Here’s a tip for newbie/baby witches: Always, ALWAYS exercise the utmost caution around anyone offering to be your teacher. If somebody approaches you saying something like “I’m a magic practitioner looking for a student” it’s never a bad idea to just… RUN. I’m serious.
The reason is, the kind of people who go around doing this are not the kinds of people you want to get involved with.
A lot of them are just straight-up sexual predators. You’ll often find these ones saying they’re into Tantric magic, or that they can sense something really amazing in you, or that they can sense some deep mystical connection with you.
Many of them are wannabe mystical leaders who think they’ve discovered some great truth, but in reality they’re so far up their own asses they can’t tell down from up. They tend to have really fragile egos and will lash out if you question them on anything.
Some of them are Nazi recruiters. These ones often lean into the conspiracy theory angle, claiming that true history has been covered up and the world is under the control of malevolent forces. They frequently also position themselves as being able to lift you from abject unhappiness and failure.
Here are some red flags with anyone claiming to be some kind of spiritual leader or teacher:
Conspiracism: For example, telling you that the supposed great wisdom they’re offering to share with you has been intentionally suppressed by a grand conspiracy. Claiming anyone who disagrees with them and their teachings is part of said conspiracy. Claiming that nothing in books can ever be trusted because this members of the conspiracy managed to corrupt all the documents for all time.
Evading basic questions: For example, if you ask them which books or traditions they’ve studied and they act like you’re being impertinent, or respond with some vague answer like “I learned from the great spiritual masters.”
Promising you amazing life-changing results: For example, claiming that they can make you wealthy, heal all your illnesses, or give your life purpose. (Honestly, anyone who claims they’re here to give you purpose is never to be trusted, because they’re basically just here to recruit you into their cause.)
Pressure to commit: For example, claiming that you’ll miss out on some amazing opportunity if you don’t join or follow them right now (FOMO), or refusing to answer basic questions about their beliefs until after you’ve joined their group.
Disrespecting boundaries: For example, pressuring you to tell them personally identifying information (no one you meet on the internet needs your real name), or any other kind of sensitive information (for example, traumatic memories), or trying to make you wholly dependent on them.
Acting like they’re entitled to degrade and humiliate you: For example, claiming that they can’t build you up unless they break you down first, or claiming that you just won’t learn unless they talk to you that way, or claiming they’re “just telling you like it is.”
Anything else that looks scammy: All spiritual frauds are essentially just scam artists. If you see them promising maximum results for minimum effort, pushing toxic positivity pushing a spiritual grindset, paywalling allegedly vital information, acting like they have this super-amazing thing you just have to get in on, or anything else scam artists often do, get the heck out!
I know a lot of baby witches out there really like the idea of a personal spiritual mentor, but that’s not really feasible for most practitioners. We live in the same shitty world you do, and a lot of us are struggling just to survive. The idea of a personal mentor can definitely be really appealing in a world where it can be extremely difficult to connect with others and form meaningful relationships. Unfortunately, this is exactly what frauds and predators are taking advantage of.
If you’re lonely, then try and reach out to people. Try and get involved in online witch communities, or just any communities at all. Talk to people here on Tumblr or wherever. For learning witchcraft, the best way to do that is to just do the research. Yes, there’s a lot of dodgy information out there, but there’s also a lot of people right here who can help you learn how to avoid all that.
