It's funny that science (or technology) is so commonly used to debunk Witchcraft when, actually, it does a lot of good for it. The traditional secular view is that you either "believe" or you "know", but that's implying that there's no middle ground between the two. In my experience, I've been able to make amazing things happen by constructing them in the Summerland and then letting them manifest in the mundane world; certainly enough to know that there are rules that work for both realms.HopefulChild wrote:Technology should have been advancing our standards of occult discovery and theory. Instead it has been applied to limit and marginalize it.
That should be one of "our" goals as current occultists. Convince the next generation that it is their responsibility to integrate technology with the occult to bring the occult up to date and to discover new things where the two intersect.
Science is actually helping us to understand a great many things that we've believed for aeons (in the literal sense), and are now able to push into the realm of the known. While a belief in an external, conscious deity is perhaps the simplest and laziest acceptance of divinity, modern psychology has provided us a very real and tangible means of understanding fully what it is we connect with when tapping into the buliding blocks of the universe. Even people like Crowley used to posit that spiritual evocation was an aspect of brain chemistry rather than fallen angels, and the work of CG Jung has largely vindicated that view.
As technology advances, so does our understanding of ourselves, our universe, and our part in creation. It's long since past the time I first found the stars and moon to be beautiful, holding a loved one's hand to be humbling, and figuring out a long-unresolved problem to be inspirational. As our world develops, we need to develop with it, and doing so means our practice remains current, sensible and presentable to those who just don't understand it.
Maybe that's my biggest problem with pop-culture Witchcraft. There's just nothing to it, other than vapid and meaningless "spells" designed to distract people rather than evolve them. The distillation of Wicca into an applicable religion provided a meaningful worldview with which to use magic, and its removal in the modern Neopagan movement has simply left a hole that can't be filled. Without some form of religious and cogent worldview, the art of Witchcraft becomes effectively meaningless. Luckily, there are other religious constructs that have picked up the baton. Some are other Witchcraft traditions such as Dianic, Reclamation or Feri, while druidry and shamanism has also provided the crutch needed. On the other side of the moral compass Satanists, Dark Pagans and Setians have also filled the void. There are many others.
"That's my view and you should accept it" is a lamentable approach to an intellectual challenge, but all you ever get out of most witches and warlocks. The problem is that once the evidence stacks up to the tipping point, the individual adopting this mantra is forced to accept their views are incoherent, and won't just abandon Witchcraft - they'll resent it.
Embracing modern knowledge, technology and science is a means of making our experience better, more meaningful, and more powerful.
'Tis my view, anyway.