My Thoughts On The Growth Of The Witchcraft Community

My thoughts on the growth of the witchcraft community

Hi, I’m Rex. And I’ve been an active member of the witchcraft community since I started studying it in 2005.

For the past few years, I’m sure everyone in the witchcraft and pagan communities have noticed the sudden *boom* of interest in what we do. Crystals are becoming trendy, you can purchase books on magic at Walmart, and many, many younger people are posting about their journey into witchcraft on their social media.

On Tumblr, #witchblr was one of the most active tags of 2020, Reddit has seen a growth in related posts, and we’re all quite familiar with just how large the “WitchTok” community has grown on TikTok.

I’ve seen the influx of people approaching those of us who have 10, 20, 30 something years of experience in the community, proudly labeling themselves as a “baby witch”, wishing to learn as much as they can about the craft. And that’s GREAT! It’s AWESOME! I LOVE sharing my knowledge with all of these new people joining the community!

However, I’ve also seen an increase in comments such as:

“This sucks, witchcraft is so popular now and it’s being used like a fashion statement.”

“I can’t go anywhere without hearing some Gen Z kid claim to be a ~Space Witch~.”

“Ugh! These young kids are embarrassing us and making things up about witchcraft!”

“I used to be bullied as a teenager for being Wiccan, now it makes you cool.”

Folks, the reality is that we as a people are becoming more and more open to alternative lifestyles. Humanity is opening up and becoming more in touch with their spirituality. And that is a good thing.

Yes, it sucks that we got bullied and were made to feel like outcasts when we were young practitioners, but just because we struggled, doesn’t mean we should wish the same out of envy on the newcomers. If anything, we should be gracious that they’re safe.

The fact that we have younger people who can safely practice witchcraft THIS openly means that we did something right.

We made it safer and more acceptable to read about the occult.

We made it safer and more acceptable to talk about holistic medicines.

We made it safer and more acceptable to talk about energy, the stars, the planets, and everything that we adore about the universe.

And yes, I’m just as guilty of rolling my eyes when I hear someone claim that a certain crystal is going to destroy their life because it’s super powerful (looking at you, Moldavite), but we all started somewhere. Just because we started out by reading Scott Cunningham and Raymond Buckland in the back of a Borders or Waldenbooks doesn’t make us any better than these younger people who are getting their first taste of the craft from TikTok, Amino or Tumblr.

It’s our role as people with more experience in the community to gently nudge these kids (and adults) in the right direction, if we so choose to be teachers. If you’d rather not be a teacher, then at least be patient with these kids.

I’m personally grateful that witchcraft is more accessible in this day and age. When I was a young witch back in 2005, it definitely wasn’t. Unless you had a local metaphysical shop or a bookstore in driving distance, we were basically SOL. I kinda wish that I could have just jumped on the internet and found PDFs of what I wanted to learn! And, I’m certain that these kids jumping into the craft in 2021 will grow to be wonderful practitioners, and more knowledgeable than us one day– because that’s the point. We want the generation after us to always be better.

And y’know, maybe there WILL be people who are only jumping onto this for a trend… That isn’t new though. I knew many people in middle school and high school who read books on Wicca just because all of their other friends were, and then never picked a book up again. We still shouldn’t shame people for their curiosity. 

So, as someone who has been doing this for a while, this is what I have to say to those who are new to this awesome community:

Never stop reading! Read as much as you can, the best knowledge that you’ll get is what you pick up yourself.

Not everything is set in stone. What works for one practitioner may not work for you.

Practice discernment and question everything. 

Don’t be culturally appropriative, treat what is sacred to others with respect, and understand that not everything is for you.

Don’t eat essential oils… Please.

Everyone is going to tell you their own meaning of a crystal. Pick up the crystal yourself and figure out what it does for you personally.

Other witches and practitioners are not obligated to share their personal practice, spells, tradition, etc. with you, please be respectful of that. You will likely grow to keep certain things to yourself as well.

Other witches and practitioners are not obligated to be your teacher. While many of us like to teach, there are still a lot of us who would rather not, and that decision needs to be respected.

Listen to what experienced practitioners have to say about safety.

And, lastly:

There is nothing wrong with making mistakes and being curious. None of us got it right when we first started. Learn from your mistakes, and you’ll see growth.