Glad you found the time to make this one! I really enjoy your videos. As a academic fellow (MA politcal sciences) i also do like the kinda lecture style and neat references :3 Sadly, there are not many sceptical witches out on social media, that talk openly about working the sort of 'psychological model'. So im really thankfull for your efforts! The discussion of material agency also reminded me of ideas of ANT (actor-network-theory) and the emerging field of sociology of quantification (f.e. rankings/ratings). Both take a look at the impacts of things, comparisons or imagined hirarchies on actor behaviour in social contexts. Both see agency in non-human things, even ideas, and make them equitable actors. Linking this to witchcraft: A candle themself becomes an actor with some sort of agency, the flickering and way of burning down influencing how we look at and interact with our surroundings or even perceive ourselfs. And this gets even more interesting, if you add third parties, f.e. in spellwork for hire, presenting workings on social media, coven dynamics, etc. So much research potential ^^'
Yes for sure! Many thinkers in posthumanism and new materialism are heavily influenced by Latour’s ANT (and other work)... so yeah that’s definitely a key connection :) I actually ended up kind of accidentally writing my master’s dissertation on material agency and the agency of objects and the environment in witchcraft. I was particularly interested in how material things can influence cognition or “magical consciousness,” and was influenced by Lambros Malafouris’ “Material Engagement Theory,” which looks at the role of material culture in cognitive processes (and also related to ANT). I didn’t consider what it means to bring third parties in though-that would be really interesting to look into though! And thanks for your comment, it’s cool to meet like-minded academics interested in the psychology of witchcraft and magic 😁
@@theskepticalwitch6611 Ah, that makes a lot of sense. Thats probably why his 'axiom of symmetry' (is i called this way in english, idk?) was popping up in my head several time while watching your video. What are great topic for a master thesis. Sounds really interesting! The 'Material Engagement Theory" also sounds like a promising read. If i ever bring myself to sorting and writing down thoughts/ ideas on the third-party aspects and dynamics in more nuanced way, i might reach out to you :D And the pleasure is mine. Especially since more natural ways of meeting and discussing ideas with like minded people (witchcraft and academics alike) have been really dificult the last years ^^'
Great video! Your explanation of post-humanism closely parallels the worldview we have in Atheopaganism: non-dualistic, not separating humans from nature, learning to pay attention to the nonhuman world. Really looking forward to having you on our podcast!
Thanks so much! And that’s one of the reasons I really like Atheopaganism, because it works towards challenging some of those binaries that seem to constitute the prevailing norms of modernity. It encourages people to think differently, which I love :) I’m looking forward to chatting more on the podcast! 😁
Excellent video, great to see you making content again. :) Fascinating insights into the various aspects of Posthumanism, hadn't thought of it in relation to Paganism before.
Love your videos! Binged them all last month, then went on to your blog. It's wonderful having found something that thinks like me, but has more experience. Often when researching witchcraft or paganism I'm like "what's the point if I don't even really believe?? but kinda want to?" so thanks for showing me how to do it! hope you're back soon. In one video you mentioned you stopped working with chakras, I'd love to know why. Maybe a bigger video on mistakes you've made, or topics you delved on but stopped resonating with. I'd also love to know how you 'learn' or 'study' about your practice. Whenever I start reading a book or something sometimes it feels pointless since I know certain 'rules' or 'correspondences' can be made my own, or it can get a bit woo woo for me. Hope you're back soon!
Aw thank you, I’m so glad my videos have been helpful for you! And thanks for the future video suggestions-I really like those ideas! I still use chakras symbolically in my practice sometimes, but I don’t specifically focus on them as much as I used to, largely because I just feel like my spiritual beliefs and goals have shifted direction. I used to be really into a lot of Eastern practices and philosophies, and while there’s still elements of those things in my practice now, they’re not nearly as central. But that is something I’d like to discuss more in a future video! :)
I just discovered your channel and I really wish I came across your content sooner in my spiritual/philosophical journey! I tend to challenge ideas of all kinds a lot before subscribing to them, and sometimes even after that I'll still regularly check in with myself to see if I still agree or if some new information will make me reajust my views. Your channel scratches that itch for me, which very little neopagan/witchy content creators do. Thank you for your analysis :)
Aw thank you so much, I’m glad my content resonates with you! And I think the way you’re invested in continually challenging your beliefs and ideas is fantastic-I wish more people were willing to engage with that kind of critical self-reflection!
Thank you for your videos on this topic. You helped me realize my own personal beliefs are more tied to post-humanism and skeptical/naturalistic philosophy & craft.
I've been watching your videos backwards because I'm new to your channel... so if I comment on old stuff... that's why.. I may get a book or two you reference but I don't think I could keep up with you so I'm just googling to understand some context... It must be a real treat to hold this conversation with so many people. Happy to join it 🙂
I really enjoyed this talk. I have been really getting into Satanism and being a Satanist witch, which is often misrepresented. Satanism is very similar to this posthumanism philosophy. It's an atheist religion and the philosophy speaks about how humans enjoy having ritual in their lives but we don't need a dogma to have ritual. As well as how the sins of Christianity separate us from the animal world, since they are animalistic desires. Satanism brings the idea of being equal to beasts and other parts of nature and remembering we are responsible for ourselves and there is no divine force deciding what is wrong or right. We must be aware of what is morally right and wrong. The posthumanism philosophy comes up a lot in my practice but I just love the theatrics of Satanism.
That’s really interesting-Satanism sounds like such a fascinating religion that I definitely want to look more into. Do you have any resources you’d recommend? It’s neat that there are so many connections with posthumanism, as that isn’t necessarily something one would expect!
@@theskepticalwitch6611 I don't have many resources myself but I would recommend The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey. He is kind of the father of the Satanism movement. The Satanic Temple is the new movement and they do have some interesting articles and links on their website. That's where I started. There is a big political movement intertwined with modern Satanism which I'm not a huge fan of. I'm all for standing up for what's right and voting and all but I like my spiritual practice with a healthy separation from my political practices.
There's a supposed culture epoch shift happening at the moment called metamodernism and I was wondering if that has any connection to neopaganism or skeptical witchcraft.
So to be honest I’d never really looked into metamodernism before, but just briefly reading about it now, this is really interesting. I feel like there definitely could be ties to posthumanism, and potentially to new religious movements and forms of alternative spirituality... it’s something I should learn more about for sure! What are your thoughts on it?
Good video, love the in depth analysis of the different philosophies you discussed. Personally, i fall near the line of eco-paganism, where i believe there is no difference between any material and that "aliveness" is expressed throughout everything but is just a matter of physical limitation. Where i differ from that philosphy as a whole is that i believe we as humans are also limited in our perception and that our material world is only just a few layers of an encompassing dimensional reality. In this concept one dimension isnt a place but is a fundemental. Multiple dimensions interact to create a table of different outputs, in which one is our material plane. I like to think of it as having an infinite number line and then trying to calculate all the different possibilites of all the different interactions of all the numbers on that line. Ex: 1,2,3,4,5,6...... (actual universe) 1+1 = 2, 1+2 = 3, 1+2+3 = 6, 1+3 = 4, 1+3+4 = 8, 1+2+3+4 = 10, ect. (All possible percieved realities)
Again really interesting perspective, thanks for sharing! I’ve never thought about it like that before but I do agree that there’s so much going on in this world beyond what we can currently perceive and know... and while I don’t necessarily know if it’s “beyond” the material dimension, there’s a lot to the material world that we likely haven’t even begun to fathom yet.
Glad you found the time to make this one! I really enjoy your videos. As a academic fellow (MA politcal sciences) i also do like the kinda lecture style and neat references :3
Sadly, there are not many sceptical witches out on social media, that talk openly about working the sort of 'psychological model'. So im really thankfull for your efforts!
The discussion of material agency also reminded me of ideas of ANT (actor-network-theory) and the emerging field of sociology of quantification (f.e. rankings/ratings). Both take a look at the impacts of things, comparisons or imagined hirarchies on actor behaviour in social contexts. Both see agency in non-human things, even ideas, and make them equitable actors. Linking this to witchcraft: A candle themself becomes an actor with some sort of agency, the flickering and way of burning down influencing how we look at and interact with our surroundings or even perceive ourselfs. And this gets even more interesting, if you add third parties, f.e. in spellwork for hire, presenting workings on social media, coven dynamics, etc. So much research potential ^^'
Yes for sure! Many thinkers in posthumanism and new materialism are heavily influenced by Latour’s ANT (and other work)... so yeah that’s definitely a key connection :)
I actually ended up kind of accidentally writing my master’s dissertation on material agency and the agency of objects and the environment in witchcraft. I was particularly interested in how material things can influence cognition or “magical consciousness,” and was influenced by Lambros Malafouris’ “Material Engagement Theory,” which looks at the role of material culture in cognitive processes (and also related to ANT). I didn’t consider what it means to bring third parties in though-that would be really interesting to look into though!
And thanks for your comment, it’s cool to meet like-minded academics interested in the psychology of witchcraft and magic 😁
@@theskepticalwitch6611 Ah, that makes a lot of sense. Thats probably why his 'axiom of symmetry' (is i called this way in english, idk?) was popping up in my head several time while watching your video.
What are great topic for a master thesis. Sounds really interesting! The 'Material Engagement Theory" also sounds like a promising read.
If i ever bring myself to sorting and writing down thoughts/ ideas on the third-party aspects and dynamics in more nuanced way, i might reach out to you :D
And the pleasure is mine. Especially since more natural ways of meeting and discussing ideas with like minded people (witchcraft and academics alike) have been really dificult the last years ^^'
Great video! Your explanation of post-humanism closely parallels the worldview we have in Atheopaganism: non-dualistic, not separating humans from nature, learning to pay attention to the nonhuman world. Really looking forward to having you on our podcast!
Thanks so much! And that’s one of the reasons I really like Atheopaganism, because it works towards challenging some of those binaries that seem to constitute the prevailing norms of modernity. It encourages people to think differently, which I love :) I’m looking forward to chatting more on the podcast! 😁
Excellent video, great to see you making content again. :) Fascinating insights into the various aspects of Posthumanism, hadn't thought of it in relation to Paganism before.
Thank you! 😊
SednaWoo recommended your channel and I can't be happier that she did. I'm really enjoying your content. Thank you for all your videos!
Aw yay I'm glad :) thank you!
Love your videos! Binged them all last month, then went on to your blog. It's wonderful having found something that thinks like me, but has more experience. Often when researching witchcraft or paganism I'm like "what's the point if I don't even really believe?? but kinda want to?" so thanks for showing me how to do it! hope you're back soon. In one video you mentioned you stopped working with chakras, I'd love to know why. Maybe a bigger video on mistakes you've made, or topics you delved on but stopped resonating with. I'd also love to know how you 'learn' or 'study' about your practice. Whenever I start reading a book or something sometimes it feels pointless since I know certain 'rules' or 'correspondences' can be made my own, or it can get a bit woo woo for me.
Hope you're back soon!
Aw thank you, I’m so glad my videos have been helpful for you! And thanks for the future video suggestions-I really like those ideas!
I still use chakras symbolically in my practice sometimes, but I don’t specifically focus on them as much as I used to, largely because I just feel like my spiritual beliefs and goals have shifted direction. I used to be really into a lot of Eastern practices and philosophies, and while there’s still elements of those things in my practice now, they’re not nearly as central. But that is something I’d like to discuss more in a future video! :)
Glad to see you back!
Thanks! I’m glad to be back haha
Glad to see you back! :)
Thanks! 😊
I just discovered your channel and I really wish I came across your content sooner in my spiritual/philosophical journey! I tend to challenge ideas of all kinds a lot before subscribing to them, and sometimes even after that I'll still regularly check in with myself to see if I still agree or if some new information will make me reajust my views. Your channel scratches that itch for me, which very little neopagan/witchy content creators do. Thank you for your analysis :)
Aw thank you so much, I’m glad my content resonates with you! And I think the way you’re invested in continually challenging your beliefs and ideas is fantastic-I wish more people were willing to engage with that kind of critical self-reflection!
Welcome back, and good luck on the upcoming exams!
Thanks very much! 😁
Thank you for your videos on this topic. You helped me realize my own personal beliefs are more tied to post-humanism and skeptical/naturalistic philosophy & craft.
Welcome back!!!!
Aw thanks Juan!! 🐱
phew😅... You are tackling this pretty well so far 👍 Not confused, just a lot to chew on. Thanks! Great topic!
Thanks! I know it was a lot so I’m sorry haha. I tend to ramble about subjects I’m passionate about
I've been watching your videos backwards because I'm new to your channel... so if I comment on old stuff... that's why.. I may get a book or two you reference but I don't think I could keep up with you so I'm just googling to understand some context... It must be a real treat to hold this conversation with so many people. Happy to join it 🙂
I really enjoyed this talk. I have been really getting into Satanism and being a Satanist witch, which is often misrepresented. Satanism is very similar to this posthumanism philosophy. It's an atheist religion and the philosophy speaks about how humans enjoy having ritual in their lives but we don't need a dogma to have ritual. As well as how the sins of Christianity separate us from the animal world, since they are animalistic desires. Satanism brings the idea of being equal to beasts and other parts of nature and remembering we are responsible for ourselves and there is no divine force deciding what is wrong or right. We must be aware of what is morally right and wrong. The posthumanism philosophy comes up a lot in my practice but I just love the theatrics of Satanism.
That’s really interesting-Satanism sounds like such a fascinating religion that I definitely want to look more into. Do you have any resources you’d recommend? It’s neat that there are so many connections with posthumanism, as that isn’t necessarily something one would expect!
@@theskepticalwitch6611 I don't have many resources myself but I would recommend The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey. He is kind of the father of the Satanism movement. The Satanic Temple is the new movement and they do have some interesting articles and links on their website. That's where I started. There is a big political movement intertwined with modern Satanism which I'm not a huge fan of. I'm all for standing up for what's right and voting and all but I like my spiritual practice with a healthy separation from my political practices.
Thank you for this video! I need to read Witchbody it seems really interesting!
Sarah could you please recommend book in understanding new materialism in deep. Please
I would like to read your articles and blogs. Could you please suggest where could i get those?
The Skeptical Witch can you do a Witchy Chat video wearing a TALL WITCHES HAT??
If I find a tall witch hat, sure haha
There's a supposed culture epoch shift happening at the moment called metamodernism and I was wondering if that has any connection to neopaganism or skeptical witchcraft.
So to be honest I’d never really looked into metamodernism before, but just briefly reading about it now, this is really interesting. I feel like there definitely could be ties to posthumanism, and potentially to new religious movements and forms of alternative spirituality... it’s something I should learn more about for sure! What are your thoughts on it?
hi, me also a pagans belongs to Hinduism
Good video, love the in depth analysis of the different philosophies you discussed. Personally, i fall near the line of eco-paganism, where i believe there is no difference between any material and that "aliveness" is expressed throughout everything but is just a matter of physical limitation.
Where i differ from that philosphy as a whole is that i believe we as humans are also limited in our perception and that our material world is only just a few layers of an encompassing dimensional reality. In this concept one dimension isnt a place but is a fundemental. Multiple dimensions interact to create a table of different outputs, in which one is our material plane. I like to think of it as having an infinite number line and then trying to calculate all the different possibilites of all the different interactions of all the numbers on that line.
Ex: 1,2,3,4,5,6...... (actual universe)
1+1 = 2, 1+2 = 3, 1+2+3 = 6, 1+3 = 4, 1+3+4 = 8, 1+2+3+4 = 10, ect. (All possible percieved realities)
Again really interesting perspective, thanks for sharing! I’ve never thought about it like that before but I do agree that there’s so much going on in this world beyond what we can currently perceive and know... and while I don’t necessarily know if it’s “beyond” the material dimension, there’s a lot to the material world that we likely haven’t even begun to fathom yet.
@@theskepticalwitch6611 very well put, ty for the response.