exploring the magical realm

18 | Gemini | Alexithymic | Magic | Fantasies i'm not a witch (yet). i'm still researching and learning all about witchcraft and stuff.

[saturniinne]

[moirasgrimoire]

Graveyard Etiquette

for witches, wanderers, and the quietly curious

Speak softly. The dead do not sleep, but they listen.

Never walk directly over a grave. Circle around with respect.

Leave offerings only if they are natural: flowers, stones, a whispered prayer.

Ask for permission before taking anything — even a leaf, even a photograph.

Do not bring loud music, disrespect, or ego. You are a guest.

Coins on tombstones are for the dead, not souvenirs.

If you cry, do it freely. Spirits understand grief.

Do not perform magic on a grave unless explicitly invited — by the spirit or by blood.

Never disturb animal life. Cats and crows are guardians here.

When you leave, turn back once and thank the cemetery for having you.

Some places remember. Some places respond. Walk gently.

[tansdiary]

Full of desires, I am starving ... my soul terribly aches ... cries and yearns ... to drink the winds ... to devour the stars ...

—february twenty four, twenty twenty six

[hellenicpaganism]

[witchboxco]

2026 Witches' Calendar

January 3 ● Full Moon in Cancer (Wolf Moon) January 18 ● New Moon in Capricorn February 1 ● Imbolc February 1 ● Full Moon in Leo (Snow Moon) February 17 ● New Moon in Aquarius February 26 - March 20 ● Mercury Retrograde March 3 ● Full Moon in Virgo (Worm Moon) March 19 ● New Moon in Pisces March 20 ● Ostara April 2 ● Full Moon in Libra (Pink Moon) April 17 ● New Moon in Aries May 1 ● Beltane May 1 ● Full Moon in Scorpio (Flower Moon) May 16 ● New Moon in Taurus May 31 ● Full Moon in Sagittarius (Blue Moon) June 20-21 ● Litha June 15 ● New Moon in Gemini June 29 ● Full Moon in Capricorn (Strawberry Moon) June 29 - July 23 ● Mercury Retrograde July 14 ● New Moon in Cancer July 29 ● Full Moon in Aquarius (Buck Moon) August 1 ● Lammas August 12 ● New Moon in Leo August 28 ● Full Moon (Sturgeon Moon) September 11 ● New Moon in Virgo September 23 ● Mabon September 26 ● Full Moon in Aries(Harvest Moon) October 10 ● New Moon in Libra October 24 - November 13 ● Mercury in Retrograde October 26 ● Full Moon in Taurus (Hunter's Moon) October 31 ● Samhain November 9 ● New Moon in Scorpio November 24 ● Full Moon in Gemini (Beaver Moon) December 9 ● New Moon in Sagittarius December 21 ● Yule December 24 ● Full Moon in Cancer (Cold Moon)

[stormbornwitch]

There are so many 'witchcraft' books available nowadays!

Now I know this is gonna make me sound old as shit but I gotta say it:

When I was started learning about witchcraft around 15 years ago, all 'witchcraft' books were wiccan books and they were all fucking awful. You might find 3 books in the back corner of a bookstore and they were all misinformation and blatant lies about history. You might also find a couple books about tarot, dream interpretation, healing crystals and natural remedies but that was IT. To find out any real information you had to do extensive research in historical and anthropological texts and academic journals.

So while there are thousands of 'witchcraft' books available nowadays (I saw 6 sitting on the same shelf as popular self-help books in KMART today)... they're all watered down and 'socially acceptable' spells for love, money and self acceptance....

Dont get me wrong, I'm thrilled that I dont have to hide my practice as much as I had to years ago but... a lot of the witches I meet now are swimming in the shallow part of the pool while thinking they're delving in the deep seas. This lack of understanding isn't their fault though, just as it wasn't mine when all I had was books that only shared personal gnosis and misinformation.

The problem with flooding the market with shallow 'witchcraft' books, is that these books don't really help new witches and they don't help experienced practitioners either. For newbies these books can touch on some of the basics while simultaneously giving the reader the impression that this book will tell them EVERYTHING THEY NEED TO KNOW. The majority of these books also don't help experienced practitioners because they either share a rehash of 'common knowledge' or they make witchcraft out to be this fluffy-bunny, white-washed, appropriating crap.

Now, I know that this post will likely offend people, and for that I apologise. This was simply a frustrated rant by a witch who has seen too many terrible 'witchcraft' books.

[slowpurgatory]

what books would you recommend?

[stormbornwitch]

Unfortunately, its not so easy to just recommend a list of books because it would be snippets from an entire library. I will elaborate:

The majority of my practice is built around history books, recorded folklore, academic journals and anthropological texts. My general rule of thumb is, if the author cannot bother to include a workes cited, end notes or any sort of referencing system to say where information originated from then it should all be considered personal gnosis. Which isn't wrong - it's a bit like reading a diary; it's a great primary source into the thoughts and perspective of the author but it can include misinformation and bias that they believe as fact.

Now, historical sources also can't be treated as gospel and have to be taken with a heavy pinch of salt because of academia's racist interpretations of history for the last hundred years. Another thing to consider is that the majority of people in academia who write papers and publish this information about historical witchcraft... don't practice witchcraft themselves so the lense through which they understand the material is skewed and can lead to misunderstandings.

So as I said at the start, no one book will give you a complete picture of witchcraft. Some will give context and primary sources. Some will give snippets of historical practice which can be misinterpreted due to either preconceived notions about what witchcraft 'should' be or personal biases of the author.

We are all human. We are all inherently opinionated and biased. This cannot be helped. That's why its important to read a wide variety of texts critically and then test out what you learned in practice. It is only through this gruelling back-and-forth process of in-depth research and personal practice can you grow in your practice.

I'm sorry there's no easy answer for you. I wish it was easier for people to learn witchcraft but I guess that's the real rite-of-passage isn't it; if you want to practice witchcraft you have to be willing to put in the time and hard work.

[ocean-again]

I’m going to suggest that if you wanna get good at witchcraft/magic the fist step you should really look into is learning a lot of science. like, don’t read witchcraft books, read everything else. hear me out:

people say “do research” but like, it’s not research if you’re just reading every witch book in the Barnes and Noble with no ability to tell when the author is talking out their ass or not. it’s important to be able to evaluate your sources and you can only do that if you have perspective from other disciplines, and it’s especially important with witchy stuff to stay grounded in reality.

I think it was the Caretaker of The Stars Skeleton talked about this a bit ago, but basically, meditating, spiritual stuff, all this can lead to a psychotic break even in people who aren’t predisposed to them. you need to stay connected to reality, to what is possible, if you are going to try and do these things on your own or with anybody else.

we’ve all met that weird intense and creepy pagan with rancid vibes who tries to like, touch your hands too much and make unblinking eyecontact because they are deffo trying to talk to you in your head. nobody wants to be around that person. if you wanna not become that person you gotta maintain your sense of perspective and stay grounded in reality.

the other thing you’re maintaining here is your ability to not get sucked into a cult or a folle a deux by maintaining your ability to say “that’s not real, that’s not how that works.” by having a rock-hard understanding of real physical reality, it maintains your ability to tell crazy people to fuck off.

but I’d say it also helps the efficacy of your spellcraft. don’t fuck around doing rituals on the beach with candles and junk, find out what kind of offering you can give the sea that will actually help (it’s bones and shells) and why (the sea needs it’s calcium back)

Botany! Geology! Ancient History! Astronomy! the depth and breadth of human knowledge is at your fingertips!

[stormbornwitch]

I agree, a strong foundation in history and the natural sciences can provide an excellent starting point for witches beginning to practice.

Also, you can't just leave a gem like this in the tags!

[brick3621]

This is the best example I’ve read in a long while of spirituality and religious practice encouraging critical thinking instead of stifling it. I can see the Onion headline now: Study Shows Witchcraft Better at Teaching Natural Science than Ivy League Undergrad Courses

[ittybittywitchling]

to anyone who practices witchcraft... any tips for fact-checking your sources??

[breelandwalker]

First and foremost - check it against something mundane. Especially when it's a claim about history or religion or anthropology or science.

There's a lot that gets skewed or glossed over in witchcraft literature, and the authors with a more New-Age bent (which is its' own kind of problem) tend to do a lot of free association between disparate ideas with only passing surface similarity, or ascribe antiquity to things created in the modern era in order to lend them more credibility.

So if I see a claim that strikes me as odd or doesn't jive with previously-held knowledge, I go looking for a reputable academic text on the topic. The writings of Ronald Hutton, Michael Bailey, Owen Davies, and Margot Adler have been very helpful in this regard when it comes to the history of pagan practices in the western world and the modern witchcraft movement.

I also keep a go-to trove of resources handy on things like minerology, botany, and medicine, just in case I run into any odd claims about the properties of certain plants or stones. I also have books on folklore, mythology, and comparative religion that I keep around for similar purposes.

Beyond this, I also supplement any magical study I'm engaged in with practical learning, so that I have a broader context and frame of reference to work from. And so that things like ingesting essential oils or dumping belladonna into one's tea in order to see visions immediately ring a bell as a Bad Idea.

I credit my finely-tuned bullshit detector to a developed habit of immediately fact-checking claims about witchcraft in history or modern pagan practices and occult philosophies against mundane sources. (You'd be surprised how much you can find just on Wikipedia.)

There's always going to be some variation in practice and belief within the community, but if someone brings up a claim that should be supported by historical evidence (i.e. "Tarot originated with the Roma people" ....no it did not), it's helpful to be able to debunk misinformation and make sure I'm not unknowingly helping it to spread further.

[tansdiary]

"to seek her often felt like stepping into a forest enveloped by an eerie fog... i couldn't precisely see who she really is or where she is, but my soul ached to grasp her mystifying spirit..."

—december one, twenty twenty five

[tansdiary]

the ever-changing sky still feels so familiar...

—november thirty, twenty twenty five

[tansdiary]

"to seek her often felt like stepping into a forest enveloped by an eerie fog... i couldn't precisely see who she really is or where she is, but my soul ached to grasp her mystifying spirit..."

—december one, twenty twenty five

[tansdiary]

the ever-changing sky still feels so familiar...

—november thirty, twenty twenty five

[tansdiary]

"to seek her often felt like stepping into a forest enveloped by an eerie fog... i couldn't precisely see who she really is or where she is, but my soul ached to grasp her mystifying spirit..."

—december one, twenty twenty five

[tansdiary]

"to seek her often felt like stepping into a forest enveloped by an eerie fog... i couldn't precisely see who she really is or where she is, but my soul ached to grasp her mystifying spirit..."

—december one, twenty twenty five

[tansdiary]

the ever-changing sky still feels so familiar...

—november thirty, twenty twenty five

[tansdiary]

the ever-changing sky still feels so familiar...

—november thirty, twenty twenty five

[tansdiary]

o’ love, come, have a seat! tell me what summoned you here— the spirits, the spells, or your own will? tell me, love, tell me what you want, tell me, and i’ll show you what i got! i have tricks up my sleeves; pumpkin pots full of treats, come, have a seat, it’s halloween!

[tansdiary]

o’ love, come, have a seat! tell me what summoned you here— the spirits, the spells, or your own will? tell me, love, tell me what you want, tell me, and i’ll show you what i got! i have tricks up my sleeves; pumpkin pots full of treats, come, have a seat, it’s halloween!