Lately, I’ve been thinking about the difference between essence and optics, between the quiet power of lived tradition and the loud spectacle of modern spirituality. It’s hard not to notice how much value we now place on being visible, being followed, being praised. But in the tradition I belong to, none of that has ever mattered.

In Traditional Craft, power isn’t found in storefronts or follower counts. It isn’t in how well you present yourself or how many offerings you have on your website. It’s in how you hold yourself when no one is watching. It’s in the integrity of your silence, the depth of your oaths, and the constancy of your practice across seasons and years.

The old Witch in the woods didn’t need applause to know she was powerful. The Hermit on the mountain wasn’t waiting for bookings. They lived at the edge of the world, not because they were isolated or broken but because they were listening to something deeper, something older. Their lives were shaped by the rhythm of the land, the breath of spirit, and the long, slow unfolding of the Mysteries.

Those Mysteries are not commodities. They’re not supposed to be packaged, branded, or sold. They’re not quick or easy or neat. They’re living currents handed down with intention, shaped by relationship, discipline, and time. They are earned in the Circle, whispered mouth to ear, passed like fire between hands in the dark.

But now, I see a different kind of hunger. A hunger for validation more than transformation. For aesthetic over substance. It’s a cycle I’ve watched play out again and again, jumping from one tradition to the next, always collecting, rarely committing. A new title, a new certification, a new practice. It becomes a spiritual collage that looks good online, but lacks the anchoring of any real root.

And I wonder, what has changed? Certainly, perception but more than that, maybe it’s the appetite. The craving to be seen, approved of, adored. But the truth is, initiation is not about being chosen to be popular. It’s about being willing to be changed. It’s about service, sacrifice, and surrender. It’s not a badge of honor, it’s a vow to live in alignment with something greater than yourself.

The old Witch didn’t need your applause. She had thunder in her bones and the stars in her eyes.

And some days, when I’m very still, I can feel that same current moving through me.

And that, I think, is enough.