#skeptical witchcraft

[criticalthinkingwitches]

CritWitchCon 2024!

Critical Thinking Witch Con 2024 Sept 27th - 29th Connect, learn, and get involved with community of science-minded witches and seekers from around the world! All-Access Pass - $35/40 Saver Pass - $25/$30 Early Bird Pricing ends 8/30! Scholarships available! Tickets on sale now! CritWitchCon is a virtual event. WWW.CriticalThinkingWitches.Com/Events [Image ID: background is deep teal. Upper right hand corner shoes cartoon image of a purple & and yellow ticket. The CTWC logo, a question mark cauldron with "Critical Thinking Witch Collective" wrapped around it in white sits beneath. White block text across image reads: "CritWitchCon 2024, a virtual convention Sept 27th - 29th" Purple, yellow, and a lavender rectangle hold white text with white text beneath each box. Text read: All-access $35. Watch & interact while it happens! Saver Pass $25 Recorded sessions at your finger tips! Scholarships available. Tickets @ CritWitch.com" Bottom right corner shows cartoon of yellow and pink laptop with a purple person holding a laptop on screen.]

[god-blog]

Hello!

This is a side blog I made dedicated to my adventures in witchcraft and Hellenic Polytheism. My main blog is @little-cereal-draws

I'm still figuring things out so this will probably be a mix of personal posts and devotional/general Greek mythology stuff. I am a baby witch and a baby Hellenist so pls be patient w me.

My current witchcraft situation: somewhere between green witch and secular witch

My current godly situation: I'm working with Artemis but I would also like to work with Hermes, Apollo, and Athena (I know that's a lot but I love them all ok)

ABSOLUTELY NO TERFS

(Also, shameless self-promotion, if you want to read a very queer original comic about ancient Rome and Egypt that I'm making with @the-voice-i-was-given, go check out @ancientcivilizationnonsense!)

[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)

[countryfriedmagic]

braiding sweetgrass

this book finally makes the concept of animism something i can begin to grasp. i think in the world religions 101 lesson in middle school social studies, it was defined as a worldview in which everything "has a soul." even then that didn't make sense to me because i knew the "soul" wasn't a universal idea and the bullet points listed cultures that predated the word and idea of a "soul" by a long time.

i'm understanding it now as a perspective in which you understand that between yourself and almost everything else, there is a mutual relationship; this understanding compels you to act accordingly in all facets of life. the idea that we should treat the world as a gift and respond to it as such totally transforms every structure of a society and every interaction you have with it as an individual. it's a story you tell yourself and hold as a tenant to guide your relationship with the world. the trees, rocks, water, wind, etc. all have knowledge. they're personified as teachers, guides, and collaborators. structuring your worldview around these ideas transforms your perception of your own role.

reciprocity, gift-giving, thanks-giving, and storytelling all coalesce to create an epistemology centered around the idea that the individual has a moral responsibility to the collective; skywoman's story reflects this: "...until the whole earth was made. Not by Skywoman alone, but from the alchemy of all the animals' gifts coupled with her deep gratitude."

lending the world agency, rather than seeing it as inert, makes you take less; give thanks; clear ground for the next generation of gifts to come.

the point is not that all things "have a soul" but that choosing to act as if you have an intimate, reciprocal relationship with all things catalyzes change on every level. if that is posited as true, economic changes. language changes. agriculture, transportation, and education change. knowledge is gained through different means. because anything can be a teacher, you treat everything with respect.

[nyktomancer]

Skeptical Witchcraft Explained

I have recently foud these videos that explain or at least provide theories about how the existence of Skeptical Witchcraft, or how generally skeptical individuals can hold beliefs in magic. Since I have received questions about the nature of skeptical witchcraft in the past, I thought that sharing these would be useful :)

I also generally recommend these channels, as they post content about witchcraft-related topics from a nuanced and academic perspective. :)

[a-lemon-tree]

The core of this principle is skepticism and critical thinking: to use reason and the scientific method to determine what is most likely to be true, rather than simply believing one’s perceptions or accepting as literally true what is meant as poetic or metaphorical expression. This is the most fundamental difference between Atheopaganism and many other forms of Paganism: we do not automatically accept our subjective experiences as having objective reality. We understand that our minds play tricks on us constantly, every day, and that even a very meaningful experience may well have been fully or partially a hallucination. Does that mean, then, that the meaning derived from such experiences is necessarily invalid? No, it does not—it merely means that we understand that we created that meaning. It was not inherent in the experience.

I'm not atheist, but THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS

I became so much happier and freer when I allowed myself to think, "Is this a figment of my imagination? Probably. But that doesn't mean I can't take meaning and enjoyment from it."

[kismets-ebook-of-shadows]

This is my side blog where I collect and organize all the resources I find here for working my craft. So far they mostly fall under a few categories, such as:

#bookshelf - book recommendations I've found on a range of topics, usually with some overlap of other categories

#divination - probably mostly tarot at the mo, but also other divination methods I want to look into like palmistry, pendulums, tasseomancy, etc

#grimoire - this is a broad tag for things like organization methods, topics to include in a grimoire, etc

#herbalism - references for herbs, mostly medicinal

#spellcraft - how to write spells, spells by other people, etc

You can learn more about me here!

[witch-of-the-threshold]

My card for 2023: The Hanged Man (XII)

This is one of a few cards whose interpretations with which I most often disagree. The card is often said to be a call to relax or "see the world from a different perspective," which feels bizarrely optimistic considering the depiction is a death sentence, a la St. Peter among others. Also, such interpretations are found among the suits of Lesser Arcana and don't seem to have the gravitas to be one of the archetypal Greater Arcana.

The Hanged Man has been sentenced and currently exists in the liminal space between the Justice (or "justice," depending on your view of man-made enforcement of the law) and the arrival of Death. Whether the Fool on his journey has met the Hanged Man while passing through this story or whether he hangs beside him, the Hanged Man serves as a strange sage in an unexpected place. We don't know whether he deserves his punishment, the punishment is excessive, or even if he was innocent and falsely detained, though I'm personally inclined toward the latter, as he has the most to say to those who are both indignant at the injustice of a current situation and—being bound and held upside-down—incapable of taking any action.

There is no hope of freedom here. There is no hope at all. However, despair being equally useless, the Hanged Man has long since given that up as well. Even more so than the Hierophant or the Hermit, the Hanged Man depicts a stoic or Zen Buddhist, one who has found a transcendent serenity in hellish circumstances. He is an island of peace where all other senses tell us one should not exist.

☁️... 🧘🏽 ...☁️

How very unlike me.

I have spent too much of my energy these last few years feeling righteous anger at the someone who's hurt me. I've made efforts to "let it go," to forgive him (...No.), and—this has been the most painful—to forgive myself for letting myself get into a situation I rationally understood to be dangerous but ignored because LOVE. I've been bitter, ruminating on the differences in my life and others', directing hot rage against myself for mistakes in my youth that have cost me final chances at those things in life most dear to me and that I will now never have.

I wail and scream on my cross at the injustice of my circumstances. I repeat those lines that feed it further: "These feelings are valid; I have a right to my anger."

Whatever truth may be in those statements is irrelevant. Simply, it has done me no good.

😭🤬...😔

The Crow Tarot has made this card more approachable. Cullinane's depiction of a crow hanging upside down is playful, an action wild crows and other intelligent birds are known for exhibiting. A stark contrast to the Rider-Waite version, this hanging crow is here of its own volition.

And therein lies the crux of my struggle with embracing the Hanged Man. The RWS Hanged Man is not where he is of his own volition. And yet he is there by choice. To clarify, he did not choose to be on the cross, but he does choose to accept reality wherever he happens to be, and he happens to be here.

And so I begin the year of the Water Rabbit on a spiritual sojourn to a place that has always been difficult for me: here. If I can do nothing but listen to the Hanged Man, then let me choose to be present enough to listen with intent and interest.

[owlandmoon]

I've been seeing a lot of magpies recently, they haven't yet had a turn as my favourite corvid but I think this is their moment. Their flashy plumage and beautiful long tails are bringing a lot of joy into my gloomy winter life, and I've been seeing them as a little gift of hope and happiness from the world.

It's also interesting to me to be able to feel that relationship developing, that connection between a certain animal, or plant, or crystal, and feeling or meaning. I read lists of correspondences and don't feel as though they make sense, and I see people talking about personalising your practise and creating your own correspondences with no clues as to how, but I think I get it now.

[glamourous-world]

I sit on my little skeptic throne of witchcraft and enjoy it all because either magic is real and I’m very in tune with myself and the world around me, or it’s not and I become a master of meditation and good mental attitude and I get a fuck ton of shiny little trinkets and nicknacks that bring me immense joy there is no losing here

[a-lemon-tree]

“When you choose to be a witch, you choose to see the world differently.”

ALEX WREKK

“I also really appreciated her emphasis on the spirit/body/world union when it comes to making skeptical magic effective. According to her practice, one reason placebo works is because the mind’s perception isn’t just in the brain, it’s also in the body. By cultivating this biopsychosocial connection, we find new ways to magically enhance our well-being. The sheer act of doing the ritual with an open, uncritical mind is so often the catalyst for the psychological change so many of us naturalistic witches seek. “

“Just do the thing and let that lead you to mastery.” – Tristan, of BadSignAstrology

Look at this beautiful and thoughtful review of our event! I'm so grateful to everyone who helped me it happen.

[criticalthinkingwitches]

CritWitchCon

Sept 27th - 29th

A Virtual Convention

Our mission is to bring together a community of critical thinking witches and seekers of all varieties – centering the secular, nontheistic, agnostic, atheist, skeptical, and science-minded – to meet, network, commune, collaborate, share, support one another, and learn from each other in kindness, curiosity, and creativity. We strive to foster a safer space where magic and science are respected equally, acknowledging that there can be genuine beauty and meaning in the mysterious.

This year's theme: Perception (Perspective) Check: Life through a Seekers Lens. Join us while you discover and discuss some of the different ways we see the witchy world. Connect, learn, and get involved with community of science-minded witches and seekers!

All-Access Pass - $35 Stream live with us and your community members in Zoom and Discord!

Saver Pass - $25 Access to the recorded videos and your community in the Discord.

Early Bird Pricing ends 8/30

Scholarships available!

Tickets on sale now!

WWW.CriticalThinkingWitches.Com/Events

Are you interested in learning more about us for free?

Check out or free virtual event this Sunday August 26th! We call our smaller event "Brews" and they they are part lecture, part workshop, and part community interaction.

As a lead into our Con's theme of "Perception (and Perspective) Check!" we are starting the conversation with special guest, @DaylinaMiller. Daylina (they/them) is a full-time multimedia journalist at the Tampa NPR affiliate, where they’ve covered health and the LGBTQIA+ community for nearly ten years. They’ve also been a practicing atheist witch for the past 17 years and regularly help their coven mates research and debunk misinformation related to witchcraft.

For a free ticket the the Brew, to purchase a ticket to CritWitchCon, or to become a vendor at our virtual event, check out CritWitches.com!

[stormofthesea]

Does anyone else hate how much generalization is in the astrology community?

Like me for example, I have my moon, venus, and mars in 8th house and I see soo many posts how “people with their mars in 8th house are always cheaters, don’t trust them. Their’s something off with people with so and so in their 8th house, they’re creepy.” Your projection is so obvious. Just because you had a bad experience with someone with a certain aspect in their birth chart doesn’t mean everyone with that aspect is like that. I’ve had someone straight up say I’m “a two-faced b*tch” just because she saw that my mars is in gemini. 😭 Let’s use our critical thinking skills. I love astrology too, but I don’t let it take the reins in my judgment of others. Your assumptions of me reveal more about you if anything.

[countryfriedmagic]

also, secretly i really want magic to be real in a metaphysical way. i know this because initially, when i first started looking into ways to fill my spiritual void, i thought atheopaganism was definitely the way for me to do it. it's totally secular and nature/humanism-based, using ritual intentionally, etc. then i started reading the website, and hanging around in the subreddit and facebook group. and oh my god it sounded so boring. like, a very interesting perspective & one i have intellectual respect for. but it seemed dry to me emotionally & i had to figure out why it felt like a buzzkill. it's because a tiny little sliver of me is ALWAYS going to wonder if it's "real," and i actually kind of like that piece.

i've always been that way instinctively, always wanted ghosts and paranormal activity to be real. waited for a hogwarts letter (ouch), LARP'd pokemon and a:tla with my brothers. like, that was my make-believe, not playing house or schoolteacher. fighting out pokemon battles. imaginary worlds have always felt so real to me; i'm a very rich daydreamer and was even moreso as a kid. i've always been able to make magic i read about feel very real, and i've always wanted it to be actually real.

i have a really hard time buying into a lot of it. like, psychic abilities, communicating with spirits and deities, they kind of hit this wall of skepticism i haven't figured out how to lower. but i'd kind of like to figure it out.

chaos magic is what really gets me thinking. i think there may really be something there. you can make a very sound case that, by its definition and techniques, chaos magic definitely does work if you put your effort in the right place. belief shapes reality, belief is malleable, belief can be a tool oriented toward a desired outcome. i've read (most of) a book called how god becomes real that's an anthropological look at how belief in a god shapes a person's reality and vice versa, and the overlap is... very fascinating. reality IS malleable, to an extent. i'm not sure where the limits are. i'm not 100% devoted exclusively to a totally scientifically-proven answer to that question at this point. i'm trying to leave room for it to feel... like magic, i guess, and not just dressed-up self-help.

[a-lemon-tree]

There is also a youtuber called the Skeptical Witch!

Hi! Do u have any book recommendations for begginers or just for skeptical witches in general? Or really just books about anything witchcraft related that u like. I don't know how much I should trust the more mainstream ones, and I usually just find a bunch of Wiccan books and I'm not really interested in that path.

Hello, thank you for your question!

Unfortunately, I have some bad news for you: there are no books on skeptic witchcraft. Or, at least, not that I know of. We really are a minority and, after all, it is understandable that most people come to the witchcraft community with very different beliefs from ours.

I can't even recommend a witchcraft-related book that I like, because, well, none of the ones that I've read fit into my views (unless you want books on tarot specifically). I understand the struggle of looking for books and only finding Wiccan ones, it's really frustrating.

But worry not, it is not a hopeless affair! Here's the trick: you read books you disagree with. It is frustrating, but it also is the way in which you truly find what you believe in. Find a book that seems attractive to you (you can use our lord and savior ;) if you don't want to spend money on things you disagree with, which is very understandable), and read the description, look up its contents if you can find them, and read reviews on it if there are any. If it is still interesting to you, look out for red flags. Since you said you're still new and you don't know how much you can trust mainstream books, I'll list some red flags here (this is not an extensive list, if any advanced practitioner wants to add more, they're welcome to!):

Uses 'Wicca' and 'Witchcraft' interchangeably

Claims that witchcraft/crystals/whatever can heal illnesses of any kind (physical or mental)

Contains culturally appropriative practices (e.g. Hoodoo or smudging)

Claims the 'burning times' targeted real witches

Contains suspicious claims about the history of magic/witchcraft

Claims that only cis women can be witches and/or that magic is stored in the womb (yes I'm looking at you Lisa Lister)

Now, these red flags don't mean you automatically have to drop the book, of course. There are probably interesting things in it, which you can gather inspiration from, but read this kind of book particularly critically.

I have found this list of recommended beginner books, which might be a good start, but I honestly don't know much about most of them.

Now, you have your book (whichever it is), what do you do with what's inside, if you're a skeptic like me? You question it. "Why would I want to include x in my practice?", "How would x work according to my beliefs on how the world works?", "How can I alter x to fit into what I believe?", and so on. It is a long process. Sometimes you won't be sure as to what you truly believe in, and you'll go through phases in your practice: that's completely normal.

It is also important to put things into practice and see how you feel in the process. I have found that there are some things I don't necessarily believe in, but that they do have some sort of effect. Don't be afraid to try out the things you find.

Apart from books, you can also try looking for other types of resources:

Youtubers such as...

The Witch of Wonderlust

HearthWitch

Molly Roberts

Warrior Witch Nike

Gather Thyme

Do The Magical Thing

Podcasts like...

Hex Positive (by @breelandwalker, who is a secular witch! She has also written some books that I haven't read yet, but they seem very interesting)

BS-Free Witchcraft

(I don't follow many podcasts, so these are the only ones I could think of, sorry lol)

You can also search on my blog for things you're interested in, e.g. "herbs", "crystals", "tarot", etc. I try to reblog useful material for myself that you can find useful too! I also try to keep the tagging system more or less consistent (key words are more or less).

And I think that's it! If I didn't make myself clear at any point, further questions are more than welcome! Hope I helped!