Oh, Thighra.
So, apparently this week on her talk show, Tyra Banks hosted a show about witchcraft. Of the guests on the show, the only immediately recognizable witch was... Fiona Horne, self-promoter extraordinaire. While I haven't actually seen the show, I gotta say, I'm not particularly surprised. At any rate, she was an example of a "white" witch, and there were also several Satanists / "black" witches. And of course, a Christian ex-witch, for "balance." Because, you know, if Tyra were doing a show on Christianity or Judaism, she'd totally have an ex-Christian or ex-Jew born-again witch on the show, right?
Anyway. There are several big, glaring issues I have with the way that the show presented witchcraft, simply based on screencaps, show promos, and transcripts alone. First-- the sensationalism. Could they have picked more stereotypical "black" witches? For real, one chick looked like she was doing her best Faruza Balk in "The Craft" impression. And of course, the "white" witches were pretty, perky, dressed in light colors. This leads me to my second point. There's no goddamn such thing as a "white" witch or a "black" witch. For starters-- racism, much? Way to play on old stereotypes that white = good and black = bad. Magic itself is inherently neutral-- just as energy itself is inherently neither good nor evil. It is the intent put into the working (as all magic is is using the will and symbolism to create change in the world) that makes a working subjectively good or bad, positive or negative. Key word there: subjectively. Think of it like tofu: magical energy is flavorless, completely amoral, and takes the taste of whatever the practitioner cooks it with. So while you might be a witch with a personal ethical code of positive workings only, that doesn't make you a "white witch." Technically, the only people that make sense being called "white witches" are magical practitioners of the caucasian persuasion and badass alien queens in Narnia.
Furthermore... okay, so some Satanists are witches. That said, Satanism is complex and often misunderstood. Erm, even by some "Satanists" themselves-- they're dealing with an influx of pissed-off teens and ex-Christians using their belief system to shock and justify bad behavior. But that's neither here nor there. If you're going to have the "dispelling myths about Satanism hour," sure-- go ahead with that. But to mix that complex issue in with a larger discussion about magical practitioners in general without deep discussion is just... sloppy. Trying to cram too many things together, and so they overlap and just make a bigger mess. Witchcraft is a practice, while Satanism and Wicca are belief systems. There are many witches of varied religions, and some with no religious affiliation at all. From what I've heard, this distinction is not made.
I was thinking I might try to find a torrent to watch, but I don't know if I can manage to do so without throwing things at the screen, and frankly, I like my cute new laptop. I think I've developed a deep-seated cynicism in regards to anything remotely Pagan in pop culture. It seems to me that whenever the latest High Priestess Pixie Moondrip shovels on every piece of pentacle jewelry she owns and sashays ~*~*mystickally*~*~ in front of a camera these days, I'm left sputtering excuses of, "hey... dude. Not me."
Anyway. There are several big, glaring issues I have with the way that the show presented witchcraft, simply based on screencaps, show promos, and transcripts alone. First-- the sensationalism. Could they have picked more stereotypical "black" witches? For real, one chick looked like she was doing her best Faruza Balk in "The Craft" impression. And of course, the "white" witches were pretty, perky, dressed in light colors. This leads me to my second point. There's no goddamn such thing as a "white" witch or a "black" witch. For starters-- racism, much? Way to play on old stereotypes that white = good and black = bad. Magic itself is inherently neutral-- just as energy itself is inherently neither good nor evil. It is the intent put into the working (as all magic is is using the will and symbolism to create change in the world) that makes a working subjectively good or bad, positive or negative. Key word there: subjectively. Think of it like tofu: magical energy is flavorless, completely amoral, and takes the taste of whatever the practitioner cooks it with. So while you might be a witch with a personal ethical code of positive workings only, that doesn't make you a "white witch." Technically, the only people that make sense being called "white witches" are magical practitioners of the caucasian persuasion and badass alien queens in Narnia.
Furthermore... okay, so some Satanists are witches. That said, Satanism is complex and often misunderstood. Erm, even by some "Satanists" themselves-- they're dealing with an influx of pissed-off teens and ex-Christians using their belief system to shock and justify bad behavior. But that's neither here nor there. If you're going to have the "dispelling myths about Satanism hour," sure-- go ahead with that. But to mix that complex issue in with a larger discussion about magical practitioners in general without deep discussion is just... sloppy. Trying to cram too many things together, and so they overlap and just make a bigger mess. Witchcraft is a practice, while Satanism and Wicca are belief systems. There are many witches of varied religions, and some with no religious affiliation at all. From what I've heard, this distinction is not made.
I was thinking I might try to find a torrent to watch, but I don't know if I can manage to do so without throwing things at the screen, and frankly, I like my cute new laptop. I think I've developed a deep-seated cynicism in regards to anything remotely Pagan in pop culture. It seems to me that whenever the latest High Priestess Pixie Moondrip shovels on every piece of pentacle jewelry she owns and sashays ~*~*mystickally*~*~ in front of a camera these days, I'm left sputtering excuses of, "hey... dude. Not me."