Etsy bans spells

[crenquis]

Universal device:

[ugh]

But can I still sell a physical service that promises or suggests it will effect a metaphysical change (e.g. purgatorial-wait loss)?

[anon33466019]

[popobawa4u]

Thess jost ign! Etsie banz spehlz! Moar gnewz att eelhevahn!

[LDoBe]

Prayer works wonderfully for weightloss, as long as you eat a healthy diet, and get plenty of exercise

[DimeSpin]

I do kind of wonder what the limit is here. In many ways, when you sell an item, you aren’t just selling whatever it literally is, but also the idea of it, the aesthetic of it, the experience of it, and some of those aspects can border on the metaphysical even if you aren’t literally selling a spell. I wonder this because I have an odd fascination with magical items and have actually spent time browsing such items on Etsy. There seemed to be two schools of thought in describing these items. One was straight up, here’s a magic candle, light it, follow these instructions and x, y and z will happen. Like the magical version of the instructions on the back of a box of laundry detergent. Others were way more flowery and poetic, like here’s a candle, these ingredients in the candle are associated with fae, light it and bring the blessings of the woods into your home. More like a cross between the description of shampoo and Harry Potter roleplay.

Then of course there’s all the items that just reproduce the mythology related to whatever it is while saying “it is believed” or that such and such people believe or had bla bla story about it - does the seller believe this to be true, or do they just know the myth and think it’s pertinent to selling the item? You’ll never know!

I rather hope the latter are preserved, or just get more vague and flowery in their attempts to dance around saying it does anything besides whatever it literally does - I don’t believe in spells but I do believe in enjoying a nice, if silly experience with an object that’s been talked up as mystical in some way. After all, it’s probably the story of the thing that makes the image of a ouji board so much more fun to decorate things with than, say, chutes and ladders.

It would make sense to me to leave those kinds of descriptions alone, if the reason really is chargebacks from people’s magic stuff not doing the magic promised. If you buy a stone described as warding off evil, you have a point if it doesn’t, but if you buy a stone described as being associated by such and such culture with doing whatever, you’re only being sold a rock, but now it’s a rock with history. It’s only false advertising if your history is incorrect. Much easier to sort out who’s at fault with that kind of transaction, since you don’t have to say whether the belief is right but they did it incorrectly, wrong and it’s a scam, wrong but all involved innocently did their best, right but the buyer had incorrect expectations or utilized the item wrong, etc., Just figure out if they got that literal item, in the condition advertised, whatever it may be. Ah, much easier.

[miasm]

For Sale:

Totally ordinary, normal, non magick beans.

• Item 1. Non magick bean that has not been enchanted with a love spell. Do not grind up and place in hot beverage of person.

• Item 2. Non magick bean that has not been enchanted with a spell of monetary acquisition. Do not insert up left nostril and sneeze until dislodged.

• Item 3. Non magick bean that has not been enchanted with a spell to confuse your enemies. Do not wrap in a hankie, tie to a brick and throw through your enemy’s window.

Totally ordinary, normal, non magick items.

• Item 4. Non magick staff carved from an elm branch and definitely not warded over for 400 hours. Do not stamp mightily upon the ground to not summon daemons to not do your unbidding.

• Item 5. Non magick rice paper with non magick calligraphic non enchantment inscription. Do not stick to front door to not ward off daemons.

All refunds upon request. Returns subject to appraisal for non magick depletion by not a witch.