How to Get the Most Out of Witchblr
Witchblr is a fantastic place to learn. You have access to loads of free content and a diverse community. These are two things that are hard for witches to find elsewhere! Before I found witchblr I only had whichever blogs I could find through Google and my local library’s one-shelf occult section. That being said, once you’ve looked through all the top-ranking posts and find the same ones coming across your dash again and again, it can start to feel like you’re not getting much out of it. So, how do you get the most out of witchblr?
The dashboard (home page) - where you take in the majority of information! It’s super important to make sure the content coming across your dash is good quality. This is where you’re most likely learning from on witchblr, and as a result it cannot be more essential that you ensure you’re taking in information that is accurate and useful.
The best way to do this is go through the list of people you’re following. Check the following things:
When was the last time they posted? Most blogs will show this when you access their actual blog by clicking on their profile picture (URL should show up as username.tumblr.com). Look at the date stamp on their most recent post. If you can’t see a date stamp, type into the URL bar “username.tumblr.com/archive”. The general rule of thumb I use is that if they haven’t posted in three months, unfollow. This blog is most likely inactive by now. However, if this is one of your favourite blogs or this blog has a habit of periods of inactivity (i.e. taking breaks from Tumblr), it’s obviously completely fine to make an exception.
What do you want out of Tumblr? If you’re mostly here for the memes, with some witchy content on the side, skip this step. If you’re here to learn, give this a shot. Scroll through their recent posts and see how often they post witchcraft content. Is it mostly memes? Political commentary? Fandom posts? If their feed is full of non-witch content, this blog is contributing to clogging up your dash. Be the judge of how much non-witch content you’re okay with seeing, and unfollow accordingly. Keep in mind that the short-and-sweet posts so many of us favour on witchblr aren’t actually the most informative! Long-form posts will usually have more depth, making them more educational. Try to find a balance between the two.
Is their content reliable? This is applicable to both reblogs and posts they’ve made themselves. Read through some of the witch content on their feed. Do they make assumptions without proof to back them up? Do they contribute to stirring unwarranted drama in the community? If they’re making original posts with ideas you’ve never heard of before, check their sources. Is this UPG (unverified personal diagnosis aka information that they figured out themselves)? Great! If they provide their reasoning, or you see the post marked UPG, that’s totally fine. Do they cite their sources or mention the books they’ve read that inspired the post? Also great! Do they have a habit of continuously making statements without any sources, education or reasoning behind them? Not so great. Do they make posts that essentially just regurgitate information you’ve read elsewhere a hundred times? Also not great. Try to make sure you’re following blogs that clearly know what they’re talking about, or that have done their research. Bonus points for following blogs that aren’t complete beginners - I’d say pay special notice to blogs that have been practicing for 5+ years; there’s tons of beginners in the witchblr community so paying attention to those with experience is a good move for reliable info! If they don’t have much experience, do they document their craft? It’s also a good idea to follow blogs that talk about what has/hasn’t worked for them as a witch. This way, you can learn from other people’s mistakes (and successes)!
Now that you’ve reenacted The Purge (2013), it’s time to some shiny new blogs to follow! Personally, to find blogs to follow, I look through my favourite posts that I’ve reblogged. Then, I check out the blog that posted it in the first place. After quickly vetting them with the above steps, I give them a follow! This is a great way to find good blogs, and you’ll often find that they’re still producing quality content. If you’re stuck for somewhere to start, I’m gonna include a list of some recommended blogs:
I used to be one of those people who just hoard Tumblr posts. You know, just reblog everything and be like I’ll read this again later or I’ll use this spell at some point. That’s great if you actually do read it later, or do use the spell. But, most of us don’t. You don’t need to actually try every ritual that comes across your dash, but there’s certainly ways to use the content that you’re seeing more.
Use tags appropriately: Tags are great for organising your blog. You can tag things however you like - by subject, difficulty, how interested you are in it, etc. Whatever system you use, just make sure to stick to it! Tags are pretty useless if you change which ones you use all the time. If you’re looking for inspiration, take a look at how other witchblr’s use their tags. Personally, I tag posts by subject, so that if I’m feeling like doing some kitchen witchcraft, I can just search “kitchen witchcraft” on my blog. I also tag my original posts with “lucipost” (a short, unique tag) to make it easier for me to collate my original content.
Do a grimoire update: By now you’ve probably got lots of good resources archived in your blog. It’s time to come through on your promises of I’ll come back to this later and go through everything you’ve reblogged. Pick out the best quality posts, and the most interesting information, and use it to write new or improved sections in your grimoire in your own words. Don’t forget to add in links or citations (”source: @username on tumblr”) so that when you come back to the information you know where you got it from!
Interacting with the Community
As I mentioned earlier, one of the best parts of witchblr is its wide range of content creators making free resources! You have access to hundred of witches, each with different opinions, cultural backgrounds, values and beliefs. Take advantage of this! It was Socrates who said “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing”. Learning from other people’s practices is one of the most rewarding and beneficial experiences you can have on witchblr.
Engage with other people: I’m sure you have favourite blogs on witchblr, or people you find really funny (or even really cool - I myself am I victim of Admiring From Afar). Engage with them (and everyone else)! Reply to posts with your thoughts on their ideas. If you try someone’s spell or ritual, snap a quick photo of a part of the process, then post it and tag them in it - let everyone know what changes you made, what worked and what didn’t. It’s this kind of feedback that’s helpful for everyone, and that encourages people to continue sharing their practice! Have something you’re confused about? Need a nudge in the right direction? Send in an ask. Most blogs will love to hear from you. Just remember to say thank you! If you’re in a financial position where you’re able to support content creators through their Patreon (for continuous donations) or Ko-Fi (for one-off tips and thank you’s), I’d highly recommend it. This money compensates them for the time that they spend making resources free (again!! free!! how crazy is that!) and accessible. It gives them more time to keep making the things you love, and allows them to reinvest in their craft. Contributing to Patreon will also usually give you access to more, better quality, resources. It’s a relatively affordable way of investing in your witchcraft education, and the education of others.
Join witchy discords: There’s tons of witchcraft-based discord servers that offer a place for you to have in-depth, engaging discussions with other witches. They’re great when you want to talk an idea through with someone, or even just hear someone else’s opinion. I would especially stress this if you’re a closeted witch, as these servers provide a place for you to find an accepting community. Build connections with the other people on the server, add them on Tumblr and send them posts you think they’d be interested in. Try to remain active on the server, even if it’s just five or ten minutes of conversation a day. If you’re a little shy, try to lurk (just read the chats other people are having) for a few days and slowly start contributing to conversations to build confidence. If you can, join voice chats! Actually hearing the voice of other witches feels kinda crazy sometimes, especially since it’s easy to forget there are real people behind the screen. I genuinely think that this is one of the most important steps if you want to have a more rewarding witchblr experience.
Look out for community events: Discord servers will often run workshops and events that’ll either help you learn more or have fun with the community. For example, the recent TechnoCon 2020 not only featured several panelists talking about a wide range of witchcraft practices, but also dress-up competitions, a group ritual and a charity fundraiser that raised around $1200 for COVID relief! CozyCoven is currently running an energy work workshop throughout the month of May. Even if you can’t attend the event because of timezone differences, someone will usually transcribe or record the workshop/panel if you ask politely, if they weren’t already planning on doing so. I’d also highly recommend making some notes in your grimoire about your experience with the event, what you learnt, and who was responsible for it. Other than educational events, I’ve seen servers do a whole range of things from secret santa gift exchanges to movie nights!
I’m gonna link to a few discord servers here. I’m a member of a few of them, but I’m not really that active anywhere other than Cozy Coven:
This is a short point, but it is an important one. Witchblr is a platform that thrives off engagement, interaction and sharing. If you’re in a position to be educating other people (I’m gonna say a minimum of one year of practicing, although it really should be more), make posts! Talk about what you’ve learnt. If you’re newer to this, share your experiences. Use witchblr as a diary to document things some of the things you’ve tried - other people might find it useful! Obviously, only share what you’re comfortable with. Everyone’s spiritual journey is personal and at times private, so don’t feel the need to overshare.
I think this is a good point to end on. I think of witchblr as a home base: it’s somewhere to start, and somewhere to come back to, but if you want to extend yourself, it’s not somewhere to stay constantly! There’s tons of other witchcraft resources out there: IRL festivals/conventions, books, YouTube, non-Tumblr blogs, etc. It is SO important that you broaden your horizons. Getting diversity in your sources is something academics make sure to do for a reason! Witchblr will always be here for you to come back to, but it’s a good idea to go out on an adventure now and again so that you have something interesting to bring home.
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