How TikTok's Spiritualists Have Ruined Witchcraft
With the rise in popularity of the social media app, TikTok, has come the cultivation of a multitude of nuances within the witchcraft community. Certain users have subscribed to a variety of content referred to as ‘witchtok’, or spiritual, occult, and witchcraft related media. Within this media, heterosexual white women are at the forefront of spreading information regarding ‘witchtok’ practices. The voices of queer, black, and indigenous individuals are actively silenced on the app as falsified information is spread about a variety of occult practices.
Not only is cultural appropriation within the ‘witchtok’ community a major issue, but these ‘witchtokers’ are actively discounting the voices and history of those witches who are actually educated on the topic at hand. Throughout history, witches have been actively persecuted and murdered for their involvement in the occult as it directly goes against the teachings of several Christianic religions. For these ‘witchtokers’ to share their so-called experience with witchcraft in a way that spreads misinformation and endangers many BIPOC individuals and beginner witches, they merely act as a vessel for an extravagant display of white privilege. Before proposing a solution to this ever-growing phenomena that is ‘witchtok’, let us address just how harmful these creators are.
Not long ago, a variety of individuals on ‘witchtok’ created a campaign to put a hex, or a curse, on powerful forest spirits referred to as the Fae. These fairies, or Fae, have a deeply-rooted history in Celtic folklore and religion for being mischievous tricksters. Beginner witches are advised to avoid interactions with such spirits as they will typically be taken advantage of. Interacting with the Fae in an uneducated manner, in turn, often leads to a string of bad luck not dissimilar to the superstition behind breaking a mirror. Later, this same group of ‘witchtokers’ decided to attempt to hex the moon which has another powerful Goddess linked to it in a variety of polytheistic religions. Upon hearing about this, Jaya Saxena, author of the book Basic Witches, stated, “[they] have magical or supernatural powers that will ‘most likely hex you back, and are probably more powerful than you’” (Dickson). To one who does not believe in the supernatural, this sounds like the ramblings of an insane individual, which is completely fine. However, the point of ‘witchtok’ giving the occult community a bad wrap is only furthered. Witches have often been viewed as insanely schizophrenic women by society rather than the powerful soul-searching individuals that they truly are. With fake and uneducated witches posing as the face of the witchcraft community, a false narrative is being spread.
More worrying than witches being viewed in a negative light is the constant cultural appropriation that ‘witchtok’ masks behind sparkly crystals and incense. Terms made common by the ‘witchtok’ community have been borrowed from the practices of BIPOC witchcraft. For example, the study of chakras comes specifically from South Asia’s Hinduism, but chakra oils and alignments have become mainstream though many do not know their history. Additionally, it was illegal in America for Native American tribes to practice smudging, or smoke-cleansing, up until 1978. Sacred items like white sage and Palo Santo could only be passed down ritualistically within private communities, and they are now considered closed practices. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to see these items sold in a Sephora and endorsed by ‘witchtok’. According to Mashable, “Over-harvesting to meet the demands of the trendiness is making white sage increasingly inaccessible to Native communities” (Joho). Mashable also points out that the term ‘gypsy’, a racial slur targeted at Roma witches, is “now used by countless brands to market a bohemian look through fortune-telling and crystals” (Joho). Black ancestral ritualist Aurora Luna points out, “‘People of color are frustrated because there’s lots of cool European traditions that are, if not alive and well, definitely researchable…People get hostile because we had to fight to keep our tradition’”(Joho).
To further display their massive privilege, ‘witchtok’ takes pieces from a variety of witchcraft religions without knowing about the struggles behind them. A variety of African and Indigenous forms of witchcraft have completely died out due to colonization. For example, “the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé is no longer illegal, but still actively persecuted by an evangelical Christian movement that denounces their worship as demonic” (Joho). Because stores like Barnes and Noble are now keeping a stock of tarot and oracle cards, big businesses are forcing smaller occult stores out of business. Often, smaller occult stores are owned by minorities who have an involvement with the specific items they sell, like Black witches selling Hoodoo tools or Latine witches carrying Brujeria items. These people are so passionate about their craft that they rely on it as their primary source of income. They are not just a capitalist monopoly that churns out low quality appropriated items. According to The Gazette, “[Witches] value environmentalism. Despite this, fast fashion colonizers stole symbols and tools from environmentally conscious practitioners and pumped them out at breakneck speed” (Cichon).
What can we do to counteract these ‘witchtokers’ then? For one, providing more information in schools about the history of witchcraft would help lessen the amount of misinformation that has been spread. Many students’ only experience with the occult is through the lens of the misogynistic Salem witch trials, but even that is only talked about for about thirty minutes in the span of a school year. We need to be teaching students about other religions as well as the long history of colonization in the witchcraft community. Because public schooling is paid for by taxes, they are highly unlikely to add some sort of occult-related lesson into their curriculum. However, private schools and college universities have more freedom with the classes they are allowed to offer. By attending school board meetings and openly advocating for the occult, schools will be more likely to shift their views.
While urging schools to up their education for the history of witchcraft, getting TikTok to stop censoring BIPOC voices should be at the forefront. As priorly mentioned, white ‘witchtokers’ greatly overshadow the experiences of other minority witches. White individuals should raise awareness for such an issue, without overshadowing the experiences of other groups, to provide room for a platform on which BIPOC witches can speak. What this means is resharing BIPOC content as well as liking and commenting under their videos. On the flip side, it is up to fellow educated witches to comment under these white ‘witchtok’ videos stating why the information they provide is harmful and false.
Additionally, Google has a long history of making witchcraft resources difficult to find. Upon searching for witchcraft materials, typically Halloween decorations are the first to load onto the page. Any witchcraft books or blogs that are listed on Amazon as historical are written from a white colonist perspective, but even those are nearly impossible to find through the various stories on the Salem witch trials and fake spellbooks. The best place to find actual concrete resources regarding witchcraft would be at a legitimate occult store. Such places often have ethically sourced, non-appropriated, and even vegan materials to use in one’s craft. Because companies like Urban Outfitters advertise spiritual items so prominently, many of these true occult stores are going out of business. Certain stores that advocate for BIPOC witchcraft, like The Hoodoo Society and Ancestral Apothecary, are greatly overshadowed by big businesses. Occult stores are owned by real witches who care so intensely about their practice that they have made an entire career out of it. BIPOC owned occult stores are the reason why such spiritual practices like Brujeria and Hoodoo are still relevant today. Supporting and crediting these witches of color are absolutely crucial.
The only way to put an end to ‘witchtok’s’ cycle of falsification is to actively call them out. We must take it upon ourselves to correct others and explain why certain ideologies are wrong. Stop using white sage and Palo Santo for your aesthetic TikTok videos, stop purchasing tarot decks from Walmart, and stop overshadowing BIPOC voices. Support the witches who are educated and truly care about the craft that they practice. Listen to Black and Latine witches about the histories of Hoodoo and Brujeria culture. Most importantly, support local occult businesses.
Works Cited
Cichon, Bailey. “The issue with commodifying witchcraft”. The Gazette. 13 June 2021.
https://www.thegazette.com/opinion/the-issue-with-commodifying-witchcraft/
Dickson, EJ. “Why Are People Angry at Witches on TikTok”. Rolling Stone. 20 July 2020.
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/witch-tiktok-moon-twitter-controversy-1031433/
Joho, Jess and Morgan Sung. “How to be a witch without stealing other people’s cultures”.
Mashable. 31 October 2020. https://mashable.com/article/witchtok-problematic-witch-cultural-appropriation
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