Respecting the Traditions and the Elders

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 People really need to learn the difference between protecting a tradition and performing authority online because it makes them feel spiritually important.

Because those are not the same thing. Not even close.

There is a particular kind of modern spiritual busybody that has emerged over the last decade — the self-appointed gatekeeper who was never initiated, never trained, never recognized by elders, never entrusted with actual responsibility… yet somehow speaks with the confidence of an oracle sitting on a flaming mountain.

And the moment they see someone outside a tradition engaging with anything remotely adjacent to that path, they leap out of the bushes screaming:
“You can’t do that!”
“That’s closed!”
“That’s forbidden!”
“That’s disrespectful!”

According to who, exactly?

TikTok University?
Three infographics and a trauma response?
A Discord server moderated by someone named MoonPup420?



Here’s the uncomfortable truth nobody wants to say out loud:

If you are not initiated into a tradition, you do not get to speak for that tradition over the voices of its actual elders, priests, practitioners, lineage holders, or initiated members.

Period.

And it becomes especially absurd when an actual elder or initiated practitioner has already clarified:

“What this person is doing is fine.”

Yet the online gatekeepers keep arguing anyway.

Imagine having the audacity to correct someone inside the house while you’re still standing on the lawn peeking through the window.

That is not advocacy.
That is ego wearing ritual jewelry.

Now, let’s get even more honest.

Most legitimate initiatory traditions do not publicly reveal the truly restricted material anyway.

That’s the entire point.

The genuinely protected things are protected through oath, relationship, lineage, trust, and direct transmission. They are not sitting out in public waiting for Becky from suburban Ohio to defend them with an Instagram carousel.

If a piece of information is openly available in books, conversations, historical records, folklore, academic study, or general discussion, odds are extremely high you are not looking at the crown jewels of that tradition.

Real initiatory systems survived colonization, persecution, imprisonment, forced conversion, censorship, and centuries of pressure. They did not suddenly become vulnerable because someone burned the “wrong” incense on social media.

And frankly, some people have become so addicted to the performance of moral authority that they have started treating spirituality like intellectual property law mixed with public shaming.

Every conversation turns into:

  • permission policing
  • ancestry interrogations
  • blood quantum debates
  • purity testing
  • spiritual hall monitoring

It is exhausting.

Worse, it actively damages real interfaith dialogue and authentic learning. People become terrified to ask questions, study history, speak to elders, read texts, or engage respectfully because they know some chronically online self-appointed guardian will appear to accuse them of spiritual crimes against humanity for existing incorrectly near a candle.

Meanwhile, actual elders from many traditions are often far more nuanced, practical, and grounded than the internet outrage machine.

Because elders usually understand something social media doesn’t:
Context matters.
Intent matters.
Relationship matters.
Respect matters.
And not every tradition functions according to the bizarre absolutist rules invented online in the last five years.

Not every spiritual path is a museum exhibit protected behind glass.
Some traditions were built to teach.
Some were built to adapt.
Some were built to survive through sharing carefully and wisely.
And the people qualified to determine those boundaries are the people actually carrying the lineage — not random spectators trying to score points in the Oppression Olympics.

You do not protect sacred traditions by turning yourself into the Spiritual TSA.

And you certainly do not override elders because you like the sound of your own outrage more than the reality of lived tradition.

Sometimes the most respectful thing a person can say is:

“I am not initiated into this tradition, so this is not my place to police.”

Damn skippy it's not Brenda. Plus, as we all know in witchcraft, someone is going to do it anyway whether we like it or not. The only policing we should be doing is of our private practice.  

Location: Seattle, WA, USA

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