Most of the stuff out there about witchcraft, especially for beginners, is all about telling you what to do. Sometimes some stuff about when and where. If that's working for you, awesome! Keep doing it! If you're looking for something more, this space is about asking and answering some of the other big W questions about witchcraft. Like who and why?
Who is this even for, anyway? This is for seekers, new witches, the witchcraft-curious, people starting a new path or tradition, solo practitioners, or experienced practitioners who want to recapture their spiritual connection with the craft.
Ok, I'm into this witchcraft stuff. But it seems like this place has a lot of yoga and Hindu stuff, and that's not witchcraft.
What's up with that?
Actually, it's totally part of witchcraft as we know and practice it today. A huge number of the beliefs that come from the 'New Age' branch of historical influences originally come from Hinduism. The New Age scene was the direct descendant of the Spiritualist Movement/craze that included Madame Blavatsky and the Theosophists. Recall how all the writers of that era were being inspired by 'Eastern wisdom' and all that heady nonsense? There is more to Eastern thought than Buddhism. In fact Hinduism pre-dates Buddhism by centuries, and some in the Hindu community see Buddhism as a form of Hinduism. The Buddha himself was raised as a Hindu. Jainism came into existence at about the same time. Sikhism was created in the 16th c CE so even it was around to inspire the westerners that came to The East in search of ancient wisdom and new ways of thinking in the 19th c.
Theosophists particularly are responsible for this original act of cultural appropriation from the Dharmic faiths of the eastern world. Under the leadership of Madame Blavatsky the Theosophist's Society sought to synthesize and spread a single, essential, global religion. They appealed to citizens of the British colony of India in particular, offering to them the idea that their philosophies and beliefs had great value to the world. In return they rewrote those philosophies and beliefs into books meant to appeal to western audiences. A big part of creating that appeal was whitewashing and handwaving away the origins of it. This is where the 'wisdom of the East' trope gets cemented, and it's still getting people killed in India.
Reincarnation, universal oneness, spiritual vibrations, grounding, karma, energetic channels (nadis), chakras, a universal God that manifests through all conceptions of the divine, the existence of many divine beings though only some are worshiped by each individual (henotheism), the progression of time through a cycle, the belief that the individual is one with the divine (monism), kundalini, meditation, mindfulness, chanting, the belief that the physical world is an illusion that distracts the soul from the true world of the non-physical and divine, Yoga, sound vibrations that can change energetic forces (e.g. healing), visualization, intention, liberation from the cycle of rebirth, transcendence of the self beyond the physical form, the concept of enlightenment itself, and more I haven't even heard of, all ideas lifted straight from Hindu scriptures that have made their way into modern practices of witchcraft with no acknowledgment of their origin. As this document moves through the various concepts and beliefs underlying the practice of witchcraft those origins will be recognized.
Hold up, isn't that Buddhist stuff?
The answer is yes and no. Buddhism and Hinduism are very closely related. The Buddha grew up as a Hindu of the warrior caste. In modern times there are sects of Shiva devotees whose beliefs and practices are externally indistinguishable from Buddhist practices. In the early days, Buddhism was seen as an unorthodox sect of Hinduism, much the way that Christians saw Muslims during the development of Islam or the way that Catholics would relate their church to a Protestant one. A very simplistic way to boil down the difference is that a Hindu believes that all of existence is part of God, and the illusion of the physical world distracts us from this divine unity within us. Whereas a Buddhist believes that all existence is one, and that the distraction of physical reality exists to keep us from realizing that all of existence is nothing.
These days Buddhism is far more appealing in the west. There are no Gods to challenge Christian monotheism. In the west Buddhism is presented as very austere. Hinduism involves 'idols' of inhuman, armed, and sometimes demonic looking Gods. Hindus chant almost exclusively in Sanskrit, but western Buddhists often chant in English which has a distinctly less speaking in tongues kind of vibe. To top it off, Buddhism does not have the history of the 'Hare Krishnas' lingering in the public consciousness as a cult. It isn't, but when the International Society for Krishna Consciousness first gained visibility a lot of kids were leaving home when they turned 18 (and sometimes earlier) to live very different lives than the ones their parents had imagined for them. Suddenly there were political cults, radical cults, sex cults, Satanic cults, and a 'Krishna cult'. Some of them were legitimate cultic groups, but overall the Hare Krishnas weren't (and still aren't).
I find that lots of philosophies that came to Buddhism from Hinduism are usually only traced back as far as their Buddhist practitioners. But these things come and go, ebb and flow, with time and cultural events. In the days when Vivekananda was the toast of the western esoteric scene, Hinduism was more influential. In both instances the two were conflated, along with other religions from eastern regions as 'Eastern thought' and resold to westerners with a fat markup. And that's one way that cultural appropriation works.
so is witchcraft cultural appropriation?
It's complicated. At this point, Hindu and Buddhist cultures are not the only ones that have been appropriated into witchcraft. Many First Nations practices have been swallowed up, Celtic superstitions that could've gotten you beat as recently as the 1900s, African diaspora religions like Hoodoo and Voodoo (there are others!), Jewish mysticism, and of course the problematic term 'Shamanism' and the beliefs that it encompasses. It's a cop out to throw your hands up at the thought that there's been too much. Information is more available to us than ever before. If you like a practice that is outside your own culture, do the research. Is it an open or a closed practice? For example, yoga draws on Hindu beliefs for most of what goes on in your typical yoga class, but Hindus are ok with non-Hindus engaging in these activities and with these beliefs, preferably with respect. That's an open practice. On the other hand, there are various tribes of the First Nations that have a traditional practice of creating and using sweat lodges. Sweat lodges are not an open practice. Tribal outsiders are fortunate enough to be invited to attend a sweat lodge, and they are incredibly unlikely to be able to lead sancitioned sweats, to the point that it's a huge red flag if a non-First Nations person claims that they can or have led a sweat lodge ceremony. The reasons for this tight control are cultural, spiritual, and practical. I can't speak to the spiritual or cultural aspects, but there have been cases where grifters created sweat lodges that killed participants. New age grifter James Arthur Ray spent time in jail related to the deaths of three people in a sweat lodge he managed in 2009. The burden is on us as outsiders to a cultural practice to listen to indigenous voices from the culture it belongs to and to educate ourselves to understand the context in which they are speaking.
There is no one person from any cultural group who can judge if things are hurtful or not. No one to give permission or forgiveness. I'm personally a big believer in the idea that you can learn who originated a practice, why they do it, what it means, where it's from, and when the practice originated. You can learn if the practice has been used in discrimination, oppression, or genocide. You can learn if a practice is open or closed. Then you can decide for yourself if you're appropriating or appreciating.
Obviously I'd be some kind of shit person if I wasn't open to corrections, new information, and different lived experiences. Whether you'd like to chat about what's written here or make a suggestion for something I could add, send me a message on neocities and let's hash it out!