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Consider the reason that so many people do not like "aesthetic witchcraft" has nothing to do with hype, trends, or appearances and everything to do with the fact that materialism is killing the earth -the source of witchcraft.
Not liking "aesthetic witchcraft" has nothing to do with gatekeeping and everything to do with calling out a mockery of the sacred and refusing to see the antithesis of witchcraft as equal to it.
If the bulk of your practice is focused on collecting objects -be they books, "crystals," bones, hand made tools & incense from your fav instawitch, jewelry, etc- than it is on solidifying your connection with the land & interacting with its spirits, what we do is not the same.
That distinction is important. Witchcraft comes from the Land. You do not need to have ever read a book on witchcraft to learn it. The land & its spirits can & will teach you.
But if your "practice" is founded upon actions that harm the land & its spirits, they will not teach you. You made it so that they cannot. Your actions are not seeking connection with them. And that's why it's not witchcraft.
And that's fine so much as witchcraft is not meant for everyone & not everyone needs to practice it. But that distinction is key. There is no witchcraft without the land. There is no witch without a strong connection to the land & reciprocal relationship with its spirits.
