FINDING YOUR PATH - DECOLONIZING

Welcome to the first of my Finding Your Path guides where I deeper dive into the core aspects of what your practice looks like. The reason I have decolonizing as the first one listed on my "How To Find Your Path" blog post is because you must understand the origins of the word witch and why we use this as a label. In the spirit of our ancestors I share with you this story as told by an elder and updated and expanded by myself based on the work I've done in my practice. Some of the language is updated for modern western witchcraft practitioners to understand, and some details have been omitted because, well, honestly, not all westerners are ready for that conversation yet. When we've tried to explain these things in the past we are called liars or further villainized. This is my best attempt to act as a bridge for ancient ways to be understood within a modern context. This is the story of the spirit of humans and the power we have.

ANCIENT WISDOM

Long ago, although not so long in the scale of the Earth, there was a time when humanity were stewards of the land. “Work” as we know it didn’t exist. We cared for one another and built societies around nature’s cycles. Because energy and magic move through those cycles, we thrived. We had shelter, food, time to tell stories, to create art, and to heal, it was not without its challenges but it was happy. Across the world there were different societies with different cultures and origin stories, each shaped by their environment. Elders even say different species of humans, interdimensional beings and interplanetary beings, after all we came from the stars (specifically the Pleiades Star System) but for the sake of this story, let’s stick with Homo Sapiens.

The earth shapes us as it cared for us and we shaped it as we cared for it. We see evidence of this, People in hot sunny climates developed darker skin and curlier hair to protect from the sun. People in colder places had lighter skin and long straight hair to shield from the wet and cold. While our environments shaped us physically, what made the people resilient was what we have in common. We learn through watching and imitating. We recognize patterns and teach others what we learn. We create tools to increase our survival options making unlivable environments livable.

We adapted not just our bodies, but our homes, food forests, and rituals. We build communities where survival depends on cooperation, not just with each other, but with plants, animals, the ecosystems and the cycles around us. It is this time, that energy was simple, and flowed freely. Where our magic was easily predictable and easy to see how it worked.

We created language, imagined futures, and shared knowledge quickly, so we didn’t have to wait for evolution to catch up we could take steps ahead of the earth faster so we can anticipate its needs. And every winter, we sat around fires and told stories to teach, to warn, to inspire. No matter where your ancestors came from, they were storytellers. Through stories, they explored belonging. Our place in the cosmos, our connection to the land, how we came to be, and why we exist. Stories reminded us of our purpose: to bring balance to nature and to care for the Earth. They spoke of our kinship with animals and plants, and even of abilities modern minds might dismiss as impossible. Songs carried the energy within us, while myths and allegories gave voice to the stars and planets. Seasonal celebrations marked the cycles of birth, growth, death, and renewal, reminding us that all life moves in rhythm.

The root of all of this is the source of our power: knowledge and collaboration.

In these traditions, What was seen in the mind’s eye was as real as what was seen in the world around us. Storytelling taught us how to sense the energy within ourselves and how to move in harmony with the energy flowing through all things. In truth, we are not so different now. The difference is that we weren't just using only the logical side of our brain like we do now, we balanced both logic and creativity. We chose to trust our own energy and bring it into the world through discipline, collaboration, and creativity.

And all of it was in balance.

MAGIC

Magic was never complicated. It is how we understand energy. The sun feeds the plants, the plants feed the animals, and the animals and plants feed us. The more energy available, the more we can turn our thoughts into action and shape our reality. Whether that's getting more food by having more energy to follow herd's of animals, putting it towards patience to follow migrating plants (yes they migrate, very slowly) and watching what they do to understand how they work as medicine. When we want success we feed spirits that aid in success. Its a fairly simple concept and a high level explanation but ultimately energy travels through intention, not just ours but every living thing. Some people can see it, some people only see the physical results of it (what western spiritual practices call divination) But for those who can see (the why will be a story for another time, the how can be found in some of Dr. Michael Persinger's work) it is clear that energy travels along the natural cycles and systems that we and other living things build and support. When our intention (and the combining other parts of earth that share our intention) influences the direction of energy that is magic. Which means it is found in everyday actions too, like baking bread or planting seeds. The craft, is the creative fun side of doing it.

And while life was shorter then, we knew how to process it through our stories, songs, rituals, and art. We turned trauma into meaning and found healthy ways to cope. We shared knowledge freely. We put our energy into the things that we cared about (like medicine and science that led to our longer lives, understanding the physical world around us and making technological advancements). We survived not just as individuals, but as part of the collective body of humanity, itself nested inside the larger body of the Earth, nested inside the larger body of the ever expanding Universe.

THE FORGETTING

But then something shifted. People started to believe the land belonged to them, instead of the other way around. We forgot balance. We forgot how to listen to the animals, to the wind, to the stars, to ourselves. We abandoned the old calendars that tracked cycles of energy that we built systems around. We were taught not to trust our instincts, visions, or spirits. Our fear and doubt built walls in our mind to blind our sight of energy.

That forgetting became the root of our suffering.

CONTROL

For Westerners, this began in the Bronze Age in the Middle East. Cities were built around temples, and inside those temples money, science, religion, medicine, politics, magic, and education all lived under the same roof. Each of these temples had a different deity dedicated to it. The politicians realized that if you ruled the temple, you ruled the town. And so they spread lies, through song, art and stories to villainize the other deities so that people only trusted one. One that could rule all of the towns. This did not happen over night. These were smart people who understood that they could keep all the power if they controlled money, science, religion, magic, medicine, politics, but most importantly, knowledge.

They knew knowledge was power, so they hoarded it. And eventually, the church emerged as the ultimate institution of control. Secret societies and family lineages positioning them as priests, kings, and merchants, backed by the church, and the public support it. The people started to act out of fear, for if they did not comply they were killed. The church, which was once meant to guide one's spirit and energy became a tool to control them. The name of “God” was spoken not as a word of love as it once was, but as a word of fear. They took what was viewed as the "cosmic birther"/ "divine creator"/ "the source of energy"/ "the collective consciousness of the universe" and weaponized it into an allegoric man that reflected their own greed, dominance, and power. The people were told that to obey these rulers was to obey the heavens, and to disobey was to risk eternal fire. The church declared itself the voice of the divine and unseen, and in doing so silenced many other voices, but also other truths.

(Now, in a time long before this in the Americas, we had our own times where religious folks abused power. Specifically the Priest Clan. They could see spiritual energy and see how it could be used against others for their own gain. While we didn't call it "magic" abilities allowed them to wield it in ways that caused great suffering to the people. It wasn't in balance. We defeated them and triumphed over many generations but not without great loss and sacrifice. I share this because you are not alone this is not the first time this happened, and will not be the last. We persevered before, and we can do it again.)

CRUSHING FOLK PRACTICES

As the church continued to rise in power, small folk communities, ones that still lived close to the land were targeted.

Healers, midwives, storytellers, spirit-workers, people who challenged their power were hunted and branded as “witches.” Villages once built on sharing were forced into obedience or secrecy. Knowledge that didn’t serve the powerful was burned or locked away. Only a select few were even taught to read or write.

Some families held onto fragments in secret grimoires or shifted back to oral tradition. Others practiced behind the mask of Christianity and even embraced the new identities that the Christians assigned the old gods through demonology. But much was whispered in shadows. And those who were born with the ability to see re-learned the old ways in secrecy through trial and error.

EXPANSION AND OPPRESSION

As kings, priests and merchants grew greedy, they sailed across seas. They claimed lands that already had peoples, languages, seers and spirits of their own. They called it “discovery,” despite the land never being lost. They brought with them weapons, disease, and a hunger for gold, spices and crops that could be sold. They became a cancer to the earth. The peoples of the Americas, the clans of Europe, the nations of Africa, the islands of the Pacific were taken, broken, and remade in the image of this empire that spread across the lands. Creating imbalances everywhere.

And then they reveled in the darkest trade of all: slavery. Human beings, stolen and sold, shackled in ships, stripped of ancestral names, forced to work for slavers to survive. Many westerners say they were treated "like property" but that treatment was reserved for their women. The enslaved were treated like how colonizers treated animals, they were beaten, butchered, and eaten with there bodies made into decor and trophies. Generations lived and died in bondage, building wealth for the few. While those enslaved were denied their own freedom, their descendants would fight for centuries and still fight today just to be seen as fully human.

There is something you cannot forget about these people in power, as out of touch as they are with everyday life for the average person, they are cunning. They know that empathy is their downfall, they know the many could rise against the few. So they continue to rely on the tried and true ways to maintain their position of power. Hoarding knowledge, wealth, and spreading lies. Building new cycles and systems to control our energy and power. Religion, Racism, and Capitalism are the largest of these systems.

They told poor white workers they were “better” than their neighbors who had different skin color. They told men they were “above” women. They told citizens to fear immigrants despite their own ancestors being immigrants themselves. They were told to mistrust and despise the people who believed in their very same spirits they did. They used every difference: skin, language, and belief to keep the people divided. They know that if the people ever saw they were the same, the palaces, the churches, and corporations of the corrupt people in power, would crumble overnight.

THE MONSTER OF CAPITALISM

Today, unbridled capitalism especially, became a monster that destroyed the land. A system where profit mattered more than people, more than animals, more than the very air. Water that flowed freely from the sky and the earth's rivers, was bottled and sold.

We stopped learning the lessons of what it means to respect the hunt and grow our own food and medicine. We stopped learning how to build relationships with everything around us, including people who are different form us. To live, most have to sell their labor for scraps, while the owners of factories and corporations hoard riches beyond measure. These factories destabilize the climate. The hots becoming hotter, the colds becoming colder, the storms growing wilder. Still, this monster continues to pit neighbor vs neighbor with misinformation and lies, deeply wounding humanity.

LIES

One of the greatest weapons this monster wields is the lie. We are told that lies are bad, that truth is the highest virtue, and that honesty is the only path to goodness. But this teaching was not meant to protect us, it was meant to protect them. If we are afraid to bend or reshape the truth, then our truths become easy to exploit.

In the beginning, when languages were simple, lying was nearly impossible. Words had only one meaning, and what was spoken was what was meant. But as cultures mixed through trade, migration, and conquest, language grew more complex. Multiple words for the same idea, or multiple meanings hidden in a single phrase, gave us the ability to conceal, twist, or redirect. This is adaptation.

Lies became tools of survival. Children lie when they fear punishment. The oppressed lie to their oppressors to stay alive. Communities lie to outsiders to protect sacred knowledge. Even in nature, animals use deception (camouflage, mimicry, false cries) to endure. A lie is not always a betrayal; sometimes it is a shield, a strategy, a seed of freedom.

And the monster knows this. It lies endlessly, reshaping stories to pit us against one another, to protect its hoarded wealth, to keep us afraid. But notice, too, how the people lie in return. We resist through hidden languages, double meanings, codes in songs, and truths whispered only in safe circles. Our lies keep our magic alive.

The question, then, is not whether lying is good or bad it is, why is the lie told and whose life is it protecting?

RESISTANCE

The people who are negatively impacted by these systems and cycles recognize this monster. So we resist, and have been resisting. Enslaved people rebelled and sang songs of freedom. Workers built unions. Women demand equal rights. Queer folk loved openly despite danger. Indigenous nations carried their languages and ceremonies through centuries of violence. The folk practitioners took the name of "Witch" and "Pagan" (words that were once slurs and used to create fear and villainize us) were reclaimed as our own. Those who knew the old ways developed magical practices within western culture that reflected these systems to help new generations develop personal will to reclaim their power. As those in power build their concrete empire, within its cracks flowers grow in defiance.

The internet became a blessing. The education that those in power tried to suppress and gatekeep behind money was given freely by those willing to teach. More and more people see that racism, patriarchy, classism, and all forms of hate are not natural, but inventions. They see that God is not a weapon of fear, but a word with many meanings, or none at all, depending on who speaks it. They see that the earth is not a resource to be drained, but a living entity in need of care. The people are remembering.

THE THRESHOLD

Change is slow, and the descendants of these kings, merchants, and priests will not give up their power easily. The wealth gap between the poor and the one percent grows larger. The one percent, the head of this monster hoards, while the people struggle for food, shelter, and dignity. Even now, propaganda still seeks to divide.

We are at a threshold: destruction on one side, renewal on the other. We need a society that remembers balance, where no one is above another, where we care for the earth and share in its gifts and understand how energy moves through it once again. Where in order to heal it, we need to heal ourselves and find balance in the systems that our society is built upon.

Religion doesn't have to be bad, it brings like-minded people together with a shared framework on building community and working with the same spiritual energy.

Capitalism doesn't have to be bad, we can get rid of mega-corporations and hedge funds and create a healthier ecosystem of small businesses with fair business practices that are taxed fairly.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOUR CRAFT

Witchcraft is not just about spells for love or money. It’s about understanding how energy flows through nature, through ourselves, through communities, and through the systems and ecosystems we create and support. These cycles are the paths our magic takes in order to manifest.

When witches speak of "power" they are often referring to a practice of being aware of how we spend our energy, where we place our attention, and how we shape relationships. In a world shaped by colonial systems that thrive on control, competition, and hierarchy, reclaiming your energy takes back your power. Instead of giving it away to structures or people that drain you, the focus shifts to protecting your time, honoring your boundaries, and being intentional about where you invest yourself to manifest the life you desire.

Part of this decolonization means retracing your ancestors’ paths and identifying systems your own family and communities have created. Community and connection are at the heart of reframing your mindset from a colonial one. Power is not about keeping others dependent, but about lifting one another up, cultivating balanced interdependence, and valuing reciprocity. By reclaiming this knowledge, their stories carry the keys to healing. Your ancestral power exists outside of hierarchy, it allows you to face and heal the imbalances within yourself, so that you can pave a better path for your future descendants.

Because we are in this time of renewal (if you follow astrology this is when Pluto transited from Capricorn to Aquarius) Your magic is not just for you. It’s part of the collective energy of collaborative renewal. Together, we can take the foundations of the old ways and apply it in a modern way that makes sense for us weaving it into a future where we all progress, evolve, and thrive.

Don't get me wrong, this will be the hardest part of your practice. You are essentially doing Shadow Work for your lineage. There's no doubt about it, learning where you come from and what your family has done or been through can be hard to face. But when you understand the why behind it all, their stories, their values, your story will allow you to take these lessons and build a better future. And at minimum, create more effective spells.

HOW TO USE IT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE IN MAGIC

If you feel blocked, or a spell is not working, it’s often because that energy is caught in one of these colonial systems of belief or even from the trauma responses you and your family created unknowingly in response. Let me give you some examples:

The most common issue I see are love spells done by married heterosexual woman. Where the person they married are raised to believe a woman is "beneath a man." They do the love spell and its clear he loves her, and from his perspective he does, however, he treats her poorly. His energy is put into actions and desires that directly counter her wellbeing and make her feel unloved from her perspective. Being able to identify this can allow her to look at the situation and navigate around it, instead of a love spell, maybe a road opener spell would be more effective to help him be open to learning and deconstructing what he was raised to believe. Sadly, even then, some of these systems of energy are so established our spells won't budge them. This knowledge allows her to pivot, and focus on doing spells for self-love and gaining closure after moving on discovering her own personal power and finding new love with someone else who loves her the way she deserves.

Another common issue I see are abundance spells for money. People will do abundance spells for wealth and make very little movement. Some people fear monger that someone will die and leave an inheritance. That's rarely if never the case. Usually you just get more of where you put your energy. You must first understand the system of money and the mindset/intentions of the people who are succeeding in this system of wealth. You will need an income, pay down your debts, avoid frivolous spending and invest. If the job you have isn't paying you enough you can create rituals to help give you discipline to build new skills and find a new job. You can do spells to find people that can help build a new resume. You can do spells to influence people you interview with. Once you have the job then you need to save and invest. Money has its own energy, and it doesn't look like abundance. As a seer, it looks like trust energy. Which makes sense because we give it and are trusting the we will receive the services or goods to do what we want or to even be allowed to take it at all. Where you spend it is where that energy will go. Put it with itself in an account where the intention is to build wealth, then you will build wealth. Spend it on clothes, and an abundance spell will allow you to have an abundance of clothes.

THE LESSON

While intention does matter greatly, knowing where we’ve been and where we are going is what makes our magic reliable and strong. When you seek knowledge, and understand the cycles, patterns, and systems you are entangled in, and the energy that flows through them all, your practice transforms from isolated spells into a living, breathing path. Decolonizing your craft is not about rejecting everything around you. It’s about remembering what has been forgotten, reclaiming what was taken, and reimagining how you walk through the current world with purpose.

This is the work of healing, of weaving balance back into yourself, your community, and the earth. And while it can be heavy, it is also liberating. Every spell, every ritual, every celebration, every act of conscious intention becomes part of the greater story of resistance and renewal.

So as you step forward in your practice, remember, while the root of humanities power is knowledge and collaboration, your energy is your power. Where you place it, how you share it, and what you nurture with it shapes not just your life, but the world we are all building together. The path of the witch is not about escape, it is about knowledge and collaboration. It is about remembering who you are, and choosing to use that power with intention creating a magical life. If you take one thing away from my teachings it is this: It is not the magic that makes you powerful, its your energy authentically controlled by you.

This is where your craft begins.