Do I frighten you? Based on even more drama from my YouTube creators support group, I've begun to suspect that I do indeed frighten others.
If you read my last blog or watched my last YouTube vlog, you'll know that some of the members of my YouTube creators support group were specifically excluding all "Tarot" or "Witchy" videos (I'm the only member that seems to create these sort of videos so I suspected that these comments were directed at me).
This group has been helpful to me as I began to take my YouTube channel more seriously in mid-November. My subscriber number as well as my watch hours was finally starting to increase. Just being seen on YouTube amongst the billions of other videos feels a lot like an impossible struggle some days.
My first few weeks with the group were great, but then I noticed the first anti-Tarot post and then another and then even more. I get it. I've never really fit in anywhere. I'm a misfit and I shouldn't be surprised that the "label" still fits even in my adult world. I decided to just plow ahead as I do post videos that have nothing to do with "witchy" things or "Tarot" readings.
I posted a video on a thread that was about working through trauma and making peace with my past. The original poster went apoplectic stating that she would not watch an "occult themed" video. I tagged the admin and they stated that my video was "appropriate". The original poster went on to edit her original post, forbidding any video from a channel with "occult", "Tarot", "witchy" or "alternate spirituality" themes.
If I'd any doubt that I was the target of the "anti-witchy" movement in the group, I no longer had any doubts. What is so threatening about my channel? What is so frightening that even my innocuous art vlog videos cannot be viewed? She stated that she wanted "no hard feelings" with me, but what is my takeaway supposed to be from this encounter? The very existence of me and my channel are perceived as a real threat to her. I'm not walking away from this drama with the warm fuzzies.
It just astounds me that the mere existence of an "alternative spirituality" can be viewed as such a threat to what I suppose is her religious belief system.
Don't fear me. Really. I would never categorize myself or my belief system as frightening. I don't proselytize. I'm not interested in converting anyone to my belief system. My path is my path and your path is your own. We each have our own truth to unravel and explore.
What is the danger in watching a Tarot video, or rather, a video by someone who reads Tarot cards that makes no reference to Tarot reading? How is any of this a threat to anyone? Or anyone's belief system?
I am an artist, a poet, a spiritual seeker, and a Tarot reader. I've been called an "art witch". I know that the word, "Witch", carries with it a lot of negative connotations. Historically, folk lore depicts witches as twisted and evil but in their modern incarnation witches are primarily lovers of nature and natural processes.
I certainly wouldn't characterize myself as evil. The cornerstone of my personal philosophy is very much rooted in love; approach all things with an open mind and love in your heart. I belong to a druid grove as well as a Buddhist group. I like the moon. I respect nature and enjoy celebrations that center on the natural cycles of our planet. Without nature, we are estranged from our most basic selves and we cannot survive on this planet for much longer if we continue to destroy it.
I advocate questioning everything you are told, including what I am writing right now. Don't let others spoon feed you their truth. Question everything. Don't accept easy answers or surface knowledge. Always seek to go deeper.
I don't believe that there is only one path to salvation or to enlightenment. I believe that there are as many paths as there are seekers. We are children of the Universe. Whether you want to label divinity as god or the Universal Consciousness; whether you follow Christianity or Odin or the Morrigan or Bast, all paths can lead you to where you want to go.
Divinity flows through you. Even the earliest Christians believed that we are all divine, we are all god. We are all special and we are all worthy of love.
If these beliefs are frightening, I am sorry but I will continue to try to meet fear with love and judgment with tolerance. I am sorry if Tarot cards and Tarot readers make you uncomfortable or challenge your sense of faith on some level but I really am not frightening. I'm not the creature of legends who will steal you away in your dreams.
I'm just a child of the Universe exactly like you. We may be on different paths but it doesn't mean that our destination isn't the same. Maybe someday love will transcend the fear and you will discover the wonderful weirdness of the Universe that is available to us all. Maybe someday you'll be able to open your heart and mind to the myriad of possibilities.