-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
A feeling... Of sorts.
- Thread starter The Hammer
- Start date
Heyo
Veteran Member
Have you tried the Harris/Crowley Thoth deck? It frequently scares people who don't even know whether they are into spiritualism/witchcraft.
I started with the Thoth deck lmao.
Heyo
Veteran Member
As you know, I'm not spiritual and I have no emotional connection to the cards. I see them just from a logical and psychological point of view. The Thoth deck has, imo, the most consistent use of symbolism and most of all, colour. It is great in explaining the basic principles and when I do (exemplary) readings, I get the most clear reactions. Unfortunately often the reaction is total rejection.
Psalm23
Well-Known Member
I think it gives a bad impression. It is a form of mocking the religions.
Haha... is it bad that I find this more amusing than anything else?
Pop Witchcraft was a thing decades ago and apparently it is in vogue again. I don't read it as anything more than that, personally, but at the same time I can understand the frustration. It's more interesting to consider why it is in vogue again - no doubt some of the regular scholars who study the contemporary Pagan landscape are (or will be) looking into it. Wouldn't surprise me if the reasons of now are similar to the reasons of back when. Contemporary Paganism was always an inherently countercultural movement (at least in the United States) and Witchcraft in particular is an expression of personal (often female) power in times of oppression. Put another way, it wouldn't surprise me if the latest Witch craze relates to heightened attention to social justice issues and the feeling of relative powerlessness many feel to affect change.
That aside, the people running the store know their audience and are doing some smart marketing. People into Witchcraft, the occult, the New Age, and assorted other movements like Halloween as a general rule. It's basically the only mainstream holiday that comes close to acknowledging that people like us - the mystics, the occultists, the spellcasters - actually exist.
I never thought about it that way, to consider why it's become popular. You make some good points. I also didn't realize that pop witchcraft was a thing previously. When was this? I'm curious.
Yeah, Paganism has always had a counterculture undercurrent to it.
Last edited:
Sedim Haba
Outa here... bye-bye!
I really don't know how a book can be costume. Are you going to walk around reading?
Cards, well, hey, you may know some neat card tricks. Should work with any deck.
Sadly, witches are a common part of Halloween tradition, but Wiccan should NOT be.
But a Wiccan I know loves it, and goes all-in. I guess it depends?
Sedim Haba
Outa here... bye-bye!
Sirona
Hindu Wannabe
With all due respect, I would probably say don't take yourself so seriously
. I would say that such items being marketed "openly" is a sign of tolerance and acceptance. A comparable question might be whether the feelings of pagans are hurt when someone fancies a comic book character like Thor. Perhaps, one day, the comic reader may become a real pagan. This may not be likely, but it is possible.As for the second part of your question, the Hare Krishnas probably would be thrilled about any form of mainstream making any kind of reference to them. In an old computer game, Grand Theft Auto 2, they appeared as a criminal mafia gang and they managed to turn this into positive publicity.
Secret Chief
Vetted Member
Similarly...if there's a UK garden centre that doesn't sell statues of the Buddha or Hotei, I've not been in it.
mikkel_the_dane
My own religion
I have the same feeling for the word "philosophy" versus pop and serious philosophy. But that is just me.
rocala
Well-Known Member
I personally find it somewhat inappropriate. It may be "smart marketing" but in the same way I would not like my local pharmacy to be selling sexy nurses outfits.
Thankfully that has not been my experience. Although here in the U.K. halloween is not seen as a mainstream holday. Pagans here do celebrate Samhain but it tends to be a private and uncommercialised affair.
They do that at Walmart.
Heyo
Veteran Member
Around the time "Charmed" was on TV, after Goth was too established. Oh, and re-runs of Buffy also trigger such waves when you see fluffy bunnies hopping all around.
VoidCat
Use any and all pronouns including neo and it/it's
It rubs me slightly the wrong way but...
That is a Spirit Halloween store. They still sell native American costumes which I find offensive. This doesn't surprise me.
VoidCat
Use any and all pronouns including neo and it/it's
I would because I don't want to support their business. However I am usually quite broke. And I know there is no ethical capitalism. Any store I shop at likely will have loads of problems. So I might get candles from there but it's unlikely. Especially as there is not one near by. I'd probably go for Dollar General for candles even tho I dont really like supporting their business either as they support an organization that wishes folks like me dead. That is they support Autism Speaks. But i don't have many options in terms of where to shop being low income and in an area with few places to shop. I will say I'd rather shop at Halloween Spirit if one was near by for ritual candles then at a place that supports an organization that wants autistic folk dead but we don't have a Halloween Spirit.
You might find it tacky and insensitive, but that's because commerce often is. These are retailers, not ideologues. They probably understand very little about what their customers believe. The only message one should take from such a display is that they hope that they can sell these items. If they increase sales, they'll be there next year as well. If they unwittingly offend customers and sales fall, they'll be gone.
RestlessSoul
Well-Known Member
Similarly...if there's a UK garden centre that doesn't sell statues of the Buddha or Hotei, I've not been in it.
Indeed. But you can't find an old fashioned garden gnome anywhere these days.
Secret Chief
Vetted Member
According to the WWF they're classified as Critically Threatened.
Probably the first wave was a bit before my time with the movie "The Craft" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" came out in the 90s. Corners of the online Pagan community were still airing grievances about that when I discovered Paganism in the 00s. Basically whenever there's some popular pop culture movie or TV show that includes Witchcraft in it, the pop craze can happen. I don't keep up on that stuff, but I knew something was up when I went to my local bookstores and was shocked to see the entire New Age section not only in the very front of the store, but with fancy display set up. Then there's also stuff like this I've become aware of:
- Witchtok: The rise of the occult on social media (article from The Conversation)
- What's the deal with Witchtok? (article from USA Today) -> to add, this sort of coverage of Witchcraft by the mainstream media was almost unheard of a couple decades ago
- Number of Witches rises dramatically across the U.S. as millennials reject Christianity (article from Newsweek) -> again, Newsweek? Mainstream coverage and NOT published during Halloween? Wut?