A while back I was scrolling my Instagram feed and came across an infographic-style post by a popular (hundreds of thousands of follows) witchcraft/occult account I follow, entitled “Empath Signs”. I’ve had what you might call problems with the way the witchcraft/occult and adjacent spheres discuss “Empaths” and I’m going to use the six signs given in this post (which has over 9.5k likes at time of writing) to discuss why.
Disclaimer: this is not intended as a denunciation or personal attack on the Instagram user whose post I’m addressing, or indeed anyone else. I happened to see this specific post on my feed but there are countless others on any social media platform. I am more interested in discussing what I think are harmful ideas and discourse in the community than I am in condemning individuals. If anyone has the urge after reading this to harass anyone making these kinds of posts, don’t. Now with that out of the way let’s get into it.
Continue reading “On “empaths”, Barnum statements, & coping strategies”
wandering blackbird 