On Hexing The Moon, TikTok, And The Need For Discernment In Our Craft

Before I dive in, two things I want to make absolutely clear so people know where I’m at beforehand:

1. I am in favor of hexing under the right circumstances, for the right reasons, done in the right way, and by an experienced witch.
2. I absolutely passionately love TikTok and happen to have an account there. Yes, you can find me there and follow for my snarky and occasionally serious content.

Okay, that’s it. Time to rock ‘n’ roll.

First of all, what is TikTok?

For those of you just tuning in, TikTok is a video-based social media platform for numerous topics and interests. Think of it like Instagram meets Tumblr but with videos that you can create yourself, add images, sounds, and effects to, etc. It’s blessed us with the meme in 3D form, for which I may be forever grateful. There are just some things that even an animated gif can’t express.

Groups and communities are organized based off of algorithms and hashtags. The ones I hang in tend to be mostly witcktok, pagantok, cottagecore/witch aesthetic, LGBTQIA+, and anything involving cute cat and kitten videos. I’m literally living in a dystopian nightmare and need my daily dose of serotonin any way I can get it. The average age group on there leans towards the younger generations, mostly Gen Z but also Millennials like myself. You’ll run into Gen Xers and Boomers on there too but they are for the most part outnumbered.

It also makes the orange menace in the White House very angry, therefore I love it to bits.

The hexing backstory for the confused and/or unaware

The witch community on TikTok (usually abbreviated as witchtok) found out that someone on a TikTok live claimed their coven planned on “hexing the fae”. The reasoning was because they were “evil”. This later escalated to comments later that they were going to also hex the moon and the sun. Later came the underworld, the deities connected to all of these things, and threats that they were going to “kill all of the fae”.

This led to a great deal of freakout, people worrying that deities were harmed, hurt, or offended, particularly Apollo and Artemis. This is likely due to the assumed connection between them and the sun and moon. Therefore by hexing the moon and/or the sun you were somehow targeting them.

Since then a 30 year old married man on Twitter who claims to be a demigod is now also claiming that he’s a part of this “moon hexing”. I’m sure this sentence makes as much sense as everything else I just said. However I’m pointing it out as pinning this strictly on “12 year olds on TikTok” is extremely inaccurate. Grown adults are partaking of this.

At this point people are just capitalizing on whatever is going on for the sake of attention. It doesn’t help that rumors are spreading about people dying as a result of the hexing, etc.

There’s a lot to unpack here and I’m not entirely sure what to unpack and what to burn down with a blowtorch

You cannot hex a deity, daimon, or celestial body. There is literally not a single witch who is powerful enough to do any sort of damage to any of these things. If any god at all is “offended” it’s likely to be at the hubris that you either think you can, or claim that you can.

The gods are likely not caring at all about this. I personally think that they have larger concerns. Even if they were angry (which is totally possible due to the hubris of it all) I don’t think they’re going to start striking people down and punishing them based on the actions of a few immature attention seekers. Trust me, human beings commit far more offensive and atrocious acts on a regular basis than supposedly hexing a moon. Several of those are going on right now as I type.

Is there anything about any of this to worry about? Honestly, no. If I were to pick out a thing to maybe be concerned with, it’d possibly be with the fact that they’re running around threatening fae. This sounds like a genuinely dangerous and ridiculous thing to do. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure some of the fae are amused. But even if so, their amusement would not necessarily mean that any sort of action they may choose to take wouldn’t be a negative one.

The only genuine problem I have with all of this on the big picture level is the very obvious emotional manipulation of people who are new to the craft, Hellenic polytheism/paganism, and to paganism in general. If there’s anything at all to address in that it’s the misconceptions that are helping to make them vulnerable to this manipulation.

And the problem isn’t just about understanding, it’s about discernment.

There are some basic things about witchcraft and the gods that need to be addressed

And it’s not just witchcraft either, it’s the pagan/polytheistic communities in general:

• Not everything is a sign, an omen, or a portent of something bad or good. There’s a fine line between looking for omens vs superstition.
• The best method of determining how a deity may or may not react to something is through divination. And if you don’t know how to do that yourself and/or are completely new to it or the deity themself, I would find someone who is more experienced with that particular deity. And experienced in general, I might add.
• The astral and spirit worlds are basically like the internet, and not everyone is who they claim to be. Like in the physical world, some will take on other identities and appearances in order to prey on you and groom you. This especially happens to younger folk but is not limited to such. Discerning between ego, predatory spirits, and actual divine beings is critical. Bottom line: if they’re trying to sex you up (especially if you’re underage) or butter you up with things such as “you’re related to a deity/demigod” and go on about how special you are, this is literally the spiritual/magical equivalent of “oh you’re so mature for your age” and “you’re not like other girls.” RUN.
• The more witches talk about how they hex and curse people, the more likely they a) have no idea what goes into them and/or b) are mostly just looking for attention and/or to intimidate people. “To know, to dare, to will, to keep silent” is a saying for excellent reasons.
• The myths are neither literal nor the religion, and the gods aren’t anywhere near as petty as some believe them to be.
• The fae aren’t cuddly, smol creatures who grant wishes. They are basically super powerful interdimensional beings who are NOT human. You can’t hold them to human standards. Even in modern day Ireland they will reroute highways and construction to avoid screwing with the fae. You do NOT want to screw with the fae. Hexing them is not only impossible, but merely trying to do it or suggesting you want to is a really bad idea. Also if you want to learn more about them, go read anything by Morgan Daimler.
• Respecting the gods doesn’t mean fear and paranoia. It just means acknowledging that they have greater concerns than a social media platform. The gods aren’t human. Neither are they petty, easily angered spirits. They can take on a personality in order for us to better understand them. I often liken it to a space suit that they wear in order to interact with our world. It’s not the entirety of who they are. They are both beyond human beings and beyond mere personality.
• Homer. Wasn’t. Holy. Writ! The Iliad and the Odyssey were entertainment. The Iliad is a long war protest poem done allegorically and beautifully. It’s an important cultural cornerstone. But neither were the equivalent of Bible stories because there was nothing vaguely like Bible stories in any religious tradition in ancient Greece.

What to do about all of this hexing talk if you are part of witcktok?

First of all: fellow witchtokers, I love you. I wish this community existed when I was in my early teens. It would’ve saved me from a lot of hardship and given me a much needed peer-based social outlet. In my early to mid teens most of the outlets online consisted of much older adults. They didn’t know what to do with or say to a teenager wanting to learn more about the craft or paganism. And some of them were predators who provided VERY problematic guidance at best but that’s a whole other blog post waiting to happen.

My advice to you all: please note that the timing of all of this is deeply suspect. A lot of us have been putting out spellwork to help with Black Lives Matter and the protests, COVID-19, and in handling the current GOP administration in the USA. This includes involvement in more practical affairs. Some of those affairs made the news, as some of you may know. And they made certain individuals VERY afraid of this platform to the point where the current administration is considering banning it. In short, all of this moon hexing stuff is a total distraction from more pressing concerns.

And if there’s anyone out there actually hexing the fae…gods help them. But sad to say there’s nothing you personally can do to help. You’re best staying as far away from that mess as possible.