful) nature of these religions just look up "nuns native american" from google pictures (the digital commons pic) and zoom in on the faces of the kids. all of these peoples had a spiritually superior culture to what was being forced upon them.
Maybe this is controversial but I heavily disagree with your first point. I'm white and Polish but have stayed at Buddhist monasteries on resorts, and Buddhists believe their religion is for EVERYONE and truly even a passing interest is enough for them to welcome you with open arms. As long as you are respectful and take the time to research different traditions and belief systems there's no reason not to borrow ideas from systems all around the world for your personal practise. Witchcraft is for the individual and it seems silly to me to not allow ourselves to practise ideas that resonate with us based on our skin colour and genetics... it feels like a different kind of racism to me. I'm polish and there's very little info out there about traditional Polish witchcraft due to the early Christianisation and book burning during WW2. Should I not be able to practise at all because the knowledge related to my ancestry hasn't survived? I've lived in the UK since I was 6 and often find people saying I'm culturally appropriately old English witchcraft and honestly it makes me feel unwanted in this country. Just my 2p
Great content. I'm sure it was tempting to go the Wiccan path but good for you for finding your own path and blessings to your mum for respecting that choice. Yule blessings from Devon. 📚🐛
Thank you!
I really want to be initiated into Alexandrian initiatory lineaged witchcraft, they tend incorporate a lot more occultism into their practice. I belong to
Initiatory Goetic Witchcraft (Goetia)
Love your channel and videos always look forward to seeing your videos
Thank You very much for sharing. Always good to see you. Blessings, and instead of merry Christmas, I’ll wish you a Cool Yule. Enjoy the season.
@levelare3ra487 Wow - thank you. Really very great stuff. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Blessings.
I think this is the most I've ever resonated and agreed with a witchcraft advice video. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Really interesting video! I love your channel, I've just discovered folk witchcraft and brittonic paganism too and am trying to get into a more localised practice so your videos are a great source of inspiration and it's really nice having someone else in the UK following a similar path! I definitely agree with wishing I knew about that earlier!
That's awesome! Thank you for your support 🙏
Wonderful points, Ari! I relate to so much of what you say here. And you've given me even more to ponder. Many blessings to you! 🩷
LOVE your earrings and your sweater!
Thank you!
I'm a (white) american so connecting with my local (unceded indigenous) land also can be cultural appropriation. I'm kind of stuck in a bind where I can't connect to the land which isn't mine and the traditions associated with it, but it's also weird to practice traditions of my own relatives who immigrated 3-5 generations ago and to whom I'm pretty much culturally severed from due to assimilation. So I don't know, I'm still figuring stuff out. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thank you. That was so interesting and I can very strongly relate to 4 of your 5 in my own journey.
Glad you enjoyed it!
okay i see what you're saying, and I also think it's important to recognize that when we talk about Christian infused spirituality/traditions of many people of color, it was in many cases a result of colonization. what's beautiful about if someone chooses to not infuse Christianity into their practice is that they're trying to connect with a more traditional essence of their path prior to colonization and Christianization. And ofcourse that's not to say that there aren't many practitioners who have infused Christianity and find much connection and authenticity in that. Many people of color do! So to each their own.
I definitely agree! The beauty of magical practice is that it's personal to the individual, and they can practice how they see fit 😊 Even with English folk magic, which has strong elements of Christianity, many people disuse those elements and favour a more pagan centered perspective. Definitely to each their own!
Exceptional advice. Great video.
Would love to see a new altar video tour
This was so very helpful. Thank you
You could probably fill a quarry with all the occult literature out there
Terrible memory... I connect! I like to think that all I come in touch with leaves some trace in me, even if I don't seem to remember anything afterwards. I guess I'm absorbing what is useful and discarding what is useless... and also something that is useful, actually, but maybe it's okay. As for the problems with excess, I completely agree. Gathering stuff and information can become your main activity if you let it, but that's not practicing witchcraft. 🌿
Love this! Totally resonated with your comment on knowledge - the more I learn I feel the less I know hahaha quite the paradox😂
Thank you Ari. This was very interesting. Back a number of years ago i very nearly went down the Wicca path then found High Magick when i was finnishing Uni which I practiced for a while but it was not clicking for me.A while back i found my real path which is a religious solitary eclectic hedgewitch. I have found to much stuff is good for my craft is not good as it just confuses you but i do get a lot of books. If they are not any good I recycle them which i find ebay good for. I am trying to mostly locallise my craft as much as i.
Love your sweater so much!
Great video and I agree with you - I have started to question a lot of my purchases ... and why I actually purchased them - especially the crystals - and all the candles. I do have a question - more out of curiosity - do you use a wand at all? - I ask as I am not sure the Wiccan path is for me - many of the "rites" are heavy on using the athame for casting circles( which I'm not comfortable using) So was just curious as to what tools if any you use.
but you have to know at least the
basic things!
for example is soul the name of the
celtic sun-soul or is it not? (if it´s
sulis, then sul, then sol).
because if it is it might be the
breath soul or the life giving one
(at least for us it comes down
in sun rays).
it´s just strange to me that no one´s(?)
talking about the IE souls even if
they seem to be right there in the
language (god might be the odd-soul,
moon, maybe on-soul, or luna,
una-soul, pronoums like me, my elf
and i, relative words like mother
and father, moth).
i´m a foreigner and they jump out
to me, there must be some actual study
on it?
how can you even do shamanic
soul work if you don´t know the souls
(that´s like a big part of witch
work here, what a lot of the vocabulary
describes, witches doing trips to the
other worlds).
also people might get the completely
false idea of a single soul.. pretty
much everywhere (i´ve read) it used
to be two (creators) at least (equaling
two main souls), and no, neither was
called the devil.. that´s the (bad)
rewriters (yes, it´s true, by demonizing
one they made it 50% dumber).
also for the fact that (in our lore)
there´s often three creators (souls)
i´ve come up with some explanations.
the first one (because i have a dirty
(normal) mind) is that it was customary
for great men to keep two wives (which
by itself explains it, they started
the tribe and thus became the creator
gods).. of course it could also have
been one female and two males (even if
i´ve seen no proof of this, i guess
you´d just sleep in the middle).
the second one is the actual conditions
at the time of creation (birth that is),
where babies come from (real portal here,
unlike the new age ones) and what forces
they encounter when arriving to the world
(they actually introduced the babies to
the local elements, the real ones,
not the fake four).
the third one is the number of families..
because they often travelled in groups
of three to five related families.. so it
could have been simply their family deities
put together, equals start of a new tribe
(maybe not so likely).
however in the (what most consider older)
totemic records it´s usually just two
creators.. the difference being that one
is pure animal and the other half animal
half man.. so it´s more about merging
with certain sacred animal (i guess a
third wheel is pretty rare in nature,
they´re more like serial monogamists or
just whoever happens to cross their path,
get it while you can, short summers and
all that).
also i don´t think people
dislike the rewriters because
it´s reconstruction (all
religion is really), it´s because
it´s dumb reconstruction
(leaving out all the natural
elements, completely fucking
up the balance of genders,
highlighting evil as main god,
etc, etc)
there´s no coming back from
devious shit like that (no amount
of apologies will do it).
if anyone doubts the evil (forceful)
nature of these religions just look up
"nuns native american" from google
pictures (the digital commons pic)
and zoom in on the faces of the kids.
all of these peoples had a spiritually
superior culture to what was being
forced upon them.