#warlockery

I personally do believe in magic. Even if there is no  ~occult~ explanation for it- magic is a useful form of brain hacking. 

i do not think people selling magic are necessarily scam artists, because what they’re selling is usually repackaged therapy techniques and peace of mind. sometimes, this is an irresponsible and scammy thing to do-- you shouldn’t be selling people peace of mind instead of actual medical treatment, and you shouldn’t be selling people peace of mind about something that could get them killed.

but your monkey/unconscious brain responds better to ritual and rite than it does to reason. you can’t logic your way out of a panic attack, but you can sure magic your way out. you can’t logic your way out of a chronic pain flare or the messy feelings left over after a bad breakup, but you can magic your way into at least a temporary calm. you can’t always logic your way out of avoiding abusive people - a lot of the time, you have to go with your gut on that, and if you’ve used magic to prime your gut to notice abusers, you’re gonna stop letting your rational brain make excuses. 

my therapist actually suggested that I do more magicky shit when I brought up that a lot of the things we were doing in therapy reminded me of the stuff I did when I was a babby pagan. i told her that it made me feel silly and i wasn’t sure if it was real, but she pointed something out. 

it doesn’t matter if what you’re doing is silly or illogical or seemingly pointless if it works for your mental health.   

it doesn’t matter if the Job Hunting Spell works because ~the stars are in Capricorn~ or because you’ve primed your brain to look for new job opportunities and given yourself some confidence to act on them. it doesn’t matter if the Shielding Spells And Wards work because you used some wool of bat to make a lotion or if you’ve just trained yourself to walk like you’re gonna go kill Captain America. if it works, it works. 

So I think as long as people are up front about what it is they’re selling - they don’t make absurd claims, they don’t try to sell something that will get you killed, they’re very clear about the limits of what they’re doing- it’s not a fucking scam, any more than someone selling St. Christopher statues to help you sell your house is a scam. It’s people who believe in something using that thing to help themselves.

I'm confused, why would you want a non Homestuck tarot deck?

because the homestuck tarot deck is a horrid little troll that likes to drag your ass every time you so much as blink at it.

seriously every time I’ve used it it has eviscerated me 

it comes for my wig every single time 

you think it’d be a good idea to make a witch’s ladder and use hapless victim unwanted barbie heads in its construction? 

My general rule of thumb for dealing with ‘weird’ stuff people believe is: would I shame or harass a Christian/Buddhist/Jew/Muslim/Hinduist person for believing the same thing?

Believing that you can use magic to find your keys is not actually that different from believing that you can find your keys by praying to Saint Christopher while holding a blessed necklace. Believing that you’re able to spiritually shapeshift into a wolf is not that different from believing that you can reach a higher state of consciousness by clearing your mind and moving your body in certain ways. Wearing cat ears or large amounts of occult jewelry is strange, but it’s not much stranger than wearing a crucifix made out of blessed nails or wearing Mormon magic underwear. Hell, believing that you were a fictional character in a past life and that means you have a purpose in this one is not really any stranger than believing that God has a hyperspecific plan for your life and you need to follow that plan to be happy. (And, frankly, it’s probably healthier.)

Even if people’s weird beliefs are being exacerbated by mental illness- as long as they’re not hurting themselves or other people, there’s nothing wrong with it. There’s nothing wrong with being strange. There’s nothing wrong with being eccentric. There’s nothing wrong with being mentally ill, as long as you’re able to take care of yourself and you’re not hurting from it.