Have you ever looked at a spell and it says something like "leave the object at a crossroads"? Many, many spells end this way and for good reason. Leaving an item at a crossroads magically and energetically disperses the energy. It's good when you're leaving a general offering for spirits. It's great when you're trying … Continue reading What Makes a Crossroads a Crossroads?
Basic Witches by Jaya Saxena & Jess Zimmerman - 4.5/5 - You should be reading this. Heads up: One section covers black/white magic, somewhat out of nowhere. Another talks about familiars but it's uncertain what is meant by familiars, and could possible refer to spirit animals? It's unclear. Lots of talk about sex and adult … Continue reading Review: Basic Witches by Jaya Saxena & Jess Zimmerman – 4.5/5
I’m sure you’ve heard it before. “That’s not a real spell” or “You can’t use that spell from Charmed” or my personal favorite “You need to use a spell from a real spell book not one that you made up or stole from TV.” Some of my followers are laughing. You should be. The sad … Continue reading Pop Culture Spells Are Real Spells
We're all busy, right? We've all got a ton of things on our minds and it gets to be so hard to keep track of stuff. It's even harder to fit in spiritual practices and make time for witchcraft. I recently experienced this myself. I took on a lot of projects for This Crooked Crown … Continue reading 7 Tips to Get Your Life Under Control So You Can Get Back to the Magic
Grimoire, Book of Shadows, Book of Secrets, Book of Spells... Magical research is often collected into a book (or two) and is known by a specific name. There isn't a universal name that is correct for your book. You can name it whatever you want! Although "grimoire" isn't a technically accurate name for … Continue reading Grimoire or Book of Shadows 101
A few years ago there was quite a kerfuffle about pop culture paganism. Okay, I'm totally downplaying it. It was pretty much a knock-out drag-down fight where people from all over were weighing in on their private blogs and tumblrs. It was a thing for at least a week. It's a weird thing to … Continue reading How to Create a Deity (Pop Culture Paganism)
I don't really use elements in your traditional ritual set up. I do sometimes use them but it's often in a more alchemical way than an earth-air-fire-water way. One of my favorite ways to use elements is to combine them. A good example is an air plant. An air plant largely lives on air (with … Continue reading Elemental Combinations
The Creative Tarot by Jessa Crispin - 4/5 - You should be reading this. [Crown's review guide here.] I didn't see any flaws in this book. I sometimes felt the book was missing something. I think that's because this is more of a creative lifestyle book using tarot as a medium of understanding than a … Continue reading Review: The Creative Tarot by Jessa Crispin – 4/5
Tarot Spells by Janina Renee. 1994. Llwellyn. 3.5/5 - Meh Warnings: None except very slight "negative energy will come back to you" mentioned once. A good book and accessible for everyone. Reads as light ceremonial or ritualistic but can be easily adapted. However, poor formatting, uninspired card choices, and cookie cutter (and sometimes boring) spells … Continue reading Review: Tarot Spells by Janina Renee – 3.5/5
The astral worlds are not a free-for-all. Not all of them at least. Anyone who has dealt with the fae are definitely aware of this but many other places outside of fairylands have rulers that hold territory. Knowing you're in someone's territory can be tricky and knowing where those territories begin and end, especially because they … Continue reading Spirit Destinations: When Spirit Worlds Connect to the Physical World
