How Direction Is A Weapon in The Spirit
The (sometimes) toxic environment of #WitchTok, The Colonizer Spirit, The Oppressor Spirit, and understanding what Direction in the Spirit can be used for- what do they all have to do with each other?
I’ve been noticing a lot recently, over on TikTok, how practitioners are always at each other’s necks. It’s nothing new, and it’s something that’s always been a part of that community. I’ll be here to talk about it, and while I know Substack is a different environment than TikTok- there’s some things I’ve been learning that don’t exactly match up with the TikTok community guidelines (I’m always learning things that cannot so easily be talk about within their guidelines). Good thing about Substack is there’s more room for free voices. So, Let’s talk a little bit about war between practitioners, and the Spirits that move through this environment.
Yes, I see this on TikTok, but this happens in spiritual communities all over. War is readily available as a Spirit, should you be willing to call on them. A lot of us are born into some form of War, and have to unpack it in our practice later on. I’ve also seen this fighting between different priestesses, I’ve seen this fighting directed at myself, and I’ve had to check myself through the years as I was unpacking my ancestral baggage and personal trauma as well.
Now, in my practice, the Spirits (as it pertains to War, Strategy, and Battles) work with me on Direction. Which Direction, why, how, for how length, for what length of time, what are the downfalls of that direction, what are the plus sides to that direction- there are lots of things to consider when you are learning how to navigate. Navigation skills being applicable to the physical and the Spirit, for sure. If we apply Direction to the Spirits, I want to focus on 2 Spirits today- as I see this theme and trend in the TikTok online Spiritual Community (as well as, again, in my personal relationships with practitioners of previous years) while witches are unpacking their ancestral carriers and roots.
The first Spirit I want to understand with Direction is the Oppressor Spirit. It’s sort of in the Name (and, for those of you new to, or unfamiliar with my work, when I say the names of the Spirits such as the Oppressor Spirit- I call these the Large Spirits. They are not necessarily directly connected to any house of old gods, but rather to our modern day culture and the way we move here and now. While also bearing in mind that, between all the old groups of Spirits, in each pantheon, house, or group of Spirits there’s usually themes. i.e. a god of Love, a god of Justice, and so on. Those Large Spirits (Love, Justice, etc.) taught the gods from each house/space, and they also teach us. I also sometimes call these Spirits non-ancestrally-derived. Meaning that they are not inherently from a direct bloodline/culture/rooted region of Land, as many groups of Gods from hundreds and thousands of years ago are. So, now you know, I talk about them a lot, and I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever explained that over here on Substack. Moving back into the main blog though)- The Oppressor Spirit, in Direction, ‘presses-over.’ Feels simple, and not very complex, but then when it’s put into application, things can become a little bit more difficult to safely define. For example, a Mother who is pressing over her children to ensure they do not make a horrible decision from their innocence of a situation- is that Mother in the wrong for how, where, and when she presses over those kids? That’s going to depend on the relationship between Mother, Child, and Spirit.
Another example of this, and one that is more common tongue when speaking of Oppressors, is how the systems and institutions press over the people. Depending on who you are, that system and institution will press over you differently- race, gender, sexual orientation all playing a role in that determination. We must also remember, when speaking of the institutions and systems, that it’s not necessarily only the system and/or institution that is doing the pressing-over. People are involved in that as well. We’ve seen it with the BLM (Black Lives Matter is what that stands for incase someone out there is unaware reading this, protect Black people everyday and all the way) movement, where cops use the power that the institution and systems offer them to press-over the unwilling Black American. This obviously traces back hundreds of years, being rooted in the Institution of America itself. The movement of BLM being a power of resistance against that pressing-over, while simultaneously bringing attention to the harm and violence from the Oppression that Black people face from the institutions and systems (and from people involved in those systems and institutions). The Oppressor Spirit needs both the institution and the individual to stay in Power in our modern world (our modern day Institution of America being partially born out of the Mother Oppressor’s womb), but it can also function on an individual level where one individual, regardless of how the systems do/do not affect them, presses-over another for the purpose of gaining power, maintaining power, or to cause harm and violence.
That’s another important part of breaking down Spiritual Directionality. What is gained by going in that Direction? Often times the Oppressor Spirit presses-over others to create a power dynamic, therefor securing the end goal of why they would need that power in the first place. The other part of Directionality that must be considered in the Spirit is what is being sacrificed by going in a direction? There is always a cost, and so the Direction will also have a cost. The third thing to look at for Spiritual Directionality is timing. How long will it take to get there, is there a speed necessary- and understand as well that questions about time will help refine what is paid and what is gained by a Direction.
When we apply the Oppressor Spirit’s Directionality to what’s happening when practitioners go after one another, it can also be contributed to a bigger methodology- tradition. Now, this is not to say that tradition is bad. Personally, that is not my opinion. There does become a fine line in spiritual tradition (and/or religion) where the people within that Spiritual Structure of Practice are able to use their power to press-over others, and in turn cause violence, pain, and harm. Spiritual Hierarchy does exist, and just like a Non-Spiritual Hierarchy, it’s easy for people in positions of power to use that power to press-over other people, especially if (like in the online Spiritual Community) there are not any solid checks and balances between people as individuals, groups of people, and how different traditions and groups of gods interact with one another. The invisible has rules, laws, and Justice, just as the physical does- however, defining that is much more difficult (and, in my experience, depends on the Spirits you pray and offer to).
I feel like, as a Spiritual Community, it’s not necessarily a bad thing that is happening as this is surfacing. How can we get rid of an archetypal position of Oppressor within Spiritual Spaces if it hasn’t yet been identified? When I say it’s not necessarily a bad thing, that doesn’t mean it’s without harm. That shouldn’t be looked over, or dismissed. Even I have been on the other side of a hate-screen of unwilling listeners (there’s a lot of people out there who don’t like me, and honestly, let them- I have more important things to do). So yes, there’s harm in this sort of situation. I also think that with this being a continuous trend in the community right now, it’s teaching individual practitioners (whether maybe they realize it or not) how their relationship with the Oppressor really is. Are they the ones using their Power to press-over others? Are they being pressed-over by others? Are they interacting with the TikTok drama, or not? Are they having these situations come up in the physical, and off-line, world- and if so, how are they choosing to navigate them? It’s an interesting concept, and on a Spiritual Perspective, I feel like Spirit has offered us a sort of contained, or controlled environment, to figure it out amongst one another how to move forward in the communal relationship to the Oppressor Spirit.
We also have to consider (in Directionality studies, and also in this conversation) when that pressing-over does not cause any harm. Or, maybe rather if the harm is worth it. Birth, for example. The baby is pressed-over in order to be born. It’s the only way. Yes, there are surgeries, but even then- the Mother is being pressed over, as is the child. Pressing-over is not an innately harmful act. Kneading dough and working bread, putting on a wig, getting a tattoo- we have to use forms of pressing-over in these situations as well, but we wouldn’t necessarily attribute that process to the Oppressor Spirit. One of the differences in the Oppressor’s press-over, and one that is not as harmful, is that the person, people, folk, group, organization, system, or institution is being pressed-over non-consensually and unwillfully, more often than not creating violence and pain in the process. Personally, if this is happening in the Spirit, I call this Spiritual Rape- when Magick, of any kind, is practiced without consent from the person being practiced on. The tricky part with magick is that there’s always another layer, another intention, and another understanding of what is (or is not) Justified (as long as, in my experience, the practitioners are Innocent, and not Ignorant, then they cannot be considered guilty of Spiritual Rape. More on Innocence and Ignorance in this article “Mother Oppression, Mother Free, And How Your Fighting Style Altars What You Are Fighting For”), so be very discerning. Especially if you’re someone who practices forms of baneful, and darkly-formed-protective works. Understanding if the pressing-over that is happening is within the bounds of the Oppressor Spirit or not is a study that, in my experience, can enhance your Protective Magick, as well as help you to unbind from that which still binds you without consent (sometimes easing pain along the way).
That’s a lot of foundation, but we do need to move on, and into talking about the second Spirit I mentioned earlier- the Spirit of the Colonizer. Now, if you’re around the blog, you know I just wrote an article recently as an introduction to this Spirit on the blog space- or rather an introduction for deconstruction of the Colonizer. That article, if you’re interested in it, can be found here. Since I’ve introduced that Spirit, and some forms of deconstruction, I want to move into the Directionality of the Colonizer, and how to break that down in your practice.
Where the Oppressor presses over without consent, the Colonizer pushes or forces direction without consent. Ahhhh, interesting that we’ve been focusing on Directionality in the Spirit then- apply as necessary for your foundations and fundamentals. Let’s look at Directionality head on, we can use a job for example. The person who is in a “more powerful position,” aka the boss, has the ability to direct the person/people who are underneath that boss by hierarchy position. By you working there, often times, those directions would be within bounds of safe, and not considered the Colonizer Spirit. However, say that the boss asked you to do something illegal. Then, you could start to consider that position, if they continue to force that direction towards you, or on you, without your consent- that can be considered an activation of the Colonizer Spirit.
Sometimes though, this happens much more indirect and much more subtly. Maybe someone cast something towards you in their private space, or privacy of practice, and it reaches you. Without your knowledge, or consenting to, that work being cast towards you, or onto you, then you’ve just been met by the Colonizer Spirit in someone else’s Magick. People who have been practicing for a while understand what this looks like, how to identify it, and what to do about it should it show up. A Return to Sender, A Cleanse, A Ward, A Protection Work- they could all be necessary depending on the situation and circumstance. You also learn, as you study this, how to protect yourself so that those works (that another practitioner might try to force onto you) aren’t able to reach you in the first place. Personally, I call this the process of fortification. It doesn’t hurt when an arrow hits a foot-thick brick wall. Simply then, the arrow would fall.
This is also not to say “do not protect yourself,” as sometimes we need to cast onto others without their consent to be able to protect ourselves. The question then becomes what is Justified, and why? For me, in my practice, keeping a relationship with Justice has helped me to navigate these spaces, and understand how to ensure my scales are balanced and balancing for further Justice-fall-out to be minimized. If it’s Justified to swing a punch, then do so. If not though, be sure you’re ready to witness the activation of the Colonizer Spirit in your Magick World.
When you put together the Directions of the Oppressor, to press-over, and the Colonizer, to force onward- you get a pretty wild mix of energies. Imagine being forced to go on, while being flattened by what is above you. It’s really not that hard to imagine when you look at what is happening in the world now, and in so many previous generations. We are not that far away from when White Men were the only ‘free’ people of this Institutionalized Ruling Government. If you’re able to stop, and reject, these Directions when they rise up in your practice (could be in your altar practice literally, could be in your daily life, could be at your job or with your family, there are lots of study-grounds in this life we live), then you also are resisting the Spirits of the Colonizer and Oppressor, and are furthering the deconstruction of their Magick in your work. The Direction of that not-Just work may be forced back onto you. Call on your Spirits to help in situations where discernment is necessary.
You also are deciding, by rejecting these Directions and saying “no,” to call Death to the Oppressor and Colonizer. Within your ancestry. Within your relationship to the Land. Within your altar work. Within your relationships with the gods. I’m not saying it’s easy, I’m saying you’ll be freer if you work this sort of study, and integrate into your practice. And, if I have an opportunity to be Free in a way that elevates me- I’ll always be saying yes. Grateful for you Spirit.
When it comes to Spiritual Communities, I don’t think there’s a direct answer of “this is how we should handle it,” other than practitioners continuing to practice within their Rites, and deconstruct when it’s necessary. The way I work is very individual. Even within the coven, work we work at our individual altars (for now). I feel as though a weed-seed cannot be pulled if it’s been hiding and you don’t know it’s there. Sometimes the weed has to sprout for us to figure out “oh, hey, that shouldn’t be there.” I’ve been looking at the Spiritual Community over on TikTok since 2020, and have noticed this trend for some years now. And, the things about cycles is that they cycle until they’re done.
This is definitely not a call-out to any individual practitioners. And, like I’d said earlier, I don’t necessarily think it’s a problem that this shadow is popping out to say hello to us. I more, in this article, wanted to bring some Light that I’ve been receiving on this Shadow. What you do with it is totally up to you, if anything. I just really hate seeing practitioners go after each other online when it’s just simply a person who needs to be met with a lesson, instead of a lesson through violence and pain. Reducing the Harm and Pain that the Colonizer and Oppressor Spirit bring is a part of a practice as well- and even if I don’t have the answer to how the collective community elevates itself out of these generations-long trends, may it be as easy as it possibly can be for the lot of us.
Sending Love, Gratitude, and Reverence to you. Thank you for your brew, and for doing what you feel you need to do in your practice too. I’ll talk to you soon, keep on with the work! You got it. And, may those community spaces be easy to enter and be a part of for you if it’s a part of your world. Until next time ❤️
-Valkyrja Vörðr Raina
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I have been thinking...it seems like all of these spirits are just aspects of narcissism? This is also embodied in the Jezebel family of spirits...it seems like they all have different names but come from the same root.