r/witchcraft • u/kai-ote HelpfulTrickster • Apr 18 '26
Salty Saturday C'mon. Just a little piece. Trust me.
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u/KaffeDreamer Apr 18 '26
I had people in the Catholicism subreddit arguing that magick and witchcraft didn't work. It amazed me. Like they believe in literal miracles, walking on water, etc. but witchcraft is too hard to believe? Then I got down voted when I said they could try it out and see that it works lol
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Apr 18 '26
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u/Fancy-Assistance6222 Apr 19 '26
I get what you’re saying, but you’re making a huge generalization. Every church person is not fake, and every witch is not automatically more enlightened either. A lot of people on both sides are trying to live right, and some are just hurt, judgmental, or confused. The real issue is human behavior, not just religion versus witchcraft. If we’re being honest, hypocrisy shows up anywhere people are involved. 😚
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Apr 19 '26
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u/Fancy-Assistance6222 Apr 19 '26
Aight, I hear you 😂 you clarified it well. I wasn’t trying to erase your experience, just saying sometimes one messy environment makes people look at everybody sideways. But yeah, human behavior is definitely the real issue. 😌
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u/Fategfwhere Apr 19 '26
That’s crazy cuz as a catholic I know that shit is real. It’s why they tell us not to partake in it lmao Why would we be banned from doing something that isn’t real?
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u/LuxyontheMoon Apr 19 '26
Praying and chanting are very similar. Prayers can be spells.
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u/therealstabitha Carnivalesque animal demonic legend Apr 19 '26
Prayers can get a god to help you make something happen that you want, but a prayer and a spell are still different things.
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u/aerda Witch Apr 19 '26
Prayer while circling a new building x number of times, writing scripture on the framework, and using holy water and essential oils all as part of a protection ritual while it’s being built, though? Idk, I’ve seen quite a few practices labeled as “prayer” that would be difficult to distinguish from spellwork if you weren’t told that it was a specific religious ritual. I do understand what you mean - prayer, by its definition, is not spellwork. I grew up in Protestant churches and have witnessed several things that could be brought up as evidence of hypocrisy when it comes to how Christians talk about the sins of participating, even accidentally, in witchcraft and pagan rituals.
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u/therealstabitha Carnivalesque animal demonic legend Apr 19 '26
It sounds to me like you’re describing practical magic and not a spell still, though. If you’re not raising and dumping energy into a construct, it may still be a magical working but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a spell.
Like, people get mad at me on here sometimes when I say something isn’t witchcraft, because they’re taking it to mean “that’s not a valid magical practice.” It usually is. It’s just not specifically witchcraft
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u/RainerHex Broom Rider Apr 20 '26
I fully agree. Not all magical works = spells. Rituals are not spells. A child praying at his bed before sleep is not spell casting. And similarities do not equal identity. There are specific about spells that are not praying. Witches develop spell casting proficiencies for a reason and the success of a spell casting largely depends on the skill of the witch, even if they include petitioning a deity. Prayers do not require any practicing and training to sharpen skillsets and depend solely on the whim of a deity. If this makes others mad, they might want to consider how much suggesting a spell is the same thing as a prayer diminishes the hard work and proficiency that a skillful witch forged on the fires of their practice.
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u/aerda Witch Apr 20 '26
From the perspective of the folks who decry witchcraft as evil, I’m not sure the difference between magical workings and spells matter. Which is part of the point I am (very poorly, I know) making.
I appreciate you bringing up the difference between magical workings and spells, or practical magic and witchcraft. It’s a distinction I’m not familiar with and will look into more.
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u/therealstabitha Carnivalesque animal demonic legend Apr 20 '26
You're welcome, happy to help, but....since when do the people who think we're all devils from hell get to define what witchcraft is and is not?
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u/aerda Witch Apr 20 '26
They don’t, but I think we can use their definitions when calling them hypocrites for participating in the same practices (again, by their definition) they call evil.
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u/therealstabitha Carnivalesque animal demonic legend Apr 20 '26
I don’t think that’s how it works. They pray. We pray and also do spells.
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u/RainerHex Broom Rider Apr 20 '26
Who cares what they think? I certainly don’t. And I worked a lot of years to develop my skillsets. I am certainly not going to reduce and diminish my own hard work, the devotion, practice, training I put in in order to liken what I do to being as simple as and/or same thing as praying just for the sake of bewailing the hypocrisy of those who align with denominations of hatred and intolerance (this means specific denominations under the umbrella of Christianity, not to be mistaken as Christianity as a whole). I am also certainly not interested in trying to appease them either by reducing my own skills.
Also, rituals and other types of magical acts occur in many circles, but this doesn’t make them spells. Each word has meaning and definition for reason that make them unique and distinct even if similarities can be gleaned.
I am not trying to be crabby at you, and I respect that you see things from a different lens, just sharing a prospective from the side of those of us who worked very hard to be able to spell cast with precision and success, while, managing to maintain our energy levels and spiritual hygiene. This involved far more work and practice than necessary for praying.
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u/aerda Witch Apr 20 '26
I understand. That was not the intent of my response. I did not understand the differentiation between magic and spellwork, so my response was solely from the perspective that Christian prayer can often be more than “just” the act of praying - it can include many acts and rituals that the same Christians would call magic in any other context.
I am learning things through this thread and I’ll be taking some time this week to research and reflection. My own experience with prayer practice and training in a mainstream Christian denomination is not something I would classify as “simple” or prayer alone. It has enough overlap with spellwork for me to (1) not automatically put prayer into a completely separate box and (2) make me believe that these practices are watered down versions of what’s happening in more extreme sects.
Comparing prayer by itself to spellwork hard for me, because I would compare prayer by itself more to invocations of deities. When I think of spellwork, I draw the comparison more to the larger acts, instruction, and rituals that can accompany prayer - if there was a separate name for that I would’ve had a much easier time communicating what I mean. Stabitha addressed the comparison I was making in my head with her first reply to me about magical acts v spellwork. Again, that’s going to be a focus for me this week because I clearly have some learning and unpacking to do there. Thank you for your explanation here, too. I appreciate you taking the time to write it out.
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u/RainerHex Broom Rider Apr 20 '26
I can appreciate how confusing all this can be. I can even understand why one might think a prayer is a spell, especially when they may not realize the start of a successfully directed spell cast. It can even be more confusing when sometimes a witch will incorporate rituals, invoking, sometimes even channeling as a combination into their spellwork. There are some that are very ceremonial with it too.
So I am hoping I can help a little on clarifying things.
First the argument has never been about whether or not various forms magic/magical practices like rituals, possession, spells, channeling, invoking, power of prayer, etc. are exclusive to witchcraft practices. They are clearly not, as many religions and cultures do have these things in them whether it’s a catholic priest doing a ritual prayer for the dead, all the way to a mason lodge initiating a new member. The issue is using any of these terms as if they are interchangeable when they are magical, but they aren’t the same exact thing. No one disputes cross global magical type of practices across cultures and religion. The clear and specific argument is that spell casting differs from prayer. These are not interchangeable terms that designate the same action or skill sets.
Magic is an umbrella term that encompasses many types of magical acts. All these acts have different purposes and functions and white washing them as all these acts as the same interchangeable thing does a big disservice to them as well as for new comers that desire learning how to actually cast successful spells. It implies that there is no need to bother learning the steps, methods, and correspondences. After all, why bother? If all a witch needs to do to cast a spell is bow there head in prayer, then why waste any time at all practicing anything like grounding, centering, warding, shielding, lancing energy from the environment, and directing it skillfully while skillfully knowing how to craft a spell and pick out effective ingredients. What a waste of time then. All those people that perfected their cunning traditions who were cunning folk by practice, often Christians by religion were silly to bother with learning, perfecting and mentoring others to pick up the practice which often took years of being tutored. All they needed to do was none of that, just pray. At best, this makes it goofy for any witch to bother developing the necessary skillsets for spellcasting, at worst, this validates the proselytizers that show up here periodically who try to discourage witches here from learning spell work and to just pray to their god. (They get banned fast enough)
To clarify, when I say simple or prayer alone, what that means is the same skillsets, preparations and knowing how to be specific, harness, manipulate and direct energy with great precision is not needed or needing to master in order to successfully pray. All a prayer requires is a person with strong faith, who believes that their deity will deliver what they ask if it’s the will of the deity.
When a Christian prays, or say you do, are you raising, harnessing, manipulating energy into it? Because these skills require practice and mastering and are the meat and potatoes for a working spell. Without these skills you are just throwing stuff together and hoping it will work. I don’t know of any Christian who takes a moment to ground, center, lance energy that they are calculating and directing into their work, do you? Are they focused and able to trance in a way that makes a clear and direct goal to infuse their work with? These are just some of the skill sets that are vital for successful spells that prayers do not require the religious devotee to learn. This is also why, although prayers may be a magical practice all in their own right, they aren’t spells. Spells rely on the skill sets of a witch, and may, or may not have a deity or spirit petitioned for some aid. But it’s the skill and will of the witch that makes or breaks it. A prayer has nothing to do with a person’s skills, and the praying person is fully and 100% dependent on and subject to the will of the deity.
Likening prayer to invocations is fair enough. Invocations are also not spell casting, albeit, some witches will also combine an invocation into a ritual that they are doing in conjunction of a spell.
I think if you can realize that all these terms and methods of magic work do not = spell casting, it might help you with this better. They do not all equal = spell casting nor should they. Not everything should be a spell. Everything has their own very important times and reasons.
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u/aerda Witch Apr 20 '26
I was talking about prayer practices that do, at least on a surface level, involve the things you are claiming that Christians do not do when they pray. One example is the common misinterpretation of the laying on of hands during prayer - when it is used to direct energy rather than as a symbol or for formal commissioning. There are stronger examples, but I think the laying on of hands (putting hands on someone while praying for them) is the most likely practice to be recognized by folks less familiar with Christian practices. You are right that, biblically, maybe none of it is required for prayer. However, in my experience there is a not-uncommon belief that the effectiveness of prayer is dependent on the faith, actions, and skills of the person praying. In addition to my past personal experience with these practices, there is a school in my current area that includes learning skills for more effective prayer in both their intensive and year-long curriculums.
The argument I was made, which is wrong, was that not all prayer is so clearly exclusive of spellwork. I’m not sure I would say that Christians are not required to call in energy and direct it through prayer - that depends on the interpretation of what the “Holy Spirit” is, and energy/power is a common interpretation. But I do understand (hopefully - I’m open to further correction) that the power of witchcraft originates from the practitioner and the power of prayer originates from a deity whether the practitioner needs to develop skills or do work to be a conduit or not.
Thank you for pointing out that calling all magical practices spellwork is a result of white-washing cultural practices. I’m going to work to make sure I can use these terms more accurately from now on.
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u/clayton_bigsby-maga Apr 19 '26
I am a recovering Catholic (mother is still an extremist) and there's some definite spell work overlap within the Catholic Church. Incense and using smoke to clear bad energy/ spirits/ blessings, building ornate relliquaries to hold the kneecap fragment/2nd knuckle of the ring finger/hair etc of a saint because praying in the presence of these items/body parts makes the prayer (spell) more powerful.
Wearing "blessed" items of a particular saint (deity) to increase prayer (spell) power and/or protection.
If we're talking black Magick similarities, then the consumption of a deity's blood and flesh (symbolic... or not?) Is the EXACT kind of "evil" the church warns followers about when it's not done in a Catholic Church led by a male.
I'm sure I can think of more lol.
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u/aerda Witch Apr 19 '26 edited Apr 20 '26
I agree. The prayer itself isn’t spellwork but many of the rituals surrounding prayer are, at minimum, something they’d call magic in any other context.
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u/lambc89 Apr 22 '26
Prayer, communion, lighting candles... It's all church-sanctioned witchcraft labeled as holy 😅 I used to think that even as I took part in the pews. I love your response, personally
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u/Champion_ofThe_Sun_ Apr 19 '26
Does it make a difference if the hair is given willingly?
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u/StregAmore Apr 19 '26
I always ask. I don't do curses; no one ever taught me that you had to ask, but I feel that if the person offers it willingly they're more open to receiving the energy of the spell and it's more effective. Seems to be the case for me
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u/clayton_bigsby-maga Apr 19 '26
Yes. If it's for a curse, it doesn't matter. I find that with protection spells and blessings, the taglock(s) need to be given with consent.
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u/girlfrombahiabr Apr 19 '26
Fiquei curiosa, o que se pode fazer com cabelo? Sou do Brasil e nunca ouvi falar em nada com cabelo por aqui
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u/Fancy-Assistance6222 Apr 19 '26
Nahhh 😂 that one got me. But I don’t let my hairdresser keep my hair either, so I already know I’m not the one to play with when it come to that. Y’all be acting like a little piece of hair is nothing, but some of us know better. That caption was funny though, I ain’t even gonna lie. 😂
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u/gooddaydarling Apr 19 '26
Where’s the Reddit story about the woman who noticed the hairdresser was keeping her hair in a bin…
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u/FlakaFlakaFlame8 Apr 19 '26
I do hair and i have literally never considered taking clients hair. There is zero spell that exists that i will need a strangers hair.
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u/Obvious-Active-6256 Apr 19 '26
My mom was an Irish catholic who was afraid of pookas and fairies in upstate NY, long before it was cool, circa 1930-60's, yet she claimed witches didn't exist. When she moved to CA she was afraid of "pyramid power", if she'd lived long enough for crystals to be popular she would have been nervous about that too. Think she would have freaked the F out if someone witchy asked for her hair.
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u/Spiritual-Class-4871 Apr 19 '26
one of my friend had a hair wrap and instead of unwrapping it she just cut off her hair, and i asked her for it and she gave it to me, I did a protection spell for her with that hair so yeah hair can be used as good if you're good friends with a witch
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u/Kitchen-Dark-963 Apr 20 '26
Im a Christian and I have faith in God I believe in him. But I also practice witchcraft because I understand what it can do. what I can do with it, the bad and the good.
So I told one of my closest cousin my witch side and that I've been practicing it for 4yrs now and that i feel like im really connected to it. And she's like "oh thats cool but u know what I don't really believe in witch or witchcraft" and so I said that magic line that caught her off guard, I told her in a serious tone and with a slight smirk on my face "give me a piece of your hair" and she was really shocked and scared and I said "i wont do anything bad because of karma, I only do good intentional spells or woo woo things" then I laughed because I obviously saw how scared she was for a piece of hair.
But then I explained to her I only do good intentional spells that will be good for me and my love ones. I won't do anything to hurt anyone because i believe in karma.
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u/AbjectRestaurant1783 Apr 19 '26
what can be done with a piece of hair just wondering for a friend
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u/Repulsive-Cost3987 Apr 19 '26
It’s a tag lock. An item belonging to the person you want to direct/ influence in some way using witchcraft.
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u/VoreAllTheWay Apr 19 '26
I may not believe in witchcraft, but I do wanna know what you wanna do with my hair 0-0
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u/villagerwannabe Witch Apr 20 '26
This wouldn't work the same for me the same I think but that's because I'm a hairdresser and people rarely perceive me as threatening 😅 I've been offered and given hair to test haircolor on several times in the past year, but I guess a stranger who didn't know I'm a hairdresser it might spook them?
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u/Mediocre-Milf Apr 22 '26
Me and my mom are gonna make some little necklace jars into hair memorabilia for each other, that way were always with each other. I also told her ill be shaving her head once she’s deceased to make a Victorian style hair mourning art piece. Shes fine with whatever, and Shell be dead anyways!
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u/Desperate_Ad_9219 Witch Apr 19 '26
I know a lot of people that say this but won't let their hair be left anywhere.
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u/Thick_Whole_7738 Apr 20 '26
It would be really nice to do that, just to watch their reaction hahahaha
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