Type in “the use of technology in witchcraft” in Google and you get roughly 5,700,00 hits – admittedly this is because Google picks up on the different words and then throws up websites that mention them in any form or shape, but I’ve been thinking about the use of technology in witchcraft, and the impact technology has had our lives.
I mentioned in my first blog about how I came across the Kitchen Witches through a certain social networking website. Not only had I stumbled across something that finally made sense to me, but I’d also discovered a wealth of information, a pathway of studying and lots of like-minded individuals who meet offline and online regularly – oh hurray a social life!
This got me thinking if I would have even stumbled across such a jackpot in spiritual wellbeing if it wasn’t for technology. Unfortunately I think not! I wasn’t even aware there was such a vibrant community of Pagans in Hampshire before I found them through the computer. To be fair before I found this particular place in the spiritual community, even with the internet it was a lonely isolated place, I guess my path really came to life when I found others.
However, the internet had helped me figure out who I was at a time when I really wasn’t sure and I sure as hell wasn’t fulfilled. It had steered me correctly! By going online from the protection of my home I was able to order books to read and read and read, I remember buying all of the recommended reads on one particular site and devouring them gladly. It had allowed me to order supplies when I genuinely thought I needed to have all of the fancy tools. It had allowed me to research different ideas and had taken me in many different directions and it had allowed me to find sacred sites to visit across the UK and in other countries on my holidays.
Recently I was watching a new episode of The Simpsons on Sky1, it was an episode with a theme on promises in relationships, and then later that week I watched an episode of Masters of Sex where the theme was the breakup of a marriage due to neglect in the bedroom. Without going too much into my personal life BOTH of these themes rang true with me and led me down the path of reconsidering my relationships. Was this a message from the divine to look deeper at something I had glossed over again or was it a huge co-incidence?
Last weekend I was due to attend an online study circle around the element of Air, I was doing it anyway but right at the last moment I noticed I needed some supplies for a spell, so I gathered them as quick as I could. It turned out to be a creativity spell… now my mind has been like the national grid throwing out literally thousands of kilo watts of ideas for this blog! I couldn’t get any order to it – this spell came at the perfect time to help me! Again, was this the divine working in mysterious ways and guiding me to take part? And would I have found or thought of such a spell to do if I hadn’t taken part? Probably not!
Have you ever gone on to the internet and stumbled across someone having shared something that touched your very heart? Something you needed to read/hear/see at that very moment? So much so you felt the need to share it with your friends and family in hopes to touch someone else’s heart? Yep me too! Is this another dimension to receiving messages from the divine to guide us on our journey?
These are just some of the incidences of technology touching my spiritual path in a not so obvious way, and there’s no doubt that it has made our lives easier.
The founding and harnessing of electricity has produced stoves for brewing and cooking replacing the humble cauldron over the hearth fire.
The car has made pilgrimages to sacred sites more accessible and lots quicker than the horse and cart.
Small businesses and even mass production dare I say it have given the modern witch access to many exotic and not so exotic supplies as opposed to only being able to forage for locally (which I love but I don’t see a huge supply of Tiger’s Eye crystal at my local park!!)
The use of word processing and email has made studying in witchery possible - I don’t think our elders would appreciate us practically moving in with them for a year or so!!
You certainly cannot deny that technology has had an impact. I’ve pretty much picked out all of the best bits of how technology has shaped my path and even my life for the better. I don’t forget though that the need for oil to fuel our lives is wrecking our planet, the need to be online and connected every minute of the day is screwing with our natural cycles, fast food and convenience are both destroying our bodies, and pollution and industry are wreaking havoc with our atmosphere.
Many moons ago, technology and witchcraft were both banned by the church, but yet within the last year it has been announced that the Pope; head of the modern Catholic church had joined twitter and now followers of this faith may feel they have a closer connection to their divine god, being able to tweet to his appointed mouth piece! Technology flourished while witchcraft went underground… it did not match what was thought to be “right”.
Witchcraft to me is essentially a practice, connecting us with Mother Nature, using her bounty and celebrating her. Witches are usually healing folks; we aren’t considered the forefront of modern technology. The cunning folk and wise people of our ancestors however, now that’s something else! They brewed potions and made medicines to heal the sick, and they WERE seen at the forefront of modern technology for their time. The magic of herbs roots and pulses, and the technology of mixing and blending them correctly came together to create something truly magical.
To this day pharmacists and medical research teams use the magic of natural ingredients and technological advancement to further our medical knowledge – witchcraft? Nope… but based on a practice that would have been seen as such!
The Neanderthal that discovered fire would have been seen as advanced, enabling the cooking and eating of meat – witchcraft? Nope…. survival! But no doubt they would have been seen as magical.
More and more people are turning to natural practices to better their lives, are we reverting to a more magical time? Yeah in a way! Are they all witches? No, not at all! But you know what they are walking a path that has magical roots… Magic, Witchcraft and Technology, they have their failing, they have their benefits and more increasingly they are wandering the path side by side.
