I’ve had a couple of interesting interactions, one of which was only this morning on Facebook. There are a small handful of reasons I will interject my opinion on a Facebook post in witchcraft groups;
- There’s misinformation.
- The practice is unsafe (particularly around baneful ingredients).
- There’s cultural misinformation.
- Someone is gatekeeping where an what they shouldn’t be.
- To give advice.
Today it was unsafe practices in regards to burning a toxic substance. I pointed out that an ingredient is toxic and shouldn’t be burned, and that it was the posters duty to inform practitioners to wear PPE and conduct the ritual outdoors to ensure that it was done safely. I didn’t mention that I thought the spell was trash because the ingredients were wrong and conflicting, that the outcome would be different from what was desired, because honestly people need to learn that for themselves.
I was met with vast backlash from the OP, I was holding her accountable for her post and she derailed into telling me I’ve “got no idea”. Even a year ago I would have felt the need to defend my honour. How dare she suggest that I’m not all the witch and conjure woman that I am? Right? Well here’s the honest truth, I had a giggle. The amusement came from being confident in my own power, abilities and knowledge. I didn’t need to defend my practice. Why? Because I have mad skills, I’d rather put all that energy into my practice and part of that practice is sharing my growth and knowledge with ya’ll.
But this post isn’t about my skills, or how that woman was wrong, rather it’s about acknowledging personal growth. For me, being able to walk away from an argument and not prove myself right is a huge thing. It wasn’t fatigue or exhaustion that made me walk away, I wasn’t upset and I certainly didn’t win, but I could leave it and know that I wasn’t going to get through to her, my energy was better used somewhere else. I can walk away and genuinely leave it, not feel that my ego has been wounded and needs repairing. I’ve done this a half dozen times in the last fortnight, this time I just noticed it more.
One time it was a conversation about Spirit Animals where my boundaries weren’t being respected, so I left the conversation. Another time it was some advice I was giving on a conjure that had been messed up, she didn’t like my answer and was getting aggressive so I told her that she wasn’t prepared to listen to what I was saying and I left. There’s been a couple more that were less significant.
So why do I even participate in these conversations where I am overwhelmed by people’s ignorance? It’s simple really, if one person reads my comment, does their research and learns something, it was worth it. The reality of witchcraft these days is that people think that lighting a candle and putting out good vibes is a high level of skill, which is like mixing bicarb soda and vinegar together to make a paper mache volcano erupt and calling yourself a scientist. The shoe doesn’t fit.
I’m thinking about writing another post about baneful ingredients and their uses, let me know if you have any suggestions for upcoming posts or if there is something you would like me to write about because I am going to try to get back to posting more regularly!
The Witches Life 