Warm Ochre

Hey there! This is a Secular Witch's collection of eclectic information that I hope you might find useful. Ali, 23, Birmingham ✌️

[vital-information]

To those who have swept or have blown the leaves from the walk, have rinsed the dishes or dusted their screens, Hestia looks on you from beneath her veil. She smiles, then wraps a shawl made of sunlit October air around you.

To those who remain in bed, who are on the edge of crying, who have turned on the tv to drown out the world, Hestia sits on the edge of your bed, patting circles on your back. I know, my love, she says, I know, I know. It can be so hard. My sweet, it’s time to get up. I need you, she says. Let’s make this home a sanctuary. Light a candle. Make your hands to care about this place. Let out the work of love.

[scifimagpie]

I was just here to check out pagan prayers and now I’m tearing up 

[violetwitchcraft-deactivated202]

Witchcraft uses a lot of words you might not have heard before; here’s a breakdown of some of the most common!

Basics

Intent: The goal or desire; the will for something to come into being.

Visualisation: A technique used in magical workings in which the witch pictures the desired effect within their mind’s eye.

Manifestation: The process of a desired intent being brought into reality.

Charging: The act of filling an object with energy.

Cleansing: A magical working with the intent of removing all lingering energies from an object, place or person, be those energies negative or positive.

Grounding: A magical technique in which the individual removes excess unwanted energy (often by ‘pushing’ it into the ground while sitting down) and aligns themselves with the energy of the earth.

Banishing: A magical working with the intent of sending something away, removing an individual from your life or cutting out negative acts and behaviours.

Warding: A magical working in which the individual creates ‘Wards’. Wards are barriers of energy which deny any unwanted entity entrance to the place warded. Wards can also be placed upon oneself to prevent a magical attack.

Deity: A supreme being. Often represented by Gods and Goddesses though not limited to these terms.

Tools, Objects & Symbology

Grimoire:  A personal magical inventory of beliefs, spells, ingredients and anything else deemed essential to a witches path. 

Altar: A sacred space in which to enact magical workings, meditation and worship.

Wand: A pointed object used to direct energy.

Priapic Wand: A phallus-shaped wand.

Athame: A knife used in ritual to cut out a sacred space and to direct energy. Typically you will never use this to cut solid objects.

Book Of Shadows: A personal magical inventory of beliefs, spells, ingredients and anything else deemed essential to a Wiccan’s path.

Boline: A knife, often but not always a sickle, used for the cutting of ingredients, inscribing of candles and carving of wood.

Besom: A broomstick used to cleanse an area.

Cauldron: A metal pot used for spellwork. (Boiling, mixing, stirring).

Chalice: A goblet, cup or class containing ritual drink. Typically containing offerings.

Dark Mirror: A black piece of glass or reflective material used for scrying.

Pentagram: A five-pointed star widely used amongst many Pagan religions.

Pentacle: A pentagram with a circle around it, typically worn as a necklace for protection.

Inversed Pentagram: A symbol relating to Satanic practises and beliefs.

Septagram: A seven-sided star, usually used in reference to workings with the Fae.

Triquetra: An ancient Celtic symbol which has lost its initial meanings which is today adopted by Pagans of varying paths to mean different things. In Christianity referred to as the trinity knot and believed to represent the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. A secular way of viewing this is that it represents life, death and rebirth. In Wicca believed to represent the triple Goddess. 

Amulet: An object that has innate magical properties used as a necklace.

Charm: An object that has been given magical properties.

Talisman: An object that has been created with the intention of having a specific magical property

Hag Stone: A stone with a hole worn naturally worn through it in which the other side is visible. Thought to be used to see the ‘unseen’ and often the Fae.

Poppet: An object designed to take on the likeness of an individual upon which spells are used. A taglock is used to bind the person to the poppet.

Taglock: The personal effect of an individual that can be used in spellwork as a link to that target. 

Festivities, Holidays & Events

Wheel Of The Year: A name used to refer to the cycle of the eight holidays observed in Wicca; synonymously used to describe the turn of the seasons.

Solstice: Two points in the year in which the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky. The longest and shortest days of the year.

Esbat: A meeting upon the full moon.

Sabbat: Used to refer to any of the eight holidays observed by Wiccans and others.

Skyclad: To be naked. Believed to promote a greater connection to nature during ritual and worship. 

Equinox: The time in which day and night are of equal length as the sun crosses the celestial equator.

Coven: A meeting of witches with the intent to perform magic or worship as a group.

Circle: A temporary space marked out by a magical practitioner that is capable of containing, enhancing and binding magical energy.

Further Reading  

Mage: Another term for a magical practitioner.

Aether: The fifth element after Earth, Air, Fire and Water meaning Spirit, Energy, Life Essense & Soul.

Abjuration: Practices of magic relating to the protection of oneself through the suppression of spells cast by other magic practitioners.

Conjuration: Practices of magic relating to bringing desired effects into reality.

Divination: Practices of magic relating to gathering further insight on desired topics, including knowledge of the past and the future. 

Enchantment: Practices of magic relating to enacting influence over the minds and decisions of others.

Evocation: Practices of magic relating to working with raw, sometimes uncontrollable forces of power.

Animism: The belief that all things are alive or have a soul.

Glamour: Practices of magic pertaining to achieving desired intent via altering, enhancing or changing one’s appearance.

Blasting: A magical working with the intent of causing infertility and ill health, in both people and crops.

Sigil: A magical symbol created by the individual, usually constructed by breaking down a word or sentence and using the letters.

Seal: A magical symbol. Often used to finalise a working.

Elemental (Noun): A force, being, entity or representation of an element given form and sometimes rudimentary conscious thought, though not in a way thought to be understood correctly by humankind. 

Elemental (Adjective): Pertaining to any workings regarding the elements

Witchcraft Types

Secular: The practice of witchcraft at its core. Devoid of any influence from religion or spirituality.

Atheistic: The practice of witchcraft from an Athiest perspective.

Elemental: The practice of witchcraft in which the individual utilises the power of the Elements as their primary source of energy and spell structure. E.g Water Witch, Fire Witch, etc.

Wiccan: Belonging to Wicca, a relatively new nature-based religion born in the 1940′s/50′s in which Witchcraft is expressed as the main form of worship for the God and Goddess.

Traditional: Witchcraft that predates the rebirth in popularity of Witchcraft during the 20th Century.

Hedge: A solitary practitioner who utilises herbs in their practice. Once used exclusively for witches who follow the practice of ‘Hedge Riding’ this term has opened out to encompass those following the archetype of the ‘village witch’ providing salves and potions. 

Stregheria: A form of Italian witchcraft, often centred around the worship of Leyland’s version of Aradia and Diana (though the term can also be used for other forms of Italian witchcraft).

Christian: The practice of witchcraft from a Christian perspective. 

Witchling / Baby Witch: Terms used to describe new practitioners.

[heatherwitch]

curses should only be used against really absolutely awful people like abusers not the girl that said ur shoes are ugly

K

[eudyptula-minor]

Nah, I totally thought I’d curse people for inane, petty shit, because I couldn’t possibly be a rational human. 

[eudyptula-minor]

But like seriously this is still bugging me, because fuck you, I toss out petty curses for petty shit and I’m allowed. Not all curses are “may you waste away and diiiiiiie.” I curse reckless drivers to hit every red light for a week. I cursed that bitch who called my shoes ugly to step in a mud puddle in her favorite shoes. Jeez, if you think all curses are a huge fucking deal, you need some schooling in curse creativity. 

[magical-girl-ilex]

I curse casual misogynists to get their dickskin snagged in their pants zipper. I curse people who litter to get caught and fined. I curse people who don’t tip their servers to be short a dollar the next time they want to buy something.

Honestly, it’s like some people think every curse is a punch in the face instead of a nice, quiet, “Go fuck yourself.”

[magicianmew]

Yup, me too. I typically call “little curses” jinxes. Most commonly, I have my cat call hex stone that I can tap to dispense at will. I’m sorry, being a misogynist dick deserves at least a bit of inconvinience. Maybe he’ll learn something from it.

But I always kind of get a giggle out of it when people are out here wringing their hands about witches putting death curses on people for literally no reason.

Even if we’re setting aside how vaguely insulting it is that they just assume witches who curse are a bunch of psychopaths (which is super insulting btw, try not being so rude?) like… do you have any idea how much energy that takes? I have shit to do this week, man.

[magical-girl-ilex]

Okay, but this curse-happy clearly-a-psychopath witch needs to steal that hex stone idea because tHAT. IS. BRILLIANT.

All for fighting the patriarchy with curses, and if that makes me a bad witch, burn me.

[heatherwitch]

The hex stone is such a good idea!

[glumshoe]

Two nights ago, I attended a party hosted by our bird rehabber friends. I met an old German woman there with waist-length gray hair, crooked teeth, and wild magic. Fitting, in a wildlife rehabber. 

She couldn’t speak to animals, of course - she wasn’t Doctor Doolittle. But she was able to raise newborn rabbits with a 70% survival rate, which is phenomenal. She said it was higher for rabbits that were simply orphaned rather than injured, but most rehabbers don’t even accept bunnies because they have such low survival rates and are so demanding on a rehabber’s time and resources. 

Her secret, she said, was just that animals simply do not find her intimidating. She can’t scare off a squirrel by chasing after it because it does not perceive her as a threat. Wild rabbits are difficult to raise from infancy in large part because they’re so easily terrified, and their little hearts burst from panic when being tended to by a human. Unless that human doesn’t register as a threat, supposedly.

She also claims to have lifted whole families of skunks out of window wells by hand, without being sprayed or nipped at at all. Personally, I think I’d be less nervous wrestling a saltwater crocodile.

[luminouswitchboy]

So I’m a secular witch. Am I not wiccan then?

I know wicca is heavily based on the belief of a god and a goddess, and in many aspects it works with the polarity of male and female. I tend to disregard the entire gender concept in my practice because I believe gender is abstract and is a concept made by people from the begining of society. However I still follow the wiccan principles, celebrate the sabbats, and overall the path I follow is highly guided by the modern adaptations of the celtic religion.

Lots of people say no, others say yes… Question is, can one still be considered wiccan even without god and goddess? Can one be wiccan without deities, worshipping just the creational forces of nature and space? I’m not interested in tagging myself as this or that, I just want to clear this doubt because it might be wrong saying I’m wiccan when asked. I trust the witchblr community for these kind of reflections, so give me your words?

[asksecularwitch]

I think this needs a step back from the original question. To me, there is a much different situation going on than the answers being provided to you.

If you are in a religion, then you are not a secular witch. Secularism is the state of not being in a religion. So if you are still practicing religious components from the outer court of Wicca regardless of deity components, then you are still practicing some form of a religion which may be influenced by wicca.

Secularism is not atheism. It also does not mean “a religion without deities.”

I have to question why you, if you are a secular witch or any form of religious witch, need to identify as a wiccan as well. And really this is something that you should be questioning yourself as well. What is the fundmental need to call yourself a wiccan. What is driving that need?

Wicca is a very specific witch cult (witch religion). The sabbats are very specific to the deities beyond just the basic concepts of nature, ie they are part of the core relationship of those deities. And is very gender binary specific and heterosexual in nature.

Other concepts such as the ritual tools, are also gender binary specific and heterosexual. Other concepts like why initiation is important for a wiccan is part of how Gardner carried mystery religions into his religion (mysteries in religions are part of the faith of that religion. So here initiation is part of the mysteries of the faith of the deities as well as the core classics, which is also gender binary and heterosexual).

My point is that Wicca is a very thorough religion. Everything in Wicca is meant to reinforce their core belief structure and religious dogma. Everything. Down to the types of rituals, ritual wear, and historical precedents that they utilize for authenticity. It isnt just something that you can remove one or two concepts from and think it still works properly.

But let me be clear, you can start at a religious witchcraft that has been influenced by outer court wicca, and start breaking it down into a secular practice. But you must take the time to break it down. And rebuild your practice from the scraps of your understanding. I know, because thats what I did. It takes time to deconstruct what you view as required and why it is not in a religious context. What your worldviews and paradigms are. How to expand past the box that you started it (ie look and feels of wicca are not the only way to witch and are not the standards by which we measure).

So my answer to your original question is: No. If you are a secular witch, you are not in a religion. You should and could not refer to yourself by a religious title (which wiccan is). Instead you would be mislabeling yourself as a religious practition of wicca. Which as you said you are not.

[upthewitchypunx]

I saw this last night and was kind of confused by the question so I thought I might take more of a look in the morning. I think a lot of other people covered a lot of what I would say. If you are a secular witch then I’m confused as to why you would call yourself a Wicca. Wicca is one very specific pagan religion out of many different pagan religions.

The I thought that maybe you were lacking the vocabulary to describe your world view. First, are you searching for a religion? Some specific structure to fit your word view? Are you looking for that kind of existing structure to root your witchcraft in? If your are seeking an existing religion, especially one to work your witchcraft into, you are not a secular witch. Secular witchcraft is witchcraft without religion.

Here are some words and terms that you might find interesting to explore that might help you build a world view, some could be religious or not depending: animism, pantheism, panentheism, general paganism, atheopaganism.

[tarotinspiration]

[frogmp3]

listen i’m not one for believing in the universe giving signs but… the first full moon of the year being on the first day of the year which is also a monday… sounds like a good opportunity to focus on rebirth, new beginnings, and personal growth and improvement

[sosuperawesome]

Journals and Grimoires by McCall Company on Etsy

See our ‘journals’ tag

[vikawicca-deactivated20181129]

The most adorable shop ever, September 2017

[quantum-natura]

☆ My planetary bone throwing set ☆

[rach-renee-deactivated20181208]

“We are the blood of the witches you thought were dead.

We carry witchcraft in our bones whilst magic still sings inside out heads.

When the witch hunters imprisoned out ancestors when they tried to burn the magic away.

Someone should have warned them that magic cannot be tamed.

Because you cannot burn away what has always been aflame.”

-Nikita Gill

[its-spooky-bitch]

Today I was in the shower, and you know how water droplets form lines and shit? Well I saw a water droplet line separate from the others, and it looked kinda straight, and not wavy like water droplet lines are. Anyway I looked at it and it looked like the rune laguz. Lmfao does this mean something?

[sosuperawesome]

Moon Phase Candles by Deuxmoons on Etsy

[areyouanirishwitch]

Wish Chant

May joy and peace surround me,

May contentment latch my door,

Please grant the wish before me,

As this favour I implore.

[gothichomemaking]

[ochrewitchcraft]

It literally doesn’t matter what a single other person thinks. Live your life the way you fucking want to.

Be quiet. Work hard. Stay humble.

[bone-daddy-bomby-deactivated201]

Energy Modes:

Empath - Someone who tends to be hypersensitive to the emotions and emotional states of others. 

Discharger - The opposite of an empath, someone who affects the emotions and emotional states of others. 

Emotional Empath - One of the most common types of empaths who picks up the emotions of others around them and feel the effects of those emotions as if they were theirs. 

Physical Empath - Can pick up on the energy of other people’s bodies. They intuitively know what ails another person. 

Nature Empath - Sometimes called place or environmental empathy. Those with this ability have a fine attunement to the physical landscape, nature, the earth, or plants and trees. 

Intuitive Empath - One glance at someone can give them all kinds of insight into that person. They will immediately know if someone is lying to them because they can sense the intentions behind their words. 

Spirit Empath - An ordinary spirit worker can communicate and sometimes see spirits, but the spirit empath has a very strong sense of spirits’ emotions just like emotional empaths are with humans. 

Energy Vampire - Someone who needs to receive energy from an outside source on a regular basis (does not include sanguine vampires). There is a lot of misinformation about energy vampires, so please don’t make assumptions, 

Nature Vampire - An energy vampire who has a tendency to feed off of nature energies such as energy from the earth, landscapes, and environment.  

Energy Feeder - Anyone who does not require any energy from outside sources but may want it anyway and ask to receive it. They are not the same as energy vampires and do not accidentally or unconsciously feed on energy around them as untrained energy vampires might. 

Energy Sun️ - The exact opposite of an energy vampire, energy suns give off too much energy for them to handle and need to let it out somehow or ground their energy very often. They may want to become an energy donor! Sometimes they are known as power towers, batteries, or generators. 

Energy Chameleon - Energy chameleons have an energy core that is so thin or light that it takes in the energy of their surroundings at a much higher degree than normal. This can often result in having an external type of energy integrated beyond the surface level of their own energy - for instance, having demonic energy after hanging out in hell realms or fae energy after being around fae spirits (all to a much deeper extent than for non-chameleons). Energy chameleons may also find it easy to actively mimic others’ energies, even all the way down to their core. What differentiates it from empathy is that it’s a shift in one’s innate being. An empath can take in the feelings and energies of people around them but their whole energy body and energy systems won’t alter themselves to mimic those of others, which is what occurs in chameleons. Also, chameleonism doesn’t give a heightened ability to sense emotions or energies.(definition courtesy of @subterraneanroses)

Energy Mirror- Energy mirrors are like quintessential mirrors – their inner core is strong and stable, unchanging no matter who is with them or not. However, when other people look into them, the other person sees only themselves and not the mirror within. This can lead to a lot of confusion for the energy mirror as they’re told contradictory labels, depending upon who views them. Energy mirrors function as the in-between state between the common superficial mimicking that most people do in social situations, and the deeper core-changing mimicry of the energy chameleons. 

Enhancer - Someone who constantly draws in the energy around them and then uses an internal process that can be described as enhancing, intensifying, or amplifying the energy so that it increases and becomes more dense. This results in their natural energy output being more powerful than the energy they naturally took in. There are some similarities here to Energy Suns, but a key difference is that Enhancers use an external source of energy while Energy Suns produce extra energy internally. Enhancers may also be likely to be an Energy Feeder but they are not necessarily also Energy Vampires.  (definition courtesy of @space-squid-soup)

Converter - Someone with the ability to convert or transform energy from one type to another. For example, positive into negative or emotional energy into neutral energy. This ability can be innate or acquired.

All energy mode definitions are directly from members of The Energy Spiral Community.

[depsidase]