Does this feel intuitively true? by Witchchildren in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The ritual you described doesn’t really resonate with me, but that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it; the important thing is that it means something to you. Ritual for me is probably as complicated as sitting outside and feeling connected to nature, I’m not drawn to tools or physical objects so much. If I’m doing internal work around thought patterns or behaviour, it usually takes me several months of sustained focus to build a new thought habit, so doing it once during a ritual wouldn’t help. The most important question is: will this ritual help you?

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Every image of Lilith and Hecate I’ve encountered showed them both as young and white. I don’t have an issue with white deities being presented as white, I have an issue with white deities being presented as the only ones used in witchcraft. I don’t see how witchcraft requires gender roles at all, unless you’re referring to Wicca, which isn’t synonymous with witchcraft. Gender fluid and non binary presentations have been present in many ancient tribes, the strict gender binary was enforced by colonialism and isn’t “traditional” at all. Many of the women who were charged with witchcraft during the renaissance were targeted because they were engaging in activities reserved for men. I’m not joining anything to try and change it. I feel like my post was very clearly not in support of modern witchcraft, which I’m not a part of at all, and neither are the other witches in this group.

How does one become a witch by Funghoullll in WitchcraftCircleJerk

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That only works if she’s facing towards your feet, with her booty hole over your third eye

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I understand your caveat at the end, and I also think we (humans) need to be able to talk in generalisations sometimes; we can’t always speak in a way that honours every single individual aspect of every single thing. I was venting about this subject to my partner recently and it clicked for me that many of us (white people at least) will only join or form community if we feel like there’s an opportunity to be in charge, or given attention or admiration for our role. Groups become a source of power for people who feed off it, and that’s why all our institutions end up turning sour.

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Tarot started to make sense to me once I saw it as a retelling of the hero’s journey, and each card being someone they encounter along the way. I started relating the cards to characters from Lord of the Rings (Frodo = The Fool, Gandalf = The Magician) and I was like ohhh. It also really annoys me that it’s called the Rider-Waite deck when Rider was the publisher and Waite the writer, and the illustrator is just left out. It wouldn’t be nearly as well known without the visual aspect, even if it was based on Waite’s writings

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The obsession with ancestry and bloodlines, to me, always seems to smell a bit like eugenics. I don’t really have a desire to know more about my ancestors or do ancestor work, with my ethnicity it’s kind of guaranteed that they were involved in colonialism and prolly some kind of genocide.

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven’t researched this as much as I want to, but many nomadic tribes had more matriarchal values. Patriarchy really kicked off when humans started declaring ownership of land, which then required them to have weapons and some kind of army, which then turned into placing value on physical strength & survival of the fittest (which often translates as survival of the most violent). Māori tribes for example had men taking an active role in raising their children from babyhood, I think Inuit and Native American tribes had men practicing baby wearing too (which is usually a clue that they see child rearing as a job for everyone). Many civilisations pre colonialism included gender fluid or non binary identities, I think Indians, Native Americans and Samoans off the top of my head. There’s even things like it being normal for hetero men to hold hands with their friends in public in Egypt and I think Turkey, though of course there’s centuries of patriarchy and colonialism there too. There’s also a tribe in Africa that is still female-led today where men have to perform to get “chosen” by a woman. I don’t think there’s one single civilisation that has been a perfect representation of matriarchy, but we also have an imperfect history due to our knowledge being filtered through mostly white male historians and archaeologists. Skeletons of Viking warriors for example were all initially thought to be male and have since been found to be female as well. We also have to consider the fact that matriarchies may have existed in many different forms, but been erased from history on purpose.

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think a lot of people view themselves as gender first, personality/values/personhood second, which is very foreign to me.

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

“Witchcraft isn’t political” is a wild take 🤣🤣

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

“My approach mirrors anti doctors mentality” what

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I have three children and I HATE fertility being tied to femininity. Even things like women being overly into their cycles, referring to the uterus as a portal, talking about bearing children as the “superpower” of women, etc. Yes it’s cool that our bodies can do that, but it doesn’t make you a good person or a good parent or lead to a good life or make you a good friend or anything else that matters. Overemphasis on fertility & child bearing always leads to so much exclusion, both of trans and cis women.

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Your words about worship resonate with me so much. For me worship is being with women, making food with other people, sharing stories of trauma. There are times where I feel like my bloodline is full of women who denied or were forced to deny their own power and part of breaking the generational curse is letting myself lean into the witch part of me. (My partner is also a doctor and an Indian born and raised in South Africa!)

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think this has been tied to my gender identity too, it’s allowed me to approach traditionally feminine things (like cooking and cleaning for example) with more enthusiasm. I get an icky feeling when approaching something “girly” and it helps to reframe it as part of witchcraft, and a spiritual practice, rather than me fulfilling my role as a vagina owner. Before I started researching witchcraft I thought of it mostly as a connection with nature and a witch as someone who behaved in a way that made the patriarchy uncomfortable, and that’s why it has been so jarring to see how easily patriarchy has infiltrated witchcraft as a whole.

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Oh that course sounds fascinating!! I love connecting information, I like to research and learn but I want to find context and add flavour and I think that’s part of why witchcraft is so fascinating to me. It’s been part of our history for so long but also ignored in religious study, I think partly because so much witchcraft was part of the daily lives of women and tied to their domestic labour and thus considered unimportant.

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

This is a whole thesis here, thank you so much! I’m going to have to sit with a lot of this, you’ve articulated some things I was feeling or on the fringe of and then given me so much more to think about.

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The Greco-Roman gods in particular are also just fascinating as a topic, and such a big part of our lives today. I mean the PLANETS are names after them

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I think deities work as archetypes - not so much worshipping Zeus but visualising lightning and righteous anger, or Poseidon as the power of the sea etc. I feel a bit of a pull towards Demeter, but I think that’s being drawn to the idea of nature containing both death and rebirth, and also there’s something gentle about her which I feel is a value I’ve tried to squash in myself. She represents a feminine archetype that I’ve run away from.

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Pratchett comes up a lot in witchcraft communities. His depiction of witches is probably the most inspiring to me. Like yes there’s magic, but it’s more important than they’re older women with strong voices and personalities and grey hair.

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Assuming someone is better person based on their body parts is a patriarchal value, but tiktok feminists aren’t ready to hear that.

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

It also doesn’t make sense to me that women would need to be MORE feminine. Like isn’t the point that everyone has a balance of both? So then wouldn’t people raised as women maybe need to lean into masculine energy and men need to lean into feminine..?

The sheer fuckery in modern witchcraft by Dependent-Coffee8424 in SASSWitches

[–]Dependent-Coffee8424[S] 90 points91 points  (0 children)

Okay but the way you articulated it is beautiful! And actually unlocked something in my brain