#pathandpractice discussion

Inspired by the weekly discussion question in our Discord server today, here are a few questions to dive deeper into how we each understand and experience magic. These prompts are meant to spark introspection, conversation, and a bit of soul-searching about what witchcraft means to you. There are no right or wrong answers. Post post and answer one of these questions each day and tag @pathandpractice in your replies and don't forget to put then in the #pathandpractice tag. Also, feel free to reblog and tag friends you want to join in with you. Everyone is welcome!

Day One: How do you define magic? Is it energy, intention, relationship, will, or something else?

Day Two: What does witchcraft mean to you? Ex: is it a craft, a calling, a way of life, a skill?

Day Three: When did you first understand what “magic” meant to you, and how has that definition changed over time?

Day Four: Do you see a difference between magic and witchcraft? If so, where do you draw that line?

Day Five: How do your spiritual, cultural, or philosophical beliefs shape your understanding of magic?

Day Six: Do you think everyone can practice magic, or is it something that calls to specific people?

Day Seven: How does your definition of magic influence the way you practice it?

Day Eight: Do you view magic as natural or supernatural? Or do you see no real division between the two?

Day Nine: How would you explain what magic is to someone who doesn’t believe in it?

@pathandpractice

Day One: How do you define magic? Is it energy, intention, relationship, will, or something else?

Image by @puzzled-nobody

It's been a while since I've put out a questionnaire based on our weekly discussion questions in the server. I miss seeing everyone's answers. So here are a few follow-up prompts based this week's community discussion to give folks an opportunity to explore their practice from new angles and to open the floor to share more with each other. These can be answered all at once or used as daily writing prompts.

Where are the spaces where you feel overlap between your magical and spiritual practices? Where is there tension?

The word "sacred" is used in both religious and magical contexts. What does this mean to you? Does it have different meaning in one context vs. the other?

How, if at all, do community expectations (tradition, lineage, covens, social communities, etc.) shape the way you integrate (or avoid integrating) devotion and magic?

How has your relationship to power--personal or external--shifted as you've come to understand your preferences regarding the combination/separation of craft and faith?

How do you relate to traditions that insist magic and religion must be unified--or must be kept apart?

How do your religious and spiritual actions look different from your magical ones? Do they follow an entirely different protocol or are there differences more subtle?

What are the three most important rituals, habits or routines in your spiritual/religious life? What are they in your magical life?

What would you consider the personal virtues you have associated with your magical vs. spiritual/religious practice? Are they different or the same? Does one uphold the other or challenge it?

I personally think that the line between folkloric witchcraft and pop culture witchcraft (and, by extension, chaos magic in general) is less of a clear delineation than many care to admit.

Going back to my earlier experiments with pop culture-related magic (which don't really fit on this blog; I was experimenting with entities that are very prevalent in the general US overculture and in my state in particular), I came to the conclusion that pop culture is effectively speedrunning the folklore dissemination process in some cases. Regional variants of stories circulate over and over again till everybody knows them.

Now, there is something to be said for the ill effects of late-stage capitalism making its way into our practices and taking steps to circumvent that, which is why I quit the aforementioned experiences. But lately, I've found myself being drawn to them again. I get the feeling that there's an interesting thread there, but I can't say with any certainty what exactly it is or how it works with the rest of what I'm doing.

I guess my question is thus: is a person doing pop culture magic with any given franchise, but giving the caveat that they don't approve of what [corporation of the week] is doing otherwise, any different than a folk Catholic doing things with saints and angels while disregarding the doctrine of the Church at large? Where does one draw the line?

A color may hold more spiritual significance to one practitioner than the other. Maybe something reminds one individual of their guides or gods, while that same thing means something else to another.

For me, Cardinals and Blue Jays, are always a sign from my familial ancestors. This is strongly tied to both of my Grandmothers having an affinity for the birds.

I hope this sparks a conversation,

Part 2/7

Giant Hag Stone

I was visiting my sister for a week, during the lockdown in 2020 so I could help watch her kids since she worked. (necessary job)

While we were down there, we went down by the lake for a walk and her younger son picked up this rock and handed it to me.

Ever since then I’ve used it as decoration, a holder for candles and tarot card draws.