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Episode 207: Understanding How to Research- Listener Request
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Welcome back, Witches! This week we're tackling a listener-requested topic: how to research. Whether you're diving into a new magical practice, exploring folklore, learning about an herb, or investigating a historical claim, knowing how to evaluate information is an important skill. We're pulling back the curtain on our own research process, discussing what we look for when evaluating sources, the red flags that make us question an article's reliability, and how to determine whether information is trustworthy. If you've ever wondered how we sift through the endless amount of information available or wanted tips for strengthening your own research skills, this episode is for you. So get in, Loser — because this week we're sharpening our critical thinking skills and learning how to separate good information from bad.
If you really loved the show and want more Get in Loser content, check out our Patreon, 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 weredoingwitchcraft@gmail.com. You can support our show through our links below. Patreon: patreon.com/GetinWitches Supercast: https://getinloserweredoingwitchcraft.supercast.com Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/getinwitches Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio- The Witch
Resources
- Just us, as this is how we research topics.
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Transcript
Introduction to Witchcraft and the Occult
00:00:01
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.
00:00:12
Speaker
Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we've learned about the craft.
How to Research Witchcraft Topics
00:00:17
Speaker
So get in, witches, as we discuss ways to research effectively.
00:00:46
Speaker
Have you heard of that movie? It's called Hocum, I think, or Hocum, or I think it's probably called Hocum. I've seen the name. i have no clue what it's about. it You should watch it. It is a pretty good scary-ish movie. um And it has some – so it takes place in Ireland. Okay. And there's some like – I don't want to give it away, but there there's like some witchy ties in. Okay. And it's it's pretty good. Like I was just like, huh.
00:01:18
Speaker
Love that. I love that. So – Well, and was written by – or produced – like the guy from Parks and Rec. What is his name? Yes. Yeah. Oh – Fuck, what is his name?
00:01:31
Speaker
on. I have to look. Adam something. Adam Scott. I think it's Adam Scott. I can picture him. I cannot picture his name. Adam Scott.
00:01:42
Speaker
Okay. Look at me. Yeah. And I like him. So i don't I don't even know like what exactly his role was in it, but I know he had something to do with it. Mm-hmm. it's – it is – he's in it. It is really good. And i think he does a really good job because every time that I've seen him in something, like, I've not seen him portrayed a character like this before. Okay. um He's usually kind of goofy. Yeah.
00:02:12
Speaker
And he's not. I've got it to my list to watch. It is really good.
Evaluating Sources in Occult Literature
00:02:16
Speaker
Yeah. I think he'd really enjoy it. also was going to tell you, I am listening to a book right now.
00:02:22
Speaker
I can never remember this author's name because it's very different. um The book is called The Good House. I feel like I've heard of that before. the author's Tananarive Dew.
00:02:35
Speaker
Okay. She wrote a book called The Reformatory that I listened to that had a lot of good spooky elements. um She is, I think, a person of color.
00:02:48
Speaker
Yeah. I'm not sure 100%, but um all of the characters, not all. I mean, there's white characters in the book too, but it centers around more um people of color and different cultures. Everything that she writes so far that I've read is like that. And so this one has a lot of voodoo elements to it. Ooh. Yeah. Yeah. It's really, really, really good so far.
00:03:13
Speaker
Oh, so I just saw it's available on Libby, so I'm about to check it out. But it says, um whenever i went to go um open the the book or whatever, it said, Tana Reeve Dew, author of The Living Blood, won the American Book Award and is praised as Stephen King's equal. Ooh.
00:03:35
Speaker
course. So we know she's going to be. Yeah. This is my second book from this author. And the first one was like, oh.
00:03:47
Speaker
It was awful. Like it centered around – it was set kind of during that Jim Crow era time. Oh, yeah so there was a young black boy that He hit a white man or a white boy, and so he got put into the reformatory, and it's all of the awful things that happened during those times. Yeah. And and there's supernatural elements in it, like haints and curses and just like really, really spooky shit that goes on the reformatory too.
00:04:21
Speaker
That sounds sounds interesting interesting. It was really, really good, but it's also like just awful and sad too. yeah And then this one, there is some –
00:04:34
Speaker
not a lot this one has a lot less it's more modern so there's a lot less of like the racist undertones in this one because it is in like more today time frame but there is still some of that you see some of that um especially when it goes kind of back in time with like because there's like different time frames that are all kind of bounce back during like the mom's time and then the daughter's time so That sounds really interesting. Wow. Yeah.
00:05:03
Speaker
I like the way that this author writes and tells the stories. And there's always just like really cool supernatural elements to it. And this one is like voodoo and spirits and loas. So.
00:05:15
Speaker
That sounds a lot right up our alley. Yes. 10 out of 10 recommend for anyone that likes a good spooky book. Yes. love it. We're not talking about spooky movies and spooky books today. We're not.
00:05:29
Speaker
We are not. could, but. yeah Yeah, we absolutely could, but that's not what this episode is about. No. What are we talking about today? We are talking about, well, there's a listener request and we apologize in advance because we did not list your name. So listener who requested this, I'm so sorry. um But we got a listener request to talk about how, basically how understanding how to research, how we research. um And I guess just like the way that we kind of interpreted it is, you know, if you are wanting to research anything related to the occult, um or related to magic or witchcraft, what our recommendations are and where you should find accurate information. Yeah. And what types of things to look out for, um like good and bad. So yes.
00:06:19
Speaker
And then on top of that, we also have a shout out Or um Patreon. We have a new member over there whose name on Patreon is Celtic Ogre. welcome. We're so happy to have you, Celtic Ogre. And we just want you to know that your your name on Patreon really, really, really made our day. so yeah yeah It's been a rough week and that made our our entire week. So thank you so much. We really appreciate it. Yeah, it it has definitely been a week, um and we are recording this on a my Friday evening, Sam's early afternoon-ish. It's like 9.45. It is still morning. Oh, yeah. Still morning for you. Yeah, so it's nice. Yeah. Yeah.
00:07:01
Speaker
So that definitely did make us laugh today. It did. So I guess I'll just kind of cook. can cook Cook it. You're going cook. Cook it. I'm going to cook. Let me cook. And I'm leaving that in. I'm just watching it out. I'm going to kick it off.
00:07:23
Speaker
This is going to be kind of a more informal episode because obviously we're talking about ways that we research research. And I jokingly said to Sam, I'm not going to research how to research. yeah so So to start us off, um I wanted to kind of talk about the different types of mediums that you can use. Obviously, you have like books versus websites versus blogs or threads like Reddit, Quora, etc. And one thing I wanted to bring up with this, I'm not shitting on self-publishing, right? Like if you write a book and you self-publish, like do it, save money if you can, but you need to understand how easy it is today to self-publish. And because of this, there's a lot of books out there right now that are written by AI, not even by people. And we're going to talk about
00:08:17
Speaker
knowing like the author's background a little bit later. But like this has gotten so out of hand that I was reading the other day, there was a bunch of authors freaking out because some bookstores are now capping the amount of titles that a single author can have within the store because people are like mass publishing hundreds of titles that are written by AI with no research for money.
00:08:40
Speaker
so That's terrifying, right? I'm like flabbergasted reading this and hearing you talk about this. Yeah. I knew that there were like a few books. We were like, oh my God, I think AI wrote that. Yeah. I did not know it was as pervasive as it is. Yeah. It was like maybe – Awful. Maybe not even two weeks ago, um an author that I follow was a little bit worried about it because she writes a lot of books, like shorter books. But they're – Like she writes them. They're very informative. They're great books. And now she's worried that like –
00:09:14
Speaker
You know, like some bookstores are saying you can only have like 50 titles. You can only have 100 titles. And what about people like Stephen King, who's got literally like hundreds of books? like Right. and I feel like certain authors are going to be like, obviously, we know you're writing it and not AI. Mm-hmm.
00:09:31
Speaker
it's The fact that this is so prevalent and such a problem right now is a little bit terrifying. So we're going to talk about this in a little bit, like ways that you can know if the information in the book was sourced from like appropriate places.
00:09:49
Speaker
So that was something I wanted to bring up. Yeah, that is very interesting. So definitely keep your eye out. If something looks like it's AI, it's probably AI. Yeah, honestly. When it comes to a lot of these different mediums as well, I think it's also important to ask, where did this practice originally come from? So like a lot of topics related to witchcraft and paganism in general often get blended together, especially online. So if you're looking at websites and blogs and like threads um on Reddit and whatnot. So it's a good
00:10:26
Speaker
it's a good practice to just take a step back and ask that question. Because when you just talk about magic or witchcraft, like that, those are huge categories where there's a bunch of different subcategories underneath it. And if you're not being proactive and asking, okay, I see this, this source, right. And it's saying, oh, like, You should do X, Y, Z. Okay, what where is that practice coming from? what what's What's going on there? So another important question that ties into Tiffany's next point is also asking, where did they get the information from? And this is pretty easy to do, especially in books or in any online article that is written well. Look at the citations used in the book or the article. And if possible, go back and read the earliest source, if you can find it, for the information that you're trying to research.
00:11:17
Speaker
And also just to kind of piggyback on this, like we're not shitting on threads either, right? Like I love me a good Reddit thread. I yeah used Quora a few times, especially when we've been asked to research certain topics that there's not a lot of information out there. Right.
00:11:35
Speaker
But – Something you have to keep in mind with these threads is that this is, they're more conversational for the most part. It's somebody saying, hey, there's this topic I have a question on. And then a bunch of people coming in and giving their opinions or like their background on it or what they think about it. And while you can get great information from them, you do have to keep that in mind that like,
00:11:59
Speaker
Unless they're citing things or posting links on where they're getting this information, which some people do and it's amazing, you have to kind of also go back and re-research that as well.
00:12:11
Speaker
So not shitting on them because we use them too, but – um The next thing is cross-referencing, which we talk about this all the time. We constantly say do your own research and make sure you're cross-referencing. It's so important to do this, especially when it comes to topics that don't have scholarly backing, which a lot of witchcraft, there's not going to be like scientific research.
00:12:36
Speaker
Some of it there is though. So, you know, make sure you're always cross-referencing. Never just read a single source and hold that as gold because in the end, that source could be 100% correct, but there's also a chance that could also be like 100% Witchcraft also carries a lot of gray areas where there's no singular way to do something. So always look at all the various ways and find what actually works for you in that as well. And just an an example that I have, like with herbalism, if you're going to be ingesting or using something as a topical application, not necessarily in terms of correspondences, understand if the person that's telling you about it, like if it's TikTok, if it's a blog, if it's a website, a book, whatever,
00:13:21
Speaker
Is this person just an influencer or does this person actually have a background in this and act as an educator? Because
The Intersection of Witchcraft and Science
00:13:30
Speaker
today there's there's a lot of both online. And I'm not saying either one is like bad, but you have to understand What is their knowledge on this topic?
00:13:41
Speaker
What is their background on that topic? Have they like actually studied it or did they watch another creator talk about it and then just regurgitate what was already said? So just make sure that you're always kind of looking at that.
00:13:54
Speaker
And then what information are they giving, especially when it comes to herbalism? Are they giving you information so that you can make sure that you are using the correct herb? Like, do they give you the botanical or the Latin name?
00:14:06
Speaker
Do they tell you the actions or the energies of the plant, how it should taste, how it should smell, those kinds of things that you are like given all of the information to be able to use it appropriately as well.
00:14:18
Speaker
And then just always make sure you're comparing information from several sources. When i create any herbal blend, I'm Even though I also have like a pretty extensive background in herbalism, I still research and like cross-reference books versus, you know, the internet source that I'm looking at versus a Materia Medica and making sure that I have all of the information to make sure that I'm doing things safely as well.
00:14:46
Speaker
And a lot of misunderstanding also comes from not understanding tradition-specific stuff and removing practices from their cultural or religious framework. And when you're researching different paths and belief systems, it's also important to have an understanding of who a practice belongs to and how the practitioners just themselves describe it. And you know this is why Tiffany and and I say all the time, like she's already said it in this episode, do your own research. Because There is a massive difference between different traditions and you can't lump one belief system in with another. And another important note is that symbolism and correspondences can change regionally and across time periods, cultures, and belief systems. So it's important to understand that depending on what your source is, those things will be different and you need to make sure that you are cross-referencing that information.
00:15:37
Speaker
And then, you know, like I said, many of you are probably going to be surprised. Maybe some of you won't. But so many topics in witchcraft have at least one scientific study tied to them. Much of witchcraft actually overlaps with chemistry and alchemy, with herbalism and pharmacology, with quantum mechanics, theoretical physics, psychology, and, you know, shocker astronomy.
00:16:01
Speaker
There's so much overlap. I know. I was like, LOL. But yeah. But this means that if you dig hard enough when you're researching topics within the witchcraft realm, you might actually find scientific papers that hold some true backing to them. And this is like one of mine and Sam's kind of behind the scenes favorite things is when we find these articles, we're like, look at this one, or we'll like talk about what we learned from them. So we geek out a little bit. Yeah.
00:16:29
Speaker
Yes. You need to look for academic and occult bias as well when you're researching, because sometimes academic sources can be dismissive of spiritual experiences. And we've definitely seen that in some research articles where we're like, actually, especially related to astronomy. Like I feel like astronomy and astrology stuff, like people are so quick to be very dismissive of it. Yeah. But then at the same token, you also have occult authors who can exaggerate claims and kind of romanticize them. so yeah it's important to understand that the best research you're going to find is when you get an unbiased look at a specific topic. Being able to like, like you're going to go into this in the next, in the next bullet. So I'm not going to
Cultural Context and Misinformation
00:17:10
Speaker
steal your thunder here, but like being able to really understand
00:17:15
Speaker
kind of the vision as to why this author decided to publish this research paper or like why they decided to publish XYZ. Like what is their meaning behind it? I thought it was really funny when we did the episode on grounding, how much, I mean, obviously grounding is also done outside of witchcraft. And there was so much science behind grounding. And I felt like that was the one like topic that we did where they were not dismissive of witchcraft or energy work or anything like that like that. It was so accepted in that realm. And I was like, oh,
00:17:52
Speaker
we That one is one that we did. I went down so many rabbit holes, so many different research papers. Yeah. That was like back in episode one. And night yeah like there's some episodes that just really stick with us where it's like I can remember recording it. I can remember what we were talking about. And grounding is one of them. That like yeah really stuck with us. Yeah. That's a really good episode if you've not listened to it, by the way.
00:18:14
Speaker
It is. It's a great episode. Yeah. But next, it's important that you're checking for publication dates, resources, or even just the author's background to know where they got their understanding from before writing about a topic. And this is something that when we are researching, or at least when I'm researching,
00:18:34
Speaker
if I go to a website and say it's a blog, right? And it's a witchy blog and it's got great information. I always open up a second window on the about me page and read about the author. Like what do they list as their background? What have they studied? what what do they know?
00:18:52
Speaker
Especially when they're talking about mental health. And this is a big thing but with like both of us is like, if somebody is like writing or talking about mental health, in this realm, we're always like, what makes you qualified?
00:19:04
Speaker
Yes. So yes that's a big thing for me. And I would suggest like anytime you're doing research, if you are, i mean, even with books, like who is this author? what are their accolades?
00:19:18
Speaker
You know, why are they qualified to talk about this topic? And then like leaning back into that herbalism realm again, did the person study botany? Have they taken herbal courses from a reputable establishment or did they just watch a couple of TikToks and then decide that they're an herbalist? And I'm not shitting on people that do that, right? Like there's a lot of places in America where practicing herbal medicine is illegal. So we can't always like go to school for that, but you can't just watch two TikToks and then be like, I'm an herbalist now. Like you have to read so much and study so much to be able to do that. If somebody is teaching it, make sure that they have that accolade or that backing. And again, I'm not saying that you can't learn from someone on TikTok, okay? Like there's great people out there that are giving that information. I'm just saying that you want to be careful of where you're getting your information from. So make sure you do that, please.
00:20:14
Speaker
Yes. Especially if you're ingesting things. Yes, especially if you're ingesting things. And I even saw an example of this recently where – There's a girl on TikTok and I'm not going to like call her out or anything like that, but she will post like some witchy stuff. She has a decent following, but like she's kind of local to my area. And she posted about, you know, with for Beltane and she was referring to it as a summer solstice. And I'm like,
00:20:41
Speaker
oh, that's about the summer solstice. I'm just like a really quick, even Google search could have told you that. like yeah Who told you that Beltane with summer solstice? And also how embarrassing that you're posting videos now about this, like multiple videos and on this specific topic and you don't even know what you're talking about. Yeah. Yeah.
00:21:05
Speaker
ah it's just It's really important to know like the background of the person who's trying to
Recognizing Reliable Sources
00:21:10
Speaker
educate others, especially in the time of social media and AI where everyone is an internet expert, um an internet doctor, an herbalist, a witch.
00:21:20
Speaker
Insert like whatever title right there. like Everybody on the internet is trying to be somebody. And so it's like you just really have to look at where did they get their information from.
00:21:34
Speaker
Yes. And there's so many misinformation holes you can fall into when you're researching if you're not cautious. A few of these things are like the AI generated facts that are floating around that are not true. yeah Pinterest graphics with no actual sources. You see that a lot shared on social media. yeah viral TikTok and Instagram posts or claims that are not true. Also, those people who are constantly touting that every ancient practice is an ancient Celtic practice, but there's no evidence. And you would know this if you listen to our podcast, there are some historical basis for certain Sabbaths and yeah traditions that do have a historical reference in Celtic paganism, but that is not everything yeah And so if you're coming across a person who is constantly touting, oh, this is ancient Celtic practice, you probably need to find another source because that's probably not 100% case. We see that a lot too with like druidism. Like there's not a record, like written record of how druids practiced or who they were or what they did or what they believed. But people will be like, this is an ancient druidic practice. And it's like, it's like oh, ah tell me where you got that.
00:22:52
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So yeah. Yeah. Where was that written down? Interesting. i I really, every time that happens too, it's just like, if I watch a video or something on it where someone's touting that shit, I'm like, Spidey senses go up. And I really want to read that person. Like, can you cite your source? But I'm not going to. Can link the source, please? Thank you. Yes. Thank you. ah Yeah. And there's even certain blogs will have lists and lists of different correspondences that are just copied. And it's like not everything. like Obviously, there are some correspondences that depending on like going back to what I said, depending on the specific belief system and region, these correspondences might change.
00:23:35
Speaker
But not every correspondence means everything. So be careful with that. And then also understanding the reason for the source, asking yourself who benefits from the source. So is the source, whether it be a book, a website, book, a blog, et cetera. Are they selling something?
00:23:54
Speaker
That's your biggest clue there. That's always the first red flag. Are they selling something? Are they fear-mongering? And you see this a lot on TikTok there. And we've even talked about this on the podcast multiple times where there was this time period, and I feel like it's it's kind of slowed down a little bit, but for a long time on Witch Talk specifically, You had these creators that are like, if this is coming on your For You page, this means that you have been hexed. Let me draw the evil out of you right now. That is fear-mongering. Keep scrolling. yeah They don't know what they're talking about. no
00:24:29
Speaker
Also, if someone is claiming a like secrets, like they know secrets or they're gatekeeping knowledge, like if they're doing that and they're also behind a paywall, like you can access information behind a paywall. They're selling you something. Do not pay for that. That is bullshit. yeah And this doesn't necessarily invalidate like the author or the information on like a specific source because there are people like witches on Etsy who will sell different spells and spell jars and things like that. Like I'm not saying like if you have to buy something, like the information is not
00:25:03
Speaker
Accurate because also there there are people out there who have legitimate businesses who obviously if they're working for it, they need to get their bag, baby. But not you just got to be careful because not everybody is legit. And there are so many scammers out there. There are so many people, especially with the... This day and age where witchcraft and paganism has become a little bit more mainstream, where people see this as an in to, okay, I'm going to create my entire branding and I'm going to make a lot of money. That way I don't have to work a full-time job.
00:25:37
Speaker
And you see this a crossover with, mental health and witchcraft as well. And it is so infuriating as two people who are mental health professionals and witches. It is so awful to see because we see how people are taken advantage of. Yeah.
00:25:52
Speaker
We see it in herbalism too. Like, just like, obviously i have a business and I think that if you are an herbalist and you are doing stuff that you should make your money. Yes. But gatekeeping is such a big thing in the herbal world.
00:26:11
Speaker
I am in the belief that If people want to make things, they should be able to make things. A lot of people don't have the time or don't care to do it. And they're still going to pay me to do it. Because I like you know i do a quarterly um newsletter for my business. And i I'll put like, here's how you make a salve. Do I sell salves? 100%. I do. But I think everyone should have the knowledge to do that.
00:26:38
Speaker
And at the end of the day, most of those people still buy myself. so Right. Like, I don't think that gatekeeping any information and this realm should be a thing. Like, it's just ridiculous to me. But you see it so often in witchcraft, in herbalism. Like, just it's it's so infuriating.
00:26:58
Speaker
It is. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. yes yeah And I think if you're listening to this and you're researching and you are coming across a lot of gate kept information, we are always here. Like if you yeah want to reach out to us to be like, hey, I'm interested in this topic. Do you know anything about it? Can you either cover it on the podcast or can you point me in the right direction as far as research goes for this specific topic? We are more than happy to help.
00:27:24
Speaker
Like if you don't gate keep anything on this podcast. So I feel like there's room for everyone. So absolutely. Yeah. And last, well, not lastly, but there, I also wanted to talk about personal experiences and claims.
00:27:40
Speaker
In a lot of witchcraft practices, there are a lot of practitioners online and in books who detail their personal experiences. And that doesn't inherently make these experiences fake.
00:27:53
Speaker
And we're not saying that like you shouldn't believe them. So like going back to what you said, Tiffany, about like seeing threads on Reddit and Quora and things like that. Mm-hmm. it It doesn't necessarily invalidate their what they're saying has happened to them or their beliefs or whatever.
00:28:08
Speaker
However, what I am saying is it's important that they shouldn't be inherently taken as fact or framed as historical facts. There is a distinction between things that are historically documented things that were or are traditionally taught and things that are completely unverified and they're based on someone's personal experiences. So yeah you need to have a bit of discernment whenever you are especially reading different articles um or blogs, I should say, and information on Reddit and Quora because personal experiences does not equate to fact.
00:28:41
Speaker
No. Well, and like, you know, something to keep in mind and I'm sure if you've been practicing witchcraft for any amount of time, we could both do the same thing and have different experiences and different outcomes.
00:28:56
Speaker
And so like if somebody is saying, no, this is exactly how something is done and this is a fact, like no. Yeah. just Just no period. Yes.
00:29:07
Speaker
Virtually nothing in this world is black and white. Yeah. That's the thing with magic too. Nothing like us as humans, we are nuanced creatures and there's a lot of complexity there. So with magic too, there's going to be nuance and complexity. So you have to understand that.
00:29:23
Speaker
But to sum up our thoughts on it, this is a short episode and I will give you guys that, but this is a very important short episode. So- And it was requested, so. And it was requested, right?
00:29:34
Speaker
So here are some green flags and red flags when it comes to research sources. So for green flags, these would be things like seeing citations and bibliographies at the end of an article or in a book.
00:29:48
Speaker
Nuanced language. So looking at it from a ah the standpoint of we're all complex. There's no white or black when it comes to magic. It's just... There's a lot of gray areas. um
Best Practices in Research
00:30:00
Speaker
Acknowledgement of uncertainty. So understanding that, okay, while I am saying that this is the historical record as we know it, this isn't also 100% factual because this is also written off of somebody else's experience. So understanding that too.
00:30:17
Speaker
and distinguishment from history and speculation. So understanding the difference between, okay, is this how we believed ancient druids practice based on what we know about other ancient societies? Or is this complete speculation? And we're just making this up at this point.
00:30:34
Speaker
And then also... Seeing multiple corroborating sources is also a big green flag. If you are just coming across one specific article that is detailing something and you can't find anything else on the topic, then that probably is not a very good article.
00:30:50
Speaker
My favorite thing in an article is when they're like, in this paper that I read, so-and-so said – and they give like a full quote from like different sources. That is my favorite. I'm like, this person did their research. Absolutely, yes. This person read more than one thing before they just came on here and said, this is what I believe.
00:31:09
Speaker
Absolutely, yes. I love it. And then as far as red flags, so these are things that we – not necessarily saying like, oh my God, these this is like evil. Go away. Like whatever. But red flags in you need to be doing some additional research and maybe not use this in your research. So when authors say this is the one true way or like this is exactly how it was and there's no room for error.
00:31:37
Speaker
That is a red flag. It drives me crazy in topics of witchcraft when you see somebody say that, like, you have to do it exactly like this or it's not going to work. And you guys, if you have been listening to us for any given amount of time, know that we say, look at all the different ways that different people do it.
00:31:56
Speaker
Pick the one that works best for you because that's how it's going to work. It's not going work if you're trying to force a way that doesn't feel right to you. And if someone is saying, well, no, you have to do it that way. No, go away.
00:32:09
Speaker
Yeah. We don't have time for you. Yeah. If you're reading a book or an article and there's no sources, but they're claiming stuff as historical fact, but there's no sources, that is a red flag. Show me that historical fact. Yes. I need it. Show me where you got that fact. Mm-hmm.
00:32:25
Speaker
And then we see this a lot whenever we're researching specific ah cultures. All fill in the blank here. Celtic paganism. All our druids. All whoever, whoever. Believed XYZ.
00:32:37
Speaker
Yeah. That is not the case. You can even fill in the blank with all Christians believe blah, bla blah, blah, blah. And look at that. five different Christians and put them in a room and you're going to have five different belief systems. Exactly. And that's the same thing with magic and witchcraft. Yeah. regional cultural practices, not everybody's belief is beliefs and how they practice is going to be the same. And that is okay.
00:33:02
Speaker
Yeah. If you are seeing any sensationalized claims, that is also a big ass red flag. yeah And you see this a lot on social media. If you're seeing fear-based spiritual content, that is a huge red flag. I'm not going to go too deep into that because we just did a little deep dive on it.
00:33:21
Speaker
And then also lastly, hidden knowledge that they, quote unquote, but we don't know who the they is don't want you to know. Who? Who is they? Who doesn't want me to know this? And why don't they want me to know? Right. It ties back into fear-based content. Right. now Yeah. it's And again, like with the red flags, it's not saying that – If somebody doesn't put sources in their paper that they didn't research it, and you just have to – there's extra steps that you have to take to make sure that they did research it. And honestly, they should be putting those sources. When we do our episodes, a podcast episode where you're listening to us, you can click on the episode and see every source that we used in every episode. Yes. Except for like this one because we didn't use it. This is just our brains. yeah This is our chaotic methods. No. But like they should be listing sources. Maybe they forgot. Maybe they just didn't think it looked pretty.
00:34:20
Speaker
But you would have to like go and make sure that what they're saying is what they're saying. Like it's fast. Yeah. Exactly. It's extra step that you have to take. So when we say it's a red flag, we're not saying absolutely don't use it. But like you got to do a little extra work if you're going to use it. Yeah. Yeah. Because even on topics that say Tiffany and I know a lot about, like anytime we're covering an herbalism topic, Tiffany already knows about that shit. We still cite our sources. oh Even if it's a topic that we know a lot about because we know that there's going to be a listener who may listen to this and may want to go and read the information for themselves. They want to maybe even research it a bit more. And we want to make sure that that information is readily available. So seeing an article or a book cite sources is not a red flag in, oh, well, it's because they didn't know anything about the topic. They had to research it. No, they wanted to ensure that the information, like prove that the information they're giving you is valid and good. And here's where you can go to learn more about this topic. So. And even on topics that I know, like if it we're talking about herbalism,
00:35:29
Speaker
I still go like i will make my notes based off of the knowledge that I have in my brain on that particular thing. And then I will still go and research it and put other information that maybe I just learned that day as I was researching it or yeah making sure that what i do have in there is correct because, you know, sometimes I might get something mixed up and then I'm like, oh, shit, no, that was actually this herb, not that herb. So, like, even if it's a topic that you are pretty well versed in, it does not hurt to go look at what other people think too. Because that comes back down to, like, even with cross-referencing, you know, like, if I wrote a book and you're just reading my book and taking that as gold, I appreciate you.
00:36:10
Speaker
But also, you should be looking at other references to make sure that the information is correct. a So, that's all I have. Me too.
00:36:22
Speaker
Short, sweet, to the point. And do your own research, guys. Yeah, always.
Call to Action and Next Episode Preview
00:36:35
Speaker
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00:36:49
Speaker
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00:37:09
Speaker
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