The Challenge of Earth-based Paganism in the Social Media Age
“In many academic sources, and news articles describing these movements, a phrase called “Earth-based spirituality” is frequently used. How can this exist in a world where Earth-based spirituality begins through phones, which are machines?”
From Georgina Rose
The past decade has revolutionized the Pagan community, taking Paganism from something that was localized to the back rooms of occult shops, to the front page of mainstream news outlets and with billions of views across social media platforms. No longer do new practitioners need to seek out these communities by reading obscure forums, asking questions to the person at the counter of their local metaphysical shop, or by traveling hours and hours to the nearest Pagan festival or meet up. Now, an esoteric community is only a few clicks away, and occult literature can be purchased at clothing shops geared towards teenage girls. The occult has, in an odd way, become less occulted, and is now open to the masses. This phenomenon is neither wholly good nor bad, but something that the community needs to adjust to.
This revolution did not appear out of thin air. From the moment the computer was developed, and personal laptops became a household essential, people were able to communicate with those far away, and through an optional veil of pseudo-anonymity. For those who feared they may lose their job for being open about their beliefs, this allowed them a place to express how they felt with much less fear. Even outside of Paganism, the internet has allowed many movements to begin and grow. Across the board, most ideological movements begin online, which is a radical change of pace from how they used to form. In a sense, the invention of the internet was the modern Pandora’s box. The internet changed everything in life, from dating, picking where people eat dinner, and also religion.
Websites like the now defunct Witchvox became the Yellowpages of spirituality, allowing those who previously would have no clue where to find a community, a way to network with nearby spiritual groups, organizations, and bodies. As well, many occult educational sites were founded, and the first forums began. These spaces would expand and gain traction. Then, as they grew, they would gain more influence over the wider community. Historically speaking, this surge truly began in the 1990s. Interestingly enough, this was the same time-period when writers such as Scott Cunningham and Silver Ravenwolf would go on to release books aimed at younger solitary practitioners, leading to a boom of interest in Witchcraft, Paganism, and Wicca, particularly amongst younger women.
At the time, the Pagan community was deeply fearful of this. Writers who wrote this new material were slandered, seen as promoting “fluffy bunnies” (a derogatory term for practitioners who had a “love and light” style practice), for simply representing an ideology that was quite different from their group-based predecessors. With time, this fear died down, and the boom went off for a while. The community continued to grow, evolve, those who were fluffy bunnies either left the practice or grew up and became our modern community elders, and everything slowed down. Today, many practitioners are scoffing at the younger social media crowd, replicating the exact conversations that took place amongst the old guard of the 1990s. In that sense, none of the conversations are new at all, they are simply louder, bigger, and easier to find.
Flash-forward to the 2010s. In this decade and into the time of writing this article, the second internet-based boom of Paganism is in full swing. However, this one did not begin with forums and new authors, but with the rise of social media. Of course, social media had existed in previous forms decades prior, but in this era, social media was something that many more people could access, due to the rise of individual smartphones. No longer was it necessary to use a home computer, wait for a dial-up connection, then read the websites on Wicca. Now, one can open social media apps, quickly type in a hashtag, and see millions of posts.
At the time of writing this article, the #witchtok on Tiktok has more views than #biden, the current president of the United States. This is quite clearly a shocking development, one that those who worked in metaphysical stores in the 1990s never would’ve anticipated. As well, a large percentage of the stigma and fear around being a practitioner has decreased, though there are cases of issues with this in certain areas, leading to many online occultists shedding anonymity, in favor of showing their face.
The average new practitioner begins their exploration into the occult and pagan world through these platforms, the first voices they encounter are influencers, not authors. As well, many people are learning how to actually practice through short video-based tutorials, instead of going through mentoring, reading, or a degree-based organization. Much like how in the 1990s the Wiccan paradigm shifted towards solitary practitioners, leading to ideological ripples across the paradigm, this mass rise is leading to ideological shifts across the Pagan world. This leads to an important question: where will paganism go, what will be deconstructed, and how will the space change moving forward?
A seemingly contradictory thread in all of this is the fact that Paganism, particularly in these more Neopagan sects, which make up the bulk of the Pagan space, has an influence on the Earth. In many academic sources, and news articles describing these movements, a phrase called “Earth-based spirituality” is frequently used. How can this exist in a world where Earth-based spirituality begins through phones, which are machines. These two things seem to be in opposition. Especially, because a lot of social media platforms run off of algorithms, a machine-based system of ranking and recommending content to users, which is about as unnatural as one can go.
In an odd way, it makes sense that those who heavily use social media are actually more inclined towards an Earth-based path, and towards a return to the natural world. After all, during the early part of the Coronavirus pandemic is when #witchtok rose to its peak, with many occult shops and local businesses reporting an increase in sales and interest during the heaviest periods of lockdown. In this time, there was no real way to see the natural world, one was simply locked in their apartment or home. They felt trapped and alienated. With a life like that, it’s no wonder that the mind would desperately want to escape that circumstance, drifting towards a romanticized desire to connect with the old ways, the ways of land, nature, and mystery.
Throughout history, there has been a trend during periods of strife — ones of war, sickness, and powerlessness — where people are drawn towards spirituality. When one is lost, feeling like they need new hope, they frequently look deep inside of themselves, and find the deep desire for something higher that can lift their soul up and rejuvenate it.
The key now is to strike balance. When social media is used too heavily by an individual, relied upon like a crutch, it can do serious damage to someone’s life. There is nothing Earth-based about hiding up in a bedroom, curled over a laptop, every moment of every day. However, it is deeply unrealistic to simply discard technology and social media. Technology is an inseparable part of modern life, and one that is not wholly good or bad. Social media, when used positively, can bring Pagans together, inspire us to not fear being open about our beliefs, and teach others the value of these ways. As well, the rise of social media has allowed new voices to enter the community, who previously would not have been given a seat at the table.
It is about moderation and balance. In countless spiritual traditions, across the east and the west, there is importance put on the essential nature of balance. In the tradition of Thelema in particular, there is a theme of smashing the two sides of any given polarity together, then through their collision, they can be synthesized together, and through that the perfected and truthful form emerges. In this case, practitioners can learn how to use social media to spread these ideas, yet remember that at times the phone needs to go away, and to focus on the spirits, the land, and the beauty of ritual. For these concepts to come to life, and truly be clear to someone, they must actually experience it. At one point, every single idea that is discussed in these communities began from somewhere, and that somewhere was someone’s individual personal experience with the divine.
It is highly important to put down the books, stop reading the blog posts, and go outside, touch the grass between your toes, and learn from experience. These resources are vital, as they give the foundation for practice, so that the practitioner knows what they are doing. After that though, the individual must actually experience these things. A person can read about the importance of the land in paganism for so long, but to truly know it on an intuitive and deeper level, one must go and connect with the land, using the tools they’ve learned from research, on their own terms.
There is no way to return to the past, to go back to how the community was before social media. The key is adaptation. For anything to survive and prove that it is a strong and important ideological force, it must be able to adapt to new circumstances. As Pagans, we know on a deep level the power that these ideas, rituals, and spirits contain within them. We know how our lives have been radically changed by embracing these ideas, loving the earth around us, and turning to divinity. Now, the torch is being passed to the next generation of practitioners, who will one day be the community elders and thought leaders, so it is important to teach them the ropes, and help them learn how to make these ideas work for them. To inspire them to fight for the earth, connect to the divinity intrinsic to nature, and make those ideas work in the era of decentralized technology.
Georgina Rose
is a practicing Thelemite, occultist, and ceremonial magician. As well, she creates content across many social media platforms-based education, commentary, and the promulgation of Thelema. Her work is designed to make these older ideas accessible to the new generation of practitioners, so that they can have been granted access to the beauty and depth that is within these practices.
She also hosts the esoteric commentary podcast called “Magnolias And Magic”, which features a rotating panel of diverse occult voices to discuss community issues. She can be found under “Da’at Darling”, creating educational content, on YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram.