"Unabashedly woo woo" LMAO 😂🤣 I'm actually celebrating my 10 year anniversary next month, like a week before my birthday.

This was something that crossed my mind since I'm half Vietnamese and half Caucasian. I'm technically Asian. In recent months I have taken an interest in learning about the occult like witchcraft. I wanted to find what pathways are, but it was hard to figure out because there honestly isn't that many asians that are witches. Coming from a family whose one side is Lutheran and the other side, Buddhism. I didn't feel resonated with Wicca because most of the sabbats resonate with celtic or European pagan holidays. Now feeling directed towards traditional witch path. But now stumped because there's not much information I can find on Vietnamese related witchcraft & folklore by any sorts. I feel if I have something more related with my culture more than it would help pave to finding a path that better resonates.

Thank you for this. I’m Native Hawaiian and am always trying to find ways that the Hawaiian spiritually I learned from my mom and the “witchcraft” I dabbled in as a kid in the nineties match together. And it seems that because Hawaiian spirituality (from my perspective) is so open to new ideas and forms of gods, that’s why Christianity and other outside forms was so easily accepted and implemented here. My great grandmother was the healer in her community and she used anything, herbs, methods she learned from her friends from Asia and Europe along with her Hawaiian ones in order to heal people. My grandma talks about one of her mom’s favorite ones involving burnt rice for stomach aches that she learned, but she doesn’t remember which Asian culture it came from. Anyway, it’s super interesting how practices can blend and compliment each other.

I absolutely agree with what you’re saying. I think it’s really important that the magical traditions of non-English cultures which label their magical practice as “witchcraft” (which is a valid thing to do these days) understand that it’s not actually ‘witchcraft’ as defined by the initiatiory line of witchcraft from the UK. For example, my background is Greek/Slavic, and the word for ancient Greek witchcraft is Goetia. I practice Goetic witchcraft, which DOES borrow heavily from British traditional witchcraft, but it is a different thing, and there’s a lot of research that’s been done recently by people like Dr Stephen Skinner, Dr Alexander Cummins, and Jake Stratton Kent, which have drawn a lineage that connects the tradition of Goetia (which stems back to ancient pre-Hellenistic Greece) to the Zoroastrian Magi priesthood (this is where the work ‘Magic’ comes from, and the Grimoire tradition (the Grimoire tradition being an amalgamation of Goetia, Magia and ancient Egyptian, Babylonian and Canaanite religious/magical practices). British traditional witchcraft took the grimoire tradition, and mixed it with native British magical traditions and folklore, and this is where British traditional witchcraft was born from. AND NOW, Goetic practitioners like myself Are borrowing things from all the above, mixing it all back together, mixing Goetia with the emerging new Grimoire translations with zoarastrian Magia and with British traditional witchcraft… All current magical practices are eclectic. Even though the word ‘witch’ doesn’t belong to a Goetic practitioner traditionally (traditionally, we are called ‘Goen’ or ‘Goes’), we still understand in modern times that when we use the word ‘witch’, we refer to ourselves as magical practitioners (and I personally happily do so, practising both the religion of witchcraft as is done in British traditional witchcraft, intermingled with the re-discoveries of Goetia). I totally understand when you say that you’re a “Taoist witch” or practice “Taoist Witchcraft”, what you’re talking about. It is definitely not done in offence to the initiates of British traditional witchcraft. But we approach it from an angle of understanding and respect; And with the knowledge that British colonialism had its impact on how we name certain magical practices around the world 🤔

This was so well articulated! Thanks Benebell. I hope there will be more Asian voices in witchcraft publishing in the near future.

I love how beautifully unique everyone's perspectives and crafts are from many different experiences! Thank you for sharing your perspective and I do appreciate seeing diversity within the witchcraft community.

Hongkonger-American Wiccan and Norse pagan here - thank you so much for your video! I have so many feelings on this topic. I entered the Craft around 2018, and I can't say that I initially experienced the same kind of inhibition about culture and race when it came to practices like Wicca. In part this is probably because I'm quite culturally Westernized and possess a very Western frame of reference re: colors, mythology, etc. It's quite self-evident in how I identify deeply with Norse deities! But also I think I was quite lucky to discover the London pagan/witch community, which while still predominantly white, has been quite inclusive and accepting of all kinds of diverse and idiosyncratic individuals. So in that kind of environment, I suppose I found it quite easy to slip in and start speaking the same "magical language." However, I think became a lot more conscious of the "whiteness" of many magical spaces in 2019, when the 2nd Umbrella Movement occurred in HK. I found myself really wanting to connect with Hong Kong & Chinese culture, and of course, occult practice. I started to use magical methods to deal with a lot of the collective trauma I was dealing with in this time, as well as engaging with a lot of issues around discrimination and representation of Asians. In that process, I found a lot of my (mostly white) witchy friends well-intentioned, but quite insensitive to what I was going through and the issues I was trying to talking about. I also became very conscious of how Western-centric a lot of magical activism is - witches on Instagram and Tiktok always direct their spells (justifiably) towards causes like BLM and now the Russian-Ukrainian war, but why not also towards parts of Asia where similar injustices occur? Are they not also deserving of magical intervention? That discrepancy just doesn't sit right with me. It's taken me a while, but I think I've now found the right pocket of the Wicca community that knows how to lovingly accommodate my eclectic, Asian diasporic magical and cultural mix, even if I do still lack witchy Asian companions. My journey into Chinese occult is still ongoing - in large part thanks to your wonderful books! Apologies for the novel of a comment - I really appreciate hearing about and speaking with other Asians in the Craft and how they manage to bring their own individual character to their practice!

Fascinating video, thanks for sharing your unique perspective. Thanks for recommending the Penczack article.

I appreciate how you articulated the subject matter in this video. excellent.

What a great video! I really appreciate hearing your perspective as an Asian American practitioner and your reading of your journals from years gone by had me in stitches. ❤

Well. Me being mixed breed and a senior, saw flavors of Shamans/Sages from both sides. Yes the Wu had many practices that even flavor martial arts on both sides…. Dipper constellations play a very large role too…appreciate this B. 🙏🙏🙏🦉🦄🐛⛩🦋

Great conversation

These are fascinating cultural distinctions and the importance of not being excluded from any belief because of race is interesting as well. As somebody who has never been called to any religion or deity it seems like there's a lot of complexity to get to spirituality which to me should just be simple and individual, not tied to any group think or group identity like witch, shaman, Christian, Buddhist, Pagan, Wicca, Eastern/Western, etc. But humans do seem to have the need to belong to groups and find identity in common paths--I just seem to lack that gene! I like what you say about craft being expressed in individual ways. Thanks for your thoughts. Enjoyed your journals through the years.💖

That was wonderful! Thank you. What you said about your experience makes so much sense. I can totally see how, while demonizing it is totally off mark (see what I did there😉), Wicca has a very northern, western, and maybe central European focus that would seem exclusionary to people who culturally identify as originating in another part of the world. There are probably some very racist people in Wicca (they're everywhere), but I think you're right that it isn't consciously exclusionary for the most part. Am I making sense? I loved the comic video speed-up, by the way. You cracked me up.

This could not have come at a better time! I was just thinking about the limitations of the term "witchcraft," particularly regarding the grouping all of these different magical/spiritual/religious groups/practices together. Like, yes, we want diversity and inclusion, we want to feel welcome in witchy/pagan spaces, but at the same time, I feel like we can do so much more than that. I don't want to feel like I have to use the term "witch" simply because that's the path of least resistance to mainstream acceptance when it doesn't actually fit all that well. I also feel like when things get categorized as "Asian witchcraft/Wicca," it really minimizes the cultural and philosophical differences and makes people think that it's just another flavor of something that they already know, so they don't have to try that hard to understand it.

I have your book, but just found your channel. I too found my way to the occult in the 90's as a young teen. My Japanese grandmother totally assimilated and I have felt rootless most of my life because she was the only natural Grandparent I had a relationship with but I had no connection to the Japanese side so I am now trying to tie Shinto and ninjutsu energy work into my craft. It is truly a path of my own because there really isn't a book to follow.

One of our Coven (Inner Circle Sanctuary) mottos is 'Everyone has a right to the Goddess' which was our late High Priest's favorite saying. It's a shame that early authors didn't make it clear that Wicca is for everyone, adaptable by anyone, and that everyone is welcome to practice it. We are from the generation that uses Witchcraft and Wicca interchangeably, and we practice both, often at the same time. We refer to people however they prefer, but really don't mind what they call us. We see these practices as very complementary, and both are intrinsic tp our training and practice.

Such an interesting share, thank you, and for putting the link to Penczak’s article which I enjoyed very much. I always find your perspectives engaging and educational, opening my eyes to different ways of looking at the bigger picture.

While I haven’t found any term I’ve ever been able to stick with in terms of magick and witchcraft, I found that my connection to witchcraft came from writing, incantations, mini index cards as inscriptive spells and the literary worlds of books. I can relate to the feeling of being cut out of a lot of witchcraft groups. I’ve loved all your videos and truly resonated with your book. Thank you for doing these videos and I hope you write more books.

I can really see how where you're at can have such an impact on your craft. I'm just learning as of the last couple of years, and even for me, being from the Appalachian mountain region of North America, there are differences here as opposed to elsewhere. I think the herbs correspondences vary particularly, that is probably one of the things I'm finding most unique about understanding the practice in how a practitioner is tied to nature in doing so for that area.

Thank you! Just THANK YOU!!! 🌺🍃

Hey boss, phenomenal video. Truly

Dear Benebell Wen, I got your book Holistic Tarot and you have assisted me greatly in deepening my knowledge and increasing my skills in finding coherence in my tarot reading practice. Thank you so much. 🙏 To everyone reading this, this book is essential to those intending to hone their Tarot reading skills.

I truly appreciate how smart and insightful you are.

I really enjoyed your presentation here. In my case I'm a "white guy" who became interested in the Tao, Chinese Buddhism, 'quanfa' and 'qigong' at the age of 13 (1985). It has been a rough road, but I have learned much. Just recently I learned that one should be very careful during the year of one's Chinese astrological sign. I was born in a year of the black rat (1972), and I was in an unhealthy relationship that lasted from one year of the rat (2008) to the next (2020). That relationship ended horribly when I suffered a violent trauma at the hands of my partner. Now I have no choice but to focus on healing, and this may seem weird, but I got the idea that I may have suffered so much because I did not stay loyal to the teachings of my "uncle" who taught me some of his 'gongfu', some 'qigong', and assigned to me Iron Crutch Li as a sort of patron saint. And I was not loyal to what "spirits" I may have invited into my life. Now I need help with this healing path, but I am very isolated here in southern New Mexico. Fortunately I can start with what I know, but I need help with a healing process after being shot in the abdomen. I know that homemade chicken broth helps. An ethnically Chinese man from Vietnam who was a coworker taught me that, so as I already stated, I will practice what I know. You may recall that in a previous comment I mentioned Wusheng Laomu and Li Tieguai (Iron Crutch Li). I need Li Tieguai's medicine now more than ever. And please send some good healing vibes my way. You'll find me on Facebook too.

ok i loooooove that you included TCM practitioners in the list of different "witches" because i've certainly always considered it as such...

This has been so interesting. I've been interested in Asian Spirotuality for a long time, but obviously I can't fibd cery autgentic spurces and so much more was passed down and kept in families. And most was nit written, except by Christian scholars. I am not by blood Asian of any kind at all, but love how integrated spurituality is in the culture abd how the two worlds in Shinto are parallel. I like the idea of emotional and spiritual medicine There us something thrilling about using tge title of witch. Thank you for sharing the complexities of the language and what words are used to kind of describe what we are talking about. Toaism as appose to Hapanese and Indian spiritual practices are primarily talked about. China in particular interested ne and actually lead ne to my wutchcraft path. Thank you fir sharing emotiobs behind this too. These are hust as important as facts. Thank you fir sharing a but of history as well. There does seem a clear divide between Christian based religiobs wnd ancient or indigenous traditions. I've been studying the aborigini trubes if Asia for answers. I'd live yo exchange spurces and infornation, or even ask you how to approach integrating these in to my personal spiritual practice appropriately. I found and was told by priests that what people don't like to hear is that Wicca and Shinto are tied together and namy Japanese and Chinese philosophy, dieties, traditiobs, ect were traded, and Shinto is the oldest that is tied with Shamanism and Wicca. I know that shakes up a lot of people, so O fo appologize. I am by no meabs of authority to speak truth about these cultures, but this is what was told to me by someone that really knows their stuff. Anyway too long. Thank you so much! 💖

I forgot to add at the end of my previous comment... Love your sense of humor! :-)

PS. I don’t refer to myself as a ‘witch’, but rather a Warlock, as I’m a male (And although I understand that the word ‘Witch’ is gender neutral, The word Warlock is an acceptable modern title for a male practitioner of magic; And etymologically, has its origins from North Europe as actually being a word that meant a magical practitioner. So I’m a Warlock that practices Goetia and the Religion of Witchcraft! I am an initiate of Goetia, NOT of BTW (yet) ;)

I also came into witchcraft in the late 80s early 90s. My doorway was through Wicca like so many and my practice is still largely Wicca based. Im glad to see the definition of witchcraft has expanded and that there is a lot more diversity now. I am saddened to see so many on witchtok disparaging Wicca, especially when a lot of them have obviously Wen influenced by it.

@21:34 "Note to self: The next time you want to make fun of witches on TikTok, go read your own grimoire from 1999." Your wisdom is palpable, and hilarious!

The whole term "Asian Wicca" strikes me as unaware and very Euro-centric. Asia is a continent. The people who live there are "Asian" in that sense but it is *not* a monolithic culture. i know I don't have to tell you that China alone has over 50 different recognized ethnic/cultural groups, never mind all the variations of cultures within each of the recognized modern nations... but there is a strong tendency in the US and Europe to group "Asians" together as a monolithic group, "Africans" together as a monolithic group, etc. Wicca is Wicca; even with the variations that have sprung up (something that should be familiar to anyone identifying as part of any of the Abrahamic religions, not to mention several others) there is a shared commonality of various important root beliefs & practices. As far as "Wicca" and "witchcraft" being interchangeable terms, the former is an organized religion with a specific definition and structure, while the on the other hand the latter is a practice that does not have an overarching set of rules common across groups or locales, and that does not even have the same definition across many cultures. (The fact that not all witches are Wiccan and not all Wiccans consider themselves witches, just like not all witches are pagan and not all pagans consider themselves witches, speaks volumes about how the word "witch" was very nearly co-opted for the sake of simplicity at at time it was more separate from mainstream culture.)

I’ve felt very similarly excluded from Wiccan writings as a queer. So much of the “canon” that was constructed around Wicca had just as strict gender roles as the Christianity I was trying to leave. I heard so much about the freedom and empowerment of the craft, but felt just as small and confined reading Wiccan texts as I did the Bible. I know that Wicca has had several “reformations”, and that there are queers who call themselves straight up Wiccan. But to me, it just didn’t feel right.

All humans in America must conform and turn into merchants.

Just found your videos & I'm loving them. I've been practicing magic for about 36 years & at least according to this video, I don't think "witch" or "witchcraft" are the terms you should be using. I think "magician" & "magic" are closer to the terms you want to use.

It all comes from the same place, it's all from the same root, Magick is Magick no matter where it's from, Meditation+Visualization+Action+Faith= Magick. We're all related. We're all of "earth and starry sky"... Chris.

Can you spk on Palo and the like in Brazil. What are they and what is the diffence?

Like you I feel like the craft has been with me since birth. I remember first doing a lot of reading about the mystical and mythology and beginning an amateur investigation of comparative religion in the 1960's, reading my first spell book and casting my first spells in the 1970's. The 1980's was a period of time in which I received a true education in critical thinking which caused magic to take a back seat for a bit, although, meditation and mysticism were ever present... I spent much of the 80's experimenting with A.M.O.R.C. and it was the 80's where I started to learn Tarot and had a Wiccian Girlfriend. In the 90's I received my first initiation into a ceremonial magical order and became acquainted with a local Wiccian coven. So... I guess it depends on how you look at it. You could make an argument that I'm a magician of the 90's... but I have some past life memories that suggest I was a magician in the 1890's too... so... I find it to be a question that on one level, is kind of artificial.. but.. on the other hand.. I can point to significant differences in the world around me at all of those times and those differences certainly influenced who I was and am.

I am Wiccan and it is just a system a religion. To call all witchcraft Wicca and judging it by the morals of Wicca diminishes both Wicca and the other paths. I mean it is not just Asian practitioners who are frustrated, I started my occult path with Norwegian folk magic and it is so frustrating when someone call it Wicca, it is not mostly it is Christian based. Wicca is one religion and I love it, it is my path but it is not all witchcraft. I started in the early 90's.

Respectfully, I think you're making a chicken and egg error here. Let me use my day job as an example. We were recently hiring for a position in Medieval and Renaissance history. The Dean told us that we must, must, must have BIPOC representation in the candidates list we send forward. Okay, cool, we're down with that. The problem was actually twofold. First, less relevant to my point--as you know in hiring we're not allowed to know race or gender when we hire. So we were told to 'guess' a person's ethnicity based on name. As someone with a very WASP name, myself, I pointed out this was, you know, kind of BS. The second point, more relevant: not a lot of BIPOC/BAME people want to major in Medieval and Renaissance history. And who, honestly, could blame them? Why would you want to devote your life to a history that you generally, in the existing textbooks, see yourself or your people ZERO times? In our case, we had ONE applicant, and they were not Med/Ren, like...at all. (I can't go further due to privacy laws than to say wrong continent, and off by about 800 years) So, when you say there were no non white authors in Wicca stuff back in the day (which is true--in fact, in The Day most of the authors were second wave feminists who WERE getting respect and representation for the first doggone time themselves) , is that systemic racism, as you're implying, some weird conspiracy in the publishing world to stifle minority voices, OOOOOOOOR was it that BIPOC and BAME were looking at Wicca and going, yeah, that's not for me so they weren't even trying to get into that space, just like there are great BIPOC/BAME historians out there who just look at Med/Ren and go...yeah, wow, that's not interesting to me. Maybe you're only seeing 'representation' now, not as 'representation' (which is code for tokenism, if you get right down to it), but pioneers who said, yeah, this is generally a bunch of white people, but it's eclectic as heck so I'm going to put my OWN spin on it, and so now there actually ARE BIPOC/BAME Wiccan authors to tap, where there wasn't before?

Cool Aid kids. . . Jemini T-wins & Maestro, the Jiffy Pop Magic Chef Magician.

Toe-tipping, entry point decade--mid eighties. Cannonball off the high dive--90's.

While I never saw the Wiccan or neopagan scene as a white thing because of its overlap with ATR and Afrocentric religions in my area the majority of writers on the eastern tradition are found in the new age section. These authors and presenters don’t identify with neopaganism for many sociological reasons. The counter culture idea of using the term pagan, meaning unbeliever, is an edgy way of going against the mainstream whereas for example feng shui is the mainstream and a dharma master is a mainstream person. For example Lillian Too is one of the top writers on Chinese folk religion in English, but she doesn’t identify what she does as neopagan much less a religion.

Have you ever heard of the Hmong people and our shaman ways?

This. I dislike that so many Wicca authors, past and present say your witchcraft is just Wicca and you're doing it wrong. Seems like a wholly misunderstanding of history. Like Ostara was a made up name for the equinox by Timothy Zell because he didn't like that it didn't have a cool name. Or that Gardner fought with others on what real Wicca was with Valiente and others, causing Valiente to help found other branches Wiccan witchcraft as well. Or that Wicca takes from all these practices that came before, then excludes others. Plenty of wiccan books state that they are exclusionary on purpose, that you can read this book, but you can't be Wiccan unless we let you. All of this ignoring folk, occult, and religious practices that existed before during and after. Okay I'm done ranting. I don't want to erase Wicca, but having Wiccans constantly tell me I don't exist gets on my nerves.