#fledglings guide to witchcraft
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Updated Post. Imma be real for a sec, some of the new information that was brought to my attention is amazing and, in fact, very helpful, so I'm making an updated post to this one here.
A Beginners Guide to Crystals.
How to spot fakes (typically glass) and dyed crystals, Crystal Shapes, and Crystal Color Associations are the topics in this post.
How to spot glass, resin, and other types of fake crystals. (You can still 100% use them in witchcraft, but if you want genuine crystals, then this guide may help you do just that!)
If you think that your crystals are fake, here are some things you can look and do to tell.
Rubbing your crystal with a finger should reveal tiny pores on the surface of the crystal. If it does not have any pores and is instead completely smooth, then it's possible that it's glass or resin.
While some crystals can have naturally formed air bubbles in them, it is rare and may just be glass that was shaped into the crystal.
You can easily search up "fake crystal name" vs. "real crystal name" and compare the two pictures.
You can also look up "dyed crystals" vs. "undyed crystals" to see what a natural coloring of crystals should look like.
If you're worried that your turquoise is fake, then you can take the tip of a hot pin and press it into the crystal, if it burns then it's real, however if it starts to melt its a fake.
Opalite and Goldstone are glass crystals, man made.
9/10 times if your Crystal looks very brightly colored it could have been dyed.
I'll put in some pictures of glass/resin crystals next to the real crystals to show the difference.
Natural coloring of crystals occurs because of the different metals and other minerals that are absorbed during the creation of the crystal. Quartz is just silica and oxygen, so it's appears colorless, but when iron is absorbed, it creates purple or yellow, depending on how oxidized the iron was in the creation of the crystal.
Natural citrine does form, but it's not going to look burned or splochty.
Splotchy color in crystals usually means that it's been dyed, as you can see in the first two images. Dyed crystals also very obviously look dyed because of how brightly they are colored.
Even in Malachite, the green in the fake malachite is brighter than the genuine malachite. You can also look at the unnatural banding on the fake and compare it to real malachite.
Real opal is not see-through like Opalite is. Real opal is more clouded with spots of color, while opalite will have streaks of color or look like the see-through ones above.
Real turquoise is going to have brown or black webbings and cracks or chips, while dyed howlite is going to be smooth with brown or black inclusions. You can take a swab of acetone and rub it across the crystal to see if any coloring comes off. If the color does come off or the crystal looks lighter in the spot, then it's more than likely dyed howlite. You can also do that hot pin trick mentioned above.
The picture on the left is dyed howlite, while on the right is the natural turquoise. You can see that the natural crystal has deep webbing into the stone, very obvious cracks while the holite doesn't have cracks, only webbing that looks like it but it's going to be smooth along those lines.
Crystal Shapes in witchcraft
Double pointed- absorbs and emits energy.
Cluster- Radiates energy.
One point- concentrates and directs energy.
Raw- Strong open energy.
If the crystal is more round then the energy is going to be calmer
If the crystal has multiple points, then the energy is directed off of each point.
The size of the crystal doesn't dictate the amount of energy it gives off.
Different crystals have different energies that they give off. The ones most commonly used in witchcraft and their properties are listed below.
Clear quartz- Clarity
Amethyst- Grounding
Citrine- Happiness
Rose quartz- love
Black Tourmaline- Protection
Obsidian- also protection
Aventurine- luck
Tigers eye- money
Labradorite- aura healing and protection
There are many other crystals that give off similar energies that can be used. As stated, these are just some of the more commonly seen ones.
Now, different crystals can give off different energies depending on the person using them. Some people may see use amethyst as protection rather than obsidian or black tourmaline. Some may use aventurine for money spells over tigers eye. That's 100% okay.
Crystal Color Associations.
Color associations can depend on how the witch feels about a color. This is the general association plus how I use colors in my path.
Red- Anger/passion
Orange- Courage (or in my case repulsion)
Yellow- Happiness
Green- Luck and money
Blue- Calming or sadness (depending on the mood)
Purple- Spirituality
Brown- grounding
Pink- self love
Grey- solemn, seriousness.
With some crystals, the color is also associated with the things listed above. However, again, not all witches will use the color associations of crystals this way, and that's 100% okay. Each witch has a different path and different associations when it comes to the tools they use in their path.
If you're interested in learning about what energies different crystals give off, often just googling "what is crystal name used for in healing" and you will receive an answer.
Though with any type of research, please look at 3-5 other sources that say the same or similar thing. Though it may take more digging to come to a conclusion.
Thank you for reading the updated post, and let me know if I missed anything or if you'd like to add anything. A big thanks to everyone who has corrected the previous post on this subject and any posts that may have contained misinformation in them.
#witchcraft#fledglings guide to witchcraft#witch community#witchblr#witch topic#crystals#color association
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Oh hey beginners, spells don't have to rhyme to work!
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I saw you're reading legends and lattes which I haven't read yet, but I'd like too! So seeing as you seem like a big reader do you have any recommendations for Halloween reads? Traditional books or if?
I am a pretty big reader. But, even more than that, I'm a library associate so knowing a lot about books and providing recommendations is a core aspect of my job (a job that I adore) 😊
I have been recommending and will continue to recommend Legends and Lattes as a cozy, sweet, delightfully queer read. Definitely give it a go if you've been considering it.
I haven't been able to read much IF recently (so, honestly, I'd be very interested in any recommendations you all might have for good Halloween IF reads) but here are some traditional books (and graphic novels) that I'm happy to pass on. If you have a more specific genre you're interested in, let me know (like I said, this is what I do and I adore it). Many of these don't directly relate to Halloween, but for whatever reason, I think they fit the spooky season. I tried to present a wide range of titles and these are in no order whatsoever. Please enjoy.
Some Spooky Season Recommendations
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree [cw]
(adult fiction, high fantasy, queer romance, sapphic slow-burn, cozy, for dnd fans)
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas [cw]
(young adult, queer fiction, spirits and brujería, paranormal romance, first in a duology)
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas [cw]
(adult fiction, gothic, vampires, slow-burn romance, historical fiction)
The House Witch by Delemhach [cw]
(adult fiction, high fantasy, witchcraft, romance, cozy mystery, comedy, first in a series)
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle [cw]
(adult fiction, horror, queer fiction, genuinely horrifying camp)
(and yes, that Chuck Tingle)
The Skull by Jon Klassen [cw]
(juvenile fiction, illustrated, folktale, short, gently spooky)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman [cw]
(juvenile fiction, horror, ghosts, graveyards, macabre, coming of age tale)
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson [cw]
(adult fiction, horror, gothic, haunted house, mystery)
Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones [cw]
(adult fiction, werewolves, horror, coming of age tale)
The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa (in particular, the audiobook narrated by Vico Ortiz) [cw]
(teen fiction, historical fantasy, queer fiction, trans mc, pirates, magic powers, deals with devils)
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna [cw]
(adult fiction, cozy mystery, romance, urban fantasy, witchcraft)
The Witch Boy by Molly Ostertag [cw]
(juvenile fiction, graphic novel, queer fiction, magic and witches, first in a series)
Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women, edited by Lee Murray [cw]
(adult fiction, horror anthology, short stories)
Hollow by Shannon Watters [cw]
(teen fiction, graphic novel, queer fiction, sleepy hollow retelling)
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia [cw]
(adult fiction, urban fantasy, horror, vampires)
A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley [cw]
(adult fiction, romantic comedy, urban fantasy, witchcraft, demons, first in a series)
Fledgling by Octavia Butler [cw]
(adult fiction, horror, science fiction, vampires)
The Clackity by Lora Senf [cw]
(juvenile fiction, horror, mystery, paranormal investigators, ghosts, first in a series)
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir [cw]
(adult fiction, horror, queer fiction, necromancy, haunted space castle, first in a series)
Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom [cw]
(adult fiction, dark fantasy, historical setting, witchcraft, devils, revenge, illustrations)
The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson [cw]
(adult fiction, horror, mystery, ghosts, coming of age tale)
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow [cw]
(adult fiction, gothic horror, romance, mystery, haunted house, curses, nightmares)
Nimbus by Jan Eldredge [couldn't find any cws]
(juvenile fiction, fantasy, mc is a magic cat, witchcraft, goblins, for the Warrior Cat kids)
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What is Witchcraft?
Witchcraft is an aggregate term used to describe the act of performing an action that results in the indirect causation of the intended effect. Whether this action includes deities, tools, rituals, ceremonies, correspondences, sounds, voice, thoughts, sex, sleep, consumption, and/or other living organisms is entirely up to the individual practitioner.
Witchcraft does not imply that the practitioner is religious, nor does it dictate any type of value judgment or lifestyle upon them. However, the term does imply that the practitioner has faith in the idea that their aforementioned action(s) could/can/will affect not only their reality but also the reality of others. A very common misconception is that a practitioner of witchcraft (Often called a witch) must be psychologically, emotionally and biologically female. Whereas in reality, a practitioner of witchcraft can be born any biological sex as well as identify as any point on the gender-identity spectrum. Witchcraft also does not denote any specific sexual orientation.
Forward: A personal note
Let me start by saying that this information has been accumulated from various sources and/or is my personal interpretation, definition or method. Do not view this post as an authoritative guide. This post is meant to help others reach an understanding of their own craft or act as a trailhead for those fledgling witches who don’t know where to start.
This being said, please note that this post contains information related or belonging to *closed cultures (Meaning that the traditions and practices of these cultures are protected secrets). This information is to help give you a frame of reference. I am not going to reveal protected prayers, ceremonies, or practices but will go over tools and basic concepts within these traditions. Please do not practice traditions you do not have permission to practice, it is disrespectful to the current practitioners- but even more so to their ancestors.
THIS POST CONTAINS A LOT OF INFORMATION- I recommend taking it in smaller doses. I will be making individual posts about each topic covered that will be more in-depth. This post is primarily for those just starting on their path.
All information that belongs to a closed culture will be marked with an asterisk*
How to research Witchcraft
Where do I start?
You can start here! The purpose of this post is to give people who are looking into witchcraft a good starting point. However, if you’re looking for posts beyond this post, I’d highly recommend you read through the rest of this post.
What are the best sources?
When it comes to witchcraft there is no such thing as a primary source of information. The subject matter is so subjective and aggregate that there is not one definitive source of information.
What information can I trust?
None of them and all of them. If you want to get the best information possible, my recommendation would be to study as many sources as possible and find out what they all have in common. There is a pattern to what cultures throughout time and space have in common. Here are two articles I have written about how to safely research witchcraft online: Responsible research & warnings
I want to research a culture, but it is closed?
If when researching you come across, or seek out, information that belongs to a closed culture or tradition (Meaning that the culture as a whole does not feel comfortable with outsiders using their practices as it could lead to a plethora of problems) then you should do two things:
1. Acknowledge the information as not yours to have, but remember it.
2. Do not ever use the information. Only use it as a guide or boundary for your own craft, but also to help that culture dissuade others who mean to utilize it without permission.
3. A vast majority of information you’ll find about closed practices online are either wrong or lack critical nuances and context.
4. It is ALWAYS best to talk to a practitioner of that practice and let them decide what information is appropriate for you to know. It would be very unwise to believe that information found anywhere else is accurate, respectful, and reliable.
This also applies to cultures that are semi-closed; meaning that only persons who meet certain criteria may practice; as well as certain religious practices (I.E. If you do/have not actively practice(d) that religion- DO NOT APPROPRIATE FROM IT.)
I have made a fairly thorough list of closed & semi-closed cultures/practices here.
Tools from across many forms of Witchcraft
Words that are in bold are defined in this list. Words that are Italicized are defined elsewhere in this post.
Alcohol- Used to lower inhibitions and increase the passion and presence of a practitioner. However, it also decreases a practitioner’s ability to maintain intent.
Altar- A sanctified table that is used to hold other sanctified items. Some Altars may be devoted to deities or spirits. They are places where a practitioner can place their intents and offerings for the workings of a spell, ceremony, and/or ritual.
Altar cloth- A cloth that is used to cover an Altar’s surface. It may be used as a sign of respect towards the Sanctity of the altar because many altars are made of wood and are often ornate and unique, the cloth may then be used to protect the altar surface. In other cases, the cloth serves to beautify a rather mundane construction underneath.
Altar Stone- A flat stone/sheet of metal that is placed on top of an Altar. Some may act as Talisman or Idols in order to connect the practitioner to a specific idea or deity or entity. Some merely act as a fire-resistant surface for Cauldrons or *Salmadors.
Amulets- A necklace or trinket that is made of metal (typically). Used to hold intent, energy, and/or spirits. May contain facets for crystals or stones. Often worn for protection. Interchangeable with “Talisman” in some traditions.
Anchor- An object that is filled with energy. Normally filled with Elemental energy that the practitioner can draw from later.
*Asabikeshiinh- (*Ojibwe traditions)also known as dream-catchers by way too many people. They are traditionally made with willow on which a web is strung. Is used to prevent malevolent spirits and spells from entering a space. It’s also known as *asubakacin.
Athame- A small dagger that is used to direct flows of energy and make energetic contracts. Used to bind energies to objects and people alike. Rarely used to draw blood.
*Ayoyotes- (From *Mexica Traditions) Small nut shells that are bound with leather to leather ankle and wrist cuffs. worn by leaders of the dance to keep rhythm. They are also worn to keep the wearer grounded during Ceremony.
Beans- Commonly used in Cleromancy types of Divination.
Bell- Used to open and close sacred spaces when working with spirits. They are rung to catch the attention of desired spirits and pull them into the space. Then they are rung again at the end of the ceremony/ritual to release them from the space.
Besom- A broom made from natural materials. Used in energetic cleansing and curse weaving. They are not used to actually sweep a floor, but rather are hung on walls as a Talisman of protection when not being used.
Black Mirror- A simple mirror and an easy one to make that is used for Scrying types of Divination. To make one, just buy a small frame from a thrift store that has glass in it and some black paint. Paint the inside of the glass black and reinstall it in the frame.
Boline- a knife that is used for preparing herbs and inscribing wood and wax. Rarely used for bloodletting.
Bones- (*Hoodoo, *Voodoo, and various European traditions.) Commonly used in Cleromancy as a tool for divination. Are also used in various spellworkings and as a means for types of ancestor work.
Brick Dust- Typically used in *Voodoo/*Hoodoo but can also be found in Central American and Native American traditions like *Curanderismo. Typically used to block energies and prevent spirits or energies from entering a space. (Is interchangeable with salt in this regard. Brick Dust has several other uses but they are culturally protected.
Candle- Used to represent the element of fire. May also be used as the vessel of a spell or entity that is activated/released/captured gradually over time. They are also very helpful in maintaining Headspace. Also, the different types and colors of various candles have correspondences.
Cauldron- A metal pot with a handle. Used as a censer for burning incense and other materials for spells or cleansing/smudging. Is almost never used in potion making unlike what pop-culture would have you believe.
Censer- A container used for burning incense that is vaporized through the use of coals. They are typically metal, ceramic, or shell.
Chimes- Used to draw in Fae. They are also used to maintain a space and headspace for specific types of spells (Typically blessings). May also be used for cleansing via sound.
Cingulum- Mostly used as a signifier of rank of initiation in Wicca. Also used in Knot Magic.
Crystals- Used to give and take specific energies defined by the type of crystal being used. Crystals have a very broad range of utility. Being one of the most in-depth fields of study within witchcraft, I’d recommend starting by researching crystals and their attributes.
*Cuauhxicalli- (Used in *Mexica Traditions), see Offering Bowl.
Dice- Used in Cleromancy as a tool for Divination.
Dirt- Used for a plethora of reasons in spell casting. Most spells that call for dirt that you will find probably are directly from or stem from *Voodoo or *Hoodoo. However, dirt is literally everywhere so don’t feel like you can’t use it in spells that you create.
Dream journal- A book used to record dreams for uses in self-reflection and Shadow Work.
Drugs- (DISCLAIMER: I am not condoning the use of illicit drugs) Drugs have long been used to reach Altered States and/or to increase Headspace throughout many cultures. However, all drugs help in some areas and hinder the practitioner in others. I do not recommend using drugs for spell work unless you’re experienced in using said drug for ceremonial or ritualistic uses. Please be safe if you do decide to use drugs and remain ever mindful of their potential addictive qualities.
Essential Oils- Used in place of certain herbs for cleansing, kitchen magic, candle making, salve creation and much more. Please be careful and do research before ingesting or topically applying Essential Oils, as a lot of them are toxic or can cause irritation.
*Feathers-(Certain uses of Feathers belong to closed cultures such as Curanderismo, Cherokee tradition, and several more. Such as Prayer Fans) Feathers are commonly used to represent the Element of Air, and used to help move a smudge over surfaces.
Flame- Fire is commonly used as an agent for releasing energy or cleansing something. Flames can also be used for the activation of Sigils and Spells.
Goblet or Chalice- Used to hold communion with deities or spirits. May also be used for sanctifying water or wine for consumption. Also is used as a representation of feminine energy.
Grimoire- A book used to record spells, ceremonies and rituals and the processes in which they are performed. Often encoded to protect them.
Headbands and Belts- Used to protect the practitioner from outside energies during ceremonies and rituals.
Herbs- Used for their chemical and energetic properties in holistic remedies and spell work.
Horcrux- An object that is imbibed with the soul of a practitioner. This object acts as an extremely personal type of Anchor.
*Idols- (Some Idols may belong to closed cultures, be sure to do your research) Idols are representational of Deities, Spirits or Ideas that assist the practitioner in connecting with said entity.
Incense- Used to represent the element of air. May also be used to hold a sanctified space as it is a mixture of all four elements. Some incense may also be used to smudge or cleanse.
Ink- Used to record information. May also be sanctified and used to create sigils, spell circles, etc. Also used in sacred tattoos.
Knife- Used to let blood. May also be used to cut cord.
Lens- Can be used for scrying and can be enchanted to create a Fae glass or seer’s lens.
Mandalas- Drawn to center the mind and ground yourself. It is also an act of temporary beauty. Some Mandalas represent the seats of the gods in some Buddhist traditions.
*Medicine Bags- a bag that is used to store sacred objects and tools used in treatments in many different traditions, mostly from the northern and southern Americas.
Mirror- Used for scrying. Also commonly used as a conduit to create portals.
Misc. Objects- Certain found objects can hold significance in certain cultures or even to a secular practitioner.
Mortar & Pestle- Used to grind herbs, resins, foods, and minerals. Can also be used to make pastes from/for the list above.
Music and Rhythm- Used to help enter a good headspace in order to increase passion and focus.
Offering bowl- used to give offerings, most commonly to spiritual entities.
Oils- used to create infused and sanctified oils in order to enchant or sanctify object and the body.
*Olin- (Mexica tradition) This symbol represents the eye of the creator and/or the spirit of the compound Tezcatlipoca. Similar to the Evil Eye, it is used often to dissuade malice; people who wish harm, and evil spirits.
Paint- used often to create various designs, spell circles, Sigils, and glyphs for spell work. It is not advised to burn anything that has been painted on.
Pen- Similar to paint, Pens are used to create designs. However most inks used by pens are relatively safe to burn. (Be sure to research the type of ink.
Pendulum- A weight on a string or chain, used for divination by holding it still over a board or mat of some kind that has markings on it. Then, with eyes closed, waiting until it begins to move parallel with an answer of the board or mat. It is common practice to rotate the pendulum clockwise or counterclockwise before doing a reading. It is important, when using spirits for this practice, to swing the pendulum along all the answers before starting.
Pipes- Used by many traditions, some of which are closed practices, in order to give offerings, cleanse the spirit, and smudge.
Prayer Beads- Used by various religions and traditions, some of which are closed, in order to assist in entering a meditative space. They can also be used to enter a good headspace for spell work.
*Salmador-(*Mexica traditions) A censor made from ceramic, stone, or shell. It is used in order to smudge and maintain sacred spaces.
Salt- Used according to various correspondences; but, most commonly used to prevent spirits from entering a space.
*Sastun- (various Central American and northern South American traditions) They are found objects, in which a practitioner to gaze at or hold over a person to help diagnose or divine what is ailing another person before treatment or cleansing.
Scourge- A whip used to ritualistically inflict self-harm as an offering or show of devotion. (I do not promote, recommend, or support self-harm.)
Sigil- A symbol that is made in order to enact a magical effect. There are various ways to create Sigils, the most common is the Spare Method. Depending on the mode of magic, some are spell work and some are subconscious cues. You can read more about them here.
Singing Bowls- (Used in various south eastern traditions) a bowl that when rubbed with a lightly textured mallet or rod creates a loud tone. These are used in order to hold the space and create ambiance for chants.
Smudge- (not a part of any closed traditions) The act of burning/vaporizing resins, herbs, and or incense in order to cleanse an object, space, or body.
Solid Containers- Used to hold various objects, herbs, resins, and herbs. They can also be used to hold sanctified tools. Often placed on altars.
Staff- A long straight stick that has an approximate girth of 5-8”. Used as a medium to cast or throw energies.
Stones or rocks- Often used as a representation of elemental earth. Often found on altars.
Taglock- A personal object, photograph, or the DNA of a person or place you wish to cast a spell of sympathetically.
Talisman- An object that is usually intricate in design that is used to maintain a desired effect on a space or person.
Tarot Cards- A deck of 78 cards that are used for divination by placing them in a spread and read accordingly.
Tea- herbs steeped in hot water. Typically used in spell preparation and in divination.
*Tulpa/Thoughtform/Servitor- (from Buddhist and some Taoist traditions) An artificial spirit that is created by the thoughts or emotions of a person. *Tulpas are typically considered to be emanations of negative emotions or of divine/enlightened entities. Thoughtforms can be made to be sentient, though this takes a lot of time, focus, and preparation. Servitors are not conscious and exist to perform simple actions.
Wand- a short thin stick, typically carved or thrown on a lathe. They are used as a medium to channel energy. (I will be making a post about wands and the different ways to use them)
Water- Typically used to represent the element. It is also used to cleanse. Water has many correspondences.
Terminology
Altered State: A trance or meditation induced in order to improve the passion and focus to do spellwork.
Astral: And energetic form as well as a dimension of energetic space. The energetic space is typically uninhabited with the exceptions of a sparse amount of spirits and emanations of the subconscious.
Blessing: a spell or wish of various intensity intended to aid or improve the life of the targeted person or object.
Champion: An individual who has been chosen by a spirit as a representative.
Changeling: An individual who was once a Fae that has been swapped for a human baby. Their existence is taboo and isn’t commonly acknowledged outside of the British isles.
Channel: The act of moving energy or spirit through the body or an object.
Charge: The energy that is stored in a magical object, person, or symbol.
Cleanse: The act of washing out negative energies, spells, and/or spirits.
Communion: Communications with an entity within a closed/sacred space.
Core Energy Points: Referred to by various closed/semi-closed cultures as *Chakras, though Chakras have significant cultural context that is not encapsulated in the western appropriation. These energy points are the foremost connections between the subtle and physical bodies.
Correspondence: The sympathetic associations between concepts and: Objects, herbs, colors, seasons, directions, planets, astrological phases, planetary phases, etc.
Curse: a spell or wish of varying intensity that is intended to harm or inconvenience the target.
Divination: The act of using a medium such as cards, pendulums, bones, and tea leaves to get a glimpse of: the future, the past, the psyche, communication with spirits/deities and, the remote present.
Dreamwalking: The act of entering the dream plane while conscious, though the Dreamwalker is not bound to remain in the dream plane. You can read further on the subject here.
Empathy: The psychic ability to feel another’s emotions as if they were your own.
Energy: A minute aggregate substance that permeates all of space-time. Similar to what the ancient Greeks referred to as Eather.
Energetic Block: A blockage in a conduit that connects two energy points. Typically caused by the subject’s own thoughts or emotions.
Energetic Break: A severance of a conduit that connects energy points. Typically caused by the subject experiencing trauma.
Energy Point: A point within the subtle body in which energy pools. Channeling energy through specific points programs the energy in specific ways. Evoke: The act of calling to/summoning a spirit by force and holding it in the space until the spellwork has been done.
Fate: The great fabric of space-time in which entering a given temporal branch is made inevitable by preexisting variables.
Field: An area of space in which energy moves and holds form.
Gnosis: The ultimate trance in which the practitioner enters a deep waking meditation on a single thing or concept.
Headspace: The clearing of one’s mind as to maintain focus on a spell. May also aid with holding passion.
Hex: A spell.
Incantation: A chain of words in various languages that may or may not rhyme. These words are of magical intent and are used to channel intent and passion into a working.
Invoke: The act of calling for a spiritual entity, deity, or higher emanations of the self in order to hold communion or petition.
Kin/Otherkin: The belief that one’s spirit is of an animal.
*Limpia: (*Mexica traditions) A ritual cleansing.
Meditation: An Altered State in which a given state of mind is achieved. Typically is done in a quiet sacred space.
Offering: The giving of foods, water, or objects to a spiritual entity or deity. When working with human spirits, it is recommended to only give colder offerings as warm or hot offerings may excite them too much.
Possession: The intensity of emotion that is backing a working.
Prophecy: A story, dream, or divination that is of the future that is said to come to pass, and often does.
Reiki: An Eastern energetic practice of cleansing the subtle body. Originating in Japan in the 1920’s, it has become very popular in the west via the New Age Movement.
Root Sigil: A Sigil that is used as a focal point in a spell.
Sacred Circle: A circular space that is opened and sanctified by a practitioner in order to hold ceremony.
Sacred Space: A space that has been cleansed and sanctified for the purpose of spell or spirit work.
Sanctify: The act of blessing, programming, and cleansing an object or space through the use of oils, water, blood, and/or smudging.
Sight: (Also known as The Sight) The ability to see spirits and energy as of with the naked eye.
Sigil Chain: A vertical string of Sigils created in order to create a very specific meaning or intent.
Soul Retrieval: The act of mentally and astrally viewing traumatic experiences of a person’s past in order to find and comfort their inner child.
Spirit: An energetic entity.
Spell Seal: The line-work in the center of a Spell Circle that describes how the root symbols or Sigils relate to each other and/or how they are to function.
Spell Circle: A circle drawn that is used in spellcraft. They typically contain symbols or Sigils, a spell seal, and an incantation.
Threads: Most commonly used to describe Fate Strings when discussing Fate Magic.
Ward: A protective magic against any given force, energies or, awareness.
Well-Source: The central energy point in which all energy in the subtle body originates.
Fundamentals properties of Magic
Practices
Alchemy: The act of transmuting energies or elements of the psyche.
Astral Projection: The act of projecting the raw energetic form of the subtle body.
Astrology: A complex form of divination that involves studying planetary bodies and distant stars relative to each other and one’s position on the Earth.
Divination: The act of using tools or psychic abilities to glimpse at something unknown.
Dreamwalking: The ability to enter an Astral form while in the dream plane. Giving the walker the ability to enter other people’s dreams, glimpse into the past or future, or visit any other dimensions.
Elemental magic: Magic that involves or requires either periodic elements or the classical elements.
Enchanting: The act of placing a spell onto an object.
Energy work: The act of manipulating energies within the sublet body and the environment.
Glamours: A spell placed onto the body or an object that changes the perception of that body or object by others.
Herbology: The study of herbs and their medicinal and chemical properties as well as their correspondences.
Kitchen magic: The act of using cooking or baking as a medium for spell casting. May or May not be casted directly onto food and drinks.
Psychic Abilities: An ability that originates in the connections between the brain and the subtle body.
Shadow work: The magical and/or mundane act of introspection and self-care.
Sigilwork: Any magical working that uses or relies on Sigils.
Spellwork: The act of performing a spell.
Spirit work: Any act involving or relying on spiritual entities.
Magical Books
Beastiary: A book or record of animals, insects, arthropods, etc within a magical context.
Book of Connections: A book to record any and all magical connections, contracts, and agreements made by a practitioner.
Book of Mirrors: A book for self reflection and shadow work.
Book of Projections: A book to record information acquired or spells cast via astral projection.
Book of Shadows: A book of correspondences, magical notes, divination, and occasionally spells.
Book of Visions: A book of prophecies.
Dream Journal: A book to record dreams.
Grimoire: A book of spells and information required to perform spells.
Tome of Spirits: A book to record spirits that have been observed or interacted with.
Correspondences
Why they’re important
Correspondences are often considered an integral aspect of spell crafting. They are what help connect all the aspects, concepts, emotions, memories, intent, and energies. Correspondences do not need to be of a physical object. They can also be of concepts.
How to use them
To use correspondences requires either research or ingenuity. Though, a healthy amount of both is optimal. You use correspondences by finding or creating them for the objects, herbs, plants, time, seasons, colors, gestures, numbers, Sigils, words, music, actions, and astrology that you should use for your spell.
You can read further on how to use correspondences here.
How to research them
If you are a beginner, I don’t recommend creating your own correspondences right out of the gate. They all follow a similar current. To research them, search for the object or concept followed by “correspondences”. Then, read and compare all of the results for your search. If none of the results are correspondences, take a note of the search and try the next one. Once you’ve compiled a good list of correspondences for an object or concept, and how often they appear, you can start to glimpse at the current that all correspondences follow.
Fundamental Correspondences: Elements, Directions, and Colors
These are my personal correspondences. But they may give you a good basis to start looking into how to compare and develop your own.
Air: Change, Perspective, Support, Innocence, Permeation, Temperate
Earth: Stability, Mindfulness, Grounding, Unchanging, Staganation
Electricity: Fast, Raw Power, Danger, Ingenuity, Thought, Instant, Light
Fire: Creativity, Passion, Destruction, Sacrifice, Love, Force of Change
Spirit: Being, Perception, Connection, Balance, Divinity, Truth, Source
Time: Experience, Change, Aggregate, Creation, Cycles, Destruction
Water: Expression, Life, Healing, Power, Emotion, Illusion, Combination
North: Wisdom, Ancestors, Guidance, Knowledge, Experience, Memory
South: Innocence, Inner child, Purity, Playful, Joy, Creativity, Excitement
East: Creation, New, Idealism, Life, Goals, Dreams, Inspiration
West: Destruction, Change, Realism, Death, Endings, Completion
Red: Fire, Mars, Blood, Action, Courage, Passion, Health, Sexuality
Blue: Water, Moon, Throat, Astral, Calm, Dreams, Immortality, Patience, Wisdom
Yellow: Air, Mercury, Liver, Adventure, Flexibility, Innspiration, Positivity, Joy
Green: Earth, Venus, Heart, Acceptance, Growth, Life, Fertility, Compassion, Vulnerability
How to make your own:
There are a plethora of ways to develop your own correspondences. In the beginning it is important to reference the current that all existing correspondences follow. However, once you gain more insight from experience and experiments you can start to bend that current as needed.
Most correspondences are based on physical attributes and/or how something has been used in spellcraft, ceremonies, and superstitions. These can also be referenced. However once you move into correspondences for concepts, they become exponentially more subjective and mailable.
All correspondences are a form of abstraction. This abstraction is so that there can be a sympathetic connection between the actions, tools, concepts, and energies you are using to perform a spell in order to accurately form and place the spell where it is desired to go.
“all of my correspondences derive from the law of signaturese.g. malachite’s toxicity in water and association with mallow? it’s a death stone in my mindlapis lazuli’s being a product of contact metamorphism (intruding magma into cooler stone)? that and the night-sky-ness is why it’s an astral journeying stone, moonstone diffracts light (plus the moon in tarot signifies illusion), so it’s also good for illusion/glamour, rosemary is intellectual because its extract extends the stability of omega-3 oils“what is above cannot escape what is below” (and vice-versa) is a saying from Cultist Simulator (aka occult game of the year), and it defines a lot of my practice”
A quote taken from @ysabetthemoth
The importance of Sacred Circles and Spaces
Why are they important?
Sacred spaces are an energetic barrier between the practitioner and the outside world. This barrier prevents any unwanted energies, spirits, and/or spellwork from interfering with the casting.
Methods of casting a Circle
A basic circle can be done by:
Smudging/cleansing and physically cleaning the space
Defining the spaces boundaries, which can and often are marked physically.
Filling the space with an energy that is conducive for the working.
Calling in any spirits you wish to be a part of the working.
How to sanctify a space
A space can be sanctified in a plethora of ways. If you’re fresh to the game, it would be wisest to sanctify your space or tools by:
Smudging and cleaning the space
Blessing water either through a divine being or by infusing it with your own pure energies.
Ritualistically applying the sanctified water to the space’s boundaries or the tool either by submerging it; by dipping your fingers in the water and wiping it on; or spraying/flicking the water.
Ward the space or tool.
(Optional) saying a prayer or performing an act of observance or devotion.
Maintaining a Sacred Space or Circle
In order to maintain a sacred space that is intended to be permanent, it is advised to:
Enter and leave the space in the same cardinal direction every time, North is the most common.
Perform regular smudging and working within the space.
Smudging anyone before they enter the space.
Petitioning a spiritual entity to protect your space.
What is a spell?
Basic components
A spell is any action taken to effect change without direct interaction.
There are three basic components to any spell:
Gnosis (Headspace + Focus)
Passion
Intent
Without any one of these components a spell cannot function at all. There are two further components that are a bit more complicated (Nodes & Thresholds) and you can read about them HERE.
How tools help
Tools in witchcraft are used to channel energy. And while they are absolutely in no way necessary, they can aid in spellwork by:
Aiding in maintaining headspace/vibe
Programming energies as they leave the subtle body
Acting as a node in your web of correspondences
Helping guide the practitioner's focus as they cast.
A few types of spells
Hex bags
Spell Jars
Dance Magic
Enchantments
Candle Magic
Astral Spells
Snap Magic
Imprinting
Spirit Binding
Possession
Kitchen Spells
Thoughtform Creation
Wards
How to build your own spells
See THIS POST.
Key to successful spell casting
The key to successful spell casting is and always will be designing your spell to take the path of least resistance. Think of your spell as being a small domino at the start of a chain. Design a small but specific spell that starts off as a subtle change that will eventually evolve into the goal you wish to accomplish.
Here is a guide to basic spellcasting
What is a Ceremony or Ritual?
What’s the difference?
A ceremony is a sacred ritual seated around the observations of tradition and practice, whereas a ritual is purely a set of repeatable actions backed by faith or belief.
Basic components
A ceremony must include the faith, belief, and context of an existing tradition.
A ritual must contain a concrete set of actions, components, and/or scheduling.
Developing your own
To develop your own rituals, start by designing a spell and recording all of the elements and actions required to perform it. Then, by only doing what was written and nothing else, see if the results are repeatable. It is important to include as many variables as possible.
Tips for building headspace
Headspace is one of the most crucial aspects of spellcraft in the beginning. Until you get accustomed to the processes involved with witchcraft and the mindsets required, it is highly recommended and almost necessary to hold a space in which you can easily hold your attention on what you’re doing.
To build a headspace, you have to consider a few things and adjust them to your needs for any given spell:
Sound: how loud is your environment? Would a specific song aid you? Would any background sounds aid you? What auditory phenomena would help you hold your focus on your task?
Lighting: how is the lighting in your space? Would a change in lighting help you hold your focus or get into the zone? Would casting in sunlight be beneficial for your working? Would candle light?
Clothing: are the colors you're wearing important to your spell? Are they comfortable enough to where you can perform all necessary movements without them hindering your focus?
Emotional state: is your mind in the right space to do your working? Do you have the appropriate emotions to fuel your working?
Language: is the working something that can easily be memorized so that you don't have to break in order to refamiliarize yourself?
Divination
Types of Divination
There are hundreds of types of divination. Wikipedia has a wonderful list of them you can view here. But I'll list a few of my favorites:
Cartomancy: The use of cards
Cleromancy: The use of thrown objects
Scrying: The use of reflective objects
Astrology: The use of planetary bodies
Tasseomancy: The use of tea leaves or coffee grounds
Shufflemancy: The use of a music playlist on shuffle
Carromancy: The use of melted wax
Nephomancy: The use of clouds
Cledonomancy: The use of overheard words
Cryptomancy: The use of omens
Dowsing: The use of rods
Hyomancy: The use of 30-50 wild hogs
Basic Principles of Divination
Divination, when done in good faith, should incorporate a few ideals:
Bias: Try to only do divinations about subjects you know nothing about. Having prior knowledge about the details of the question will lead you to skew your interpretation and there is no avoiding that.
Honesty: If your immediate interpretation is something you would deem negative, share it anyway. It is not in good faith to withhold or modify information.
Transparency: It is important to acknowledge your own lack of understanding or knowledge that may pertain to a reading. It is of equal importance to state that divination is in no way absolute.
There are also a few modalities in which one can do divination. They pretty neatly mostly fall into the contemporary models of magic: Spiritual, Energetic, Psychological, & Game Theory.
Spiritual: Divination done to commune with or is aided by spirits.
Energetic: Relies on the energy of both the diviner and the client in order to ascertain the results.
Psychological: That the true divination is actually in the psyche that is doing the interpretation.
Game Theory: There is no such thing as coincidence, everything is connected. Thought the result was random, it has shown itself for a reason.
Tips
Be sure to smudge all of your divination tools
It is wise to do divination readings within a sacred space.
Remain aware of your own confirmation bias
Be wary of any entity you commune with
If doing a divination for yourself or receiving one, always get a second opinion/reading. It is also in good practice to recommend this to those you give readings to as well
Energy Work
What is Energy Work?
Energy work is the act of manipulating the subtle energies that are within and without the subtle body through the use of the subtle body and the mind. Energy work is necessary for 100% of all magic regardless of tradition or practice. It can also be accomplished by petitioning spirits.
Energy work is significantly more than what you’ll find most commonly on google. Many energetic practices are terrible at defining their terms or having any sort of standardization. On top of that, most results will also have the barebones basics, Reiki included. If you really wish to learn about energy work, I highly recommend doing your own experiments and trials with it. MY blog will also contain extensive information on the subject.
Basics of Energy Work
I have broken down energy work into seven different categories, each necessary to master the next. They are:
Release: The act of releasing energy from the body
Absorption: The act of absorbing energy from your environment into the body.
Form: The application of the prior two in order to create a basic energetic construct outside of the body.
Density: The act of increasing or decreasing the energetic density of a construct.
Precision: The act of changing the size of a construct.
Multiples: The act of creating and maintaining multiple energetic constructs.
Frequency: The act of consciously manipulating the properties of energy to exactly what you desire.
You’ll know that you've mastered an aspect of energy work when:
Release: You can release energy from a specific place on the body, with any given surface area, at a controlled rate.
Absorption: You can absorb energy into a specific place on the body, with any given surface area, at a controlled rate.
Form: You can move the construct through space without altering it at all.
Density: You can change the energetic density of a construct without altering its size or form.
Precision: You can change the size of an object without altering its density or form.
Multiples: You can control at least 5 constructs individually and simultaneously, even if they have different trajectories, velocities, and rotations without altering them in any way that is unintentional.
Frequency: You can modify the properties of multiple given constructs within their given trajectories, velocities, rotations, forms, densities, and sizes intentionally. Also by this point, the minimum number of constructs you should be able to control should be between 10 & 25.
The basics are 1-3, which are all that's covered by a majority of resources online.
Uses for Energy Work
Energy work is used in every single spell, regardless of the model the spell falls under, as the subtle body is ever present. However, it makes the most impact when used intentionally and in a controlled manner as a cornerstone of your working.
Energy work can be used for:
Warding
Enchantments
Glamours
Divination
Cleansing
Acts of devotion
Meditation
Shadow work
Gnosis
Astral projection
Headspace
General spellwork
Opening and maintaining a sacred space
Offerings
Reiki & Visualization
Is the most common result you’ll come across when researching energy work. Reiki was invented in Japan in the 1920’s and migrated to the west. The practice itself wasn’t initially appropriative, as it operated within the local cultural context of Buddhism and the traditional Chinese concept of qi. This practice has been hijacked by the New-Age movement and most of the information you’ll find is a melting pot of misinformation, fraud, and appropriation. I have never met a reiki practitioner who actually does energy work. I highly recommend you take all information about energy work that originates from Reiki with a hefty amount of salt.
You can read more about this in this article.
Advanced Energy Work
Advanced energy work (5-7) requires a very well developed energetic awareness. This means that you’ll need to expand your awareness to a point where you can feel energies around you with precision and accuracy from a decent distance. You should be able to accurately perceive the energetic constructs created by another practitioner, as well as their emotional state and the vitality of their subtle body. I will; be making an in-depth article about energy work soon. Frequency could have it's own novel because of how many variables it covers.
You can read further about energy work in the articles I have written: Fundamentals & Intermediate.
Enchantments
The purpose of Enchantments
Enchantments are spells that are placed onto an object. Not to be confused with Glamours. The purpose of an enchantment is to aid a person in doing a specific task, holding sacred space, anchoring a spell or spirit, and/or projecting a specific effect onto the wielder/viewer/space.
Basic Elements of an Enchantment
Enchantments can vary wildly in design and purpose. However there are some elements that are good to start off with:
Sigilwork: applying a sigil to an object
Energetic connection: creating an energetic conduit through which the spell is applied.
Blessed or hexed liquids: placing a spell into a liquid and then applying it to the object.
A specific purpose: The goal of the enchantment needs to be rigid and unchanging.
Charging: Most enchantments will gradually wear off as the energies used in witchcraft do have a half-life. Enchantments should be charged periodically.
Area of effect: Most enchantments are made to be active only while being worn or carried on a person. However, some can have an area of effect that needs to be well defined at the moment of casting. It is best to do this with a projection of an energetic replica of the space in 1:1 proportion.
List of possible enchantments
Improve focus
Ward against malevolent spirits
Decrease anxiety in a defined space
Transmute energies that pass through the object into a specified energy.
Bind any spirit that the object comes in contact with
Improve memory
Aid in recovering lost objects
Improve psychic abilities
Sigils, Glyphs, & Other Magical Symbols
SEE THIS POST.
Metasigils & Hypersigils
Metasigils are works of art that are created and charged in the same way a sigil would be, meaning they have a magical presence and/or effect.
Hypersigils are like sigil-chains or a collection of sigils that are used to create a more specific meaning/intent.
Glyphs
All sigils are glyphs, but not all glyphs are sigils. A glyph is any intentionally made mark, and in a magical context that means that it is any mark that is made with the same intent as one would a sigil.
Other Magical Symbols
Other magical symbols mostly are derived from old or ancient orthographies. Runes are the perfect example of this, as well as ogham.
Spirit Work
Types of Spirits
Due to the wide variety of spirits that exist and the cultural context that is required to accurately name a vast majority of them, a context that a majority of us do not and should not have, I have broken spiritual entities down into different categories that exist on a spectrum- as all things do.
This spectrum exists on two axis and includes other variable. The two axis are Sapient to Natural Law and Newly Born to Ever-present.
Other variables include:
Their place of origin (Earth-born, Death-borne, Light-born, Self-generating, Thought-born….. And even Blood-borne)
Their relative size, meaning their energetic density- not their height or weight, as they do not possess these qualities outside of the parameters of the human conceptualizations of them.
Their demeanor. How they interact with other spirits and living organisms.
Why work with spirits?
Spirits carry a lot of weight, and that metaphorical weight has a great impact on our physical world as well as other dimensions such as the dream plane. By petitioning a spirit to carry out a task, you forgo the need to cast a spell yourself. However the dependability of that type of working will be highly variable depending on the spirit. A great number of practitioners, especially practitioners of color, use spirit work to connect to their ancestors. Which helps many connect to their diaspora and gives them the means to honor those who came before them. A lot of ancestor work has a wide variety of cultural context that most practitioners will never have and that's okay.
Communicating with Spirits
Communicating with spirits is very challenging for a lot of practitioners. The easiest means of communicating with spirits is divination. Pendulums sre good for simple communications and don't require a lot of time to process. For more complex communications tarot works well. I would recommend eventually developing your own divination system to communicate with spirits. I also recommend looking into claircognizance.
Creating an Inner Circle
An inner circle of spirits can be formed over time by coming to agreements, creating contracts, and forming bonds to spiritual entities. This circle of spirits is optimal for support in spellwork as well as for protection.
Astral Travel
SEE THIS POST.
Psychic Abilities
Types of Psychic abilities
Telepathy
Clairaudience
Clairvoyance
Claircognizance
Chronokinesis
Retrocognition
Precognition
How to develop psychic abilities
Psychic abilities can be difficult to develop and everyone learns differently. However, most of them are just specified expansions of your awareness into different spatial dimensions. This can be done by studying higher dimension topology or through rigorous meditation and usage of gnosis.
Psychic abilities and witchcraft
Psychic abilities aid significantly in witchcraft. From assistance in divination to having more lines of communication with spiritual entities.
However, cognitive bias can become a real danger here. It is important to verify information received through the use of psychism. This can be done by getting a reading done by a friend without giving them too much information. Merely ask them to verify something and give them nothing else.
Chronokinesis can aid significantly in developing a temporal awareness and claircognizance can aid in developing an energetic awareness.
Familiars
What is a Familiar
A familiar is an animal or spirit that has a close bond with a practitioner. This animal friend may or may not be magically impactful. Most familiars are protectors for the practitioner and can add onto the already existing wards that a practitioner already has. Familiars may also be attuned to their own energetic awareness and act as alarms for approaching spiritual entities.
How to identify a living Familiar
An animal familiar will be able to almost have entire conversations with their practitioner through eye contact alone. They may be able to accurately announce when a spirit has entered your vicinity. They will be very attentive when their practitioner is casting and may even try to participate. If not, then they will sit as a silent observer.
How to identify a spirit Familiar
Spirit familiars are difficult to identify as there is a ton of potential confirmation bias. These familiars would not enter into a practitioner’s life without reason and would require consistent interaction in order to form that bond or contract. Spiritual familiars will almost never appear as an animal to a practitioner unless it was requested as a part of a contract. Spirit familiars are in no way related to *Spirit Animals or *Animal Guides. Spirit familiars will also never be thoughtforms or *Tulpas, as the mechanisms that drive them tend to be very simple and it is extremely rare for them to be sapient.
Deities
Pantheons
Pantheons are a collection of deities in polytheistic belief systems. The most common pantheons used in witchcraft are those from dead mythos like the Greek (Hellenistic) and Egyptian (Kemetic). Though, these are not all that exist and one can have relationships with individual deities from monotheologies and polytheistic pantheons. Doing so would form a pantheon in and of itself. This is how my personal pantheon was formed.
The right pantheon for you
I am not going to recommend any theological beliefs to anyone, but rather give some advice for when you’re first starting. Approach all existing pantheons with a grain of salt and a mound of respect. The common mythos are filled with tales that put their deities in a rather bad light. Most followers will tell you that they are metaphorical and not to be taken literally. While this could be true, I would advise that we leave that up to the discretion of the person who is thinking about following. If you don't find a pantheon that resonates with you, you’re fine. They aren’t at all necessary for magic, nor are they for everyone. It’s okay to want to do something but not have any available path to it.
If you're interested, here is wonderful post by @coinandcandle about deity dedication and worship.
Fictional Deities/ Personal Deities
These deities are most commonly created from pop-culture. While this concept is debated, ridiculed, and hated by many practitioners, I do not see a reason why they can't function for someone who wants it badly enough. At worst, they create a thoughtform and at best they create an egregore. I’ve met many practitioners who developed their own deities from scratch and many that have adopted a deity from pop-culture. Magically speaking, they are functionally the same- especially as time moves forward.
Philosophies within Witchcraft
Philosophies in magic
There are a great deal of conflicting moral and ethical philosophies in and about witchcraft. All are valid so long as they don’t endanger the lives of people around you or entire groups of people. What is most important is not to proselytize your personal philosophies to other practitioners. There is a delicate dance between sharing your views and asserting that yours are the only correct ones. However, if you do come across someone proselytizing a harmful philosophy, it is super important that you don't interact with them at all. Do not give them a platform. Some of you may remember This Isn’t Magic. They are a perfect example of what I mean. But this also applies to ideas such as Fascism, Racism, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Misogyny. A lot of which are very common in larger magical practices like Thelema, broader Ceremonial magic, Heathenism, and Wicca.
Philosophies for balance
Within my own personal philosophies, I find it best when my ideals help balance my approach to magic. I have called my personal philosophy Equalibriumism, which I will be making a post about if you’re interested in getting a glimpse into my mindset when it comes to my approach to magic. I recommend that each practitioner does some serious introspection about their personal philosophies and how they affect their magic, relationships, and society at large.
Philosophies in practice
Philosophy makes its way into every aspect of a practitioner’s craft. From the way they approach curses and spirit work to their emotional state when casting spells. Philosophies should be able to adapt to new information and new methods of spell casting that a practitioner is really interested in. Without this, practitioners run the risk of feeling stagnated or conflicted about their own interests. I have dealt with this delma myself somewhat recently.
Your philosophies should help fuel your intent, passion and focus during spellwork, and if it isn't then I’d recommend introspection and adaptation.
As an example, my curses are typically derived from wanting someone to develop a sense of empathy. As such, my curses are built with a backdoor that is opened when empathy is achieved. When that door is opened, the curse turns into a blessing that supports that change in them. This drive to help someone understand the perspectives of those around them is a powerful drive for me when casting.
Coming to your own understanding of the forces of nature
All philosophies are rooted in each person’s understanding of nature, and by nature I mean the entirety of everything that has ever existed or will exist. For some that is their current view of human nature, for others it could be their understanding of physics and mathematics. Regardless of your point of origin it is important that you study as much as you can about it. Do so in a serious manner as the more information you have the more your philosophies surrounding it will change.
Coming into the Witchcraft internet community
Taking your first steps
The first thing you need to understand is that the internet is full of a lot of misinformation, misguidence, and proselytization. Take everything you read about with a healthy amount of salt. There is no “one true way”. Find communities in which there is the availability of free open discussions from any point in experience and/or learning. Be wary of cults, groups of people who all share exactly the same beliefs- typically with a central leader whose words have influence over everyone’s beliefs.
It is important to cross-reference all information you come across, while also giving some faith to your gut instincts. It is equally as important to come from a place of openness yourself when meeting people and discussing magic with them. Give them the space to express what they want to. The magic community has been wrought with people just talking to each other and not listening to each other.
Tips for success
The internet is a big place. It can often feel like there’s too much information out there and you’ll never be able to make sense of it. I know that feeling well. It is important to start out by picking a subject of magic that is moderately appealing to you at first and study only that. Once you have a thorough understanding of it, then you can branch off of it. If you start with researching the thing that attracts you the most, it is highly possible that once you understand it you may burn out. Study one subject at a time. Allow your understanding to be fluid and your personal philosophies to change as you learn.
Things that are not okay
Giving harmful ideas a platform
Asserting that there is “one true way”
Doing spells on other practitioners without their expressed consent
Doing divination readings in bad faith
Appropriating practices from closed or semi-closed traditions
Claiming someone’s original ideas as your own- especially if that person is a POC
Lying, spamming, doxing, and harassing.
Safety
General safety
When you are just starting out, it is important to start small and work your way up to the grander spells. Spells that go wrong can have dire consequences, especially when performed at a larger scale.
Talk to people. Tell people about things you’ve read or heard and ask them for their opinion or perspective on it. The more viewpoints you have, the less likely you’ll be sucked into cults and other harmful philosophies.
Try to do small experiments with new ideas. Apply the scientific method. Try not to involve unaware bystanders. Informed consent is important, and you can inform people of an experiment without giving them cause for confirmation bias.
Please read this post for more information.
How to protect yourself from unwanted energies and spirits
Smudging, cleansing, and cleaning are all good practices to have, but they are best for removing energies and spirits and not so great for protection. The best tool you can have for protection is awareness. If you cannot feel what you are trying to protect yourself from, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to protect yourself from it.
When dealing with spirits it is best to not give out your true name. By true name, I do not necessarily mean your given name as a great deal of people do not identify with it.
Do not blindly trust spiritual entities. Always get at least one other outside opinion without giving them any information that could lead to confirmation bias.
When dealing with energetic vampires (People who absorb as much energy as they can from the people around them and their environment), it is best to form a ward around yourself that acts as a repelling force for their sense of awareness. Many of them aren’t even consciously aware that they do this and it most commonly is a result of trauma.
There are various items for protection outside of wards. These are objects you can keep in your home or on your person such as:
Iron (nails are most common) these can be on your person or over thresholds into a space.
Red, white, and/or black cloth
Lining thresholds with salt, brickdust, and/or limestone dust.
Labradorite, or the witch’s stone, is great for giving cause for spirits to stay away.
Dried sprigs of romero can be hung over thresholds as well.
The evil eye, though while some versions are protected, others aren't.
Covering mirrors when they aren’t being used, unless they’re made from silver.
Talisman or charms
Horseshoes hung over thresholds.
But nothing is more effective than having wards. Wards can be created and anchored on jewelry, house foundations, altars, and your own subtle body. If you do not know how to ward, I would highly recommend that it be the next thing you study.
Other witch blogs I recommend following
@coinandcandle
@wolfofantimonyoccultism
@the-mori-witch-blog
@themori-grimoire
@strangesigils
@tarotfey
@witches-ofcolor
@ualthum
@sylvaetria
To read up on further beginner witch tips click here.
To read about me, see my planned and posted content, ask a question, or commission a Sigil click here.
To see a list of my planned and posted informational posts click here
#informational post#baby witch tips#baby witch#beginner witch#witch tips#witchcraft resources#divination#spirit work#energy work#witchcraftguide#Gintro
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Hi! I'm Foxen. I am a witch, writer, and artist. I use They/Them pronouns. My mainblogg is @the-fox-jawed-cryptid, my Witchblr is @the-fox-jawed-witch , and my Fledgling Blog is @afledglings-guideto-witchcraft.
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Psychic Witch
Finally finished Psychic Witch: A Metaphysical Guide to Meditation, Magick and Manifestation by Mat Auryn.
Kind of overwhelmed at the task of writing about this book because I have a lot to say, and there are questions that I still have. I took 45 pages of notes (just counted), and I know I'll be referring to these notes often for the foreseeable future and perhaps the rest of my life.
As I've mentioned in a previous post, Auryn makes a statement in the introduction of this book--call it a disclaimer or allowance for different belief systems--that he cannot say that all of the concepts he presents are reflective of reality. He writes that he "can say with certainty that following the concepts as if they are true will yield great results." Throughout the book, he treats reality as multifaceted and multilayered. In a sense, I suppose this makes the content palatable for basically any witch, but it can be off-putting for skeptical witches (AKA me).
Personally, I prescribe to the first principle of Atheopaganism: I understand that the metaphorical is not the literal. On his website, Mark Green explains that "the core of this principle is skepticism and critical thinking: to use reason and the scientific method to determine what is most likely to be true, rather than simply believing one’s perceptions or accepting as literally true what is meant as poetic or metaphorical expression."
I simply applied this principle as a kind of lens while absorbing the book. For those who firmly believe in literal planetary correspondences, astral projection, elemental guardians and things for which there is no observable evidence, you need not apply this lens while reading. If you do apply it, however, the book is still (in my opinion) deeply important and provides a beautiful foundation for fledgling witches, secular and non-secular. I will even say that anyone trying to expand or improve their spellwork should read it.
The book is under 300 pages, but Auryn packs a lot of really deep shit into this book. The language isn't difficult, but the concepts were for me. The book also features almost 100 psych exercises that build on one another throughout the book--if taken super seriously, I could see this book taking at least a year to get through. Also--on the note of psych exercises--this book is positively brilliant for covering the bases on the psychological aspects of witchcraft and would pair really well with Thea Sabin's Wicca for Beginners.
I hope you guys are into the more psychological aspects of witchcraft, because that's where I'm at as a beginner and Auryn explored so many concepts that I'd like to talk about on here.
#paganism#witchcraft#witch#just witchy things#pagan#neopaganism#wicca#witches of tumblr#atheopaganism#witchblr#witch community#baby witch#magick#magic#sass witchcraft#secular witch#secular witchcraft#sass witch
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An Introduction
I am, in essence, a student. I am a senior in high school, as of writing this, and I am a child in a multi-generational home, I am an intermediate-at-best witch. I am ignorant, a new fledgling. But with ignorance, with not knowing, you must have a star to follow if not a destination. The virtue of Xenia is my guiding star. I have always wanted to be a good man in a storm, as it were. Despite my everlasting fear of others and the deep-rooted paranoia of strangers, I have still been loving toward my fellow people. I have no idea where I am going with this, but I know I want it to be good. I know I want it to last. I want to scream and tear into the void until it not only screams back, but tells me what it wants, what will finally fill it up.
I must admit, I am not only starting this out of a want for a proper catalogue of my adventures in the virtue of Xenia, witchcraft, and life. Pity you, listening to this story of a high schooler who never finishes an English assignment. Alas, that is the story of this blogs creation. I am desperately grabbing on to any scraps I can find to try and convince myself to do English homework. Yes folks, that’s it. I have to do a PSA in English and have been woefully struggling. I cannot follow one track of thought for more than a second, always moving from one thing to another over and over and over again. So, how better to finish the rest of this English year than to make it into a mismatched collage of my soul until everyone can hear me? Welcome, folks, to TheraFiguration; a collage of a teenagers soul which will, hopefully, continue for many years.
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i believe there is a piece of the count that resents his own fledglings/creations. their symphony of pain is somehow expected when they turn, and can be viewed as a point of metamorphosis / chrysalis for them to erupt out as an apex predator of the night. he recalls his own monstrous transformation as very different (perhaps mainly because it was far more violent, as the blood was more potent coming directly from the veins of divinity), and of course had no one to hold his hand and guide him through how he was meant to survive. he also does not keep his physical, human form. rather, it is a glamour that is cast over his lesser-known ‘’demon’’ figure, which we see in both 1992 (dr*cula, ffc), van hels/ng and castlev*nia. after-all, he is essentially a manufactured demon that, rather than residing in hell, resides on earth. we learn in the van hels/ng book that his wings were actually manufactured from the memory of his torture of hell; of demons breaking his ribcage and covering them with grafts of his own severed skin. his status as a demon also reflects why he can be both summoned by mortals and resurrected back to the world of men.
there is a strange sliver of humanity in his creations that he will never be able to possess. no matter how far he takes the contagion in his blood and sours them to humanity/corrupts them. they maintain their own human forms, even if transformation becomes one of their abilities. and it is worse for his creation’s sirelings, for they are even further removed from the ‘impurity’, and therefore maintain even more of their humanity. the further one goes down the line, the younger one is, the lower on his scale of hierarchy- and the more he resents them. to him, having a pair of fangs and calling yourself a vampire is too easy, and he believes that too many of the younger, castaway vampires have forsaken their greater powers; witchcraft, sorcerery, and the knowledge of the ancients hidden beneath hermannstadt.
there is irony in this as he eventually, after so many resurrections, intends on using his blood to transform as many humans into the living dead as possible, and intentionally pollutes the bloodline with his more powerful strain so that he can not only gain a stronger foothold in different countries, but also upset the balance of power between the ancient vampire covens that he does not lead. that is to say, he does not lead a coven at all. he is the ruler of all covens in a way, though does not actively pursue others that crown themselves in lieu of his worship. more than a king, he is simply a progenitor; like a saint among a valley of sinners, as blasphemous as it may be. he is a mythological figure to most of his own kind, and very few are lucky enough to have met him. ( of course, note, i mean western and eastern european vampires )
the reason for the reverence is because his blood could increase another vampire’s power tenfold. a single night spent drinking from his veins could grant them many of his own abilities; pyromancy, his preternatural sight and hearing, enhanced strength, his ability to transfigure himself or even his lycanthropy if the relation is that strong. in that way however, he considers them to become part of his immediate family; a sort of ‘coven’ that has no leader, but does report to him. the person also gains the protection of being able to overwhelm and confuse other predator vampires with the scent of his ancient blood, which smells, to most others, wrong. like it was never human or animal to begin with, and it would taste acrid, but addicting.
#blood letting //#♔. ˋ like a drowning in the heart like falling endlessly from the skin to the soul . ˊ headcanon/meta.#headcanon
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That Old Familiar Feeling
It has been some decades since I had a proper familiar. One whose physical manifestation offers companionship as well as assistance in things esoteric. My last familiar, Malachi, met his untimely end fighting with some rather nasty bits too lurid to describe here. Since then I have been without a magical companion for the better part of the last two decades.
A familiar is a common enough idea in the world of magic, that black cat following a witch, a toad in the pocket of a necromancer, we know what it is, or at least we think we do.
Often in the modern world of mishmashed magical ideas the role of the familiar is mingled with the role of the "spirit animal" a concept that relates more to animism than to the practice of the craft.
While a shaman may go to arduous lengths to finally be sought out by a spirit animal, as such a guide chooses a person and not the other way around, a familiar is less of a guide and more of a helper. Providing insight and clues, spying for us and in general attempting to ward away those trivial things that may drive us mad in our journey on the path.
Yet as much as a familiar is more or less subordinate to our practice, it is not just as simple as an animal we are keeping as a pet. The relationship between a familiar and its human is a complex thing, wrought of magical operation and pacts, renewed regularly with the gift of some dietary sustenance we have consecrated, historically our blood.
Emma Wilby, in her groundbreaking volume "Cunning Folk & Familiar Spirits", goes into a narrative of familiar spirit working found in the records of witchcraft primarily in the British Isles. She considers in her work the role of the familiar in the life of the witch, and its historical antecedents going back to the pre Christian era of Europe.
"In early modern Britain both cunning folk and witches claimed to perform magic with the help of familiar spirits, but it is the witch's demon familiar, whether in the form of a man or an animal, which is most recognizable to people today. Although many centuries separate us from the beliefs and practices of the men and women described in this book, there are few who would not recognize the stereotypical image of the black cat perched on the end of the witch's broomstick, or the lascivious horned devil standing at the witch's shoulder, inciting her to evil.
...
Despite the sensationalism of promising the soul, renouncing Christianity and sucking blood, the most common payment given to the English witch's animal familiar (often in conjunction with payment in blood) was ordinary food. Sometimes these familiars demanded what could be seen as some sort of sacrifice, such as a live chicken, however on a daily basis they generally required nothing more than a bowl of bread, milk, ale, water and so on." - Emma Wilby - Cunning Folk & Familiar Spirits
The making of a familiar requires a great deal of work on the part of the magician. Little text has been written on the various operations one must undergo, including the manner of procurement of the host animal, conjuration of the spirit, or more commonly the duke whom that spirit answers to, and the binding stages that replace the mental state of the normal animal with the invested power of the spirit.
As one can imagine it is an arduous and thankless task. Very few animals undergo the process willingly, some even have a sense of the impending erasure of their identity. Keeping them within the place of conjuration requires its own set of tricks, so as not to harm the animal nor make it experience any trauma.
It's a right fucking pain in the ass most of the time to be sure. Which is why it's been two decades since I last performed the required rituals. But there comes a time when these things manifest and I can feel that time approaching. Who knows what is likely to turn up at the door in the middle of the night. Stray kitten or wayward toad, crow fledgling or new born snake. Whatever form it takes I can feel it on the horizon like the coming dawn.
#skeptical occutist#occult#occult books#magic#witch#witchcraft#folkwitch#hex#curse#charm#spell#grimoire#cunning craft#sabbatic#craft#familiars#witch familiar#hedgewitch#necromancy#alchemy#poisoner's path
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Those With More, Part One
When Mara Hill's magic results in her brother's impossible, wondrous transition, of course Suki wants to know how she did it! What if Sirenne's magic workers can help others find euphoria? What if this magic can heal Suki's hands—or at least lessen her pain? But Mara, distrustful of priests after their failure in protecting Esher, won't share her power.
A senior priest must bear responsibility, but Suki suspects her problems lie deeper than lack of oversight, and her reluctance to discuss her aromanticism with a woman who needs support only proves it. Would she have preserved Mara's faith and Esher's health if she hadn't first avoided revealing herself to her aromantic kin? If she'd faced their expectations that she shoulder their pain and grief as well as her own?
Suki has lived her life by the Sojourner's second precept, but how does she serve when she doesn't have more to give—and never will?
Contains: A disabled, non-partnering allo-aro woman struggling with the expectations of her young, fledgling aromantic community; an autistic, aromantic priest reconsidering their expectations of their community's leader; and an allo-aro woman in need of support as she struggles with her non-partnering, aro-ace brother's illness.
Content Advisory: Please expect many references to or depictions of aro antagonism, allo-aro antagonism, amatonormativity, familial abuse, mental illness, suicidal ideation, death, gender dysphoria, chronic pain, ableism and ageism. This piece contains non-detailed, non-specific reference to a character's past suicide attempts.
Length: 4, 409 words (part one of two).
Note: This is the last story in my Suki mini-series, but it refers to characters introduced in The Sorcerous Compendium of Postmortem Query and is best read following the stand-alone story What Makes Us Human. You can find links to all on my pinned post or on this Tumblr master post.
Non-romantic love, to Suki, serves a similar role as the Sojourner or any other god: a fine concept in theory, but while she respects others’ need for a guiding framework, she can only nod vaguely at love’s existence.
***
They talk in a west-facing corner of the inner gardens, the sun edging towards the valley’s cradling ridgelines. Suki sits with careful stillness, resting her bony wrists and fingers in her lap. Her companion, Mara Hill, twirls a lock of dark hair around her finger with the ease of a woman unaware of her movements’ toll. Few people reach the ends of their lives untouched by disability, but Suki still aches to watch others take their youthful ability for granted … even if Mara’s restless fidgeting suggests anxiety as much as mind-type.
Suki was an artist once, albeit not the kind of craftswoman draped in the world’s renown. She built wonder from bare ingredients. She made the needed and the practical from scraps of thread and fabric. She took her hands’ ability to knead and shape for granted, revelling in others’ appreciation, until the pain built to a degree even she couldn’t deny. Given the option, she’ll always sit in her garden with her knitting needles or workbasket, making.
She can’t reconcile herself to hours spent halting her fingers and wrists in too-often-futile hope of preserving later use.
“Must I explain, one trans woman to another, why we want this?” Suki works to ease her voice, to sound possessed of patience and released of jealousy. “We … dabble, in spells and medicines, parlour tricks to lessen anguish, but this … it can be freedom. When wrought correctly.”
Now, Suki sees little sense in seeking such a transition: she’s had time to forge an accord with her body and gender. If said accord holds a touch of the defiant, rebellion nonetheless sheltered her through aching moments of feeling her body less hers than a chafing suit she’ll endure for this life. Gender, though, only began the war of Suki’s selfhood separating from her own blood and breath, and it long ago won second place on her list of impossible wishes.
What if Mara’s magic can do more than change a body’s sexual characteristics?
What if it can ease Suki’s hands, heal her knees, return to her the gift of unthinking movement?
Mara shifts her hands to twist the untied lace dangling from her bodice. She’s a handsome woman: tall and long-limbed, her cheekbones sharp enough to slice hard cheese. Full lips, wide skirts and a waist-length sable braid soften the flat planes of her face, shoulders and hips. Suki can’t call Mara beautiful, but she may have used the word “ethereal” if Mara didn’t also bare her haphazard humanity: hair falling out of its pins, scores of grass stains marking her petticoats, a waistcoat absent any matching buttons, a dress ten years out of style knotted up to bare clashing stockings and scuffed boots. Life with Mara, Suki suspects, is no small amount interesting, but one needn’t fear from her airs or pretentiousness.
This conversation, regardless, comes none the easier.
“I know you understand,” Suki says, attempting a beseeching gentleness. “How can’t you?”
“It’s a secret.” Mara stares at Suki with a distressingly direct gaze, as though hoping to emphasise her sincerity through eye contact. “Handed down from witch to witch. I’ve sworn oaths to the living and the dead. I can’t. And I won’t.”
Mara Hill is also a terrible liar.
“You insist this isn’t sorcery. It’s witchcraft—a type of magic that can be taught! Why, then, can’t you teach us? Can’t you imagine what we could do, if we could study and understand it?”
Just as Suki regrets such desperation-fuelled bluntness, flashes of brown, red and grey show through the eucalypts and fern-encrusted rockery dividing the outer garden from an interior courtyard. Only two other people in Sirenne stand tall enough to be seen over said wall of rocks, and neither looks towards her. Moll, their face set in their accustomed expressionlessness and their iron-grey hair scraped back in a braid, walks close by their companion: a man with Mara’s cheekbones, his gaze distant and his face cavernous. While health warms her sienna skin, even when moistened by anxiety and dappled sunshine, his sallow complexion provokes no kind adjectives.
Esher Hill is the gaunt, walking embodiment of the nightmare Sirenne’s priests struggle to dispel when discussing medicines and spells—a man who appears drugged and ensorcelled into a puppet-like lifelessness, a state absent all vitality.
His sister caused, provoked or necessitated most of it.
Most.
Like too many guests, Mara brought her brother to the monastery when absent solutions in her home village’s offerings of lay priests, physicians, magic workers and well-meaning family members—a last, desperate resort. Esher wasn’t happy or healthy, but he had muscle and energy enough that Suki decided his taciturnity somewhat intentional. He stopped to pet Sirenne’s horses; he allowed their cats to settle on his lap. He scowled when faced with chattering acolytes. He reacted.
Mara’s power stripped his bones of flesh and tissue in the quest to craft him an almost-cis body. New organs, somehow, grew; others withered and sloughed away like an unused cocoon. Such impossibility should be a miracle, but can one fairly call a tempest that devoured his body and hammered his mind miraculous?
What if, though, this transition becomes a goal identified and worked towards with desire, preparation and consent? What if a patient understands what lies ahead? Can one then cope with magic’s trauma, a difficult moment endured in travelling a chosen road? Or what if they narrow the scope to one change, one part of the body?
Will she then see a butterfly, bloodied but eager to take flight?
Will she then be able to live her last years still wielding her pastry brushes and knitting needles?
“It’s dangerous!” Mara follows Suki’s gaze towards the rockery, her lips pressed together in pale, thin lines. “Can’t you see that? Shouldn’t you?” Her husky voice sharpens like a blade on a grindstone. “And what makes you think I should trust you with it? Or would?”
Suki bites her lip while counting backwards from ten. Her tongue runs to tart even when voicing second and third thoughts, and she fears she offers little sympathy when she finds something worth speaking: “But less dangerous in better circumstances? If he knew, was prepared, agreed, expected…”
If a witch doesn’t work her magic behind the priests’ backs, but that’s less Mara’s fault than Sirenne’s.
The question remains: if a witch fears dysphoria's ache the cause of her brother’s depression, why didn’t she offer this magical transition weeks or months earlier? Why didn’t she gain Esher’s prior agreement and approval? Why did Mara bother to take him to a monastery? That she wrought this after Sirenne’s failures dashes Suki’s hopes: Mara’s supposed witchcraft is sorcery, unpredictable and unreachable. Nothing more than a panicked, desperate deal made with demons, a grave power Sirenne can’t replicate ... even should a priest be fortunate enough to make the same bargain with the same brace of demons.
If demons routinely offered such vast power, how many trans people wouldn’t sell their soul for a body suiting their nature?
“Prepare? After you made me—” Mara’s voice cracks like thick, shadowed frost under morning’s first footstep. “If there were anywhere else, if I thought … we wouldn’t be here!”
Suki shifts in her chair, her hands and feet aching as though a purple-black bruise engulfs her joints. Is it a wild, ridiculous joke that her body throbs as if beaten while showing no wound to draw sympathy? Why must a black eye or nasty scrape provoke sorrow while injuries or illnesses unable to heal garner, at best, a mute acceptance? Why do people following the Sojourner’s path lack comprehension in the second precept’s broadness? Why must a priest spend her day asking questions lacking comforting answers?
Because Amadi’s ideal became her god: question.
Mara’s desperation, too, deserves an answer.
“We failed,” Suki says, her own throat roughening. “We failed to serve Esher’s needs. A man who has too long had those needs unmet, and believes he has failed in even wishing his needs met, reacted to this lack in despair. There’s nothing irrational in that.” She wants to smile, because she can’t not know the rationality behind such a conclusion, but Mara won’t understand. She doesn’t know about Mama Lewis. “We went over our changes with you, for we can’t allow this to again happen. I ask you sincerely: are we now doing something inadequate? Are you unhappy with Moll or Thanh’s service? Within the limits of our resources and ability, what aren’t we doing that you think we should? How can we better help Esher? Help you?”
Suki didn’t assign Esher’s first priest. She didn’t speak or condone the words that gave him reason to lose the last shred of a trust abraded by too many authoritative people. She didn’t know why he needed consideration in the priest given to guide him; the unasked question wasn’t hers to speak. Ignorance, nonetheless, rings like an intimate, personal failure.
Not a failure Sirenne’s priests share as a collective whole.
A failure, terrible and tragic, in Suki.
Could she have tried harder to serve as an aromantic priest?
Mara purses her lips, her green skirt clenched in tight-knuckled hands. “He’s … always been. A little. But only in the last few years was he so distant, and I don’t think … he wasn’t bad like this until after the Thinning and Benjamin.”
Suki takes Mara’s non-answer as indication that, at least for the moment, she has no objection—and perhaps that’s a victory, but what good is winning when the war shouldn’t be fought? Suki sighs, shaking her head, as Moll and Esher move past the gap in the trees, vanishing behind canopy and granite outcrops. Only her garden, in its art-defying muddle of ferns, trees, mushrooms and bright-coloured orchids, remains—and while, ordinarily, such clashing shades appeal to her, today those greens and reds feel another mockery, a symbol and privilege undeserved.
Even when Moll gave her the opportunity to address her neglect, she took retreat in her brusque manner and authority, confident that a conscientious priest wouldn’t examine the shallowness of her answer. She offered reassurance, solved a problem, revealed herself in the most cursory of ways and fled with fears and feelings still buried within her aching bones.
Question.
If she considers god her ideal and Amadi’s ideal her god, why didn’t she?
“Benjamin is your partner, yes?” Suki shifts her left ankle, thinking even a circumlocutory attempt to build rapport better than another futile attempt at questioning. “May I ask what happened at the Thinning? You needn’t answer.”
Mara’s body softens, although she doesn’t ease her grip on the skirt. “Have you had … family, friends, come visiting? After they … pass?”
For all that belief in the Sojourner’s path embodies the human struggle to conceptualise, negotiate and accept death, hir followers still deal in euphemisms. Family come visiting. Bad like this. Suki, in the outspoken rebelliousness of a would-be priest, spent a year into her novitiate chanting “death, death, death” at her mirror before bed, just to prove that death isn’t a black-cloaked reaper summoned upon saying hir name.
Such boldness failed her, of course, when Mama Polly passed.
“There’s always spirits flickering about, but few speak.” Suki barks a hoarse laugh. “A man who desired me and told me that he’d never have broken his neck if I’d first wed him. Both my mothers. Mama Lewis talks too much.”
Such events aren’t for Suki as unusual an occurrence as they are for the non-necromantic laity, but the conversations between the returning dead and the priest who offered guidance on their paths through the life now history aren’t for outsiders. There’s always a few, often those who died in the last year and haven’t yet had their connections to this world stretch thin, who come back to speak rather than observe. Sometimes those spirits come burdened with regret and recrimination; sometimes they express gratitude or relief. Death, drawing closer with every breath, grants the living a night a year where one must look into hir shadow and fearlessly accept, even celebrate, hir company.
She’s none too fond of Mama Lewis’s bitter postmortem moaning, but a salt circle and poker at least puts paid to that nonsense.
Respecting the sacred covenant of life and death doesn’t mean tolerating abuse.
“Really?” Mara blinks, shaking her head. “She came to me, with other dead relatives and villagers—my Aunt Rosie. I think she knew I needed to talk to her. She told me that I don’t have to romantically love a girl to want or love a girl, and they told me all the ways they didn’t love, which made me feel that … I could talk to the woman I wanted. So I did.” A sweet warmth softens and curves her lips, but the speed with which Mara flattens them suggests she isn’t easy with smiling in current circumstances. “And we’re together, now. But Esh … he doesn’t want anyone, and that should be fine, but maybe … it wasn’t good for him to see me and Ben happy.”
She leans forwards, coughing, before wiping her palm on her skirt.
Suki clenches her hands, fighting to ease her expression before Mara catches her face. It rankles, to say the least, when someone happy in an intimate partnership—however non-romantic!—suggests that those without must be broken in their loneliness. How can she ignore the reflections of Mama Lewis, one shape of expected love or partnership replacing another in the same unyielding structures and assumptions? Mama Lewis cut and hewed the shape of Suki’s illnesses, not another’s possession of something she doesn’t want!
Non-romantic love, to Suki, serves a similar role as the Sojourner or any other god: a fine concept in theory, but while she respects others’ need for a guiding framework, she can only nod vaguely at love’s existence.
Anger, though, doesn’t explain the terror stiffening her body.
“Or after seeing you find a less-conventional form of the coupled happily-ever-after,” she says in a voice perilously close to “glacial”, “your kin and village increased their expectations that he should find the same?”
Mara stares, her lips parted as if in surprise or hurt. “I … Uncle Sascha would say that, I guess. So would the Fisher sisters.” She sighs, frowning. “I don’t know. Just that he got worse after Benjamin … right when I thought he’d get better, because Aunt Rosie said that we’re … real, human. Just a less-known ordinary. Even if we didn’t know the specific word before Moll said it.”
“Only your brother knows why,” Suki says in the mild, self-evident comment a guiding priest says to people having difficulty observing—or permitting themselves to observe—the truth before them. The mild, self-evident comment a priest, who doesn’t fear the direction of this conversation, may say to a guided guest. “So why bother yourself with if I didn’t non-romantically pair up with a girl, maybe he wouldn’t have tried to kill himself drivel? Can you go back in time to not pair up? No! Nor should you halt your life just in case it may be the reason!”
Mara’s half-raised eyebrows suggest that she doesn’t agree.
“Girl, the world tells you in so many ways that you shouldn’t non-romantically partner. After all that repetition, you’re inclined to find excuses to obey that! Keeping my brother from attempting suicide feels more reasonable to you than most puerile objections, but is this reasonable? Are you helping him by thinking this? Or are you obliging everyone who thinks you shouldn’t exist by undermining your partnership with misplaced guilt?”
She refrains from mentioning the insult in anyone’s assuming that depression must be provoked by the existence of someone else’s intimate partnership, as though such relationships are so fundamental one must sicken in witnessing another’s contentment! She refrains, unable to think of anything that doesn’t sound like an observation based in betraying knowledge. Shouldn’t they focus less, anyway, on Mara’s limited understanding of non-partnering people and more on the real issue at hand: her trying to craft another impossible?
Even if it means making herself the cause, Mara seems set on wishing together a world possessed of perfect assurance that her brother won’t again attempt suicide.
Sorcery is by far an easier art, but that’s no comforting truth.
Mara glances at Suki’s belt, as if in need of reassurance that she talks to a senior priest. “Are you, uh … well...”
“Am I what, girl? Don’t cluck!”
Mara swallows, stumbling over the word likely strange to her voice. “Aro … aromantic? Because you sound like…”
Aromantic.
A word in a book, discovered by accident.
A word feared, weighted down by her obligation and pain.
A word unsaid, a man nearly dying of its absence.
“Aromantic and allosexual. I like men for bedding. I don’t like partnerships.” Suki speaks with the casualness that shaped her words when speaking to a distressed priest in a vegetable garden, words said now as if they’ll make up for their silent past. Words said devoid of her terror. “I have enough of one with myself.”
She waits, wondering if Mara will subject her to the young, abled trick of past tense, as though sexuality must be Suki’s history and not her present or future. Something accessible only to the hale and young, presuming her sense of another’s sexual attractiveness withers along with her body? Or will Mara grimace, disgusted by the notion of an elderly, disabled woman whose sexuality hasn’t “decently” become distant memory?
She waits for the accusation: why didn’t you say this before?
“So you understand … why it’s … hard, to live unknowing who you are and what you want, what the words are?” Mara’s brow furrows, her hesitant speech giving way to a spurting rush of feeling: “That’s what Aunt Rosie gave us that night, but it came so late. I lived for so long not knowing, without a word, without knowing it an option! That it had a name! And that hurts, even now I have what I didn’t know I wanted or could want. For so long, I didn’t know! Maybe … that’s it, for Esh, the hurting? Or part of it? How can’t it be…?”
How old is she? Twenty-five? Thirty at most? One needn’t own precision in telling another’s age to know that Mara’s adulthood, outside of accident or illness, stands years distant from death’s shadow. Suki draws a sharp breath, fighting to swallow the tart, quill-bristled question clogging her throat: And when do you think I found the word, girl?
Amadi gifted her the other-shape-of-normal permissiveness, but ey died unknowing of the word describing them both.
Ey died, leaving her alone in a world where she feels outdated and unwanted, where everyone sharing in the known power of the word aromantic can’t comprehend her pain but expects her to, immediately and easily, carry theirs.
Mara needs her pain acknowledged, to have someone confirm that possession of a happy non-romantic partnership can’t and shouldn’t erase ignorance’s lingering hurts. Someone who acknowledges that such bruises are long in the fading but one can still build a life worth living. Someone who reflects understanding and the vital, powerful sense of aromantic siblinghood. Someone who can give what she needs and deserves.
Why must Suki provide it? Why not Moll? Why not anyone else?
“Yes.” She swallows, shifting her throbbing hands, fighting to keep the growl from claiming her voice. Another failure! “We all feel the … betrayal, the years lost to ignorance. Why didn’t I know? You’ll have times of hurting, of struggling, of wondering what could have been if your family knew, your friends, your neighbours. When something isn’t yet recognised or accepted, despite being extant and common … pain, for those of us ahead of that coming, isn’t optional. You aren’t alone in that.”
Suki isn’t gentle. Increased social permissiveness towards the crotchety manner discouraged in children and younger adults stands as one of age’s rare benefits. Mama Polly joked that Suki was set to be a grandmother while still a maiden, but Mama Lewis—curse her long-dead soul—didn’t laugh. Even after half a century gone, Suki can still recite her clipped lectures, delivered in the hope that decreased acidity and increased sweetness will help her daughter find the happiness packaged in a loving, romantic partnership.
Mama Lewis’s shade, returning for her once-yearly lecture, still hopes that her now-elderly daughter will soften enough to allow love into her heart.
It should amuse Suki that such gentleness is now demanded whenever she dares reveal herself as aromantic.
Mara nods, her lips pressed together, her jaw tight, her glistening eyes angled towards her lap.
“It could be part of your brother’s feelings. It could be something else. But this second-guessing of his motivations doesn’t help you or him!” Suki changes the subject for Mara’s sake: for a woman fighting to keep from breaking down before a near-stranger. “Where does this get you but exhaustion? You’re only going to chase your guesses around and around until you’re a dog barking at a rat behind a grate—only to finally spot a different rat gnawing on his brain, realise you’ve been barking at this one for no reason, and there’s actually a score of invisible rats feasting on his poor, bloody brain. Does this help you see those invisible rats? Does this barking help your health, girl?”
She absolutely, assuredly isn’t changing the subject because Suki fears the explosion of her own anger and hurt while discussing aromanticism.
Question. How can she?
Mara’s eyes meet Suki’s face in the bulging stare had by someone imagining rodents chewing on grey matter. “R—rats?”
“Chewing brain rats. You want pretty metaphors for a bloody illness? Don’t talk to a priest, then. Pretty metaphors leave people telling themselves depression isn’t illness, just something that can be shouted, shamed or pressured into abeyance. I don’t hold for that.” Suki sighs and attempts to ease Mara’s shock, hating her bluntness’ sharp, gleaming edges. Is she trying to hurt Mara, wounds delivered in return for those unintentionally given? “I know you want to help your brother. You’ll do more for him by asking what he needs, and listening to what he tells you even if it’s ‘nothing’, instead of chasing every rat in the hope they’re the ones eating him. There’s too many rats, girl! When he’s able to cope with your asking, ask. Leave handling the rats to us—because that’s what we’ll teach him.”
If only they’d thought to ensure Mara realised this before she attempted to bludgeon the rat labelled “dysphoria”, but who imagined a village witch owning such power or ability?
Mara nods: perhaps accepting such advice, perhaps planning to avoid future commentary on what she thinks provoked her brother’s attempt. Her silence is, though, more honest than immediate agreement. Better that than false approval or out-of-hand rejection, especially when she hasn’t agreed to a guiding relationship between priest and guest. Especially when Suki has already stepped further over that line than is wise for a priest struggling with herself! Anyway, hasn’t she gleaned enough to make a solid guess—that Mara sold her soul to purchase Esher’s transition? What more need they discuss?
She isn’t a powerful witch keeping her magic a solemn, oath-bound secret.
She’s a frightened sister doing everything she can to hold her brother into life.
Is that another rat set to gnaw on Esher’s brain? Is that, as much as distrust or fear of priestly reaction to sorcery, reason for her denial? Does she seek to keep this secret from Esher and the priests involved in his care to avoid making yet another rat? Does Moll realise this?
Is Mara all that different from Suki herself?
“I’m sorry that I can’t help you.” Mara stands and bows in the abrupt, jerking movements of a woman looking to leave before the conversation leads them anywhere uncomfortable—and Suki feels unreasonably relieved. “Thank you for your advice—and wisdom.” She hesitates, leaving Suki certain that “wisdom” is nothing more than politeness. “I’m glad, I suppose, there’s more people like us here. Maybe … maybe that will help Esh, if things go better.”
“If you think a priest’s guidance may be useful for your own sake,” she says, falling back on well-worn script in the surety that her own words are far too confronting, “please know that our service extends to all. And I hope, one day, aromantics are so ordinary there’s no need to comment.”
Mild, facile, trite.
Her hands throb, and Suki fights to unclench them.
Mara’s face shutters. “You’ve more than enough work with Esh.”
She bows again and, in a frenetic, long-paced stride best described as “hurrying”, heads down the garden path towards the guest quarters.
Trust.
Can she blame Mara for not trusting her when Suki has none to give?
She sighs and stares at her orchids, at the stone rising behind the tangle of shrub and ivy, at the blue-tinged mushrooms threatening to take over the lawn, at the green grass beneath her chair and the cloudless sky overhead. She stares at the rocks and leaves of her sanctuary, thinking about Mara, thinking about Mamas Lewis and Polly, thinking about the conversation with Moll in the vegetable garden, thinking about words unsaid and feelings concealed … but as the sun ebbs lower, she finds no course of action but the obvious.
Question.
Why has she, for so long, chosen avoidance over service? Why has she refused to face her pain, even while knowing the impact her absence has on others? If she preaches the sacred power in guiding another to a better road, why does she refuse another’s gift of the same? Will she leave this world as Mara is now? Or will she trust her own kin, her own ideals—the only god worth her wholehearted belief?
“Aziz!” Suki waves a hand at the acolyte reading on the lawn just out of non-shouting earshot. “Tell Moll that I’d like them to attend me here at their earliest convenience. Please have the kitchen arrange sweets for both of us and my afternoon tea.” She pauses, considering, as Aziz scrambles upright and straightens hir brown robe. “My shawl. And ask Thanh for an additional dose of my pain medicine. Thank you.”
Question.
If Moll is good enough for Esher Hill, they ought to be good enough for Suki of Sirenne.
#alloaro#aromantic#aro writing#alloaro writing#fiction#original fiction#original fiction and prose#fantasy#marchverse#those with more#arospec creations#long post#very long post#extremely long post#mental illness#suicide mention#death mention#amatonormativity#aro community feels#aro antagonism#alloaro antagonism#abuse mention#ableism#k. a. cook#love mention#love#family#aromantic and transgender#dysphoria mention
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Candle Color and Flame Workings in Witchcraft.
Color Association in witchcraft can be important as it's associated that different colors are connected with emotions, elements, times of the week, and deities.
Common Candle Wax Color Associations:
White- cleansing
Black- protection
Silver- can be used to connect with Lunar deities
Red- anger (fire, or extreme passion)
Orange- courage
Yellow- Happiness (is associated with the sun and sun deities)
Green- money, luck (earth and grounding)
Blue- sadness (water associations, also cleanisng, can be used to connect with Lunar deities)
Purple- connecting to spirit, (connecting to spirit guides, or deities)
Pink- romance, feminity, grace (can be used to connect with Love/fertility deities)
Brown- grounding (also earth)
Of course your own personal connections with colors can be used, though these are the most common associations.
Adding herbs to your candles that have similar associations can boost your intentions and energy which can help you in your spellwork. However, please be aware that when adding herbs to your flames can be very dangerous! Keep your flames in a well ventilated area, never leave them alone and burn them on/and in fire safe containers and always have a fire extinguisher near by!
Another thing to note, is that when you add herbs to a candle they will burn hotter and faster, so if you're trying to connect with a deity and your flames erupt and dance quicker than they do without the herbs this is because you are giving the flame something other than the wick to burn. (I'm not saying that your deity isn't contacting you, but this should be heavily remembered while working with flames.)
Flame sizes and the way it behaves, witchy and mundane explanations. (without herbs).
If your candle flickers towards any of the four directions (North, South, East, West) then a Spirit or deity may be trying to reach you. (Mundane: there may be a draft pushing the flame in that direction.)
Crackling or popping wicks may indicate that a Spirit or your deity is arguing or trying to communicate with you. (Mundane: sometimes the wax from the candle may get on the wick and this is what's causing the wick to pop, also humidity can cause the flame to crackle.)
A blue flame may indicate that a Spirit or deity is near. (Mundane: your flame is safe, it's burning just as it should be.)
A Red flame indicates that your energy is being fueled by an intense emotion. Usually grief, anger or passion. (Mundane: the flame is in a cooler environment.)
A white flame may indicate peace, harmony, and prosperity. (Mundane: your candle is burning magnesium.)
High flames indicate that there is positive energy around you. (Mundane: it's too hot, causing the wax to melt faster than it's supposed to.)
A smoking candle may indicate that you are looking at things from the wrong POV. (Mundane: your flame is contaminated by either carbon dioxide or water.)
Dual flames can indicate either a solution in your energy, your mind is too unfocused to continue. (Mundane: the wick is split.)
Heart shaped flames can indicate that a loved one is present, or if you're performing some sort of romance/love spell then it is connecting you to the other person. //please perform love spells with the consent of the other person!!! Do not take away their free will/choice in being with you because you cannot handle rejection.// (Mundane: your wick is splitting/has split.)
A bright/big/steady flame may indicate that your spell is working perfectly, or that a Spirit or your deity is pleased with you. (Mundane: the length of your candle or wick is too long.)
A sputtering flame may indicate that your spell does not have enough energy. If your candle goes out on its own then your spell is finished, the spirit or deity has left. (Mundane: the wick was too short and the wax put the flame out.)
A small candle flame may indicate a lack of energy. Perhaps the spirits or your deity are trying to communicate that you need to be patient. (Mundane: The wick is too short or there is not enough oxygen fuelling the fire.)
A jumping flame may indicate hesitation. Either your energy is reflecting that you are hesitant or the spirit or your deity is telling you to be hesitant. (Mundane: the flame temporarily goes out but the smoke from the candle catches on fire causing the flame to jump back into life.)
Understanding how a flame can be interpretated through witchy and mundane reasonings can assist you with your spell work or spirit/deity work. Knowing that there is always a mundane explanation can help you avoid false hope.
If you believe deep in your gut that your flame is a sign from a deity, or spirit or you believe that your spell is Manifesting then that's great!
This guide is simply for educational purposes to help you gain knowledge on the mystical and also being cautious of mundane interactions.
#witchcraft#fledglings guide to witchcraft#witch community#witchblr#witch topic#spells#flame associations#witchy or mundane#candle color associations
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Spirit Guides and Spirit Animals
A look into Open and Closed Cultures.
Spirit guides have been used in many, many, many practices. In ancient practices spirit guides were used exactly the way their name sounds. They were spirits that guided their people through different time periods, or just generally helped in ones craft.
The use of spirit guides is still used today in the modern practices as well, for the same general idea.
As stated above many practices throughout the world use their own forms of spirit guides. Native American practices are no different. Much like other practices Native American Spirit Animals are a sacred practice.
While some practices are open and will allow you to work with their spirit guides, Native American practices are apart of a closed culture and that means that unless you are Native American you cannot practice them.
Such as the use of sage, white sage specifically as it's endangered. Another practice that's off limits is "smudging". Smudging is a sacred Native American practice.
Someone who is not Native American can not participate in smudging. What one is doing is simply smoke cleansing.
Just as how one cannot smudge, one cannot consider Native American spirit animals to be theirs. There are plenty of open practices that use spirit animals/guides that can be used in ones craft.
This is just one of many closed cultures that have been appropriated by witchcraft and should be explained for those who are now looking into witchcraft.
Cultural Appropriation is something that may happen with miscommunication or just straight up theft from closed cultures.
I'm going to be frank, many witches have appropriated from closed cultures simply because they feel as if a culture should not be closed and should not have any sacred traditions. They are downright selfish. Do not be one of these witches.
Open practices that also use spirit animals, or as they call them spirit guides or totems.
The Netherlands have Animal totems. In Norse Mythology there are the "fyljur". Ancient Greeks and Romans had Eudaimons.
Now a Spirit Totem is more of a sacred object where the Spirit guide is supposed to inhabit. Typically in the shape of an animal that is sacred to the person, family/clan.
In Norse mythology the term "fyljur" is used in place of spirit animal. Essentially it is similar and also different. "Fyljur" is actually said to be tbe correspondences of the gods. Or animal embodiments of tbe gods themselves. When recieving deity signs they may appear as the animals that represent them. Wolves, ravens and horses are associated with Odin. Goats with Thor, Foxes to Loki and Wild boars with Freyr and Freya. These deities take these animal forms to guide their followers.
Now the ancient Greeks and Romans didn't use a spirit in a form of an animal, they used what they call an Eudaimon or Eudaemon. This was a type of daemon or genius, which was just kind of a spirit. This never took a physical form, and by physical I mean a form that one can see rather than feel.
One open practice that I didn't mention above is the Ancient Egyptian practice of Zoomorphism. The Ancient Egyptians would give animal like qualities to anything that wasn't an actual animal. Such as depicting Bastet with the head if a cat. Other deities having animal body parts.
With the exception of Ancient Greeks and Romans, the other cultures that have incorporated animals, and see the animals as being wise creatures that can be used as guides there's no shortage of open practices.
Familiars.
These are another form of spirit guides from European belief. These however are not animal spirits, these are supernatural entities that would appear as an animal, not all of the time but from the records of people who claim to have made contact with a familiar that is the form those supernatural entities became. Familiars serve a witch, they help a witch with the witches magic.
Some were categorized as being demons, until later they were actually described to be more fairylike.
Neo- Paganism beliefs is where the concept that an actual animal, a living, breathing animal could be a familiar.
While I don't want to bash anyones beliefs and say that they are wrong I do want to point out that animals have extra senses that most humans do not. An animal can sense things that we have no idea could happen. Perhaps this is why Neo- Pagans believe their pets are familiars.
As a witch however it is your duty to know the history of the culture you wish to be apart of. It is your responsibility to understand the differences between the open cultures as well as the closed cultures, and to respect that which you are not apart of.
#original post#witchblr#witchcraft#native american practices#closed cultures#open culture#a fledglings guide to witchcraft#Witchcraft Information
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Honestly, the best witchcraft building a relationship with nature.
Get some house plants, talking to them is the best form of meditation, they're always listening.
Go for a walk and pick up on how the wind changes, just a little bit, with your mood. Your energy effects the world around you.
Notice how the planet rewards you for your kindness. You pick up some litter she guides you to the perfect ingredient you needed for your next spell. You leave birdseed out for the fledglings and get perfect weather for the day.
Return to mother earth when you can, she loves you and she misses you and she needs all the kindness she can get.
#baby witch#pagan witch#witchblr#broomcloset#witch#witchcraft#wicca#wiccablr#witchbaby#broomcloset tips#witch tips#nature#earthcore#cottagecore#naturecore
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Suggested Reading
*- Recommended
Spell Dictation*
Visualization
Conceptualization Vs. Visualization
Basics of Spellcasting
Researching Witchcraft*
Online Research Tips*
Disclaimer
This article is written primarily from my personal opinion which is based on my observations, as well as the input of a plethora of other witches in the community.
Internet Vs. Reality
It is commonplace for online witchcraft content to be about one’s personal practice. Stories, spells, philosophies, and aesthetics make up a massive majority of available content. For many, myself included, witchcraft is a form of escapism, especially for those who live in poverty or under oppression. Unfortunately, this leads to a dramatization of content for a great deal of content creators. Because of this, there is fear-mongering about spiritwork, exaggeration about the effects & effectiveness of spellwork, and unrealistic expectations of what witchcraft should look like. Furthermore, the prevailing culture about witchcraft is heavily rooted in white supremacy, appropriation, and classism; which, over the last decade or so, has been largely due to the gradual integration of New Age and New Thought philosophies and practices. Misinformation and unwarranted gatekeeping are rampant, leading to a tendency for all witchcraft content to be palatable, fluffy, inefficient, ineffective, vague, and/or simplistic.
Spell Dictation Online
It is so important for fledgling witches to understand that, due to the way spells are recorded online and in books, they will not have the same effects for them as it did the author of those spells. It is incredibly difficult to dictate spells accurately enough for them to be precisely reproducible. It is in responsible practice to use found spells as inspirations for spells rather than actual guides. If a spell online mentions requiring visualization, it definitely wouldn’t be wise to try to reproduce it.
I have already thoroughly covered this topic, if you’d like to read further see the suggested reading section.
Old Grimoires & Archaic Metaphysics
For many practitioners, “Traditional” witchcraft seems more potent or powerful. This is most noticeable in the Ceremonial and Trad Craft communities. All the while failing to understand that actual witchcraft traditions are a cultural phenomenon, and not something that can be learned through a book, with seldom exceptions through recreationist practices. Like many religious and scientific texts of antiquity, grimoires and books on magical philosophies are going to be written through their own colloquial and cultural lenses, making them significantly less applicable in a modern practice. The study of these texts are great to gain a glimpse into the practices that others have done before us, but it is important to realize that just because content is written through their own contemporary cultural filter, doesn’t excuse the oppression and bigotted subjects and perspectives often found in older texts. It is impossible and irresponsible to try to separate content from their author’s mentality. Study of these texts should be through an academic pursuit, and not one of application.
What if My Personal Practice IS My Content?
For a great many of creators, especially online, writing content about their personal practice is the easiest thing to do, as doing so provides social protection and plausible deniability when it comes to their assertions. Unfortunately, this allows for the commodification of misinformation and placation of imitation and pretense. Because of the evolution of modern metaphysics, alongside its expression in available content, witchcraft has become heavily reliant on consumerism. When making content from your personal practice, it is imperative to have an extensive disclaimer for those just getting into witchcraft that states the origins of the subject matter and that it is to serve as inspiration and not to be attempted directly.
I Read Something Online That Invalidates My Practice
Witchcraft is an incredibly diverse subject due to the overwhelming number of cultural traditions and individual vantage points. When researching, it will not be uncommon to come across some content that makes you feel invalidated in your craft. For some, this is definitely warranted, specifically for those who take part in appropriative, destructive, or oppressive practices and philosophies such as: Wicca, Ceremonial Magick, New Thought, New Age, Theosophy, Nihilism & Racist Neo-Paganism. For others, there are two options: continue on or take the time to digest the content and then see if it aids in your practice or not. Reacting emotionally to your practice being invalidated by online content does not help anyone, nor is it anyone’s problem but your own. It is so important to approach the study of magic critically and rationally. It is only in its application that magic can be taken by a muse. Remember that you curate your own internet experience.
Aesthetics, Lifestyle, & Practice
Witchcraft is an action, but in practice it is built on one’s philosophy, faith, lifestyle, etc. This is why everyone’s craft looks and feels different. For some witchcraft is an entire lifestyle that is lived out in the open; while for others, it is a precious secret skill. It is also a commodity. Many have, or wish to have, a witchy aesthetic regardless of if they practice or not. Aesthetics are a tool and are by no means necessary for practice. They make us feel good and help us obtain or maintain headspace for workings. Like all concepts within witchcraft, what classifies as a witchy aesthetic can vary wildly. When searching or feeling for an aesthetic, it is best to find what helps you feel confident in your working so that you can channel your intent (not desire) more thoroughly.
Efficiency & Effectiveness
So much witchcraft is practiced inefficiently, that isn’t any concern of mine, or anyone else’s frankly. If practicing inefficiently is okay with you, then that's valid. The issue with inefficient or ineffective practices only becomes an issue when that practice is expressed online in an educational format for others to consume or when an efficient or ineffective practice are vivaciously or adamantly defended on a public platform.
Freedom & Pragmatism
As sentient and intelligent organisms, we are all allowed to have our own UPG, faith, practices, perspectives, opinions, philosophies, etc. Doing so is unavoidable. Having the freedom to decide what is and is not accepted as part of our personal crafts is entirely within our discretion. When researching witchcraft, rather than approaching information from a mindset of “this person is telling me how to practice”, it would be significantly more beneficial for everyone to use a “let me try this and see if it makes a difference in my practice” kind of mindset. Without the freedom to find how to express and project ourselves, witchcraft cannot function as there is a lack of intent. If the means in which our intent is projected is inharmonious with the self, then it also will not function. Our freedom of expression and experimentation is what allows us all to grow and develop. Finding that sweet spot is going to look different for everyone. Sometimes the only method that works for someone is the least efficient method, and that’s okay. Do what is practical for you, but remember that you are responsible for the content you publish. Self-awareness is incredibly important in this way.
If you read this whole article, thank you. If this article makes you mad, good. Identify yourself. You are part of the problem.
To learn more about me, my services, and/or find my informational guides on witchcraft, click here!
#informational post#witchcraft community#witchcraft for beginners#beginner witch#beginner witch tips#witchcraft101#witchcraft resources#Gcc
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Do you have any book recs for beginners without much experience, so you can learn more about history, spells, etc?
📚So i actually don’t buy a ton of specifically witchy books, but that’s because they rarely contain primary or decent secondary sources when talking about things like history, herbal medicine, etc. So instead, I use non-witchy books in my witchy practice. I have tons of herbal medicine and herbal field guide books, not only because i’m studying to be an herbalist, but they’re my go-to for coming up with correspondences. ex. The plant is drought- tolerant and likes the heat? use it in an endurance/sticking it out spell. Does it contain antifungal properties? Use it to banish mischievous and destructive energy. etc.
But! I have answered an ask similar to this before, so take a look here.
And then this post is from @skepticaloccultist is a book list for fledgling witches.
And then these two, by @constantly-disheveled and @eclecticwitcheryafootagain, respectively, are biiiggg book lists. X X
I only buy the llewelyn almanacs bc i like to have something physical to collect and mark the time passing haha But I do like them because they have articles by so many different contributors. Llewelyn does tend toward ‘white’ witchcraft (i.e. they’re not super diverse and are sometimes appropriative) and the wicca side of things though, so keep that in mind, but that caveat will apply to so so many witch books. So just make sure you’re being a close and critical reader and never take anything someone puts in a book as fact without questioning or challenging it.
✨📚Happy Reading! 📚✨
p.s. i have a whole tag for beginners under ‘witchling.’ It’s where I put everything that I would have wanted to know earlier in my practice, instead of just being a bunch of 101 lists :)
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#mine#ask#books#literature#witchling#beginner#baby witch#new witch#beginner witch#book#magic#magick#witch#witchy#witchcraft#Anonymous
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Kul Tiran Witches
[No image for this one, since two bunches of headcanon are coming out and I’m really bad at witch transmogs. Hope the extra stuff makes up for it!]
While the Heartsbane witches are without question the most vile ones to trouble the island kingdom, witchcraft in Drustvar has a long history that is almost as old as Kul Tiras itself. Witches have both troubled the people of Drustvar and given them aid- drawing on the strange death-magics of Thros for all manner of spells.
Long ago, the Drust retreated into the realm of Thros, licking their wounds from a war with Arom Waycrest’s forces. They swore vengeance- but soon found themselves trapped in the death-realm, a strange place of horrors born of the Emerald Nightmare. It is unknown how many of these strange, twisted realms the Nightmare spawned- but the simple fact that it survives independent of the Nightmare itself is telling enough of its terrible power. The Drust, despite cursing the place they were now trapped in, adapted to it quickly- and over many hundreds of years, worked to master the realm’s power.
With the Drust defeated, Kul Tiras was free to be settled in full. A number of people came over from Gilneas and Strom, seeking a life on the frontier and new lands in which to live. Among the new arrivals were the followers of the old ways of humanity- practitioners of crude forms of druidism and shamanism. Part of this migration was in response to a new wave of Light-based worship that was sweeping the new nations of humanity.
Those who could perform some communion with the elements soon found themselves drawn to the slowly-growing followers of the Tidemother. The ones who practiced druidism, though, ventured further south. Many sought the lands around Tiragarde Sound, becoming important part of the frontier towns springing up there.
One group of harvest witches ventured further south, to Drustvar. The dense and quiet forests there reminded them of their former home in Gilneas’ Blackwald. While the humans believed their enemies to be defeated, Drustvar itself was still regarded as highly dangerous- some of the Drust constructs walked the land still, and the land itself still was home to all manner of beast.
By pure chance, the witches stumbled into one of the small communities of Thornspeakers. The wise Drust recognized the powers the witches wielded, and offered to work alongside them, and show them their ways. This offer, made in good faith, sewed division among the witches- for many of them had heard tales of the unbridled ferocity of the Drust during the battle for Kul Tiras, and did not know which side the Thornspeakers had fought on. In the end, half of the witches traveled with their new friends to Ulfar’s Den, displaying their powers to him, helping. As the Thornspeakers integrated into Drustvar’s settlements, the harvest witches would be their companions and guides- and eventually, they would be among the first humans to become Thornspeakers in their own rights. The other half traveled deeper into the woods, seeking a place to settle.
By pure accident, they found one of the ancient fortresses of the Drust- and though it was abandoned, much of their power had been unleashed during the struggle to defend it. The witches knew that this magic was strange, and far from the natural power they were used to drawing on... but it was also strong. Far, far stronger than their fledgling druidic magic. The witches took up residence there, and began experiments to draw on the death magic born of Thros.
It was difficult for the witches to use at first- but over time, they began to have some level of control over the volatile magic, forsaking their use of natural magic entirely. For many years, they practiced their magic deep within the forest, using the cursed Drust ruins to hide from over-inquisitive Thornspeakers and adventurers alike. As far as anybody knew, they had vanished entirely into the wilds, likely eaten by some monster.
This worked to the advantage of the witches- and they remained unknown and hidden for many years- eventually spreading out all over Drustvar in pursuit of knowledge, as well as homes for themselves. Some even lived on the fringes of the slowly-growing settlements, keeping their magic a secret and only using it at great need, while others were openly known as sorceresses who consorted with dark and terrible powers.
For many hundreds of years, this continued on- the original witches trained many apprentices and preserved their knowledge in strange grimoires written in blood. Drustvar’s witches would pass into local legend over time- they were used more as figures in tales to frighten children than truly believed to exist. Some witches continued to hide in plain sight on the fringes of society, known in certain circles to be willing to put strange powers to work... for a price. Other witches would lurk around Drust ruins, or live in cottages in the woods, sometimes even living in small groups to share knowledge and power.
Their strange magic could be put to any number of uses- but was quite ritualistic in nature, requiring many reagents and magical circles- and oftentimes even whole organs. Some of the witches living in towns even found ways to profit off of their power- ridding the region of troublesome monsters and selling favors, curses, and elixirs to townsfolk. While they were never particularly welcome,
Seven hundred years after the Drust trapped themselves in Thros, Gorak Tul and some of the most powerful Drust sorcerers had gained enough mastery over the realm and its magic to be able to affect the regular world. When they reached out, though, they were perplexed to find that some of the humans had taken up their magic, and had even begun using it for their own ends.
While most of the Drust sorcerers were furious that humans had taken up their own magic, Gorak Tul saw opportunity. The Drust king could not defeat his enemies on the field of battle, but he could destabilize their kingdom. He reached out across realms to the witches, invading their dreams and presenting himself as a generous patron. He offered gifts of power and knowledge of wielding Thros’ magic. While they seemed like incredible deals to the witches, he only ever offered them fractions of his power in return for servitude. It always came with an unknown price as well, deeply corrupting their souls.
The witches would animate the undead remains of the Drust and set them loose on the roads, or raise terrifying constructs that would attack settlements. The woods quickly gained a reputation for being haunted- and the Thornspeakers were hard-pressed to keep the balance of the forest against Tul’s machinations. The people of Kul Tiras were a more superstitious sort than those of the mainland- often dealing with monsters on the sea. When horrors arose on the land, they were often dispatched by brave members of the Waycrest Guard or the Outriggers.
Drustvar’s witches were not the only ones ensnared by his offers- and sometimes, Tidesages or mages would secretly begin to wield Thros’ power as well. Sometimes, he would even choose to appear in the dreams of ordinary folk all over Kul Tiras, instructing them on how to wield the dark powers. Tul was careful never to draw too much attention, and was careful to avoid the watchful eyes of Ulfar and his Thornspeakers.
This continued on for some time- though as Kul Tiras grew and industrialized, Tul found it harder to destabilize on a grand scale like he dreamed. His schemes continued, and he would sometimes make almost irresistible offers of power to the poor and disenfranchised all over the kingdom. Some of Boralus’ backstreet gangs had individuals with darker powers among them, and at one point, he had even managed to corrupt a noblewoman or two into witchcraft. Other Drust became patrons of some witches as well, but Gorak Tul was the most prolific.
The witches still had effect, when he used them, but Tul was unsatisfied with the fact he had not brought down any large part of Kul Tiras despite all his work- and so he began to hatch a grand plan, searching out the most vulnerable individuals who wielded power. Eventually, he would find the perfect target in none other than Meredith Waycrest.
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