#a very good post imo
I’m having a hard time expressing how the “come on you can do 15 minutes every day of your life to reconnect with your practice, stirring widdershins into your morning coffee, doing a (grounding) meditation, or energy work” posts and guides I see - contributes to the “you must be doing witchcraft / spell casting every single day” pressure that creates a community shame and guilt for people who literally cannot or do not want every single day.
Also how there’s a slight textural feel to that which is “I made it so easy for you, the bar is SO Low for you, these are LOW effort to be a /real/ witch. So how dare you not have the 15 minutes in your day to do these things.”
While also not dismissing how important low effort magic is for many people who wouldn’t otherwise have access to witchcraft or spell casting. Because sometimes it’s very important as a personal reconnection for someone to stir into their coffee some witchcraft, some spell casting.
I think it’s the /every single day/ and while simultaneously not offering an optional status. But I can’t quite get at it, in terms of a mindful discussion. But I’m posting my thoughts here to see if someone else can help me with the phrasing in their rebagels.
I think this is a really interesting discussion, and I am currently having a breakfast bagel, so I feel called to speak on it.
Once I saw this witchcraft book, IIRC a popular author, who was like, “meditation is vital.” (sure, maybe, go on) “Start with 15 minutes a day of meditation.” (perhaps) “Soon this needs to be expanded to 45 minutes of meditation per day.” (no) “Ideally you want to meditate at least 30 minutes in the morning” (no) “and 30 more minutes at night.” (no) “I have a full time job” (good for you) “and three kids taken care of by my stay-at-home wife” (the picture becomes clearer) “and this much meditation has allowed me to be extremely financially successful and allows me to take vacations when I need to” (ah, the other shoe drops).
1.I think the kinds of “do X magic/exercise every day” posts feed into another problematic assumption, which is that every single person who wants to practice magic wants to be on the professional/olympic level track.
2. I think that kind of rhetoric also spectacularly fails to describe or define what a “real” or “good” witch is, leading to a circular argument: a good witch practices magic, if you practice magic you are a good witch. Literally, the daily performance of magic becomes the only goalpost.
3. I think a good way to approach the discussion of how to be a “good witch” is starting with the individual practitioner and discussing their wants and needs. I.e., perhaps witchcraft is only ever “good” if it is good for the practitioner. Perhaps, very literally, daily exercises presented for no other real purpose than you’re supposed to practice daily is a form of bad witchcraft because for many people it is witchcraft which is bad for them. Performance anxiety, stress and pressure to perform a relatively arbitrary list of activities, and shame/over-exertion isn’t good for people.
4.I think that “regular practice” may become a more helpful discussion if it starts with what an individual wants and needs, and provides a clear pathway to help them achieve their goals. E.g. someone who wants to be good at divination may benefit from regular (perhaps not daily, but regular) card draws. Someone who wants to be an energy worker may benefit from grounding/centering exercises much more than someone who wants to cast candle spells. Someone who wants to explore their mind may indeed benefit from regular meditation but not really want or need “imagine you’re a tree” grounding.
