Saw your response to the "spiritual signs or mental illness?" post and wanted to ask kind of the opposite question (been meaning to for a while now). I have anxiety, obsessive thought patterns, and maybe autism (among other diagnosed conditions). I do a couple things that would qualify as "banishing negativity" like shaking my hands out or doing things in 3s. I view it as similar to some Christians completing the sign of the cross or other religions warding off the evil eye. However, I am aware that my conditions make me more prone (?) to such repetitive behaviors. My question is this: do my mental conditions make these witchy acts unnecessary, negated, or less-than in any way? I can anticipate part of your answer, but I was curious to your thoughts and how you and other witches with neurodivergence navigate the distinction between what is practice and what is a part of operating in this world from a neurodivergent perspective. Thank you in advance for your thoughts!
Speaking as a witch who also finds herself falling into fatalistic and semi-obsessive thought patterns thanks to anxiety and ADHD, let me assure you that this does not, in ANY way, make you less of a witch.
There are long-standing traditions which hold that certain things should be done in certain multiples during prayer, spellcasting, or suchlike, and three is a very commonly-referenced number. If you find yourself prone to doing things in threes and you choose to make that part of your Banish Negativity ritual, that is still witchcraft. And if you feel it is needed and effective, then the fact that you're incorporating your repetitive behaviors does not negate it. Really, you're just taking something you'd be doing anyway and giving it magical significance, which is something that modern witches do all the time, regardless of the state to their mental health.
Plenty of witches have some form of neurodivergence. While it may mean that we need to navigate magical theory and practice a little differently, that's really no different from needing to navigate LIFE a little differently. What we choose to make a part of our personal practices varies greatly, and sometimes that means altering things a bit to fit our physical and mental health needs and capabilities. But the craft meets us where we are and regardless of whether we shake out that negativity in multiples of three or say our incantations in silence or trace our containment figures in the air instead of walking them out, we are still witches.
Hope this helps!
