Fantasy is fun?
ITT: “if only girls didn’t believe in horoscopes, my friend from college would have had a girlfriend”
Seriously. It’s so crazy to me to hate a behaviour based solely on its perceived impact on the chances of getting laid.
As if most of the people who got dumped over their zodiac weren’t just arseholes and the other person didn’t have heart to tell them.
The last statement is not necessarily true- witchcraft has until very recently been understood to derive power from a concord with the devil.
“been understood to” is doing a lot of shady sleight-of-hand there.
I think the concept of “witches” is older than the concept of “church”.
Here, I googled it for you:
“Witches were sometimes said to have communed with demons or with the Devil, though such accusations were mainly made against perceived opponents of the Church.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft (This specific section has a paper citation)
When I was a kid girls went through a horse obsession phase. Boys had one with cars or dinosaurs.
Meanwhile wizards: “BEHOLD MY STAFF OF POWER”, “I’m pondering the SPHERES”, “KNEEL BEFORE MY MIGHTY ROD”.
Jokes aside, that is a culture thing - if my rather tattered memory serves, historically, a lot of magic was pact magic (asking someone else for power in exchange). Necromancy was a little different (before its conflation with “nigromancy” by the church in medieval times) and in its earlier incarnation generally involved a “descent” into the underworld via a gate (of which there were many) and so was almost “adventure magic”. These ancient holy sites were venerated rather than shunned and, again memory is patchy here, generally held an oracle (i.e. a witch).
So, fun fact of the day, if you go caving in the right place you’re technically a necromancer.
What’s the go with necromancy/nigromancy? This is all new to me and sounds fascinating!
So, in essence, necromancy was (traditionally) a divinatory art (in short asking questions of the dead who were seen to stand outside time [the notions of time and mortality being intertwined]). Greek and Roman Necromancy by Ogden is a good text on the history here.
Nigromancy, translating to “black divination” (black as in dark/evil magic) was more to do with demonic pacts and spells focused around power (e.g. summoning a feast, calling up a castle, cursing to madness or death, winning the love of a woman). The text forbidden rites gives a good exploration of this from a historical perspective.
This witch magics
I will never willingly go caving, not after the nutty putty cave incident.
Caving is fine as long as you stick to places you can walk to and stand in. As soon as your feet leave the ground or your elbows touch it, that’s your sign you’ve gone too far.
I just don’t see a benefit in doing it in the first place. People who actually have some business to attend to in the bowels of the earth can go into caves - if you’re a miner or geologist or something, feel free to walk right in. I’ll stay right here outside and you can tell me all about it when you get back out.
There are a few large, stable, and very pretty caves that are worth visiting just to experience them. For instance, Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico is a popular tourist spot where you can either hike down to the best part of it or take an elevator. No chance of getting stuck anywhere on the guided path.
Is this just girls?
Am boy, had a witchy phase
Does fungi phase count?
Not witchcraft but, I went through a “try to train hard enough to get Dragon Ball Z powers” phase for similar reasons.
Same. We exist.
I had a few friends who introduced me to the topic. I’ve never cast a spell, but I learned a lot and really took to heart the end of the Witches’ Rede: “An ye harm none, do as ye will”. Which is empowering and generally fits in with the laws of the land.
Since that phrase has been a cornerstone of my personal philosophy, I’d call myself a witch.
Are you… Gerald?
far too flabby for that i’m afraid
It’s certainly mostly girls
Clearly not just girls seeing as how you’re here, unless of course you end up transitioning at some point lol
Even into adulthood, they love bullshit like horoscopes and blood types (the latter more prominent in Japan).
But blood types are real.
not the part where they define your personality and compatibility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory
Obviously. But in Japan, people think certain blood types have specific personality traits and it gets really annoying when people believe it as if it were solid science.
Whoa, what?
…nope. Considered hormonal influence on blood cells for a moment but unlikely and even then not over statistic noise.
It’s apparently because we have a pretty even split between A, B, AB, and I types unlike many other countries where the population tends to lean heavily on one type, which makes it easier to categorize people and traits.
Tbh, this “reason” is something I saw ages ago on TV, so I’m not even sure if it’s true. Please take it with a gigantic grain of salt!
Some isolated island effect?
Just let people enjoy things, jeez
I mean, I didn’t say they couldn’t. It’s just bullshit.
That’s such a Capricorn thing to say
Um, I don’t believe in astrology; I’m a Sagittarius.
So strange how people will throw snark at others for enjoying harmless fun.
Tbf aren’t they used a lot for taking money from vulnerable people or just overall spread gossip about those you dislike?
Harmless fun until they talk shit about one of their friends’ boyfriend because his sign doesn’t match and they think he’ll cheat on her… To fish one example out of the sea…
That goes deeper than simple horoscopes. If it wasn’t horoscopes, it’d be religion. If not religion, race. If not race, diet. If not diet, hobbies. It’s like talking shit about someone because they don’t use your favorite distro. Is Linux the problem? Or is it someone’s capacity to pass condescending judgements over silly things? Some people are insufferable. That’s a people issue.
Back in our early 20s, my friend decided not to date a guy because of his horoscope and some tarot readings she got. You could throw away the love of your life that way.
This kind of thinking is silly. First, that’s her problem. Second, whoa, jeez, are the stakes really that high? “I’d be married happily ever after if only she hadn’t gotten those darn tarot cards read.” Move on, meet someone else.
Your comment makes zero sense. I never said it was my problem and the stakes are the same any time you have a potential relationship. You inferred quite a bit of nonsense into my comment and that’s all on you.
What were you trying to say with your comment?
The majority of it is indeed harmless fun, but I personally know someone who believes they don’t mesh well with specific signs. So much so that once they learn someone has that sign their opinion sours.
That sounds like their problem
Yes, it is a problem with their magical thinking surrounding superstitious, preconceived notions about others. Just like how phrenology is not only bunk, but actively harmful in stereotyping people, inaccurately, for things they cannot control, zodiacal discrimination is similarly potentially harmful bunk.
Phrenology was used for scientific racism. “Zodiacal discrimination” is used to … not go on dates with people? Be a drag in social circles? What if someone doesn’t like my socks and refuses to date me? Is this potentially harmful bunk? What about haircuts?
Given how many idiots there are who make hiring decisions? Yeah, I’ll bet that it has harmed a not insignificant number of people. As long as people have noted the movements of the heavens, people have made life and death decisions on the perceived significance of the positions of the stars, sun and moon. Bunk is bunk, and all it takes is one incredibly stupid demagogue to believe a horoscope for the world to change in a horrible way. If there is no other lesson of the last 10 years in american politics, then at least this: never underestimate either the depths of stupidity to which a human can descend, and never underestimate the damage that the truly stupid can cause.
Believing stupid shit like astrology actually affects our personalities and actions is not harmless at all.
You’d be surprised which things affect our personalities and actions. I’d bet my left hat that you have some silly influences over you that you think are mundane and normal. And I bet those things make you more fun to be around too. Or less fun, depending on your company.
Theory - mass media creates the narrative that witches in the US are Devil worshippers, often with a pretty manly depiction of the Devil, thereby trying to enforce that they “derive their power from their relationship to a man”.
Yes, but that is hardly new. The church already did that in the middle ages and afterwards during the witch hunts.
I remember this happening when I was a teen, and there are still many women I know into it.
My mother was a self proclaimed witch since the 80’s/90’s, and told me as a child fairies were real, and constantly told me I “had psychic powers.” She read my cards and all that. It fucked me up wholly, and pushed me to science and fact. It’s not for me, and I don’t understand the fascination. But, if it makes other women happy, it’s really harmless.
Just about every time someone said something dumb about me or other people, it had real impacts on their lives. Some asshole said I could read minds which drove away friends who believed that’s possible. They also said I was a whore despite never even touching anyone until I was an adult; between me and others this happened to, it seriously harmed our ability to form relationships for years.
Ignorance and lies are not harmless.
it’s really harmless.
No its not. Belief in bullshit has negative consequences for the individual, their friends and family, and society as a whole.
Now, is it comparatively less harmful than some other things they could believe in? Absolutely but its still bad.
This is an ironically anti-intellectual way to engage with it. Magic isnt real, but knowledge on the natural world and medicine has been maintained through cultural practices like “witchcraft” in the past. Even beyond that, there’s knowledge gained for young women in a patriarchal society when they develop relationships with other women and identify with a group that is explicitly counter-cultural on the basis of women empowerment.
Knowledge isn’t just facts, it’s skills and introspection. Belief in something “bullshit” is often necessary to learn something that is not “bullshit.” We teach kids scientifically inaccurate information when they are young because they dont have a basis of knowledge that would enable more nuanced and accurate understandings. They “believe” in something like three states of matter and two genders/sexes because we judge that as a necessary belief to foster the skills that will enable them to learn the reality of these things later.
If they gained self - understanding and empowerment through this phase, then it isn’t bullshit. You should challenge this doomerism.
Belief in something “bullshit” is often necessary to learn something that is not “bullshit.”
I fundamentally disagree.
I actually don’t think we should teach bullshit and call it “foundational”. I don’t think that’s helpful at all. If you are teaching kids states of matter, they can count higher than three, and understand that the class wont cover every kind of matter.
If one’s “foundational” education ends up directly contradicting advanced education, it ends up being a way to cement simplified and conservative views of the world. A la “there are two genders” shit that you mention from conservatives and TERFs. If your education system is fostering that kind of mentality its a reflection of that education system’s failure.
Even beyond that, there’s knowledge gained for young women in a patriarchal society when they develop relationships with other women and identify with a group that is explicitly counter-cultural on the basis of women empowerment.
I’d rather women get together based on a shared love of science and engineering.
If they’d rather dress up and act as witches they should get into theater or become goths. Or just celebrate Halloween year round.
If they gained self - understanding and empowerment through this phase, then it isn’t bullshit.
But they didn’t. They obtained a new form of constructed collective delusion & superstition. They’re forming just another arbitrary aesthetics-based in-group to sneer at out-groups from.
You should challenge this doomerism.
Did you read my profile or something?
I’m going you ask you how you would explain fermionic condensates to a child who does not even know what the states of matter are let alone subatomic particles and quantum states; what quantum means even. (Do you know what it is?) I think it’s obvious to all of us why we simplify things for them even if it’s inaccurate for professionals.
Also, you entirely ignored any reality around the preservation of natural knowledge through these cultural practices, which I mentioned to encourage you to also consider how wildly racist this stance is. Countless cultures accurately record their histories and knowledge through practices that dont necessarily conform to the Euro-settler-colonial imagination of knowledge or evidence.
Education systems in liberal states don’t prime children to subscribe to distortions because they simplify things, they do that through obscuring the skills to develop that knowledge and through the systemic enforcement of industrious teaching pedagogies that objectifies the students as labour. Yes, that fails to educate students adequately to grow into intellectual adults, but that isn’t the purpose of those systems. To conflate necessary elements of growth and education with politically motivated education systems is once again ironically anti-intellectual.
Most of your comment is obviously unreasonable, and I think it’s safe to give you the grace to assume that you understand this as well. No, women who get into a witch phase aren’t guaranteed to be anti-intellectual or believe in magic as they get older and there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that it does besides your vibes. I called you a doomer because this is a doomer narrative where alternative ways of knowing are not only discarded, but actively constructed as pathological. I’ve used “ironically” more in these few comments than I have anywhere else in the past year; but this way of thinking is ironically superstitious.
Understand that I’m arguing in good faith, but I am both annoyed and intrigued in equal measure by you. I used to debate in a dedicated invite-only political forum and there was an anarcho primitivist that was frustratingly low activity (though perhaps for understandable reasons…), I place you in a similar category. Maybe you can bring about some understanding in me of your thinking, but I doubt it.
I’m going you ask you how you would explain fermionic condensates to a child who does not even know what the states of matter are let alone subatomic particles and quantum states; what quantum means even. (Do you know what it is?) I think it’s obvious to all of us why we simplify things for them even if it’s inaccurate for professionals.
Irritating reading comprehension. I specifically stated that you can teach kids there are many states of matter but that you are only going to be learning about some of them.
Also, you entirely ignored any reality around the preservation of natural knowledge through these cultural practices, which I mentioned to encourage you to also consider how wildly racist this stance is.
Cultural preservation can be done in many ways. That said, if cultural preservation encourages the belief in woo, its harmful, full stop. I apply this logic to all cultural preservation, including my own or my ancestors. This stance is not a nationalist, or tribal, or ethnocentric. What stance exactly is racist here and how?
Understand that I do want to preserve cultural information, but in an archivist’s way.
Countless cultures accurately record their histories and knowledge through practices that dont necessarily conform to the Euro-settler-colonial imagination of knowledge or evidence.
What is your point here?
Education systems in liberal states don’t prime children to subscribe to distortions because they simplify things, they do that through obscuring the skills to develop that knowledge and through the systemic enforcement of industrious teaching pedagogies that objectifies the students as labour.
They wouldn’t even teach culture or history at all if that were true. Our education also has a history of teaching nationalist myths and lies. And some of the teaching is just lacking due to poor prioritization of funds to pay teachers and provide resources from short term thinking. I work in a community center with an after school program and we are next door to a charter school. The charter school is egregiously terrible at teaching their kids absolutely anything and its boast about its “alternative” teaching styles. Alternatives are not always superior, even if the main methods are lacking or failing.
Do capitalists want education to be completely stripped down to “Teach them to be good little workers”? Absolutely, but they’ve not done that yet… though they’re certainly working on it. Though TBH, if the charter school next door is any indication they wont even be taught how to be a good laborer.
Yes, that fails to educate students adequately to grow into intellectual adults, but that isn’t the purpose of those systems. To conflate necessary elements of growth and education with politically motivated education systems is once again ironically anti-intellectual.
Teaching incorrect things to later correct is not necessary. How am I wrong here?
Most of your comment is obviously unreasonable, and I think it’s safe to give you the grace to assume that you understand this as well. No, women who get into a witch phase aren’t guaranteed to be anti-intellectual or believe in magic as they get older and there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that it does besides your vibes.
My comment is impatient perhaps. I’ve already argued in-person about this sort of thing multiple times through out my life and even if I remain civil usually the other side starts getting unpleasant and defensive and my patience for this shit is very low at this point. So you’ll have to excuse me if I seem rude now but its born of learned experiences.
If some even minority percentage of people who get into astrology start believing the stars actually dictate personalities for instance than I have no patience for that either. Witchcraft stuff for me is just another example of that, only perhaps more “advanced”.
That said, I’m not some authoritarian. If someone wants to waste their time on that gibberish that’s their prerogative. I also however will look down on them, avoid them, and generally not trust them. I don’t owe woo-believers the time of day. You don’t owe me any either.
I called you a doomer because this is a doomer narrative where alternative ways of knowing are not only discarded, but actively constructed as pathological. I’ve used “ironically” more in these few comments than I have anywhere else in the past year; but this way of thinking is ironically superstitious.
“Alternative ways of knowing” Are you anti-empiricist?
Okay, that’s fine you’ve been in “debates” in internet forums, I’m actually an academic who writes about cultural and social norms, and knowledge production professionally.
I’m not going to engage with anything here because its obvious you aren’t a serious person but very much want to be recognised as one without the work. Nothing here is honest and you’ve chosen to argue that I’m just stupid; both good signs that you are very dedicated to your anti-intellectualism.
This has not been a “debate,” this was me explaining a useful skill to you. Some honest advice: stop feeling satisfied with yourself just because you feel smart on the internet. You’re an adult and nobody is going to force you to grow into something better.
You’re a coward.
See, if you said it was grade A+ nonsense, then I’d be hurt.
Thank. You.
I was tryin to have good grace here
Best grace would not be to say something that makes the problem worse
I know some people do it as a hobby/curiosity/passion/personality thing. They don’t actually believe it, but it’s fun and looks cool. That’s harmless. The people who believe it’s real though? That’s not as harmless. It makes you less engaged with reality and fact, and maybe you won’t participate in actual work to fix things because you think your magic is just as good, or better.
Yeah there’s plenty of ways to take part in stuff like this without actually believing in magic, or fairies - or gods. It seems like our berry picking ape brains desire these types of narratives and the communities we can gain through them, so I’d even argue it is more stupid to try to fight against them than just accept they’re part of us and play along when needed.
Practicing magic or going to a church can be about doing fun things that tickle your brain, about tradition, about community - it doesn’t need to mean you don’t believe in science or have to abandon realistic worldview. Pitting science against belief instead of seeing the tendency to create weird little narratives about the world as a thing we do hasn’t solved things - the cults and beliefs are still there and ever so strong - just driven a lot of people deep deeeep into crazy
because being in a coven with amazing women is preferable than being near high school boys.
The undead are safer to be around than a man.
But what about undead vs a bear?
what about undead human vs undead bear?
I’ll say it: adult witches are hot
Was this ever doubted?? Ofc they are
Too bad there aren’t any since witches aren’t real
I mean, there are people who engage in esoteric ritual practices who use the term witch. That’s real.
Turning people into frogs and flying on brooms witches? Yep, you’re right.
Isn’t it assumed that witches get their power from the devil?
I think that’s a generally Christian-centric view (which describes anything non-Jesus as the devil). As far as Pagan witches are concerned they could get their power from any number of gods/goddesses, or even from nature herself.
"I don’t hold with paddlin’ with the occult,” said Granny firmly. “Once you start paddlin’ with the occult you start believing in spirits, and when you start believing in spirits you start believing in gods. And then you’re in trouble.”
“But all them things exist,” said Nanny Ogg.
“That’s no call to go around believing in them. It only encourages ‘em."
Terry Pratchett knew how it works lol
This is new info to me, so not sure who else, but Paganism isn’t a single system. It’s anything the Christians were trying to erase in Europe. The wildly varying descriptions occur because it was just the negative terms applied to any other group. Going to church is a ritual. Consuming eucharist is a ritual. Priests are channels to their god. Hyms are chants. Prayers are incantations. All just negative terms applied to the out groups.
So warlocks and clerics are just made up distinctions of the same thing? /j
Different spell lists, but yeah basically
Yeah, I didn’t want to disempower women, or anything like that. I know that this was merely the christiannarrative of witches.
Kind of interesting, though that the male-centric christian church had to invent a male figure which gives the witch her power.
When Ezekiel raises the dead, it’s a blessing from god. But when I do it…
I see nothing wrong with this. Please, continue and praise Satan.
Well a witch had sex with the devil. Or sth like that
If men stopped seeing women as prizes or things to conquer, they’d be able to appreciate just how impressive that is. And then to just call it a fling or a casual hookup. The devil is probably ancient and chill enough to know that sex can just be sex and power can just be power.
I’d understand if I get skewered for this but people who don’t leave the witchcraft stuff behind when they grow up are on par with disney adults and hardcore weebs. I used to think I could gather chi to perform powerful attacks but if I still thought that, people would rightfully make fun of me.
This opinion is gender neutral but I’m always afraid to express it because it might come across as misogyny.
Shame that people feel they can’t critique something they find silly for fear of sounding misogynistic. I don’t think that’s the kind of equality anyone should want.
Just something to think about: the next time you have a difficult task in front of you, ‘gather your chi’. Do the breathing, feel your chakras spinning up, visualize that white light flowing through your body. Direct your ‘chi’ towards the task, then open your eyes and go. See how you feel about what you did by the task’s end. Even better if the same task comes up and you don’t do this so you can compare notes.
This is kind of the level this stuff works on for sane esoteric practitoners. Are you actually conjuring up something mythical? No, not really - you’re psyching yourself up and/or shifting your focus using a psychological tool/metaphor. I personally find it hard to judge that too harshly - save that for folks doing the same thing for health problems without also doing evidence-based treatments.
That said, you’re entitled to your opinion. Just be kind to folks you think are dorks if they aren’t otherwise causing harm.
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 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.
I love to collect herbs. But I hate to tell people about that because just after then, I ccan discover how much people love to believe in “cancer curing herbal medicine”.
My father once suggested a toxic plant is great for health.
It sucks when a hobby you like is full of weirdos. I’ve been looking into both solar panels and getting rid of a lot of my lawn but SEVERAL times I’ve been watching a video and the host drops something about homeschooling or religion. I just wanted tips on growing potatoes, man.
RIP, same. I’ve sometimes dreamed about having some big-ass pretty garden and getting fruits and veggies from it, so my mom and I like to watch cool shit like people’s giant greenhouse homes. And then you’ll hear some tradwife and homeschooling shit in there and just get sad.
Yeah. And it seems like there’s a big overlap between houseplant enthusiasts and the same “herbal remedy” folks you’re familiar with, too
Hit me up if you want panel tips, it’s kinda my thing
Honestly, I’d recommend talking to a landscape designer. If you find a good one, they can help you sort all that out, and at least all the ones I know are plant nerds first and foremost, and so aren’t too impressed with the tradwife performance gardening nonsense.
I don’t know what the plant was, but both of those can be true (though be careful). “The dose makes the poison.” Everything is poison in large enough quantities. A lot of toxic things can be very beneficial in smaller doses.
people who don’t leave the witchcraft stuff behind when they grow up are on par with disney adults and hardcore weebs
People with harmless hobbies? I see no problem with this. Why would a self-respecting adult care if others cringe at their interests?
This was such an online reply.
I’m saying it’s weird that wirchcraft is “culturally acceptable” while the other extremely similar “hobbies” draw widespread derision.
I’m saying it’s weird that wirchcraft is “culturally acceptable” while the other extremely similar “hobbies” draw widespread derision
I think you said more than that. You said people would “rightfully” make fun of you, suggesting the derision is warranted.
But I don’t expect them to care. It’s not like I’m making fun of them to their faces, I’m just thinking “wow what a dork” when I see an adult obsessed with Disney movies
Pick your poison, witchcraft, zen, Christianity… Being able to see things the way a child sees them is an essential part and something you might want to work on.
I’m going to take a guess and direct you (and most readers) towards a Christian reading, but I assure you, this observation is made by almost all traditions, secular or otherwise, across almost all the world’s cultures.
Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 18:3
(Edited for block quote)
i would add the following wisdom as well -
Critics who treat ‘adult’ as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up. C.S. Lewis
I’m not sure coming into a witchy community and shitting on witchcraft is going to get you a ton of agreement
Just like how when you insult a waifus in a weeb community it wouldn’t get you much agreement.
There are very dramatically different conceptions of “magic” depending on who youre asking.
Many of them are less focused on conjuring things from the ether or casting curses and are much more interested in the Crowley-interpretation (“the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will”), which, as the man himself insisted in his later life, is only magical in the sense that all sciences are basically magic before they are cleaned up and get a proper light shown on them, effectively transmuting them into legitimate scientific pursuits.
It’s less about summoning chi and moving things with your mind, and more about using your mind as a means of intentional interface, rather than for the default of passive experience. It is essentially a combination of performance art, psychology, philosophy, and the general understanding (as well as the functional application of that knowledge) of both yourself and the world(s) we are all subject to. Magic, as it is commonly defined now, is taking an idea and finding the best way to take that intangible, barely real spark and turn it into whatever new thing you’d like to turn it into. Within reason ofc.
Eh, the mind is a complicated thing. You have the conscious part, which experiences things and makes active decisions, and the subconscious part, which processes raw sensory data into categories that the conscious part can engage with. When you get a new car, suddenly you see the same make and model more than you did before. That’s just the result of your subconscious assigning significance to that make and model.
Magick, properly practiced, is just a system of rituals and correlations to influence what the subconscious assigns significance to. Even things like visualizing your chi can help you move with focus and intention.
It’s all just about moderation. People can atribute their mistakes to holoscope so that they won’t dwell on it and move on, but to use it to deflect legitimate blame would be toxic.
I say this not because your mention sounds misogynistic but as if using societal acceptance as a bar to judge someone’s hobby or ritual (religious or non-religious sense, not limited to witchcraft stuff).
who don’t leave the witchcraft stuff behind when they grow up are on par with disney adults and hardcore weebs
Try to think about it in terms of historical psychological therapy, tarot cards are a metaphor engine, like a Rorschach test, spells are CBT, and on and on, the themes are repeated. I’m misandrist, so IDGAF, pretty freeing, but I’d say those who stick with their childhood perspectives in adult life are either really cool or dreadfully boring. This opinion seems the latter, might want to look to that…
There’s also something to be said about gaining power from the moon because it aligns with our bodies’ natural rhythms as well.
