this post was submitted on 09 Dec 2025
968 points (98.3% liked)
Witchy Memes
6019 readers
98 users here now
Be cool to each other. We'll welcome most occult themes, it's okay if you stray from witchcraft a bit.
No advertising. No trolling. No hate. Violaters will be removed unceremoniously.
We love art credits when possible.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I think there's a difference between "these rituals and metaphors help me deal with the struggles of the world" and "yo I totally hexed him that's why he got the flu".
The former is pretty harmless. Some people meditate. Some people lift weights. Some people draw cards from a deck and reflect on how they feel about getting The Tower when they asked about their boyfriend. It's just a lens to focus your thoughts.
There is a difference for sure but meditation and exercise are not really comparable since there's proven benefits, a closer comparison would be....religion. Consulting the deck is even sillier than praying because you get an "answer" every time which probably just reinforces your preexisting belief
I’m not sure you understand witchcraft from the perspective of those that practice it. It sounds more to me like you’re talking about a caricature of witchcraft and pagan practices, rather than what most witches actually believe
Out of curiosity, if we're to dismiss the caricature you think might be at play here, what does define witchcraft? If it's just a set of mental disciplines that help someone navigate life then the term witchcraft itself seems to be somewhat grandiose.
I want to hear OPs answer too, but to chime in: what are most religions/belief systems if not mental disciplines to help people navigate life?
This thing seems to always be involved in this kind of stuff. Noted, of course, that many do that in uncool ways/with uncool impacts (reinforcing hierarchies that justify concentration of power, legitimizing harm to others, glorifying ignorance, etc.)
I have gone down the path of meditation an uncommon distance. Finding people to talk to about it is basically impossible. There is some common ground with consensual reality tho. And I try to do conversations there sometimes. It is generally frustrating. I should stop.
I mean that's the whole idea, you don't create knowledge out of nothing. But it's more than just preexisting belief, you try to grab it from collective unconscious.
Plus, card on itself doesn't tell you anything SPECIFIC. The whole point of cards and magic is to believe that this specific card has bigger meaning, thus you need to interpret it, and think about it's meaning. And thinking is useful. What conclusion you come up with depends more on the situation than the card itself.
Others have elaborated further, but I'll give an example you can probably agree with:
If you're having trouble making a decision, you can flip a coin. This is actually really useful if you don't actually let the coin make the decision. If you're disappointed with the result, you then found out you liked the other result better, and you should do that instead. There's no magic. It's just a way to help ourselves gain insight into what we believed but we're having trouble realizing.