{"id":22375,"date":"2025-09-25T09:09:53","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T14:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/?p=22375"},"modified":"2025-09-25T09:09:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T14:09:53","slug":"witchcraft-the-misunderstood-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/2025\/09\/25\/witchcraft-the-misunderstood-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Witchcraft: The Misunderstood Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">When you think of witchcraft, what do you think of? Magical, fantastical sorcerers from popular media? Or perhaps evil, animal-sacrificing women who defy the rules of morality? Neither is correct when looking at witches in our real world. So what is a witch?<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559731&quot;:720,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-22377\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2-300x232.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"232\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2-300x232.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2.jpeg 736w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Well, despite the sexism that history holds, anyone, regardless of age, religion, or gender identity, can be a witch and practice witchcraft. Witchcraft, or the practice of magick, is at its core, performing rituals to connect with spiritual and unseen energies to achieve a desired outcome. Typically, it is associated with folk magic and can be a part of certain religions, such as Wicca or Paganism. While people often think of rituals as being evil and malicious, many are just everyday things we do for good luck or prosperity. For example, praying to angels, praying for your dead ancestors, and manifesting things through positive words like \u201cI will get this job\u201d are all examples of magick and rituals. They are just listed under different names and religions. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-22378\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1.jpeg 736w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The reason why the practice of magick is so frowned upon is because of old, misogynistic beliefs and popular media. Due to women questioning Christian teachings and outrage about how women were treated, influential people saw this as a challenge to their authority and thus claimed the Devil had possessed and influenced these feeble-minded women. Media, even today, depicts female casters as evil and powerful. Think of the Wizard of Oz, or witches in Halloween culture. All of it is just a way to put down non-Christian beliefs and women.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-22379\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/3-240x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/3-240x300.jpeg 240w, https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/3.jpeg 736w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 240px) 85vw, 240px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Some ways I like to personally practice are through color magick, tarot readings, and positive affirmations. Black, for example, is a protective color and is most used due to its protection. Yellow attracts positivity and joy, and brown is security, warmth, and a foundational color. Tarot readings help me better communicate with myself and delve deeper into my subconscious. I also love practicing stitch and knot magic, weaving intentions and goals into my work brings me a sense of fulfillment. It\u2019s a self-care way I like to invite positivity into my life.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When you think of witchcraft, what do you think of? Magical, fantastical sorcerers from popular media? Or perhaps evil, animal-sacrificing women who defy the rules of morality? Neither is correct when looking at witches in our real world. So what is a witch?\u00a0 Well, despite the sexism that history holds, anyone, regardless of age, religion, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/2025\/09\/25\/witchcraft-the-misunderstood-practice\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Witchcraft: The Misunderstood Practice&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22375"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22375"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22380,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22375\/revisions\/22380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}