Tag: Witchcraft 101

Pop Culture Spells Are Real Spells

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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 part is I’ve actually been told these things by other witches. I’ve heard them from actual people actually saying and believing this.

So I’m going to say this straight: this kind of thinking is illogical, infuriating, and bullshit.

Candle Smoke

Someone had to write those spells. Even in your precious “real spell book” (whatever that means because what separates a spell book from other books except intent and instructions?). I’m not even going to touch the fact that some actually people believe you shouldn’t write your own spells (or that you need a particular skill level or talent for it). Nope, I’m not going there. But I will go to that place where I can rant about the other stuff.

I’ve used spells from all sorts of places. TV shows, movies, books, poetry, video games, songs, instrumental music, even humming. I’ve used it all. None of the spells have failed because they were written for a video game. None. If they failed it was because a) Turning into a dragon is a bit out of reach at the moment (but who knows in the future?) b) I didn’t actually put effort into the spell and/or was just fooling around c) I didn’t power or empower the spell properly (look, unicorn horn and dragon teeth are kind of hard to come by, OK?) d) spells sometimes fail.

Let me give some examples of the cool shit I’ve done with spells from media forms:

  • Hair support spell – TV, slightly altered to turn from a curse into something more useable on myself
  • Attraction spell – a mix up of two songs with selected and slightly altered verses.
  • Short-term construct (created familiar) – song, verbatim
  • Mirror scrying spell – children’s book
  • Curse – based on a curse from a spell book, re-adapted for my novel, then re-adapted to be less vicious and used in real life.
  • Protection spells – general idea used by thousands of media forms AND witches
  • Harvesting spell – humming
  • Blessing for the dead – movie
  • Water boiling – a play
  • Annual festival ritual opening – poems
  • Annual festival ritual closing – anime / manga
  • Healing spell – Disney movie
  • Faerie conversation opener / spell – video game

All of these, by the way, worked as they were intended to. All of these were used in the same year.

Spell and Herb Candle by This Crooked Crown

Why is a spell written for a video game is less… whatever than one written by a magical practitioner from a hundred years ago? Why are words of a dead person considered more valid? They aren’t casting the damn spell. You are. So it doesn’t really matter where the spell came from because you’re casting it. You. You can turn anything into a spell. Even humming.

(The only exception I’ll make is if the spell itself is a living spell that gains power the more you use it. But that’s the only exception and I’ve never actually seen a spell like that in any books or ever used as an argument so we’ll put that exception aside.)

I really don’t understand the logic of a person who says “that’s not a real spell”. When they are asked to explain why that example isn’t a real spell they never say “because there’s no vocalizations, so it’s really just a working” (which, in my opinion, would be a valid argument and then the word choices would change for the rest of the discussion appropriately). They never say that. They just say “you can’t use a spell from Final Fantasy! You just can’t.” When asked to further explain, they’ll simply keep saying “Because it’s not a real spell.” It’s a circle of fallacy.

What people mean when they say something’s not a real spell is that it was not written by a practitioner for a practitioner to be used as a spell. That’s what they’re saying. And that’s bullshit. It’s also poisonous thinking.

No spell is valid until you do the spell and verify it for yourself. I don’t care that Sparkly Pony Butt the Greatest Witch There Is says the spell works. You. Didn’t. Do. The. Spell. If you didn’t test it, then there’s no it’ll work just because Sparkly Pony Butt says so. If you do the spell and it does work? Great! Even if the spell doesn’t work, that doesn’t mean the spell still isn’t valid just because it didn’t work for you. You are one person. You can’t invalidate an entire body of work just because it didn’t work for you. You might not like Game of Thrones but that doesn’t mean it isn’t valid entertainment to other people, right?

For All Sorts of Money Powder by This Crooked Crown

On that idea, you can’t invalidate a spell from some media form just because it was written for a character. The character used it, didn’t they? The spell most likely worked for them too. So… why can’t it work for you? What? Because magic is different from their fictional world? The results might be less flashy and different but you’ll probably still get results. Using media forms for spells is brilliant. I’ll give you some example:

You broke up with your now ex-lover. You really still hate that asshole. They cheated on you, kicked your dog, shit in your cornflakes, called your art ugly, whatever. You want to curse them. Your ex-lover once charmed you by reading their favorite poem to you. Use that poem against them. Curse them by turning that poem into a weapon. Don’t change the words, change the intent of the words. Make it so every time that ex-lover utters a line from that poem they become entangled further in the curse. Make it so their shoelaces are never tied, their bread will always spoil, they’ll develop an uncontrollable bladder, or they’ll feel your heartbreak every time they read that poem. Every. Time.

Another example: You ran across an amazing healing spell in a video game. It is literally the most beautiful thing you’ve read and it strikes you in ways you can’t quite articulate. Use it. You feel a connection to it. That person you’re healing doesn’t care where you’re getting that spell from. All they care about is their flu going elsewhere.

Example Three: You’re watching Doctor Who and the Doctor said something that struck a cord. After thinking about it a little, you realize you can make it a spell. You’re excited and tell your Whovian friend who says you can’t use it (the the snarkiest way possible). The Doctor doesn’t believe in magic and blah blah blah. Now you’re a little heartbroken. Re-watch a couple of your favorite episodes (I’d avoid Doomsday) and do it anyway. Also yes, your Sonic Screwdriver can be your wand. Ignore anyone who says otherwise.

Example Four: Harry Potter. Use it. Love it. Ignore assholes who make snide comments. They aren’t on the Quidditch team and they’re just jealous. Seriously though, Harry Potter is often cited as an inspiration for many. Some of you probably came to magical practices from Harry Potter. Why shouldn’t a spell from the series be used as well? You might not be able to make something float as well as Hermoine, but you could probably use Wingardium Leviosa to lighten a heavy bag or box.

Pop Culture Spells Are REAL Spells by This Crooked Crown

Words are just words until they are given meaning. Given intent. We are the ones that ascribe emotional meaning and intent to words. Because words are just words, you can give them any intent you want. Turn that blessing into a curse, if you want to. It doesn’t matter what others say. Your spells are valid for you. They don’t need to work for anyone else. They just need to work for you. Tweak that song verse to fit your desires. Make it your own. And use it.

You’re a witch. Manipulating shit to our wishes is what we do.

Adapted from my original tumblr post here.

7 Tips to Get Your Life Under Control So You Can Get Back to the Magic

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 on top of some personal projects for my own practice. Then Life reared its head. Family needed medical procedures or were sick (everyone’s OK! No worries), birthdays kept on coming, and the upcoming spring’s always a busy time with the ongoing Secret Future Plan project we’ve got going. Plus there’s the regular stuff to do too – readings, writing posts, taking photos, answering questions, and so on. There’s just a lot of stuff happening. I couldn’t keep up. It happens. Who’s got energy to cast a spell when you’ve been go-go-go all day?

I started going to bed with stress headaches and woke up with them too. That’s when I decided enough was enough and I was going to start managing my shit better. Here’s what I did.

7 Tips to Get Your Life Under Control So You Can Get Back to the Magic

01 Write down everything you’ve got going on 

This is absolutely the number one thing I recommend. It really drives home how busy you are and lets you see what’s happening so you can start prioritizing better. You may even decide to put something on hold for a while until some other project or situation can be finalized before taking up the reins again.

I wrote down everything I was thinking, doing, and feeling. It included little stuff like a mobile game I super enjoy playing daily to big years long projects that move slowly but surely. I also included stuff like stress about politics, birthdays, and personal worries or frustrations.

Then I numbered them three times. The first time, I numbered how important they were to me. This is kind of eye opening. You’ll really begin to see what’s important to you right now. Then I numbered them according to due dates – what needs to be done when – so bills or shop orders. The final time, I numbered them in order of priority to me or others I actually care about – a friend’s birthday, for example, might be more important to me than some due date for a thing I don’t really want to do.

Now do a comparison of the numbers. You can get as mathy as you’d like with this and figure out averages or whatever. I kind of just looked for similar numbers. If I listed a lack of spiritual connectivity as personal importance to as five but on the priority/due dates they were eleven or twelve, then that’s an area I need to focus on temporarily to feel personally satisfied but not dive into a major project for. So I might do a longer meditation session to help balance that out and get some more immediate results.

Make sure you look at how important stuff is to you and how you rate it as a priority. It might be that you’re ignoring your health or self-care in order to get shit done. it could also be that you want to accomplish something because you’re excited about it but it’s not actually all that important. Could your attention and energy be spent elsewhere or do you want to follow that excitement and allocate whatever time and energy you have left after you do that?

Also look at what numbers keep coming up or coincide with those items, especially if you’re into numerology. See if there’s a correlation with your divination readings in what cards keep coming up or if there’s some numerical importance attached to those numbers. Look at numbers that have huge discrepancies – or items you forgot to number. Those things may need some attention.

Now go through that list one last time and number how you want to proceed, taking in all that data. Using those numbers, write out a to do list with at least one actionable step you can take to start on that immediately. So if a birthday is your number one concern, write something like “research birthday gift” or “go out on Tuesday and buy present”.

It’s kind of a pain but this process can be really eye opening, especially if you remember to include things that aren’t just your daily to do or mundane but spiritual stuff as well. Maybe replacing that broken altar bowl doesn’t seem important but it might be weighing on your mind more than you know.

How to make this magic: Honestly, this technique is pretty eye-opening. I would use magical ink or paper or a language to write the list one last time in order of how you want to proceed, like a to do list, to ensure that you can accomplish what you want to accomplish.

 

02 Turned off the electronics early

I’ll be honest. I’m definitely one of those “turn off tablet/phone/computer/TV, roll over, go to sleep” kind of people. I don’t necessarily want to be. In a dream world and life, I wouldn’t even have a TV or computer in my bedroom. But since this isn’t a dream world, I have a ton of electronics in my sleeping area. And it’s a bummer.

Once I started going to bed with stress headaches – and waking up with them, I immediately stopped using electronics actively before going to sleep. Instead, I turned everything off but my tablet and read an fiction-based e-book until I found a physical book I wanted to read. I still woke up with stress headaches but I felt immediately less stressed and slept better.

There’s some scientific data to back this up but I know personally that turning my brain off from TV and instead letting my brain imagine stories before going to bed is better for me personally. Also look into blue light filters. I noticed my eyes hurt far less when I use blue light filters at nighttime.

It’s hard, I know. But give turning off your electronics ten minutes before you go to sleep a try.

How to make this magic: Putting sigils on your phone case for energy boosting is a great idea during the day to give both you and the phone a helping hand. Removing that phone from your hand at night allows you to have less energy and, thus, sleep much easier.

Aroma stimulation may also be useful. For example, I know it’s “no electronics time” and/or bedtime when I use lavender scented products. For me, lavender is used for quiet time. You might have a different scent that triggers this so do a little research to figure your own “shut off” scent.

 

03 Changed your rooms’ atmosphere and energy

Our rooms have their own atmospheres and energy. Right now, I’ve stacks and stacks of books everywhere for research projects. It reminds me of my college days where I was super stressed and sick all the time. Once I identified that as a contributing factor, I swapped out some things to shift the room’s energy – and my associations – to something else.

I picked fire, wind, and light as an energy to focus on. I used citrus scents, made sure to work in brightly lite rooms, and put on wind and bell soundscapes. My stressful associations shifted away and I felt far more productive and accomplished.

I also changed out my bedding, picked up lightly about the room, and rotated some decorative pillows and throw blankets to give a subtle change. I also throw open a window for a little while to air the place out.

As a bonus, changing up the lighting, scents, and sounds can immediately affect your mood.

How to make this magic: Color symbolism helps here, but so do scents and so on. Magical correspondences are your friend here. Ringing a bell can also dissipate clustered energies.

 

04 Dressed to boost your mood

Ten years ago, I scoffed at wearing sweats and casual tees on a daily basis. Now it’s my go-to when I’m in a time crunch and spending the day typing on a computer.

It makes sense. Ten years ago I was super active and busy – places to go, things to do, out before the sun rises and home at the witching hour. So I had to dress appropriately for those things. Since I work from home and my only co-worker is a cat, wearing sweats and a worn tee isn’t going to make a difference in what I do.

Except it kind of does. I started to put on non-lounge clothes in the mornings. It helped, most of the time, and kept me from glancing longingly at my video game consoles. Did it make me more productive? I don’t think so, but I felt more productive and put together. I felt more of a person and less like a cat pretending to be a person, so it has to count for something.

How to make this magic: Color symbolism and recognizing what outfits make you feel good about yourself is a huge bonus here so keep an eye on that. You can also individually enchant your clothing or other items for magical boosts as well.

 

05 Started work before you’re actually awake

The first thing I usually do in the morning depends on whether or not I woke up with or without an alarm. If I work up with an alarm, the first thing I’m doing is turning off that alarm on my phone which inevitably means I’ll check my notifications. If I woke up without an alarm, I’ll meditation for a few minutes, do some light yoga, and grab some breakfast.

But when I’m in a crunch, the first thing I do is crawl over to my desk and start typing. Usually, this happens when I have a reading queue a mile long and a post needing to be published in three hours. If I start working the moment I’m conscious but not yet awake, then I’m less likely to get distracted before half finishing whatever I needed to do.

When I do get distracted, I’m way more likely to want to finish whatever I was doing because, well, it’s probably almost done anyway.

Don’t get me wrong – this is a terrible thing to do routinely to yourself. It may start you associating work with lack of sleep (even if it’s true) and get you thinking bitter, dark thoughts against your work. It also doesn’t guarantee good work, especially with less intuitive projects. Remember to edit and review before you hit that send button if you work in this state. A metaphor that made sense at five a.m. might not make sense at eleven a.m.

How to make this magic: Cast a magnetic-style charm to one of your desk items, like your computer mouse or a sticker on your laptop. This allows you to feel “drawn” to use an item, even subconsciously.

 

06 White noise generators or instrumental music

I love white noise generators. I use them ALL. THE. TIME. Literally, all the time.

White noise is a great way to get your brain to productive mode without dealing with silence or hearing too much conversation and becoming distracted. I found that if I changed out what kind of sounds I listened to, I could get shit down. When I want to work, I put on video game instrumental soundtracks (no joke! Try the Skyrim soundtrack next time you’re knocking out a boring typing project).

White noise is not a one-size fits all kind of thing. Once you get into it you realize different people find different white noise better than others. For example “brown noise” rather than “white noise” is more comforting to me – think thunder rolling over the roaring ocean rather than rain. So if you’ve tried white noise generators before, try it again but try different tones and pitches to see what works best for you.

I highly recommend the free website mynoise.net. I’m not an affiliate of the website. I just really, really love it. I also use a playlist on Spotify (I have a premium membership I share with other folks so no ads) and the app Insight Timer which is a meditation app with a community who offer white noise meditation tracks for free.

How to make this magic: Use the sounds to your advantage. I’m spiritually attached to the ocean and water in general. So my go-to sounds are all water based. If you’re attracted to the wind, they have generators and soundscapes like that too. Fire? Done.  Earth? Yup, that can be handled too (forest sounds, cave sounds, farmland sounds, etc). More urban? Crowded cafe sounds are really popular. Use what makes you feel rooted and at home.

 

07 Meditation

When I was younger, I never meditated. It just wasn’t me and not something I wanted or needed to do. I knew what I wanted to do and I usually had a schedule of things to do in my head. As an adult, I have a ton of stuff going on too but now I’m often pulled in so many directions I can fail to prioritize what’s actually important to me. Meditation helps me ease that.

Meditation is also my go to when I have a super long to do list and I want to figure out what I actually want to do that day. My to do list might be twenty items long but meditation gives me a moment to breath and think “OK. What’s actually important here? What can I do now for others, now that I’ve done something for myself?”

Guided meditation can be really helpful for folks who have brains that don’t like to shut up or want to achieve a particular goal. Others may do better with simple quiet meditation. It’s a personal taste sort of thing. Even a few minutes helps.

How to make this magic: Meditation is often used in magical practices but there’s a lot of guided meditations out there that can be used to achieve particular goals or help you release a lot of negative emotions. Try out some and see what proves to be helpful to you.

 

So that’s what I did to get my to do list down to a minimal amount. They’re simple techniques, to be sure, and you’ve probably heard them all before. That’s kind of the point. They’re stuff you’ve heard before because they work. Don’t knock them until you try them.

I know January was really hard for a lot of people. I saw a lot of people struggling with some drama and nonsense during all of that time. It can be really difficult to dig yourself out of a hole spiritually in order to really get back on track so early on in the year. Just remember that each day is a chance to start fresh. Each month is a new beginning. You can always start again. Don’t give up and remember to give yourself a chance to breathe!

Grimoire or Book of Shadows 101

 

Grimoire and BoS 101

 

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 my magical research, I use it as it feels best to me and my personal practice. For this post, I’m going to use BoS to refer to this book, whatever you may call it. BoS is often an abbreviation used within the community so it’s probably already familiar to you.

Let’s clear away some of the nonsense right now. You can have a BoS in a notebook. You can have a BoS that is completely digital on the computer or a website. You do not need to have a super pretty book or even have one book – you can have multiple! And you are not bound to that singular book forever. You can fill a book, decide to retire it, and get rid of it, if you so choose.

The sacredness of the Book of Shadows stems entirely on two things – one, Wiccan covens often have specific  rituals written down in their BoS and those books contain their secrets and initiations rites. The books are secretive and sacred because they need to be, as part of the initiation religion. The second reason why magical books have this air of sacredness is because books are, historically, expensive.

Books aren’t commonplace historically. Your average person rarely owned a book except for the Bible. Literacy wasn’t commonplace until public schools were more accessible and even then, many PoC were banned from learning to read. (In fact, in the US, literacy rates between PoC and white people didn’t equal out until 1979 and PoC still suffer from lack of opportunities for education even today.) The rest of it comes from the fact that education was commonly given to the wealthy. You can look through numerous historical household records and find years worth of expenses – but never once is a book mentioned. Even if a person did read well, there was no guarantee that they would read for pleasure.

The most learned men, until recent history, were clergy. Secular scholars were something of a rarity through much of history. So it isn’t surprising that there’s this idea that books are sacred because, for a long time, they were. Families may only own the Bible. It is literal a sacred book. Plus, as said above, until fairly recently in human history, vast majority of the world didn’t have access to literacy or books. Books could also be poorly translated or contain so much academic wording that the average person would struggle to read it (something that holds true even today.) Information was passed down through word of mouth and if it was written down, things often got left out. This is true for just about everything. I’ve personally have three different recipes written by my grandmother for the same dinner roll recipe. Some of those recipes are just a list of ingredients – and none of the recipes have the same ingredients on the list yet all are titled the same. None of the recipes produce the rolls from my mother’s childhood. If that can happen just passing down a family recipe from grandparent to grandchild, imagine what trying to write down family lore would be like?

Suddenly, the lack of magical books and the sacredness of the written historical rituals we do have becomes extremely important. Books are fragile things. They can be easily destroyed. Technical information can be extremely difficult to copy down correctly by memory. Those are the practical reasons why the BoS gained many of the sacredness it has and why it’s so commonplace within the witchcraft community. It’s why the BoS has names like “book of shadows” or “book of secrets”.

 

 

ANYWAY, none of that gives you the information you need to actually create a BoS.

In order to create a BoS, you need to write or record information you want to keep on hand. That’s it. You don’t NEED to have a dedication. You don’t NEED to have a correspondence chart. Would that help? Sure, if it’s useful to your practice.

The best way to start of BoS is to get a blank journal that you like and can take some damage. So while a school notebook is perfectly acceptable (and I had one as my first BoS as a kid myself), having something that can take some candle wax spilling on it is ideal.

Don’t be afraid to mess up the BoS. I, like many of you, fear messing up a beautiful new journal. But, uh, you bought it for that purpose? If you don’t like how it turns out, you can always rip out the page or cover it with white out.

Binders are actually incredibly common for modern practitioners. It may not be pretty but it sure it handy.  Using a binder allows you to print out spells or resources from online, or type them up and print them out. It also allows you to remove stuff from the BoS without damaging the BoS itself. Plus, tabs. Tabs are great things.

Scrapbooking books are also useful for BoS. I’m very fond of the post-style binders or scrapbooking books because it allows you to remove things like a binder but still have that book feel.

Of course, lots of people also use folders on their computers, information saved to their cloud drives, or private blogs to organize their BoS too. Some people have huge Word documents and others have a neat tumblr blog filled with spells.

As said before, you can also organize things by separating your BoS into different books – one book for dreams, another for spells, a third for divination, etc.

Try different systems until you get one to work for you. If you’re not much of a recorder when it comes to data, that’s OK. Some people just work best off the cuff.

 

 

So if the actual physical form of the book doesn’t matter, what does matter?

The information has to mean something to you.

It’s fine to copy things down or take notes for the sake of learning, but what’s the point of writing down a whole bunch of stuff in your BoS if you’re not going to use it? It may be a good idea to keep a separate section, notebook, etc on research that you might want to look back on later but don’t use in your day to day practice.

 

An index is your best friend.

An index is a list of subjects that are contained within a book that lists where you can find those subjects by page. It’s like a table of contents on steroids. And it’s an amazing thing that you’re probably not using.

Your homemade index is probably not going to contain every page a subject is listed on unless you’re super organized or diligent. And if you’re setting up your BoS now, you can plan so you won’t need an index. But for those of you who started a BoS without a plan and are sick of flipping through a hundred pages for that luck spell you KNOW you saw just last week, then you need an index. Take a weekend, write out what pages you can find what information on, and stick that at the front of the book.

Indexes, weirdly, come at the back of the book. Which is super illogical to me because, uh, shouldn’t they all be at the front of the book? So you don’t have to keep flipping to the back of the book to look up something? Do yourself a favorite and put your index at the front of your book. Help your future, exhausted, “I’ve been done with this shit for three hours and just want to go to bed” self out. Not that I’d know that feeling from experiences or anything. Nope, not me.

 

This a labor of love

Writing in your BoS probably won’t be your favorite thing to do. This is especially true if you’re worried about aesthetics. It’s a time consuming task and one that will require consistent and diligent work to be actually useful.

If that’s not your thing, that’s OK! You’re the one who gets to decide how you use that BoS. But if you want it to be indispensable, you’re going to need to put some serious time into it.

 

Space for you to add notes and grow

Most importantly of all, you need to be able to take notes on the information you have written down. Maybe you learned later on that that cool piece of trivia is actually related to some folklore. You might want to add that folklore in but alas! You didn’t save room. Now you’ll need to either add a page or make a note to look up a different page to get your information.

Additionally, your practice will likely grow and change as you grow and change. Your BoS will reflect that over time as well. Make sure there’s enough room to grow or that you’re willing to put your BoS aside and make a new one if the time comes where it no longer serves.

 

 

Of course, you do not need a BoS. You just don’t. My grimoires are spread across a dozen books and, honestly, I barely touch half of them. This is largely because I often make up my spells at a drop of a hat. I don’t really plan out much of my spells so I don’t really need pages upon pages of spells.  Do I have them, sure. But they’re not necessary for me.

Maybe you’re the same. Maybe you’ll find that your BoS isn’t useful to you or that you would be better with a journal style rather than a textbook style BoS. You BoS has to be useful and suit you.

That’s it. That’s all you need! Good luck to the new witchlings out there! And for you old hats, maybe it’s time to dust the cover off that BoS and take a gander at it, hm?

 

 

Links for more reading:

Cornell has a over 3000 books from the time of the Inquisition on witchcraft. http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/w/witch/index.html

I happen to have some online posts on hand regarding household purchases for the 1850-1870s. Keep in mind that the term “dime novels” stems from literally paying a ten cents for a small novel, something that started in 1860. To keep things in perspective, you could buy a pound of granulated sugar or a yard of bleached shirting fabric for the same dime in 1860. Your rent for a four room tenement was $4.45 in 1860.

 

 

Elemental Combinations

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 the occasional misting of water) but it’s still a plant so it’s an earth element. That’s three associations 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.

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.

Of course, the thing with element associations is that they are NOT universal. Every practitioner will need to rely on their cultural or traditional folklore in addition to their own personal associations.

 

However, correspondence charts are super helpful, especially when they’re well-researched. To that end, I’m happy to announce that I’m releasing online correspondence charts for free to you all.

These are heavily researched with sources. As in, you can look up where each correspondence comes from right down to the page. Right now, we’re starting with herbal correspondences because I have hundreds readily available but stones, metals, and other correspondences will come along in time.

I’m super happy to finally be sharing this with you. Keep an eye on the correspondence charts because they will constantly be updated. I will eventually create a downloadable PDF with all the correspondences but for now, it’s online only. Enjoy!

Getting Back to Your Spiritual Roots

Ever stop and take a look at who you were once or what you once believed and cringed? Who hasn’t? But many practitioners tend to develop their practice over a long time – and lose the foundation of their practice in the process.

I’m an animist. More than anything else, I’m an animist. I grew up believing that things had spirits. There has never been a time in my life where I haven’t believed this. For me, knowing that things have or could have spirits is a fact. It’s the same thing as air – I cannot see it but I know it’s there.

My spiritual practice has taken me to some weird places. Some of those places I miss deeply but do not (or cannot) reclaim. Other places I don’t miss at all. When I first started witchcraft I tried Wicca… for about five weeks when I was nine. I couldn’t get my mind around the whole witchcraft religion thing so they’ve pretty much been separated my whole life.

Recently I was binge watching some TV while working on a project for this site when I realized that what I was watching had a pattern. Not just genre related but each thing had a distinct callback to certain aspects to each other. Anyone else would have said, “well, yeah, they’re all based in the same setting or theme” but for me, each invoked a feeling of looking back at my past – and I missed it. I suddenly realized that those aspects and feelings weren’t a major part of my practice or life anymore. They’ve been put on the back-burner and in the background. I was missing them and I didn’t even know it.

Honestly, that realization struck me as a bit weird because I hadn’t even realized that I was missing something until then. I didn’t realize that I was feeling a bit lost. Or, even worse, that I was going through the motions without connecting to it all.

I decided that I needed to get back to my roots. Here’s what I did.

 

Getting Back to Your Spiritual Roots by This Crooked Crown

 

Re-read books that served as inspiration and foundations for my spiritual practice.

There’s a reason that people reread their religious books often. Even if you study the material closely, sometimes you just need to stop studying and instead read it. Just read the material and see what you get through that.

Books have always served as the basis for which I’ve developed my life around. I was always as a child and I’m always reading something today. Even if it’s not a book, there isn’t a day that goes by where I haven’t read something for the express purpose of reading and enjoying that information.

I don’t have a set spirituality and my practice actually developed twice- once as a child, once in my late teens and early twenties. That’s two sets of information to reacquaint myself with. Much of my inspiration also comes from fairy tales, mythology, and fairy tales. None of it actually comes from new age sources so it can be a lot to sort though. I’m relishing the opportunity to dive into some of my favorite classics though.

 

Follow social media accounts involving those foundations

I didn’t have internet until I was in middle school and we didn’t have a home computer until 2000. It seems weird now because so much of my life involves technology but back then, it was expensive and not really necessarily. So my knowledge developed according to what books I could find in the library.

The internet, my college library, and access to new and different people caused that second evolution in my practice. But facebook was just starting out. In fact, it was still restricted to just college students at that time. (Yeah, seriously) So while I had a huge library to play in, people to talk to, and the internet to explore, I didn’t have social media accounts to follow and interact with. This means when my social network drifted off and I left that university, I lost access to those connections.

These days we have social media so we can talk to people all over the world without have to slough through our emails to have a conversation. But while I interact on a daily basis with fellow witchcraft practitioners and people of other faiths, my own spirituality isn’t so easily defined so I don’t really interact with people on a spiritual level. That’s OK with me. My spirituality is actually meant to be solitary and intimately personal – it’s the Hermit tarot card. Solitary but full of wisdom and guidance.

Recently I’ve taken to following practitioners or researchers that follow similar beliefs on various social media platforms. I might not be talking to these people but that’s not as important to be as being around their knowledge and reading it.

 

Write down what you believe

This might be a long journaling process and you may need to goggle some questionnaires to really get to the heart of things if you’re at a loss for words. When you do get some words down, look to see which ones are repeating and which themes are continuous.

For me, personal freedom is incredibly important. I need it and crave it. I cannot stand being trapped. My belief in animism is absolute. These are things that are non-negotiable to me and form my foundation as a spiritual person.

Sometimes we just need to write things down to figure out exactly what we’re feeling and thinking. Getting those thoughts out there can really reaffirm what your roots are and why they’re important.

 

Change up your routine

Going with the motions without thinking about the motions is often the sign that people are disconnected. Switching out your day to day with something new and different can help you shake the dust off your soul and reconnect.

For me, I spent several days wandering about nature during the day and came back at night to read heavy tomes of fairy tales. This is what I grew up doing and where my roots developed. Going back to that old routine and getting lost in my own world allowed me to reconnect to who I was and what I really feel and believe.

 

Examine your ah-ha moments

I don’t really have an ah-ha moment. I remember reading a book and suddenly coming to a complete understanding about the concept of animism while standing outside of my high school’s pool. The humidity was an intense wall but I stood with my heavy backpack weighing me down and read my book while waiting for the bell to ring. I remember staring at the blue tiles as I sorted through the information I had just read. I have no idea what book I was reading but something about the way animism had been explained in that book made me realize that I was an animist.

That being said, I don’t really have a click moment where I suddenly realized what I believe. I don’t have a come-to-Jesus moment or a spiritual epiphany. Spirits have always been around so I never really lived without knowing of their presence.

That being said, looking back at the several poignant experiences I’ve had over the years that are so, so important to me reminds me of what I find precious in my spirituality.

 

Keep learning

People who have been doing their spiritual thing for a while now sometimes forget to keep learning. Never stop learning. Read a new book, skim through a new article, find some new source of inspiration. You don’t have to be reading deep academic tomes or personal accounts. I’ve found great spiritual attachments in fiction novels and manga. Don’t forget that you can always find inspiration in unlikely places.

 

Do I feel like I’ve really reconnected with myself spiritually? Yes and no. I know I’m on the right track because it feels right again. The sensations are so there. But I’m not quite there yet. I need to keep rereading old foundation books to see how they connect to me now. Some of those books aren’t accessible right now but once I get my hands on them, it’ll be like coming home. I know it’s coming, that experience that tells me I’m back. I can’t wait for it.

My spirituality is deeply intrinsic to who I am. It’s a cool night overlooking a seaside forest. It’s the Hermit. It’s the creature in the night that’s not quite human but not quite monster. Getting back to my roots is like coming home to a place you’ve never been to before. If you’ve been feeling lost or just  out of sorts, consider going back to your roots for a little while. Things tend to sort themselves out from there.

 

Secular Witchcraft Defined

Secular witchcraft is a rising star in the witchcraft scene but it’s also one that is heavily misunderstood.

Secular Witchcraft Defined by This Crooked Crown

As a secular witch, I practice a style of witchcraft that is separate from my spirituality.  The word separate is absolutely key. What this means that I may have spiritual or religious beliefs but they do not touch upon my witchcraft. The witchcraft practice and the spiritual/religious practice are not used in conjunction. They’re two separate things in my life, just like how your witchcraft may not touch your work life or family life.

It’s important to note the separation rather than the absence of spiritual connection. Much of the misconception is centered around this confusion. On the surface, absence and separation may appear to be the same thing but they’re not. If you combine oil and water in a glass, they separate but not disappear. Or you might think of your spirituality as a box and a separate box holds your witchcraft. Just because they’re apart doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

For example, as said I’m a secular witch but I’m also a hard polytheist that’s loosely tied to one god on a family level and another on a personal level (and maybe a third merely because the other two are around). I never use those deities in my witchcraft. They’re simply not a part of it. I don’t need or want them involved in the witchcraft portion of my life

 

 

Witchcraft itself is the art, science, and skill of a witch. Witchcraft is not and cannot be inherently secular. This is another misconception that has been made. By saying that witchcraft is inherently secular denies the existence of spiritually connected paths and systems. It denies witchcraft religions such as Wicca. It denies the idea that magic can be pulled, derived, or invoked through sacred or divine means. It denies quite a lot of historical magical practices too. So let’s cut the crap now – your practice may personally be inherently or originally secular but witchcraft as a whole cannot be.

The tricky part with secularism is where to draw the line between spirituality and secularism. What portions of your life count as witchcraft? What acts are religious to you? How to separate them will entirely depend on you. Secularism requires an ability to separate intimate parts of your life and for some people that’s difficult or undesirable.

For me, my witchcraft is spell casting and manipulating the world with magic. That’s how I define my personal practice. My spirituality is more of convoluted and difficult to describe but it doesn’t include using magic or spells to change things. Spirit walking and divination are separate skills from either of these two. While I do use spirits in both my spirituality and my witchcraft I don’t enact a spell while doing a spiritual ritual at the same time. And divination is used in neither except for very rare occasions.

This means that I can be having a spiritual crisis and still be able to perform readings, cast spells, or deal with spirits. Or I could be feeling super disconnected to my witchcraft or spirit work but still be able to read tarot or feel spiritually connected.

 

 

It’s extremely difficult to decide what believes are secular and where to draw the line. What makes up how you view the world? How do you define magic? How do you define spirituality or religion? What things are spiritual or sacred to you? Do they hold a place in your witchcraft practice? Can you cast a spell without using divine or sacred things in it? Ask these questions and see where your answers lie.

Many witches may call themselves secular when in actuality, they’re loosely religious. That’s not the same thing. You can’t sprinkle religion on top of secularism – it breaks the secularism, by definition.

Similarly, you can be an atheist and be a witch. Again, that belief of atheism should still be separate from witchcraft in order to be defined as secular witchcraft. Otherwise it’s simply atheistic witchcraft.

 

 

Many secular witches try the secular thing and eventually go away from it. Or they come to secularism from a religious or atheistic place. Which is perfectly normal. Our practices grow and change as to match how we as people grow and change. If your practices doesn’t suit the person you are or want to be, then it’s probably not anything more than a hindrance.

Secularism witchcraft isn’t for everyone and that’s perfectly normal. There’s no singular one size fits all for witchcraft. It’s perfectly OK to try secularism witchcraft and say “Nope! Not for me!” To each their own.

Where to Buy A Tarot Deck

Where do you get your magical or spiritual tools? Witchlings and newbies often feel lost because they’re not sure where they can get supplies and if it matters where those supplies are procured.

Here’s the short answer: You can buy them anywhere you like.

 

Where to Buy A Tarot Deck

 

Amazon and other online retailers are the easiest places to buy a tarot deck. You can pick up a deck for less than $25 easily, and some decks sell for under $15. You also get reviews from fellow readers and could quickly google up more images of the deck to help you with your decision.

Decks are usually in the game section of online retailers and there’s often a lot of price variances depending on where you’re getting a deck. Sometimes the deck aren’t actually cheaper online so be aware of that. Usually though, getting a mass produced deck off the internet is the cheapest and easiest way to get a deck.

I’ve already talked about how buying a deck for yourself isn’t a bad thing so browse through your favorite online retailer and see what decks appeal to you.

 

 

Independent artist also sell their decks online and they’re definitely worth checking out. New indie decks are popping up everywhere and there’s so many good ones! Often supported by Kickstarter and other crowd-sourcing campaigns, they may be bought from the artist’s website or online shops like Etsy.

Be aware that each indie deck will vary in quality due to publishers and costs so they may not be exactly what you expected in terms of quality. I’ve been pleasantly surprised many times though so it’s usually worth the risk!

Indie decks also tend to run at a higher cost due to the printing cost but the money is usually going straight to the creators so it’s worth it. Indie decks may also be limited edition and may not be printed another time so if you see one you like, you might want to snap it up.. Some of my favorite decks are indie and I adore them to pieces plus I get to support the creators and that’s always a bonus.

 

 

Of course, you can go old school and check retail locations.

Bookstores are an extremely good source for decks but you’re might not find anything that you like. Tarot decks are usually sold with other paper goods, like books, so bookstores are a less-than-obvious choice that might yield some great choices.

Game stores may also have decks, although they’re more likely to have card games used as divination tools. In particular, check stores that cater to the Dungeon & Dragons crowds or other board games. I picked up an out-of-print deck for under $25 while my companion picked out Magic the Gathering cards in a store like this. Don’t forget to check out the dice too – these places often have amazing dice collections that are perfect for divination too.

New age stores, metaphysical stores, and new age markets are the most obvious place to look for a deck of cards but they may be marked up higher. That being said, you’re more likely to find some really interesting decks here and may even run into independent artists creating their own decks.

Typically, decks are either overpriced or underpriced so be aware of what the original print price was and what the price is online before you buy.

 

 

 

 

Used bookstores do occasionally have decks. I’ve scored a few decks from used bookstores. You’ll usually find these decks up at a counter under lock and key or tucked in the probably small metaphysical section (check near the religion stuff). If not, you can ask to see if that store takes any of those decks in. You may be able to strike a deal with the store owner for them to accept decks and give you a call so you can buy them. This is especially good for collectors.

Used goods stores, flea markets, and yard/garage/estate sales are another great place to score some decks. I find them less often this way and they’re usually not in the greatest of condition. You will almost always need to cleanse the picked up this way and you should probably do that before you bring it into your space.

Pro Tip: If you’re buying a used deck of cards, make sure to count the cards and see if any cards missing. You can still read the deck without cards and some companies will even let you replace cards if you contact them, but it’s way easier to just avoid this step entirely if you can.

Decks found this way are usually underpriced but you do occasionally see some people grossly overpricing decks due to lack of research or emotional attachments.

 

 

Sometimes other readers end up selling decks. Collectors may be thinning their collections or their spiritual path has changed so some of the decks don’t work for them anymore. Sometimes people buy decks because that look awesome but then the deck doesn’t end up resonating with them well. Or they just need cash fast.

The bonus of buying from fellow readers is that the cards are probably well cared for. They may be worn or altered though, so be sure to inquire about this before purchase. The energy from the deck is also probably pretty good, assuming the seller actually used it to read with, of course.

This is just like buying anything else from a person – you take a risk but you’re probably dealing directly with the current deck owner. It’s also a good way to get your hands on rarer or out of print decks.

 

 

The internet itself is another place you probably aren’t checking. Online decks accessible via your browser have been around since the internet itself really took off. App stores for you mobile devices have a literal TON of apps you can download and use.  This is without a doubt probably the easiest for anyone who is even slightly tech savvy.

There’s a great deal of variation and some decks even publish their own app version of the deck like the Wildwood Tarot or Witches Tarot. I’m seeing a lot of  good things from the up-and-coming Labyrinthos folks (Golden Thread Tarot, Labyrinthos Academy,and Luminous Spirit Tarot) but I find the meanings rather minimal. I highly recommend Galaxy Tarot which allows you to do readings, have daily draws, and has a wealth of information to learn from.

This is definitely a growing market. The deck will be virtual so you can’t hold it in your hands but it’s super low-key and so long as you have your device, you have a deck. It can be really convenient that way and some apps will even do daily draws for you.

This is probably the best option for those folks who aren’t even sure they want to read tarot. Many apps are free or relatively cheap. They also come with build-in meanings so you can teach yourself how to read the cards from these meanings.

And before you ask: yes, they work perfectly well.

 

 

So those are just some of the places you can get decks from. Finding your perfect deck can be difficult but these are some good places to start looking. Following other readers and seeing what decks they’re excited for and picking up is a good idea as you’ll see where they’re getting their decks and usually, why. Good luck and happy hunting!

 

Decks featured:

  • Sacred Rebels by Alana Fairchild and Autumn Skye Morrison © Blue Angel Publishing
  • Sacred Creators Oracle by Chris-Anne Donnelly © Chris-Anne.com
  • Linestrider Tarot: Kickstarter Edition by Siolo Thompson ©
  • Heart of the Faerie Oracle by Brian Froud and Wendy Froud with Robert Gould © Harry N. Abrams
  • Enchanted Lenormand by Caitlin Matthews © Watkins Publishing
  • Deviant Moon Tarot Borderless Edition by Patrick Valenza © US Games Systems

 

An Exercise for Meditation or Astral Travel

Finding an exercise for mediation or astral travel can be difficult. It will largely depend on your personal preferences for environment and pacing. So while this exercise might work beautifully for your friend, it might not work well for you. Experiment until you find one that works for you.

If you’re looking for an adventure in astral travel, combine this exercise with Myridin’s information.

 

Close your eyes. Breathe in deeply, slowly, and hold for a moment, then release. Do this several times until you feel your muscles relax.

Picture a forest. The forest is in a valley and you are on top of hill somewhere in the middle of it. The trees are old, tall, and very green. The ground is grass, moss, and packed, dark earth. The air that you breathe in is warm but clean, smelling like sea salt and pine slightly.

In front of you, far into the distance, there’s a tall, cool mountain range. It rises up and clouds cover the top of the mountain. It is too far away to walk to.

Looking to your right, you see that the forest goes on for as far as you can see. To your left are more trees, deep, green, and lush. Behind you are more mountains, chilly and solid. In the very far distance, almost out of sight is a dirt road, leading into the sea of trees.

Above you the sky is a brilliant blue, almost aqua in it’s glory. White fluffy clouds drift by as if asleep.

Breathe in deeply and release. You are safe.

Where to go from here will be up to you. You can wander through the forest and find the road. Or you can hike deeper into the forest or towards the mountain. Or you can sit in the forest and enjoy a moment’s peace. Spend time watching the clouds or wait until night falls and stare at constellations in a star-filled sky you’ve never heard of before. The choice is yours.

When you are ready to return, sit down and close your eyes in your mind. Breathe in slowly, deeply, hold for a moment, and release. Repeat. Now envision the room you are sitting or laying in. Allow time to come back to yourself and focus on your breathing. When ready, open your eyes. You’re done.

 

One of the Best Sacred Offerings: Charity

One of the best offerings to make to, well, anyone is charity. Donating to charity in your deity’s names is wonderful. Not only is it a perfectly acceptable offering for a great very many beings but you’re also helping out as well.

 

Think outside of the box when it comes to your donations and charity! You can donate to a beekeeping association to honor a deity of agriculture. Volunteer at a women’s shelter for an offering to a goddess. Those beings associated with health and healing probably will enjoy an offering of volunteer work with the homeless or LBGTQIA groups. Helping out the elderly could work beautifully as an ancestral offering. Worship animals or nature? Donate to a shelter or organize that support them!

 

 

You can do other things too. Business owner? You can donate some of your proceeds or products to charity. I offer up healing salves and tarot card readings where the proceeds directly go to a local charity. Do you knit or sew for charity? You can enchant that too for safety and warmth. I also routinely help clean the beach and parks because those places tend to get forgotten in the winter time. And that, too, is an offering.

There’s lots of things you can do to help others and use that act as a sacred act for your own deities. People say this is the season of giving, so why not give an offering or magic?

 

How to Write A Money Candle Spell

Money spells, in my opinion, are the best spells for beginners. Why? Because you’re going to notice if you suddenly have more money, aren’t you? And they can be as easy or as complex of a spell as you’d like.

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Here’s a step-by-step guide for you to follow.

  1. Determine how much money you’ll need and why (although the why isn’t actually necessary). If you’re not fond of speaking out loud while doing spells or you feel like this would be more effective, write down the amount of money you need and why. Be specific. Pro tip: Start small. Need ten bucks? Ask for ten bucks. Need three thousand? Maybe it’s best to break it up into smaller amounts.
  2. Get yourself a candle. Any color will do but white, gold, silver, green, or whatever color your money is will do. A votive is probably the best and most common size but I actually recommend a little tea light. They’re cheaper and much faster to burn out.
  3. Get a magnet. Don’t look at me like that. You can buy packets of magnets in craft stores or craft departments of department stores or you can just select your least favorite magnet off the fridge and cut a bit of it off and use that. You place this in the hollowed out bottom of a candle or under the candle in the candle holder you intend to use.
  4. Get some herbs or ingredients. Never fear! You almost certainly have at least one of these on hand or can easily “borrow” some from the nearest coffee shop. These herbs should be luck drawing, money drawing, and prosperity drawing. Here’s my list of money drawing herbs and ingredients. You’ll need to at least have the herbs kind of finely chopped or powdered if you’re working with a small candle. Any non-herb ingredients can be placed in the hollowed bottom of a candle or under the candle on a candle plate. Your candle should be ready to go now.
  5. Light your candle and visualize. Some folks don’t do this but if you do, visualize you getting the money and spending it as you need it.
  6. (Optional) Chant a money spell. This chant can be anything you want from “bring me money, bring me X amount, bring me money, bring me X amount now.” to “Money comes but it does not go, bring the money, let it grow”. Or whatever you like. You can just say “I want X money”. Or nothing at all.
  7. Burn your things. While chanting (if that’s something you’re doing) burn the paper with the amount of money and purpose of money on it (if that’s something you’re doing), sprinkle the herbs into the lit candle slowly. When you feel done, then you’re done.
  8. Let the candle burn out. Keep whatever’s left of the candle somewhere until the spell’s been fulfilled. Congratulations!

 

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How to hollow out a candle: You can do this by flipping the candle over, and twisting a hole into the wax with a knife.

How to dress a candle: Rub the candle in money drawing oil then roll it in herbs. You can chant over the candle if you want and infuse it with your energy.

 

That’s it! It really is that easy. It’ll take some practice but once you get going you can create all sorts of new spells with this as a base. Have fun and happy casting!

Originally posted over on my tumblr.