Are You a Technowitch?
Some people happily identify with that moniker; others would bristle at the thought...and most of us are somewhere in the middle.
So what IS a TechnoWitch, anyway? (These are my own definitions, for what they're worth.)
A TechnoWitch is someone who utilizes whatever technology is around them, in addition to whatever other magical tools they have nearby to accomplish their magical ends - but it definitely includes a tech component.
Technomagic is when modern technology currently available is used in unexpected ways to perform magic. Some of these 'unexpected ways' to use tech may be quite different than their original intended uses.
Technomancy (also my own definition, for right or wrong) is magic that uses technology to its limit, is more...arcane in nature, and is purposefully seeking the limits of where the pairing can go, falling directly into the realm of chaos magic.
In my mind, if you were to compare them directly, I'd see technomagic as "convenience-driven,” while technomancy would be planned and ‘experimental.’
So... After reading the definitions, I ask again:
Are YOU a TechnoWitch?
Of the witchy people I've spoken with, many would answer that question 'no,'...until they start thinking of all the apps on their phone, or that their witchy businesses are conducted mostly online, and many of their books are on apps... I could keep going, but you get the picture. Once they take stock of things - really stop and look - they realize they are more of a technowitch than they originally would've believed. Or...if they aren't quite willing to claim the title 'technowitch' - they find themselves in the position of admitting they're using technology and magic, and didn't realize they did, which in a way, is worse. That's the scenario we routinely caution newbie witches about. When you use magic without understanding what you do, the results can backfire. You either get nothing, or something you didn't intend for (at best), or it spectacularly backfires and you end up with a worse situation than whatever you were magicking for (at worst).
As technology around us continues to grow and expand, and so does the number of youthful witches who are unafraid of technology who have no qualms about combining the two, we need to ask ourselves some really hard, honest questions:
Where is this magic, and magic in general going?
How far can you take the combination of magic and tech?
What are the good points?
Are there any drawbacks?
How is technomagic being used?
Is it apps?
Is it my computer, or browser?
Is it my KitchenAid mixer? My smart appliances?
Is it Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and every other social media platform?
Is it all of it?
Where is the line drawn before something goes from being mundane to magical?
Is it being used against us, without our knowledge or explicit consent?
Do you recognize the various types of techno-spells when you come across them?
Ultimately, if you aren't aware that something IS magical, when you see it and don't recognize it for what is is...it can be used against you. Don't let yourself be caught unawares.
Don't let others co-opt your power.
I started researching the topic of TechnoMagic when I began to write a story for my next book in the "Magic Abounds" series. It's about a woman with Aspbergers' Syndrome, who spends most of her time in Second Life. She starts doing magic in-world, not realizing that it can effect the real world...and drama ensues.
As I began to research, I realized some things: first, that I was more of a technowitch than I thought, and I began to see that technomagic surrounds us as witches use the objects around them in magical ways - sometimes intentionally, and other times, without realizing they are. I also realized that social media is rife with magic - in good ways, and in bad ways, and some of the bad ways are insidious, and dare I say it - borderline evil. I don't normally define things (particularly magic) as black and white or good and evil, but... How else would you term a magic where someone is trying to do magic intentionally, while flying under the radar unnoticed, and attempting to get you to use YOUR power to power THEIR magic? Go ahead. Try to find a different way to define that other than evil. I couldn't find another way. Be aware of what you like and share.
Interested?
TechnoWitch will be released this month (Sept 2021)! Whether you love or hate the combination of technology and magic, join the conversation. We're at an amazing time and place in history. We get to decide where magic goes from here.
Special thanks go out to those of you on Tumblr that took the time to answer questions and have some really interesting discussions!
