Ripples

Advice I wish someone gave to me when I was starting Witchcraft

Here’s a summary of what I think we witches need for foundation of the craft. Don’t get me wrong! Even I started from the middle back to basics and still learning more but if this means helping baby witches start, I’m here to help.

☕ First of all..Witchcraft is NOT limited to Wicca Pagamism. That means, a lot of rules that you think applies to all witches doesn’t really apply to you. Get me?

☕ Don’t even bother with the labels. It’s your craft. That makes it unique onto itself.

☕ Make your own set of rules and/or reminders early on. Make your own set of goals to follow.

☕ Magic does not replace hard work. REMEMBER THAT. Instead, use it to help you with work.

☕ As much as possible, stay away from the dark side of things. Do yourself a favor and don’t practice the craft for raising the dead or illegal matters

☕ Not all spells are intricate and habe a ritual itself. A lot of spells include Mental Imaging as I call it or Imagining. That’s a powerful tool.

☕ That said: You 👏 Don't👏 Need 👏 Equipment 👏 Why? As I said!! The power of the mind and projecting your own intentions are what you have to practice. Use a candle if you must if it helps but you don’t need it.

☕ Cleanse your room or house. Trust me. You’ll sleep better, you can see dreams better, you’ll feels better. How? Clean your room, open your curtains, let the sunlight flush out the bad energies at every corner, give warmth to the monster under your bed or that spirit that likes misplacing your things..~

☕ Full Moon magic? Simple. CAST YOUR SPELLS ON A FULL MOON. Yah duh. Yes. Even I just learned this.

☕ Tarot cards expensive? Ha!! Download a tarot app, screenshot the cards, print it. BOOM. Your own set of cards.

☕ Doubting you can’t use spells online? Sweetie, they’re there for a reason. Sure it’s not yours but hey! It’s that 1% of how you do it that makes it yours too.

The list goes on~!! So many things to say but these are basically advices that I wish someone told me when I was starting out.

There are a LOT of sites that help you through your path, some offer free crash course of the whole shebang and you’ll learn a lot! That said, don’t stop the research, don’t be discouraged by the pretty altars–Best way to practice is to try it now. Cast your first spell! Write your own spells! Get that app for tarot!

Don’t let anyone tell you how you do your magic. It’s yours.

Honestly, we should write research papers for these things..just saying..

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green magick for the home

an apple can be used for a simple house blessing; cut an apple in half, and eat one half in your home. place the other outside, in the backyard or front porch, as an offering to good spirits for protection and warm energy.

bay leaves can be placed in the corners of a room to banish evil from it and protect those within it.

a cactus can be grown near a house to offer strong protection; even stronger protection is gained by planting cacti at all for corners of the home.

planting catnip in the garden, or hanging it above your door, will attract good spirits and good luck.

chamomile can be sprinkled about in the home to break curses and unwanted spells cast on or in the home.

cilantro brings peace and harmony to a home.

clover can be sprinkled around a home to banish unwanted spirits.

garlic can be hung in a home to bring its inhabitants closer together.

ivy plants can be hung to deter unwanted guests.

lavender can be burned and its ashes sprinkled about to cultivate rest and tranquility within the home.

orange peel can be placed in windowsills to bless the house with angel and sun energy.

peppermint can be burned as a smoke cleanser to remove illness and negative energy from a new home.

a sprig of pine can be hung in the home to bless it and its inhabitants.

sachets of saffron can bring happiness to the home.

thyme burned or hung inside brings good health to its residents.

Why Your Spells Don’t Work

You set your intention. You had all the correct correspondences. You even timed your spell with the appropriate moon phase. And yet – no results. What gives? 

Failed spells happen to the best of us, and for a variety of reasons. But a spell gone wrong doesn’t necessarily mean that magic isn’t real or that you’re bad at witchcraft. Magic is complicated, and there are a lot of reasons it might not behave the way you want it to. Here are some of the most common causes of ineffective spells: 

1. Lack of real-world follow through

Magic is meant to be used as a tool to supplement your mundane efforts – not as a substitute for them. How can you expect your job hunting spell to bring in results if you aren’t applying for jobs? 

Magic does not exist in a vacuum, and it can’t make something out of nothing. If a spell doesn’t bring you the desired result, make sure that your non-magical actions are aligned with what you are trying to manifest. 

2. What you’re trying to manifest isn’t a realistic possibility

Wait, what? Isn’t magic supposed to be, well… magic? Shouldn’t you be able to ask for whatever you want and get it? Yes and no.

Magic is simply a way of directing energy. Magic can’t defy the natural laws of the universe. It can’t make something happen unless it was already a potential possibility.

If your intention is unrealistic for where you are right now, try splitting it up into a multi-step process. No spell is going to make you a billionaire overnight, but magic could help you get hired at a better paying job… and then get promoted… and then get offered a profitable side gig… etc. Starting small and working your way up is always going to produce stronger results, because you laid the foundation first.

3. Your intention was either too vague or too specific 

Whether you use written petitions or spoken incantations, clearly stating your intention is an important part (maybe THE most important part) of any spell or ritual. A good intention is specific enough to get you the results you want, but open enough to let those results manifest naturally.

Let’s say you do a money spell, and your intention for the spell is simply, “I have more money.” If you find a penny on the ground the next day and pick it up, technically that is more money than you had before. A better alternative would be to use an intention like, “I have enough money to buy ___,” or “I have enough money for everything I need and want.”

Using an intention that is too specific creates the opposite problem. Let’s say you want to manifest a scholarship to a specific school. You do a candle spell with the intention, “I have been chosen for the John Smith Scholarship at Jane Doe University.” But maybe the John Smith scholarship had already been awarded by the time you did your spell. Maybe there’s another scholarship at the same school that would be a better fit for you, or maybe you’re eligible for a grant that would make tuition more affordable. A better intention for your spell would be “I have enough financial aid to easily and affordably attend Jane Doe University.”

Magic always follows the path of least resistance, so you want to make sure that your intention is specific enough to give your magic a clear direction, but open enough to allow it some flexibility. 

4. Lack of focus/concentration

We all know the struggle. You’ve been planning this ritual forever, and it’s finally the full moon, but you’ve got a really full schedule today. If you hurry, you can probably squeeze it into the thirty minute window between school and work, right? 

If you say a few quick words and burn some incense before you head out the door in the morning, that totally counts as a spell, right? 

Not so much. Rushed, lazy, and/or half-assed spells rarely, if ever, work. Spells revolve around the raising and direction of energy, and that requires two things: a clear intention (see above) and intense focus on that intention. If you don’t have the time/energy/mental capacity to focus, it’s best to take a break, have a self care day, and come back to your spell some other time. 

5. You’re subconsciously blocking your own results OR you did a spell for someone else who isn’t open to it

I decided to lump these two together, because they’re different variations of the same issue. 

Whenever you are doing magic on yourself, it’s important that your mindset is aligned with your intentions. You can do love spells all day long, but if deep down you don’t believe that you’re worthy of love, that belief is going to block your spells from working. This is why mindfulness, psychology, and self care are all such important parts of a successful witchcraft practice. It’s also why I recommend doing the mental work before you sit down to ritual. 

If you did a spell on yourself, or are trying to manifest something for yourself, and it just isn’t working, I highly recommend setting some time aside for journaling and meditation and asking yourself 1.) if this is really what you want, and 2.) if you truly believe that you can have it.

The whole mindset thing gets even more tricky when you’re doing magic on behalf of another person, because their energy is also at work in the situation and could be at odds with yours. For example, if you do a spell to help a friend land a job, but that friend believes that they’re totally underqualified and could never get it, they probably won’t get the job even if you did everything “right” in your spell. 

This should go without saying, but it is extremely unethical to use magic to mess around in someone else’s head. Even if you think you know what’s best for them, they need to be open to it. If someone is blocking the spells you do on their behalf, all you can do is try to be supportive and find other ways to help them out.

Other (Rare) Reasons for Failed Spells

If a spell goes wrong, it will almost always be for one of the above reasons. But maybe you did everything “right” – you did the mental work first, had a strong, realistic intention, put lots of focus into your spell, and followed through in real life – and you still aren’t seeing results. There are a couple of other things that could be blocking your spells, but they’re very uncommon so I’m not going to talk about them in as much detail. These may be things you want to look into if you really, genuinely can’t think of any other cause. 

It’s possible that another witch has done magic that cancels out or blocks yours. This is not common, and it does NOT mean that someone has cursed you. It could be as simple as two witches unknowingly casting spells with opposite intentions, which end up cancelling each other out. (For example, maybe two different people both cast a spell to get the same job. Obviously, they can’t both get that job.) This is why it’s never a bad idea to incorporate a protective element into your spells to block outside interference.

There is a very, very remote possibility that someone has placed a curse on you specifically to block your magic. However – and I cannot stress this enough – this is VERY uncommon. If you were cursed you would know it, or at least know that something was very wrong in your life. If you feel like you have been cursed or hexed, I recommend looking into uncrossing spells, which are specifically designed to undo negative magic.

It’s also possible that a higher power is intervening. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a deity, although it certainly could be. Most witches believe in some form of fate or destiny, and it’s possible that your spell didn’t work because what you asked for is not in alignment with your destiny. In these situations, really the only thing you can do is surrender to the bigger picture. 

What to use when in Witchcraft -

Ok so I am gonna say this is my personal reference, its mainly through associations. You might TOTALLY disagree and thats chill!

Its more something to think about and a guideline of what I use myself…

Candle Magic:

Carve a candle when…. the candle represents the target, in sympathetic magic. When, essentially, the candle is a poppet and lighting it is a symbol of destruction or empowerment to the target.

Place something under the candle or before it when… you are doing general candle magic, when the candle represents empowering a wish, idea or concept.

Anoint the candle when… doing work with spirits and gods, when you mark the candle for a special purpose, when doing high magic.

Herbs and plant work:

Use dry herbs when… it is convienent to do so, when the herbs are out of season or when you need to store them in a jar or bottle for a long time.

Use fresh herbs when… the spell is very earth orientated, when doing magic on behalf of another or when the magic is sympathetic so that the herbs represent the target, within kitchen witchery.

Use flowers when… when the spell concerns love and sex, or perhaps fertility and attraction, due to flowers being the reproductive parts of the plant.

Use fruit when when… working with children as a target, or with children practising. When you work with fertility and abundance spells.

Use wood and twigs when… when the spell is for protection or binding, for hardiness.

Burn herbs (recaning/incense) when… you wish to cleanse or banish, or invoke an atmosphere - that being, for divination using herbs that are said to open up your perceptions, when banishing, burning acrid or pungent herbs.

Use oil infusions when… you wish to anoint something, when you wish to mark something permanently.

Use floral waters (rose water etc) when… dealing with spirits and gods, for glamour as it has a long history of being used to beautify.

Crystals:

Use metals (haematite, copper, ores etc..) when… you work in protection, when you do energy work due to the conductive properties of metal.

Use shell, pearl, coral and such when… you work in sea magic, when you work within emotional magic due to the element of water.

Use points when… you wish to direct magic to a target.

Use tumble stones when… you wish the magic to be gentle or manifest at a certain place on the body on a target.

Use geodes when… you work in protection, when you work with glamour aimed to obscure and hide.

Knot magic:

Use cotton when… it is convenient.

Use silk when… doing spells that benefit the target.

Use ribbons when… love spells and wealth spells, as well as confidence and beauty spells. Spells to ensure victory.

Use rope when… doing spells that aim to hurt or weaken the target, binding especially.

Poppets:

Use cloth when… the spell aims to benefit who the poppet represents, use particular care when sewing or cutting, choose colours that are appropriate to them.

Use wax when… you wish to manipulate the target.

Use clay when… wish to create fetches or servitors, when you wish to create permanency.

Use twigs when… you wish to bury or throw the poppet out, when you want the poppet to be easily destroyed by breaking or setting on fire.

Sigils:

Use an alphabet grid or circle when… you wish the sigil to be more random and less attached to you.

Combine the shapes of letters from a sentence… when your sigil is very specific and a short term goal.

Use your own personal symbols when… you want the magic to be connected to you, when it is personal.

One Hundred Witches

🖤💜Master Post💜🖤

A handy resource guide of 100+ witches from across history, literature, mythology, and pop culture. Not all of these women would have identified as such, but many were persecuted and marginalized in the name thereof. This is not complete, nor comprehensive. I will be adding to it as I continue the project, as there are many, many witches I have yet to include. 

📜Witches from History📜

Hypatia (350/370- 415)

Joan of Arc (1412-1431)

Mother Shipton (1488-1561)

Agnes Waterhouse (1503-1566)

Agnes Sampson (1591)

Alse Young (1600-1647)

Tituba

Catherine Deshayes (1640-1680)

🗄Historical Compilations🗄 

In Memoriam 

Red Haired Witches

📖Witches from Modern History📖

Occultists🔮

Pamela Coleman Smith

Dion Fortune

Helena Blavatsky

Marie Laveau*

Mothers of Modern Witchcraft/Wicca🕯 

Doreen Valiente

Monique Wilson

Maxine Sanders

Edith Woodford-Grimes

Janet Farrar

Eleanor Bone

Margaret Murray

Vivianne Crowley

Old Dorothy Clutterbuck

Lois Bourne

Patricia Crowther

Sybil Leek

American Witches and Pagan Elders🌿

Margot Adler

Starhawk

Selena Fox

Silver RavenWolf

Zsuzsanna Budapest

Laurie Cabot

Jeane Dixon

Stevie Nicks

W.I.T.C.H.*

🎥Witches from Film/Literature📚

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Eglantine Price

Bell, Book, and Candle

Gillian Holroyd

The Witches of Eastwick

Alexandra Medford, Jane Spofford, Sukie Ridgemont 

Witches from Oz

Glinda

Mombi

Wicked Witch of the West

Witches from Narnia

Jadis, The White Witch

Witches from Harry Potter

Minverva McGonnogal

Bellatrix Lestrange

Hermione Granger*

Animated Disney Witches

Ursula 

Maleficent 

Madam Mim

Grimhilde (The Evil Queen)

Practical Magic

Sally and Gillian Owens

Frances and Bridget Owens

The Addams Family

Grandmama Addams

Hocus Pocus

The Sanderson Sisters: Winifred, Mary, Sarah

Wicker Man

Miss Rose

Witches

Grand High Witch

Rosemary’s Baby

Minnie Castavet

The Craft 

Nancy Downs/Fairuza Balk

Rachel True

The VVITCH

Thomasin* 

Miyazaki Witches

Kiki

Yubaba and Zeniba*

Pirates of the Caribbean

Tia Dalma 

Macbeth

The Weird Sisters/Three Witches*

📺Witches from Television📺

Bewitched

Samantha Stephens

Endora

Aunt Clara

Sabrina The Teenage Witch

Sabrina Spellman

Hilda and Zelda Spellman

Game of Thrones

Melisandre

The Magicians

Julia Wicker, Margo Hanson, Alice Quinn, Kady Orloff-Diaz

Penny Dreadful 

Vanessa Ives

Joan Clayton

Charmed 

The Halliwell Sisters: Phoebe, Prue, Piper, and Paige.

Cartoons 

Witch Hazel (Donald Duck)

Witch Hazel (Looney Tunes)

Halloweentown 

Agatha Cromwell

Buffy the Vampire Slayer 

Willow Rosenberg

American Horror Story: Coven 

Miss Robichaux’s Academy*

🏺Witches from Mythology/Folklore🏺

Biblical

The Witch of Endor

Lilith

Greek 

Cassandra

Calypso

Circe

Medea

The Graeae/ The Moirai

Hecate

British Folklore

Jenny Greenteeth/Nelly Longarms/ Peg Powler

Black Annis

Allison Gross

Arthurian Legend 

Morgan le Fay

Nimue: The Lady of the Lake

Italian Folklore 

Aradia

La Befana

Celtic Mythology

Ceridwen

Slavic Folklore

Baba Yaga

American Folklore

The Bell Witch

📝Witches from Children’s Books📝 

Room on the Broom

Witch

Strega Nona

Strega Nona

Mother Goose

Mother Goose

📰Witches from Comic Series📰

Wendy the Good Little Witch

Wendy

X-Men/Avengers

Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff)

*denotes I was unable to complete their original post. I will be returning to these and adding a full analysis.

This list stems from my original project that I did for the 100 days before Halloween 2018. The nature of the project I discuss in my 1st post, which happened to be The Witch of Endor. I will be adding dozens other witches I did not get to in the initial 100 over time, and plan on producing a second series for male witches. Stay Tuned!

On the horizon

Bonnie Bennett (Vampire Diaries)

Witch of the Waste (Howl’s Moving Castle)

Mary Poppins

Louise Miller (Teen Witch)

My thoughts on the growth of the witchcraft community

Hi, I’m Rex. And I’ve been an active member of the witchcraft community since I started studying it in 2005.

For the past few years, I’m sure everyone in the witchcraft and pagan communities have noticed the sudden *boom* of interest in what we do. Crystals are becoming trendy, you can purchase books on magic at Walmart, and many, many younger people are posting about their journey into witchcraft on their social media.

On Tumblr, #witchblr was one of the most active tags of 2020, Reddit has seen a growth in related posts, and we’re all quite familiar with just how large the “WitchTok” community has grown on TikTok.

I’ve seen the influx of people approaching those of us who have 10, 20, 30 something years of experience in the community, proudly labeling themselves as a “baby witch”, wishing to learn as much as they can about the craft. And that’s GREAT! It’s AWESOME! I LOVE sharing my knowledge with all of these new people joining the community!

However, I’ve also seen an increase in comments such as:

“This sucks, witchcraft is so popular now and it’s being used like a fashion statement.”

“I can’t go anywhere without hearing some Gen Z kid claim to be a ~Space Witch~.”

“Ugh! These young kids are embarrassing us and making things up about witchcraft!”

“I used to be bullied as a teenager for being Wiccan, now it makes you cool.”

Folks, the reality is that we as a people are becoming more and more open to alternative lifestyles. Humanity is opening up and becoming more in touch with their spirituality. And that is a good thing.

Yes, it sucks that we got bullied and were made to feel like outcasts when we were young practitioners, but just because we struggled, doesn’t mean we should wish the same out of envy on the newcomers. If anything, we should be gracious that they’re safe.

The fact that we have younger people who can safely practice witchcraft THIS openly means that we did something right.

We made it safer and more acceptable to read about the occult.

We made it safer and more acceptable to talk about holistic medicines.

We made it safer and more acceptable to talk about energy, the stars, the planets, and everything that we adore about the universe.

And yes, I’m just as guilty of rolling my eyes when I hear someone claim that a certain crystal is going to destroy their life because it’s super powerful (looking at you, Moldavite), but we all started somewhere. Just because we started out by reading Scott Cunningham and Raymond Buckland in the back of a Borders or Waldenbooks doesn’t make us any better than these younger people who are getting their first taste of the craft from TikTok, Amino or Tumblr.

It’s our role as people with more experience in the community to gently nudge these kids (and adults) in the right direction, if we so choose to be teachers. If you’d rather not be a teacher, then at least be patient with these kids.

I’m personally grateful that witchcraft is more accessible in this day and age. When I was a young witch back in 2005, it definitely wasn’t. Unless you had a local metaphysical shop or a bookstore in driving distance, we were basically SOL. I kinda wish that I could have just jumped on the internet and found PDFs of what I wanted to learn! And, I’m certain that these kids jumping into the craft in 2021 will grow to be wonderful practitioners, and more knowledgeable than us one day– because that’s the point. We want the generation after us to always be better.

And y’know, maybe there WILL be people who are only jumping onto this for a trend… That isn’t new though. I knew many people in middle school and high school who read books on Wicca just because all of their other friends were, and then never picked a book up again. We still shouldn’t shame people for their curiosity. 

So, as someone who has been doing this for a while, this is what I have to say to those who are new to this awesome community:

Never stop reading! Read as much as you can, the best knowledge that you’ll get is what you pick up yourself.

Not everything is set in stone. What works for one practitioner may not work for you.

Practice discernment and question everything. 

Don’t be culturally appropriative, treat what is sacred to others with respect, and understand that not everything is for you.

Don’t eat essential oils… Please.

Everyone is going to tell you their own meaning of a crystal. Pick up the crystal yourself and figure out what it does for you personally.

Other witches and practitioners are not obligated to share their personal practice, spells, tradition, etc. with you, please be respectful of that. You will likely grow to keep certain things to yourself as well.

Other witches and practitioners are not obligated to be your teacher. While many of us like to teach, there are still a lot of us who would rather not, and that decision needs to be respected.

Listen to what experienced practitioners have to say about safety.

And, lastly:

There is nothing wrong with making mistakes and being curious. None of us got it right when we first started. Learn from your mistakes, and you’ll see growth.

The official purple lesbian haircut

And their short blonde haired gfs

I saw this on r/mademesmile and reminded me of this sub lol