Demystifying Energy in Witchcraft

Throughout my life I've heard the word "energy" used, viewed and treated in the spiritual sphere as some ethereal, supernatural force. I even saw a TikTok the other day claiming that secular and atheist witches do not believe in energy work. I'm not sure where this treatment of the term "energy" started, but it likely has a lot to do with some more "woo" practices like Reiki and crystal healing.

I think we need to remove this stigma from the term "energy" in the Craft because 1) energy is an objectively real, observable material and 2) the benefits of working with and understanding energy shouldn't be packaged and branded as a medium for the "mystics only" club. This was something really meaningful that I took from Psychic Witch, where Mat Auryn explains energy in more scientifically observable terms.

Rather than defining energy as a mystical force, he explains that reality is, in fact, entirely composed of energy. The majority of us don't really think about reality this way, but anyone who has taken a physics class can tell you that this is a fact. Reality is energy--this is not a mystical perspective; it is a fact of the laws of physics. The scientific method has shown us that even things that appear solid, (diamonds, skeletons, my coffee mug, for example) are merely energies vibrating at a slower rate. Everything is made of particles perpetually in motion.

Still with me? Okay, so--Auryn breaks this down further by stating that the five senses are just various ways that we perceive energy. So in a sense, we are achieving a rudimentary form of energy work just by perceiving the world around us. Put in this context, many other animals are superior to humans with certain types of energy work (I wonder if this is part of why animals are so sacred to us witches). Dolphins and bats can legitimately use echolocation to experience sound waves as a form of sight. Indeed, we humans are far from the top of the totem pole when it comes to energy perception--it's almost as if humans were not created to rule over the rest of the earth (such a crazy concept).

Some examples of energy that our bodies cannot perceive include magnetic fields, radiation, wireless signals, and ultraviolet light.

What I'm trying to say is that Auryn's book really helped me to think of energy in terms of empirical reality, and reinforced my (somewhat) recent realization that magick is a valid, observably effective tool that can be used to achieve the changes we want.

Critical Thinking Witch Con 2023 Sept 29th - Oct 1st Connect, learn, and get involved with community of science-minded witches and seekers from around the world at this 3 day virtual convention. All-Access Pass - $35/40 Saver Pass - $25/$30 Early Bird Pricing ends 9/15 at midnight EST! Scholarships available! Tickets on sale now! We can't wait to see you there! Tickets and virtual convention schedule available here

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Dyeing my hair red bc January’s stone is garnet and garnet means balance and my god I need balance I don’t know what I’m doing and my local witchcraft/crystal store closed down so I can’t get actual supplies

What is SASS Witchcraft?

You may have seen me mention SASS Witchcraft within the blog before and not know what it means. SASS stands for Sceptical, Agnostic/Atheist, Science Seeking. Witches who prescribe to this niche of witchcraft generally don’t believe in the supernatural properties of being a witch. To put it bluntly, they don’t believe in the “woo” aspect of the craft. SASS Witches are very interested in the…

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I'm still figuring out my beliefs but I consider myself an agnostic pagan witch. I don't know if I believe in the supernatural or deities as literal entities or not. I lean towards yes, at least to some extent, but due to how my brain works I'm just never going to be 100% unless I get some sort of evidence in the affirmative (I don't think there's really a way to definitively prove they don't exist). This really got in the way of my practice for many years because I was constantly second guessing. In a lot of magical systems belief is step one and any doubt will keep it from working.

However, a few months ago I found Sedna Woo's channel on Youtube and she introduced me to a new way of thinking of it. My current philosophy is that it doesn't matter if my witchcraft is a placebo or if there is at least a partial supernatural explanation, if it works it works. It doesn't matter if deities are literal individual entities (the explanation I would like to be true), facets of a whole, or figments of my imagination if I derive comfort from worshiping them. Could change if I ever receive unmistakable signs or communication, but I am trying to accept that in all likelihood that will not be something I ever experience.

It's the season of the witch and until the end of October I'm offering Brainscan issues 33 & 34 by Alex Wrekk at a price where it will be about $10 including postage anywhere in the US! In these two zines Alex explores over a decade of building a secular witchcraft practice.

Brainscan #33 - DIY Witchery invites you into a deeply personal journey through the world of witchcraft. Over the course of a decade, the author has explored and practiced witchcraft, and this zine shares their unique experiences. It's not a how-to guide, but rather an insightful personal narrative. The author delves into their journey into witchcraft, the development of their secular and non-pagan practice, and the distinctions between their approach and contemporary witchcraft. They also tackle critical issues within the modern pagan and witchcraft communities, including discussions on racism, cultural appropriation, colonialism, and capitalism, reflecting their intersectional politics. For those interested in venturing on their own path, the zine offers tips and resources.

"Brainscan #34 - A Dabbler's Week of DIY Witchery is a zine born out of a challenge sparked by a cntroversial witchcraft book review in January 2020. The review suggested that modern witches were anti-vaccine and climate change deniers, leading a witch to question what it really takes to explore witchcraft for a week. The author, an experienced witch, takes up the challenge and presents their response in this zine.

Within these pages, daily activities are proposed, designed to shift your perspective and introduce you to their personal world of witchcraft. Activities include space cleansing, simple energy exercises, correspondences, animism, and basic spells. All of this is presented in a friendly, non-authoritative tone, making it perfect for those curious about witchcraft.

https://portlandbuttonworks.com/secular-witchcraft-zine

positivity is so abundant within me today, that cleansing bath really did something huh. secular witchcraft is shaping up to be the most fun self care method I've tried so far! 🌙

SASS Witch Con is changing our name to Critical Thinking Witch Collective! August 21st we are having an online Witches Brew event all about the magical use of names! Brew events are always free but you must sign up to get access. Come and hang out with thoughtful witches!

Sign up for free here!

P.S. We will also be hosting another paid big event in October! Stay tuned!

Okay Witchblr:

The new year is nearly here. It’s supposed to thunderstorm here, which is unusual. I also have time off and energy to do something.

What would be some fun rituals to take advantage of the weather and change of year? Purification yes, but any other ideas?

Any other 30+ witches out there still active on tumblr? Especially if you’re an atheist/agnostic, skeptical or science-seeking witch.

I’d love to connect here, on Ig and Snapchat!

Man, tarot cards just mean. My garden dragons always put me up or down gently. My tarot deck just screams at me and tells me to my face what I did wrong and what I need to do. It's overly aggressive positivity and truth QwQ

Personal Correspondences

After studying witchcraft for about 18 months now, I am finally getting around to recording my list of personal correspondences. If you ever feel like you're getting witch imposter syndrome, remember that witchcraft, paganism, and occultism in general are so multifaceted and multidisciplinary. You can be heavily immersed in your path for a long time and still not have the basics down. I'm not necessarily saying that personal correspondences are basic, but I sure feel silly that I am just now taking time to establish these for myself.

I've always had a hard time with Llewellyn's Complete Book of Correspondences and similar literature because of the pure subjectivity of everything in life. For example, I am not partial to the color purple because of bad memories from my childhood. Many other people will feel that the color purple is calming, welcoming, or friendly. If humans are all so unique and diverse (and we are), I can't agree that any list of magical correspondences is universal or should be trusted at the sacrifice of personal experience and/or intuition. I must say that this of course excludes medical or evidence-based properties of plants, herbs, chemicals, and so on.

This is just the unfinished flower section, but I've covered a lot of ground (crystals, herbs and spices, plants, trees, metals, scents, animals, etc.) and I'm excited to keep chiseling away at this master list.

I'm interested to know if any of you have made a list of personal correspondences, or if you're cool with the books just spelling them out for you. Let me know!

Curious to see what CritWitchCon is all about? Join us for our FREE preview event!

Pre-Brew Saturday, Sept 23rd 4 - 6:30 PM EST Games, social time, memories from last con, organizer Q&A! Free tickets available at www.criticalthinkingwitches.com [Image ID: Painted clip art of mugs topped with warm drink toppings: whipped cream and sprinkles, cinnamon sticks, and marshmallows line either edge of the image with handles facing inwards. Background is a solid light peach with deep blue text. Text matches blurb below]

introduction

hey! i'm rain, they/them. welcome to my witchy blog. i'm an eleclectic, urban SASS witch from canada. clémentine is my familiar and also my cat. this is a sideblog, i follow from my main @rainwolfheart. i speak french and spanish also (ask for pronouns)

in addition to straightforward stuff about witchcraft and divination, you'll also find some discussions of pseudoscience and criticism of certain spiritual beliefs/practices here, because i'm an academic in my day job and can't not be critical and meta about anything i do

i'm still getting this blog up and running but one of my goals with it is to get more practice with tarot/oracle readings, hence the tarot in the url. i'll make a more formal post soon, but for now, feel free to request readings in my askbox! they'll probably be max 3 cards depending on complexity of your question. they will be answered publicly (i can anonymize on request), and you'll get a photo of the cards and my interpretation.

Now for a discussion on refracted light

Because who doesn’t love a rainbow? Colour magic is one of those things you can employ on a daily basis. It is magic you can do quick and easily or take longer with and use it as part of more in-depth practise. I am going to focus more on low spoons colour magic in this post. What is colour magic? Colour magic is utilising the correspondences of various colours to manifest your…

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magia o placebo?

es lo que me cuestiono siempre.

realmente la magia funciona? debería seguir el lado más lógico-racional?

en verdad no lo sé, es algo que normalmente está en conflicto. la magia para mí, personalmente, es algo inexplicable, que forma parte de algo místico o inusual. tiene que ver con el arte de la espiritualidad, aunque a veces se pueda encontrar magia en otras cosas, como las más mundanas. me provoca un sentimiento de gratitud y satisfacción, en el sentido de que me llena el poder creer en algo superior o simplemente sentir esa "magia" cerca. es algo difícil de explicar.

por otro lado, el placebo es un efecto mental, que tiene que ver con la complejidad de nuestra mente, que podemos engañar. en qué sentido? en que aunque existan múltiples conexiones cerebrales y procesos psicológicos, muchas veces son más básicos de lo que parecen, o bien, no parecen tener aún una explicación del todo completa y fundamentada. de esta manera, el efecto placebo a día de hoy es en simples palabras un "engaño o hack mental" que provocaría sentir algo sin la necesidad de que esto sea real. por ejemplo, hacer un ritual sabiendo que en verdad no hay magia en el fondo, pero, como las partes del ritual son cosas simbólicas que me hacen sentir bien, me sentiré de esa manera después de completarlo. aun así hay algo que no me llena en esto último, porque siento que me limita un tanto a esa experiencia "mágica" de la que hablaba en un comienzo.

en conclusión y a modo de resumen:

me gusta recordar que la ciencia no lo es todo: la ciencia existe gracias a la realidad, no la realidad a partir de la ciencia.

lo racional junto a lo esotérico pueden convivir,, no es necesario ser tan radical para elegir.

debo hacer lo que me haga sentir bien. no es necesario darle explicaciones a las demás personas para sólo encajar.

la ciencia tiene sesgos, cosas que a día de hoy no logra explicar, lo que no está mal, pero tampoco está mal el imaginar que hay algo más allá, porque al final, nadie sabe, todas las posturas pueden ser tanto correctas como incorrectas.

esa es mi primera entrada y reflexión en este "blog". espero se entienda.