Capitalising spirituality and using it as fearmongering for Tik Tok views
People capitalising off spirituality gives the same vibes as someone with a “f*ck capitalism” sticker on their MacBook in a Starbucks. Understandably, the Western world is a capitalist society and you sort of need to make money to live, but certain spirituality Tik Tokers are taking it a step forward. If you’re someone who doesn’t respect or understand spiritual practice, this article probably isn’t for you.
I have quite the spiritual belief system. I’m a pagan (or more specifically a “neo-pagan”), and I have my little rituals that make me feel better and add to my quality of life, in my opinion. I’m not saying I strip naked and dance to the moon in a field (although that sounds like a lovely time) but I know what works for me. I practice gratitude, journal, celebrate pagan holidays, thank the world for what I have and what I’m provided. I try to be a positive person, and work on my mental health daily. I also love tarot reading- I don’t take my results to heart, I just take them as a guide to be wary of certain behaviour patterns I may fall into. Social media shows I’m nowhere near the only person who does all of this, and Tik Tok of all places have gathered quite a large community of spirituality. Wiccans, pagans, brujas and brujos, witches and warlocks… the list goes on. It’s comforting knowing I’m not alone, and most of the videos I’ve come across provide helpful advice and tips. Most.
But with anything that grows popular, comes the people who exploit it and the naïve newbies. I don’t want to disrespect anyone’s beliefs, but it’s hard to believe sometimes that a £50 scented oil with some herbs in it will make you rich and make your crush fall in love with you. I like collecting crystals, but I know they’re bought wholesale, mined for even less, and a tiny piece of rose quartz shouldn’t cost anyone £8. That’s the tip of the iceberg- tarot readings that “if they come up on your page, it’s for you!” even though it gets viewed by 200,000 people. It then proceeds to scare the living daylights out of you with the caption : “Someone evil has put bad energy into your life… it’s so strong you can’t get rid of it on your own.” Oh no! What can I do? I can pay £100 for a personal cleansing? Sure, that makes sense! But wait… if even 100 people pay to get rid of that bad energy, you get a £1000? I’m sure that’s not related at all.
And don’t get me started on those pendulum yes-no question videos where you can’t see the person’s hand in the camera so they are CLEARLY swinging it purposefully. It’s sad reading the comments of those things: heartbroken single mothers, inexperienced teens just getting into spirituality… vulnerable, desperate people who don’t know any better and think it’s destiny they’ve come across that creator.
The issue is that these creators are deliberately exploiting spirituality for their own gain- mostly to make money. Selling herb bundles for extortionate prices, offering aura cleanses for the price of a week’s rent, fear mongering through tarot or rune readings- sometimes going so far to pretend to be a vessel for a deity to spread messages. They slap a dark filter over the video, accompanied by some eerie, horror-film music and watch the views roll in. By all means, provide tools and such for people who need it but there are so many who scam and take advantage of their customers and viewers. It’s hard to tell if they actually believe in their practice or if they’re only doing it for the money.
Spirituality is very intimate and personal thing, it shouldn’t be violated like this.
