Everyday Woo (Volume 12)
Should you get spiritual guidance from social media? Plus, the hidden symbolism of the tarot and a guided practice for reflecting on 2021.
Everyday Woo is a place for the woo curious to learn a little more about tarot and spirituality in a not-too-serious way. Here’s what I’m thinking about this week…
✨ Should We Seek Spiritual Guidance From Social Media?
The role Instagram plays in my life has changed quite dramatically since my very first post. Which was, inexplicably, of some running shoes.
Back then, Instagram was solely for posting shitty pictures of random stuff. Like most people, I didn’t really “get” Instagram at first. It wasn’t until much later that it evolved into the social media giant it is today: Facebook’s ~aesthetic~ little sister that serves up vibey snaps with a side of FOMO.
Along with most of the world, I eventually stopped using Instagram as an excuse to post unappetizing shots of every.single.meal (I’m a Taurus, idk what to say) and started to use it a little differently: as a source of inspiration, teaching and guidance. Today, my personal feed is a combination of cats, my friends’ cute kids, social justice teachings, French vocabulary words and irreverent headlines from the Reductress…and, most recently, woo shit.
When I started looking more deeply into the spiritual side of things, little by little, my feed started to shift as I followed more and more accounts that were posting about things like manifestation, astrology, and mindfulness. Which is kinda cool—witches haven’t always had such an open, unfettered access to information about spirituality. What was once whispered into ears hidden by cupped hands out of fear of persecution is now bouncing around the Internet, decorated with flowers and moon phase graphics. What a time to be alive.
But this constant stream of spirituality got me thinking: is it a good idea to receive spiritual teaching from social media? Is it possible to neatly encapsulate something so intensely personal and multifaceted into an easy-to-digest Instagram infographic…and even if so, is it wise to do so?
Take this post for example. This particular account has thousands of followers, and it mostly posts beautiful, witchy graphics like this with a very “absolute” statement. It neatly summarizes a bunch of things in one sentence: trusting one’s intuition, being open to a path that is not yet revealed, etc.
If someone read this and took it at face value, they may interpret this as an invitation to throw all planning out and to simply rely on intuition, which sounds nice but is a little…misguided. Intuition is a muscle that must be strengthened through regular practice and connection. If you’ve never spent any time tapping into it, you might not even know what it sounds like. The “voice” that you hear guiding you could be your ego, the ideas of others or some sort of outside influence…not your intuition. Oversimplification is rarely a friend of the spiritual seeker.
Spirituality is nuanced. It is not meant to be summed up into pithy one-liners that dance across our feeds, designed to enter into one eye and exit out the other as we continue to scroll. But social media was created to do just that: to make things pretty, attention-grabbing and fleeting. Our spiritual journey is anything but. It’s messy, subtle and a long-haul endeavor.
I could pause here and tell you that, because of this contradiction, you shouldn’t use social media as a source of information for your spiritual growth. Hard stop.
However, on the other, palmistry-obsessed hand, I believe social media serves a purpose: it acts as an entry point. A conversation starter. It awakens our consciousness to the existence of new facets of the universe to explore. The key is to know when to close the app and seek out more in-depth interpretations of surface-level ideas.
The question then becomes: how can we responsibly use social media as spiritual seekers? How can we mindfully consume woo content?
I’m still learning, but here’s my Hot List of Ways to Practice Safe Spiritual Scrolling.
📱Read the captions. I know. The mindless scroll is a real thing (why do I always find myself doing this when I’m procrastinating on going to sleep?). But if you’re in a space where you’re taking spirituality seriously, pause when something catches your eye. If the caption is non-existent or doesn’t provide you any sort of context, think twice about the validity of this source.
📱Check the source. I purposefully avoid WitchTok for this reason. Trying to find the source of anything posted there would be like trying to find a needle-shaped pendulum in a haystack of tarot cards. With all of the reuse of certain sounds and the brevity of the videos on the platform, nuance is all but impossible to find. Instead, look for posts that point you to sources like books, articles or other ways to expand your understanding of the concepts touched on.
📱Leave a comment. As a professional lurker, I get the fear on this one, but the only stupid questions are the ones that go unasked (and the ones that are answered by reading the caption). I personally believe that anyone who is posting spiritual advice should be open to engaging in a dialogue about their content. If they’re not, 🚩🚩🚩.
📱Stay small. I prefer receiving guidance from people who don’t have 80 zillion followers because, honestly, that probably means they’re staying authentic to themselves and their vision instead of molding their offerings to the demands of the platform and the consumers. This is not a hard and fast rule—I know plenty of bigger names out there that have attracted so many followers because of their radical authenticity. But be a tad skeptical of anyone that seems a bit TOO popular…shock value sells, but it doesn’t usually provide solid guidance.
📱Be picky with the follow button. This might rock your world, but you aren’t supposed to follow everyone. I KNOW. 🤯 My feed is forever suggesting new accounts for me to follow, and I check ‘em out from time to time. I used to follow first based on the aesthetics and read posts later, but I had it backwards: read a few of their posts, apply the guidance above if necessary, and then decide whether you want to let their content occupy space in your brain. The follow button gives someone access to you, and that’s a big deal. So treat it as such.
📱Step outside of the screen. I do believe that our guides tug at us a bit when we’re meant to pause and consider a message we’re receiving. This requires lifting our head, shaking off the Instagram fog and thinking about shit. WHAT A CONCEPT. See how the info you just consumed fits in with the rest of your beliefs. What is being supported? What is being contradicted? Remember that we can’t visit @myspiritualguides and get all the answers right away. Our guides don’t have Instagram and are kinda sadists when it comes to teaching us. They leave little clues and are all like, “idk ;)” when we ask what the fuck that’s supposed to mean.
So if someone says, “if you’re seeing this on your feed, this message is meant for you” STOP DROP AND ROLL on over to your critical thinking skills. You get to decide that, with the help of your guides and your intuition. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but a gimmicky social media attention-grabber is NOT a message from Spirit.
In summary, seeking spiritual advice from social media isn’t a bad move. I mean, I’m on it, so obviously I’m not one of those witches that only communicates through her pet crows (though that would be sick). But don’t let pretty graphics and the overuse of the Valenica filter take precedence over the most authentic, reliable resource when it comes to our spiritual journey: our curiosity to learn and understand more.
That’s what’s truly worth listening to.
✨ Hidden Symbolism in the Tarot: What’s Up with the Wands?
Remember those old school Magic Eye images? The ones that made you go all crosseyed and gave you a headache?
I lowkey hated them because I had such a hard time getting them to work! According to the creators, if you held the picture up close to your eye, focused on one detail and then slooowly zoomed out, you’d see the hidden image within (the one above supposedly has a peace sign in it).
I always saw…nothing. Which pissed me off.
As much as I disliked this game (it’s probably to blame for my persistent eye strain issues), I realized recently that I sorta kinda read tarot like this. No, I don’t hold the cards up really close to my face and then pull them away slowly like I’m conducting some super strange woo ritual (“oh, my guides let me know when to stop”), but I do definitely look closely at the details.
After learning the general meanings of the cards, I wanted MORE. I’m a total nerd, so I’m always looking for the symbolism and hidden meanings in ordinary objects. The complex drawings of the tarot made the perfect fodder for discovering the mysterious depths of each card: all I had to do was focus in on one object, zoom out and connect it to the bigger picture, and then watch the hidden message pop out.
I’ve learned that this is how my intuition works, so when I found myself paying extra-close attention to all of the wands in the tarot deck, I listened up. There are 24 (!) different cards in the traditional Smith Rider Waite deck that feature some sort of wand. That’s worth unpacking a bit.
Here’s what I noticed about the presence of wands + how it can shape an interpretation:
The material the wand is made of gives clues about how to use one’s power.
Some wands, especially those in the traditional suit of Wands, have a very rustic vibe. They’re made out of organic material (tree branches) and signal that this power is not yet done growing and forming. Leaves appear at the edges of these wands, representing the idea that this power will change and evolve in a natural way. Seeing a wand in this state can clue you into an interpretation that leans into a “structured chaos” sort of vibe: not compromising the passion in favor of a container that’s too curated.
Conversely, other wands are constructed from man-made materials. They are more rigid, and unlike the more organic materials, they are harder to break and destroy. The wands in the minor arcana feel a bit more fragile and less permanent than some of the more traditional ones, like that of the Hierophant.
Here, the wand isn’t as subject to change. It represents absolutes and structure, both of which can be necessary elements to consider in a reading. These types of wands are highly powerful and visually heavier. This weight can be a source of strength or pressure, depending on your reading’s focus.
The way the wand is held can carry messages of control.
Wands in the tarot usually appear in the hands of a figure. It’s interesting to note the grip and how that energy relates to the overall message of the card. Take, for example, the Fool:
Dude is chill and relaxed. His wand is unconventional, sure (you could argue that it isn’t one at all, but I like to see it as such because this same stick shows up again with the Hermit and the Chariot), but it still carries importance: all of his earthly belongings are attached to it. Yet he carries it so casually, like the loss of it wouldn’t bother him too much. This tiny detail can add a lot of nuance to the basic meaning of the Fool.
The immediate progression to the Magician offers an interesting shift: look how the grip seems more sure and direct.
The Magician possesses a lot of divine masculine assuredness and confidence, so it makes sense that he wields his wand accordingly. The triumphant raised stance plus the strong grip can point towards an interpretation that addresses how to make moves towards using one’s power.
The size and shape of the wand can point to areas of growth.
No, that isn’t a thinly-veiled sexual innuendo. But seriously, size does kinda matter when it comes to the wands in the tarot. Check out the 5 of Wands:
Those dudes don’t know what to do with those big ole wands! (It’s not getting less sexual, is it?!) They’re overwhelmed by what they’ve got and haven’t quite matured to the point where they can see past the silly conflicts that are arising from their inability to handle the power that they possess. This is part of maturing, and in a reading, this could be an area to address.
Other wands, like that of the Empress and the Emperor, have unique shapes that highlight the individual qualities of each card:
The curved edges and shorter length of the Empress’s wand lend themselves to the feminine energy that this card carries. Her wand looks less like a weapon or a threat and more like a gentle encapsulation of her earthy power. She is strong, without a doubt. She just doesn’t need fancy shit to prove it.
I love the transition from the Empress to the Emperor. It’s pretty common to see these as polar opposites, but even when these cards appear singularly and out of the context of the Fool’s Journey in the major arcana, we must see the growth that occurs between the two.
The Emperor carries a much different wand, but note its shape: the sign for the feminine is present in this much more masculine iteration of a wand, indicating that the Emperor has given the structure of the divine masculine to the powerful, potent intuitive energy of the divine feminine. He hasn’t abandoned it; he’s learned how to blend it. His wand is longer, showing his growth and maturity in this area.
Thanks for coming to Katie’s School of Wands, which sounds like it’s either a shop in Diagon Alley or a sex toy emporium. Both sound fun!
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