#redcherrieblossoms

[wiccanery]

in reply to @redcherrieblossoms on this post

Why did you do that? Setting up a circle isnt just setting out an intention. So many witches now are pissed off that the article makes it seem like a fun little game you can play. Wiccan is a lifestyle and religion. Its not like playing with a ouija board. Setting up a circle wrong can bring in bad energy. Its a craft that takes a while to get right. I have never seen emoji magic and maybe im just old school but i know for a fact some things always have to stay the same and thats setting up a circle and closing it. Sure it works for you and all but the way im seeing it and other wiccans are seeing it, makes it seem like cultural appropriation and a joke. Thanks for making this ancient craft into a fun little game. Thats like saying i go to yoga i must be buddhist .

Ok, first of all, when the author of the article interviewed me I told them that the circle is optional and that not everyone uses it. I use it a bunch of times and that’s fine. You can choose to use it or not, or use something else (like leaves or whatever, up to you).

Second, I’m not Wiccan, and spells aren’t just Wiccan, and casting a circle of protection isn’t just a Wiccan practice.

Third, it’s totally fine not to like emoji magic. I mean, lots of people don’t like it, it’s perfectly fine not to like something and not doing it. I don’t work with many things because of that, but technology is advancing very rapidly and people, and witches, find new ways of doing magic. If it works for them, so be it. As I said, that it wasn’t included in the article, doing the circle of protection is optional.

Fourth, I don’t know why you bring cultural appropriation into this? Wicca certainly isn’t a closed religion or anything (at least not neo wiccan practices, I know Gardnerian and Alexandrian for example are initiatory therefore closed)? Circle casting isn’t specific to Wicca? Wicca isnt ancient?????? ????

Fifth, things evolve. You can choose to keep the old ways in your craft and that’s perfectly fine. But why do you need to bash on more modern practioners? I mean, is their craft affecting you in any way other than just making you feel awkward that people are doing spells with emojis and using the circle of protection?

Finally, I don’t think it’s anything like saying you’re buddhist for practicing yoga ¿? Practicing yoga means you practice yoga, period lol.

Thanks for voicing your opinion but I digress in many of them. Sorry folks, I try not to bring discourse here because it sucks but it’s a reply in a post of mine.

[howtofailtherapy]

@redcherrieblossoms

You seem to be obsessed with the idea that I shouldn’t have a blogged named how to fail therapy, but you clearly aren’t reading closely or your comprehension is poor. as I said before, I named and made the blog four years ago when all I did was post therapy humor. Thus the name of the blog and because people know it by that name, I feel no necessity to change it. The name is also ironic at this point because therapy has in fact been very successful for me. 

I have no idea who Kati Morton is ... What I can say though is that I have always and will always have comments open and will take constructive criticism. I also have listened to the opinions of professionals and others with personal experiences when it comes to posts and will post corrections as well as other information if it is made available to me. I, in no way think my opinions are the end all, be all and when I am hesitant to give advice I say so. You may have been told not to give advice under certain circumstances, but someone should tell you that true intelligence is knowing what you don’t know, being able to admit you don’t know, and learning from someone who does know. This is my philosophy, if I don’t know, I will be honest about it which you oddly seem to have a problem with. “I don’t know” is the best answer to give when I don’t have experience or knowledge on a subject and you should learn that sooner rather than later.

My page literally says dozens of times that I am not a mental health professional and to take my advice at your own risk. As I previously explained, my advice is common sense, I don’t google it nor do I act like the things I say are anything special. Sometimes, I too wonder why people ask me questions given my general responses are 1. if you have a problem that gets in the way of you leading life how you would like to, then seek out professional help and 2. communicate clearly with your therapist and talk through any questions you may have about therapy with them. If these responses encourage them to get help or give them some sort of comfort, I will answer them. If you think the way I answer questions here is like a therapist, then you have clearly never been in therapy and if you plan to be a mental health professional you really should.  

Finally do you have a degree in how I was educated? Are you knowledgable in how I was educated? No, then why are you giving me advice about my own level of knowledge? I have a masters degree in Political Science, I have several bachelors degrees, I am not a therapist nor was I trained as one. I don’t claim to be a therapist and as you said my advice is a combination of I do not know the answer to your question and common sense responses. If you have specific examples of advice that you disagree with, feel free to let me know in a message, but it seems like you aren’t a trained therapist nor have a degree in psychology so it might be hypocritical to do that. 

Side Note: A psychiatrist and a therapist/psychologist are two very different things. If you are training to become a psychiatrist you will be dealing a lot more with chemistry and physiology than with psychology. You will study mostly hard science, not social science. Also you are using specific language and insinuating you have training in psychology in order to give yourself authority. Thus making the base of your argument reliant on a logical fallacy, which results in you looking egotistical and aggressive. I would suggest not relying on appeals to authority when you are trying to make a point, especially when you present yourself and unnamed and potentially non-existent “advisors” as the authority. My education/degree in formal logic, philosophy, political psychology (Asian Politics is the readers digest explanation), english grammar and debate make me knowledgable about this sort of thing and even by your standards allow me to give you that advice.  

A Friendly Reminder (in caps but still friendly!) to Everyone Who Reads HTFT:

I AM NOT A THERAPIST

I AM NOT A TRAINED PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSIONAL

USE DISCRETION WHEN FOLLOWING ANY ADVICE I GIVE

ALL ADVICE I GIVE IS FROM EXPERIENCE IN THERAPY AND COMMON SENSE

YOU ARE ALL WORTHWHILE PEOPLE WHO DESERVE TO LIVE A LONG PROSPEROUS LIFE

[wiccanery]

replying to @redcherrieblossoms who replied to this post (sorry folks, this is going to be long. The rest under the cut because yea

Right so "wiccanery" youre not wiccan yet thats your username on here. And yeah witch craft isn't closed yet when people do it for "aesthetic" I consider that appropriating. You had a chance educate people on shit and you chose to make it a quick 15 seconds of fame. I didn't say anything about the practice being a closed one. Its hilarious to me that youve been somewhat a witch for 2 years and you think you know so much as to have an article. There are witches who have been practicing solitary and in covens for ages and either still dont write about it or are discredited for a small thing they say. But its ok. The few people who do know well enough will see that you failed to mention anything about sigils. Do you even know what sigils are? I remember my second year of witchcraft i knew so little about it that i didnt even care to talk about it. Theres a lot to learn and im not saying you shouldnt voice what you do know but the article came off as childish and uninformed. Next time you get an opportunity like that. Take your time and plan what you say. Talk to other witches. Perhaps youre solitary but id suggest you look into covens because they can teach you way more than you think you can learn. Yeah a lot of witches dont cast circles but you should have given that option so that people can decide for themselves if they want to do it. Misinformation about such a minute detail is more important than you think.

Ok, I’m going to address this by parts.

“Right so "wiccanery" youre not wiccan yet thats your username on here.” Yes. I started as a Wiccan, chose that name, and now I’m not Wiccan but I don’t feel like changing my username as I have many things linked across my whole blog and it’s a pain in the ass to change it again. Plus, I like how it sounds, and I like to make it think as “wicce” which is ancient english for witch if I remember correctly.

“And yeah witch craft isn't closed yet when people do it for "aesthetic" I consider that appropriating.” That’s your problem, because considering the meaning and the rest of examples of appropriation, most of the community I think wouldn’t agree. But you’re free to believe whatever you want, so be it. I don’t like it being used as a trend or as “aesthetic”, but apart from informing, there’s not much we can do (that’s what I was intending with the article). 

“You had a chance educate people on shit and you chose to make it a quick 15 seconds of fame.” Ok, I don’t consider it a 15 minutes of fame thing. People had already approached me. I only do what feels right and try to shed a light on stuff, which is what I did. It’s not like I live off from this blog either or some shit like that. Also, what the fuck am I supposed to do if someone approaches me asking about stuff?! “No, I haven’t been a witch for X years yet so I can’t answer or do interviews”. Fuck that. I wanted to help, and it was a simple subject.

“I didn't say anything about the practice being a closed one.” You said i make it seem as cultural appropriation, and cultural appropriation is something suffered by closed practices (which neo wicca and witchcraft aren’t).

“Its hilarious to me that youve been somewhat a witch for 2 years and you think you know so much as to have an article.“ You don’t know a thing about me. Why are you so bitchy about it? I’ve been actively practicing for more than 2, but learning for 5 or so, but I consider myself (and a lot of people I know do too) as a fast learner so I don’t have much trouble absorbing lots of information. I have an article (two actually, because someone else had also interviewed me a while ago) because I made a post about emoji spells trying to shed a light on what it was and how it works as at that time I had seen many floating around (this post here). People evidently got a hang of it and they come up to me thinking I am super knowledgable on the subject. It’s very simple so there isn’t much knowledge to acquire, it’s not like energy work which is very extensive (and I’m not so well versed in it), so I was more than willing to help.

“There are witches who have been practicing solitary and in covens for ages and either still dont write about it or are discredited for a small thing they say.“ Okay, I don’t do what I do based on what others of my similar position do. I do whatever I feel, and if I feel I can help, I do it. And if they get discredited, I’m so sorry for that, no one should have that happen to them, as everyone perceives their practice as their own and people shouldn’t boss around others’ practices telling them it’s “wrong” if it works for them. If they make valid points, they should be welcomed for their contribution. If they have a wrong idea (i.e. thinking wicca and witchcraft are the same for example, of course they should be educated on the subject).

“But its ok. The few people who do know well enough will see that you failed to mention anything about sigils. Do you even know what sigils are?“ I’m sure you haven’t seen the original post I made that sparked a lot of the emoji spells and being approached for that. I linked it before. You’ll see that I mention that emoji spells work very much like sigils, and if you were bothered to look a bit through my blog, you would have seen that I recommend sigils to most people who come in asking for help, as it’s very easy and simple magic and anyone with pen and paper can do them. I love sigils and I love making them. This validates my previous point that you don’t know nothing about me (apart from skimming through my blog and probably reading my about me page). The reason why I didn’t mention it in this article is because I forgot... People forget things all the time, and I was in a rush when the interviewer approached me so I just concentrated on the emoji subject and my mind left out pretty much the rest.

“I remember my second year of witchcraft i knew so little about it that i didnt even care to talk about it.“ Well, that’s you and your path. I’m in my whatever (second, apparently, it feels like more) year of witchcraft and I feel I have learned so much, but that there’s still so much to learn. I’m willing to help out anyone who approaches me and asks about a subject I know about (if I just know a little, I tell them that little I know about and direct them to other sources); and if I don’t know about, I try to find information and/or direct them to other places so at least I can be of some help. If you didn’t feel like talking about it, then that’s on you, why do I have to be like you?

“Theres a lot to learn and im not saying you shouldnt voice what you do know but the article came off as childish and uninformed.“ I didn’t write it and I didn’t edit it either; I’m pretty sure they made it to be a friendly approach, which may sound childish to some. I just answered the questions that they asked to the best of my knowledge, and considering there isn’t much depth to emoji spells, there isn’t much to say.

“Next time you get an opportunity like that. Take your time and plan what you say.“ I mean, I did think it out, I took my time to answer it, but there isn’t much to add to that subject, as I said. And I wasn’t part of how the final result was. I was just interviewed.

“Talk to other witches. Perhaps youre solitary but id suggest you look into covens because they can teach you way more than you think you can learn.“ Again, you don’t know a thing about me. I’m not in any coven irl because there’s none in my area, but I talk to many witches online all the time in the various witchy servers I’m in, and I try to help out anyone over there. Sure, I always learn new stuff, be it from reading things that are posted or checking on people’s questions and tagging along, which is amazing and why I love being in those servers.

“Yeah a lot of witches dont cast circles but you should have given that option so that people can decide for themselves if they want to do it. Misinformation about such a minute detail is more important than you think.“ If you read the post I made, you would have seen that I added the idea that you can opt for not using the circle, which apparently I had left out before (my bad), but now it’s there, and in the interview, they asked me if the circle was mandatory, to which I replied that no, it wasn’t, and you can opt for using it or not. I posted the article and added a note at the bottom if you care to read it (read it here). Personally, I disapprove of the decision of not including that in the article (the fact that you can choose not to use the circle, that is), but I’m not in the editing team, so I can’t do anything (and I have absolutely no idea how to reply on snapchat stories, I don’t even think it’s possible).

At this moment I just feel you’re bitching just because, which I honestly don’t get. If you have a grudge with me or anything, send me a PM letting me know why, or do whatever you want. Have a nice day!