So remember that time you woke up from a nap, opened your Twitter, and a bunch of people was complaining that mercury was in retrograde. So you looked into it. What the hell is retrograde? Down a rabbit hole, you go. Now, you know the ins and outs of most things in astrology. Your favorite thing to know about a person is their natal chart. Then, fast forward two or three more years and you have a blog nobody reads with the tagline “Just blame your natal chart”. Astrology did not happen overnight, something else was going on. Witchcraft is slowly being re-branded as Spirituality. Which is long overdue considering the very negative connotation ‘witch’ carries.
Even if you do not believe that “witchcraft” is re-branding… spirituality looks a lot like diet witchcraft at the least. Spirituality’s usage of Astrology, Tarot Cards, Crystals, Reiki healing, Clairvoyance, manifestations, burning sage… Witchcraft or Wicca accepts these occult practices and incorporates a few more. The core practices of true Wicca are purely focused on the natural world and setting intentions by way of spell-casting. Mass re-branding of a discipline happens quite a bit. Alchemy was re-branded as chemistry. Alchemy is an ancient discipline that for centuries was obsessed with finding an elixir to live, and changing cheaper metals into gold. They were most notorious for an unnecessary amount of secrecy. Many famous people in history even cross paths with Alchemy. Names like Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle, Cornelius Drebbel, and Henry V of England all sponsored or influenced the practices of alchemy. Alchemists did not have much success for obvious reasons. They did however accomplish establishing the scientific method that’s widely accepted today. The reason Alchemy eventually became chemistry is simply that no one took them seriously. There were hard divides being drawn between chemistry in the 1700s. Alchemy was for crazy scientists and charlatans. But more accurately Alchemy is the father of Chemistry. Witchcraft, Wicca is the mother of this new single consumer deism type of Spirituality. Wicca has a similar reputation. The main problem with Wicca is that women both young and old have power. In our patriotic world that’s a no no… in simple language.
The growing number of younger people more accepting of spirituality is a symptom of the existing religions being very flawed. Be mindful that this generation (Millennial to Gen Z) saw so many crimes within all sorts of religions. Christianity in the early 2000s saw the rise of money-hungry televangelists, designer pastors with private jets, and many Christian texts being reiterated by the platforms of the Alt-Right or Neo-Nazis. The catholic church has numerous cases of sexual abuse against young children being exposed globally as early as the ’80s. Islamic extremists in the middle east persistently terrorize people. Buddhist monks are murdering and attacking Muslims as early as the ’70s. There is no rest. This generation has been betrayed by the religions of the world: Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Catholicism. They started looking elsewhere for spiritual refuge. This time the messiah was not Prince Buddha, Jesus Christ, or Muhammad. But an entity that is completely non-partisan, all-seeing, and perfectly just. The internet.
That’s the best part about the growing shift to be spiritual. There is no sacred text as there is for the world’s other major religions. The browsing history of an individual could be viewed as writing their private beliefs on divination, deities, and their connection to the spiritual world into a sacred text. Individuals are defining religion for themselves, designed by them, to be practiced by them. The first key benefit of this is there is room for doubt. While one person may swear by crystals and reiki healing, you may be good with only tarot cards. That is so okay! In other religions, it’s considered heresy to question god’s design. It’s an abomination to live in any conflict with the sacred texts. It is to be a “ bad Christian if you don’t…”. Having the freedom to decide what works for you is reclaiming your power to get closer to whichever god you believe in. Another benefit, god is always present. You do not have to go to a church and dress up for a society that may not accept you as you are. Most spiritual people connect with God through meditation. This gives a whole new meaning to come as you are. Everyone is accepted because even though this is a large movement, It’s being discovered one by one. Like I said earlier there’s no messiah, no sacred text, and no place of worship. All those details are arranged or not arranged by the individual.
Some of the core messages I’ve observed in the spiritual movement seem to be:
- You and God are collaborators.
- There is a rejection of being passive about the life you were assigned. You should be Manifesting the life you deserve. Getting on your knees and praying is not enough. Piously following the text is not enough for the spiritual formula. You have to put in the work and you will only ever reap what you sow. God wants a dialogue, not just praise or prayers.
- Karma
- Spirituality seems to be really concerned with accountability. You admit to your wrongdoings and you don’t get away with anything. You have Karmic debts to pay and once paid they lead to Karmic retribution.
- Purging
- Another ongoing conversation is letting go of anxiety, angst, grief, trauma, and sadness any way you can. If you have to cry it out, hydrate yourself with water, write it, burn sage… It does not matter hanging on to these emotions is the same as poison. The message is Release it.
- Spread Love and Light
- There’s a rejection of competition. The constant message is that there is enough abundance for everyone, in all ways not just financial. Heaven on earth is possible if we were a little nicer every day to those who deserve it. Assume that everyone deserves your kindness unless they show you otherwise and withdraw immediately if they do. Being empathetic as well as kind to people through language is especially emphasized. Just being decent is all anyone ever asks.
So what do people mean when they say they are spiritual? Only they can tell you. They decide for themselves through self-initiated study(probably on the internet) of some formerly taboo things. All seeking ways to improve themselves, and their relationships with the world around them. Religion isn’t going anywhere it’s just shrinking down from being something for the masses. Into something ingested person by person in varying practices person to person. There’s a Chinese proverb saying that the antidote to poison is poison. The Western world’s attitudes about divination/ religion are shifting from one extreme version to another. Instead of large groups gathering every Sunday to speak about god. People need privacy and anonymity. Only themselves and God. This scrapbook style of religion is paving the way for people to reconnect with the universe, Allah, karma, god, whatever. It’s also a way for people to heal from the crimes of “the church”.