PSA ﻬ

spellsandseashells:

godswalkwithher:

witchlinghour:

moonfirecrystal:

answersfromvanaheim:

witchlinghour:

Ok so I have been reading some posts on here that rattle me to the core.

some bloggers are spreading false info about witchcraft.

they seem to be telling witches to replace candles with battery powered ones if they cant use flame, or fake flowers and plants if they don’t have any..

do. not. do. this.

unless you are a tech/ modern Witch, do not use these substitute solutions. (This is a developing form and is a tiny bit seperate from other practiced forms of witchcraft)

these are not replacements for herbs and candles/ materials.

Materials used in spells and practices have actual real life properties and functions. They have historical/ magical and medicinal uses.

To replace these materials with plastic and batteries, will give you nothing more than a “witchy aesthetic”. It is disrespectful towards the craft.

This isn’t an episode of Charmed or The Vampire Diaries, you don’t just get to sit around and look spooky and mystical. That’s a mockery and extreme appropriation of witchcraft.

I understand that some cannot have access to these things. But there are other ways to handle it.

If you are not able to use open flame , you can use wax burners, as long as you still use candle wax or soy wax of the appropriate color and oil. You can also purchase herbs, plants and seeds at the dollar store.

Do not, I repeat .. Do not use glorified candle shaped flashlights for your practice.. As much intent as you have, you are accomplishing nothing.

I know I sound super harsh right now, but I have been practicing for going in 15 years now and have seen “ witches” advise others to do these things so many times.

Tumblr witches need to stop trying to baby everyone. Not everything has a fix like that. Witchcraft is a serious craft and is not just a fad for high schoolers to pretend they are in a YA novel.

If anyone had this issue with needing substitutions, please contact me. I will be able to help you and guide you so that your practice will turn out and you can grow in your craft.

This has been a serious PSA ﻬ

TBH most of the people who use electric lights or fake flowers do so because they either can’t afford real ones or their circumstances don’t allow them to burn anything or have strong scents around (if they’re in a college dorm, for instance) not because they aren’t serious.

I thought witchcraft was the craft of the wise not the craft of the technophobic. I mean are you going to start telling folks to stop using photographs as foci for magical rituals? Photographs are modern technology, real witches sew dolls to represent their target for their spells!

There is no one way to do witchcraft, srsly.

Yeah some of us have this fear that they’re either going to burn down their parents house if they’re not careful, their apartment or are stuck in the proverbial closet (be they straight or lgbtqa, regardless being raised by slightly extremist Christians puts anyone on edge and fear getting kicked out or they’re stuff being destroyed).

Idk op maybe be considerate of the circumstances and write shit so that it’s safer to practice.

I literally did. Stop being a giant baby and protecting you precious babies.

I gave a safe alternative. And o case you didn’t notice, I. Also mentioning fake plants. Tell me how that shit is working?

You people are unbelievable.

People are making a mockery of Witchcraft so that they can look witchy and magical. Sitting around looking witchy won’t yield results of any kind.

You are literally shitting on hundreds of years worth of magical practice and traditions. Yes traditions are changed all the time, bit some changes just plain don’t work.

A purple plastic battery candle isn’t the same as a wax purple lavender oil candle… Because it’s the candle properties that have the effect, not the fact that it looks like a candle.

What don’t you get about this.

I don’t “get” how you can say substitutions don’t work when they obviously do for many people.

I don’t “get” how you can say something like a wax burner is a good substitution when electric candles are not – especially considering the fact that many people have to use things that do not have heat sources for legal purposes.

I don’t “get” how you don’t understand that sometimes it’s not possible to get things from the dollar store. Maybe that dollar just doesn’t exist in a person’s life, or they don’t have transportation, or have a disability that does not allow them to go out easily, or they have people in their lives who would endanger them if they knew about their practice.

I don’t “get” how you can say substitutions are appropriative when witchcraft is a secular practice that exists literally every place humans have lived, in as many varied forms as there are practitioners.

I don’t “get” how you can say you’ve been practicing for 15 years, yet you have never seemed to run into people who make on-the-fly substitutions that work perfectly well on a regular basis.

I don’t “get” how you can call substitutions “aesthetic” when the people
who are just in it for the looks – and not the practice itself –
already go buy out the shelves when the Halloween decorations come out.

I don’t “get” how you can call these recommendations “babying” people when it’s actually just not being a classist and exclusionary person. It’s about encouraging people who are curious about witchcraft, or are just getting started and are very serious about it, but have constraints on what they can do at the moment.

There’s a lot I don’t “get” about your serious PSA.

Yeah babies, substitutions are fine. Little in witchcraft is physical in my practice, anyways. If you can’t have a candle you can even use a scrap of red/orange/yellow paper to symbolize fire. (I READ THAT IN A PUBLISHED SPELLBOOK IF YOU NEED “‘proof”’) you can use a gif of a candle. You can just NOT USE A CANDLE.
I don’t know where op is getting this idea about there being ONE way to do witchcraft, but it’s just not true. I’ve been doing witchcraft with the Internet, with modern technology, and with substitutions like the ones described above for -yikes- five years now. I’ve never had a problem. I happen to use real candles now because I can and because it makes me feel more connected to all that spiritual stuffs. Know what I’m saying? I’m saying aesthetics.
A car still drives with shitty upholstery and dents, but I prefer my car with glossy paint and lit candles. Get me? Saying that you HAVE to buy shit for spells is silly. Witchcraft is an art of the spirit and of the mind, Objects are used to channel intent, what does it matter if the object has an led in it if it helps you focus.
Tldr
Do what you want, magic shouldn’t cost you money, and witchcraft doesn’t have to be super srs biznis
Love,
A junk witch, a modern witch, an aesthetic witch, an inventive, creative, happy, effective witch.