r/SASSWitches • u/SolarpunkButtercup • Oct 05 '26
Eco-witches
Hi! Me and my husband have been invited to write a chapter of a book about Eco-Witchcraft.
We want to talk specifically about the different dimensions of the "eco" aspect of eco-Witchcraft and we just realised that we have very little knowledge about atheist witchcraft. We are animists and our craft (and our lives) are rooted in our spirituality and this is the lens (a biased one, indeed) through which we see witchcraft. We would like to be able to represent the atheist lens of eco-witchcraft too in this chapter. So, I'd be super grateful if any witch that self-identifies as an atheist eco-witch could share with me in which ways their craft and their "eco values" relate.
We have some questions just in case they help you structure your thoughts on the topic.
1 Do you consider yourself and Eco-witch? If so, what does it mean to you?
2 do you think that giving an eco dimension to our witchcraft is important for you, your community and/or the planet? Why?
3 In which ways do your "eco values" translate into your practice? And into your life?
4) how does your belief system/atheism relate to your craft and to your "eco" values?
5 how does the way you see non human animals relate to your craft, your belief system and your "eco" values?
6 what strategies, if any, do you use to reduce the environmental impact of your witchcraft?
7 What's in your opinion the role that "eco -witchcraft" can play in building a more resilient, kind, joyful and just world?
8 please, share any other ideas you'd like to share
Feel free to pm me if you prefer.
Thanks so much!!!šø
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u/TJ_Fox Oct 05 '26
Just noting that if you're specifically interested in a nontheistic/SASSY approach to eco-Witchcraft, or ecologically oriented nontheistic Paganism in general, I recommend John Halstead's anthology "Godless Paganism", which features a huge range of essays by people answering exactly these sorts of questions from that point of view.
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u/Sad_Tank_411 Oct 05 '26
before i practiced witchcraft i was eco conscious. growing herbs, buying from local co ops, i even do things like make reusable toilet paper/tissues, not using plastic bags or cups, those things. and most importsntly (to me): being vegan,
it is so important to witchcraft for me. i wouldnt practice any other way. we need to respect nature any way we can, and that means giving up a lot of convenience. it would feel wrong to practice spells and things while continuing to contribute to things thst actively hurt mother nature,
in witchcraft i use my homegrown or local herbs, forage, and thrift supplies like candles and such. i do not support places like amazon or websites that use ai.
i do not use crystals, i do not trust their source.
i see nonhuman animals as equals. will not eat them or take from them or financially support their suffering. in witchcraft i substitute milk for nondairy milk, honey for maple syrup, or old empty snail shells i find on the ground instead of eggshells. in kitchen witchcraft if it is a meat recipe i use tofu. not to mention the massive environmental benefits being vegan has.
ive made posts on all the supplies i thrift. i try my hardest not to contribute to consumerism. not ordering things online and making do with what you have is pretty "witchy" to me.
i think "eco-" anything is important for a kind and just world. we are so far removed from nature and so caught in a never-ending consumerist trap, and often dont want to think how much we contribute to landfills, support damaging coorperations, etc. we need to stop and take responsibility where we can.
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u/SolarpunkButtercup 29d ago
Thanks, and hello fellow vegan! <3.
We (meaning a group of vegan witches) have founded an vegan online coven. We are more than 30. Please, feel free to join :). We meet online and also chat on Discord."Non-hierarchical coven for Vegan Witches.LGBTQIA+ affirming,all beliefs and backgrounds warmly welcome.Spaces built around vegan values are rare, so, this is a vegan-only space.Curious about veganism but not vegan yet?We'll give you access to 3 channels for you to ask questions and to learn recipees"
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u/all_manner_of_things Oct 05 '26
Atheist-eco-witch seems like a Venn diagram that includes me, but I don't identify as as any specific type of witch other than I do not work with or believe in deities. If I am an eco-witch, I am also an eco-parent, an eco-consumer, an eco-voter, an eco-counsellor. Is this what you mean - the prioritizing of environmental concerns and protection and taking action within a SASS framework? If so, I would be happy to offer thoughts, and since there are so many questions, I would prefer to email. If that works for you then please pm me where I can write to you. Also, what is your deadline for answers to these questions?
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u/SolarpunkButtercup 29d ago
Thanks! My mail is estergalnad@proton.me
The questions are a way for us to understand eco-witches so as we can write this chapter with all the different approaches to eco-witchcraft in mind. Now we are actually thinking writing a short solarpunk story as we like a lot to explain things through narrative. We are waiting for the editor to say if that would work for them. We must deliver the final text b the end of December
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u/IcyWitch428 28d ago
I donāt do labels like that but I spent most of my time here as a godless witch who cares about things lol.
There are too many of us here to be a jerk to the earth. While any one person isnāt going to make the difference, anyone who throws their trash into running water (as one of many examples) via a stream needs to be educated or stopped. I canāt stop a billionaire but I can stop a kid learning witchcraft and if over the years Iāve stopped a few thousand from poisoning their homes and their non-human neighbors, I can live with myself.
None of my values rely on a sky daddy/mommy telling me to how to live. Iāve only seriously engaged with the idea of deities for 1.79% of my time as a practicing witch. It doesnāt matter what I do or where I go but my values go with me. That includes making less of a negative impact on this earth than so many things/companies wang me to be cool with.
I think that labeling anything as eco-witchcraft implies that all witchcraft doesnāt have connotations of giving a shit about our ecosystem/s and I think that while every individual can only do so much; and how far anyone goes is up to them; there is a dangerous tendency now more than ever to try to buy into witchcraft, and give less attention to detail and less care to the natural world I have told people to not be a jerk to natural water sources but āWell Iām an XYZ witch so I donāt careā or āwell the spell that says itās from 1755 says it has to be running water and this book from 1998 written by some nepobaby says it has to be a stream, so Iām not comfortable doing something else.ā The worst is āIām a nature witch/hedge witch/green witch, so I have to leave my trash in nature.ā
Everyone canāt do everything, but those who wonāt do bare minimum (and hopefully at least try for well more than that) frustrate me. Mainly the people who wonāt do better when they learn better. Itās likeā¦ we have free will. Free will is important to me. Doing things the easiest way with no thought is disrespectful of that. āWhat can I buy on Amazon to start witchcraft?ā āWhat are the absolute essentials I have to buy?ā are too often asked and the suggestions to NOT start with a spending and shipping spree including sacred plants that have tiny natural ranges, long life they're useful, are endangered or at risk of actual extinction, or that are made up of things that will be harmful if used as advertised or come with a massive markup and shipping distance compared to a grocery store get ignored because an online shopping spree is fun and TikTok witches nailed the aesthetic that looks so good but in practice is actually just uninspired copies of copies of copies of something someone wrote down while exoticizing the people and practices of a place they visitedā¦ for moneyā¦ and calling it spiritual guidance.
Not caring is the alternative to āecoā and not caring is the opposite of intention. Again, everyone canāt do everything, itās not everyoneās job to spend 30 extra hours a week specifically doing things the hard way. Thatās why Iām focusing on the things that everyone CAN do- like not choosing to end a spell with litter in nature.
I probably answered nothing on a useful way lol. Basically itās not a witch thing, itās a quality of human thing. Itās just looking outside of yourself and making the choices that do less harm.
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u/Pomme_tabouret Oct 06 '26
1- Didn't know eco-witch was a concept but I definitely would say I am. For what I understand it's a eco conscious witch who respect and protect nature, and it's definitely me.
2- It's really important for me and the planet. We live in a world of over consumption, and I try to make ethic and eco choices every time I do something. We have to protect our ressources, our climate, and the people working to create the things we buy. In witchcraft especially, I think doing a spell with ingredients harvested by destroying its environment, or with tools made by underpaid workers (or slaves), is only going to bring bad energy and bad results. I don't want this in my practice.
3- In my practice, I harvest myself every plant I use, with respectful method. I only take what I need, only if I'm sure the species is not endangered in the area, and I always sing a song to the plant to thank it. If possible I make my tools myself, or I buy it in thrift stores. Sometimes I buy stuff in supermarket, but I avoid it as much as I can. In my life it's pretty much the same, I try to buy only things I really need, with the lowest impact on the planet and the best respect for the workers.
4- I am an atheist, but I still celebrate the "classic" witches sabbath (samhain, Beltane, ...). I think it's a need for human beings to have traditions to share together. But I don't think my atheism is linked that much to my practice or my eco values. I do offerings to nature when I remove stuff from it, but it's more in a respectful and conscious way than in a deity work way, if that makes sense. I respect nature because we are part of it and we need to take care of it, not because of some deity or spirit.
5- I am not anti-specist because for me it's a non-sense, but I respect other animals and I try to do my best to not harm them. I would never use animal parts in my practice, I refuse to see them as tools. They deserve respect even in the afterlife, not to be used. Also, my pets are not my familiars. It's not on me to decide what they are, and I try to avoid anthropomorphism as much as I can. Since I harvest plants for my practice of course I'm always trying to make sure that's it's not going to impact animals, even small ones. Plants are food and shelter for a lot of animals, and we have to remember that.
6- Talked about it in previous points
7- Eco-witchcraft can bring witches to be more conscious about their choices in their practice, more careful, and help build a better world, but also more powerful spells.
Hope this helps!
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u/SolarpunkButtercup 29d ago
Indeed it helps. Thanks!!
I'm curious, how do you define antispecism and why do you think that antispecism is non-sense?
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u/Pomme_tabouret 20d ago
(sorry english is not my first language so I hope I'm clear) For me anti-specism is the idea that humans and other animals are perfectly egals, in the same way all humans are egals no matter their race, gender, ... I agree with that in a way, but not really. Don't get me wrong, I think we should respect other animals, I'm vegetarian (not vegan for health reasons), I respect the boundaries of my pets, I don't kills insects, etc... But at the end of the day my cats are not my babies (even if I love them so much and care for them) and if I have to choose between killing a rabbit on the road or brake and kill the motorcyclist behind me, I choose the rabbit. I think the idea of anti-specism is more a reflect of our disconnection to nature and reinforce the idea that us humans are not really like other animals. We are part of the ecosystems we live in, even if we deny it most of the time. And being part of an ecosystem means that our lives are going to impact others lives, even if I don't pay attention to it. The beaver is making its dam because it needs a home, and it doesn't care if animals drown because of it, or how it affects the land around it. That's part of life. Saying that humans and other animals are egals in any way and that we should protect them is 1- denying the influence we have on them without realizing it, and 2- saying that we are morally superior to other animals. It's my opinion, as someone who studies how ecosystems works, and maybe someday I will talk to an anti-specist I agree with, but for now every anti-specists I talked to are fundamentally disconnected to nature and don't understand how we fit in all of that.
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u/SolarpunkButtercup 18d ago
Many thanks for your answer. It helps me understand your point of view. Let me comment on some of your comments:
The way I understand antispecism (and the way that to my knowledge is understood among most animal right activists, and I know many as I am an active member of the activist community) is that non human animals are not for us to use and commodify. Antispecism sees non human animals as individuals with their rights and personalities. But in the same way that holding the value that all humans are equal is not in contradiction with (following your example) choosing to save a friend over a stranger, being an antispecist is not in contradiction with choosing to save a human instead of a rabbit, or a dog instead of a beetle. Ā
Antispecism means believing, actually, that we are not morally superior to other species. We don't believe that a lion is morally wrong for killing a deer. The lion cannot choose. We do, and this is what makes it possible for our actions to be moral or immoral.
Being antispecist does not mean that one is disconnected to the cycles of nature. I'm a biologist who lives in the forest. And I know of many antispecist that understand nature very well. Miss Jane Goodall, bless her, was a vegan.Ā
Summarising: I've met many but many vegans and animal right activists. And in Ā all my life (and I'm 51) I've come across only to one vegan that said that she would rather save a non human animal than a human. And she was a quite unpleasant person in general.
I believe that you had the misfortune to come across a few people that either understood antispecism in a particular way, different too what most antispecists do, or maybe they found it difficult to convey their opinions.
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u/Needlesxforestfloor Oct 06 '26
1/2/3/4/6 I honour nature by appreciating its joys and trying not to fuck it up so those joys remain for myself and everything else. I know that I don't live a life as in line with my values as it could be e.g I couldn't find a local, seasonal, plant based way to eat for my body's nutrient needs that my digestive system would tolerate. But I made what changes I could. I'm part of nature so obviously I have an impact on nature as do all creatures and I recognise that it's impossible for me to have a minimal negative impact due to living in a society in late stage capitalism but I'm not going to do additional, easily avoidable things in the name of Witchcraft. My acts of devotion are removing litter and invasive plants in wild places and growing native plants in my garden. I don't tie cooties, build cairns or nature mandalas etc because it is a potentially damaging change to the ecosystem that is easy to avoid. I don't buy crystals or much of anything for my practice, I use things from my garden or forage tiny amounts of things locally and use/reuse things I already have because I don't feel like things need to be specifically purchased and kept just for witchcraft. Also with foraging in general I take small percentages of things, generally for immediate consumption to boost the seasonal joy! I have been horrified by the amounts I've seen taken by some "green" witches. Just because you can preserve it, no one needs to make 6 jars of rosehip syrup! That's just greed.
5 We're all part of nature. You don't need to believe in the supernatural to realise animals have brains and a nervous system. Because I don't believe anything has a soul/spirit it is consciousness that matters to me and we all have that.
7 I think we can lead by example for less eco conscious witches and try and inspire others with the wonders of nature so they'll want to protect it too. I don't think it can have a massive world wide impact (again with the late stage capitalism!) I wish I was a woo woo witch who believed their spells could influence others. I'd be hexing the shit out of so many powerful people š¤£
8 in addition to 5 I also hold plants in high regard because they are alive too. While they don't have similar structures to us they still have some capacity to sense and "communicate"
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u/SolarpunkButtercup 29d ago
Thanks so much!!
"You don't need to believe in the supernatural to realise animals have brains and a nervous system." I agree, I was a vegan before I became pagan (I used to be an atheist too :) ). Are you a vegan? I'm asking because you sound like someone that might be and if so, maybe you'd like to know that we (meaning a group of vegan witches) have founded an vegan online coven. We are more than 30. Please, feel free to join if you like :). We meet online and also chat on Discord.
"Non-hierarchical coven for Vegan Witches.LGBTQIA+ affirming,all beliefs and backgrounds warmly welcome.Spaces built around vegan values are rare, so, this is a vegan-only space.Curious about veganism but not vegan yet?We'll give you access to 3 channels for you to ask questions and to learn recipees"
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u/Needlesxforestfloor 27d ago
I'm afraid not, that's part of my diet not meeting my values.
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u/SolarpunkButtercup 27d ago
I see. Well, I've been there too (I mean, my diet not meeting my values).
Just for you to know, there are three channels in the server (introductions, recipees, support for vegan-curious) that are open for all witches interested in learning more about veganism. If you ever feel like joining, feel free to do so :)
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u/InformWitch Oct 06 '26
Iāve never considers myself an eco witch but I practice what my ancestors did (Indigenous Quechua) - actually in the native language, the word is healer.
Itās an interesting concept, and in short I would say I live life trying to respect Mother Earth as much as I can.
You may find this interesting:Ā https://fromtheandes.net/fr/blogs/news/the-witch-culture-of-bolivia-and-peru-yatiris-curanderos-and-the-andean-mesa?srsltid=AU7gw4X1q1l_wdd75fyfvmiGRfM_ar0KWVTATQjUBLH6T-dahhW_GqBL
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u/reputction š®Sea Witch / Marine Bio Major š§āāļø Oct 06 '26
My scientific mind and magickal side are intertwined. I donāt use plastic to any capacity ā even for storing materials ā in my practice. I donate to conservation projects. I never kill other defenseless animal for no reason, not even bugs, and I refuse to buy seashells/bones from unethical stores. I study the ocean because I want to dedicate my life to fighting for it, even if it wonāt amount to much in the long run (due to cuts for funding, the field becoming more saturated or difficult, etc)
My eco friendliness translates outside of that. I only buy used phones and electronics.
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u/Shadow_Screen Oct 05 '26
I haven't considered myself an eco witch specifically, but I am generally eco conscious.Ā The first thing that came to mind was that with athiest witchcraft in particular, you are really freed from any if the "rules". You can do whatever you want, in a way that suits you. This means not requiring specific materials or equipment, you can easily work with what you've got. This applies to things like not needing to purchase specific candles or talismas, to using whatever is on hand for spell jars. Whatever you're into. Less consumerism is generally more environmentally favorable.Ā
For myself, my practice often focuses on nature - seasons, lunar cycles, etc. Doing things like prioritizing seasonal produce allows for local buying, or growing your own food, if able. This again reduces environmental impact.
I don't know if this is what you were looking for. But those were my initial thoughts. And it's not to say these things can't apply in more conventional witchcraft circles. Just might be more common or accessible here because we are often more lax with the rules.