This week’s Magick Monday is less spell and more reflection. Naturally, I’ll throw a magickal tip or two your way, but there’s something that I wanted to talk about. Humor.
Sometimes I feel humor is lost in the witchcraft and Pagan communities. Sure, we have our fair share of funny people hanging around and people who crack a joke or two here and there, but often it seems that people in the spiritual community end up taking themselves far too seriously.
Although there is a bright spot in the current magickal community…@occultivities.
A handful of years ago I ducked out of the Pagan community. This overly serious nature of so many people was a big reason why. I was sick of all the armchair academics who couldn’t crack a smile if their life depended on it. I was sick of everything having to be a proverbial pissing contest about who knows more, who’s more skilled, and who can one-up the next person.
I’ll never forget this one thing that happened when I was in a coven back in the early 2000s. We would always have a big potluck after our rituals…ALL of our rituals. Our High Priestess made a big deal of wanting everyone to be close like family. But one night after a full moon ritual that apparently didn’t quite go as she wanted, things took a nasty turn during our dinner.
A handful of us were sitting together in a back corner of the dining room eating and talking about TV. We were getting a bit loud, admittedly, laughing and joking about some reality show that I can’t even remember now. She came over and sat with us and said, somewhat stern-faced, “What’s so funny?” We started to tell her what we were talking about and she interrupted us quickly and said “Well, that’s nice that you have time for things like that. I’m too busy serving the Goddess and creating these rituals to give my energy to things like television.”
Uh, OK then.
She sat with us for a few more minutes and then she got up and went to the main table in the room and called everyone to come sit with her because she wanted to talk to us. Within five minutes what was a happy and fun dinner with everyone laughing and having fun conversations turned into a super serious discussion about service, sacrifice, and spiritual priorities.
A few people who were pretty new to the Craft went home that night feeling very upset and confused about what it was that they were supposed to be doing with their lives if they were going to be witches. Are they not allowed to have fun? Are they not allowed to have hobbies? Does everything have to be about ritual, magick, and service to the Gods?
I always feel particularly bad for people that have these experience when they’re just starting out. I know it turns some people away, and if they don’t have the confidence to be a solitary practitioner they often just leave the Craft completely. And that’s unfortunate.
Then there are of course the online debates about knowledge and practice, which I’ve always found just so ridiculous. I’ve never had a conversation in real face-to-face life like I have been pulled into online when it comes to things like this. People suddenly become super knowledgeable about everything under the sun when they’re hiding behind a screen with Google at their fingertips!
For me personally, I found myself (and still find myself now) being given shit by “holier than thou” people in the community who disagreed with my personal interests outside of magick and spirituality.
“How can you like horror movies but be spiritual? How can you support depictions of pain like that?”
“How can you play videos games and inflict violence on others? Doesn’t it bother you to even pretend to do things like that? You know that isn’t all pretend, don’t you?”
“Why do you spend so much energy and money on superficial things like makeup and fashion? You know none of that stuff makes a difference in who you are spiritual, right?”
And to all of those things, I said…and still say…
Fuck that!
Horror movies aren’t real. Are there people that do things like that in the world? Yes! But horror movies aren’t inspiring me to go out and create my own human centipede (which, for the record, I’ve never seen because even as a horror fan I do have some limits).
Video games aren’t real. I’ve never once felt the need to go out and shoot people or blow up cars because of a game I’ve been playing (currently I have 119 hours invested in FarCry5 and I’ve loved it…still don’t want to kill anybody).
I spend money and time on things like makeup and luxury accessories and whatnot because I actually believe in the magickal power (yes, magickal power) of how you look and how you feel. If you’ve never felt the power of a bold red lip, you’re doing yourself a disservice!
I enjoy these things and many others because they bring me joy. They may not bring you joy and that’s OK. We all have our personal tastes when it comes to what adds happiness to our lives. What brings you joy may not bring me joy and vice versa.
But at the end of the day what matters is that you do have something that brings you joy!
Being a witch, being Pagan, being spiritual of any kind regardless of what path you walk requires balance. Part of that balance includes the balance or light and heavy energy…or what you might be inclined to say are light and dark energies. Yes, there is a lot of serious stuff out there to deal with on a daily basis but that’s all the more reason to add some lightness to your life.
How you choose to do that is totally up to you but you need to remember to do it. Being really serious all the time and treating things that might seem mundane and pointless in the scope of your spiritual practice as having no value is ridiculous.
“All acts of love and pleasure are my rituals.”
What part of that have we forgotten, misinterpreted or overanalyzed?
If you find yourself feeling a bit too serious in your practice or just in your life in general, it’s time to do a little reflecting and a little uplifting. Here are some simple things you can do to shift this energy.
God Check
If you’re spending all your time focused on absolutely every little thing you do is driven by some need to always be in service to the Gods, you may want to consider adding some lighter deities to your personal pantheon! Are the Gods that you are most deeply connected to “heavy” energies? If you work with a specific pantheon of Gods find someone in there that is connected to the sun, happiness, heart space, joy, and creativity.
Smudge Your Space
Sometimes just simply smudging and clearing your space can be enough to life that heavy energy. If you’ve been dealing with a lot of stress, sadness, or loss this can be the first step to lifting those vibes.
Take a Mental Vacation
Pick a day to literally go on a mental vacation. This should be a day where whatever it is that you normally do that puts you in a serious headspace is just not going to be part of your day. Whether this is magickal stuff or not, whatever it is you’ll have a day where you go off and do something else that isn’t that. For some people, it might simply be a day staying off the internet so you aren’t tempted to get pulled into some silly spiritual debates or maybe you keep the news off for the day.
Wear Some Uplifting Oils
A little aromatherapy always does us some good. Uplifting oils like sweet orange, tangerine, lemon, and lime can be excellent to clear out the stuff that is weighing you down. You can wear them, diffuse them, or make a little potpourri with them. A fun craft is to dry out some sliced oranges and lemons and then once dry add them to some dried rose petals. Mix them together with some of these oils and keep it somewhere nearby to add a little joy to your space.
Heal The Heart
Most of us know about the Heart Charka, located in the center of the chest and often associated with the colors pink or green. But there is a secondary chakra point here, the High Heart, that we sometimes ignore. When we heal the Heart Chakra taking time to also put focus on healing the High Heart is important. The High Heart Chakra, also sometimes called the Thymus Chakra, is located between your Throat Chakra and your Heart Chakra, about four fingers below your collarbone. It helps to bridge the Throat and Heart energies and is a center point between the upper and lower chakras. When it is balanced we are able to be connected to the spiritual realm while also being rooted and grounded in the everyday. It also helps us to speak from the heart more fully. I love simply laying down and placing an Anyolite (aka Ruby in Zoisite) on it and meditating on healing.
Do Something You Did As A Kid
This last one, and the most simple one is to go and do something you loved to do as a kid. Simply think back to before you got into these bouts of serious mindset and think about what you used to like doing that brought you joy. It doesn’t matter how silly you think it is today. You’ll be amazed at how it changes your energy and your view of the world to indulge in that once again.
At the end of the day just remember that there is a lot of serious stuff going on around us in the world on a daily basis. There’s no need to add to that by denying yourself joy, silliness or lighthearted fun and feeling like magickal or spiritual service means being serious 24/7.
Lighten up! The Gods don’t mind.
so much yes to this.