#this has been a psa from your cranky neighborhood goose

[queer-tech-seer]

tip for those who struggle with building up their grimoire:

I'm rebuilding/reworking my own grimoire atm and, in poking around for inspiration here and there, I've seen a bit of a trend regarding indexes and tables of contents.

A lot of posts for Beginner Witches have looong lists of things you Absolutely Must(TM) include in your grimoire. These read almost like a super extensive syllabus that covers what seems like every topic under the sun, and are, quite frankly, completely unnecessary.

This is a friendly reminder that you don't have to include anything in your grimoire that you don't want to.

Not interested in astrology? No problem. Don't include it.

Don't work with herbs or crystals? Why spend time writing notes on them, then?

Don't celebrate Wiccan holidays? No need to include info on the Wheel of the Year.

etc etc.

Part of the reason why I never finished my last couple grimoires were the fact that I felt pressured to write extensive entries on things I wasn't interested in, or on things I already knew and thought redundant to include. I had dozens upon dozens of unfinished pages, and the knowledge that I was expected to write things on each of them filled me with such anxiety and dread that I just... stopped opening my notebook up altogether.

This time around, however, I'm taking a different approach to my grimoire. I have limited time and energy to commit to my craft, and I'd rather not spend it on shit I didn't really care about. In my new grimoire, I have not and never intend to include notes on the 'basics', or overviews of every pantheon and every deity, or summaries of the different types of witches or spells or what have you. I'm including only what I think is important to me.

Your grimoire is supposed to be your personal journal, documenting not only the things you've learned but the things you're actually interested in. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do research -- it's very important to expand your education, especially regarding different worldviews and outlooks to your own. But!!

Don't feel like you've got to write an encyclopaedia, or produce a textbook for future generations to consult, because that isn't the point.

[queer-tech-seer]

i s2g if i see another picture of matt smith as a bottle blond in the daemonism tag im gonna mcfricken lose it. no matter how many damn tags related to GoT or HotD i block, they still keep popping up.

Friendly reminder that common Tumblr etiquette is to not co-opt existing tags. #daemonism is already in use, and is being actively used. Daemon Targaryen has a perfectly acceptable tag - #DaemonTargaryen

[queer-tech-seer]

PSA: if a community is charging you for access to common or 'traditional' knowledge, or for 'initiation' into their exclusive group, they're SCAMMING YOU

This post is mainly aimed at the witchy and pagan side of tumblr, but it probably applies elsewhere as well.

Someone wrote a reply to one of my earlier posts that seemed... off, to me, so I checked out their blog and discovered that they are apparently a 'student' of an exclusive 'finishing school of witchcraft' claiming to teach 'traditional witchcraft'. This supposed school charges a subscription fee of $30/month for access to its content, its fancy mobile app, as well as 'access' to their coven, though there is a free option that allows you to take one class per month. It is run by someone claiming to be a hereditary witch, but they refuse to share any other details about themselves or their practice that might verify this claim, not even an internet pseudonym. The curriculum is basically built upon information you can easily find on any Witchcraft 101 Masterpost.

Those are big marinara red flags! It's very obvious that

So, here are some tips in which you can protect yourself from predatory scams like the one i described above:

Always be wary and skeptical of groups that want to charge you for access to their supposed exclusive knowledge or community, but are not transparent about what that exclusive knowledge is.

Especially those claiming to teach traditional or cultural practices, or claiming to be the 'only place' you can learn these things. I know we all are a bit intrigued by secret societies and all (or want to learn magick from a school, like in Harry Potter), but you should be able to vet them and verify their supposed credentials. If it were truly a group dedicated to the sharing of knowledge, they would not be requiring you to pay a monthly subscription fee. This resembles something a cult would do.

Beware of groups who are being run by some shady mysterious stranger!

So, obviously, on the internet, we all adopt pseudonyms to go by to protect our real identities, and so technically most groups we join are headed by someone we don't know in RL. BUT. When an 'exclusive' group alleging to teach a specific pathway (such as traditional hereditary witchcraft, which is basically a closed practice) has no other information about what that pathway even is, or who the person running the show is, ESPECIALLY if they want to charge you money.

All of this stuff they 'teach' can be easily found via a quick internet search

Yes, all of it. Even the 'traditional' witchcraft -- because I can guarantee you that the person running the show doesn't have the magic pedigree they claim to have. All of the information is probably readily available -- via the internet, via books you can get from any book retailer or library, or via your local witchcraft/pagan groups who will gladly share it with you for free.

Listen. I get that some baby witches have to practice on the down-low, or otherwise cannot easily access physical resources or attend in-person groups. I also get that baby witches sometimes have no idea where to even start when they begin their journey into the mystical arts, and might find a seemingly formal witchy education appealing (especially when it claims to be 'traditional'). However, don't get swindled by grifters looking to take advantage of your lack of knowledge! There are so many different types of witchcraft out there, and you really don't need to pay a monthly subscription fee in order to learn about them.