Ink

(they/she/he) my witchy blog, plus some poetry drabbles

[ittybittywitchling]

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

[creature-wizard]

The reason people are told "mundane before magic" is so they remember to do things like check whether they've got mold or carbon monoxide in their house before they decide the problem is a malevolent spirit, find out whether their health problems have a treatable medical cause before deciding they're cursed, and make sure they have a mechanic check their car once they hear funny noises instead of just casting a safety spell on it and calling it good. People get hurt if they neglect the mundane.

[ittybittywitchling]

You’ve never crushed on someone

Found not a soul cute

except maybe that one girl

But that couldn’t be true.

That’s celebs, songs and stories

Conversations and stereotypes,

All so very distant from you.

Gradually, it comes closer

Pins on a stranger’s purse

you pass in the grocery store

Flags hung from a window

you drive by on the way home

Gravel crunches beneath Dad’s car

As you pull into the driveway

The pins and flags are long out of view

And yet

You don’t feel its absence

Has it made its way to the hearth

Or has it been there all along?

Maybe

Just maybe

It could be in you, too

But, “No! They are wrong! For I know them to be

Misguided Children, hardly fourteen.”

You hear a point coincide their caterwaul.

How could you have been so blind?

So confident in your own feelings?

Maybe when you’re older?

A decade later?

But, “No! How on earth did they not see?

Trust me,

When it happens so late

You cannot be anything

But straight.”

Fourteen, too young

Beyond, too old

You cannot please them

So what can you do?

Feel what you’re feeling?

But what if that’s not true!

It’s alright. It doesn’t need to be.

Wouldn’t it be nice

to finally be free?

Maybe

Just maybe

You could simply let yourself be.

[ittybittywitchling]

Compliments

How many bodies

Clothed with pieces I admire so

Have I passed by

Without a kind word?

In my thoughts

I appreciate

The body they decorated

So beautifully

Yet it doesn't come through

This mouth of my mine

Maybe that is why

Why we dress up our bodies:

To make up for wrappings of flesh

Muffling our mind

But bodies are not without

Stories of their own

They tell of marks left

By living in them

And of emotions felt

By feeling through them

They also tell of

Limitation

Of instincts

And of fears

And of doubts

And of the way

Sometimes it's hard

To get enough out of your mouth

To say a kind word

To a fellow body

All decorated

With pieces of their soul.

[wholeheartedsuggestions]

you can start anytime.

you can brush your teeth in the middle of the day. you can wash the dishes at 2am. you can do things outside the normal times assigned by society.

[osterby]

You can go to bed at noon. You can have ravioli for breakfast and cheerios for dinner. As long as you're awake, washed, dressed, and in the place you need to be when you need to be there (and I mean *need*, like a job or a social obligation, not just aherening to cultural expectations) it doesn't matter what the rest of your schedule looks like.

[breelandwalker]

You seem like you're more familiar with the broader occult community than my scholarly shut in ass. I'm curious. If there were a few lessons you wish you could drill into the head of every prominent social media occultist, what would they be?

Ohhh the number one thing I wish I could drill into the head of every aspiring occultist and magical practitioner is that CRITICAL THINKING IS YOUR FRIEND.

Study magic but keep fact-checking! If there's a claim in a book on witchcraft that should be able to be backed up by mundane sources, look for those sources. If they're not cited in the book, that's a red flag. If the sources you do find don't support the claim, that's another, bigger red flag. This is especially true with claims about history, science, medicine, psychology, anthropology, and religion.

Also, be wary of anything New Age. There's a pipeline to anti-science, eugenics, and racism there that runs directly through portions of the modern pagan and witchcraft communities and it's brightly painted with New Age buzzwords.

If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. If something seems geared to appeal to your emotions, especially that which seems formulated to make you feel special or "chosen" or to fire up some kind of righteous anger or feelings of superiority, you should immediately be suspicious of it.

If a source tells you to disregard science, modern medicine, or recorded history, or tries to tell you that some people are inherently more special or magical or deserving of power than others, discard it immediately. That is a bad source.

Don't believe everything you see or hear online. Too many witches roll their eyes at their parents and grandparents believing everything they read on Facebook, then turn around and insist that everything they've seen on TikTok or Tumblr or YouTube is Absolute Truth.

Believing in and studying magic does not mean that common sense goes out the window. You should be supplementing your magical studies with parallel practical topics (i.e. botany, geology, chemistry, mythology, etc) and ALWAYS keep one foot squarely planted on the ground.

[breelandwalker]

(Also fact-check your shit before you pass it along. And that goes double for anyone claiming to be an influencer or educator.)

[breelandwalker]

General Advice for Beginner Witches

A brief masterpost of some of my advice posts for beginner witches and the episodes of my podcast dealing with the same. (There is UPG here, particularly where marked, as I base a good deal of my advice on my own experience and observations of other witches.)

Hex Positive Podcast Episodes

Hex Positive, Ep. 04 - Advice for Beginner Witches (July 2020)

Hex Positive, Eps. 6-7 - Come In For A Spell 1 & 2 (Sept 2020)

Hex Positive, Ep. 12 - Witching From The Broom Closet (Jan 2021)

Hex Positive, Ep. 24 - Warding A Witchy Home (Dec 2021)

Hex Positive, Ep. 27 - When Inspo Takes A Holiday (March 2022)

General Tips & Advice

I Feel Like I Might Be A Witch...But I Don't Know

I Have Mental Health Issues - Can I Still Be A Witch?

Can I Still Be A Witch And Use Magic If I Take Medication?

How Do I Teach Myself To Believe In Magic?

How Does Magic Work? (upg ahoy)

Will I Be Possessed Or Haunted If I Try Witchcraft?

What Are Some Things I Can Do To Get Started?

How Can I Start My Practice If I Don't Have Tools Or Books?

How Do I Organize My Study Materials?

How Do I Contact A Deity?

How Do I Worship My Deity If I Can't Have An Altar?

Tips On Working With Deities And Spirits (here be upg)

My Intuitive Spark Feels Low - How Do I Get It Back?

I'm In A Slump - How Do I Get Out Of It?

I've Reached A Stopping Point - What Do I Do Next?

My Candle Is Flickering - Does It Mean Something Bad?

How Do I Make A Magic Circle For Spellcasting?

What Happens If I Get Interrupted While Casting A Spell?

Do I Need To Maintain Positive Vibes For My Spells To Work?

What Should I Do If I REALLY Want To Hex Someone?

How Do I Know / What Do I Do If I've Been Hexed?

How Do I Become More Skilled And More Powerful?

How Do I Know When I'm Ready For The Next Step In My Practice?

Additional Tips For Developing Your Practice

Witchcraft Exercise - Quantifying Your Craft

Witchcraft Exercise - Dig Through The Ditches

Witchcraft Exercise - The Book of Lessons

Witchcraft Exercise - Home Brews

Tips on How to Visualize and Construct Basic Wards

Practicing Your Warding Technique

Cleansing Before Warding / Warding A Shared Space

Refreshing / Patching Existing Wards

Non-Appropriative Herbs for Smoke-Cleansing

Smokeless Cleansing / Other Methods

Recommended Reading & Book Suggestions

[breelandwalker]

UPDATES:

"Witch" Is A Gender Neutral Term (Yes, It Is. Shut Up.)

Critical Thinking Should Play A Role Building In Your Craft

Learn About Baneful Magic...Even If You Never Intend To Use It

Tips for Fact-Checking Your Witchcraft Sources

PSA - Will It Summon Demons?

The Toad Talk on Curse-Shaming

Friendly Reminder - Your Tools Don't Hate You

How Do I Know If I've Been Cursed And What Can I Do About It?

I'm Not Sure Where To Start. Is It Okay To Dabble?

I Feel Tired After Spellwork. Is This Normal? How Do I Deal With It?

How Can I Use Local Plants In My Practice If I Can't Find Magical Correspondences For Them?

Additional Resources

2025 Witches Calendar

Full Moon Info Post Series

How To Write Your Own Spells

Witchcraft Exercises for Building Your Craft

Additional Book Recommendations

JSTOR Articles on the History of Witchcraft, Witch Trials, and Folk Magic Beliefs

Podcast Recs - Witches and Witchcraft in History

Podcast Recs - Debunking and Fact-Checking for Witchcraft Spaces

Creature-Wizard's Guide To Recognizing and Avoiding Conspiracy Theories and New Age Cult Scams In Witchcraft and Pagan Spaces

Additional Episodes of Hex Positive

Ep. 034 - Building Your Witchcraft Library (May 2023)

Ep. 035 - Money Magic (or Why I'm Not A Rich Witch) (June 2023)

Ep. 037 - Cleaning, Cleansing, and Magical Germophobia (August 2023)

Ep. 038 - Creating Your Personal Grimoire (September 2023)

[creature-wizard]

Witch tip: Be sure to distinguish which correspondences are social constructs (for example, associating roses with romance), and which are informed by nature (for example, associating the color red with life, because blood).

This isn't to say that social construct correspondences are bad or lesser - they aren't! But distinguishing between the two helps you develop a better sense of what you can play around with, and how.

[fairuzfan]

[vergak]

Goddamn. Okay

[stynamo]

Did you have a kid in your neighborhood who always hid so good, nobody could find him? We did. After a while we would give up on him and go off, leaving him to rot wherever he was. Sooner or later he would show up, all mad because we didn't keep looking for him. And we would get mad back because he wasn't playing the game the way it was supposed to be played.

There's hiding and there's finding, we'd say. And he'd say it was hide-and-seek, not hide-and-give-UP, and we'd all yell about who made the rules and who cared about who, anyway, and how we wouldn't play with him anymore if he didn't get it straight and who needed him anyhow, and things like that. Hide-and-seek-and-yell. No matter what, though, the next time he would hide too good again. He's probably still hidden somewhere, for all I know.

As I write this, the neighborhood game goes on, and there is a kid under a pile of leaves in the yard just under my window. He has been there a long time now, and everybody else is found and they are about to give up on him over at the base. I considered going out to the base and telling them where he is hiding. And I thought about setting the leaves on fire to drive him out. Finally, I just yelled, "GET FOUND, KID!" out the window. And scared him so bad he probably wet his pants and started crying and ran home to tell his mother. It's real hard to know how to be helpful sometimes.

A man I know found out last year he had terminal cancer. He was a doctor. And knew about dying, and he didn't want to make his family and friends suffer through that with him. So he kept his secret. And died. Everybody said how brave he was to bear his suffering in silence and not tell everybody, and so on and so forth. But privately his family and friends said how angry they were that he didn't need them, didn't trust their strength. And it hurt that he didn't say good-bye.

He hid too well. Getting found would have kept him in the game. Hide-and-seek, grown-up style. Wanting to hide. Needing to be sought. Confused about being found. "I don't want anyone to know." "What will people think?" "I don't want to bother anyone."

Better than hide-and-seek, I like the game called Sardines. In Sardines the person who is It goes and hides, and everybody goes looking for him. When you find him, you get in with him and hide there with him. Pretty soon everybody is hiding together, all stacked in a small space like puppies in a pile. And pretty soon somebody giggles and somebody laughs and everybody gets found.

Medieval theologians even described God in hide-and-seek terms, calling him Deus Absconditus. But me, I think old God is a Sardine player. And will be found the same way everybody gets found in Sardines - by the sound of laughter of those heaped together at the end.

"Olly-olly-oxen-free." The kids out in the street are hollering the cry that says "Come on in, wherever you are. It's a new game." And so say I. To all those who have hid too good. Get found, kid! Olly-olly-oxen-free.

— Robert Fulghum, "All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten"

[rusquared]

in a rare moment of "huh i can maybe contribute to this", i was reminded of this exerpt from Tim Kreider's We Learn Nothing, a collection of his essays.

this one was written about a deceased friend of his, Skelly, who was known to spin tales about his life to hide the shameful parts from others. at his funeral, when all the secrets inevitably started to unfold, Kreider writes:

The worst part, for me, is imagining how alone he was. This is the most poisonous thing that secrets do to us—they isolate us from everyone around us and make us feel even lonelier than we already are. I wish he could’ve somehow brought himself to talk to us. I sometimes fantasize about how I would’ve reacted—what I would’ve said to him, how I would’ve tried to help. As Kevin once complained, “I wish he coulda just told us so we could’ve mocked him for it!” But not everybody gets to be free. Some have to stand guard at their own prisons for life. Some secrets we must take with us, as the melodramatic old idiom has it, to the grave.

[brightlotusmoon]

[thespectralcottage]

Witchcraft 101:

Cleansing vs Uncrossing vs Banishing

Alright witches. Lets dive into some witchy basics and discuss the differences between cleansing, uncrossing and banishing. This will hopefully help you differentiate between them. But.. lets be honestly if you do something like call a spell an uncrossing when "technically" doing a banishing, who cares its all in good spirit. The reason i think its good to have a difference in mind between these falls into how you handle a spell. If I'm doing an uncrossing vs a banishing i would choose different spell ingredients, maybe work with different gods, or choose a different element to work with.

Cleansing: I consider cleansings as the foundation and most basic of these. Its almost an umbrella term the other two fall under. All banishings are cleansings, but not all cleansings are a banishing. Cleansings are when you're trying clear something away. Most often people will use this term in day to day workings and general upkeep to make sure nothing has stuck to them. This would include more casual things like smoke cleansing, showering and asking the water to cleanse you, sound cleansing, etc. Its not a full spellworking or ritual, but still done with energy and intention. Sometimes you may do a cleansing and realize whatever is there, is stuck deeper then you expected. So you take the next steps and do a more "intense" cleansing like an uncrossing or banishing.

Uncrossing Spells: Uncrossing specifically refers to removing unwanted energy. Usually when discussing what is an uncrossing, I sperate it from just a cleansing by describing it as a very intense cleansing where you're trying to strip away intense and specific energy. These are more work and a step up from an everyday cleansing for more intense scenarios. This is very spirit focused; think of it as taking out the bad and putting in the good. Some types of spells I would consider an uncrossing are: removing hexes/jinx/curses, removing the evil eye, spiritual detoxes, road openers, removing any stubborn energy, removing feelings, etc. I associate uncrossings with water: it's soaking in and getting that energy out. I would choose herbs/spell ingredients that are uplifting and purifying. Think salt, rosemary, rue, and lemons.

Banishing Spells: Banishing spells remove unwanted entities, spirits or people. You can use it to get rid of very deep rooted things like habits or insecurities. Banishings are quite a strong forms of spellwork. You're really kicking something out and away from you when you do a banishing. Its connected to more deep rooted things that you're trying to remove from your life. Some types of spells I could consider a banishing: cord cutting, exorcisms, banishing a spirit attached to you, getting rid of insecurities, freezers, etc. I associate banishings with fire. Burn and gtfo. I would choose herbs that have more of a kick to them and are defensive. Think nettle, blackberry leaves, cloves, even pepper in some cases.

Please note this doesn't have to be something strict. Like i said at the beginning this is just a guide that will help you differentiate so you can tackle the spellwork as effectively as possible.

✨Stay Spooky ✨

[luulapants]

My dad and I once had a disagreement over him using the adage "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

I said, "That's just not true. Sometimes what doesn't kill you leaves you brittle and injured or traumatized."

He stopped and thought about that for a while. He came back later, and said, "It's like wood glue."

He pointed to my bookshelf, which he helped me salvage a while ago. He said, "Do you remember how I explained that, once we used the wood glue on them, the shelves would actually be stronger than they were before they broke?"

I did.

"But before we used the wood glue, those shelves were broken. They couldn't hold up shit. If you had put books on them, they would have collapsed. And that wood glue had to set awhile. If we put anything on them too early, they would have collapsed just the same as if we'd never fixed them at all. You've got to give these things time to set."

It sounded like a pretty good metaphor to me, but one thing I did pick up on was that whatever broke those shelves, that's not the thing that made them stronger. That just broke them. It was being fixed that made them stronger. It was the glue.

So my dad and I agreed, what doesn't kill you doesn't actually make you stronger, but healing does. And if you feel like healing hasn't made you stronger than you were before, you're probably not done healing. You've got to give these things time to set.

[sweatersandgelpens]

Hi! I’m just getting into witchcraft and I’m really not interested in Wicca. I’ve been having trouble finding resources that don’t focus on Wicca and I would really like some help from some more experienced witches. More information on closed practices and how to avoid them would also be appreciated because I’ve been hearing a lot of conflicting things. Thank!

[genderqueerdykes]

disabled trans person needs help fleeing unsafe housing with no heat in winter

hello, my name is johnny or equinox. i am a disabled trans person and i have another update on my situation, i am currently in a worse situation than i was before. i am staying in our gas is not turned on which means we can't cook, have no heater or hot water. the gas person was supposed to come today, but we never heard them knock. they can't come back for another week. our toilet and shower do not work. it is november and has been dipping below freezing temperatures at night and we only own one space heater. i have arthritis and this makes my pain flare up horrifically.

there are other problems as well, but the most pressing issues are the lack of heat and options to cook with and inability to bathe or use the bathroom. i need to save up money so i can find a safer situation, as i am severely disabled and cannot go without being able to cook meals for myself. i struggle with fatigue and chronic pain and can't put that much effort into meals.

I need to save up to find an alternative place to stay at. i am deeply scared and tired of living in unsafe situations. i have been in precarious housing since 2020 and am starting to have severe mental health symptoms from the trauma of repeated homelessness and abuse at the hands of manipulative roommates.

Disabled Trans Man Needs to Escape Unsafe Home, organized by Alicia Adamson

Hello, my name is Johnny. I am a disabled trans man who is currently li… Alicia Adamson needs your support for Disabled Trans Man Needs to

if you're interested in helping me, you can do so here:

pay pal: glittergraphicnightmare @ gmail .com

ko-fi: Equinoxian

cash app: $glitterGraphix

venmo: Equinoxian

Chime: $Equinoxian

thank you for reading and considering helping me, have a great day

[ittybittywitchling]

Dear witches & those who practice witchcraft/magick...

what are your thoughts on magic beings/characters in media being labeled "witches"?

I find it disrespectful

I don't really care

unsure

I have a diffrent answer

Voting ended onNov 9, 2023

and feel free to share your thoughts/elaborate!

[deactivated-blog]

Eh. Modern paganism (or even Wicca) doesn't own the term witch, but both sometimes like to pretend they do. The Wizard of Oz (the movie, y'know, featuring the Wicked Witch of the West and all that) actually predates Wicca.

Witches (depending on how one defines/translates said word) have been "magical beings" in fiction for just as long as occult practices have existed in the real world. Storytellers have as much right to the term as occultists.

Occult fiction is a good thing, I'd argue. I say this as someone who really enjoys reading it, but also because it (sometimes) inspires people to look at things from a magical perspective. This isn't always true, but it can be if it's done right.

Some are gonna say that, since it's usually a fantasy portrayal, that kind of fiction just misinforms people. Some certainly does. But there's a lot of different work out there, and we, too, can create our own stories. I think that's important, too.

[ittybittywitchling]

Dear witches & those who practice witchcraft/magick...

what are your thoughts on magic beings/characters in media being labeled "witches"?

I find it disrespectful

I don't really care

unsure

I have a diffrent answer

Voting ended onNov 9, 2023

and feel free to share your thoughts/elaborate!

[witchesversuspatriarchy]