#psychological withcraft

[beththeskepticalwitch]

Saved posts

Here are links to resources/information I like or want to refer back to:

Skeptical witchcraft:

What is skeptical witchcraft? by Sarah Lisbeth

This post by @beorhtsgrimoire

Psychological witchcraft:

Q&A by Rachael Stephen - the video that first introduced me to psychological witchcraft

The psychological model of magic by Áine Órga

Educational blogs:

@hallow-witxh

@eclectic-witchling

_

[witchxpunk]

Some thoughts on Spirituality and Witchcraft

So this is going to be a bit lengthy because I want to show the series of communication that prompted my thoughts and show how I progressed to get there.

Post I saw by Austin aka banexbramble on Threads that prompted this:

"If your withcraft is just spicy psychology (which isn't psychology in the first place) then- if the framework is only changing your mental framework- how is that effecting other people? Like what do you do when someone needs help spiritually with something?"

Someone responded:

"As a secular practitioner, if someone asks me for support, I can absolutely work a spell for them, but the spell is going to work for them the same way it works for me- by altering their mental outlook. For example, I gave my mom a protection jar, and I put all my energy and thoughts about how much I love her and want her to be safe into it and so when I gave it to her, I explained what is was and how I made it. She put it on her entry table, so that every time she comes home and sees this little jar filled with herbs and crystals and is reminded that I love her and want her to be safe, that makes her feel loved and protected. A slot of the secular practioners I know simply don't work magic on others, because they don't believe it's effective. I tend to do so sparingly and only for folks who understand my practice."

banexbramble responded:

"right, so then is it magic or just changing your mind? I don't understand how that's magic"

the person responded:

"speaking for myself and only myseld, I simply don't believe in what I guess I'd call "literal magic". I don't think it's possible to use supernatural or magical abilities to impact the external world. I honestly tend not to use the wod magic in my practice for exactly that reason and when I do use it I'm generally speaking metaphorically. I do spellwork, I don't necessarily do magic."

Separately, I had replied to banexbramble's original post:

"this is fascinating and I'm going to look at how I phrase things and think things. Because for a long time I was like "well, it can affect change and work, but idk if it's magic or spirits" but thinking of it like "oh you're just changing your mental state/thoughts and therefore making it happen" feels... like no hate but it feels like, why would you bother? Just change your life or go to therapy, why go through ritual and the pomp and the visuals?"

banexbramble responded:

"and I do want to make it clear- magic/religion/spirits and all these things will change your mental state, for sure- we are porous beings. but yes exactly! if it's *just* psychological, then why do this? I also don't necessarily think that magic is helpful for anyone's mental health lol"

**so for my continued thoughts on this"**

I have claimed "secular witch" as a title/label for awhile, if I give myself any title or label, partially because I don't worship a deity and I lean agnostic and also partially because it became a term I discovered on Tumblr. As time passes, I just say Witch or even folk witch.

But anyway, there was a long time where I was like "okay magic yea, but probably not real, but I'm gonna do these things". And now I'm realizing... Even if it isn't divine, it's spirits. Even if it's not spirits, it's some kind of force outside of yourself. I truly do not understand the point of doing ritual or spells or claiming the title witch if you don't believe in magic or believe that you're inacting outside change.

I do understand the CBT and "psychology" and the "tricking yourself into inacting change". But there are so many easier and more effective ways of doing it besides "being a witch" and "doing ritual" and "doing spells" and "doing research".

I'm realizing that even if I didn't acknowledge the divine or spirits or energies, all that I've learned and done and practiced over the years was still under a belief that I can influence things outside of myself. And again, no hate to the person I quoted or others, but I feel like if you're removing spells and craft and ritual from witchcraft, are you even a witch? Why do you want the label? What are you actually doing? Idc how you witch, we all do it differently. But it feels similar to people saying they're part of a religion but they never look at history or the texts, never practice any aspect of it, don't actually believe in it, but claim the label.

I don't really understand how this is going to affect or influence my beliefs or practice yet, but I very much enjoy listening to others in the community (mostly podcasts like Invoking Witchcraft, Southern Bramble, New World Witchery, Books and Broomsticks, FolkCraft, and Coffee and Cauldrons) and thinking critically about what I believe, what I practice, and how it affects me and others.

Reading the conversation above and thinking about how it affects me actually was a bit of a catalyst of introspection. I'm very self aware and often analyze my thoughts and beliefs, but this brought a different kind of interpretation and thought process for me.

But ultimately, I'm slightly feeling like... wtf have I been doing all these years? This blog is older (I don't remember how long it's been) and I've been a witch/studying witchcraft since 2011. I firmly believe that study and learning is lifelong and I'll never know it all, but I'm kind of fascinated that it took this long/this catalyst to make me wonder about what I ACTUALLY believe and want to be more firm in my ideals of it.

Quote from Marshall the Witch of Southern Light:

"Anyone can do witchcraft, but not everyone will have what it takes to be a witch [...] A witch is cunning. A witch is resourceful. A witch knows themself. A witch studies. A witch goes to the edge of discomfort and then keeps going. A witch puts in the work."

[persephones-fruit]

Lesson from my Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion Class

In the Aguaruna culture of Peru, witchcraft is a major social construct. They have the assumption that all death is caused by another person. They feel the obligation to avenge every death. The result? The Aguaruna culture has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. (Also, all those accused of witchcraft are male). 

One of the biggest theories of witchcraft in the Aguaruna culture is that of the psychological phenomenon known as scapegoating. I think this is often applicable to every society, culture, or community. 

We tend to displace our own asocial sentiments toward one another, attributing to another the very attributes of one’s self, not acknowledging our own sinful sentiments. We believe there is only one person(s) or place where evil resides and we deny our own evil. We think then that if we get rid of that one place or person(s) then you’ll be fine when in reality the evil still resides in all of us. 

[beardedmrbean]

I hope that poor deluded kid, that put a hex on his teacher.Will realize how foolish it is to mess withcraft. I hope he also when he is older join a church and developed a hobby .Like pottery that's more relaxing and productive.

I'm seriously doubting he did anything of the sort, but ya dude needs to chill.

at a bare minimum hexes are noting to fool around with even if you don't believe in them because it's just negative energy that you're projecting which will come back and hit you

Can't be putting out negative things all the time without it making you in to a negative person.

That ain't magic, it's just human nature/psychology.

[kaltsektion]

7, 24, 30 ♥

7. What song is your aesthetic?This question is illegal. Einstürzende Neubauten - 12305te Nacht, but it also doesn’t cover the neofolk side and uuuuhh so hard to define myself

24. What is your favorite thing to learn about?At the moment it’s tarot and astrology, withcraft in general, sex education, psychology & languages.

30. What instrument do you wish you could master?Bass guitar. Other than that I’d just really like to ~understand~ how music works and be able to do something electronicaly.

Thank you babe!

[ao3feed-aizawashouta]

by Mostly_Dorky

There are few things you crave in your life, the crippling loneliness to fade as easily as the darkened sky with the rising sun, companionship that seeped into the cracks of your isolated visage, flooding the crevices that rang hollow in your core.

A friend.

A partner.

A Familiar.

Each failed attempt to conjure one to your side ebbed at your resolve, disappointment bleeding from your eyes in tainted tears.

You had never wished to fulfill the yearning with one as nefarious as Bakugou, cunning in his sly motives, manipulative in his deceit.

Love forced from you by searing kisses, possessive touches, by companionship you had wrongfully seeked, all too foolishly given in your desperation.

Words: 8526, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Categories: F/M

Characters: Bakugou Katsuki, Reader Insert - Character, Female Reader - Character, Midoriya Izuku, Mina Ashido, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Yagi Toshinori | All Might

Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki/Reader

Additional Tags: Yandere Bakugou Katsuki, Yandere, Smut, Fluff and Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Violence, Blood and Violence, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Obsession, Loss of Virginity, Loss of Innocence, Twisted love, Forced Isolation, Forced Orgasm, Dubious Consent, Blood, Blood Drinking, Dark Magic, Witch AU, withcraft, reader is a witch, Healing Witch, Bakugou is a Familiar, Collars, Bondage, Non-Consensual Bondage

[beththeskepticalwitch]

On skeptical witchcraft:

"I realized that most of what I was doing already could be explained through science/psychology, with the placebo effect being the main aspect of it. If I was doing the spells and the rituals in the same way that others do and they were having the intended outcome, how could I not call it magic? Even if the belief behind the way it works differs from most’s. It is about why I do what I do, and what I do to achieve my desired outcome; it is not about how it is achieved."

Quote from @beorhtsgrimoire (reposted with permission)