Like many spaces in the online world, the witchcraft community has a bit of a gatekeeping issue. Though the majority of witches I have met online have been wonderful people, I’m sure we’ve all experienced it before. Someone on Witchtok with a wonderfully aesthetic apartment, a giant collection of exotic herbs, witchy tools, and a perfect altar with all kinds of trinkets and baubles made us feel like we weren’t enough of a witch. After all, we don’t all have these things.
To be clear: I in no way mean to bash other witches who do have all of these things. And I am quite aware that most of you would never dream of telling another witch that they aren’t enough, but there are exceptions, and those are unfortunately often rather prominent on social media.
What I do mean to say is simply that that is not the only way to be a witch. I personally don’t have an altar at all because I simply do not have the space for it and, knowing my cats, they would certainly mess it all up. I am also not able to practice elaborate rituals every full moon because, unfortunately, I live in the ‘regular world’, where I need to actually work to be able to survive. So does that make me not a real witch?
Absolutely not! Materialistic possessions don’t determine your witchiness, and neither does the amount of time you have or the extent of your practice. If you practice magic at all, and you consider yourself a witch, then you are.
And I am of the firm belief that we truly don’t need all this fancy stuff. I adore it, no doubt, and if I had the means to do things exactly like many other witches on social media, I probably would. But I don’t, and there’s no shame in using what you’ve got to practice magic in your regular, everyday life.
It should not surprise you that I don’t perform complicated rituals or cast spells every single day. There are many, many other ways to honour your inner witch. Subtle herbal magic, for example, is one of my favourite ways. Stirring intentions and affirmations into my tea brewed with herbs that will help me throughout my day. Doing tarot readings for myself only when I have the time. Spending a few minutes to set intentions and manifest during the full moon. All of those are valid practices, too!
Again, no bashing intended here. I know this is not the most coherent blog post I’ve ever written, nor is it particularly informative. It is just something that has been bothering me in the community a lot recently, and that I wanted to address.
All the Love,
Vanessa 🌙🔮
