Instagram Witches: Authenticity vs. Performance

BY NICOLE LAU

Your altar is perfectly arranged. Crystals catch the light just right. Candles flicker aesthetically. You've set up your phone on a tripod, adjusted the ring light, and now you're performing a ritual—not for the divine, not for your healing, but for content. For likes. For followers. For the algorithm.

You post it. The validation comes: hearts, comments, shares. You feel seen, successful, like a "real" witch. But something feels hollow. Because you just spent an hour staging a ritual instead of doing one. You performed spirituality instead of practicing it.

Welcome to Instagram witchcraft, where aesthetics matter more than authenticity, where content creation replaces spiritual practice, and where your power is measured in followers instead of actual magical ability. This isn't just about social media—it's about the fundamental conflict between performance and presence, between being seen and being real.

This article explores the Instagram witch phenomenon, the spiritual cost of performing your practice, and how to reclaim authentic magic in the age of digital performance.

Understanding the Instagram Witch Phenomenon

What It Is

Instagram witchcraft is characterized by:

• Aesthetic focus: How it looks matters more than what it does
• Content creation: Rituals are performed for the camera, not for magic
• Curated perfection: Only the beautiful, Instagrammable moments are shown
• Validation-seeking: Success measured by engagement metrics
• Performance over practice: More time staging than actually doing magic

Why It's Appealing

• Community: Instant connection with other practitioners
• Validation: External confirmation that you're "doing it right"
• Inspiration: Beautiful imagery and ideas
• Identity: Public claim to spiritual identity
• Monetization: Potential to profit from spiritual content

Why It's Problematic

• Energy misdirection: Power flows to audience, not to magic
• Authenticity loss: Performing for others instead of practicing for self
• Spiritual bypassing: Consuming/creating content instead of doing the work
• Comparison trap: Your practice never looks as good as curated feeds
• Sacred profaned: Private mysteries made public for likes

Authenticity vs. Performance: The Core Conflict

Authentic Spiritual Practice

Characteristics:

• Done in private, for yourself and/or the divine
• Messy, imperfect, real
• Energy flows inward (to you) or upward (to divine)
• Success measured by internal transformation
• No one sees it but you
• Vulnerable, raw, honest

Energy flow: You → Practice → Divine/Self → Transformation

Performative Spiritual Practice

Characteristics:

• Done for camera, for audience
• Curated, perfect, staged
• Energy flows outward (to audience)
• Success measured by likes, comments, followers
• Everyone sees it
• Polished, controlled, performed

Energy flow: You → Performance → Audience → Validation (but no transformation)

The Spiritual Cost of Instagram Witchcraft

1. Energy Misdirection

Magic requires focused intention and energy. When you're performing for an audience:

• Your attention is on the camera, not the ritual
• Your energy flows to viewers, not to your intention
• You're thinking about how it looks, not what it does
• The magic becomes hollow—form without substance

2. Loss of Sacred Privacy

Some things are meant to be private. Mystery traditions have always protected certain practices from public view because:

• Exposure dilutes power
• Sacred becomes profane when commodified
• Personal gnosis can't be shared without losing potency
• Not everything is meant for public consumption

When you post everything, nothing remains sacred.

3. Validation Addiction

When your spiritual practice becomes content:

• You start practicing for likes, not for magic
• Your self-worth becomes tied to engagement metrics
• You lose touch with what actually works vs. what looks good
• You need external validation to feel like a "real" witch

4. Comparison and Inadequacy

Instagram shows everyone's highlight reel:

• Your messy altar vs. their perfect one
• Your simple ritual vs. their elaborate ceremony
• Your beginner practice vs. their expert performance

You forget: their feed is curated. Your practice is real. But the comparison still wounds.

5. Spiritual Bypassing Through Content

Creating and consuming spiritual content feels like practice, but it's not:

• Posting about tarot ≠ actually reading tarot
• Photographing your altar ≠ using your altar
• Sharing moon rituals ≠ doing moon rituals
• Watching others' practices ≠ having your own

Signs You're Performing Instead of Practicing

Red Flags

• You think about how something will look on Instagram while doing it
• You stage rituals specifically for content
• You feel disappointed if a ritual isn't "Instagrammable"
• You spend more time photographing your practice than doing it
• You feel like your practice isn't valid unless you post it
• You buy tools because they're aesthetic, not because you need them
• You feel anxious if a post doesn't get enough engagement
• Your spiritual practice feels shallow or performative

The Honest Questions

Ask yourself:

• Would I still do this ritual if I couldn't post it?
• Am I doing this for me, or for my audience?
• Is my energy going into the magic, or into the performance?
• Do I feel more connected to my practice, or to my followers?
• Am I becoming a better witch, or just a better content creator?

Reclaiming Authentic Practice

1. Create a Private Practice

Commit to practices that are ONLY for you:

• No photos, no posts, no sharing
• Messy, imperfect, real
• Done in private, for your eyes only
• Success measured by how it feels, not how it looks

This is where your real power lives.

2. The 90/10 Rule

If you want to share your practice:

• 90% private, authentic practice
• 10% public sharing (if you choose)

Never let public performance become the majority of your practice.

3. Post After, Not During

If you want to share:

• Do the ritual authentically, privately, fully present
• THEN, if you want, take a photo after
• Never interrupt your practice to create content

4. Share the Lesson, Not the Practice

Instead of posting your ritual:

• Share what you learned
• Discuss the concept or theory
• Offer teaching or insight
• Keep the actual practice private

5. Unfollow Performative Accounts

Curate your feed ruthlessly:

• Unfollow accounts that make you feel inadequate
• Unfollow aesthetic-only content with no substance
• Follow teachers who prioritize practice over performance
• Follow accounts that inspire authentic work, not comparison

6. Take Regular Social Media Breaks

Disconnect to reconnect:

• One day per week offline
• One week per month off Instagram
• Notice how your practice deepens without the performance pressure

The Authenticity Ritual

Reclaiming Your Practice

1. Cleanse your space: Sage, sound, or visualization to clear performance energy
2. Turn off your phone: Literally. Off. In another room.
3. Set intention: "This practice is for me and the divine only. No one else will see this. I am free to be messy, imperfect, and real."
4. Do your practice: However it wants to unfold, without thinking about how it looks
5. Notice the difference: How does it feel to practice without performing?
6. Journal: What emerged when you weren't worried about aesthetics?
7. Commit: To keeping some practices forever private

Crystals for Authentic Practice

Truth and Authenticity

• Obsidian: Reveals truth, cuts through performance, shadow work
• Sodalite: Authentic expression, truth-speaking, discernment
• Amazonite: Speaking your truth, authentic voice

Protection from External Influence

• Labradorite: Shields from others' opinions, protects authentic self
• Black tourmaline: Boundaries, protection from external validation needs
• Smoky quartz: Transmutes comparison energy, grounds in reality

Self-Connection

• Clear quartz: Clarity on what's authentic vs. performed
• Amethyst: Spiritual connection, inner wisdom over external validation
• Rose quartz: Self-love, acceptance of imperfect practice

For Content Creators: Ethical Sharing

If you create spiritual content professionally or want to share authentically:

Guidelines

• Maintain private practice: Always have practices that are never shared
• Teach, don't perform: Share knowledge, not just aesthetics
• Be honest: Show the messy, the failures, the real
• Protect mysteries: Some things should never be posted
• Check your motivation: Are you serving your audience or your ego?
• Don't commodify everything: Some practices are not for sale

The Integrity Check

Before posting spiritual content, ask:

• Does this serve my audience's growth, or just my engagement metrics?
• Am I sharing wisdom, or just performing spirituality?
• Would I do this practice even if I couldn't post it?
• Am I protecting what's sacred?
• Is this authentic, or am I curating a persona?

Integration: Your Magic Doesn't Need an Audience

The most powerful magic happens in private. The deepest transformations occur when no one is watching. Your spiritual practice doesn't need to be seen to be valid.

Instagram can be a tool for connection, inspiration, and teaching. But it can never replace authentic practice. Your perfectly curated feed means nothing if your actual spiritual life is shallow.

You don't need followers to be a real witch. You don't need likes to validate your magic. You don't need to perform your practice to prove it's real.

Turn off the camera. Put down the phone. Do the messy, imperfect, private work that no one will ever see.

That's where your real power lives.

Next in this series: Comparison and the Evil Eye: Social Media Envy as Curse