beth

uk | 21 | skeptical witchling

[beththeskepticalwitch]

Saved posts

Here are links to resources/information I like or want to refer back to:

Skeptical witchcraft:

What is skeptical witchcraft? by Sarah Lisbeth

This post by @beorhtsgrimoire

Psychological witchcraft:

Q&A by Rachael Stephen - the video that first introduced me to psychological witchcraft

The psychological model of magic by Áine Órga

Educational blogs:

@hallow-witxh

@eclectic-witchling

_

[malefixium]

[w-itchtips]

that's so beautiful, I love it.~

[carpethedamndiem]

"Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the Earth are never alone or weary of life."

- Rachel Carson

[dumbbbunnnyy-deactivated2021021]

basic ass witch tips 🔮

on some kind of medication, including but not limited to hormonal birth control, heart medication, and anti-depressants? you better double check with your doctor or pharmacist before you drink that new tea you just bought.

always, always, always tell your doctor or check with your pharmacist before trying any kind of herbal supplement, whether it’s something you made yourself or something you bought at the store.

have sensitive skin? dilute your essential oils before putting them anywhere near your skin or in your bathtub.

have a diagnosed medical condition? talk. to. your. doctor. before ingesting anything or putting anything on your body that you aren’t familiar with.

don’t. drink. essential. oils. essential oils are not consumable!!!!!

don’t put citrus oil on your skin and then go out into the sun unless you want a badass chemical burn.

don’t put any kind of damn essential oil on your skin without diluting it with a carrier oil. almond oil? olive oil? coconut oil? i don’t care. dilute your essential oils. 

don’t put essential oils on your animals, diluted or not, point blank. 

oh, and don’t put fucking crystals in their water bowls to “cleanse their chakras” or whatever the fuck. 

speaking? of crystals? don’t put crystals in your bodily orifices. don’t put crystals in your own damn water. just don’t. 

thinking about burning some kind of random herb in your house? you better make sure it’s not gonna release noxious fumes and murder your family. 

speaking of random herbs - got the urge to forage for some herbs out in the wild? wear. fucking. gloves.

don’t burn incense or herbs around your pets. they have tiny, fragile respiratory systems and are super sensitive to that kinda shit. 

gotta burn a candle down completely for a spell? you better not leave that shit unattended unless you want a house fire. 

always. practice. fire. safety. that means, don’t go burning shit outside during a burn ban. 

gods help me - if you wanna harvest your own blood via finger stick, stay away from dirty safety pins and needles and invest in some lancets. 

drinking dirty water from outside can literally give you worms. boil your damn water. 

oh yeah. moon water. everyone loves to make moon water. you know what happens when you leave a jar of water at room temperature? it stagnates and grows bacteria. refrigerate that shit. 

fresh herbs or other things of that nature left at room temperature can also grow super harmful bacteria, for example, raw garlic submerged in oil at room temperature is a breeding ground for botulism and mold. 

edited on october 27, 2018

[wyrd-gazer]

You don’t have to know every single thing in witchcraft.

I remember being overwhelmed when I saw how many different things there were to learn when I first started exploring witchcraft. I’ve seen others getting overwhelmed too.

You don’t have to learn spell jars, spell candles, astrology, sigils, etc. You don’t have to learn every type of divination. If you want to, that’s great; but there’s no need to if you don’t want to.

Learn what you feel drawn to. Learn what interests you. You’ll burn yourself out if you try to learn everything at once.

[lady-0f-the-wood]

A few of my many vials of goodies ♡

《 EDIT: This post has been getting a lot of reblogs and likes, so I figured I'd talk about my vials a bit. So, I collect different plants, herbs, insects, and other neat things that I have foraged. Each vial has something completely different in it, and they each tell a unique story. In this picture, the vial on the far left has a queen wasp sitting atop some dried flowers from my pear tree. All summer long I would set on my porch and watch this Queen wasp build her nest. I always got close and paid attention to all of the hard work that she put in her nest. She had a few other smaller wasps that had joined her in time, and they worked hard as well, but nothing like this Queen. Well, when it started to get colder out, and when she was ready to leave her nest alone, she came down to the porch. I walked outside one day, and she stung me on my foot. I had accidentally stepped on her. 😔 I just found it so ironic that I had spent months observing this Queen's hard work and dedication, just for her to kick my ass for her grand finale, like a true Queen. I obviously had to keep her. So now, whenever I look up at that vial, I am reminded of the hardwork, leadership, and determination that this Queen had shown me over the summer, and I get motivated to do the same. Maybe you can as well! 》

[beththeskepticalwitch]

On skeptical witchcraft:

"I realized that most of what I was doing already could be explained through science/psychology, with the placebo effect being the main aspect of it. If I was doing the spells and the rituals in the same way that others do and they were having the intended outcome, how could I not call it magic? Even if the belief behind the way it works differs from most’s. It is about why I do what I do, and what I do to achieve my desired outcome; it is not about how it is achieved."

Quote from @beorhtsgrimoire (reposted with permission)

[eclectic-witchling]

The Eight Sabbats and The Wheel of the Year: My Digital Grimoire Series

*these are my notes, please do not repost as your own!*

[coffinsandcauldrons]

The witch experience is just

“Oh shit is it the full moon today”

“What do you mean the sabbat is tomorrow?”

“Did I miss the new moon again?”

“I forgot what day the solstice is, wait it’s today???”

“I need to this at exactly midnight, 1am already??”

[beththeskepticalwitch]

you'd think as an ex-catholic, I'd be an expert in being prepared for lots of celebrations and sabbats throughout the year, but apparently not🤣

[hallow-witxh]

Easy Kitchen Replacements to Include Magic

You wanna step into kitchen magic but are not sure where to start? Let's try something simple; easy switches that you can make to step into the world of kitchen witchcraft.

Tap water -> moon/sun water

Kitchen herbs -> altar herbs

Plain cooking oil -> blessed oil or herb-infused oil

Storebought stock -> homemade stock made with moon/sun water infused with intention and ingredient properties

Plain spatula/spoon -> wooden spatula/spoon with runes carved in or drawn on it

Dried herbs -> fresh herbs (Farmers' markets often have affordable herbs!)

Rinsing produce in tap water -> rinsing produce in moon/sun water

Slicing a line in homemade bread dough -> carving a rune

Growing flowers in your garden -> growing kitchen herbs in your garden

Boiling in tap water -> boiling in moon/sun water (You can make moon/sun water in gallon jugs!)

I have a whole bunch more of these, so let me know if you'd like another post like this one! As always, do your research, be safe, and blessed be.

Support your local witch on Ko-Fi or at my store, Hallow Grove!

[witchy-oates]

My advice for baby witches!

Here is a ton of stuff I wish someone told me 7 years ago.

You do not have to be Wiccan.

You do not have to worship any deity.

You do not have to believe everything you read on the internet.

Witchcraft cannot bend the laws of physics or the material world.

Witchcraft cannot give you the ability to fly, change your eye color, change your species, etc.

There are many “fluffy” websites out there full of misinformation like the above point.

You do not need to have a fancy journal where you write your shit down.

You can do that with a computer or in a cheap notebook. But if you want to go all out, go ahead!

Witchcraft does not do all the work for you. If you cast a spell to get an A on a test, you best study too.

Do not let others shame you from doing what works for you.

This includes cursing. Please don’t shame others if they want to curse!

If you want to do dream work or astral work, start keeping a dream journal now. 

You do not have to spend an arm and a leg for spell ingredients. 

If you’re closeted, paper magic and energy magic are your friends.

If you’re going to curse, ground and cleanse before AND after.

Understand that every spirit/entity you meet might not be your friend and you may have to get rid of it.

Understand that learning anything takes time, be it spirit communication or tarot.

Do not give up on yourself.

It’s okay to take a break from the craft. I do that every so often.

You can be christian/any religion AND a witch.

Witchcraft is not a religion. Wicca is.

You don’t need to be religious if you don’t want to.

Feel free to add anything else and my askbox is always open if you have questions!

[coastal-witch-deactivated202308]

I love worshipping the sun because even when it's hard for me to believe in *actual* deities and religion, I can feel her warmth, see her light, and her energy and that makes her real. She feels so tangible and is so high energy. All life on earth depends on her and I feel like if there was a "God" it would be her. I dont really believe in deities anymore but I do believe in energy which is science and in any way, scientific or otherwise, the sun is powerful. It can be explained scientifically and that's my favorite part. My craft is EXTREMELY physical (touch/sensation/feeling) based and energy based so it works so perfectly. I just love her a lot idk.

[tiny-witchling-creature]

magic doesn’t have to be complicated. rub an essential oil on a candle and light it. that person who’s been annoying you? write their name on a piece of paper and freeze it. fill a bowl with saltwater to cleanse your room. find a rock, imagine that it’s whatever you want to banish from your life, and throw it really hard into the street (…don’t hit a car). make a wish on a dandelion or a birthday candle. drink some lemonade for cleansing and positivity. tie a colored ribbon around your bedpost or doorknob. put some flowers on your nightstand.

a spell isn’t more effective just because it involves a bunch of ingredients and incantations and details.

[casualwitchbitch]

Things crystals can do: be an object of focus for a meditation, visualisation or ritual ~ be a visual reminder of your goals/intentions ~ have meaning SPECIFIC TO YOU that strengthens over time and with repeated use ~ be a psychological ‘anchor’ ~ look pretty ~ hurt worse than Lego when stepped on

Things crystals cannot do: heal illness ~ stand in for medical treatments or vaccinations ~ purify water ~ heal dogs or children ~ deflect bad vibes ~ have inherent magickal powers ~ replace therapy or psych meds

Witchcraft is about discernment, not believing in everything. Wisdom is a balance of intuition, learning, experience and critical thinking.

[greedilycraftytrickster-deactiv]

Do you ever just go somewhere.. like nature or a place with historical or cultural significance and then, suddenly, feel a profound sense of connection with the rest of humanity and all living creatures? Like suddenly you feel continuity with the collective consciousness of all your ancestors including non-human ones? And like, for that moment, everything feels real and like it matters; you are no longer living in a made-up, disconnected human society but you truly become a citizen of the universe and this feeling transcends time and space? Do you ever feel that, or am I just high?

[rainbow-jello-wizard-man]

Yo so....

Witchcraft is actually hella customizable. You can invent shit. I don't know how this: "By the book, uber traditional, heavily controlled" thing gained so much traction, but...

You can make your own holidays

You can make your own Gods

You can design your own divination methods

You can make sigils -however the fuck you want

You can create your own theory on energy systems based on your personal experience

Write your own ethics and codes of conduct

Describe crystals or herbs by their ENERGY instead of a keyword list you got off Pinterest

Cleanse in a completely different way than the books tell you to

Literally the possibilities are unfathomably endless. And I've successfully done all of these. Go forth and get weird with it.

[pyroookinesis]

📓glossary of astrology symbols📓

◑ zodiac signs

aries: ♈︎

taurus: ♉︎

gemini: ♊︎

cancer: ♋︎

leo: ♌︎

virgo: ♍︎

libra: ♎︎

scorpio: ♏︎

sagittarius: ♐︎

capricorn: ♑︎

aquarius: ♒︎

pisces: ♓︎

◑ planetary signs

sun: ☉

moon: ☽

mercury: ☿

venus: ♀

mars: ♂

jupiter: ♃

saturn: ♄

uranus: ♅

neptune: ♆

pluto: the one in the image is the most used symbol to represent pluto. don't ask me why but i wasn't able to insert it in this post. a second option could be this one: "♇"

◑ zodiac elements

air: 🜁

earth: 🜃

fire: 🜂

water: 🜄

did you know? there are also shadow elements. these are: chaos, darkness, void and oblivion. they are said to be "invented" by contemporaneous covens and they don't have an established symbol.

there's going to be a post on them soon