khthoniaa :pinkmoon: on Nostr: npub124fpm…ajtcc I personally haven't seen much merging between the New Age ...
npub124fpmzlf2axueesvk2atllqdnt8v6838zs0tylamkamg93txtulqmajtcc (npub124f…jtcc)
I personally haven't seen much merging between the New Age movement and traditional witchcraft. If anything, it seems like the New Age movement tries to actively separate itself from any practices, like traditional witchcraft, that are more subversive and therefore less open to commodification.
While a lot of New Agers have taken on the "witch" moniker in the past, I've seen it becoming less common among them as they take on less politically-charged terms like "lightworker" or "healer." (I imagine they're distancing themselves from witchcraft to appeal to a liberal Christian demographic that may be open to alt-spirituality but still hold negative perceptions of witchcraft. I wouldn't be surprised if they throw us witches under the bus when it suits them.)
While I do think there are folks within the New Age movement who genuinely believe what they say they do, I agree with some of the other people in this thread that the New Age movement, as a whole, has become heavily commercialized and monopolized the spiritual market. This, I think, has been especially harmful to BIPOC spiritual traditions and other marginalized communities, as the New Age movement doesn't seem to have any boundaries when it comes to which traditions (open or initiatory) from which it "borrows" and "redefines." That being said, the issue of cultural appropriation isn't limited to the New Age movement and can be just as bad amongst witches.
The commodification of witchcraft and spirituality is a major concern of mine. Decommodifying spirituality is crucial to the survival of many traditions, in my opinion. If the stream of knowledge is poisoned with algorithmically-generated garbage and our land is poisoned by the unsustainable harvesting of sacred herbs, resins, crystals, etc., we're screwed.
(Though, as a slight aside, I don't know if I would equate the New Age movement with "love and light." While the slogan is common amongst New Agers, I don't think we should let them co-opt those concepts entirely. A love-centered, pacifistic approach to Witchcraft and/or spirituality isn't inherently New Age.)
I personally haven't seen much merging between the New Age movement and traditional witchcraft. If anything, it seems like the New Age movement tries to actively separate itself from any practices, like traditional witchcraft, that are more subversive and therefore less open to commodification.
While a lot of New Agers have taken on the "witch" moniker in the past, I've seen it becoming less common among them as they take on less politically-charged terms like "lightworker" or "healer." (I imagine they're distancing themselves from witchcraft to appeal to a liberal Christian demographic that may be open to alt-spirituality but still hold negative perceptions of witchcraft. I wouldn't be surprised if they throw us witches under the bus when it suits them.)
While I do think there are folks within the New Age movement who genuinely believe what they say they do, I agree with some of the other people in this thread that the New Age movement, as a whole, has become heavily commercialized and monopolized the spiritual market. This, I think, has been especially harmful to BIPOC spiritual traditions and other marginalized communities, as the New Age movement doesn't seem to have any boundaries when it comes to which traditions (open or initiatory) from which it "borrows" and "redefines." That being said, the issue of cultural appropriation isn't limited to the New Age movement and can be just as bad amongst witches.
The commodification of witchcraft and spirituality is a major concern of mine. Decommodifying spirituality is crucial to the survival of many traditions, in my opinion. If the stream of knowledge is poisoned with algorithmically-generated garbage and our land is poisoned by the unsustainable harvesting of sacred herbs, resins, crystals, etc., we're screwed.
(Though, as a slight aside, I don't know if I would equate the New Age movement with "love and light." While the slogan is common amongst New Agers, I don't think we should let them co-opt those concepts entirely. A love-centered, pacifistic approach to Witchcraft and/or spirituality isn't inherently New Age.)