Alright, I get this question a LOT. So I’m actually gonna go a bit more in detail than you probably need, and then link this in my FAQ.
So, you’ve been reading up on a deity, and you’re ready to introduce yourself! The specific details will vary depending on the practice you’re coming from, and the deity you’re approaching, but the basic ideas will (usually) be the same.
Set up a shrine or altar, this can be temporary or something permanent, it’s just a place to introduce yourself. Think of it like setting up for a skype interview with a potential boss. You don’t have to clean the whole house, just the area that they’re gonna be seeing
Invoke the deity. This can be calling their name and asking them to join you. This can be hymns or even just something along the lines of “Okay, okay, so I’m really feeling a bit silly right now but here goes. Um, Deity? I have an offering for you, so yeah, it’d be great if you would receive it.”
Make an offering of some kind. I don’t believe you have to make an offering every time you interact with a deity, but as an introduction, it’s a good way to go, even if you just burn a candle or some incense in their honor.
Tell them why you think they’re awesome. You can list of their epitaphs you know, you can talk about how/why you’re drawn to them, ect… Just kind of let them know why you want to work with them.
You can ask for a sign of their approval, you can make a promise to do this again some time, or even just talk to them. If you do divination you can pull out some tarot cards or whatever you prefer and see if they’re willing to have a conversation.
Let’s just start a series of crash courses in witchcraft, since sometimes we need to learn things the quick and dirty way. Today, let’s talk about wards.
What are wards? Wards are protective energy barriers. They keep things out. You can place them around your home, certain rooms, even on certain objects. With practice and clear intentions, you can focus the wards to block out everything or only certain things. We’ll get to that in a bit.
Why should I ward my space and my things? Wards can keep out all sorts of things you don’t want in your home. They can block out negative entities, wayward spirits, mischievous entities, demons, and (if you’re really good at what you’re doing) even gods. Some people ward their divination tools so they know there are no spirits tampering with the results.
So what do I need to do first? Cleanse. This is very important. Wards are kind of like walls, or perhaps more accurately, bubbles. If you don’t clean the space first, you might trap things inside your ward bubble. You do not want that. There are lots of methods of cleansing, from burning sage to spritzing oil-infused water. Find a method you’re comfortable with and cleanse everything you’re going to be warding.
I’ve cleansed my home/item. Now what? Now we ward. I’m going to give you a couple methods. Let’s start with my favorite, incense warding.
Incense warding can also be done with spritzes of water/essential oil blends or herb-infused water if you can’t have smoke in your space. Whichever you’re using, you want to have a blend of protective herbs. Bay leaves, cinnamon, ginger, mustard seed, and salt are some great options that you can find in the grocery store, no fancy witch shop necessary. If you’re using incense, make sure you’re using natural incense and not super cheap stuff that’s artificially scented. The magic is in the herbs, and you won’t get that from fake scents.
How to Incense/Spritz Ward an Item
Smoke or spray item.
Visualize the smoke or spray clinging to the item and wrapping around it like a tight blanket, protecting it from anything that would cause harm (or interference, etc.).
How to Incense/Spritz Ward Your Space
Pick a place to start. I always start at my altar, but it’s up to you. If you’re doing multiple floors, start either at the top or bottom floor.
Moving continuously to your right, smoke or spray along the walls and door frames. As you go, imagine a barrier being formed around the walls, ceiling, and floor, pushing outwards to fill the room. Visualize the smoke or spray forming the barrier to keep out anything that will do you harm. [If you have a hard time with visualization, you can simply focus on the intent of the smoke or spray keeping things out.]
Keep moving right, following the layout of your home, making sure you get all the closet spaces. You basically want to outline the entire area you’re protecting, whether it’s you’re room or your whole house.
For multiple floors, repeat on each level.
For big layouts where there are rooms in the middle, go around those rooms as well.
I like to reinforce the wards over outside doors, windows, and mirrors. These are all passages of sorts, and when I reach them, I use the incense to draw a pentagram in the air over them. This is entirely up to you.
You’re done when you’ve reached the point where you began.
So why do we go to the right? Is that important? Kind of. Going to the right is like going clockwise. It’s about making things and progression, where going to the left or counter-clockwise is about deconstruction or reversal. [I read this idea in a witchy book a long time ago and will try to find a source when I can. If you honestly don’t feel it makes a difference, do whatever you’re comfortable with.]
Can I place wards that keep out certain things but not others? Sure. When you’re going around your space/warding your item, your intent is what’s important. I like to ward out entities that mean harm – it’s nice and general and doesn’t keep the fae out. Some people might want certain spirits and not others. Have your intentions clear in your mind as you place your wards.
That’s neat and all, but what are some other ways to ward? Let’s list a few.
Symbol/Sigil Wards
Choose (or make) a symbol or sigil that has protective properties. I’ve done this with Pluto’s astrological symbol because I worship him and it’s my way of being like, “Hey, Pluto. Please protect me, kthanxbai.” Pentagrams are nice and basic witchy/pagan symbols if you like them.
Draw the symbol over doors and windows. You do not literally have to draw it. It can be in water, incense smoke, or just your finger against the surface if you want.
As you’re drawing, make sure you have your intentions in mind – that nothing harmful can pass through this door, that the windows remain closed against entities, etc.
Energy Bubbles (if you have control over your energy)
Pick an item – any item.
Get your warding intentions in mind.
Channel lots of energy into the item. Visualize it emanating from the item in a bubble to fill your space.
If you’ve got mad skillz, you can form the bubble to the walls and be super exact with where its barriers are.
Vocal Wards
If you like spoken (or thought) spells, come up with a small chant to protect your space.
You can repeat this chant as you focus on your item being protected or as you walk around your home, protecting every room.
This is really great to incorporate into basically any other form of warding and gives your magic an extra bit of oomph.
I’ve heard wards can “fade” over time. True or false? Wards are just energy. Like all energies, they can disperse and weaken over time, or if something particularly nasty puts effort into destroying them. Redo your wards every so often (I do mine every few months, but it’s up to you), and especially before spiritual interactions. I also like to do mine after I’ve had lots of company, to kind of clear out family’s lingering energies and reinforce what I don’t want in my house.
In general, the intent of your wards is the most important part. Know what you want to keep out. This concludes our crash course on warding. Now go forth and protect some stuff!
You may be able to tweak some things to fit your situation, but ultimately, the correspondences we use in modern witchcraft came from somewhere. It’s important to actually educate yourself on the historical importance of said correspondences if you want to cast a spell and achieve the best results.
It’s not about “setting the mood.” It’s about harnessing the correct and most appropriate type of energy to fire off your spell.
Correspondences for herbs, crystals, planets, etc., can largely be traced back to Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy, published in the 1500’s.
You can also use science to back up some correspondences.
Lavender and chamomile have been shown to reduce stress and anxiety.
Witchlings and Baby Witches, gather ‘round to learn how to cast a simple Circle. You may be wondering, “Why do we cast Circles?” and that can be easily answered! Most of the time, we cast Circles to create a sacred space where our spellwork and rituals can be conducted. There are other various reasons, but you can discover that with time, research, and practice. For this lesson, we are going to focus on creating that sacred space for you.
THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE CASTING A CIRCLE
**Circles can be cast alone or with others. If you are participating with other witches, you may want to print them off a “script” of what will be said and done that way everyone can participate. Change “I” in the script to “we”, “me” to “us”, and so on and so forth.
**Circles can be cast indoors and outdoors. However, I do caution you not to cast Circles without getting the permission of the person who owns said space, home, property, etc.
**You can decorate and dress up for your Circle casting. Using the appropriate colors, plants, stones, and meaningful objects can aid in powering your Circle. This, however, is not necessary.
**Decide in advance what will be done in the Circle. Make a plan of what you want to do inside your circle, whether it worship, prayer, spellwork, or meditation. Don’t feel rushed and take your time.
**Music may be used to accompany the Circle casting and rituals. I typically choose songs that don’t have words. (I get distracted easily by music.)
**Feel free to customize these words and tailor them to fit your own practices. You can substitute “walls and floors” with “foliage, stones, and ground” if you are casting outside. Names for Gods and Goddesses may be used in place of “Lord and Lady.”
**There is no right way to cast a Circle. There are many traditions that different witches use. Find what you like, experiment and customize your circle casting ritual.
**NOTE** This is just one example of how to cast a Circle (one I used when I was just starting out.)
TOOLS FOR CASTING THE CIRCLE
Candles, incense, matches (or a lighter), representations of the four corners, decorations, an athame (ceremonial knife) or wand.
BASIC CIRCLE CASTING
1. Ground and center, and then lay out where your Circle will be cast. This doesn’t have to be physically marked, but I have seen people use cord, chalk, and candles. (Note: using lit candles can be dangerous. Please take precautions when doing this. We don’t want anyone or anything getting hurt.) I used to create a small altar at the direction North with representations of the four elements.
2. Light incense and candles, and make your announcement: The Circle is about to be cast and I freely stand within to greet my Lady and my Lord.
3. Take one candle in hand and begin walking the Circle. Here, we are acknowledging the Four Quarters (North, South, East, and West.) We will stop at each direction and call out the corresponding greeting found below. For this, we will walk deosil around our Circle. To move deosil is to move in a clockwise (or sunwise) direction. Once you have finished acknowledging the directions, return to North.
–North: I call upon Light and Earth at the North to illuminate and strengthen the Circle. –East: I call upon Light and Air at the East to illuminate and enliven the Circle. –South: I call upon Light and Fire at the South to illuminate and warm the Circle. –West: I call upon Light and Water at the South to illuminate and cleanse the Circle.
4. Return the candle to its rightful place and raise the athame or wand into your hand facing North. Call out: I draw this Circle in the Presence of the Lady and the Lord that They may aid and bless me in my work.
5. Lower the athame or wand and walk deosil once more around the Circle, envisioning a blue light shoot out from the Circle’s boundary. Call out: This is the boundary of the Circle, around me, through walls and floors, above me and below me as a sphere is the Circle cast and consecrated to the Lady and the Lord that They may work with and through Their child, (your name/Craft Name). This Circle is charged by the power of the Ancient Ones! Only love shall enter and leave.
Begin your ritual, spellcasting, meditation, or any other word you wish inside the Circle. Within it, you will be protected. However, a word of caution: if you are a witchling, make sure you do not over exert yourself inside the Circle. Casting any magic can make anyone grow weary or tired, so be aware of how much energy you are expending. Like any magic, it takes time and practice. When you have finished your work, you will open your Circle.
OPENING THE CIRCLE
6. Take the athame or wand in hand both hands facing North. Call out: Lord and Lady, I have been blessed by Your sharing this time with me; watching and guarding me; guiding me here and in all things. I came in love and I depart in love.
7. Raise the athame or wand high in the air in salute. Call out: Love is the Law and Love is the Bond. Merry did I meet, merry do I part, and merry will I meet again. The Circle is cleansed.
8. Kiss the flat of the blade or the tip of the wand. Here, we will bid farewell to the Quarters and move widdershins. Widdershins, which can be spelled withershins, widershins, widderschynnes, appears to come from German and Lowland Scottish. In German, widersinning means “against the senses”, that is “not the usual”, or “against the grain.” For our purposes, it means to move counter-clockwise. So, we will go from North to West, South, and East. As you move, this would be the time to blow out candles if they are how you laid out your Circle. Once you have finished saying goodbye to the Quarters, return North.
–Depart in peace, Elemental Earth. My blessings take with you! –Depart in peace, Elemental Water. My blessings take with you! –Depart in peace, Elemental Fire. My blessings take with you! –Depart in peace, Elemental Air. My blessings take with you!
9. Raise your arms into the air with athame or wand in hand. Call out: Beings and powers of the visible and invisible, depart in peace! You aid in my work, whisper in my mind, and bless me from the Otherworld. Let there ever be harmony between us. My blessings take with you. The Circle is cleared!
10. Take the athame or wand in hand, and move widdershins once more around the Circle, calling out: The Circle is open yet the Circle remains as its magical power is drawn back into me. The Circle has been cleared. My ritual has ended.
11. Place athame or wand aside, and take a seat on the floor (you may also lie on your back.) Close your eyes and focus on grounding excess energy by touching your palms to the floor. Let the magic in the room (or outdoors) disperse and settle. Take a few deep breaths, open your eyes, and begin cleaning up your space.
I hope all of you find this helpful. Again, Circle casting can be completely tailored and customized for your needs, and you don’t have to cast one this way. It is meant to be a resource for those just starting out. If you have any questions, you can reach me via ASK or by messaging me.
Deciding to practice witchcraft and magick can be equally daunting and exciting. Here are some tips about what to do if you are thinking about becoming a witch!
—————————————————————-
First, a few things
that you should NOT do:
1. Do
not do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, period. Trust your intuition, and always stay true to
yourself.
2. Do
not do anything that puts you in danger. This includes casting a spell without
protection, or opening yourself to spirits before you know what you are
doing. This also includes running out in the middle of a storm to collect rain
water, or agreeing to meet a witch that you met online, alone. Use common sense in all matters of your
craft; your safety and health, both physical and mental, must come first.
3. Do not
do anything that contradicts your own
personal, spiritual, moral, ethical, or other beliefs. Unless you plan on changing what you believe,
just don’t do it. It doesn’t matter if
everybody and their familiar is doing something; if it doesn’t agree with you,
walk away from it.
4. Do
not start actually practicing anything witchcraft-related until you have researched it. Do not do a spell until you have a working
understanding of magick, as well as all
of the ingredients involved in the spell – even ones you intend to substitute (especially the ingredients that you intent to
substitute, actually).
5. Don’t
take witchcraft lightly.
Your craft doesn’t need to be all serious spells and spiderwebs, but you do need to have a healthy respect for
the energies and powers that you will be working with. You shouldn’t fear them – never work with anything that makes you afraid – but you should respect them.
6. Don’t
take your studies lightly. Put yourself through witch school. Research everything; ask yourself questions
and give yourself homework. Ask others
questions and ask them to give you
homework! Be creative in your studies,
but still take them seriously. You don’t
have to be hunched over spellbooks all day, but you should make an effort to at
least mentally review your existing knowledge, on days that you can’t find the
time for more.
7. Do
not be afraid to ask questions or for help – but do not automatically assume
that everybody actually knows the answer. Most witches around here will do their best
to answer your questions, but they’ll also usually straight tell you if they
don’t know something themselves; you should respect that, whether or not they
point you in the direction of somebody else. On the other hand, if something sounds wrong,
trust yourself and double check. Get
a second opinion, if need be.
—————————————————————-
Next, a few things
that you should know before you enter the world of witchcraft:
1. Witchcraft
is real, and magick is real. Whether or not you believe in it, it believes
in you (as the saying goes). Approaching
magick as if you were cosplaying Harry Potter is an attractive but ultimately
unwise idea. Approaching magick as if
you were learning to operate a highly beneficial but potentially dangerous
piece of machinery – now, that is a
wise idea.
2. Witchcraft
isn’t inherently evil, but neither is it inherently pure good. Witchcraft is power, plain and simple. It is what one chooses to do with that power that gives it such
meaning, and even then, the concept of good and evil is an ethical and
spiritual one, and thereby tends to vary from person to person, and from
witch to witch. You have to use your own
morals to guide you. The only type of magick
that should be in your witchcraft is the magick you intentionally choose to put
there. On a related note: I personally
don’t agree with classifying magick as ‘black magick’ or ‘white magick’, period
– not because magick can’t have precise descriptors, but because there’s no
need to use terms that have such negative racial undertones. Light can be harmful and ‘evil’, while
darkness can be protective and ‘good’.
Your intentions aren’t “to do dark” or “to do light”, anyway. Your intentions are “to do harm” or “to do
healing”; your intentions are “to take away” or “to give”.
3. Witchcraft
is a personal practice.
You do not need to follow any one specific path, spiritual or otherwise,
in order to practice witchcraft. There
are many different types of witches, and many different types of magick. If there is not one specific path that you
feel is absolutely perfect for you, don’t choose one that feels ‘close enough’ –
walk your own path and mold your witchcraft into something that is uniquely
yours.
4. Witches worship in varying ways. Some do not worship at all, and are purely
secular witches. Some are simply
spiritual and do not follow one set path.
Some are polytheists and worship many gods; some are monotheists and
worship one. Some are atheists and
worship none! Some are Wiccan. Some are Christian. Some are Satanists. Some worship ancestors. Some worship the stars. Witchcraft
is a personal practice, and should co-exist with all other aspects of your
life.
5. You don’t need a whole lot to get
started. Twigs
can be used as wands; rock quartz can be used as a crystal. Tea mixes contain herbs, and your spice
cabinet is basically a magick cabinet. Most
of what is in your house can be used for magick, for that matter. While it is definitely helpful to have the
proper tools and ingredients when performing magick, it is possible to DIY your
way through witchcraft until you can afford otherwise. Also, it is probably smarter to wait a second
before you run out and purchase anything, anyway. As you learn more, you’ll start to see which
tools you really need, which ingredients you’ll likely be using the most, which
items really call out to you. If you run
out and buy everything that you see right away, you risk wasting money on
things that just don’t work for you, or that you don’t even need.
—————————————————————-
Lastly, here are the
things that you DO need to do, no matter what:
o Be
true to yourself. Do not compromise
yourself or your beliefs.
o Be
safe. Don’t do or use anything
that you do not have a working knowledge of.
o Be
educated. Never stop seeking out
new knowledge; try to learn something new daily.
o Use
common sense. Don’t get caught up in
things; think before you take action.
o Trust
your intuition and instinct. We often know more than we consciously
realize.
o Be
creative. Write the spell that you’ve
been looking for. See what is laying
around the house that you can use for your witchcraft. Be inventive!
o Have
patience. Learning takes time;
magick takes time; developing your craft takes time.
That’s it for the moment! Tune in tomorrow for a post regarding more tips and information
on what to do when you do decide to go ahead enter the world of witchcraft ^_^
Dates:
Aries: March 21—April 19
Taurus: April 20—May 20
Gemini: May 21—June 20
Cancer: June 21—July 22
Leo: July 23—August 22
Virgo: August 23—September 22
Libra: September 23—October 22
Scorpio: October 23—November 21
Sagittarius: November 22—December 21
Capricorn: December 22—January 19
Aquarius: January 20—February 18
Pisces: February 19—March 20
•
What These Signs Mean:
Aries – Active, Demanding, Determined, Effective, Ambitious
Taurus – Security, Subtle strength, Appreciation, Instruction, Patience
Gemini – Communication, Indecision, Inquisitive, Intelligent, Changeable
Cancer – Emotion, Diplomatic, Intensity, Impulsive, Selective
Leo – Ruling, Warmth, Generosity, Faithful, Initiative
Virgo – Analyzing, Practical, Reflective, Observation, Thoughtful
Libra – Balance, Justice, Truth, Beauty, Perfection
Scorpio – Transient, Self-Willed, Purposeful, Unyielding
Sagittarius – Philosophical, Motion, Experimentation, Optimism
Capricorn – Determination, Dominance, Perservering, Practical, Willful
Aquarius – Knowledge, Humanitarian, Serious, Insightful, Duplicitous
Pisces – Fluctuation, Depth, Imagination, Reactive, Indecisive
•
Your Signs:
– ________ Rising
– ________ Sun
– ________ Moon
– ________ Mercury
– ________ Venus
– ________ Mars
– ________ Jupiter
– ________ Saturn
– ________ Uranus
– ________ Neptune
– ________ Pluto
•
What Those Signs Mean:
Rising: Your rising sign, in short, is you’re actual Zodiac. It is based off of time zones in which the day you are born. The names for them are Aries, Capricorn, Gemini, Taurus, Sagittarius, Scorpio, Aquarius, Virgo, Pisces, and Cancer. Your Rising sign might be found easily on first impressions you might give.
Sun: This is who you are in personality, your normal self. This is how you may act if alone, and is your inner traits. How you act can be described with this sign, also as to who you are.
Moon: You may call the moon sign you have your emotions. It influences your decisions. It is how you feel on the inside, whether everyone knows this or just you. It holds your loves and fears, hates and excitements. Anything, really.
Mercury: is how you may be like in time of communication, reasoning, intellect and awareness. It’s known for it’s power of the brain.
Venus: The sign of Venus is based upon the time you were born and can be called something of Love.
Mars: is in charge of attraction and raw energy for that matter.
Jupiter: The planet of Jupiter is responsible for luck and good fortune. Whether the optimization is for humor or good will, it’s going to be a major apart of you no matter what. It’s the happy part in your life. You need it there.
Saturn: This sign, Saturn, is here for the parts in life with things like restriction and limitations. Found as you get older, this is known for being you as you grow up.
Uranus: is here for the change in life. The sign can be for the worse or better at times, and it’s a part of life you’ll eventually come across. Take it, hit or miss, and in the end it might make you better than it seemed.
Neptune: can be called dreamy, for this matter. The sign for this works as great influence, fantasy, and imagination seen in your daily life, so to say. With this, you might find it almost as if a dream.
Pluto: Not the same change with Uranus, but Pluto is part of big change. It’s more of transformation. Life challenges thrown your way will lead to this sign, Pluto.
•
I hope that helped! If you have any questions about your signs or how to find them, you can ask me @dxncingblxck or any other astrology blog basically. Have fun and happy astrology-ing!
A path is the journey that someone takes as they practice witchcraft. Some use it to describe their past, present and future on their magickal journey. Others use it to represent what they would consider a “label” to themselves and their craft. In general a path in witchcraft is a word to describe that specific witch’s journey, views, experiences, focuses and future goals that surround their own personal magickal practice.
Everyone, absolutely everyone, has a different path because each person is an unique individual with unique interests, hobbies, views, practices and choices. This is why your path may vary so greatly from others around you, your friends and even your mentors/teachers. There is nothing wrong with this because it is your path, not their path.
How do I know what my Witch Type/Path is? Is there a test I can take?
No, there isn’t a test you take to determine what your path is or what type of witch you are. There is only one thing that determines that: you. You are the one who chooses your path and what you wish you focus on.
You don’t have to be any specific type of witch at all. You don’t have to be a storm witch or a green witch. You can be whatever you want. If you want a label and to focus your path onto one thing, then do it. If you want to be labeled as more than one thing, go for it. Do you just want to do whatever you want and have no labels? That’s perfectly fine too!
You decide what kind of witchcraft interests you by:
Researching: research every single thing you can find! Save your sources, read through articles, take notes and compare them to other articles, posts, blogs and writings on the same topic. Look at the differences but also examine who is writing: a person who is an atheist witch will have different views on the spirituality and morals of something compared to a Wiccan witch or a Christian witch. Examine who is writing the post, and take their views with a grain of salt and not as solid fact because everyone differs. If you agree with their views that’s great! If not, take it as something to consider. Research the scientific and medical relations of things as well, what I mean by this is each herb is a medicine and like medicine and drugs it has side effects, research it before ingesting it or using it. Research your crystals and stones to ensure you don’t ruin them or harm yourself with them. Science and witchcraft come hand in hand, remember that. It’s not fun sending yourself to the hospital because you overdosed on a herb you didn’t research well enough.
Cater to Yourself: By this I mean look at what you as a person enjoy doing: your hobbies, your likes, your dislikes, your talents, your interests, etc. Use these in your craft, take these and put them into your craft. Are you interested in art? Use art supplies, drawing, painting and sigils in your craft. Interested in singing? Sing your spells and incantations, use song lyrics for spells, sing to cleanse a space or attract things. Enjoy collecting stickers? Use stickers to seal spell jars and sachets, use them like sigils and stick them to things, buy stickers that relate to correspondences via color, shape, or imagery. You can use anything you want in your path. If you are passionate about gardening, then your path can bring in gardening and plants into it. If you are passionate about cooking definitely bring kitchen magick into your path. If you just love reading, bring literature, writing and spell books into your path. Bring in your interests, make your path full of things you love. Don’t force yourself to be the “dark mysterious witch” if that is not what interests you. Why bring in tea magick into your craft if you hate tea? Your path is meant for you to enjoy it, it is to cater to you. If you like pink, glitter, candy and soda then use that! Use those things, because they are important to you. That means they hold magick in them, because they are special to you. You will find more success in doing things you love and working with tools you associate with.
Follow Your Own Beliefs: This is a big one, some people in our community will try to push that you have to worship a certain religion or deity. You do not have to worship anything or anyone to practice witchcraft. You do not have to be part of any religion, all who tell you otherwise are gatekeeping. If you wish to be Wiccan then be Wiccan, if you wish to be Pagan then be Pagan, if you wish to be Christian then be Christian, if you don’t want to bring religion into your craft at all that’s fine too. It is your choice what your beliefs are, and don’t let others tell you that you are wrong but give that same courtesy to others. Others will likely have different views and beliefs than you and so you should also give them the same respect for their beliefs as you expect them to give you. If you do wish to work with a deity or religion, research it and look into what it is like to be apart of it. Ask others who worship this deity how they do and their bond with them, this can help you figure out your own way to worship.
Why can’t others just tell me how to find my Path? I don’t want to research.
Well, that isn’t how it works I am afraid. Other people don’t know what is important to you in your core, they don’t know what holds your interest or what holds your passion. They can’t just tell you everything about your path. They can give you advice based off of their own experiences however, but this is not the same as them being able to instruct you as to what to do.
Research is apart of witchcraft, that’s just a simple fact. Yes you can ask around to people what things may be or for help but think of it like this: People don’t like feeling like google. Asking someone what the correspondence of a crystal is can get quite annoying if you or just several others keep doing it when you can easily search the phrase: “Correspondence of ____ in witchcraft” and find exactly what you need or to simply search that user’s blog for that specific crystal. Research for yourself, it is your responsibility to do if you wish to use witchcraft. You walk your own path and that means you are responsible for your own lessons. People have out there tons of amazing resources that you can use.
Common Falsehoods, Lies, Red Flags and “Dishonest Truths” about Witchcraft/Paths:
You have to be Wiccan/Pagan: As spoken about up above, this not true. You can follow whatever religious practice or belief you desire or none at all.
Cursing is Bad!/Three Fold Rule: This is another popular thing people will throw out at new witches to try to scare and shame them away from cursing, hexing and other acts of baneful magick. As a whole, this is a personal opinion. If you choose to curse that is your choice and others have no right to tell you that you’re a bad person for it. But, if you chose not to curse yourself, then that is your choice. Don’t drag others down or insult them for their choice.
You can only be one type/kind of Witch: No, you do not even have to label yourself as we talked about above. If you wish to label yourself as a “Sea Witch” or “Cosmic Witch” or “Green Witch” then do so. If you wish not to just focus on one thing then that’s perfectly fine! A lot of witches don’t label themselves as a ‘specific type’ of witch.
You have to use crystals/herbs/tea/etc: Nope, you are not required to use any specific ingredients, you don’t even have to use any ingredients at all if you don’t wish to. Use what you have hand and what you like. If you have a lot of candy, make candy spells; if you have a lot of crayons, make drawn and colored spells; if you have a surplus of toilet paper rolls, use those as poppets or for spell containers.
You have to have companions/familiars: Nope, you do not have to work with spirits or animals or anything like that if you don’t want to. Before you do get yourself a companion I recommend heavy research into spirit companions and make sure you have a way to communicate with them.
“Only women can be witches!”: Nope! Any gender, sexual orientation, race, etc can be a witch. If you practice magick and you want to be called a witch, guess what you’re a witch. If anyone tells you otherwise they are not worth your time.
You have to be trained/in a coven to be a witch: Nope! You can be self taught and you can work alone. Beware of toxic covens too, there are some out there who try to gender-shame and can be quite toxic in general. If you wish to be apart of a coven ensure that the rules of the group are ones you are okay with and that you aren’t pressured into behaving a certain way.
You have to have “witch blood” if you want to be a strong witch: huge lie right here; your bloodline and family history does not weaken or strengthen your magick. You don’t need to be from a long line of witches to be a witch, you don’t have to be “born a witch”.
Tech Magick/Emoji Magick/Pop Culture Magick/Modern Magick is terrible and is ruining true magick!: You will see this a lot on tumblr I am afraid. Lots of people trying to tell other witches that their paths/craft is not “true witchcraft” since it is not based on traditional witchcraft or religions. Don’t listen to them. If you want to practice modern magick and pop culture magick that is your choice and you are valid in every way!
If you’re mentally ill/disabled/sick you can’t be a witch: Spoonie witches exist and there are plenty of them! Just because you have found that you may not be as energized as other witches means absolutely nothing. You are valid, even if you use simple and basic magick due to low energy levels you are valid! You are still a witch.
You can only be friends with/date other witches: big red flag here! If anyone is telling you this, whether it is a mentor, teacher, friend or coven member/leader you need to find someone else fast. This is majorly toxic behavior used by some witches in this community to make you cut ties with others. It is an abusive manipulative tactic that you have to be aware of and avoid. You can be friends and date whoever you want (obviously within legal terms), whether they are a witch or not.
True witches practice magick everyday: Nope! You can take breaks! Especially when you have other things going on, you are tired or you just aren’t mentally/emotionally able to do witchcraft. That is perfectly fine. Take breaks, rest up, focus on other things – its okay. Take care of yourself. You aren’t being a ‘bad witch’ for taking breaks.
Everything is related to the supernatural!: No, the mundane is a thing. Not everything you see will be a mystical sign or message. Not everything that happens to you is because of spirits, curses, spells, etc. Rule out the mundane first such as medical problems or common sense/reasoning before you go leaping onto it being some great supernatural occurrence. Once the mundane is ruled out then you can consider other things.
Magick is better for you than medicine/doctors!: NO NO NO NO. Magick can aid in medical things if properly researched but never EVER substitute medical procedures, doctors or medicines for magick! Go and take care of yourself!
fair--y backup 