Your Unpopular Witchcraft Opinions - The Devil in Witchcraft, Do you need Spells to be a Witch?
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- Опубликовано: 22 ноя 2023
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Today is part 2 of Your Unpopular Witchcraft Opinions and there are some really interesting ones in this half:
00:00: Intro
01:09: Opinion 1 - Signs
04:13: Opinion 2 - Spells
09:15: Opinion 3 - Deity Work
12:04: Opinion 4 - Wicca
17:23: Opinion 5 - The Devil
21:49: Opinion 6 - Holidays
25:57: My Opinion - Danger
If you have your own unpopular opinions, feel free to post them in the comments and they may end up in a future video.
Previous Unpopular Opinions: • Unpopular Witchcraft O...
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Unpopular opinion: If a group you are looking to join is telling you that their way is the only true way, keep secrets until you reach a certain level, tell you that you shouldn't have friends outside of their group and tell you to ignore your instincts because they know better they are not a tradition or real group they are a cult. All because they call themselves a coven or other name for Wicca or Witch craft group doesn't mean they are not a cult.
Is this an unpopular opinion? I thought it was common sense… but maybe I just listen to a lot of cult podcasts…
I think that's not (or at least shouldn't be) an unpopular opinion but rather common sense!
Valid point, but I wouldn't say that's an unpopular opinion but the general consensus with most sane practitioners.
Good advice for any faith group or just about anything
Well some cults do keep the nastier or laughable stuff for people who are way too deep to easily quit, but per say alone I don't think having hierarchy with secrecy means it's a cult. A plethora of mostly harmless groups have that.
probably not an unpopular opinion but: If you don't feel like the title "Witch" fits with your practice, you can use a different title or even none at all
Yes, especially since one might not agree with everything else of someone(s) who claims to be ___(fill in the blank with any term)
Possibly an unpopular opinion, but many seem to be divided on this. I feel like the idea of trickster spirits speaking through deities is some type of latent Christian mindset. I'm a worshipper of Hekate and honour her the Hellenic way, so we believe that whenever you call upon our Gods/Goddesses, then you will get your God/Goddess. I suppose it depends on belief systems but this is just unnecessary fear mongering and potentially stops a practitioner who is interested in deity worship/work from reaching out to a God/Goddess they are drawn to.
Fully agree here
I will admit I used to have this fear myself but after working with Hecate as well as Isis and Lilith in the past I can absolutely say a trickster spirit cannot impersonate a deity lmao
i agree 100%. I'm an eclectic witch + soft polytheist myself, but i feel like the concept of malicious entities masking as deities stems from the "the devil appears as an angel of light" quote that so many of us were told by our christian family if we showed any interest in any other religion,.
I agree, I'm a devotee of Hekate, and whenever I've called to my mum as i call her, it's her that turns up.
In fact, I'll go as far as to say that if any spirit or demon tried to impersonate her, the Goddess of witchcraft and magick would kick their a$$ lol
That is so interesting. Thank you for the information on the Hellenic way, i didn't know that.
Totally agree!
The thing about people’s spirituality is that it is very personal , individual so no two people’s beliefs are exactly the same, problems come when one person tries to force their beliefs on others.
I totally agree, but I see potential second problem, and that is when people's beliefs are either so restrictive or ritualistic that they begin to effect one's mental health and/or quality of life. If one's spiritual practice is detracting from their well-being rather than adding to it, they might need to re-evaluate and make changes. Just kind of a caveat I wanted to add.
Exactly!
my unpopular witchcraft opinion is: most are obsessed with working with the dead and don’t see the beauty in working with the alive. dead - spirits that passed and are stuck here, alive - spirits that their home is inside of humans/animals/plants around us. my witch friend is more of a medium, she works with the underworld and the dead, while me personally i never had a connection nor a wanting to get into that and instead i work with spirits that have not ‘passed’ yet. i use my physical cat as a spirit guide, i talk to big alive trees, i talk to the insects that jump on me etc… i think there is a blockage of appreciation when one focuses on the ‘DEAD’. you’re still a valid practitioner if you have no interest in having a conversation at the cemetery and prefer to be guided and spoken to by a spider or a cloud…
I always invite the ancestors and spirits of place to my circle, specifying that "all who come in peace and love are welcome". I have ancestors who weren't very nice, lol.
The first time I did that, Puritans showed up and surprised me. But no Vikings yet, lol.
Absolutely this. I do have some connection with spirits, but I work with the creatures around me. Spiders, moths, trees, herbs.
I think it can be both. Not an expert, just personal experience. Ancestors strengthen me, living spirits and entities interact and expand what is going to happen in the moment..
I am a born necromancer, BUT have a strong conection with the living things around. By the way the ancestores and dead are mostly not stuck, they are visitors or here by choice, not because they are stuck. ;)
i’m the same way!
"Maybe I should go outside and touch grass or something"😂😂😂
Love your videos Hearth, you are a ray of sunshine ❤
i know the blooper bit at the end is pure gold..blissed be XD
The everyday witchcraft I do engage in each day is sending blessings to friends and family, expressing gratitude for that which I have, and (for lack of a better term) praying for my country.
Just want to say, I appreciate the intros. They kind of give me a chance to settle in especially when my mind is fidgety. I often find if creators just jump right in that I scroll back the video, sometimes multiple times, to catch what I've missed.
It's Thanksgiving here in the USA. Expressing my gratitude for you and your channel.
This may have been mentioned in a previous video, but I don't think (especially beginner) witches need to be afraid of writing their own spells.
Yes, there's a lot of benefit in doing research, learning associations, seeing how things have been done in the past, etc. But I see a lot of people afraid to do a spell unless they have step-by-step instructions written by someone else. The best way to learn what works best for you is to experiment and let your intuition lead. If something does go wrong, you should be able to trust that you have the power to fix it (with a reversal, banishing, what have you).
Obviously, this might be more challenging for people who like ceremonial workings, as there needs to be more planning and actual writing of your spell before you do it. Either way, I still think it's the most effective way to learn how your unique magical practice works.
It took me years to learn how to write my own spells. I thought the only “real” spells were ones I found in books. Now, twenty years later, my favorite spells are the ones I write myself. I wish more books would mention this.
When I was a budding witchling, I found I always had better results with spellwork if I wrote it myself, or rewrote an established spell in my own words.
I do think people should start with grounding, cleansing and protective magick. But once they feel ready to try a spell, i totally agree with you. That spell could be a totally new creation, if it fits you, then it's likely to work and if you made it, it's likely to fit you :)
Agreed. I’m a witch of almost 30 years and have found that spells I have pulled completely out of my ass in the moment work just as well as spells written by others
Being dyslexic, I am challenged with remembering all the lines to someone else’s spell. So for me, I have to keep it all simple and to the point.
Thank you Hearth, for sharing you wisdom…
Regarding the devil thing, there are for example theistic Satanists and people who practice Daemonolatry who work with Satan and / or Lucifer who do definitely NOT believe them to be the Christian devil or how he is described in Christianity at all. (I say "and / or", because some people believe Satan and Lucifer are the same entity, some believe they are two seperate, different entities.) Daemons are viewed in a very different way in those religions and there's no belief in the Christian hell or all that. They're viewed by many in those traditions as higher intelligences, as beings that consist of energy and that are kinda "neutral" deities / entities. They're neither good nor bad by nature, they're both and if you respect them, you'll get respect back from them.
The whole "devil" thing is a huuuge topic, there are so many belief systems, traditions, religions, etc. out there and like you said, there's a horned deity or spiritual figure in so many different traditions from so many countries... You could talk for hours just about that and write a lot of books on this alone. It's so interesting, I love it! 🖤
I believe in the Christian devil and im one of his servants
I believe in lucifer but not the Christian depiction. I also believe in what I call the unnamed god (the Christian god) but I do not worship him nor does he hold any power over me
I really don't understand the first part of what you said. If Satan/Lucifer comes from the Christian bible, how do they see him as someone else?
To your last point, I get my best results from either creating my own spells or adapting someone else's to my needs. Like using a basic pasta sauce and adding your own ingredients. Really good channel, Hearth. One of the best resources on RUclips.
❤ I couldn't agree more!
I agree about spellwork. I never found spells necessary in my practice, maybe because through my practice i found my inner strength and my life has never been better.
The only times i perform spells is on the Sabbats and i usually do them in order to express gratitude for the past and ask for abundance and protection for the future (if there is something specific i want i include it in the spell of course). Also, i usually do spellwork on New Year's Eve because the energy around me is just so positive, i just feel the need to use it yk. 😅
Im one of those people who have a rough time being around any kind of smoke (I have asthma) so smudging and incense is out. I’ve substituted using an essential oil tea light where you put oils in the top part and the candle warms the oils- so if it calls for sage smoke I’ll put sage oil instead. I’ve also made a spray with different essential oils and spritzed it around my space before beginning- I’d love to hear any other ideas to substitute for smudging or incense etc😊
I cleanse with sound because I live in an apartment and am not allowed to burn things, plus I have asthma and have a dog as well. I will occasionally use incense to cleanse bottles but I go outside and do them in bulk. I also occasionally smoke cleanse myself with cedar but again I go out on my balcony. I like using room sprays for cleansing too. I just can’t spray much because of my dog.
Have you ever thought of making sage and cedar tea and allowing the steam to purify your space?
Oh, that's a wonderful idea! I'll note it for myself. I have a cat, who is always around when I'm doing magic. So I'm worried he might fall sick because of the smoke. Therefore I never use smudging in rituals.
You can anoint your besom with oil and herb to use for room cleansing.
I add a bit of salt and florida water to my all purpose cleaner, so whenever I'm cleaning I'm also cleansing.
my UPO's: 1- Skyclad was never a historical thing, it simply wouldn't have made sense and would have been very impractical but wiccan founders liked the idea and so there it is. 2- someones rituals are just that, some other persons, It's a good starting point but should only be a starting point something researched and made for you by you with your purpose in mind floor up will be much more powerful than anything out of a book. 3- Spell jars, not everything should be one. 4- I really wish they would stop using green witch, kitchen witch and hedge witch interchangeably .
Most of what we practice comes from gardner and not the ancients.
We have very little information on how religion was practiced in many regions
These are my main peeves too. Especially the misuse of Hedgewitch
Skyclad was historical in some cultures and circumstances and in particular spells, but yeah it was a Gardner kink.
Using "hedge witch" to mean green witch is annoying. I've recently begun hedge riding, it's exhilarating and exhausting, but nothing like my green/kitchen practices.
With the wheel of the year, I wait until I ‘feel it’ sometimes it’s for example Ostara, but I don’t see and feel that in the nature around me. When I feel like the wheel has turned then I celebrate 🎉
Yes! People only need to do what works for them and their environment.
I agree I doesn’t feel right to celebrate when it doesn’t feel like it’s time yet
My unpopular opinion: not all Deities and Spirits enjoy traditional offerings, some are actually gonna feel hurt if you give them "insert random dead vegetable", and many will ask for offerings in the form of acts and behavior. Or work with you in exchange for the behaviour they've seen you displaying in your daily life until then. I don't really hear people mentioning this and it has been key in my practice for many years.
I recently started working with deities and feel like they want me to be my best self and realise my true potential. Encouraging and helping me along the way. I give gratitude daily!
Yep, I work with the holy virgin Mary, and the most important offering she asked for is prayer.
Plus many deities aren’t exalted/adored through offerings at all
Yes, very much so! In my experience, if they don't like something, they will tell you so and you may change it. For example, I work with Odin and while he likes his wine, he is really into poetry, even reading together or singing will do better than something to eat.
Exactly, one of the best offerings you can give is your time and effort. Personally I have never cared for wasting food by leaving it out, I don't judge those who prefer these traditional methods of offering, I have just never felt it is necessary, for me personally.
I grew up in the 90s, and definitely got the message that conflated Wicca and witchcraft as the same thing. I had heard otherwise since then: witchcraft is not specific to a particular religion, you can be a Christian witch, Jewish witch, etc, but for whatever reason, that didn’t actually click in my head until almost a year ago! Once that clicked, everything else started falling into place…
I guess an unpopular opinion would be: you can still practice witchcraft even though you're from a country where culture hasn't been influenced by British traditions.
I live in the southern hemisphere so seasons can not only be swapped but also end up almost completely erased, making each season nearly the same. Summer can be particularly hellish, which makes Yule quite out of place. But there's a certain perception I have of Yule, which makes me think of winter as something sacred. I can't help but love the cold and feel at peace with it in ways that I never feel when it's warmer. The tradition would be that winter is a harsh season folk are trying to get through, but I see it as something to ask for due to how harsh the *summer* is on this region.
Definitely can decide on own beliefs as always, forever, everywhere. Thank you for sharing how sacred winter is to you. Are you creating a special day and traditions for that?
Even in the Northen Hemisphere, the conditions are not as dire. Many witches there also enjoy Fall (Samhain) and Yule winter even where it snows. In these modern times, most people have the comfort of their homes, central heating, electricity and hot water on tap. So the idea that winter is to be seen as something harsh is no longer as relative in this modern world, in the western countries especially. Yule, for me, is more about the internal winter -- going within, getting your bearings together before the next cycle begins. It's that time of the year for introspection, to curl up with hot chocolate and a thoughtful book, to knit, bake warm, hearty meals and rug up before going for a walk. But in a sense, it can be a little treacherous, for this is typically the season where you catch a bad cold. There's many ways to integrate the overall essence of Yule without it fitting into the box of the old origins. As time and the world evolves, so does Witchcraft and how we honor the cycles of the Earth, the seasons etc.
I too live in the Southern Hemisphere (Australia). My "xmas" tree gets decorated with bright flower garlands and pretty lights to honor Litha at the same time since conventionally Aussies celebrate Xmas the same time as everywhere else. But it feels silly to me to use winter-themed decorations right in the heart of summer, so I use Summer themes instead. Yule I recognize in June, our winter. You can absolutely make the Sabbats your own :)
I’m from South Africa and integrate their shamanism with northern based witchcraft practices. It’s what I connect with. Each culture has magical beliefs and connecting with the land is important.
About gods.
You know, sometimes I feel like a fake wiccan. I sometimes miss sabbaths because of life and/or low energy. I praise Hecate when I have energy, or when I remember, and the Cernunnos (my horned God) I feel like I abandoned him and mention or pray so rarely. My everyday practice is making extracts and herbal remedies, not even magical, although I do charge it with a simple spell or intent. My most usual practice is protection, and the second one is divination. But because of the circumstances I feel more like an alchemist rather than a witch. I’m generally much better than before, but even though my practice is more present than before, I have a distinct disturbing feeling as if I will never be THE witch, but a low energy small practice mentally ill witch.
It would be great to have a video about the folklore devil. Having previously come from an Abrahamic tradition, I don't know anything about this particular subject currently
yes! More knowledge please :)
Many religious traditions have Satanic equivalents, especially if the tradition is middle eastern. For example, i am a netjerist/kemetist, and we have Apep, the serpent of isfet, which can be syncretic with the Christian Satan. I suspect European folk devils are more akin to our Set, Sekhmet or Sobek, ie Gods that have menacing and/or volatile personalities and can deliberately and wantonly cause suffering for their subjects. That is very different from how Christians view Satan, and how Netjerists/kemetists view Apep.
I'm 26 years old and grew up in a family of witches that had been witches for many generations. Only recently have I found my celtic paganism path.
Don't rush into a certain path.
Yes, much older than you and just finding my path.
on the topic of signs, i remember the day i first decided to practice witchcraft after spending my whole life southern baptist. i was about to drive home and i looked up and said, "please tell me you're okay with this".
on the way home that day, the largest rainbow I had ever seen appeared ahead of me, and one end of it appeared to be coming from my house. i took it as a "you have my blessing", and havent looked back.
Sooo true! On the topic of not harming oneself, so many books recomend blood for rituals! Please if you aren't 110% sure how to do that safely and hygenically just DON'T do it, it really isn't worth it, you can get an infection or worse, and for what??? Mostly everything can be substituted.
I agree with so many of these. It brought me comfort to hear that I am not the only one who agrees w/ these unpopular opinions. Thank you.😊
Don't know how unpopular this is but I use virtually no correspondences for things (plants, elements etc.) that are generally accepted. In fact, I make it a mission to not read any correspondences until I do my own work with a plant energy, a particular type of spirit or whatever and only then will I sometimes look up the ''accepted'' correspondence, but a lot of the time I never do because I value my own perception of the energy more than what a book might say. The only area I use some of the more common correspondences is with the planets in our solar system.
Adapt the seasonal holidays / also acknowledge the indigenous peoples of your home. Learn how to observe respect the seasonal customs of those who lived on the sacred earth we now reside on.
I do the same thing. I use cedar to smoke cleanse with in honor of the indigenous people that lived where I do now. Cedar was extremely important in their lives. The other important thing was the sea. I’m a sea witch myself and I often thank them for taking such good care of the ocean and respecting it as they did. I’m trying to find more books about them but they were a small tribe so it’s hard.
@@riveramnell143 that’s beautiful 🕊️ I like to at least refer to the land I’m on land sacred to the “anishaanabe/odawa”. I truly believe the land will hold and grieve the connection to indigenous people. It knows the trauma of ethnic cleansing and murder of indigenous. Part of witchcraft for me is decolonization. Blessings.
Check with your local librarians or community college for help finding more info. @@riveramnell143
I invite "spirits of place" to my circle, along with the ancestors and "all who come in love and peace" which I feel is an important clause. I have some aggressive ancestors.
Hekate is my Patron and a tough boss. Persephone is better with beginning people for loads of reasons, and is going through a resurgence if I believe Etsy.
On The Devil I must suggest Chapter 15 in Crowley 'Magick in Theory and Practice " as he discussed this with a mix of Honesty and Humor.
Beautifull video as always.
I just want to add a thing about what you said on satanism (just because noone talks about it in witchcraft community, letting preconception festering alone in the dark): it's a really nuanced topic, expecially the figure of Satan. There are likely as many facet of this god as there are practitioners and a lot of the one who are not atheist work with a figure that is not the christian devil nor the witchcraft one, but another facet of Him. As all gods, expecially trickster one he has a lot of faces and aspects that different tradition inside traditional/spiritual satanism.
Thank you again for your videos and for the beautiful community that you builded, expecially on discord where there is a really nice, accepting satanic group.🖤🖤
I love your unpopular opinion and discussion of the others. May the Magick and blessings be with you!❤
Thank you for clearing up some of the unpopular opinions. I grew up in a strict Pentecostal home, so hearing about the difference between witchy devil and "THE devil" helped me feel a bit less triggered by the religious shame that comes with my first three decades as a human. My form of magic comes out in art, cooking, writing, singing, cleaning, and learning new things. There's magic in science and there's science in magic. We just haven't found the right way to study it.
Your bonus scenes were adorable! I do random singing when I'm in a good mood, usually after I've accomplished a task or two.
Heres an unpopular opinion, at least in the mainstream world. Practitioners of abrahamic religions are practicing magic while also looking down their noses at it.
The folklore devil is hard to understand.... He is (or they are) mostly local entities, folk characters.... That went into the label devil. In my deep countryside France, we have a local devil name Gorgeon that is said to be... An hobgoblin 😉❤️
Near where I live there is the Jersey Devil. It is a spirit with hooves and leathery wings that lives in the Pine Barrens.
@@blktaunaDoes the hockey team still use it?
I think Cernunnos and Pan contributed to that association. If early Christians couldn't incorporate and neuter a local deity, like St Brigid, they demonized them.
I love how supportive you are to individual beliefs
I always wait for whoever comes through as in deities or guides.
I have a feeling this video is gonna be super interesting!
Family is currently over rn though, so I can’t watch this until they leave, but I’m excited to watch this later!
Edit: I am back 10 hours later, gonna watch this as I get ready for bed bc it’s almost midnight 😅
This is off topic but I gotta know...
Where did you buy those gorgeous earrings? ❤
Thanks for the last point, which is rarely mentioned. I sometimes wish someone would write a Manual for the Allergic Witch LOL!
I sometimes can't tolerate beeswax and use battery candles instead. I "sweep" the air with a bundle of herbs instead of smoke cleansing for the same reason.
Great vid as ever Hearth, love these unpopular opinion ones ❤✌️
Really good informative video…my fav part? The end bit after the actual vid is done, 😂 love the outtakes, lol!
Another great informative listen. Thanks !!!
I love your outtake’s. 😂
I just stumbled across your FB channel today and so happy that I did. This was a very fascinating video topic to me today as it answered many questions I have had that nobody could really (clearly) give me guidance on. Loving the channel!
Speaking of the Devil, HW, would you consider doing a video on the movie "The Witch" (2015) and what aspects that movie got right in regards to black magic, perhaps? I think that would be especially interesting, as the movie is portraying Witchcraft through the lens of the negative depictions from the Christian perspective, but at the same time, I couldn't help enjoy the way it portrayed the use of familiars, the casting of illusions and black magic. It definitely touched on a lot of that medieval folklore.
Great Video Hearth! I am new to witchcraft but I still had a better understanding of witches than most people especially the energy side of things so I naturally agreed with you on these opinions haha.
Finally someone said this 👍🏻💚
I have been always wondering how people do that celebration all around the world because harvest season is makes sense in my country
You covered all mine, great video as always, Hearth! Thank you!
I seriously LOVE your end of episode bloopers!! Thank you for being a genuine, down-to-earth person 💜
Your outtakes are always so much fun. Thanks for the smile!
Thank-you, Hearth, for explaining all this! 🥰🤗💖 Hello from Southern Québec, Canada! 🇨🇦 I ABSOLUTELY LOVE your cat-singing! 🤣
I'm glad you mentioned about seasons! I also get super confused why I see witches doing new month rituals on the 1st of each month- they're going by the Roman calendar. To me, it makes more sense to go by lunar months and do new month rituals at the new moon.
Happy Thanksgiving to those of us celebrating this year! Blessed be ❤
I don't know whether this would be an unpopular opinion but...
The first thing beginner witches should learn is their magical model or their paradigm what do they think makes magic work?
This will tell you the skills you need to focus on developing and how you go about your practice.
The skills usually listed (energy sensing and manipulation specifically) belong to the Energetic model of magic. Where the "fuel" is energy.
But in a spiritual model the "fuel" are the spirits and so spirit work would be the thing to focus on.
In the psychological model the "fuel" is the mind and so learning about placebo effect, LOA, etc. would be things to focus on.
Your model defines how you do things and shapes your practice. Take enchanting an item for example:
The spirit model would call upon a spirit to bless it.
The energetic model would channel their energy or energy from other sources to charge it.
The psychological model would create and enforce a specific association between the object and the desire effect.
Pick your model, define the skills you need to make it work, learn them, practice them, change models if it doesn't resonate or work for you.
Then you can go into the other models and create a unique blend of practice that is yours.
I think Witchlings should explore what draws them that of course explores all the basic building blocks so they know what path they should take - they shouldn’t follow like sheep yes have a mentor if they wish but they should take their knowledge down their own path building on everything
Another great video 😊
I think you don’t have to do spells everyday maybe use the energy for meditation,divination or devotion.
Really enjoyed the second ‘hearth’ of this video ❤
I enjoyed this video! I can’t always practice either. As you said some of us have many jobs and you do need energy to do it. Thank you for making it:)
Thanks as always Hearth
Absolutely agree on adaptation, great video.
Thank you so much you give me great information, so thank you!!
When you were speaking about the seasons and the wheel of the year celebrations being different relating to where you live, I just wanted to say that I agree and also feel that this is true for correspondences. I live on the East coast of America, so I always think of water in the East. (That said, I am not Wiccan and don't really call corners)
Love your top!
i start setting up my wheel of the year altar when it feels right to me like yesterday i just set up my yule one
Hoooo boy! the "harms way" one is a BIG deal for me at the moment. I'm working on learning how best to adapt some work so that I can be safe out alone at night - so difficult when my mind is so rigid about doing things "properly".
Unpopular opinion: Anyone can identify as a witch; there is not exactly a set criteria to be one, it's just a label. And, just because you practice spell work, doesn't mean you HAVE to identify as a witch.
I loveeeee these topics! ❤ what I discovered was connecting to ancestor work. Being biracial and fixated on connecting to my Celtic Nordic ancestors, so desperately that I wasn’t being open-minded to my Mexican side ancestors (indigenous/arbaic/ nothing African). Now in my practice, I utilize both of my ancestry, DNA blueprints of witchcraft and profession energy healings.
Unpopular opinion: spellwork for others for pay is acceptable.
I wouldn’t know why not 🤷♀️
tottally agree with everything you say
...thank you.
Thank you so much for the frequency issue (~8min)! I'm in my 50s, never really pursued the craft until recently, I have a full time job with commute, housework, shopping, arthritis - I wish I could throw myself into a practice but I'm so tired! I try to say hello to the magnificent oak tree every day tho. 🥰🥰🥰
As a solitary art witch who uses knitting and crochet as my practice in the southern hemisphere, I feel incredibly validated by this video
Good video, I just wanted to make a comment on the 2nd opinion. It's true that you shouldn't do magic just for the hell of it but it is beneficial to do various exercises, meditations, & visualizations to keep honing your ability to manifest into a potent tool. You can never get to good at the witches pyramid.
thank u for the deity topic, i started a little over a year ago and only recently opened myself to deities
The quarter days are also aligned with celestial events (the equinoxes and the solstices) and there's value in recognizing them, though that needn't be with a harvest or planting festival.
In Florida, we had three (very clear, very obvious) seasons (not four) and, though I recognized them and worked with them, I never quite sorted out how to celebrate them. In Israel, we had two seasons (rainy, and not).
Love the song at the end
I really appreciate the nuance around Wicca.
thank Hearth
I think the reason people thought Wicca and witchcraft are the same thing is because Wicca was designed to be a religion that incorporated witchcraft. Now that doesn't mean that is the only way to be a witch. Witchcraft has been a practice that fits nicely into a lot of different spiritual and religious lifestyles, but doesn't require either to be practiced. My understanding of it is the a person can take the witchcraft out and be an eclectic pagan, or take the religion out and just be a witch, but Wicca, particularly traditional Wicca, is both. It's important to understand that just because these practices are not the same, it doesn't mean they are any less valid. If it works, run with it.
learning and even practicing aspects of another culture's witchcraft doesn't automatically make it cultural appropriation. if it isn't specifically a closed practice where one isn't invited, there shouldn't be any gatekeeping, and as long as one is respectful of an open culture's practices, there is no harm in doing so. and even if the practices you are curious about are closed to you in practice, you should still be able to learn about it from a cultural study perspective and i actually highly encourage this to further understand where people are coming from:)
I would love to see a video all on its own where you address & expand the whole belief that witches are devil worshippers. I have many conservative Christians in my life that I am not able to articulate the explanation that you just gave to them. I think they are open minded, but just believe what the church has told them. They also view the pentacle as satanic too. Any help you can give in an explanatory video would be greatly appreciated. As always, great video! Thanks!
Unless I'm mistaken, I believe the pentacle not only has a long history, but that it was even used by early Christians. They've found evidence of early Christians doing magic too. Magic was the norm then.
I'm totally confused about casting protective circles. On one hand there are the people who say you have to because everything out "there£ is out to get you, and other people who say there 's nothing out there to harm you and it's fearmongering from lingering Christian belief systems and is not part of their ancestor path anyway. Any views about this and why?
I know you're not asking me, but I hope this is helpful to a degree, and feel free to ignore me.
I've seen a lot of variation to answers on this, and I'm not sure there's a concrete truth here. I think it's one of those things that vary widely by practitioner and methodology, and that's what's right for one person may be wrong for another.
Do what feels right to you when working is the only advice I can offer. I personally don't cast circles typically, but if I thought it added to a particular working, I might. However that is just me. I'm sure you will find people that always cast a circle, people who never do, and everything in between!
Simply put, some people believe that a circle must be cast to protect the working, and others don’t. In Wicca, which is where I started, they teach that you must do a protective circle for every working. Eventually I drifted away from Wicca but I continue to use protective circles most of the time (sometimes I’m not doing a huge working, or am just too tired to do it) because I like that extra layer of protection. But in folk magick, they’re not really a thing. And some people just don’t feel compelled to do them. Personally, I say use them if you want but don’t feel compelled to. I’ve done workings successfully both with and without them so take that as you will. Blessed be.
Thank-you so much for replying to me! Much can be learnt from other people.@@someonerandom256
Thankyou!@@riveramnell143
I don't use circles anymore myself to be honest
I just started the video, also not sure if this is an unpopular opinion or just a rant but for the love of Lucifer do your own research! Noone wants to put the work in anymore. I see the most basic questions asked or people wanting step by step instructions for every thing they do. In the time it took them to ask what they can do with salt, pepper and a black candle in a Facebook group they could have taken 5 minutes and researched the properties of their own items and figured it out for themselves. Instead they post in a forum and wait for people to answer. It drives me absolutely insane.
Thank you. I readed a book of Kelly-Ann Maddox (Rebel Witch) that happens to be a really good guidline for people who want to build up a very individual and creative magical practice, but she states in it that you are not a real witch if you don‘t practice regulary because witchcraft is a craft and a craft is about practice, and that you will not feel well if you call yourself a witch altough you just do spells when you think it‘s really necessary. That got me very angry because I don‘t practice often, and I also got unsure for a short time if I maybe did understand witchcraft wrong.
Unpopular opinion: Christian witches are a thing. Coming from a Gnostic Christian student of the fullness.
To an extent historically true as Saints, Roman Catholic prayers etc were the mainstay of folkloric magic. BUT they didn't call themselves witches.
Archeologists have found things like early Christian talismans and other evidence of them practicing magic. Most people did magic in that time. I can definitely see how witchcraft and Christianity can be compatible. I actually saw a quote in a book that said praying is a simple form of white magic anyone can do. Also just look at early Judaism/ Kabballah, the precursor to Christianity. It's all really fascinating.
Hello. I just wanted to say hi. New Subscriber. 😊
The interesting thing is that they are unpopular opinions when they really are common sense and should be popular and disseminated.
Also, watching any witchy show, showed the witches doing spellwork for everything every two seconds. They didn't drink tea or have a conversation without magic. It makes it hard to feel witchy when you forget it's staged or you are mass-watching witchcraft.
I think the opinions you mention were more unpopular back in the early 2000s, but thankfully not as much anymore.
My unpopular opinion is that the phase of the moon isn't all that when it comes to ritual or spellwork. For some people, it is very much necessary and certain phases are needful for when to plant, when to begin something, or end something. But, for me over the years, I've discovered that a bread knife works as an athame in a pinch and the phase of the moon matters less than the energy and motivation I put into a working. To the question of deities, my experience is it is better to be approached than to walk up and announce "You're my God/dess." It may work for some, but for me - I actually resisted the first Goddess who approached me when I was beginning because I was afraid I was being arrogant and just like every other beginner who thought The Morrighan was "cool" as a Goddess. Fortunately, I did listen to Her and She has been part of my life ever since. The other unpopular opinion I have is that your deities if that's how you work, will not necessarily all be from the same mythos. Many tell you that "you shouldn't mix pantheons." At the same time, I always have and so far there's not a problem. I personally think that sometimes a good place to start is with your ancestry. I am a combination of Irish, Scottish, English, German, and other northern European lines as well as a small percentage from sub-Saharan Africa. My deities echo those genetics and it works for me. Others will have different experiences and be drawn to deities for a variety of reasons. But, I think if you aren't sure, examining the deities your many times ancestors followed might be a good place to start.
I love your lipstick, what the name of it, 😊oh and happy Thanksgiving,
By the way l love you videos..Di from Australia 🎉❤
Can you do a video about how to know if a deity is wanting or asking to work with you???
About the suthern hemisfere. I am brasilian. The Sakurai trees here flower in the fall, pimpkin seazon is in spring. We get no snow here. I refuse to pay extra, to have out of seazon pumpkin on samahin.
Putting your dreams or signs you see out there online for interpretation is asking for trouble. If you can't figure it out right away, ask someone you know and trust who believes at least in sign interpretation. Better yet, if you have a grandmother, Mom or your friends have one that will listen, ask them. Eventually you will have enough experience to interpret these things yourself but until you do, find a Wise Woman. Sometimes a father or grandfather is also experienced in interpretations too.
Unpopular opinion: It is generally okay to use sigils you find online/didn’t create yourself. This one is probably one of the least popular witchcraft opinions that I personally hold, so let me explain.
Firstly, sigil magic is highly experimental by nature.
If you don’t try different things, you will never figure out what works for you. The best way I have found to find your own unique style is to use what other people have created and see what works. Personally, this is how I found my own style, and this is just my own UPG, but I’ve never had any problems in this regard.
The second gripe I have with this mentality is in regards to motive.
Why would someone create a sigil and put it on the internet just to curse anyone who happens to like it and tries to use it? What would they get out of that? It’s not like they’d ever get the gratification of knowing whether or not it actually worked, anyway, and baneful workings such as curses often carry the risk of exposing yourself to the same energies your using to lay the curse.
Yes, every time I go outside, there’s a chance that some random person will walk up to me and punch me in the face for literally no reason, but this is obviously an irrational fear when you consider the likelihood and potential consequences of this theoretical occurrence.
Third, even if a sigil was made with this specific intention, how potent could a curse of this kind actually be in practice?
Like so many other forms of magic, intention is one of if not the most important means by which to power your spells. If someone made a sigil to make someone fall ill, and passed it off as a sigil to protect from illness, I would argue that the person using the sigil’s will being incongruent with the sigils original intent is far more likely to cause the spell to fail than anything else.
Fourth, I feel there’s a bit of a double standard here. If it’s a bad idea to use sigils you didn’t personally create, than why do people do that exact thing all the time with the sigils found in grimoires?
No one is ever worried that one of King Solomon’s seals are going to end up doing something completely different than it says on the package, or whether a spirit’s seal or a lwa’s veve is going to call the wrong entity, so why is this suddenly a problem if it comes from an expirienced, online practitioner instead of a medieval magician writing under the name of some renowned biblical figure?
And finally, damage control. If this did end up happening, and you end up with a sigil that hurts you, what can you do about it?
Well, stop using it, of course. Preform banishings, cleanse your space, ground, meditate… basic spiritual hygiene. Most of the time, you need to continue recharging and pouring intention into a sigil to reap its long term effects, so naturally, if you’re not continuing to recharge the sigil to keep hurting you, it’s effects will fade.
Damn, this was long as hell! I might come back later to synthesize the key points into something a bit less daunting, but on the off chance that this does make it into a video, feel free to paraphrase or just straight up ignore certain points. To anyone who read all that, you have a lot of patience… here’s a cookie for your trouble! I probably didn’t bake any sinister intentions into it! ;3
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Unpopular opinion: when you have a specific deity in mind to work with then that's the pull and that's all the signs you need. just go ahead and work with them instead of inventing signs or asking 10 people what this or that sign might mean until you got the answer you were looking for! That wouldn't work anyways cuz no one can read your signs anyway.
I gotta say Hearth is a witch with an angels patients for explaining the most obvious things!
Hey hearth my lovely I am from Australia..and what I do for the sabbatical celebration i get.the oils which comes from the season..in Beltana a get the flowers from my garden herbs and I dried them make a oil and in the dead of winter where there is no life I will go get my Beltana oil and bring in .new life energy for a new job or anything I need new ..but in Beltana I might use Yule oil which I made to bring death to a situation I need over..blessing from Australia or Vicki from Australia or wicked witch from the southern hemisphere with love
A unpopular opinion is that everyone can choose their own path, without any ones input. No gatekeepers! Love the videos BTW.
I've been practicing witchcraft on and off for 20 years but it's been a huge part of my life only for the last 5 years or so and I've only done maybe 10-15 spells this whole time. You don't have to cast spells to be a witch. I think it's wasteful to do them unless you really need to. 🖤
29:41 “the bonus is you aren’t straight”
I had zoned out and thought she knew I was gay I was flabbergasted lol
Cool outfit. (I don’t believe in the devil. They made him up, to control people).
Unpopular opinion: I think that being a witch is by blood therefore I don't claim to be a witch. When working magically I feel waiting for life to show me spontaneously in my humility is the purpose of training myself and magical practise. Like starting a new routine.
"Evil begins when people are treated as things". Granny Weatherwax.