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Episode 127: Unpopular Opinions in Witchcraft
685 Plays3 months ago
Welcome back, Witches! In this episode, we dive into some of our controversial takes on witchcraft, challenging popular beliefs and exploring practices that might raise a few eyebrows in the magical community. So get in, loser—we're hexing the status quo!
We would be forever thankful if you left our podcast a 5-Star review. If you really loved the show and want more Get in Loser content, check out our Supercast & Buy Me a Coffee links below. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @GetinWitches, on TikTok @weredoingwitchcraft, or email us at [email protected]. You can support our show through our links below.
Supercast: https://getinloserweredoingwitchcraft.supercast.com
Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/getinwitches
Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio- The Witch
References:
N/A
**These are our own personal unpopular opinions, no research was done for this episode.
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Transcript
Introduction and Basics of Witchcraft
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft and the occult, but feel lost on where to start? Then welcome to Get In Loser, we're doing witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey. Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we've learned about the craft. So get in witches as we chat about some unpopular opinions in witchcraft.
Health and Experiences
00:00:44
Speaker
Oh my gosh, my teeth kind of hurt. Like, you know how whenever, like, your allergies, like, your allergies are really bad. But like, whenever your allergies, like, it feels like it's in your gums. Yeah. Well, because it's like it gets all in your sinus cavity and there's all that pressure. Mm hmm.
00:01:04
Speaker
yeah and Now my teeth feel like my gums hurt. So either my allergies are starting to get bad again or, which I take, I take my medicine. Like, so why? I don't know. Or maybe I'm getting sick because earlier today I just, I was sitting in on these interviews and I like was overwhelmingly like, I don't feel so good. Like, and I don't know, it went away, but weird.
00:01:30
Speaker
weird I don't know. Well, speaking of allergies for our lovely listeners, mine are fucking horrible today. So I feel like I sound like shit. Like I sound super raspy. Sam says it doesn't seem like it.
00:01:46
Speaker
doesn't it's not like some things you say might sound a little raspy but for the most part it sounds like your normal voice so hold that's good ah because it doesn't feel like it on this end yeah I'm glad that we're not doing a video recording like this isn't book club because I look like shit No, you're like gorgeous. and Look how like, do you see how like red they are? My poor eyes were so swollen when I woke up this morning. And so puffy. And now they're just kind of like right underneath. Yeah. Allergies allergy is our shit. Mm hmm. Even Nick's is good. Well, I mean, it's about time for her to get her shot. So for our listeners, my dog is allergic to the fucking world. We had to do an allergy panel on her.
00:02:35
Speaker
forever ago because we couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. And she literally can't eat anything but like rabbit and like two types of fish. And she's even allergic to like some fruits and vegetables and basically every tree and weed. So every like four to six months we have to take her in to get an allergy shot to help her like through the plant portion because you know She's ah highly allergic to basically everything.
Musical Excitement: Korn Concert
00:03:00
Speaker
So right now she has, um, we noticed we were like playing with her the other day and she had like a little bump right here and Anthony was like looking at it and she's just like broke out underneath her fur. So she has like a little rash, but one of them is like,
00:03:15
Speaker
bigger like the bump is bigger than the rest so he was like trying to make sure there wasn't like she didn't get like poked by anything or like something stuck but there wasn't anything and it was just like a little blister and her like little chin is just broke out poor baby i know that poor dog she cannot catch a break when it comes to anything yeah just an itchy bitch and i feel that And tonight, tonight I'm going to a concert that I'm so excited for. I've seen, okay, it's corn and spirit box, right? I've seen corn. They're they're good. They've been around forever, but I feel like they're not as good as they used to be. who But I'm going to see spirit box and I absolutely love Courtney LaPlant and I can't wait to see her live. I am sad that we bought these tickets because like,
00:04:08
Speaker
I don't know, like three weeks after we bought the tickets to go see them for this show, Spirit Box announced they're headlining a tour in 2025, and they're coming back out
Unpopular Opinions in Witchcraft
00:04:19
Speaker
here. And I was like, son of a bitch. Yeah. Because this one, we're driving like two hours for it. So we have to leave it like two.
00:04:26
Speaker
m and um go out there. But it is an open air concert, which I absolutely love. Everything. It's just it's an outdoor concert, but Germany does like open air concerts. So phenomenally, I absolutely love concerts here. Yeah. So I'm excited. You're gonna have the best time. And I can't wait to see the pictures and hear all about it. And I get to see Mother, so it's fine.
00:04:50
Speaker
you
00:04:54
Speaker
ah I can't wait. I'm so excited to see her. Yeah. It's going to be awesome. But by we're not talking about concerts and shitty allergies. No, we're not. What are we talking about? Popular opinions in witchcraft. I think this is going to be a good episode. I do too. And for our listeners,
00:05:21
Speaker
We did post something like on our socials to our stories and like for Supercast subscribers asking for any unpopular opinions. We didn't get any and that's okay. But if you are listening to this and you're like, I have a hot take or I have an unpopular opinion, send it in because we are considering doing another one of these in the future because not only do things change, you know, over time, but like right now this is just going to be mine and Sam's unpopular opinions. That doesn't mean that they're your opinions. So we'd love to hear what yours are too. And if you send them in, maybe we'll do a ah second episode and include those. Yes. Yeah.
00:06:03
Speaker
thank agree I I was hopeful that we would get a little bit of activity on what we posted, but it's okay. It's all right. It's okay.
Debunking Mindfulness Myths
00:06:16
Speaker
But that just means that our listeners just love us to talk about our own unpopular videos and hot dates.
00:06:26
Speaker
So that, you know, that's what we're going to do. Yeah. so And I'm drinking a cup of coffee because I needed a warm beverage. So if you hear it like being set down or picked up, it is what it is. Okay. Yeah. I needed it today. Yeah. So I guess let's, let's kick it off. All right.
00:06:46
Speaker
OK, so my first hot take. So we both made like a list of some of the things we want to talk about. So we might have overlapping things. We might have totally separate things. I might have a hot take that you're like, no, that's not a hot take. I totally disagree. And vice versa. But I doubt it because I feel like we have pretty similar views on a lot of things. Yeah. But the first thing that I have on my list is something that will recently happen to me where I was talking with somebody who knows that I practice um witchcraft and I'm a pagan and it was this, I guess, really stupid belief that if you are mindful and you practice mindfulness that you can't possibly suffer from anxiety. and I remember this. We just talked about it.
00:07:41
Speaker
Absolutely not the case. And so just because so I guess this hot take is you can be the most mindful person on earth and you can practice like, you know, and we talk about this all the time about how like intention is everything and manifesting and things like that. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you're never going to suffer from anxiety or that you may not like need or could benefit from and medication of some sort or any other sort of therapeutic like interventions, you know, so. I feel like that, that person's thought process on this situation was just so weird, right? Because like, what does spirituality have to do with anxiety,
00:08:35
Speaker
depression? Exactly, yeah. but Any mental illness, like Like literally anything, like what does it have to do with that? What is, you know, practicing witchcraft have to do with that? Like yes, things, you can do things in your practice that help.
00:08:53
Speaker
but that doesn't mean that you're not going to have those feelings ever just because you practice those things. like Those things are like coping mechanisms. They're tools to help you when you're having those feelings. yes yeah and then It was wild to me when you told me this story. I was like, yes. and and hi you know I wanted to talk about it too just because of the fact that For myself, because I know as somebody who has a master's degree in social work and who has a lot of experience in like the mental health field and realm when it comes to like different like mental disorders or diagnoses,
00:09:34
Speaker
Just because you, like and as somebody who has anxiety, like I know just based on my education that some of the thoughts and feelings that I have are totally irrational. It doesn't stop my brain from having them. Right.
00:09:52
Speaker
and so for those of you who like may be listening and have you know suffer from anxiety and think well but wait a second like if i say i can't be having these thoughts because if i have these thoughts i'm putting it on the universe this is what I'm intending for myself, but that's not what I want." And it's just like, sometimes you can't help the thought that thoughts that you have. Sometimes you just can't help it.
Materialism in Witchcraft
00:10:14
Speaker
Well, and I feel like that mindset too, when you're like, oh my God, I'm putting that, like that's just creating this perpetual cycle of creating more anxiety around the situation until it's like spiraling out. like I also feel like that take would be the same as, like what was said to you would be the same as me being like, well, you work out, so why did you get sick?
00:10:36
Speaker
Right, yeah. Like it's such a weird concept. Mm-hmm. Weird. It is, yeah. So that is my first hot take. My first hot take I feel like is something that we talk about on the podcast a lot. And I think it's still important to keep bringing it up and keep bringing it up because we live in the day and age of social media and influencers and people like always pushing things and products and materialism. But my first hot take is that you don't need any tools for witchcraft.
00:11:10
Speaker
You don't need anything. You don't need crystals. You don't need candles. you don't need You don't need anything. Like you just need yourself. And I think that's important to reiterate for our followers, especially if, you know,
00:11:24
Speaker
We live in a time right now where the economy is shit. Things are expensive. Life is hard. Jobs don't pay that well right now. like Most jobs don't. Most people are living you know from paycheck to paycheck. And I think it's important to just keep reiterating that like you don't have to go out and buy all the things to have this like aesthetically pleasing space to practice witchcraft or things that you use in your craft because you just need yourself.
Authenticity vs. Exploitation in Spirituality
00:11:54
Speaker
So that was my first hot take and I know we've talked about that like multiple times on the podcast, but I Still think it's important to keep reiterating that one. Mm-hmm. I agree because yeah even Like it is and this is something kind of goes into my next hot take um but I think it's important to clarify too with this one is that what we've seen now like while I Earth-based and Earth-bound religions, paganism, witchcraft, wicked, all of these different religious beliefs outside or even just spiritual beliefs or just practices in general outside of just Christianity. I love that they've become more like household names. You know what I mean? It's become more easily acceptable. With that though comes an increasingly amount of people who are using
00:12:49
Speaker
these practices to get rich and to sell you things and to basically sell you how you so aptly put it in previous episodes, snake oil. like And that is something that it just really, really, really irks me whenever I see it because you can see it. like And it sucks because it's like people will prey on other people yeah to try and make money. And that's not what this is supposed to be about. like and you know, whenever you think about like, just like the tenants of paganism, like whatever that means to you, usually, there's respect for earth, there's respect for the cycles of the earth. And how can you be respectful of those cycles whenever you're over consuming everything, you have to have everything because
00:13:43
Speaker
this is what's being sold to you and this is the lifestyle you think that you want. And what's gonna happen in like a couple of years when that's not really your practice because you're not living authentically as yourself. And buying all these things and over consuming things is just, it's it's not good for the planet, it's not good for the economy, it's not good for your soul. like There's nothing wrong with buying something that you like and you know putting on your altar or having something that really resonates with you because this is like, it just speaks to you. There's nothing wrong with that. and And that's not what we're saying, but you don't have to buy anything. Like you can just go out and get everything that you want from nature.
00:14:24
Speaker
yep Yeah. And I think too, you know, I i see this a lot in here and and recently I ah like, I feel like I get exposed to it more and you probably have seen this too, like just in the military spouse community because something that, you know, has been a huge thing for, you know, and just in case our listeners don't know, something that has become a huge thing in like military spouse communities is you know especially when you're living overseas or you're moving a lot, it's hard to establish a career whenever you're having to follow your spouse's career. um And so in the past, you know they've we've seen like upticks and like spouses being involved in pyramid schemes um because that's really the only job that they can do with you know just graduating from high school or maybe having a degree in like um the medical field where it doesn't really transfer over to certain countries and yeah with you know different
00:15:23
Speaker
um like licenses and stuff that you have to get. But then you see it also with now. some of these earthbound spiritual practices. Everybody that I know is a tarot reader or a Reiki healer. I was going to say Reiki healer is one I see everywhere. I'm a Reiki healer. I'm a Reiki healer. And I'm like, are you? Yeah. Where did you learn? I want to know. Because I'm not saying that there are not legit spousal, because I know one. And she's one of my friends, and she's amazing, and she follows
00:15:53
Speaker
our so our socials and she listens to the podcast and um Love her to death um ah But I know she's legit like I know her But there are so many spouses out there that are just like, you know what? I'm gonna be so spiritual and I'm gonna be like like completely changed my entire life and persona to Be this alter ego person essentially and it's not it's not It's not authentic. And I didn't even use that word because that word is overused so much. this And what you see too in like some of the this space now too is like a lot of these people who are like, I am going to be this cut like umbrella of spiritual holistic healing
00:16:44
Speaker
women's circle retreat thing that we see now yeah and it's also like an overabundance in the use of like resiliency and using these like psychology and social work like terms and like without a background without a background on a basis Yeah. And it's just like, do you even know what these words mean? Yeah. And are you the type of person that legally can be having these sort of conversations with people like at a fireside, you know, woman circle? Should you be asking people to relive their trauma around you? like No.
00:17:24
Speaker
No. So so you know that is a big hot take of mine. And I think it's something that I hope people are becoming more aware of is the fact that you know you see this on online all the time. You see this now in women's spaces a lot. And I feel like women especially are very vulnerable to this because especially in the military community, you move someplace, you don't know people, You're trying to meet people and you assume like, oh, I'm going to go here and
Herbalism: Research and Safety
00:17:54
Speaker
it's going to be great. And then it becomes like a pet, like a predatory, like marketing ploy to try and get you to buy into something that these people are selling and it's unfortunate. Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:08
Speaker
10 out of 10 agree. And I will say for any of our listeners that are also like, you know, herbalist, that is something as I don't think I realized it as much before I really just like dove into the herbal academy and started like learning, you know, the science behind things versus just like what soand- so-and-so said on the internet. We see that a lot too in the herbal community where it's like you get these people that are witchy herbalists who are now like, oh, well, I am the, um like, I'm just an expert. i I just know everything, but they have no, like,
00:18:55
Speaker
foundation of where they got that knowledge from. They also just Googled this information. So as we've talked about multiple times on the podcast before, there's not a lot of scientific research that's been done in herbal medicine.
00:19:08
Speaker
and so You can read 10 different articles on one plant and it will tell you 10 different things. You know, you'll have three articles telling you it's poisonous. Don't consume it. Four of them telling you it's safe for pregnancy and you know, three more saying it's not. So there's like no consistency on the Internet and there's, you know, there's scientific, like actual not research, but like you know when you go through like an actual course with people that are actual experts, that have studied botany and horticulture and all of these things.
00:19:43
Speaker
that they'll tell you things to look for, things to consider, you know, what does this plant have in it that could be dangerous to a pregnant person? And so you have to be careful, like even just researching on your own because you'll run into that problem. And then you find these people on the internet who are like, well, no, I'm the expert. I know I've been doing this my whole life, but like there's no, like they haven't studied anything. They haven't learned from, so you know, another person. They just kind of,
00:20:12
Speaker
did it on their own, and that's okay too, right? It's okay to do that. But you have to be careful when you're trying to learn it yourself because you'll run into these people and they're like, oh, just come. I have ah i have an online course that I offer. um It's you know X amount of weeks and it's $7,000. And you're like, excuse me? It should be a big red mark. Right? Yeah. No. Every time I'm like,
00:20:37
Speaker
trying to do research for anything like you know i have my own herbal business and so if i'm like trying to create a product or a tea or whatever and i have like something in mind like whether it's headaches or you know like whatever say if it's headaches i start like researching the different you know herbs that are great for you know relieving headaches and like what do each of these have, which ones are complementary, which ones aren't. And a lot of times I will come across information where it's like, I know this because I took like actual courses with actual teachers to learn these things. And I'll go to like a website while I'm researching and I see them like putting things together that shouldn't be mixed together or like, ah you know, it's just it's a very dangerous thing. And I think like that's just it.
00:21:30
Speaker
It just leads into that also like predatory thing that you're talking about where it's just like, oh, I'm going to be the best person and make all the money off of this. I'm the expert because I say I am. It's like a fake it till you make it kind of thing with some of these people. And they don't really know what they're talking about. And they're just selling you this, this like,
00:21:49
Speaker
image of them being like the expert in that role and not necessarily really knowing what they're talking about and this is just another reason why we always stress like even from us right like we research things yes but that doesn't mean that we've found all of the information or that we found the information that you guys might be looking for on that topic so it's always so so so important that you also research what you're looking into or wanting to do whether it's you know herbal medicine where it could be dangerous if you're consuming something that you shouldn't be or putting something on your skin that's going to you know cause you to break out or make you sick, or even just like working a spell that might have some kind of consequence if you're you know not setting the right intentions. or you know it's just ah It's just important to always do your research.
00:22:40
Speaker
I agree. adam lie yeah yeah I agree. Because I think too, when it comes to like, especially herbal stuff, like if you can't clearly see what their credentialing is, based off of their website or their, you know, Instagram or whatever, then you probably shouldn't buy stuff from them because you don't know, you literally don't know what's happening in that product. Like you,
00:23:10
Speaker
always like try and research and buy from very reputable sources who can talk about where they've gotten this information and and or like where they learned it. And if you know you're going to somebody's, especially like I see this a lot on like TikTok, where it'll be like, okay,
00:23:34
Speaker
you have this person and they're just, they're going out to their yard and they're just picking all this shit. Do you know how that yard has been treated? Like, you know, cause there, there's this girl that I, that I, unlike I knew her from, um, like an online group that I was in like years and years ago. Yeah. I recently ran into her again on Tik TOK and I'm like, Oh wow.
00:23:56
Speaker
she's completely changed from how I remember her. And so that was kind of like a red flag, which I'm not saying you can't change your entire like you know persona and stuff. you know We all grow in age, but it's just like she's going to her front yard that's not fenced in or anything and just plucking out um Herbs that she had which I'm not saying like because I love the idea of having like a you know free like You know we like anything that you want to grow like grow in your fire yard or whatever and not having it like a full like You know mode situation don't get me wrong, but it's like Anyone could be walking through the her yard with their pets like this is not a really controlled environment She's going to her front yard. That's not fenced in at all
00:24:40
Speaker
and plucking things that she has free growing and then is selling that, using it to make a product that she's selling. And I'm like, but how do I know? I will say, as an herbalist, yeah as long as she's washing it, it's great. Like washing and drying properly, it's fine because if you think about it in the wild, if you go foraging,
00:25:02
Speaker
Yeah, you wouldn't know. Or a bear peed on it, or a deer. you know like yeah like that' That's plants. But as long as she's like handling it properly, because I used to forage out of my backyard. And we kept an area that was like my space. It was never treated. We didn't let the pets in there. And that was mostly because I was like, I just don't want them squishing everything and killing it. you know? yeah So like we kept this space but it didn't keep the squirrels out of it. It didn't you know so like if it's an outdoor plant even if it's in a pot there's still there's birds there's squirrels there's bugs you know so as long as you are foraging and washing and properly like drying your products that's okay guys but
00:25:48
Speaker
A, you should never use products from a treated area, like not products, but like herbs or plants, plant matter, whatever, from a treated area because that's a lot of chemicals. You should always wash them when you bring them in because, again, bugs, birds, squirrels, at the very least.
00:26:09
Speaker
could be cats cats get in wherever you know you can have a fence yard cats gonna be in there exactly yeah always like make sure you're washing your stuff really well in cold water because if you use hot water you're gonna start releasing all the good nutrients and vitamins and minerals and stuff from your plant matter and you don't want to do that um and then make sure that you're drying it properly so it's not getting mold or any like gross bacteria that you don't want in your plant matter. That's fine but here if you're not like taking those precautions you could make yourself or somebody else really sick. Yeah well then it's like how do you know from like an online store like you don't know? You don't but I feel like
00:26:52
Speaker
I know like when I talk about a lot of the stuff on my own like social medias for you know my business, I talk about it from a point of where I learned it from usually. yeah like you know Think back in January when I got really sick back in January.
00:27:07
Speaker
I was doing like cold and flu bombs and um like my herbal teas that I have for colds and stuff. But like I talked about that with my followers and like people that were interested from a standpoint of like these cold and flu bombs. i learned it It wasn't my recipe. I learned it from one of my like favorite online herbalist person. She's online to me. A lot of people go to classes with her, but I don't live anywhere near her. you know like Barbara O'Neill, she is like renowned in the herbalist world. and I can sit and watch her all day and she'll talk about the science of things and why this works. and
00:27:48
Speaker
fabulous but I talk about it from that standpoint or you know when I talk about what I do it's like I went to the herbal academy I learned these things I'm still studying with them because you can't learn everything about herbalism from taking a single course so that's another red flag if they're like oh I took a single course with this thing no being an herbalist means that you are constantly a student you are constantly learning you should constantly be taking courses because we learn new things as time goes on so like yeah make sure that whoever you're getting your information from, whoever you're following, they talk about it from a stance of how they learned it, why you know why these things work the way they work. And a lot of times herbalists will mention big name herbalists that they're you know they're learning from because there are these in the herbal community, we have like a plethora of herbalists we like to learn from, but
00:28:42
Speaker
there are like certain, like they would be like the stars of the herbalism community, you know like the big big stars, like big movie star kind of thing. like You hear their name and you're like, oh my gosh, what are they teaching today? And you'll sit and you'll watch them for like hours because they just they have this wealth of knowledge that they have learned over the years and they share it, which I think is fabulous. But if you're watching an herbalist or like purchasing from like and a tea shop or something that's claiming that these are were like medicinal things,
00:29:12
Speaker
try to see where they're learning it from. And if they're just like, oh, I took a class, like, no, be careful. Always look at the ingredients. I would say probably don't purchase from that person. But I like I'm not going to tell you who you can and can't buy things from. But just know like you have to be careful, especially with herbs, because there are so many that have adverse effects. Yeah.
Sustainability in Herbal Practices
00:29:36
Speaker
Well, and then also to like, would it be beneficial to for any listeners who are interested in this to like say if they are interested in like buying from somebody online and they are listing out, oh, this is my T for XYZ, like going in and like doing their own research on the individual ingredients that they have listed to make sure that there's no counter
00:30:01
Speaker
reactions and stuff. A hundred percent. And I will say before I got into herbalism, one of my biggest red flags, right, is if I was like, oh, I want a tea because I, you know, I've drank tea my whole life. I've my grandparents used like herbal medicine for a lot of things. So I turned to herbal medicine for a lot of things. And so before I started like actually studying it,
00:30:21
Speaker
If I went to ah like an an online shop and they had teas or whatever I was looking for, but they don't list the individual ah ingredients, that's a red flag. Yeah. Herbalists don't hide their ingredients. because i like First of all, you need to know what's in it, because what if you're allergic to something? like i I have a friend that's highly allergic to mint.
00:30:44
Speaker
A lot of tea has been. A lot of tea. Yeah. Why would you not list that, you know? But also it's like they start trying to like gatekeep things and as herbalists we never gatekeep. We want everybody to be able to like better themselves and it's more likely that a person is going to continue to buy the product from you that's already made, then go out and buy all the ingredients because that's so expensive, especially when you're buying, like and this is another thing you should look at, where is your herbalist getting their ingredients from? Are they getting it from a reputable source that harvests things ethically, responsibly, sustainably? Because like that's also very important.
00:31:29
Speaker
But like i i when people don't list their ingredients, red flag immediately, I would not purchase anything from them. And if you ask them, because this has come up too, where I i had messaged someone and was like, hey, can you tell me what the ingredients are in this tea? And she was like, I don't share my recipes.
00:31:47
Speaker
And I was like, I'm trying to buy it. I want to know what's in it. like I'm not trying to like make it. I just want to know what I'm ingesting. Yeah. So I was like, all right, have a nice day. like No, thank you. Right. Yeah. No, no. yeah I'm just looking right now, like you know you have to be really careful too because like You can buy a lot of herbs on Amazon. And and I will say, you cant you can get reputable brands on Amazon. Like ah Star West Botanicals, you can buy that. David's Botanicals, you can buy that. You can get it from their website. Shipping's going to be a little more, right?
00:32:26
Speaker
Right, but you can get it if you have Amazon Prime and you are buying from there, because this is another thing with Amazon, you have to make sure you're buying from their storefront. Because anyone can create an Amazon and sell whatever with whatever label on it without like, right? There's no like vetting it. So if you do buy from Amazon, that is okay. But make sure you are buying from Star West Botanicals, there's a co-op on there that's like really, they have really great herbs. I think it's called David's Botanicals, also amazing herbs. You can get Rosemary Gladster's stuff on there from her storefront. So like, that just goes back to like, do your research and make sure you're getting it from the right source.
00:33:06
Speaker
Yes, because it depending on what you're buying off of Amazon, it could be like maybe not even for some herbs, but for some, at least for like essential oils and stuff. So maybe this is not for like tea, but like, you know, we talked about this before, there's some essential oils that like this essential oil is for a diffuser, not like food grade, shouldn't be put on skin, things like that. So just make sure that whoever you're buying from, you know, like Tiffany said, everything is listed out.
00:33:35
Speaker
You know what's the ingredients and you know like where they're getting their shit because the last thing that you guys want to do is get sick or hurt yourself or hurt your kids or pets or yeah whoever that, you know. Well, even like with essential oils, I would say to like be so specific in your search if you're going to be buying them off Amazon.
00:33:55
Speaker
which I do. You know, I live in Europe right now and I can get a lot of stuff locally, but it's also really hard for me to track some of that stuff down. Like some of the stuff that I use regularly. So I will order it off Amazon, but I am like,
00:34:10
Speaker
Well, I mean, I've been doing it for a little while, so I have like brands that I know are safe and I can get. But there are some brands too that like they don't want to deal with the import into Europe and paying the tax, so they just won't ship it to me. Even if I pay for everything, they won't ship it to me. So if I go on like yeah um the Amazon dot.de, like the German Amazon,
00:34:34
Speaker
I put in the search bar specifically like skin grade essential oil whatever scent or like food grade this whatever like product it is I'm looking for and I make sure it's listed out. I make sure I read the description and it's included in the description too because I feel like Amazon is so sketchy sometimes. Yeah, yeah i just you know, always make sure you just gotta be careful. Yeah, because even like this isn't even witchy related, but even with like clothing and stuff like you'll buy something off of Amazon that
00:35:09
Speaker
you like it'll be like $27 and then it's like a sheen sweater that's like $7 or something. So just be mindful where you purchase all your shit. But especially if it's something you're going to consume um or put on your body, please be careful. And especially if you're using it in magical workings, like I just feel like knowing where it comes from and where you get it just really helps with like all the good karma and stuff. So yeah.
00:35:35
Speaker
So with that, like if it's like herbal products that you're trying to buy, make sure that you're getting them from you know reputable places, that they're sustainably ah sourced, that they're responsibly sourced, because that's the other thing that we run into a lot with. like With herbalism specifically, the Herbal Academy does such a good job at like keeping us informed on things, and so does the American Herbalist Guild. But like they'll send us every year the endangered plants. And a lot of times it's just overharvesting because now everybody's an herbalist. Everybody's trying to learn, which is great, right? Like we want people to learn. We want this to be a thing that like helps people's lives. But at the same time, like when you go out foraging, you shouldn't take everything and people will. People are like, I have to have it all. I have to have like hoard out all the plants, dry them, keep them on hand for however long.
00:36:32
Speaker
But then it it puts these plants in danger because they're not being responsibly foraged. And so we get like lists about like what plants are endangered. And a lot of um like Mountain View, Mountain Rose View, they're and another like super reputable place. Something I love about them, like when I order from them, at the end of the year after we've gotten that list, dell if you spend like $15 you get to pick a seed packet of one of those plants that's on the endangered list. And then you go plant it to help like repopulate this plant. So like, that yeah, so and this is the thing too, though, like looking for those reputable places like that, you're going to get stuff like that where they're more conscientious about what's going on.
00:37:21
Speaker
And then you get a prize out of it, right? like They're like, hey, these plants need to be repopulated. You spent $15, pick one.
Gatekeeping and Personalization in Witchcraft
00:37:28
Speaker
We'll send you seed packs, plant them. And then you get a free like plant that you can like grow from a little baby, watch it grow, do all the studying with it, and then pick it and dry it and use it in your own practice. I love it. I have so many seed packets from them. Because I you know i order regularly. I have a business. So I'm like constantly like, yes, I'll take echinacea. Yes, I'll take globiola.
00:37:54
Speaker
and so last and I'm like, be yeah it's We're going to plant all the things. So something you mentioned tied into like my next hot take, which I know is a hot take that you have too. oh And this also kind of goes back to what you were talking about with your last hot take, what I mentioned for my hot take as well, is gatekeeping when it comes to witchcraft and paganism and just the occult in general. um And i this goes back to everything we've talked about, especially with people trying to profit off of spirituality and off of paganism and the occult and praying on people who, you know, because when you think about it for some people who
00:38:41
Speaker
who um not for everybody, but for some people who start looking towards earthbound religions, sometimes it can be because of a ah terrible experience they had with a different religion or yeah religious trauma. and try And so when you have people in this space who are preying on that, of course they want to gate keep all their things because if they gate keep it, then you come to them and you're paying them for a service.
00:39:08
Speaker
yeah And so, and that's something that, you know, when we started this podcast and and um when we started talking about spirituality and in general and stuff, one of the things that we never want to do or come across is that we're gatekeeping any sort of information or knowledge when it comes to any topic. And I feel like practitioners who do that really should reevaluate why they're in that space because yeah we shouldn't be gate, when it comes to
00:39:41
Speaker
paganism, witchcraft, the occult in general, we should not be gatekeeping any information from people. We should be, if you're comfortable, like if somebody comes up to me and talks to me about paganism or witchcraft because I'm out of the closet, I don't really care about educating them on right anything. And if you are listening to this and you're comfortable doing that, then you know do what's best for you. But um no one should ever make you feel inferior because you're going to them as a learner and they're more advanced in whatever practice that you're wanting to learn about and letting them make you feel like they are gatekeeping the information because that's not okay. Well, not only is that not okay, but like nobody owns witchcraft. Nobody owns paganism. Nobody owns a certain type of practice unless it's like a close practice to a culture yeah and it's like that culture owns it, right? But nobody owns witchcraft in general or
00:40:39
Speaker
paganism in general or what like enter any earthbound spiritual anything into that nobody owns it and so if they're telling you like oh well you know you can't do that because you haven't done this or you haven't learned this first like witchcraft especially is so personal like so personal and if they're telling you like you can't do it they're no Red flag run away. Yes. Yes, because like honestly Witchcraft should be more a about I feel like to me anyways it's more about kind of just finding your own way and trusting your own intuition your own gut feelings and doing what feels right to you and we've said this a lot on the podcast like for like the most
00:41:29
Speaker
part there is no wrong or right way to do things. There's guidelines, sure. There are certain ways that, you know, certain, you know, practices have been done certain ways for like, however long they've been around. But that doesn't mean that you're stuck in doing it that way only in your own practice. Like, really just kind of feel things out and do what's right. Do what feels right for you. It doesn't have to be like,
00:41:58
Speaker
Okay, first you have to do this. And then before you can do that, you need to make sure you did this first. And then when you move on, you have to do this. And then you have to recite this incantation exactly how I wrote it down in this book. And then you have to do this to make it all come to an end. And it's like, sure, if that's what works for you, but if that's, if you're not somebody who can stick to like a rigid guideline or you read an incantation that someone puts in a book and you're like, that seems a little weird to me. I'm going to change it. Or I'm going to say whatever I want to say.
00:42:27
Speaker
That's fine. You should. It makes it more personal and it makes it more, um, like it could make it more effective because it's more like tied to you, your intention, your goals, like whatever that is that you're working, like it should be personal. It shouldn't be like, uh, you have to do this and X, Y, Z, and this is how
Critique of 'Love and Light' Mindset
00:42:48
Speaker
I do it. So this is the only way it's not right. Hot take. It's not. Yes, it's not. And don't let anyone make you feel Like it is because yeah. Yeah. i Yeah. them No, no. Yeah. I have a hot take that. I don't know if you feel the same way, but it's one that I keep seeing. It keeps coming up, right? Like because we do this podcast and because we have like a social media for it, we get a lot of stuff on our feed that's tailored to like the witchy community, which I absolutely love, but I feel like.
00:43:27
Speaker
We are all human, right? And so we all have a range of emotions, a range of feelings, a range of you know reactions to things. I feel like the people that are like, love and light all the time are very toxic. Yes. I agree. I was like, is this just me? Am I the problem? No. When you think about it, like you can't have light without the dark. You can't have dark without the light. like You're going to, no one's ever going to be love and light all the time. No. If anyone tells you that they are, they're lying. They're lying. I try my best to be the best healed version of myself, but that doesn't mean that I don't slip up from time to time. Right.
00:44:12
Speaker
I'm a human being, not a robot. Yeah. Some of the most toxic people I've ever met are people who buy into that love and light all the time. Yeah. And it's not like that. I mean, and not saying that you should practice painful magic if that's not something that speaks to you because right I don't practice painful magic. So like, at you know, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's love and light all the time. but Yeah.
00:44:41
Speaker
I also feel like this kind of ties into what we were talking about earlier with your first like hot take essentially. If somebody is having a bad day and you're like they're having whatever emotions or feelings about a situation and you're coming out then being like, love and light all the time. love Just be happy. It just, you know, it could be worse. Like that is so toxic. Like people should be able to work through things on their own in the way that fits them. And if that means that they need to be mad about it for a little bit, let them be mad about it. Let them process it. Don't tell them they have to be happy, and it could be worse, or it could be this, or you know at least this didn't happen. like yeah It's such a toxic concept to me, and it drives me crazy every time I see it. Yes. We should be able to feel our emotions and process them accordingly.
Exploring Divination Beyond Tarot
00:45:36
Speaker
Yes. I 100% agree.
00:45:39
Speaker
I think the last hot take that I have that I'm going to share on this episode, um I have a few more, but we'll save some of those for a part two. yeah okay yeah um I have a hot take about the online TikTok tarot readers. okay Because while, like sometimes things come through where it's just like, okay, like I don't really believe in coincidences, but this is oddly specific.
00:46:09
Speaker
e For the most part, I think a lot of people, especially when they're just entering into the understanding of the spiritual realm, yeah they really, really, really put a lot of stock in these online divination readings. And you should take it with what it is, which is entertainment.
00:46:33
Speaker
yep and think about it this way, divination is supposed to be a practice to help you develop your own intuition. This is not somebody sitting in front of cards who is a psychic. I mean, maybe maybe one or two is, but I would venture to guess most are not. And while I do, like I said, i I do not believe that there are any coincidences and something might show up on your feed that may speak to you and you're like, whoa, that's kind of weird. Every tarot reading that comes on your feed is not going to apply to you. And if you really want to take the time to understand the cards, to get more in-depth understanding of you know what you're going through in your life and
00:47:19
Speaker
what the day holds for you and um how to process certain things that are happening in your life, go buy your own fucking tarot deck and it and to know those words. Do not depend on somebody because if you think about it, especially on TikTok and Instagram, these are people who are now getting paid because you're watching their video. Why?
00:47:40
Speaker
Are you like feeding into this loop of like I'm and I'm not saying that every tarot reader is the total scam I'm that don't I'm not saying that But and like if you're watching them for fun and you're like, okay. Yeah, like this is just entertaining whatever that's one thing but if you're really into this like Just pick up a tarot deck and do it yourself. Yeah, you don't have to pay somebody for reading. I no. And if you want to pay someone for a reading, you can. I also feel like, like, sure. I would say probably like maybe one out of every 50 that come across to your page, if you there's something there that you're like, wow.
00:48:22
Speaker
that That could be the universe like pushing something at you, right? But if you're like seeing every single one and you're finding a sign in every single one, what are they talking about? Is it something that's very like it could fit any situation? Are they saying something that could fit like your situation, my situation, because it's so generalized that you're going to connect with it?
00:48:43
Speaker
to draw you in. right Or is this something so specific that, you know, if you knew you showed this video to 10 different people, they'd be like, okay, and keep going. And you're like, no, I feel that like, then there might be something there. Also, I feel like, and this might just be a personal thing.
00:49:04
Speaker
For like a tarot card reading, well reading of any sort, there has to be like some exchange of energy between you and the person doing the reading or whatever it is. you know like it If you're not there and they don't know you or they don't they don't have like any interaction with you, there's no exchange of that energy for them to get this reading from you. How are they getting this reading from you? Exactly. It's just reading for the collective. Okay. Well, there's yeah billions of people on the earth.
00:49:36
Speaker
yeah like don't Don't take this as how the Kardashians say Bible, like because it's not. yeah just and if and If you are going through something in your life where you really could benefit from an actual tarot reading, pay for a legit person who knows their shit to do a reading for you. yeah And go ahead, go back to season one where we talked about tarot cards and we did a couple in-depth episodes on all of the cards. Pick up a deck of your own and play around with it. Get to know them. Yeah. Well, and if, you know, maybe tarot card's not your thing, we've also talked about
00:50:21
Speaker
tailleaf readings and runes. And we've talked about pendulums and we've talked about, you know, some scrying and what's it called? Automatic writing. We've had a lot of, a lot of topics that we've covered in different types of like divination. So go back and check those out too. Yeah. Figure out what works best because again, witchcraft is very personal. You should be, you know, maybe you pick up a a deck,
00:50:52
Speaker
And you're just like this, I'm not connecting with it. I'm not really understanding it. And it could, you know, feel overwhelming. Try runes, try a pendulum, try like try multiple different things and see what resonates best with you. Like we say it all the time. What works best for me doesn't necessarily work for Sam and what Sam does doesn't necessarily work for me because it is supposed to be so personal to you. It's your experience, your intuition, your gut feelings. So, you know, if Tarot doesn't feel right, don't try to like force it. You should never have to force it. And you're not a bad witch if you're not into Tarot. Like, yeah, no, no.
00:51:33
Speaker
There are many people who could give a shit less about Tarot and their pagan, or their you know practice witchcraft, or their Wiccan, or fill in the blank with whatever practice you want. yeah Find what works best for you. I think that's it, though, for today. We could do this all day, I feel like. I know. I have some more, but I'm going to wait for a part two, because yeah that's what you all get for not telling us your hot dates, and I'm just joking. So send us your hot dates, and we'll do a part two.
00:52:03
Speaker
in the in the near