Tag: discussion

30 Items to Move Into Your New Home First – Basket of Blessings


“Basket of Blessings” – a superstition based ritual process of selecting various items to bring into your new home first, as a means of encouraging various sympathetic magic results, such as luck, wealth, abundance, health, and so on.

I’ve covered this topic before here and here on Patreon. That post is great and covers a lot more of the in-depth ideas, including practical things to move in first as well as what to NOT move in. This list is simple, but fast with explanations on why the stuff is on the list.

This is a common concept in other cultures. I don’t know what this entire concept is called, but I’ve decided to called this “Basket of Blessings”. Yes, I’m coining the term for this concept. You heard it here first. The idea is that the first thing you’re carrying in is a collection of items intended to bring good luck, prosperity, blessings, abundance, and other assorted good vibes.

A few examples: A student might carrying in books, blank paper, and pens to encourage a scholarly pursuits. A person moving into their first apartment might want to bring things to encourage luck, such as a four leaf clover, and comfort, such as a favorite blanket. You get the idea. It’s intended to say “this is what I want my home to be like”.

It has a secondary goal of being something to keep the home occupied when you aren’t there. For someone who might be moving in over a duration (like moving a storage unit over a week or having to travel hours to the new house from the old house), these items will let the house feel not so cold and lonely.

(Crafting a house guardian will also help in this endeavor, but that’s a whole different post.)

Pick any choose whatever you want / need off the list. Remember, this is what YOU want for YOUR home, so get creative in personalizing this process.

  1. Drinking water – so you’ll always have clean water
  2. Purified water, blessed water, moon water, holy water, etc – for blessings and magical cleansing
  3. Coins, paper money, cash – for abundance and wealth
  4. Silver (coins, jewelry, dishes, etc) – for abundance and wealth
  5. Gold (coins, jewelry, etc) – for abundance and wealth
  6. Crystals, jewels, and gemstones (jewelry, loose crystals) – for abundance and wealth – double check correspondences for gemstones
  7. Steel (spoons, plates, etc. No knives) – for stability and protection
  8. Cast iron (pots, charms, etc) – protection
  9. Bread – so you’ll never go hungry
  10. Rice – so you’ll never go hungry
  11. Fresh fruits and berries – so you’ll never go hungry
  12. Fresh herbs – so you’ll never go hungry
  13. Oranges – for luck, health and to never go hungry
  14. Basil – luck and money
  15. Rosemary – health
  16. Sugar – for sweetness, money, and food
  17. Honey – sweetness and food
  18. Chocolate – sweetness, treats, food, wealth
  19. Coffee and/or tea – for welcoming guests, abundance, productivity, wealth, food, etc.
  20. Salt – cleansing, money
  21. Alcohol, wine, alcoholic offering, non-alcoholic beverage offering
  22. Fresh cut flowers – beauty
  23. House plant, money plant, potted herbs, potted fruit trees
  24. Books – for knowledge, religious purposes, cookbook, divination, a gain a certain sort of lifestyle or energy, etc
  25. LED candle, lamp – so there’s always a light on to welcome you home
  26. Blanket – for warmth
  27. Picture of the household members – for family happiness
  28. New broom – for a fresh start
  29. Bells – for cleansing
  30. Luck charms and other magical charms – for luck and assorted purposes

Put things together. If you’re bringing in fresh cut flowers and fresh sprigs of herbs, put them in the same vase. All the food and drinks can go in a box to be snacked on during the move or be easily used in the morning. Put together a witch jar with all of your crystals, coins, luck charms, and so on so it’s all contained for right now. You can dismantle the jar (or box or whatever) at a later date.

You can also just shove it all in a tote bag and call it a day. It doesn’t have to be fancy if you don’t have the energy for it.

If you’re running out of boxes, toss all the stuff in the blanket, wrap it up, and bring it in just like that. Use this first box to keep bottled water so you and your movers know where the water is (just don’t keep the money there too, yeah?)

When gathering these things, I like to put them in a basket or a box and “present” them to the house. Sometimes having two boxes is better. One with all the expensive stuff that can be tucked in a closet or cupboard during the moving process and another for the more household stuff or plants.

"Basket of Blessings" - A superstition based ritual process of selecting various items to bring into your new home first, as a means of encouraging various sympathetic magic results, such as luck, wealth, abundance, health, and so on.

Again, this topic has a related post here and here on Patreon. It was public first as early access over on my Patreon. Link for that post is here.

Patreon | thiscrookedcrown.com

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New Year Cleansing / Cleaning Checklist

It’s a new year. Lots of people like to start the new year off by a good cleansing. But how about your house?

You can absolutely cleanse your home with your normal methods – sound, smoke, energy, or whatever you use. But one of the best ways to clear out stale energy and get yourself off to the right start in a new year, is combining cleaning and cleansing.

Spring cleaning might be more common for some people, using the mild weather as a chance to air out the home without losing precious heat or inviting the wet chill. But I prefer to do deep cleaning on my house at the new year instead, saving the spring for the garden.

Before you continue, this whole list may take a few days to get through, depending on how cluttered or disorganized your house is and how much energy you have to spare. Work at your own pace.

Here’s my order list on getting a good cleansing/cleaning done.

1) Keep a notepad and pen nearby these piles or located in a central area (like by the fridge) so you can write down other chores as they come to you.

2) Arrange locations for the following piles. These locations can be piles on your dining room table. It can be cardboard boxes, totes, bags, or whatever. You might need more piles or less.

Homeless stuff – is for things that don’t have a place. Maybe it’s a pair of gloves or a decor piece. The items are things that have no specific location, but you still want to keep them.

Donations – stuff that is in good condition that can be donated to local shelters, community centers, donation bins, etc. If you plan on donating stuff via the internet, like facebook marketplace, keep that stuff in the same area but slightly separate. You know it’ll take time to upload that stuff online.

Trash – stuff that is broken or is simply trash.

Recycling – your recycling program may be different from mine. Check your region’s recycling program and see when/if they do pick ups or where you can drop off your recycling. They may recycle things like old electronics, holiday lights, tires, mattresses, fridges, and so on. Sometimes they’ll charge you, other times they won’t. If that doesn’t work for you, you may be able to list stuff online for people to come and take away. Junk companies may also be available in your region. They come and take away all sorts of things and you usually have to pay by the weight of the stuff.

Special disposal – some items can’t just simply be tossed. They must be recycled or disposed of in a certain way. Paint is famous for this, but so are many chemicals. Many community centers or recycling centers will have special days every few months where they’ll take on those special disposals. The services are almost always free. I’ve even been to some where it was completely no contact and no speaking. I just waited in line for my turn in my car, they took all the stuff out of my trunk, and I drove away.

Shredding – if you shred your sensitive documents, but have inevitably fallen behind on it, this is that pile. If you don’t shred, maybe you should consider it. If not, your community might have shredding available during certain times of the year.

Family and Friends – this is stuff you want to give to certain people. Or return borrowed stuff.

Returns – stuff you need to return to stores but keep leaving the house without grabbing said item.

Fixing box – this is a box of stuff that’s broken in some way and needs fixing. It could be a window frame that needs a new screen, a shirt without a button, a bag without a zipper, etc. It’s stuff that you think “I can fix that!” and you never do.

3) Pick up stray items and put them away. If they don’t have anywhere to go, dump them in the homeless stuff area for now. This includes your kids’ toys, your craft project, your pets’ toys, the weights you keep tripping on, the dishes in the sink, and the laundry that needs to be put away.

You may wish to make special note of things that constantly appear in the same location. If your roommate constantly throws their coat on the stair rail, then maybe put up a coat rack or coat hook nearby to fix that probably. Is it as aesthetic? Probably not, but it won’t be as annoying.

4) Open a window up a bit, if possible. If not possible, turn on a fan. Clean your fan before you turn it on, if it isn’t already clean.

5) Dust and clean the ceiling fixtures, ceiling fans, the tops of doors and windows, and anything above your head. Do this before the floors to avoid cleaning the floors twice.

6) Dust everything else.

7) Sweep every floor. Do a really good job of this. Pull furniture from the wall if possible to sweep under it, break out the vacuum cleaner, get the trim work too. This is BY FAR the most important cleaning step. You can skip EVERYTHING else on this list, but sweeping is a must. You’ll be surprise by how just cleaning the floors of dust will make a massive difference in your spaces, regardless of the amount of magic used.

8) Rearrange furniture as needed. Consider the best layouts for energy flow and what’s the best flow for you. This is also the time to make the bed and generally make the place look as neutral as possible. It doesn’t have to be showroom ready, but it shouldn’t be piled with stuff yet.

9) Wash the floors. I tend to add a bit of magically infused water into my mop water to clean the floors.

10) Wash the windows (yes, really.) I use magically infused water for this too.

11) Wash the laundry. By this point you may have a heap of clothing dirty from cleaning, but you may have also noticed that the curtains need washing, the couch’s throws are furry from pets, and somehow, you’re out of clean socks. Do a few rounds of laundry as needed. You can add some magically infused water into the laundry too.

12) Go through storage areas. Tackle that junk drawer, closet, etc. You might not need to deep dive here or you can slowly go through every box in your basement. The choice is yours. Re-home things into the various places it needs to be in or the piles.

13) Do something with those piles of stuff. Put the stuff in your car to donation, recycle, etc. (You will absolutely do it more readily if it’s in your car). If you don’t have a car, put it next to the door as much as possible, so you can grab it more easily as you leave. Bags, like shopping bags, make this much easier.

For some piles, you’ll need to decide what to do with it all. For the homeless stuff, find a place for it or sit and think about why you don’t have a space for it. For the broken stuff, figure out if you’re really going to fix that thing or if you’re just holding onto it because it’s too expensive or sentimental to throw away. Maybe learn to fix it yourself or put it somewhere in a storage space for when the opportunity to get it fixed is available. Do that with intention. Don’t just shove it in a closet.

14) Take a cleansing shower.

15) Cleanse your home in your preferred method.

Afterwards, I tend to bring home a bouquet of cut organically grown flowers or a new house plant to bring new life into the space. I’ll also cook a good dinner for myself, making sure to clean up entirely afterwards.

Robot cleaning is common these days. If you want to do a cleansing / cleaning, give the robot a break and do it by hand. If you can’t/want, that’s fine. Create a cleansing and uplifting powder and sprinkle it in the corners of each room to have your little robot friend clean up. Alternatively, placing a cleansing sigil on top of your robot can do the same thing.

This may not be entirely easy with roommates or housemates in the way. If all you can do is one room, then that’s better than not doing it at all. If you can’t do a whole room, just clean and cleanse your sleeping space and your working space (like your bed and desk).

You may also want to cleanse your car, but I tend to wait until spring for that one.

Adding Ritual to Your Readings

Adding Ritual to Your Readings (or Anything Else)

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For me, and for many diviners (especially cartomancers), readings are a normal part of the day. You draw a card in between getting coffee and brushing your teeth. You do a reading for a client in your PJs and with a comfort watch on the TV.

But burnout can ruin even the most casual things. When that happens, it may be time to make that thing more ritualized to bring it a stronger foundation and make it special. Not romanticized, necessarily, but ritualized, to make it important and worth connecting to in a different way.

Adding Ritual to Your Readings

I am not a big ceremonial magician. There are some things in my practice that have become ritualized, because that’s the process that works best for me. Mostly, I save the ritualized and ceremonial bits for my religious practice. As a secular witch, my spell crafting and magic casting is entirely separate. My altars are over there and my workspace is in another direction. In a perfect world, I’d have my altars in a separate room (or at least an alcove with a door) from my workspace.

For me, divination is not inherently the same as witchcraft. I’ve always been something of a seer, with visions and psychic insight, and perhaps that’s why scrying is so easy for me and tarot is not. In fact, most of the time, I don’t use tarot at all, I use oracle cards because they often have less traditional symbolism behind them. That’s a me-specific thing though and something I’m working on. But I think it’s also part of the problem. I don’t use ritual in any of that. I scry in windows and cereal bowls of water. I scry in fancy mirrors and polished stone. It’s just ordinary to me.

That isn’t to say that divination can’t be central to someone’s witchcraft practice or religious practice. Divination is used in many religions and spiritual practices without the witchcraft element. There are many Christians who are very against witchcraft but may also use divination, such as Bibliomancy, where they use the Bible to divine some sort of answer.

For me, personally though, my divination is a third, separate category. It’s a bridge that can be used in my witchcraft and my religious practices, but it’s also a stand-alone thing. I can use my cards to foretell my plans for the week, a perfectly mundane question, but I could use the same deck to channel a deity or cast a spell. (Probably not the same deck. I’m… odd about using cards for spellcasting. I have decks set aside exclusively for that purpose, but I digress.)

For years, as a professional witch, one of my main avenues of income was readings. I used a lot of methods, but card readings, cartomancy, was the mainstay. Until I burned out of it. I started to actively dislike it and then I simply… didn’t. The few times I would use it, for beloved clients or myself, I’d be happy to get back into it. But it wasn’t something that I adored anymore. I couldn’t just sit on my couch and read cards. It didn’t work for me anymore. I just wasn’t connecting, even with my most vocal of decks.

Until I ritualized it.

I started to darken the room, so I could focus. I know my brain will allow my attention to drift if there’s something it can see, but if all there is to see is the cards, a lamp, and my laptop, then that’s what I have. I knew this worked for me, because that’s how I focus when I need to complete a computerized task. Doing this for readings got me through the bad times and the crunch times. Falling onto it as a default setting for any reading worked for me.

Then I added a scarf. I don’t veil often, but I do for readings. I have a gauze and lace infinity scarf I use as a hood and veil during readings. Sometimes, I even drape it over my eyes in addition to my head, so all I can see is what I’m typing, the divination method in front of me.

That didn’t fix everything, though, so I started listening to nature sounds or, even better for me, drumming sounds. An hour long loop of drumming with headphones on blocked out everything. It was perfect.

Now, my ritual consists of setting up a comfortable seat, putting on darkness friendly lighting and lamps, if needed. I will sometimes light candles or LED candles, for a bit of something different.

Putting my phone on do not disturb and playing a drumming song. I have water, tea, and crackers to keep me going. I swear a warm shawl, because I get very cold when doing readings, and my head scarf. I have a lap desk for my laptop to sit on. I remove all chances of distraction and just sit and do the readings. For me, this works perfectly.

I was trying so hard to get back into readings like I use to be, casually doing the work as a part of my day. Just doing readings at my desk. But that didn’t work for me now, so I tried new things until I hit on something I like.

So if you’ve been struggling to get back into an aspect of something you love, like divination or spellcasting, or prayer or even a hobby, try to ritualize it differently. Make it a special event, add something to it to make it important and dedicate time alone to that task.

Or, alternatively, if you’re struggling because of the ritual, drop it or simplify it for a while. It might help break through that blockage.

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Knocking on Wood

Anyone familiar with the superstition of knocking on wood? The superstition is intended to ward off jinxing yourself. Especially if you say something you don’t want to happen. It’s to avoid tempting fate or mentioning anything negative that could hurt you.

For example, “I’m sure it’s not going to snow tonight.” Whether said sarcastically or not, I’d knock on wood. Talking about your own death or something similar is another reason to knock on wood.

In some parts of the world, it’s done to avoid changing something good that has or will happened. For example, if you got a job promotion, you’d knock on wood.

Typically, the person knocks on a tree or wood surface three times. Depending on where you’re from, the number of times you knock on the wood, what else can be knocked on (such as your own head), what CAN’T be knocked on, what’s said at the same time, or what this is even called depends on your region.

The origins of the superstition is a bit unknown. It’s popularly believed that the point of knocking on wood is to ask the spirits of the wood or tree or fate for protection or to shake off the intended jinx. However, the widespread usage has some folklorists suggest a connection to the crucifixion cross or even the playground game of tag.

Not everyone that knocks on wood actually believes in the superstition. It may be more of a social or cultural habit. Everyone around you does it, so you do too.

In it’s most basic form (knocking on wood for superstitious reasons), this superstition is seen widely aroud the world.

I use this superstition often and knock on a wooden beaded bracelet I wear to facilitate it. However, I keep my jewelry minimal when I’m working on a computer or staying home. That means I sometimes get caught without wood to knock on within easy reach.

But… what’s the definition of wood here? I learned the superstition without any exemptions, so for me, I just knock three times. Any kind of wood.

So… do plants count? Trees count. That’s often considered the origin of the superstition. If living trees count, then do the stems of plants? The leaves? Anything made from plant fibers?

Can you knock on a book? Paper itself? A walnut? A peacan pie? Can you knock on a sweatshirt made from plant materials? How much plant material’s necessary to qualify for the superstition? This isn’t a practical question – it would be nearly impossible to test this. It’s down to personal opinion and practice. How much wood or wood-like substances count before the meaning is lost?

Personally, I’ve knocked on books, paper, a variety of nuts, and in a moment of half-joking desperation, a sweatshirt made from mostly bamboo fiber and plant-based fiber.

What do you think? How far is too far until the superstition loses meaning to you?

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25 Witchy Journal Prompts

Here’s a list of journaling prompts you might not have seen before. They have a witchy flair to them.

Note, the prompts are called “witchy”, but they can be for any kind of magical practitioner, witchy, Wiccan, and so on.

  1. How do I define magic?
  2. How do I define witch / magical practitioner / Wiccan / etc for myself?
  3. How does my spiritual or religious path reflect and/or influence my magical practice?
  4. How do I bring magic into my daily life?
  5. What spells do I cast on a daily basis?
  6. What spells would I like to cast on a daily basis?
  7. What spells do I consider immoral for myself?
  8. How has my magical path progressed and grown over time?
  9. What traditions do I have in my magical practice?
  10. What has been my most important, profound, or awe inspiring experience with magic?
  11. What is my moment where I finally feel like magic is real?
  12. What is my moment of doubt, where I question if everything is real?
  13. What are my fears surrounding magic?
  14. What taboos or superstitions do I follow?
  15. What’s my role in the magic within the community? Am I a teacher? Student? Researcher? Healer? Leader? Everyday user?
  16. What role do tools (wands, cauldrons, brooms, crystals, etc) play in my magical practice?
  17. What role does nature or the elements have in magic for me?
  18. What role do spirits have in magic for me?
  19. How has meditation and/or prayers influenced my magic?
  20. What can I do to bring more magic into my daily life?
  21. What can I do to connect with my magic more?
  22. What do I wish my altar or magical workspace looked like?
  23. In a perfect world, what is my magical life like?
  24. What do I really want right now? Object, goal, concept, etc.
  25. What is my magical goal for this year?

Add other questions and thoughts as you journal! This is about exploring you and your practice, not just answering the question!

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New Year Magical Reset

It’s the new year! Here’s a quick list of tasks you can tackle to set yourself up for a great new year.

Cleansing yourself.

Taking time for yourself at the beginning of the year can really help set yourself up for a continuing habit of making space for yourself for the rest of the year.

A cleansing bath or shower is a great start, but you can tailor this to your preferences. Maybe a kickass ritual or dance party is a cleansing method you’d prefer.

Cleanse and reset your space

Cleanse your home, your workspace, your altar or magical workspace, and your vehicle. Use any method of cleansing that you’d prefer. Citrus and uplifting scents are especially good, as they can lift the moods.

Update and organize your altar as needed

Most practitioners update their altar or magical workspace seasonally or at their holidays. Resetting it at the new year is also a good idea, as it gives you a chance to organize, clean, and repair altar items when you’re not scurrying to set up your altar for the next holiday.

Toss out any out-of-date herbs and spells

This is a great time to go through your herbal cabinet and toss any ingredients that are no longer usable. Even dried herbs have experiation dates and even if you don’t consume them, really old herbs aren’t best practice for spellwork.

Especially toss out or compost the expired herbs if you make potions or other edibles.

If you use spell jars or other spells that have some sort of component sitting on a shelf, weed through that too. Do you really need that candle stub from three years ago?

Rehome any magical tools that no longer resonate with you

Magical practitioners can turn into dragons, hoarding magical tools they haven’t even looked at in five years. This is a great time to rehome those magical tools. Sell, donate, or give away decks of cards, crystals, books, magic mirrors, excess jars, brooms, witchy jewelry and clothing, and so on.

Renew your protection spells

Most long-term protection spells will need a renewal of some kind. Might as well do it on the new year so you don’t forget to do it at all.

Self-care spells

Like the cleansing yourself section, this is a great time to focus on self-care, beauty, and self-improvement spells.

Motivation spells (for those new year resolutions)

Cast motivation spells so you can stick to those new year resolutions or intentions. It’s also good to tackle that long-due project that needs doing.

Good Luck Spells

The new year is an excellent time to cast good luck and lucky spells.

Health spells

Wishing someone good health for the new year is very common. Health boosting spells are always a good choice for spells at any time of year, but it’s especially nice at the start of the new year.

Make herbal bath salts

A craft that’s easy to do and personalized for you. Bath salts can be used for self-care, but they can also be used as prep before a big ritual or to give a bit of magical intention to your day without doing a big spell.

Bath salts that boost health, good luck, motivation, and so on double up on your potential new year tasks.

Set up your (witchy) journal or planner

Make note in your journal or planner the full moons, new moon, other astronomical or astrological events, and each holiday you celebrate.

There are ready-made journals and planners out there, but you can also make some for yourself or doctor up an online calendar for your purposes too.

Intentions or Resolutions for the year

If you make a resolution or intention, this is the time to declare it. Make a post-it note or something similar and place it on your fridge or in your bathroom to remind yourself of your goals.

New Year Rituals

New Year Rituals tend to be about renewal. They can also be about closing out the previous year, gaining new opportunities, or bringing good luck and fortune for the new year.

Divinations

Many divinations are traditionally casted on the new year. It’s also a great time to grab a reading to predict how your year is going to go.

What other tasks do you complete during the new year?

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3 Reasons Why Spirit Guides Fade Away

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Ever have a spirit friend that you just kind of forgot about? Or that seems to just… go away?

There are many reasons why a relationship with a spirit or spirit guide isn’t as strong as it was beforehand. Here are a few common ones.

The first is you didn’t put in any effort to maintain that relationship. Like any relationship, you actually need to touch base with them regularly to keep up the relationship. We all get busy, but you do need to stop by and say hi to them fairly often for them to be loyal or friendly to you.

The second is you don’t need them anymore. This is usually true for guides, but it can be true for any spirits that you’re friendly with. Sometimes those friendships from work don’t actually carry over outside of work or after you quit a job. It’s the same idea. If you don’t need their support anymore – or don’t seem to need it – then they probably have better things to do with their energy and time.

The third reason is that the spirit is naturally fading away. Spirits often fade away naturally. They get weaker and weaker until they no longer exist in the form that you know them to be in. This is especially common in ghosts or spirits without ties or very old ties. It’s also true for spirits that have no one to call on them. Even if you do call on them, sometimes those spirits are simply tired and cannot go on.

This third reason is also why magical servitors (ie spirits bound or created to serve you, often not very intelligent) fade away. If you create an energy lifeform like that and forget them – which absolutely is easy to do – then they will fade away from your life, sometimes even ceasing to exist.

Spirits are easy to forget about because they’re not tangible. You don’t see them and without a really serious memory to tie them to you, you’ll forget about them. Even if you have a serious memory, they can still slip from your mind. This is why it’s ideal to always have a physical object that you mentally (or even spiritually or magically) attach to the spirit. This gives them weight in your memory and makes them less likely to fade.

There are other reasons why a spirit might be gone from your life – your contract with them is complete, they were destroyed by another spirit, banished, exorcised / cleansed, etc. but the three outlined are the most common for the fading feeling when a spirit returns to you more distant and weaker each time you see them.

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Elemental Combinations

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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 of elemental combinations is an air plant. An air plant largely lives on air (with the occasional misting of water) but it’s still a plant so it’s an earth element. That’s three associations (air-water-earth) to deal with for one tiny little plant!

But elemental combinations are actually a really smart way to help set up an altar or a spell on the go. You can just roll with it. Instead of packing a ton of ritual items, you can just pack one or two herbs and that can suffice. It helps if you travel a lot, do a lot of on-the-go rituals, or need to be low-key.

It can also lend a lot of strength to ritual magic. By adding extra fire in a ritual, you’re creation more power so speed things along and adding passion or anger.

Elemental combinations also have the benefit of being dual purpose so you can bring two different energies into a spell at the same time. Need both fire and water? A dried water plan may be the best way to go – just burn it with a candle.

One thing to consider when doing elemental combinations is how they affect one another. Fire and water obviously don’t mix unless you want to destroy the fire or evaporate the water. Similarly, air and earth don’t always get along either. They can change one another though. Air (and water and fire) can all move earth by force. Wind can blow soil, erosion can destroy shorelines, and fire burns through the ground when it can. However, earth can strength air by tunneling it through canyons and caves, water seeps into the ground so it can spread everywhere, and fire lives on wood and natural gases for decades. Similarly, air can strength fire to an uncontrollable level or it can blow a flame out.

In general, all the elements can strengthen and weaken one another, when used in the right balance. You just have to stop and think about how an element functions and what kind of action you want it to perform.

When you combine multiple elements, make sure you’re keeping them in the balance you want. If you only want a little earth, then pick something with a less strong earth element. In my air plant example above, earth is the weakest of the elements because while an air plant is a plant, it isn’t planted in the soil. Water actually is actually stronger with an air plant because you do need to water air plants as needed. Air, obviously, is the strongest of all for an air plant.

Of course, the thing with element associations is that they are NOT universal. Asian occult systems have a lovely elemental system that includes the very combination I’m expressing here in a different way – but they use five elements: earth, air, water, fire, metal. Every practitioner will need to rely on their cultural or traditional folklore in addition to their own personal associations.

Want a quick way to look up correspondences? Check out my online sourced correspondences list.

Does this post look familiar? That’s because some of it appeared in this post from 2017. I’ve expanded upon it here to get further into details on how elemental combinations work.

Patreon | thiscrookedcrown.com

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Witchcraft 101 – How Much Stuff Do You Really Need?

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If you’ve picked up a beginner’s witchcraft book, especially an older book, you’ll often find these long lists of items for you to acquire as you start your magical or pagan practice. But how much of it all do you really need?

First, let’s cover the basics –

  • You can absolutely use stuff you already have for magic, just make sure you’re not mixing the bowl you eat your cereal in with the bowl you worked non-edible herbs in, for safety’s sake.
  • You don’t need the super expensive or specialty stuff right away. Yes, they’re pretty, support artisans, and may be made a certain way that helps increase your practice, but you don’t need them to start. Wait a bit and see if you’re even going to use that item at all. Instead, swap in with a more common items for now – like a $10 hardware store broom rather than the $300 hand-made besom. You can always upgrade later.
  • Used goods store and discount dollar stores can be extremely useful. Cups, glasses, jars, candles, incense, craft supplies, paper, bowls, and more can be purchased cheaply here and that allows you a bit more freedom to play with items that you think you might need but aren’t sure of.

Still, the lists are often useful because they’re a combination of commonly used items and items the authors probably use themselves. It’s a good thing to look at them because you can see how different people use different things to reach similar results.

When you get lists like this (or you’ve written down lists of stuff you’d like), break down those lists of things you want into five categories: necessities, ritual items, spell items, aesthetics, and miscellaneous.

Necessities are things like lighters, a fire proof bowl, a jar, a candle holder… You get it. It’s stuff that, for most people, you’ll just need. If you don’t work with fire, you won’t need that fire-related stuff, but by and large, 95% of us  use the same kind of necessities.

Ritual items are objects used for rituals or worship. This could be an idol statue of your goddess or it could be a veil to use during ritual ceremonies. You may have nothing in this category, depending on your practice, or you may have a lot of stuff. Try and keep this list short when you’re starting out. Sure, you’d love to have a beautiful altar for your deity, but do you really need that expensive hand-carved ritual bowl right now? Probably not.

Spell items are objects used for spell casting. This could be rosemary and bay leaves. It might be a mortar and pestle or herb grinder. It could be materials for a poppet. It could be a box of candles. It depends on your spell casting style.

Aesthetics are just that  – things you have because they are beautiful. Typically these are items that are expensive or something that’s just pretty.  This isn’t to say they don’t have a use! You may have some beautiful objects that are just pretty but are also useful in your practice. I like to think of this as a “if I never had this, would I miss it?”

Miscellaneous is a category for things that don’t fit anywhere else. Your miscellaneous category might not match anyone else’s. Maybe you want a besom for cleansing, but that’s not a spell or ritual task for you. It’s not a necessity – you could do without it – but you want it. It takes some thinking. It may also be things that aren’t “necessary”, but are just plain useful.

My practice consists of a lot of things so my personal list of things is going to be wildly different from other people’s. This is my list below and a little later in this post I’ll give a recommended list.

Necessities – Lighter or matches, stoneware bowl, bells, paper and ink, knife, water, thread and ribbon (all colors), sea salt

Ritual items – Incense, idols, nature offerings, baked offerings, fresh offerings, offering bowl, cleansing supplies, brass, candles, cleaning supplies

Spell items – bones or hair, blood, sharp scissors, jars, candles (all colors), iron or metal, herbs and similar, sewing needles and fabric, honey

Aesthetics – Most besoms, scarf or veil, cauldron, baskets, ritual clothing

Miscellaneous – Most crystals, beeswax, sand, brooms (not besom), wands, stirring spoons, mortar and pestle, divination tools including tarot decks

My items are a bit odd for some. For example, I heavily use bells in my daily magical practices. I use a specific set of scissors for my practice and a few different kind of knives. A regular stoneware cereal bowl often doubles as a candle holder during spells – I rarely use traditional candle holders in spell work because of this.

You’ll see the usual accompaniments of a besom and cauldron are in the aesthetics category. I don’t use them much. My cauldron is actually really handy when I need a fireproof bowl or a bonfire, but I also have a firepit and metal trashcan. I’d never miss it, if I didn’t have it. I use a veil for divination purposes, but I don’t need it. Same thing with most rocks and crystals. They are in my life and I love them, but I don’t use them as others do. Divination tools aren’t spells for me but they aren’t rituals either. They exist in some weird third space for me.

Whereas my ritual category is pretty basic, but I including cleaning supplies in addition to cleansing supplies. I keep a tiny broom, dusting clothes, sacred waters, and dustpan for cleaning the shrine areas exclusively. Usually it’s just for dust and incense ash, but I like the feeling of even ordinary actions like sweeping can be made sacred this way. It’s all about honoring those there, even the mundane cleaning bits. But, that’s just me and it’s part of my private spiritual beliefs.

Of course, I can define my practice’s items easily because I’ve been at it for over quarter a century. And it does fluctuate over some years as I get into certain hobbies or try new ways of using old tools. If you’re new to practicing, it may be difficult to define these categories or know exactly what you’ll use. It’s still a handy technique, especially if your budget is a concern or you’re trying to keep your materialism to a minimum.

And, since this question you probably want to know, this is my recommended list for beginners of most practices:

  • Stoneware bowls or baking dishes
  • Tealight candles and matches or a lighter or LED candles
  • Glass jars or bottles with lids (or cork that fits the jars / bottles)
  • Embroidery thread, twine, or ribbon
  • Quartz crystals

Most of these items can be purchased at a used goods store or discount dollar stores. The rest should, ideally, be acquired from independent small businesses. Check your kitchen cabinets for herbs or spices and neighborhood sidewalks for rouge flowers. Books can often be borrowed from the library, some even accessible online through your your library.

Take your time gathering things. It’s part of the journey to your witchcraft practice.

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Should You Adapt Spells or Use Spells Word-For-Word?

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So you found a spell you like, but it’s not perfect. Maybe it uses an ingredient that’s rare or expensive in your neck of the woods. Maybe it asks you to go out and stand in the moonlight and there’s been nothing but snow and rain for weeks. Or, maybe, it’s just not fully clicking for you.

There’s lots of reasons why a person might adapt a spell or ritual. It’s usually for ingredient based reasons, but just as often it could be due to timing or personal practice choices.

But adapting a spell is a fine line. If you adapt something too much, it’s not the same spell. If you swap out an ingredient, you may change the way the spell works. Analyzing spells is something you figure out how to do as you gain experience and knowledge with spell casting. It’s hard to adapt a spell when you might not have the basic knowledge to do that. An experienced witch probably will make changes on the fly, using what’s in their cupboards and their knowledge from research and experience. Others might have to pause to double check something or they might even skip a few ingredients by double up the purpose of an ingredient.

In short, adapting spells can be really easy – but it can be a challenge too. It’s okay if it’s a challenging or daunting task for you! It really is. Because spell casting is a lot like cooking and baking.

If you think of a spell like a recipe, then it may take some of the pressure away from having to “get it right”. Cooking and baking is relatively subjective – things need to turn out a certain way to be properly edible and taste good, but not everything is going to taste great to the same people. Spells are a lot like that. You may learn that you just don’t click with herb based spells or anything that asks you to start a fire is a no-go. And that’s okay! Know your strengths and boundaries. It’s a good idea to push those boundaries and strengths sometimes, but you don’t need to do it all the time.

It’s okay to hold back from adapting a spell or even doing a spell, because you’re not sure of the changes that need to be made. I’m in the camp that says try your adaptations anyway. Take notes on what you changed.

Of course, there’s always some folks out there that say a spell should be used exactly as written. There’s certainly a reason for that. Spells are written with specific intentions in mind and omitting an ingredient or altering a process may change the entire intention of the original spell – even if the person adapting it doesn’t know that. The more complicated the spell – or the more often it deals with spirits – the more likely it is that the process and ingredients are very intentionally chosen. Adaptations and substitutions may cause the spell to fail or not work as intended.

I’ve written spells that have very clear instructions to them because the process, while simple on the surface, was written very intentionally as part of the ritual. The steps aren’t there for the end goal, they are part of the end goal. It’s like a recipe – you need to prep the vegetables properly to really get the flavor you want out of the dish in the end.

I’m still, by far, in the camp of adapting your spells. If a verse in a spell doesn’t seem natural or comfortable, I’ll change it. If I’m doing a complicated ritual, I’ll either take it apart to see exactly how it works or I’ll try it as written and make adaptations for future usages.

It depends on how much experimentation you do with your magic. If you’re looking for a simple grab-and-go spell (and absolutely no judgements here, if that’s your jam), then use what’s written or adapt on the fly. It’s your magic, your practice, and your results. Do what works best for you.

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