Tag: Witchcraft 101

13 Ways to Break a Curse

Need to break a curse fast? Here’s 13 ways you can do it.

Not sure you’re cursed? Go here and check out the symptoms of being cursed. Have a cursed item? Here’s some tips to end that curse on an object. Want a list of herbs to help break a curse? Go right here.

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1 Smoke cleansing

The best method to use smoke cleansing to break a curse is a two step process. First, pick a non-toxic hex-breaking herb(s) and burn that, waving the smoke around the cursed person, object, or place. Then repeat with a cleansing herb selection. Incense made with or using the scent of hex-breaking herbs will also work.

2 Living Water

Water universally is used in witchcraft and magical practices. The key is to select living water such as a river, ocean, and so on to allow the curse to wash away.

Want a more ritualized version? Go to the ocean and stand in the water while the sun rises. Allow the waves to hit you as many times as you need to feel freed from the curse. Some say being hit seven times with a wave breaks bad luck.

3 Bath Water

Baths are not only relaxing but they can un-hex you too. Create a bath with non-toxic hex-breaking herbs. Soak in the bathwater and scrub your body. Drain the tub, run the bath again this time with relaxing and cleansing herbs. Soak in this water and let yourself drift off, hex-free.

4 Mop Water or Floor Wash

Infuse your cleaning water with hex-breaking herbs to really get in the nitty-gritty. A pinch of herbs for a bucket of water can go a long way and can be used on most surfaces. Don’t forget to wash doors, windows, walls, ceilings, and floors too. Test the water in small areas first in case of staining.

5 Drink it

Make a potion with non-toxic non-allergenic hex-breaking herbs. Drink this before bed. In the morning, make sure you urinate first thing when you wake up. Then shower and wash all your bedding.

6 Egg Method

Get an egg and roll it over your body. Get as much of your body as you can, especially the palms of your hands, your head, gentiles, torso, and the soles of your feet. Then take the egg to a crossroad away from your house and smash it on the ground. Leave in a different direction from which you came.

Candle Smoke

7 Pass It On

Pass the curse on to someone else. You can use a person, a poppet, or even a rock as your subject. You’ll have to have a pretty good idea what the curse is and you’ll probably need a pretty good idea on how to manipulate energy or spells in order to push the spell onto someone else but it’s definitely doable.

A lit candle can also be used to pass the curse on. Then simply blow the candle out and toss it in the trash to be done with it.

8 Reverse It

Reversing the curse or sending it back on the sender is a popular choice. Usually a mirror or reflective surface is used for this. Ideally, you’ll look at the mirror and pronounce that the spell once cast on you is now returned to sender. There are lots of spells of this nature out there so look for one, if you’re interested.

9 Pass Through a Graveyard

Someone could break bad luck by passing through a graveyard on a full moon. Ideally, the graveyard should have two entrances, allowing you to pass through one side and out the other. If that’s not possible, then walk the perimeter of the graveyard in a full circle and pass through the entrance once again. Make sure you can legally enter that graveyard after dark.

10 Destroy the Source

Curses often have some sort of physical component to it. Breaking the physical vessel of the spell may break the spell itself. “May” being the operative word here. Some casters are clever and set up security measures for this sort of thing.

Additionally, some spells are cast in the spiritual realms or use spirits to do the dirty work. A trip to the astral may be needed in order to break the spell, if that’s the case.

11 Blessing Upon You

A simple way to counter a curse is to seek out a blessing. Find a clergy member of any religion capable of giving a blessing and go through the steps needed to cleanse yourself and be blessed in the name of the appropriate entity.

Invoking the name of an entity or deity often works just as well as a full blessing.

spells and herbs

12 Through Fire

Take a fresh picture of yourself and print it out. On the back, write down the symptoms and bad crap that keeps happening to you. Cast this into a flame, let the picture burn completely, and dose the fire. You could say something like “as this fire burns, so does the one who curses me” or “as this fire dies, so does my curse.”

13 Spin around three times and spit

This is an old one but is so commonplace. Plus, it’s the easiest one by far.

 

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of ways to break curses and the above are just a select few. It’s best to arm yourself with a few techniques so you can handle any type of curse or negativity thrown your way.

How to Design Your Own Spiritual Calendar

The Wheel of the Year is one of the most popular new age systems of calendars but it’s not the only one out there. Hellenics and Heathens, for example, often follow a calendar of festival and holidays of historical relevance and reverence to their practice.

But what about everyone else?

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Source: Wikipedia.com

The Wheel of the Year is a fairly modern creation cobbled from historical (and in some cases still practiced) festivals and holidays, notably with Western European origins. But the world is not comprised with entirely Western European practices. Even if you don’t have a specific culture you work within, the Wheel of the Year might not appeal to you for many reasons. It feels weird to me to have a harvest festival when I don’t have a crop to harvest and it feels odd to celebrate the coming of spring when winter will go on for another six weeks in my neck of the woods. The Wheel of the Year works well for a select group of people and in a select climate and everything else is somewhat forced.

If you love the Wheel of the Year and want to use it, for whatever reason, that’s totally up to you. But if you want something different, stick around.

The first thing you really have to consider is selecting what days are important to you and how you’re going to incorporating your calendar with everyone else’s. Your family and fellow practitioners probably has certain holidays they consider important so that’s worth tracking as well. But what’s key is to pick out the events that you want to be most important to you.

calendar 1

You might start off with just a single day for now but give it time and thought and often you’ll find that the calendar fills up. Maybe you need a day of rest and meditation after each college semester or you want to hold a ritual to pray for family and friends on the third of every month. Do you want to mark down the times with the best waves as an ocean witch? Maybe gardening practitioners want to hold their spring festivals on the days the frost is over for the year. There’s so many places you can go with this!

Don’t forget to look at historical holidays too. Are there special holidays or days associated with deities, gods, or spirits you worship or work with? Are there heroes you want to honor? Is there some pop culture being you wish to emulate? Dates and seasons relevant to these entities can all be marked on your calendar. Maybe you just raise a glass in their name or maybe you devise a ritual for them. How you denote what to do on those days is up to you.

You may also want to consider what’s a cornerstone festival and what’s more secondary. Do you need to add something to your calendar as an obligation? Or maybe something holds a more personal significance to you. It may not be spiritual or religious but it’s still time you want to spend doing something personally important to you. Figuring this out can save your sanity and let you focus on what’s really important and what’s nice to do when you have the time.

For example, the first week of September I spend rereading the entire Harry Potter series. It’s not spiritually important but it has personal importance to me. For another example, I hold seer’s vigils for spirits and the dead to clear the crossroads every couple of months. This isn’t a witchcraft or spiritual thing. It’s more of being a friendly neighbor duty to me. If I ever moved away from the Crossroads house, I probably wouldn’t need to hold those vigils anymore. Both these events aren’t nearly as important as my Demon Festivals however so if it came down to only paying attention to one holiday, the Demon Festivals would win out for me.

calendar 2

 

You can have as many or as few holidays and festivals as you like and they can serve whatever purpose you want. Do you want a three day event where you spend as much time as possible having sex and conducting fertility rites with a consenting lover? Have fun! Do you want to dedicate five days of rituals and rites to an honored goddess? Go for it. Want to include birthdays, a cleaning schedule, or your family TV shows schedules? You can add that too. It might not be religious but it’s still important to mark down and is good for mental health. Plus, having everything in one place is usually a good idea.

Start with days and events that are important to you and go from there. My calendar is a mix of religious and spiritual events with practical events (like the vigils) and personal events like Harry Potter Week. They all have some sort of significance to me but they serve different purposes.

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You can physically design your calendar any way you want. I have my calendar copied in full on Google Calendar (as shown above) but I also write down major events in my business planner. I don’t bother copying it, however, on a hanging calendar as I feel like it’s not necessary. I really adore using a calendar like Moon Planner which is set up by the phases of the moon. (The English version is available under “For Foreigners” and only as a PDF right now.) This could be a great option if you’re very into moon-based rituals.

And that’s how you design a holiday calendar personalized to your practice and you! A calendar is meant to keep track of days and events that you consider important. You can add or subtract to that calendar at any given time so there’s no reason to not give it a try. It’ll take time so don’t be afraid to experiment and see what works for you. You can always add days in addition to the Wheel of the Year as well, so you can be as flexible as you want.

 

How to Tell If You’ve Been Cursed

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Being cursed is one of the the most fearful things for a practitioner or superstitious person. I’ll be honest with you: I’m pro-curse and I’ve been cursed in the past at least a dozen times. It’s a thing, it has a history, and people kind of need to get over hating on those people who do decide to curse.

I am passionate about education. And I feel that even if you’re not going to curse someone ever you still need to know how curses work so you can create effective protections. Knowing how you can be hurt is one of the best ways to prevent being hurt, after all.

Plus, even if you’re not going to curse someone that doesn’t mean someone else won’t curse you. It’s a two way street after all.

What is a curse?

A curse is a prayer, utterance, or spell with the intent to cause harm, trouble, or ill luck to befall another. The word hex has an Pennsylvania origin, from what I can tell, and it meant from meaning simply ‘witch’ or ‘to practice witchcraft’ to ‘to cast a spell on’ and now it has a darker meaning. That probably comes from the ill-reputation that magic workers had for a long time, if I had to hazard a guess. I personally define hex as a short-term spell meant to cause mischief and trouble. Like a casual curse or minor vengeance. But it is regional speech so you’re probably better off just using the word curse and calling it a day.

So what are the symptoms of a curse?

Curses can be really casual such as spilling coffee on yourself. An extreme example would be someone who spills coffee on themselves, has a car break down, has the tow truck driver drop the tow bar ON THE CAR crushing it, is late for work, finds out they’re being laid off, and has a lover break up with them on the same day.

Other things to look for:

  • Nightmares
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Loss of energy (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and so on)
  • Sudden legal troubles
  • Sudden relationship troubles
  • Sudden medical issues
  • Sudden financial issues
  • Random pain and aches
  • Scattered mind and unable to gather your thoughts, confusion, disorientation
  • Bad luck

Generally, it’s a culmination of several of these things at once. Please, please, please, check with doctors when you’re feeling aches, pain, or medical issues. Whether something medical is induce via a curse doesn’t mean that the curse breaking will actually REMOVE those issues. Same goes for any other issues that crop up. You’ll still have to deal with that shit. Removing the curse or hex means that nothing additional should crop up (beyond the normal “shit happens, that’s life” kind of deal)

How to tell if you’re cursed

The above symptoms should occur consistently and suddenly. They are persistent. You don’t ever catch a break. There are curses that last years and years but they are very rare. Most end up fading out over time. By and large, you can counter a curse simply by changing your lifestyle or behavior (but not always).

I’m going to be honest. There are some curses or hexes that won’t register because they’ve been designed to avoid detection. If you think this might be the case, simply move onto hex breaking and curse removal methods, followed by cleansing and protection.

However, there are some methods to determine if you’ve been cursed. Divination is the easiest way to go about it. Tarot cards, oracle cards, pendulums – you pick whatever method works best for you.

For a deity and/or spirit workers, I would ask for a sign of some kind within the next three days to confirm that there’s a curse. And then pray for help with the removal.

If you’re unsure still or want to be extra sure, just skip right onto the curse breaking and hex removing methods. Remember, don’t panic. You are your own worse enemy when you panic. (I know that’s nearly impossible for some folks with paranoia or anxiety but it’s something to keep in mind)

spells and herbs

How much do I have to worry about curses? Really?

You probably aren’t cursed. It’s just bad luck which happens to everyone. If you’re not a practitioner, then it’s even more likely that you’re not cursed. Sometimes bad shit just happens. But, when you deal with other practitioners, don’t be surprised to find that you’ve annoyed one of them and they fired back at you. I’m not saying that curses or hexes never happen, they absolutely do, but they’re not super common either.

But if you want to take some preventative measures, it can’t hurt either, right?

 

Adapted from my original post here.

Sources:

Dream Magic 101

Dream magic is something I did a lot as a teen but less now. However, it can be incredibly useful if you keep in mind that it’s a dream.

Here’s some quick things to keep in mind when dealing with dreams or dream magic.

  • Dreams do not mean reality. Don’t confuse the two.
  • Dreams are an incredibly personal and individual thing. Each person has their own system of personal symbolism derived largely from environment, past experiences, education, and culture. So an encyclopedia isn’t going to help a whole lot beyond giving you a jumping point for your search.
  • Sometimes dreams are just dreams.

Differences between dreams and astral travel

This is one of those fields that gets… murky when we talk about separation. I define it as this: dreaming is internalized and in your own head. Astral projection or Out of Body Experiences (OBE) take place in this realm or plane of existence but happen externally, outside of your body. Astral travel is an astral project or OBE that goes elsewhere, to another realm of plane of existence.

That doesn’t mean the realm of dreams aren’t connected to this realm or the spiritual realms. I think they are connected and you can slid in and out of them fairly easily. So it’s really more of a matter of semantics and fine-point differences that we can’t readily agree on.

I think of things this way: Does the experience matter to you in some way? Even if you only get a laugh out of it, that experienced mattered for that moment. If so, then it doesn’t matter what that experience actually was so long as you derive something from it. So a vision or religious experience could be gained from sickness or drug-induced and it can still offer relevant experience and meaning for you.

Dream Magic

As a whole dream magic can be lots of fun and interesting. Often used for helping out in shadow work or introspection, it can also be a form of divination. However, you can get a lot of inspiration or answers from dreams. Even objects or symbols like sigils can come from dreams.

The most common kind of spell seen here are simple, often using herbs or stones to help encourage dreaming. This typically is followed by statements of intent or keeping the exact purpose behind your dream magic in your mind before you fall asleep.

Some people will even dream of rituals or spells continuing after they’ve gone to bed. It’s like a second part of the spell or ritual. Pretty useful and is a neat way of putting out more energy into the world.

Many people have trouble remembering dreams. Just because you don’t remember a dream doesn’t mean the dream magic didn’t work. It may come back to you or maybe it’s done but you weren’t suppose to remember.

Dreamwalking

Because, as mentioned above, it’s commonly believed that the realm of dreams is a shared space or can be accessed by others, you can actually walk into someone else’s dreams.

You can even alter or implant ideas in someone’s dreams, encouraging them upon waking to do something you want them to do like call you or skip work. They might even look for something for you, even if they wouldn’t have thought of it before. These sorts of things tend to appear as unshakable feelings in the target.

This might cross into moral gray areas so tread carefully.

Examples

For example, I often dream of full, detail-chocked novels with complicated characters and twisting plots. Sometimes they’re nonsensical and other times they are so complete that they simply need to be written down.

My Lavender Dreams flying ointment came to me in a dream. Upon waking I immediately wrote down the ingredients and within an hour created a new flying ointment.

I’m also in the process of writing up my own oracle. Each card comes from a dream or has a dream inspiration.

Originally written over on tumblr.

Tips for Crossing Over, Being Safe and Coming Back (tumblr repost)

Breathing life into an old post. Tips for Crossing Over, Being Safe and Coming Back  is one of my more popular (and important) posts I wrote about two years ago. So here it is again.

ruiner85 asked: My bestie (thesecretlifeofpyris) recommended asking you about a reliable and safe way to contact spirit guides, I’m hoping to start out slowly & build a rapport so that I can go with my eyes open before even attempting anything astral. I’ve looked on-line and saw a lot about getting to the astral, but very little on staying safe or getting back. We’re currently researching formal rituals for contact and would appreciate any information or guidance you may be able to provide. Thanks

Hi! This is long and rambly. Hope your research is going well and sorry for the wait.

Unpopular opinion time! I don’t use spirit guides. I never have and, not to sound like an asshole, never saw the point in them. I still don’t. Logically I get it but…, eh, not really. To be honest, I don’t trust spirit guides. I don’t trust anyone who says they’ll helping someone just because they can. That sounds like a load of bullshit and I’ve NEVER met a spirit that’s acted like that. Ever. Even spirit guides get something by dealing with you, even if you don’t know what you’re giving them.

You don’t need them. Exploring the astral is like going to a large foreign city. You might speak some of the language but not all. It’s a weird culture and you don’t want to offend people so you’re super cautious because ajfdjalsj you don’t want to be an asshole but you also don’t want to be taken advantage of. Actually, I’m going to quote Doctor Who, since it’s always relevant on my witch blog:

“You can’t just read the guide book. You’ve got to throw yourself in, eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers – or is that just me? Stop asking questions. Go and do it”

– Ninth Doctor, Doctor Who, Episode 7, The Long Game.

All of that being said, the other side is a dangerous place and you have to be willing to accept that danger by going into it. Prepping yourself for it is a BRILLIANT IDEA THAT EVERYONE SHOULD TRY TO FOLLOW.

How to Stay Safe:

  • Remember that the astral/other side/spirit realms/faery land/whatever the fuck you call it IS DANGEROUS. IS NOT SAFE. IT IS DANGEROUS. I literally cannot stress this enough. It is not a playground.
  • Be flexible and adaptable. You were planning on heading towards a wheat field but ended up in a desert? Roll with it.
  • Don’t be aggressive (unless necessary). That’s pretty much asking for a brawl.
  • You have the right to defend yourself. And sometimes the best defense is offense. And running away is almost always an option, even if it isn’t the best option.
  • Remain vigilant and doubt everything. This sounds like a terrible way to live and it is. But this had saved my ass more times than I care to tell you.
  • Train yourself. Your body over there doesn’t have to be the same way here. Some people change shape depending on their mood, location, or job. I’ve met a few folks who never stop shifting, always moving. Others become their true selves. And more still just have little subtle changes in how they best reflect themselves. With this new ‘body’ you can do whatever you like. I recommend training your body to be respond yourself best. Maybe even train yourself with a weapon if you notice yourself getting into trouble.
  • Don’t get caught up on deciding what’s a spirit, fae, demon, god, etc. The lines get blurred. And really, what does it matter? They’ll either let you know or you can figure it out via context. And if you can’t, then it’s probably not important to know anyway.
  • If you’re paranoid then come up with a way to banish each and every being you meet.Seriously. If you’re that concerned about it, take the precautionary step. But if you are that concerned then you may wish to reconsider traveling to begin with. It’s not necessary. You can do witchcraft without it.
  • Don’t eat anything. This should be obvious. Sometimes you wander into faerie realms without knowing it. Accepting food offered (or eating random shit you find) is unwise and best and can get you seriously fucked up at worst.
  • Assume everyone’s out to get something. I have never met a spirit that isn’t looking for something. I know they might not say anything and maybe they’re acting really nice and generally are, but they ARE getting something. Maybe they’re studying humans. Or maybe they’re leeching energy off you or selling information about you to someone. You don’t know.
  • They are not human. Do not forget that. [UPG Alert!] I’m of the belief that many spirits don’t think the same way we do. They don’t hold things to the same level of importance, they certainly don’t seem to value the same things or have the same morals or ethics. You can’t expect them to act a certain way or do something in a particular fashion. It’s like expecting an alien from Pluto to be able to know all the intricacies and eccentricities of your culture.
  • Avoid politics. Politics is a game no matter who is playing it or what field it is on. A deadly, horrible, necessary game. Try to avoid it if possible. If you can’t (as many constant travelers cannot) at least keep your wits about you.
  • Know who’s top dog. There are a lot of spirits out there that  have territory. Some of those spirits are just holding that territory for someone bigger and badder than they are. And some of those territories have land that translates into a place on the physical realm. Yeah, you can literally walk into a spirit’s territory here by accident and have to deal with it over there.
  • You are not at home. Stop acting like it. You’re traveling. Tra-vel-ing. No one owes you a thing (unless they do) and acting like they owe you secrets and knowledge is a great way of getting no where fast and pissing everyone off. And ruining the party for everyone else.
  • You can get hurt. Spirit wounds happen. All the time. Sometimes it’s bruises, scratches, or random aches and pains that shouldn’t be there. I’ve woken up with visible six fingerprint and one thumb-sized bruises on each ankle even though I was in the house alone except for the cat and slept only three hours. I’ve noticed these tend to appear overnight and will last for much longer than normal, despite any treatment towards it (although, spells do seem to soften them). Hint: treat the wound on the spiritual realm as well as the physical.
  • Prepare yourself for the morning after. Using the assumption that you intend to travel at night, prepare your morning as you would if you expected a hangover. A hearty breakfast, lots of fluids, headache and nausea remedy. Sometime the herbals used to cross over will you give a hangover type feeling. This occurs even if the herbal is consumed via oil, ointment, or smoke. If it does occur, keep records and test it. Some people react to certain herbs that way, others discover it’s because they gave themselves too much or combined it with something.
  • Keep records. As mentioned above and previously, keeping records is highly important. I don’t even note in my records what I do (although that’s a personal preference). I just note that I crossed over at what time, what I took with the dosages (leaving a sample aside nearby my notes in case something goes wrong), and when I return what time I did that. This is also useful if you find yourself crossing over at random. Some folks get triggered by shit. It’s best to keep the records so you learn from it all. Do as you will. Most people keep everything in a journal. I keep mind in a binder and have a form I fill out each time, similar to a lab report. Ugh, paperwork but brilliant at the same time.
  • Your UPG is as valid and true as everyone else’s. UPG [unverified personal gnosis or some form thereof] means that what you’ve experienced is real to you. It’s valid and true if you say it is. No one should be able to deny your experiences (if they do then call them out although if you’re operating on historical or mythological fallacies someone will call you out on that.) That being said, your UPG does not have to match anyone else’s UPG. Sometimes they match up and that’s awesome. Others times you’re all by yourself. That’s awesome too. Just remember that just because you’ve experienced something and someone else experienced something else entirely, does not mean both of you aren’t correct. Treat other people’s UPGs as you’d like yours to be treated.
  • Spirits lie. They’re also assholes. All the time. Some they lie about who or what they are. They do it for reasons you can’t understand, for their own personal agenda, just for laughs, or to fuck with you. Gods are not exempt from this.

Getting back depends on how you got there in the first place. A lot of just ride it out till they come back. Others have a series of techniques like the ones below. It’s a good idea to keep trips short until you can find your way back without trying to (although, some people never get to that kind of familiarity with this so YMMV).

How to Get Back:

  • Return phrase. Some people have trained themselves to return to their senses when they utter a particular word or phrase. (Likewise, some people have trained themselves to cross over with a different word or phrase)
  • Alarms. If you travel while asleep or fall asleep while traveling, setting an alarm will shock you out of whatever realm you’re in, most of the time. This isn’t exactly recommended because it’s really disorienting. It’s best to use an alarm that starts softly and gains volumes as it goes. (You can usually find a digital one in a department store for around $12 USD, last I checked.) You can likewise try to use an mp3 that starts soft and gets loud to do the same thing if that works better for you.
  • Tether yourself. If you can, when you first cross over, try to extend yourself back and feel where your body is. Keep that feeling in the back of your mind and you’ll be able to find it again. You can make a “physical” reminder of this by wearing a rubber band or bracelet, ring, whatever, to remind yourself. Ensure that you appear on the other side with it.
  • If you travel with a spirit, that spirit can shove you back. (It should be noted that other spirits can do this too and will sometimes do it to be assholes). In non-allies, it’s a dominance play. Also known as a dick move.
  • Have someone sit by and wake you at a certain time. Switch out who watches who to make things even. And give that watcher something to do. It’s boring watching a sleeping or meditating person most of the time.
  • Have a start zone. Find a place where you will always first visit when you cross. If you appear anywhere else first, go directly to the start zone. This way, you will feel best connected to that spot and will feel most closely connected to reality there. Then you can jump back and forth as much as you’d like.
  • Food. This is going to sound weird. Traveling is draining to many people and I always recommend prepping a carb-filled or grounding food for yourself for after. If you eat the same thing after each trip (like ritual bread or whatever), remembering that smell, taste, texture, sight, etc can bring you back.
  • Keep records. As stated above. Not a way to get back but something to keep in mind.

I rambled a bit there and sounded a bit like a arse but I hope this helps!

[Originally posted here.]

Where to Start?

“Where do I start if I want to practice witchcraft/magic?” I get that question all the time, especially over on tumblr.

My first questions to them are as follow:

  • What are you looking for?
  • What are you interested in?
  • Are you looking for a religion?
  • Are you looking for a path to follow?
  • Are you looking for guidance?
  • Are you looking to affect the world around you?
  • What do you believe?
  • Do you want to work with others or in a group?
  • Do you want to make up things yourself or would you prefer to follow someone else’s lead?
  • How much academic studying do you want to do?
  • Are you looking for something with historical precedent or something more modern?

The last question is especially important. Knowing, or at least exploring, how the world works and how you believe the world works is incredibly important to to establishing UPG – unverified personal gnosis. Now UPG is commonly misused within the community. Most people take it as UPE – unverified personal experience. The mistake is easy to make but the difference is incredibly important: gnosis refers to something that is a foundation belief, something critical to your worldview. An example would be the knowledge that your deity is masculine rather than feminine. I use knowledge because UPG is often a knowledge, absolute faith. You KNOW that the UPG is true. It is the very basis of your world-view. It’s canon to you. UPE is you have this experience that you’re certain is real and happened but it’s not essential to you. [1]

Now that’s a lot of technical jargon that boils down to this: you don’t have to know what it is that you believe but you almost certainly believe something and you need to be willing to explore that.

Now I believe in magic. I KNOW it to be real. I’ve seen it work, I’ve used it. I’ts part of the heart of my UPG. What magic is, precisely, is an entirely different topic I won’t get into, primarily because we don’t know. My answer is different than others and their answer is different too. Various paths define it somewhat differently. [2]

All of the above isn’t the point and most certainly isn’t exactly what you’re here for. You’re here for a how to of where to start and what “rules” there are for it. And here they are:

“Rules” or the stuff you need to know about before you begin:

  • Practicing magic or witchcraft is a personal choice.
  • There are NO qualifying markers to decide who is an isn’t a witch or who is or isn’t practicing magic. If you define your practice as such, then it is. Similarly, do NOT label someone a title such as witch unless they identify as one. It’s rude at least and deeply offensive at worst. [3]
  • You have NO right to information. You have NO right to appropriate from native cultures or religions, especially if those cultures or religions have requested otherwise.
  • Cultural appropriation is a thing and you should know about it. [4]
  • Sexism, transphobia, homophobia, misogyny, racism, agism, predators, pedophiles, rapists, crepes, criminals, and sex offenders absolutely DOES exist in the community. They exist in ALL communities. Ignoring the issues because you want to promote a good image is negligent at best and criminal at worst.
  • Critical thinking is absolutely critical. So is critical reading. For many practices and paths, research and proper research is important and even necessary. Don’t trust everything you read and question everything. [5, 6, 7]
  • There is no Pope of witchcraft or magic. There are NO rules. There is no ONE deity or pantheon “we” must follow.
  • The Rede and Karma does not work the way you probably think it does. And they are not universal but specific to traditional Wiccan and Hinduism, respectively.
  • Wicca does not equal witchcraft and witchcraft does not equal Wicca. Witchcraft is an art, science, and technical skill of a witch while Wicca is a religion. One necessitates a religious foundation and and the other is entirely secular from it. Witchcraft can be added to most, if not all, religious practices. Witchcraft and magic are not nature-religions. They can be incorporated into a nature religion, however.
  • Books on history, superstitions, folklore, mythology, and anthropology are often keystones to many researchers. Those people who write those accessible 101 books? Those topics are the ones they gleam their information from.
  • Many practitioners takes years to develop their practice, some even take decades. Others can develop their practice in a few months. Progress as fast as you need to.
  • Remember while you may have a divine, known UPG truth of the world, it is RELATIVE. Your truth is not my truth and thus you don’t get to force your beliefs on others.

That’s the basic information you’ll want to know before you begin. This is the basis of how we generate conversation and how to start separating the bullshit from the good stuff.

Now, got that covered? Here’s what you need to do to start practicing witchcraft or magic:

  • Ask questions. Even if you have a stupid sounding one, ask it. Ask it to different people. Ask it of yourself.
  • Read everything. Well, not everything but go ahead and read topics that interest you and articles that are in opposition of what you believe. It can at least let you know what other people are talking about and at most will inspire you to new things.
  • Explore. Do you like the ocean? Ask sea witches what they do and read fisherman’s superstitions. Like cooking? Explore kitchen magic. You don’t need to focus on one thing. Witchcraft can very much be defined into separate categories like sea witchery or kitchen magic but it doesn’t have to be (and, likewise, you can absolutely just focus on one aspect and ignore everything else.)
  • If you want rules, restrictions, or a specific THING to follow, try a define tradition such as Wicca or another religion.
  • You can absolutely make up your own path. I’ve been doing it for close to twenty years.
  • Be afraid to make mistakes. Misspeaking a word in a spell will 99.9999999999% of the time result is absolutely no changes from the original intent.
  • Gods, spirits, guides, and people lie. They can be malicious. They can hurt you. And they can do it just for the fun of it. Don’t trust anyone just because they say they have your best interest at heart. They almost certainly have a game plan. Also, you don’t need them to practice witchcraft or magic and you can worship deities without magic or writchcraft.
  • Don’t buy things in one go. Witch kits are often useful but I’ve seen far too many practitioners going into stores with lists of things and you end up not needing half of it. Start small and cheap and pick up things as you go. In addition to being gentler on the wallet, each new piece added to you practice will mean that much more to you. You don’t need an altar or a work space or tools, but many find them useful or important to their practice.
  • Find a teacher. There are absolutely people out there that teach witchcraft or magic. i’m one of them. Most often they require payment of some kind or another in return for their time. This isn’t an option for everyone and sometimes not one you’ll want. I, for example, never wanted a teacher. I wanted to learn and hone my craft myself.
  • Find a coven, community, or group. This, again, might not be for everyone but it could be for some. You can learn things from one another and can always leave if you don’t like it.
  • Go ahead and jump right in. You don’t have to be serious business about it all right now. Just try your hand at it and see what happens.

Yeah, yeah, but that’s not STUFF. That’s not spells and shit. There’s no magic there.

Here’s the magic how to:

  • Starting with a protection spell is probably the safest way to start… but money spells are the way to go to prove it works. Do both and enjoy the outcome!
  • Energy manipulation is an easy way to learn a lot about what people talk about with energy.
  • Offerings of water, clear alcohol like vodka, incense, bread, or honey are good for a basic offering to any deity or spirit.

That’s it? Yeah, that’s it. If you want to do spells, just jump the hell in. There’s more background information to be known than anything else.

Other things you really should read that will help (besides my resources)

Now, as mentioned in a previous post, I am working on getting up online classes for witchcraft. It’s a slow process as I’m a rather spontaneous teacher that prefers to adapt to a singular student rather than a unknown group but it’s still happening. Also, beginners can always ask me question here or on any media form I’m in.

Sources:

  1. What does UPG mean? http://thiscrookedcrown.tumblr.com/post/56115685958/what-does-upg-mean-ive-never-heard-the-term-except-on
  2. Rambling on This Crooked Crown’s personal belief on what magic is: http://thiscrookedcrown.tumblr.com/post/67771760381/what-would-you-say-makes-spells-work-youve-said-its
  3. Scroll down to read my breakdown of this post: http://thiscrookedcrown.tumblr.com/post/26522396392/deep-within-your-belly-come-all-witches-be-one
  4. Rant on Cultural Appropriation: http://thiscrookedcrown.tumblr.com/post/18294572929/a-pseudo-rant-on-appropriation-in-paganism-and-research (check the notes).
  5. On critical thinking and reading: http://thiscrookedcrown.tumblr.com/post/39901394182/okay-this-may-sound-really-really-dumb-but-how-do
  6. Hellboundwitch’s how to read a fucking book: http://blog.hellboundwitch.com/post/27502384651/how-to-read-a-fucking-book-i-cant-teach-you-how-to
  7. Spiritscraft’s how to read a 101 pagan book: http://spiritscraft.tumblr.com/post/27508266438/how-to-read-a-101-pagan-wicca-witchcraft-book