I rarely hop on roundups, but I heard about the #OccultTea conversation through Laura Tempest Zakroff’s Patreon community, and the group got into such a juicy conversation there, I kept thinking about the questions. So let’s try this! Credit & thanks to @ella.harrison @the.redheadedwitch and @polish.folk.witch for putting this together.
The questions are in bold. They’re in caps cause I copy/pasted from the graphics, which used a caps style font (re-posted below, courtesy of the organizers). My responses are my own opinions, but they’re not all unique, and I’ve been enjoying catching other folks’ takes on the same themes.
The written blog here is not an exact video transcript. I gathered my thoughts in writing, then shot the video, chatting on the same ideas, for a better sense of tone and attitude. You can catch whichever format you prefer, and use the headings and time stamps to skim topics of interest.
The questions are in bold. They’re in caps cause I copy/pasted from the graphics, which used a caps style font (re-posted below, courtesy of the organizers). My responses are my own opinions, but they’re not all unique, and I’ve been enjoying catching other folks’ takes on the same themes.
The written blog here is not an exact video transcript. I gathered my thoughts in writing, then shot the video, chatting on the same ideas, for a better sense of tone and attitude. You can catch whichever format you prefer, and use the headings and time stamps to skim topics of interest.
Introductions & Impact on Community
INTRODUCTION: INTRODUCE YOURSELF. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN PARTICIPATING IN THE WITCHCRAFT ONLINE SPACE? WHAT PRACTICES AND TOPICS DO YOU DISCUSS PRIMARILY?
Hey, I’m Evvin! I’ve been sharing art for years under my legal name, Evvie Marin, but I go by Evvin (they/them). I’m 36 now, and I’ve been interested in all things occult, paranormal, and witchy since early childhood. I started studying tarot at 13, and lurking on internet witch spaces in my early twenties. I’ve been blogging in the community since 2015 at Interrobang Tarot.
Before I joined the public conversation, I knew I wanted to limit how much of my craft I would share online. I decided to teach one tool, and focused on tarot because I had a lot of experience there, and I wanted to design decks. The tarot community extends beyond the witchcraft community, so this space isn’t exclusively for people who identify as witches. I try to keep interfaith approaches in mind here.
My world views blend agnosticism (I don’t know all the mysteries & could be wrong) with animism. I call the kind of craft I do “folk esoterica,” and I like to camp out in the space between the fine arts and occultism/mysticism.
WHAT IS MY PERSONAL REASONING & INSPIRATION BEHIND SHARING MY PRACTICE ONLINE? WHAT AM I LOOKING TO ACHIEVE BY PARTICIPATING? DO I SEEK TO EDUCATE, LEARN OR CONNECT?
A bit of all three! I started this project while in a long and isolating recovery from illness, so I was looking for a way to stay in community and connect to folx with common interests and values—something I haven’t easily found in person where I’ve lived. I was also looking to share some of the process, philosophy, and personality behind the first deck I’d started, and to clarify my own thoughts. I did hope to contribute something back to the indie occult Renaissance I’ve so been enjoying as a seeker & student, but I didn’t expect to get many views. Originally, I figured the blog would just be a temporary 1 or 2 year side project while I worked on an illustration portfolio. I never imagined I’d still be doing this nine years in!
HOW DO I BELIEVE SOCIAL MEDIA, AS A WHOLE, HAS IMPACTED THE COMMUNITY? HOW DO I THINK SOCIAL PLATFORMS SUCH AS TIKTOK, INSTAGRAM, AND YOUTUBE HAVE EACH IMPACTED EDUCATION/SHARING INFORMATION?
It’s certainly a double-edged sword, and it’s not separable from how social media impacts society on the whole. Living in the boonies with chronic illness, the internet is a lifeline, and a steady source of inspiration and information. But as a creative and a citizen, I do think the major social media platforms do more harm than good. Social media is not the only way to connect online, and it’s not necessarily the most sustaining way to connect online at that.
I’ve made and kept up with some lovely friends on social, and discovered some artists I’m delighted to have on my radar. But I am very concerned about the way social media cultivates addiction, farms attention, boosts disinformation, spreads propaganda, censors and bullies marginalized people, fosters echo chambers, platforms bad actors, stokes extremism, and destabilizes democracies.
I’d recommend checking out Jaron Lanier’s work. He’s a Silicon Valley insider turned whistleblower on how social media is designed to impact people psychologically. I found his book Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts very helpful in figuring out where and how to set boundaries with the apps.
I have attention regulation issues that I’m not able to medicate as a baseline, so it’s been absolutely necessary to set limits, and occasionally take long breaks from social if I want to get anything else done—ha! I left Facebook years ago, and cut waaaay back on how much time I spend on Instagram. I’m not a regular or consistent poster there, and for years, I kept my accounts private. (They’re public again at the moment.) I’ve also dropped most of my expectations around what I expect to get from these platforms.
Social media is engineered to grab and hold attention at all costs in order to maximize profits. Because negative emotions keep people riled up and active for longer, the algorithms are trained to boost dramatic, sensational, and upsetting content, and to suppress content that might lead people off-platform. In the occult community, this can amplify drama, bickering, semantics, and petty in-fighting. There have always been petty feuds in the community—that’s not new—but the speed, scale, and intensity of misinformation and in-fighting can all dial up as the community grows and moves online. Hot-takes and pot-stirring get a lot of easy attention.
That said, I recognize that social media platforms are necessary for a lot of folx for work and to keep in touch across distance. People have a right to opt in and out as they see fit. I don’t support social media platform bans.
The community’s full of cool and mellow people doing great work for the right reasons, and we have more access to top notch information and creative works than ever—that’s rad! Gentler, deeper, and more marginalized voices don’t always get as many views as their work merits, but because more sincere and decent people are doing their thing online, the balance can shift to the positive when you curate your feed. That might not have been possible in the past if the only scene was your local scene, and your local scene sucked.
IS CONSUMING WITCHCRAFT CONTENT BECOMING A SUBSTITUTE FOR PRACTICE?
I don’t think so. People have been fretting about armchair occultists for decades at least lol, but I think the “armchair occultist” is a straw man, or perhaps a projection of our own inner input-to-output meters. It’s worth checking in with yourself periodically to see if you’re in a good balance between study and practice—sometimes you will tip more to one side than the other, but that’s natural and cyclical.
People have a right to engage with occult material and the witch archetype solely intellectually, academically, or artistically if they want to. It’s not a threat to anyone else’s practice if someone does prefer research or aesthetics to the exclusion practice. But many people who consume a lot of witchcraft content are drawn to it for reasons, and become experiencers and practitioners in their own sweet time.
Input and research enrich our practices. It’s great to learn more about history, techniques, hazards, and others’ cultures and views! In both art and craft, sometimes you need phases of research, input, rest, and lying fallow. For many of us, it’s not beneficial or sustainable to force ourselves into constant output. It’s not necessary to cast or perform rituals every day, and it’s beneficial to rest and conserve energy sometimes. Receiving from others (and chilling out with a stack of books and tea) is a key part of a healthy, balanced cycle.
Hey, I’m Evvin! I’ve been sharing art for years under my legal name, Evvie Marin, but I go by Evvin (they/them). I’m 36 now, and I’ve been interested in all things occult, paranormal, and witchy since early childhood. I started studying tarot at 13, and lurking on internet witch spaces in my early twenties. I’ve been blogging in the community since 2015 at Interrobang Tarot.
Before I joined the public conversation, I knew I wanted to limit how much of my craft I would share online. I decided to teach one tool, and focused on tarot because I had a lot of experience there, and I wanted to design decks. The tarot community extends beyond the witchcraft community, so this space isn’t exclusively for people who identify as witches. I try to keep interfaith approaches in mind here.
My world views blend agnosticism (I don’t know all the mysteries & could be wrong) with animism. I call the kind of craft I do “folk esoterica,” and I like to camp out in the space between the fine arts and occultism/mysticism.
WHAT IS MY PERSONAL REASONING & INSPIRATION BEHIND SHARING MY PRACTICE ONLINE? WHAT AM I LOOKING TO ACHIEVE BY PARTICIPATING? DO I SEEK TO EDUCATE, LEARN OR CONNECT?
A bit of all three! I started this project while in a long and isolating recovery from illness, so I was looking for a way to stay in community and connect to folx with common interests and values—something I haven’t easily found in person where I’ve lived. I was also looking to share some of the process, philosophy, and personality behind the first deck I’d started, and to clarify my own thoughts. I did hope to contribute something back to the indie occult Renaissance I’ve so been enjoying as a seeker & student, but I didn’t expect to get many views. Originally, I figured the blog would just be a temporary 1 or 2 year side project while I worked on an illustration portfolio. I never imagined I’d still be doing this nine years in!
HOW DO I BELIEVE SOCIAL MEDIA, AS A WHOLE, HAS IMPACTED THE COMMUNITY? HOW DO I THINK SOCIAL PLATFORMS SUCH AS TIKTOK, INSTAGRAM, AND YOUTUBE HAVE EACH IMPACTED EDUCATION/SHARING INFORMATION?
It’s certainly a double-edged sword, and it’s not separable from how social media impacts society on the whole. Living in the boonies with chronic illness, the internet is a lifeline, and a steady source of inspiration and information. But as a creative and a citizen, I do think the major social media platforms do more harm than good. Social media is not the only way to connect online, and it’s not necessarily the most sustaining way to connect online at that.
I’ve made and kept up with some lovely friends on social, and discovered some artists I’m delighted to have on my radar. But I am very concerned about the way social media cultivates addiction, farms attention, boosts disinformation, spreads propaganda, censors and bullies marginalized people, fosters echo chambers, platforms bad actors, stokes extremism, and destabilizes democracies.
I’d recommend checking out Jaron Lanier’s work. He’s a Silicon Valley insider turned whistleblower on how social media is designed to impact people psychologically. I found his book Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts very helpful in figuring out where and how to set boundaries with the apps.
I have attention regulation issues that I’m not able to medicate as a baseline, so it’s been absolutely necessary to set limits, and occasionally take long breaks from social if I want to get anything else done—ha! I left Facebook years ago, and cut waaaay back on how much time I spend on Instagram. I’m not a regular or consistent poster there, and for years, I kept my accounts private. (They’re public again at the moment.) I’ve also dropped most of my expectations around what I expect to get from these platforms.
Social media is engineered to grab and hold attention at all costs in order to maximize profits. Because negative emotions keep people riled up and active for longer, the algorithms are trained to boost dramatic, sensational, and upsetting content, and to suppress content that might lead people off-platform. In the occult community, this can amplify drama, bickering, semantics, and petty in-fighting. There have always been petty feuds in the community—that’s not new—but the speed, scale, and intensity of misinformation and in-fighting can all dial up as the community grows and moves online. Hot-takes and pot-stirring get a lot of easy attention.
That said, I recognize that social media platforms are necessary for a lot of folx for work and to keep in touch across distance. People have a right to opt in and out as they see fit. I don’t support social media platform bans.
The community’s full of cool and mellow people doing great work for the right reasons, and we have more access to top notch information and creative works than ever—that’s rad! Gentler, deeper, and more marginalized voices don’t always get as many views as their work merits, but because more sincere and decent people are doing their thing online, the balance can shift to the positive when you curate your feed. That might not have been possible in the past if the only scene was your local scene, and your local scene sucked.
IS CONSUMING WITCHCRAFT CONTENT BECOMING A SUBSTITUTE FOR PRACTICE?
I don’t think so. People have been fretting about armchair occultists for decades at least lol, but I think the “armchair occultist” is a straw man, or perhaps a projection of our own inner input-to-output meters. It’s worth checking in with yourself periodically to see if you’re in a good balance between study and practice—sometimes you will tip more to one side than the other, but that’s natural and cyclical.
People have a right to engage with occult material and the witch archetype solely intellectually, academically, or artistically if they want to. It’s not a threat to anyone else’s practice if someone does prefer research or aesthetics to the exclusion practice. But many people who consume a lot of witchcraft content are drawn to it for reasons, and become experiencers and practitioners in their own sweet time.
Input and research enrich our practices. It’s great to learn more about history, techniques, hazards, and others’ cultures and views! In both art and craft, sometimes you need phases of research, input, rest, and lying fallow. For many of us, it’s not beneficial or sustainable to force ourselves into constant output. It’s not necessary to cast or perform rituals every day, and it’s beneficial to rest and conserve energy sometimes. Receiving from others (and chilling out with a stack of books and tea) is a key part of a healthy, balanced cycle.
Influencer Authenticity
OUT OF WHAT I SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA, HOW MUCH OF IT IS STAGED VS. REALITY?
I love this question for all the wrong reasons. (Cue maniacal laughter.) Sooo… What makes us suppose that “staged” is not “reality?”
Snark aside, I totally get why folx wouldn’t want to video their private rituals, and would choose to model demo spells tailored for an audience. Most of my own spiritual practice is private, and doesn’t get shown at all. But since I’ve focused on tarot, when I demo readings, they’re still real readings, just for the group. I do arrange things nicely to create aesthetic photos, but that’s a core part of my crafts.
My background is in stage design, and the lines between staged and real are quite blended for me. I dress how I dress, share plenty of honest slice-of-life stuff, and the studio space you see is how I keep it for me, but my decorative sense also derives from literal stage training. Then again, theater is haunted AF, and glamor is a vibrant branch of the craft.
So many spells and rituals have a theatrical, staged, or sensual/aesthetic component even in private. When witches do demo spells staged for insta or tiktok, there can still be active ritual components woven in there, that may or may not have anything to do with what the caption says. I’m inclined to read chumming shiny offerings to the algorithms as an offshoot of glamor craft, and consider that highly aesthetic feeds show us something of how their authors glamor.
DO I THINK THERE IS AN ELEMENT OF CENSORSHIP IN ONLINE SPACES?
Absolutely! It’s not an opinion, it’s a fact that social media companies censor content, and that algorithms encode the biases of the people who program them. Multiple studies and countless anecdotal records have shown that BIPOC and LGBTQ voices get disproportionately suppressed on social media platforms. Tiktok got caught expressly telling moderators to suppress posts by “ugly,” “poor,” and visibly disabled people. Marginalized creators are more likely to be harassed and maliciously/falsely reported. People get shadow banned for talking openly about their politics. Artists and queers get suppressed and censored for content that could be read as sexual to a conservative audience, whether or not it’s intended to be. And indie creatives can’t talk openly about external links, finished projects, subscriptions, or monetized content if we want our posts to be seen, unless we pay for ads.
Small businesses, indie artists, and BIPOC & LGBTQ communities have been hit hard by social media censorship over the last several years. Social media is not an even playing field, and the techniques that some use to build followings are not effective or accessible to all. It’s quite dangerous to presume that anyone can make it on social media, and that if someone’s not popular on social, it’s because they’re not doing the right things. I’ve seen far too many tremendously talented, consistent, and hard-working creators lose their engagements in algorithm shifts and waves of political censorship since Meta acquired Instagram. This pattern has escalated over the last several years. It’s disheartening.
HOW DO I DECIPHER WHAT IS "APPROPRIATE" TO SHARE ONLINE VS. WHAT TO KEEP PRIVATELY? IS THIS BASED ON “SOCIAL MEDIA ETIQUETTE” OR A PERSONAL PREFERENCE?
A lot of it is based on old fashioned work etiquette. Like, sure, some part of the house is always a mess, and some part of my day goes to sitting on the couch in sweats, eating tater tots, and watching Our Flag Means Death, but I don’t want to hang out in my jammies with all of Instagram—ha! When I’m online, I’m presenting myself as an artist, so I’m at work. You dress vaguely put-together for work, and you clean up for company. To me, curation has more to do with artistry, manners, and privacy than misdirection or clout.
In terms of craft, I share things that I have enough experience to speak to well, and things that I’m able to translate well and responsibly for an audience of strangers with different backgrounds. I hold back on stuff that feels too delicate, ephemeral, beautiful, personal, untested, half-baked, ineffable, or un-translatable to thrust at the internet. Some of that gets embroidered and encoded into other arts, like music and paintings, but it’s not stuff I would teach or over-define. I hold back on stuff that involves other peoples’ stories that aren’t mine to tell, and I honor the privacy of my acquaintances, clients, and allies. And I hold back on stuff that might not fare well if circulated out of context.
I ended up pay-walling most of my new tarot spreads (very cheaply—$1/month), because my spreads had been circulating far from my own platform—often without attribution—and I noticed a lot of people were interacting with them like jokes and memes. That’s understandable, and I'm not bent about it--sometimes it's part of it. But when I wanted to go deeper and wyrder with my spreads, I also wanted to make sure more people were getting the context, nuance, and notes to use the spreads more effectively for them, and more responsibly to share for me.
HAVE I EVER ENCOUNTERED OR HEARD OF GRIFTERS IN OUR COMMUNITY? DO I RECOGNIZE THEM? WHAT ARE SIGNIFICANT SIGNS OF GRIFTERS IN THE COMMUNITY?
Yeah, there are a lot of grifters in every community right now, and a ton of it is coming from organized cyber crime. Many of the occult grifters aren’t really occultists and don’t give a shit.
One of the biggest scams right now is for copycat accounts to imitate the profiles of occult authors and bloggers, then DM people with fake readings or “messages” from spirit. They’re phishing for credit card info. You can spot these by misspellings and additional numbers or underscores in the handles. They usually posts a lot of photos in a short time window because they’re trawling batches of photos off real profiles. And you can click the little “…” button on their profiles to see how many times they’ve changed their account name and where they’re based. A lot of name changes, or a location in a different country than the person they claim to be are signs of fake accounts. These accounts often use bots to inflate their follower counts, so a high follower count is not a good sign if authenticity. Bottom line tho: no legit practitioner will ever DM you to solicit a reading or ask you for money. Block & report.
Another classic is the curse-breaking scam, where someone tells you you’re cursed then offers to lift the curse for an exorbitant fee. That one goes back centuries. If someone tells you you’re cursed, there’s a good chance they’re trying to manipulate you, or they’re just being an asshole.
And plagiarism, bootlegging, and AI books and art are big grifts right now too. Some of those are seriously dangerous when they sell bad information about toxic or hazardous materials and techniques. Make sure the author is a real person with a real bio photo (not a stock photo) and web presence before buying their books. There are excellent self-published books in the field, but usually indie authors still have some kind of presence and accountability to the community, and can be found on podcasts, blogs, or at events. (Though if their community presence is organizing Wonka themed kids' parties in Glasgow, that's a big red flag, lolllll... apparently that guy's also a font of trashy AI books.) Some genuine creators do work fast, but be skeptical of anyone churning out books and art on an unrealistic timeline. Two books in a year is prolific. Two books in a month is AI or bootlegging.
I’d also recommend checking out John Oliver’s segment on the pig-butchering scam. It’s important to recognize that many of the low-level grunt workers running cyber crime scams are forced into it through human trafficking or abuse.
Now, there’s a big difference between someone maliciously running a scam, and someone who’s sincere but incompetent, or not a good match for you. I wouldn’t call people who jump into business before they’re ready to grifters. This trend can’t be separated from the labor and housing crises, the pandemic, the recessions, and the gig economy. People don’t just monetize their hobbies and spirituality for shits & giggles. Especially for younger generations, monetizing a hobby may be the only way to keep it alive.
A lot of people start spiritual businesses because they’re hungry for meaningful work that does more good than harm in the world, but they may start hustling before they’ve honed their skills or done their homework, and end up ripping off others’ work or over-charging for meh services. People have a right to their learning curves, and it sucks that so many feel pressured to hustle before they’re ready. Lend grace, but take no bullshit, and do shop carefully. Not all sincere psychics are good psychics, and not all decent psychics will be a good match for you.
Finally, I think some of what we’re calling grifting here is more accurately cult formation, high control groups, and toxic gurus. That does come from within the community, as power abuses and cults form in every spirituality and religion. High powered and hierarchical positions in any field disproportionately attract abusers.
Exploitative and controlling spiritual groups tend to follow common bait-and-switch patterns. They’ll use love-bombing, charisma, and grandiosity to reel people in. Then they’ll gradually indoctrinate you while eroding your sense of selfhood, normalcy, and boundaries. Finally, they’ll isolate you, and once you’re dependent on them and can’t get away, the worst abuse onsets and rapidly escalates.
It would take a whole post to cover cultic red flags in detail. High control groups can be very dangerous to oppose directly. For most of us, it’s not gonna be our place to do callouts or takedowns against cults and gurus, but we can help educate each other about the warning signs, and we can foster welcoming communities that aren’t controlling, so misfits have better places to go, where they can feel connected and seen while retaining boundaries and sovereignty.
DareToDoubt.org has a good roundup of resources listed for those looking to get out of high control groups.
WHAT TOOLS ARE HELPFUL TO DECIPHER MISINFORMATION, AND HOW CAN WE AS A COMMUNITY PREVENT WIDESPREAD MISINFORMATION?
We can’t completely prevent this, and I don’t think there are easy fixes here. Doing enough reading to recognize common knowledge and trace patterns of influence helps. The better read you are, the sharper your nose for bullshit. Learning the hallmarks of propaganda helps. That’s a topic for a whole ‘nother post, but maybe we’ll go there sometime.
Seeking out works that cite sources helps, as does tracing the quality of those sources. Fact-checking with a quick Google search helps. Seek corroboration from academic, historic, and peer-reviewed sources when relevant/possible. Since a lot of occultism is made up--or at least, traces back to someone's personal belief & practice--and a lot of our scholarship is rogue scholarship--good material doesn't always source from academia. But some of it does, and if you're working with things like plants, animals, or hazardous materials, you don't want UPGs on blogs to be your only source of info.
It also helps to move our conversations to venues with slower pacing and more emphasis on depth conversation, as opposed to platforms that encourage rapid hot-take & backlash loops.
HOW DOES A LARGE FOLLOWING IMPACT THE PERCEPTION OF THE CREATOR? DOES THIS IMMEDIATELY MAKE THEM AN "EXPERT?? OR ARE THERE OTHER ASSUMPTIONS AS TO WHY THEY MAY HAVE A LARGE FOLLOWING?
Nah, I don’t read into follower count either way. A person can build a large following by creating great content sure, but others inflate their numbers with bots, pay to play, or go viral from posting work that isn’t even theirs. Success on social media has more to do with virality than integrity, and marginalized creators may struggle with algo suppression or online harassment no matter how great their posts are. Also, not everyone wants a large following, and you may encounter top notch creators who take pains to stay underground. A large following doesn’t tell you anything about a creator. I tend to gravitate towards folx who spend more time on long-form projects than on social media, so a lot of my occult faves have quite modest or sleepy followings on social media apps, but they create amazing work! I like plenty folx with large followings too.
HOW DOES ONE MAINTAIN THE BALANCE OF AUTHENTICITY AND CONTENT CREATION?
It’s a never ending process, and it can get pretty messy. I’m definitely still working on this one. For me, being authentic and staying inspired means working in multiple media, in ways that aren’t easy to categorize, and taking breaks to sequester myself and dive into long projects. I’ve learned the hard way that I can’t work authentically while playing to algorithms, and I produce my worst work when trying to. If I have to choose between authenticity and success on social, I choose authenticity. These companies come and go much faster than the span of a career. Whatever you build on social, you can lose overnight through factors completely outside your control. Social apps are shiny, but volatile.
So I’ve been drawing back from social media, and sharing deeper work through my own websites, Patreon, newsletters, and long projects. That’s helped a ton. I needed a long social media fast and to workshop new content with a very small crowd behind the paywall to finally get to the point where I felt like my voice and my art reflected my true tastes and values.
That said, there’s a ton on social media that I love as a viewer and a fan! Content doesn’t have to be long or flowery to be deep and true. Some people shine as their authentic selves through short-form, serial content, and naturally get along much better with the algorithms than I do. To me, that format feels very stifling and draining, so I know it’s not my scene as a creator. But for others, it may be the perfect vehicle to share what they do best, and that’s great! I enjoy following stuff on social more than I enjoy posting there. (Join me in stories for the unhinged smorgasbord of goth memes and animal vids I reblog while scrolling lol.)
I love this question for all the wrong reasons. (Cue maniacal laughter.) Sooo… What makes us suppose that “staged” is not “reality?”
Snark aside, I totally get why folx wouldn’t want to video their private rituals, and would choose to model demo spells tailored for an audience. Most of my own spiritual practice is private, and doesn’t get shown at all. But since I’ve focused on tarot, when I demo readings, they’re still real readings, just for the group. I do arrange things nicely to create aesthetic photos, but that’s a core part of my crafts.
My background is in stage design, and the lines between staged and real are quite blended for me. I dress how I dress, share plenty of honest slice-of-life stuff, and the studio space you see is how I keep it for me, but my decorative sense also derives from literal stage training. Then again, theater is haunted AF, and glamor is a vibrant branch of the craft.
So many spells and rituals have a theatrical, staged, or sensual/aesthetic component even in private. When witches do demo spells staged for insta or tiktok, there can still be active ritual components woven in there, that may or may not have anything to do with what the caption says. I’m inclined to read chumming shiny offerings to the algorithms as an offshoot of glamor craft, and consider that highly aesthetic feeds show us something of how their authors glamor.
DO I THINK THERE IS AN ELEMENT OF CENSORSHIP IN ONLINE SPACES?
Absolutely! It’s not an opinion, it’s a fact that social media companies censor content, and that algorithms encode the biases of the people who program them. Multiple studies and countless anecdotal records have shown that BIPOC and LGBTQ voices get disproportionately suppressed on social media platforms. Tiktok got caught expressly telling moderators to suppress posts by “ugly,” “poor,” and visibly disabled people. Marginalized creators are more likely to be harassed and maliciously/falsely reported. People get shadow banned for talking openly about their politics. Artists and queers get suppressed and censored for content that could be read as sexual to a conservative audience, whether or not it’s intended to be. And indie creatives can’t talk openly about external links, finished projects, subscriptions, or monetized content if we want our posts to be seen, unless we pay for ads.
Small businesses, indie artists, and BIPOC & LGBTQ communities have been hit hard by social media censorship over the last several years. Social media is not an even playing field, and the techniques that some use to build followings are not effective or accessible to all. It’s quite dangerous to presume that anyone can make it on social media, and that if someone’s not popular on social, it’s because they’re not doing the right things. I’ve seen far too many tremendously talented, consistent, and hard-working creators lose their engagements in algorithm shifts and waves of political censorship since Meta acquired Instagram. This pattern has escalated over the last several years. It’s disheartening.
HOW DO I DECIPHER WHAT IS "APPROPRIATE" TO SHARE ONLINE VS. WHAT TO KEEP PRIVATELY? IS THIS BASED ON “SOCIAL MEDIA ETIQUETTE” OR A PERSONAL PREFERENCE?
A lot of it is based on old fashioned work etiquette. Like, sure, some part of the house is always a mess, and some part of my day goes to sitting on the couch in sweats, eating tater tots, and watching Our Flag Means Death, but I don’t want to hang out in my jammies with all of Instagram—ha! When I’m online, I’m presenting myself as an artist, so I’m at work. You dress vaguely put-together for work, and you clean up for company. To me, curation has more to do with artistry, manners, and privacy than misdirection or clout.
In terms of craft, I share things that I have enough experience to speak to well, and things that I’m able to translate well and responsibly for an audience of strangers with different backgrounds. I hold back on stuff that feels too delicate, ephemeral, beautiful, personal, untested, half-baked, ineffable, or un-translatable to thrust at the internet. Some of that gets embroidered and encoded into other arts, like music and paintings, but it’s not stuff I would teach or over-define. I hold back on stuff that involves other peoples’ stories that aren’t mine to tell, and I honor the privacy of my acquaintances, clients, and allies. And I hold back on stuff that might not fare well if circulated out of context.
I ended up pay-walling most of my new tarot spreads (very cheaply—$1/month), because my spreads had been circulating far from my own platform—often without attribution—and I noticed a lot of people were interacting with them like jokes and memes. That’s understandable, and I'm not bent about it--sometimes it's part of it. But when I wanted to go deeper and wyrder with my spreads, I also wanted to make sure more people were getting the context, nuance, and notes to use the spreads more effectively for them, and more responsibly to share for me.
HAVE I EVER ENCOUNTERED OR HEARD OF GRIFTERS IN OUR COMMUNITY? DO I RECOGNIZE THEM? WHAT ARE SIGNIFICANT SIGNS OF GRIFTERS IN THE COMMUNITY?
Yeah, there are a lot of grifters in every community right now, and a ton of it is coming from organized cyber crime. Many of the occult grifters aren’t really occultists and don’t give a shit.
One of the biggest scams right now is for copycat accounts to imitate the profiles of occult authors and bloggers, then DM people with fake readings or “messages” from spirit. They’re phishing for credit card info. You can spot these by misspellings and additional numbers or underscores in the handles. They usually posts a lot of photos in a short time window because they’re trawling batches of photos off real profiles. And you can click the little “…” button on their profiles to see how many times they’ve changed their account name and where they’re based. A lot of name changes, or a location in a different country than the person they claim to be are signs of fake accounts. These accounts often use bots to inflate their follower counts, so a high follower count is not a good sign if authenticity. Bottom line tho: no legit practitioner will ever DM you to solicit a reading or ask you for money. Block & report.
Another classic is the curse-breaking scam, where someone tells you you’re cursed then offers to lift the curse for an exorbitant fee. That one goes back centuries. If someone tells you you’re cursed, there’s a good chance they’re trying to manipulate you, or they’re just being an asshole.
And plagiarism, bootlegging, and AI books and art are big grifts right now too. Some of those are seriously dangerous when they sell bad information about toxic or hazardous materials and techniques. Make sure the author is a real person with a real bio photo (not a stock photo) and web presence before buying their books. There are excellent self-published books in the field, but usually indie authors still have some kind of presence and accountability to the community, and can be found on podcasts, blogs, or at events. (Though if their community presence is organizing Wonka themed kids' parties in Glasgow, that's a big red flag, lolllll... apparently that guy's also a font of trashy AI books.) Some genuine creators do work fast, but be skeptical of anyone churning out books and art on an unrealistic timeline. Two books in a year is prolific. Two books in a month is AI or bootlegging.
I’d also recommend checking out John Oliver’s segment on the pig-butchering scam. It’s important to recognize that many of the low-level grunt workers running cyber crime scams are forced into it through human trafficking or abuse.
Now, there’s a big difference between someone maliciously running a scam, and someone who’s sincere but incompetent, or not a good match for you. I wouldn’t call people who jump into business before they’re ready to grifters. This trend can’t be separated from the labor and housing crises, the pandemic, the recessions, and the gig economy. People don’t just monetize their hobbies and spirituality for shits & giggles. Especially for younger generations, monetizing a hobby may be the only way to keep it alive.
A lot of people start spiritual businesses because they’re hungry for meaningful work that does more good than harm in the world, but they may start hustling before they’ve honed their skills or done their homework, and end up ripping off others’ work or over-charging for meh services. People have a right to their learning curves, and it sucks that so many feel pressured to hustle before they’re ready. Lend grace, but take no bullshit, and do shop carefully. Not all sincere psychics are good psychics, and not all decent psychics will be a good match for you.
Finally, I think some of what we’re calling grifting here is more accurately cult formation, high control groups, and toxic gurus. That does come from within the community, as power abuses and cults form in every spirituality and religion. High powered and hierarchical positions in any field disproportionately attract abusers.
Exploitative and controlling spiritual groups tend to follow common bait-and-switch patterns. They’ll use love-bombing, charisma, and grandiosity to reel people in. Then they’ll gradually indoctrinate you while eroding your sense of selfhood, normalcy, and boundaries. Finally, they’ll isolate you, and once you’re dependent on them and can’t get away, the worst abuse onsets and rapidly escalates.
It would take a whole post to cover cultic red flags in detail. High control groups can be very dangerous to oppose directly. For most of us, it’s not gonna be our place to do callouts or takedowns against cults and gurus, but we can help educate each other about the warning signs, and we can foster welcoming communities that aren’t controlling, so misfits have better places to go, where they can feel connected and seen while retaining boundaries and sovereignty.
DareToDoubt.org has a good roundup of resources listed for those looking to get out of high control groups.
WHAT TOOLS ARE HELPFUL TO DECIPHER MISINFORMATION, AND HOW CAN WE AS A COMMUNITY PREVENT WIDESPREAD MISINFORMATION?
We can’t completely prevent this, and I don’t think there are easy fixes here. Doing enough reading to recognize common knowledge and trace patterns of influence helps. The better read you are, the sharper your nose for bullshit. Learning the hallmarks of propaganda helps. That’s a topic for a whole ‘nother post, but maybe we’ll go there sometime.
Seeking out works that cite sources helps, as does tracing the quality of those sources. Fact-checking with a quick Google search helps. Seek corroboration from academic, historic, and peer-reviewed sources when relevant/possible. Since a lot of occultism is made up--or at least, traces back to someone's personal belief & practice--and a lot of our scholarship is rogue scholarship--good material doesn't always source from academia. But some of it does, and if you're working with things like plants, animals, or hazardous materials, you don't want UPGs on blogs to be your only source of info.
It also helps to move our conversations to venues with slower pacing and more emphasis on depth conversation, as opposed to platforms that encourage rapid hot-take & backlash loops.
HOW DOES A LARGE FOLLOWING IMPACT THE PERCEPTION OF THE CREATOR? DOES THIS IMMEDIATELY MAKE THEM AN "EXPERT?? OR ARE THERE OTHER ASSUMPTIONS AS TO WHY THEY MAY HAVE A LARGE FOLLOWING?
Nah, I don’t read into follower count either way. A person can build a large following by creating great content sure, but others inflate their numbers with bots, pay to play, or go viral from posting work that isn’t even theirs. Success on social media has more to do with virality than integrity, and marginalized creators may struggle with algo suppression or online harassment no matter how great their posts are. Also, not everyone wants a large following, and you may encounter top notch creators who take pains to stay underground. A large following doesn’t tell you anything about a creator. I tend to gravitate towards folx who spend more time on long-form projects than on social media, so a lot of my occult faves have quite modest or sleepy followings on social media apps, but they create amazing work! I like plenty folx with large followings too.
HOW DOES ONE MAINTAIN THE BALANCE OF AUTHENTICITY AND CONTENT CREATION?
It’s a never ending process, and it can get pretty messy. I’m definitely still working on this one. For me, being authentic and staying inspired means working in multiple media, in ways that aren’t easy to categorize, and taking breaks to sequester myself and dive into long projects. I’ve learned the hard way that I can’t work authentically while playing to algorithms, and I produce my worst work when trying to. If I have to choose between authenticity and success on social, I choose authenticity. These companies come and go much faster than the span of a career. Whatever you build on social, you can lose overnight through factors completely outside your control. Social apps are shiny, but volatile.
So I’ve been drawing back from social media, and sharing deeper work through my own websites, Patreon, newsletters, and long projects. That’s helped a ton. I needed a long social media fast and to workshop new content with a very small crowd behind the paywall to finally get to the point where I felt like my voice and my art reflected my true tastes and values.
That said, there’s a ton on social media that I love as a viewer and a fan! Content doesn’t have to be long or flowery to be deep and true. Some people shine as their authentic selves through short-form, serial content, and naturally get along much better with the algorithms than I do. To me, that format feels very stifling and draining, so I know it’s not my scene as a creator. But for others, it may be the perfect vehicle to share what they do best, and that’s great! I enjoy following stuff on social more than I enjoy posting there. (Join me in stories for the unhinged smorgasbord of goth memes and animal vids I reblog while scrolling lol.)
Imposter Syndrome & FOMO
WHEN I FOLLOW OTHER CREATORS IN THE COMMUNITY SPACE, DOES IT MAKE ME FEEL GENUINELY INSPIRED AND EMPOWERED OR DOES IT CREATE FEELINGS OF FOMO AND BEING LESS THAN?
Inspired for sure! Part of that comes down to being choosy—following artists and activists I respect, and unfollowing content I find tiresome or inaccurate. I see putting down others and constantly policing language and practices with flexible definitions as signs of insecurity in one’s crafts. Confident and highly-skilled artists and crafters are more often welcoming and supportive of others, and busy with their own work. So I’m not inclined to follow creators who go out of their way to make others feel less-than.
FOMO ironically keeps me more engaged in the community. We live in a totally unprecedented candy-land of high quality occult arts and books. I can feel my future self screaming regret at me if I don’t get in the water while alive for an occult Renaissance this weird and juicy. Without that sense, I’d already have burnt out—and I do struggle with burnout periodically anyway. (I love tarot as a craft, and don’t always love it as a business.) So FOMO’s a life-preserver and motivator for finishing the projects I’ve already started.
This is spicy, but I think some of what we’re calling FOMO here might be better framed as jealousy. That’s uncomfortable, because jealousy is a more stigmatized emotion, so harder to own—none of us want to think of ourselves as jealous people. But we really can learn to work with that feeling in net-positive ways.
I’m more prone to creative jealousy in art than occultism, though of course it stings when I feel like I’m behind where I want to be in any interest. Sometimes I’ll browse art I love and think fuck man, why can’t I paint like that? Or, wow, I wish I’d thought of that… But my relationship to jealousy, especially in creativity, transformed when I started viewing it as information about my core desires, priorities, values, and capabilities.
What if jealousy points to some quality you can have, become, or do? Maybe not yet, or in the exact same way as whatever triggers it, but in time. It still feels crummy when it onsets, but it starts to get exciting when you recognize it as a direct line to your values, and something you can shop for possibilities. I’ve noticed that I feel creative jealousy most when my needs aren’t met, or when my own work doesn’t reflect my values and tastes—and that means it’s trying to throw me a lifeline by screaming about what's important to me.
When we take the note, the feeling loses its teeth, and in time, can transform to gold, and make us better crafters, and better fans. One night, I was listening to a song I love on repeat, and got flooded with this intense wave of gratitude that it wasn’t one of mine—that I’d never written anything like it—because I can appreciate it, receive it, and be moved by it in ways I’d never be able to if it’d been one of my own. That feeling carries over to all other media for me now. What a gift it is to receive something from another crafter without having to go through whatever they did to catch that gnosis!
Our FOMO and jealousy have nothing to do with the people who inspire them in us. That’s our stuff to manage and transmute in our own spheres. It’s never someone else’s job to be less shiny so I can feel better about myself.
IF I EXPERIENCE FOMO, HAS IT EVER LEFT ME FEELING VULNERABLE TO BE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF FINANCIALLY, OR OTHERWISE? AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE: THE "NEED" TO PURCHASE THE LATEST POPULAR PRODUCT OR BOOK TO "FIT IN”?
Nah, I’m careful with my budgeting, and pretty fierce when it comes to thrifting, DIY, and making cheap kitsch and hand-me-downs sing. It’s an Island of Misfit Toys around here, and that works for me. There are always going to be pretty, shiny things in circulation that I’d love to have and can’t afford. There are always going to be occult books out of my range. Oh well. Artists, authors, and crafters have a right to create and market what they do, and get paid fairly for their work. It’s on me to mind my finances and limits.
Some library systems carry great occult books now, and there are a TON of history texts in the public domain for free on SacredTexts.com and Project Gutenberg. Many occult titles are also available on audiobook subscription platforms, at discounted rates compared to print books.
I’ve bought some books and tools I ended up not liking, but that happens. Pass the stuff on and let it go. When I do save up to take a class or buy a more expensive book or deck, it’s usually worth every penny to me, and sometimes worth much more than that.
It’s not financial abuse for people to present their wares in the marketplace. There’s tremendous pressure on occult creators to under-charge for our creations and services. Many top notch occult authors and deck designers don’t even make minimum wage for the time that goes into the projects.
No one needs to read every occult book in all the land, though. It’s more effective to find what speaks to you, and go really deep with a few good resources than to skim a hundred titles and retain little. You can get a lot of milage just from reading a select handful of books in a year, over the course of years.
WHEN PRACTISING MY CRAFT, DO I FIND MYSELF COMPARING WHAT I DO TO WHAT I'VE BEEN SEEING PEOPLE DO ONLINE?
Humans are hard-wired to compare and contrast between ourselves and our communities like our lives depend on it, because they do. Human nature may well be for nerds & squares, but it’s natural, ingrained, not entirely optional, and happens everywhere—in person and online. The difference now is that we have the capacity for the first time in history to compare ourselves with every other jackass on the planet. Sure, I get caught up in comparisons sometimes, and that doesn’t always feel good, but nor is it always toxic. Comparison can be interesting.
I’ve found Andy J. Pizza’s advice from the Creative Pep-Talk pod very helpful here: “don’t compare your blooper reel to someone else’s highlights reel.” Most of us put our best art forward online, but absolutely everyone bellyflops behind the scenes sometimes.
If I ever find myself feeling weird or meh in comparison to another practitioner, I’ll run through all the stuff I am doing. More often, my plate is already full with stuff I want on my plate, and the other person’s practices might be very interesting to me, but not necessarily things I’m keen to get into. Sometimes, there’s a nudge to try something new or go deeper than I have yet, so… gravy. That’s information & inspiration.
IN WHAT WAYS DO I COMBAT IMPOSTER SYNDROME?
It helps to think about where it’s coming from.
Sometimes we feel Imposter Syndrome because we’re stuck in toxic environments where our accomplishments and gifts are devalued or met with hyper-criticism. In that case, we need boundaries, confidence building, access to better communities and opportunities, and an exit plan.
Sometimes we feel it in response to real oppression, because we’re navigating systems designed to exclude us. There we might need community support to bolster self-worth, and build alternatives to oppressive systems.
Sometimes we feel it because we’ve been arrogant, dishonest, misinformed, or actually gotten in over our heads, and some part of us is cringing inside for good reason. In that case, we need humility, course-correction, less talk, and more listening.
And sometimes we feel it because we’ve learned just enough to become aware of how much we don’t know, and overwhelmed by all there is to explore from here. There, we need to review our knowledge and accomplishments before jumping back into research and exploration.
Check out Dr. Devon Price’s books Laziness Does Not Exist and Unlearning Shame.
WHAT WOULD MY PRACTICE LOOK LIKE WITHOUT THE SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE OF OTHER CREATORS?
Hard to say. I find inspiration, entertainment, and community on social media. Most of what I actually do derives from dreamwork, personal gnosis, journaling, history, and the arts though. I’d been doing variations on the same stuff long before oozing onto witchstagram, and would probably be on a similar path regardless. When I pick up specific techniques from other crafters, that usually comes more from books and podcasts.
That said, social media has made me more empathetic and aware of different experiences and viewpoints. I’m grateful for the work of diverse artists, activists, and educators on social. It’s also one of the channels where I connect to information and answers to open questions. I’ll often ruminate on a question, and then some article or meme that speaks right to that thing will pop up at the top of my feed the next time I open the app. Often a different and more interesting perspective than I might have found if I’d searched the question by keywords. So it’s been a very convenient, fast-paced connector for sync, and an arrow to books, articles, and artists, some of which have been mind-blowing and path-shaping for sure. That does happen in other media and spaces, though, so social apps aren’t the only way to get there.
Not all of this is paranormal tho lol. Like, a couple nights ago, I was in a little brain loop, puzzling over how the Sahara Desert got so sandy. I google searched a couple articles on it. The next night Latif Nasser’s Netflix show popped up in my feed, with a whole episode the dust in the Sahara desert. So that’s cookies. (And creepier than ghosts thx.)
Inspired for sure! Part of that comes down to being choosy—following artists and activists I respect, and unfollowing content I find tiresome or inaccurate. I see putting down others and constantly policing language and practices with flexible definitions as signs of insecurity in one’s crafts. Confident and highly-skilled artists and crafters are more often welcoming and supportive of others, and busy with their own work. So I’m not inclined to follow creators who go out of their way to make others feel less-than.
FOMO ironically keeps me more engaged in the community. We live in a totally unprecedented candy-land of high quality occult arts and books. I can feel my future self screaming regret at me if I don’t get in the water while alive for an occult Renaissance this weird and juicy. Without that sense, I’d already have burnt out—and I do struggle with burnout periodically anyway. (I love tarot as a craft, and don’t always love it as a business.) So FOMO’s a life-preserver and motivator for finishing the projects I’ve already started.
This is spicy, but I think some of what we’re calling FOMO here might be better framed as jealousy. That’s uncomfortable, because jealousy is a more stigmatized emotion, so harder to own—none of us want to think of ourselves as jealous people. But we really can learn to work with that feeling in net-positive ways.
I’m more prone to creative jealousy in art than occultism, though of course it stings when I feel like I’m behind where I want to be in any interest. Sometimes I’ll browse art I love and think fuck man, why can’t I paint like that? Or, wow, I wish I’d thought of that… But my relationship to jealousy, especially in creativity, transformed when I started viewing it as information about my core desires, priorities, values, and capabilities.
What if jealousy points to some quality you can have, become, or do? Maybe not yet, or in the exact same way as whatever triggers it, but in time. It still feels crummy when it onsets, but it starts to get exciting when you recognize it as a direct line to your values, and something you can shop for possibilities. I’ve noticed that I feel creative jealousy most when my needs aren’t met, or when my own work doesn’t reflect my values and tastes—and that means it’s trying to throw me a lifeline by screaming about what's important to me.
When we take the note, the feeling loses its teeth, and in time, can transform to gold, and make us better crafters, and better fans. One night, I was listening to a song I love on repeat, and got flooded with this intense wave of gratitude that it wasn’t one of mine—that I’d never written anything like it—because I can appreciate it, receive it, and be moved by it in ways I’d never be able to if it’d been one of my own. That feeling carries over to all other media for me now. What a gift it is to receive something from another crafter without having to go through whatever they did to catch that gnosis!
Our FOMO and jealousy have nothing to do with the people who inspire them in us. That’s our stuff to manage and transmute in our own spheres. It’s never someone else’s job to be less shiny so I can feel better about myself.
IF I EXPERIENCE FOMO, HAS IT EVER LEFT ME FEELING VULNERABLE TO BE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF FINANCIALLY, OR OTHERWISE? AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE: THE "NEED" TO PURCHASE THE LATEST POPULAR PRODUCT OR BOOK TO "FIT IN”?
Nah, I’m careful with my budgeting, and pretty fierce when it comes to thrifting, DIY, and making cheap kitsch and hand-me-downs sing. It’s an Island of Misfit Toys around here, and that works for me. There are always going to be pretty, shiny things in circulation that I’d love to have and can’t afford. There are always going to be occult books out of my range. Oh well. Artists, authors, and crafters have a right to create and market what they do, and get paid fairly for their work. It’s on me to mind my finances and limits.
Some library systems carry great occult books now, and there are a TON of history texts in the public domain for free on SacredTexts.com and Project Gutenberg. Many occult titles are also available on audiobook subscription platforms, at discounted rates compared to print books.
I’ve bought some books and tools I ended up not liking, but that happens. Pass the stuff on and let it go. When I do save up to take a class or buy a more expensive book or deck, it’s usually worth every penny to me, and sometimes worth much more than that.
It’s not financial abuse for people to present their wares in the marketplace. There’s tremendous pressure on occult creators to under-charge for our creations and services. Many top notch occult authors and deck designers don’t even make minimum wage for the time that goes into the projects.
No one needs to read every occult book in all the land, though. It’s more effective to find what speaks to you, and go really deep with a few good resources than to skim a hundred titles and retain little. You can get a lot of milage just from reading a select handful of books in a year, over the course of years.
WHEN PRACTISING MY CRAFT, DO I FIND MYSELF COMPARING WHAT I DO TO WHAT I'VE BEEN SEEING PEOPLE DO ONLINE?
Humans are hard-wired to compare and contrast between ourselves and our communities like our lives depend on it, because they do. Human nature may well be for nerds & squares, but it’s natural, ingrained, not entirely optional, and happens everywhere—in person and online. The difference now is that we have the capacity for the first time in history to compare ourselves with every other jackass on the planet. Sure, I get caught up in comparisons sometimes, and that doesn’t always feel good, but nor is it always toxic. Comparison can be interesting.
I’ve found Andy J. Pizza’s advice from the Creative Pep-Talk pod very helpful here: “don’t compare your blooper reel to someone else’s highlights reel.” Most of us put our best art forward online, but absolutely everyone bellyflops behind the scenes sometimes.
If I ever find myself feeling weird or meh in comparison to another practitioner, I’ll run through all the stuff I am doing. More often, my plate is already full with stuff I want on my plate, and the other person’s practices might be very interesting to me, but not necessarily things I’m keen to get into. Sometimes, there’s a nudge to try something new or go deeper than I have yet, so… gravy. That’s information & inspiration.
IN WHAT WAYS DO I COMBAT IMPOSTER SYNDROME?
It helps to think about where it’s coming from.
Sometimes we feel Imposter Syndrome because we’re stuck in toxic environments where our accomplishments and gifts are devalued or met with hyper-criticism. In that case, we need boundaries, confidence building, access to better communities and opportunities, and an exit plan.
Sometimes we feel it in response to real oppression, because we’re navigating systems designed to exclude us. There we might need community support to bolster self-worth, and build alternatives to oppressive systems.
Sometimes we feel it because we’ve been arrogant, dishonest, misinformed, or actually gotten in over our heads, and some part of us is cringing inside for good reason. In that case, we need humility, course-correction, less talk, and more listening.
And sometimes we feel it because we’ve learned just enough to become aware of how much we don’t know, and overwhelmed by all there is to explore from here. There, we need to review our knowledge and accomplishments before jumping back into research and exploration.
Check out Dr. Devon Price’s books Laziness Does Not Exist and Unlearning Shame.
WHAT WOULD MY PRACTICE LOOK LIKE WITHOUT THE SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE OF OTHER CREATORS?
Hard to say. I find inspiration, entertainment, and community on social media. Most of what I actually do derives from dreamwork, personal gnosis, journaling, history, and the arts though. I’d been doing variations on the same stuff long before oozing onto witchstagram, and would probably be on a similar path regardless. When I pick up specific techniques from other crafters, that usually comes more from books and podcasts.
That said, social media has made me more empathetic and aware of different experiences and viewpoints. I’m grateful for the work of diverse artists, activists, and educators on social. It’s also one of the channels where I connect to information and answers to open questions. I’ll often ruminate on a question, and then some article or meme that speaks right to that thing will pop up at the top of my feed the next time I open the app. Often a different and more interesting perspective than I might have found if I’d searched the question by keywords. So it’s been a very convenient, fast-paced connector for sync, and an arrow to books, articles, and artists, some of which have been mind-blowing and path-shaping for sure. That does happen in other media and spaces, though, so social apps aren’t the only way to get there.
Not all of this is paranormal tho lol. Like, a couple nights ago, I was in a little brain loop, puzzling over how the Sahara Desert got so sandy. I google searched a couple articles on it. The next night Latif Nasser’s Netflix show popped up in my feed, with a whole episode the dust in the Sahara desert. So that’s cookies. (And creepier than ghosts thx.)
Capitalizing Off Community
DO I CONSIDER ONLINE COMMUNITIES AS EQUALLY VALID TO IN-PERSON COMMUNITIES? HOW HAVE ONLINE OCCULT/WITCHCRAFT COMMUNITIES IMPACTED ME AS A PERSON & PRACTITIONER?
Absolutely! And I’m glad to see a lot of others saying this too. It’s a huge accessibility issue, especially for disabled, ill, and neurodivergent folx. Also for some in recovery from trauma or addiction. Online and in-person events are different, and each have their own pros and cons. I value aspects of both, but depending on the thing, sometimes I get more out of online connections, where I can pace myself, reset, and recover between sessions in ways that are more challenging in person (but still very much worth it when I do want to do live stuff).
Honestly, it’s been really great to connect with others through online craft & occult spaces. Again, my favorite spaces are probably off the major social media platforms, but the socials are handy for keeping in touch with people between other events, hangouts, and conversations.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE DANGERS OF THE CURRENT PHENOMENON OF CAPITALISING OFF THE WITCHCRAFT COMMUNITY? HAVE I BEEN PERSONALLY AFFECTED BY THIS, OR HAVE I WITNESSED SOMEONE ELSE BE AFFECTED?
I’m not inclined to hold the toxicities of capitalism on the whole against the individuals trapped in it, including in the occult community. Capitalism harms society and the planet in countless ways, but that doesn’t mean the people trying to survive the waters we’re all swimming in are doing more wrong than anyone else, especially when we’re forced into entrepreneurship and gigging by abusive labor markets.
So when it comes to indie artists and occultists selling their creations and services, I’m all for it as long as the work is presented honestly. Often, when artisan goods are priced high, it’s not about greed, it’s because they take a long time to make, sell small batches, and/or the crafter has to factor in more expenses than the cost of supplies alone. (A 400% mark up on wholesale or supply costs might only be a 20% markup for the seller once you factor in their other business expenses like rent, utilities, employee wages, travel costs, web fees, advertising, shipping, office supplies, event/table fees, etc.)
When it comes to large companies selling witchy stuff at Halloween, or jumping on trends like tarot and astrology—I don’t worry about that too much. It’s nothing new. Companies have always jumped on occult trends whenever this stuff becomes popular, as it does in waves. Think of spirit boards becoming a household game on the back of the Spiritualist movement in the early 20th century.
We can push back on cultural appropriation and sustainability when companies mass produce spell kits with over-harvested materials like sage sticks and palo santo, sure. But I don’t worry about it when companies repackage the pop cultural side of western witchcraft. Sincere practitioners aren’t the target audience for that stuff anyway. Corporate witch kitsch is aimed largely at curious onlookers and dabblers. This is the parlor game side of the field, and it’s always been there. It meets the paranormal thrill-seeking bug for a lot of people, and in that event, better that it doesn’t do anything real.
I remember in the 90s, when The Craft, Practical Magic, Charmed, and Buffy were all trending, going to a middle school sleepover where someone had a cheap spell-book kit from some big chain store with absolutely no substance to it whatsoever. That was fine for that venue. The point wasn’t to practice serious magic, it was to laugh at a curio, feel spooked, and wonder if any of it was real. We didn’t need to learn how to revoke our baptisms and summon spirits at an eight grade slumber party lol. (Plenty of time for that when you’re older!)
For some people, the mall store stuff is their entry point to searching for more, and maybe that meets them where they’re starting. For most though, it’s a passing lark, and better to encounter game material when you want to approach the occult as a game than to get in over your head with something realer than you’re ready for, or even want. That parlor game side of the ecosystem can be a kind of buffer. It keeps a fair number of dabblers and casual thrill-seekers out of our hair, and can make the field more approachable and less scary for those on the fence about it. It’s often better to be low-key misunderstood, or read as silly, than to be feared.
SHOULD THERE BE PAYWALLED COMMUNITIES AND ONLINE COURSES?
Absolutely! They’re vital. I love paywalled spaces, both as a creator and as a student. They can be made accessible and sliding scale. In a creative landscape where artists and content creators are relentlessly plagiarized, bootlegged, harassed, and pressured to constantly share our work for free, over-deliver and under-charge, paywalls restore a balance of exchange with our audiences. Pay-walling weeds out a fair number of trolls and plagiarists.
Paywall systems also encourage the platforms that host us to stay pro-artist. My followers on Patreon are more like to actually see my posts, even at the free level, because Patreon is incentivized to support its own artists. Their business model doesn’t bury artists to boost scammers, trolls, and corporate advertisers.
Pay-walls also make it more sustainable for occult creators to share portions of our work openly for free. It takes a lot of time and money to run a podcast, blog, or website, so the paid side of the ecosystem usually backs the free side.
And finally, you can delve much deeper into weirder, more personal, and more advanced material when you're speaking to a smaller crowd, who really wants to be there, than you can when you're speaking to the entire internet. Pay-walls keep your stuff connected to the context, nuance, and larger body of work in a way that scrolling platforms just don't, and that gets more important the more advanced or tricky the material gets to work with. Some of the juiciest conversations are happening on places like Patreon, Discord, and classes.
HOW DOES ONE ENSURE THE AUTHENTICITY OF COURSES/WORKSHOPS/MEMBERSHIPS/ETC. AS A FINANCIAL INVESTMENT?
With the notable exception of scams, which we’ve already covered, most of this comes down to finding a good fit for your personality, interests, and needs in the moment. If you’re looking to solve a particular problem, you might look for someone whose credentials and specializations match your needs, or someone with a similar background and identity. But most of the time for me, it’s the blog/podcast to book to Patreon pipeline. If I like what someone has to say for an hour or two in an interview, I’ll probably like their books. If I love their books, I’ll probably enjoy their Patreon or classes. I’ve found great resources with very few misses this way. But the perfect resources for me might not be the right teachers for the next person. We all need to do our own exploring, and mind our own financial limits.
Absolutely! And I’m glad to see a lot of others saying this too. It’s a huge accessibility issue, especially for disabled, ill, and neurodivergent folx. Also for some in recovery from trauma or addiction. Online and in-person events are different, and each have their own pros and cons. I value aspects of both, but depending on the thing, sometimes I get more out of online connections, where I can pace myself, reset, and recover between sessions in ways that are more challenging in person (but still very much worth it when I do want to do live stuff).
Honestly, it’s been really great to connect with others through online craft & occult spaces. Again, my favorite spaces are probably off the major social media platforms, but the socials are handy for keeping in touch with people between other events, hangouts, and conversations.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE DANGERS OF THE CURRENT PHENOMENON OF CAPITALISING OFF THE WITCHCRAFT COMMUNITY? HAVE I BEEN PERSONALLY AFFECTED BY THIS, OR HAVE I WITNESSED SOMEONE ELSE BE AFFECTED?
I’m not inclined to hold the toxicities of capitalism on the whole against the individuals trapped in it, including in the occult community. Capitalism harms society and the planet in countless ways, but that doesn’t mean the people trying to survive the waters we’re all swimming in are doing more wrong than anyone else, especially when we’re forced into entrepreneurship and gigging by abusive labor markets.
So when it comes to indie artists and occultists selling their creations and services, I’m all for it as long as the work is presented honestly. Often, when artisan goods are priced high, it’s not about greed, it’s because they take a long time to make, sell small batches, and/or the crafter has to factor in more expenses than the cost of supplies alone. (A 400% mark up on wholesale or supply costs might only be a 20% markup for the seller once you factor in their other business expenses like rent, utilities, employee wages, travel costs, web fees, advertising, shipping, office supplies, event/table fees, etc.)
When it comes to large companies selling witchy stuff at Halloween, or jumping on trends like tarot and astrology—I don’t worry about that too much. It’s nothing new. Companies have always jumped on occult trends whenever this stuff becomes popular, as it does in waves. Think of spirit boards becoming a household game on the back of the Spiritualist movement in the early 20th century.
We can push back on cultural appropriation and sustainability when companies mass produce spell kits with over-harvested materials like sage sticks and palo santo, sure. But I don’t worry about it when companies repackage the pop cultural side of western witchcraft. Sincere practitioners aren’t the target audience for that stuff anyway. Corporate witch kitsch is aimed largely at curious onlookers and dabblers. This is the parlor game side of the field, and it’s always been there. It meets the paranormal thrill-seeking bug for a lot of people, and in that event, better that it doesn’t do anything real.
I remember in the 90s, when The Craft, Practical Magic, Charmed, and Buffy were all trending, going to a middle school sleepover where someone had a cheap spell-book kit from some big chain store with absolutely no substance to it whatsoever. That was fine for that venue. The point wasn’t to practice serious magic, it was to laugh at a curio, feel spooked, and wonder if any of it was real. We didn’t need to learn how to revoke our baptisms and summon spirits at an eight grade slumber party lol. (Plenty of time for that when you’re older!)
For some people, the mall store stuff is their entry point to searching for more, and maybe that meets them where they’re starting. For most though, it’s a passing lark, and better to encounter game material when you want to approach the occult as a game than to get in over your head with something realer than you’re ready for, or even want. That parlor game side of the ecosystem can be a kind of buffer. It keeps a fair number of dabblers and casual thrill-seekers out of our hair, and can make the field more approachable and less scary for those on the fence about it. It’s often better to be low-key misunderstood, or read as silly, than to be feared.
SHOULD THERE BE PAYWALLED COMMUNITIES AND ONLINE COURSES?
Absolutely! They’re vital. I love paywalled spaces, both as a creator and as a student. They can be made accessible and sliding scale. In a creative landscape where artists and content creators are relentlessly plagiarized, bootlegged, harassed, and pressured to constantly share our work for free, over-deliver and under-charge, paywalls restore a balance of exchange with our audiences. Pay-walling weeds out a fair number of trolls and plagiarists.
Paywall systems also encourage the platforms that host us to stay pro-artist. My followers on Patreon are more like to actually see my posts, even at the free level, because Patreon is incentivized to support its own artists. Their business model doesn’t bury artists to boost scammers, trolls, and corporate advertisers.
Pay-walls also make it more sustainable for occult creators to share portions of our work openly for free. It takes a lot of time and money to run a podcast, blog, or website, so the paid side of the ecosystem usually backs the free side.
And finally, you can delve much deeper into weirder, more personal, and more advanced material when you're speaking to a smaller crowd, who really wants to be there, than you can when you're speaking to the entire internet. Pay-walls keep your stuff connected to the context, nuance, and larger body of work in a way that scrolling platforms just don't, and that gets more important the more advanced or tricky the material gets to work with. Some of the juiciest conversations are happening on places like Patreon, Discord, and classes.
HOW DOES ONE ENSURE THE AUTHENTICITY OF COURSES/WORKSHOPS/MEMBERSHIPS/ETC. AS A FINANCIAL INVESTMENT?
With the notable exception of scams, which we’ve already covered, most of this comes down to finding a good fit for your personality, interests, and needs in the moment. If you’re looking to solve a particular problem, you might look for someone whose credentials and specializations match your needs, or someone with a similar background and identity. But most of the time for me, it’s the blog/podcast to book to Patreon pipeline. If I like what someone has to say for an hour or two in an interview, I’ll probably like their books. If I love their books, I’ll probably enjoy their Patreon or classes. I’ve found great resources with very few misses this way. But the perfect resources for me might not be the right teachers for the next person. We all need to do our own exploring, and mind our own financial limits.
Conclusions
WHAT ARE SOME TOPICS OF CONVERSATION I'D LIKE TO SEE MORE OF IN OUR COMMUNITY? WHAT ARE MY COMMUNITY NEEDS? WHERE WOULD I LIKE TO FEEL MORE HELD AND SUPPORTED?
Our community is pretty talented at asking questions and sparking conversation. A lot of the conversations I’d like to see more of are already happening! I would love to see more acknowledgement that the pandemic is still happening, and more unpacking around covert ableism in spirituality.
I’d also love to see more pushback against AI art from non-artists. There is a lot of support for and between artists in this community, and I love that. AI art in its current form was built on stolen, unpaid, uncredited, copyrighted work, without the informed consent of its source artists. The beef isn’t with the tech being too democratic or too fast for artists to keep up. The beef is that the tech is built on mass exploitation and corporate theft of media that was already democratic. It’s not cute. I don’t want to see people attacking those who use AI art without realizing how harmful it is, but let’s not make it cool and glamorous. Once you know it’s harmful, stop using it, and pressure tech companies and lawmakers for ethically sourced AI art tools we can all enjoy without hurting the living artists who made them.
HOW CAN WE HELP EACH OTHER IN REMOVING THE EXTERNAL PEER PRESSURE AND GROW IN COMMUNITY? HOW CAN WE, AS A COMMUNITY, COME TOGETHER MORE WITH CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM WITHOUT IT SEEMING SHADY/PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE?
Normalize talking about our own learning journeys, mistakes, and fallibilities. Normalize taking breaks, setting boundaries with the internet, and creating in ways that don’t just play to the algorithm. A lot of people are already doing this, and those are often the teachers and creators worth having on your radar, even if it takes a little more digging to find them.
Keeping criticism solicited is also huge. Seek consent before offering feedback or critiques, and respect when people say no to feedback. Deliver thorns with roses—bring something positive and encouraging to the table, recognize what is going well, and end on a positive note.
Also, check your motives before saying anything. Constructive criticism isn’t about being right, knowing better, positioning yourself as a teacher, or distancing yourself from whatever you disagree with. True constructive criticism is a service to someone else’s growth. It should be offered for the sake of nurturing, not personal gain.
If you need to disagree with or critique something, but you’re not invested in the other party’s growth, there can be a place for that, but it might be better said on your own platform. Keep critical discussions like that focused on patterns and issues, avoid identifying information about other people, focus on your side of the pattern, offer potential solutions, and edit out ad-hominem attacks.
I think we often accomplish more when we counter bad information by creating and providing better information, than when we try to call people out. If you see something that drives you nuts in the field, the call to action there might not be to tear someone else down, but to build the better thing you'd rather see in the ecosystem.
HOW CAN WE, AS A COMMUNITY, DO BETTER WHEN WE DO RECEIVE CRITICISM/FEEDBACK?
Pause before reacting, and recall that whatever you’re hearing tells you as much or more about the critic as yourself. Consider the feedback with discernment. Not all criticism has to be received, and not all communications online warrant replies. When people are ‘splaining, trolling, what-abouting, willfully misreading the context, and being jerks in our comments and DMs, block is a complete sentence. But when people offer sincere feedback about something we could do better, or missteps where we’ve caused harm, that is worth hearing out, learning more, and adjusting our behavior.
It’s tricky to strike the right balance between openness and self-protection there. Proactively seeking information about others’ experiences, and learning more about things like implicit biases and micro-aggressions can help us curb our own harmful tendencies, and meet social feedback with more grace and felxibility. Training our egos can help us weather criticism of all kinds. That doesn’t mean we don’t still have egos, it means we become people we like and want to know. Getting ourselves to the point where our egos observe our core values, and serve the bigger picture, with enough of our needs met that we’re not desperate for outside approval—that makes us less likely to desire power over others, and more resilient and graceful when we inevitably do mess up.
Drama reduction also helps. Learn how to go “oh yeah, oops” and then change a thing, without making it a big deal or performing self-flagellation. If someone’s doing the online equivalent of telling you you have lettuce stuck in your teeth, you say “lol thanks, man,” and go floss. Sometimes those exchanges end in nice moments of connection and better understanding.
WHO ARE SOME COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT I LOOK UP TO THAT ARE RELIABLE RESOURCES AND ASPIRATIONS?
OMG, there are a ton! The best resources for me might not be the best ones for you, but I’ll link you to my Pinterest for this one, where I’ve good mood boards, and artist & book recommendations for days.
***
That’s all I got for today! This has been plenty to chew on. Thanks again to @ella.harrison @the.redheadedwitch and @polish.folk.witch for writing these questions and hosting the discussion. & Cheers to the community!
Our community is pretty talented at asking questions and sparking conversation. A lot of the conversations I’d like to see more of are already happening! I would love to see more acknowledgement that the pandemic is still happening, and more unpacking around covert ableism in spirituality.
I’d also love to see more pushback against AI art from non-artists. There is a lot of support for and between artists in this community, and I love that. AI art in its current form was built on stolen, unpaid, uncredited, copyrighted work, without the informed consent of its source artists. The beef isn’t with the tech being too democratic or too fast for artists to keep up. The beef is that the tech is built on mass exploitation and corporate theft of media that was already democratic. It’s not cute. I don’t want to see people attacking those who use AI art without realizing how harmful it is, but let’s not make it cool and glamorous. Once you know it’s harmful, stop using it, and pressure tech companies and lawmakers for ethically sourced AI art tools we can all enjoy without hurting the living artists who made them.
HOW CAN WE HELP EACH OTHER IN REMOVING THE EXTERNAL PEER PRESSURE AND GROW IN COMMUNITY? HOW CAN WE, AS A COMMUNITY, COME TOGETHER MORE WITH CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM WITHOUT IT SEEMING SHADY/PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE?
Normalize talking about our own learning journeys, mistakes, and fallibilities. Normalize taking breaks, setting boundaries with the internet, and creating in ways that don’t just play to the algorithm. A lot of people are already doing this, and those are often the teachers and creators worth having on your radar, even if it takes a little more digging to find them.
Keeping criticism solicited is also huge. Seek consent before offering feedback or critiques, and respect when people say no to feedback. Deliver thorns with roses—bring something positive and encouraging to the table, recognize what is going well, and end on a positive note.
Also, check your motives before saying anything. Constructive criticism isn’t about being right, knowing better, positioning yourself as a teacher, or distancing yourself from whatever you disagree with. True constructive criticism is a service to someone else’s growth. It should be offered for the sake of nurturing, not personal gain.
If you need to disagree with or critique something, but you’re not invested in the other party’s growth, there can be a place for that, but it might be better said on your own platform. Keep critical discussions like that focused on patterns and issues, avoid identifying information about other people, focus on your side of the pattern, offer potential solutions, and edit out ad-hominem attacks.
I think we often accomplish more when we counter bad information by creating and providing better information, than when we try to call people out. If you see something that drives you nuts in the field, the call to action there might not be to tear someone else down, but to build the better thing you'd rather see in the ecosystem.
HOW CAN WE, AS A COMMUNITY, DO BETTER WHEN WE DO RECEIVE CRITICISM/FEEDBACK?
Pause before reacting, and recall that whatever you’re hearing tells you as much or more about the critic as yourself. Consider the feedback with discernment. Not all criticism has to be received, and not all communications online warrant replies. When people are ‘splaining, trolling, what-abouting, willfully misreading the context, and being jerks in our comments and DMs, block is a complete sentence. But when people offer sincere feedback about something we could do better, or missteps where we’ve caused harm, that is worth hearing out, learning more, and adjusting our behavior.
It’s tricky to strike the right balance between openness and self-protection there. Proactively seeking information about others’ experiences, and learning more about things like implicit biases and micro-aggressions can help us curb our own harmful tendencies, and meet social feedback with more grace and felxibility. Training our egos can help us weather criticism of all kinds. That doesn’t mean we don’t still have egos, it means we become people we like and want to know. Getting ourselves to the point where our egos observe our core values, and serve the bigger picture, with enough of our needs met that we’re not desperate for outside approval—that makes us less likely to desire power over others, and more resilient and graceful when we inevitably do mess up.
Drama reduction also helps. Learn how to go “oh yeah, oops” and then change a thing, without making it a big deal or performing self-flagellation. If someone’s doing the online equivalent of telling you you have lettuce stuck in your teeth, you say “lol thanks, man,” and go floss. Sometimes those exchanges end in nice moments of connection and better understanding.
WHO ARE SOME COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT I LOOK UP TO THAT ARE RELIABLE RESOURCES AND ASPIRATIONS?
OMG, there are a ton! The best resources for me might not be the best ones for you, but I’ll link you to my Pinterest for this one, where I’ve good mood boards, and artist & book recommendations for days.
***
That’s all I got for today! This has been plenty to chew on. Thanks again to @ella.harrison @the.redheadedwitch and @polish.folk.witch for writing these questions and hosting the discussion. & Cheers to the community!
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