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Getting Back Into Your Practice

Sometimes life is shitty and your spiritual practice doesn't take priority. Thats okay. Here are some tips for how to get back into your practice once you're feeling up for it.

Cleanse and Clean Your Space This is defiantly the first think you should focus your energy on. This can take as long as needed and as intensive as you want or feel is needed. Spiritual and physically cleanse your space. Pick up items, open windows and start your cleansing method of choice.

Redo Wards and Protections Once you've cleansed its important to redo your protection. Cleanse to get rid of, protect to keep it away. Even if nothing has *hit* your protections and wards, its important to keep up to date on them being energized.

Keep Actives Low on Spoons Now that you've done the basics, stick to low spoon actives and slowly build from there. Even if you feel super energized and ready to get into it- you want to take things slow. This'll help you from losing steam..

Slowly Add Back In Your Daily Practice This is totally unique person to person, but dont expect to be back into your multi step daily routine right away. Add in each step one at a time, or slowly so you wont feel overwhelmed.

Come Up with a Ritual Youre EXCITED About You want to focus on the parts of witchcraft you love. Do something you've always wanted to try, something you always love doing, or anything that will make you excited for the working.

Pick a New Topic, Not an Older One Getting into your practice and going to an older topic might feel disheartening. Pick a new topic like astrology, plants, or an aspect of witchcraft you havent gotten too into before. Then go back to the older topic you left on.

Do Some Divination on What You Need Right Now Spend time with your spirit team, deities or ancestors and figure out what you should be focusing in on right now. Maybe you need more rest, maybe theres a ritual they want you to work on.

Remember You Dont Have To Do Magic Daily Dont put too much stress into doing something every single day. Take breaks. Youre still a witch.

I hope these helped. Remember to take things slow and dont let the pressure of getting back into it weigh you down. Magic is suppose to help not hinder.

windvexer

Tarot readings have left me thinking something would happen on a specific day and it didn’t

Is this something about me not really knowing what im doing can tarot cards lie how do i assure i get truthful results and read them write?

I've been reading tarot 17 years, and have been adjacent to witchcraft spaces just a bit longer than that; and I do not have the skill to determine the precise day something will happen, nor have I ever heard of anyone with that skill.

Timing is one of the most finicky issues to tackle with tarot. Time and time again you will see readers qualifying that they cannot read issues of timing, or won't bother trying.

Can tarot cards lie? Well, yes - but probably better stated, it is more than possible for tarot cards to show you what you want to see, what you expect to see, or what you demand to see.

The great problem with sortilege of all kinds - or, to randomly select something from a group - is that you will always be able to choose card, or a rune, or a charm, or whatever.

However, often we will try to read on questions beyond our ability.

This results in us forcing the tool to provide a symbol even if there is nothing being said.

The real answer to your question would take books to explain. Getting truthful results is the sum total practice of tarot itself; there is no single easy answer.

But a very good place to start is to understand the limitations of the tool, and your own limitations as a diviner.

creature-witch

I'm very curious by what mechanism it would be possible for tarot to give you an exact date, there are not dates on the cards, and so if you arrived at a conclusion for an exact date I would have to believe you already had a reason to select that date, and you wanted to interpret the cards in a certain way, and so you did.

This is the primary reason I can't use pendulums. I inadvertently swing them where I want, however unintentionally. It's important to be aware of how your own thoughts wants or dreads interfere with your ability to read your own cards.

breelandwalker

PSA - Will It Summon Demons?

Things That Are Not Likely To Summon Demons And Spirits Into Your Home:

Practicing a pagan religion

Practicing no religion

Skipping religious services

Disobeying your parents

Disobeying oppressive religious rules

Reading books about other religions

Reading books about witchcraft

Casting most types of spells, including hexes

Practicing divination

Reading tarot cards

Owning crystals

Having deity statues

Maintaining an altar

Adopting a black cat

Owning or wearing a pentacle or other pagan symbol

Playing with Ouija or other talking boards

Putting up fantasy or non-Christian artwork

Celebrating pagan holidays

Celebrating Halloween

Watching scary movies and TV shows

Reading horror novels

Playing tabletop RPGs

Playing LARP games

Playing video games

Reading fantasy books

Reading comics and graphic novels

Listening to heavy metal music

Dyeing your hair

Dancing

Swearing

Drinking

Dressing however you please

Having tattoos and piercings

Engaging in premarital sex

Being queer

Being trans

Participating in activism for progressive social causes

Things That Might Summon Demons And Spirits Into Your Home:

Literally summoning demons and spirits into your home

This has been a Public Service Announcement.

breelandwalker

And just a few clarifications for folks who don’t know:

- The hype surrounding “The Exorcist” (1972) is exactly that. The reports of accidents and supernatural happenings on set was part of their ad campaign. The only ritual being performed in the movie is the rite of exorcism. That’s not going to SUMMON anything, I promise you.

- The horror movie rule which states “Never Read Books Of Demon Summoning Aloud” is a good one, but it must also be remembered that most ancient spell tomes mentioned or used in horror media are entirely fictional. Including the fabled Necronomicon.

- It is very important to keep in mind that the facts in many of the so-called landmark cases in paranormal study have been greatly embellished, either by the investigators or by writers and movie producers looking to make a buck. Nearly all the stories of “real” hauntings you see in popular media have been exaggerated to hell and back. If the Warrens had anything to do with it, you can bet good money that the actual happenings bear little resemblance to the stories we associate with those cases now.

- While it is possible for spirits to attach themselves to objects, therefore necessitating some basic caution and cleansing if you’re prone to collecting antiques or yard sale fodder, there is no guarantee that something is going to attach itself to your belongings unless you INVITE IT TO DO SO. (Someone cited the Annabelle case. If we believe the story, the ghost did not come with the doll, it was invited to possess it by the owners. Allegedly. See above note about the Warrens.)

- Swearing does not count as baneful magic. It’s CALLED cursing, sure, but if you stub your toe and yell, “FUCK!” you’re not wishing harm on someone. You’re upset and in pain. (Then again, I do like that meme about a witch cursing a house in this fashion….)

- Most pagan holidays are celebrations for some part of the harvest cycle. Holiday observances are not automatically magic rituals, and neither do they summon spirits unless you are openly calling them to the feast. I am not calling in the ghosties by thanking the earth for this beautiful bucket of tomatoes and watering a tree.

- Just because something CAN be part of a spell or ritual doesn’t mean it’s ALWAYS part of a spell or ritual. We don’t accidentally cast spells by dancing or singing or thinking or sneezing. Intention and focus are part of the process for a reason.

breelandwalker

For more information on this topic, check out my masterpost of podcast recs for Debunking and Fact-Checking for Witches & Witchcraft Spaces.

stormbornwitch

This is going to make me sound like a cantankerous old bitch, but meh, I'm gonna say it anyway.

Witchcraft is too commercialised nowadays.

It's great to see so many witchcraft books and supplies available. I can walk into kmart or big w and find witchcraft books, tarot cards, and crystals now.

The problem, though, is that everything that's readily available to the masses (i.e. the first thing witchlings may interact with) is all so watered down to be socially acceptable that it gives a warped view to new practitioners while being simultaneously useless to experienced practitioners.

As much as I love how personalised the craft is, I genuinely wish more experienced witches published their personal grimoires and gnosis. I would love to see what others are working on/what works for them.

So here's my plea: if you're an experienced witch (I.e. practising for over 5 years and working your own path), please share a little titbit of what you're currently working/researching/crafting.

☆Marci☆

msgraveyarddirt

WORKING: tending, harvesting, and preserving food and materia for ritual meals and future projects (e.g., incense, oils, etc). My practice is hella localized - almost all the ingredients I use for those ritual meals and projects are homegrown or locally foraged. Right now red clover and meadowsweet are drying in the cupboard, there's fresh fly agaric in the fridge (going to make psychoactive sandwiches for Ivan and myself), I'm fermenting rosebay willowherb for tea, and there's strawberry & meadowsweet preserve sitting on the stovetop waiting to be sealed in jars.

RESEARCHING: between July and November a lot of my free time - if you can even call it that - is spent digging up and looking out for recipes to utilize the fruits of my labor. When I got hit with Covid Lite in May, I fell down a mesolithic Scotland rabbit hole, eventually leading me to local lost lochs. ("Dude, DUDE. Do you know how the road to the garden centre sometimes gets flooded? You know, that bend by the trout fishing place? THAT'S A FRIGGIN' DRAINED LOCH, HOLY SHIT.")

CRAFTING: just finished straining my wild rose & fly agaric St. Mary Magdalene devotional oil, getting ready to strain my butt balm oil (sabbatic ritual flagellation leaves bruises), macerating a roadkill wood pigeon to remove soft tissue, and preparing for a whole slew of projects that use fresh lavender flowers (mostly incense), fresh rose petals (rosary strand & more incense), and fresh larch needles (incense, and larch-infused honey, syrup, and vinegar).

rootandrock

Working: Reconnecting and strengthening ties with specific spirits I had stupidly neglected while reaching for the ones I thought I "should" know better. Which went... uh. Well... the offerings were well received. The forest turned into a cacophony of noises, most of which were coyotes but some definitely were not coyotes and those are the interesting ones. I might eventually share that as a post at a later date.

Researching: Alas, this bit's commercial. I've been looking into companies that make safe, "actually made from plants and minerals", spiritually-minded bath bombs and other bath products to add to my ritual baths. It turns out that while they're legally required to list what's in their products most companies just put "fragrance" rather than, y'know "Essential oil of Santalum album" and whatnot, so it's hard to know who to trust. And a lot of small companies just... don't. They just don't list anything. It's a bath bomb! It probably has mica, it definitely has baking soda. It might have salt! Put this unknown cocktail of ingredients all up in your crotches and crevices on trust alone!

Crafting: I've been drafting patterns for cross stitch elements to add to my ritual robe. Coming up with designs is easy, deciding where they "belong" less so. A bit like tattoos in that sense. I've also been drying some Artemisia ludoviciana - that stuff packs a punch I can't quite get into words just yet, but we're working toward an understanding.

stagkingswife

Working: Literally today I started an experiment that some friends have been kind enough to help me with. I suspect that I have over clocked the "pay no attention to the witch behind the curtain," parts of my personal wardings, so I am currently in Phase One of a three phase process to collect and asses data, strip back my wards, and rebuild them. I'm in the data collection phase, so I've been doing a ton of readings on how I am perceived externally, and asking my friends to do the same.

Researching: In connection with the above I'm reading a couple of books I've found on archeological finds on protective magic. Mostly these finds focus on homes and buildings, but I'm hoping I'll get some interesting new ideas that I can apply to myself that don't involve having to eat a shoe. I'm also doing field research on camouflage in the natural and spiritual world. When I rebuild my wards I still want some element of obfuscation and misdirection, just more finely tuned than how I built them 10+ years ago.

Crafting: I have a lot of odd projects going on right now: I have recently started to learn how to tablet weave, so I'm working on that. Also continuing my Nålbinding. I'm also stocking up for a fresh batch of my "American Jow" liniment. And I'm still working on drawing the sigils onto the Ghost Punching hand wraps, which I expect to be doing for years to come.

windvexer

Working; A new paradigm is rapidly rising from the ashes of the old, and I'm currently working on rebuilding many of my tools using new devices. While I've changed paradigms many times over the years, this one feels different in that it isn't the "rules" that have shifted, so much as the landscape. Today's magic involved a tool I need to get back into energy reading on a wider scale.

Researching; Currently messing around with the concept of vegetable oil lamps with correspondences suspended inside of them. It was a more finicky operation than I first expected but I think I've more or less figured out how to make them work without being the biggest fire hazard in the world, or just plain inconvenient.

Crafting; I am practicing making freeform ball-jointed crochet dolls to use as icons and spirit vessels. It's going alright, but since I'm doing lace weight I need to figure out a finger protection since it feels like the threads are grinding off my fingerprints. This craft is very exciting for me, and hopefully it will produce suitably sinister creations.

rosemary-snorter

Recently I've been doing a deep dive into red flags that one may run into while in occult spaces. It's best to be educated so that in the instance you come across one of these red flags, you know when take the information you're receiving with a grain of salt. The following is a list of some red flags I've come across in my time as a Pagan. Some are pretty obvious, others not so much.

• Claiming St. Peter's cross is Satanic, or that Ankh is Christian

• Thelema, Aleister Crowley, or Magic with a K

• "Qabala" rather than actual Kabbalah

• Talking about Atlantis as if it's real

• Saying "real Satanists" don't believe in Satan or refusing to acknowledge the difference between theist and non-theist Satanists

•Claiming a crystal, incense, oil, herb or whatever else can be used in place of medicine

• The use of lightning bolt symbols, the Black Sun, etc

• Saying aliens built the Egyptian pyramids or that humans bred with aliens

• Saying the Illuminati controls everything or talks of a "New World Order"

• Weird fear-mongering or out-there conspiracies about Freemasonry

• Vaguely alluding to an all-powerful group that's only ever referred to as "the elites" or "they"

• Doing closed practices they aren't apart of

• Refusing to cite sources, or if they do cite sources, it's a TikTok or something

• Referring to ANYTHING the Nazis did

• Tribal tattoos from a tribe one isn't apart of

• Claiming they'll provide you forbidden knowledge or that if you follow their way of life you'll reach God or whatever

• Any mention of Aryans or some superior race in a non-critical/historical explanatory context

• Joy of Satan or The Order of Nine Angels

• Claiming "you were meant to see this video!" when it's a video that is showed to hundreds (or thousands) of people based on an algorithm

• Gatekeeping practices, worship, tools, etc, from a sex. IE, "only women can do this spell!"

• Recommending any work from scammers (ex: Joe Dispenza)

• Discouraging learning the history of a practice

• Claiming deities from different pantheons are the exact same. (Ex: Aphrodite and Venus)

• Using AI in place of real art, imagery, people, etc. (Seriously, I've seen shops on Etsy try to sell me tarot readings with a photo of an AI generated old lady claiming to do the readings, marketing it as if it's a real person.)

If you have ANYTHING else to add, please feel free to do so.

* I'd also like to add that these bullet points are not ranked at all and in no way am I comparing any of the things on this list. It is just a list. + Many of the things on this list are nuanced. And everything has exceptions.

sophaoat

if they reference theosophy as a credible source at all

breelandwalker

Clean House Powder

Intent: To cleanse a dwelling of negativity, “heaviness,” stale energy, bad atmosphere, etc.

Ingredients:

Lemon Peel

Solomon’s Seal Root

Cayenne Pepper

Arrow Root

Blue Vervain

White Oak

Sage (any color)

Salt (both black & white)

Materials:

Mortar & Pestle (or spice grinder)

Funnel

Mesh Strainer

Collection Dish

Container

Note: Powdered versions of most herbs are available online. I recommend such sites as Starwest Botanicals and Penn Herbs for the quality products at reasonable prices. Also, if you can get your hands on a good spice grinder, you can make your own powder from dried herb products. Grind each ingredient separately to produce fine powder. Sieve the material through the mesh strainer into the collection dish; this removes the larger unground pieces and gives you cleaner powdered herb. (Pro-Tip: Putting a funnel under the mesh strainer reduces lost material and makes collection much easier.) Combine the component powders in the collection dish, mix well, and bottle immediately. For volume, go heavier on the less expensive or more easily available materials like Lemon Peel, Cayenne, and Salt. Otherwise, combine in more or less even amounts. Sprinkle a pinch in the corner of each room to dispel heaviness and clear the air, so to speak. Useful for spring cleaning and touch-up jobs throughout the year. Add to floor washes, incenses, or charms for general cleansing and purification of the home.

breelandwalker

(Always use caution when deploying powders in households with children, animals, or persons with allergies or who are pregnant or nursing.)

For more recipes to fill out your potion kit, you can check out Pestlework: A Book of Magical Powders & Oils. (Available on Amazon and in my shop!)

If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊

breelandwalker

A collection of some of my original magical powder recipes. All-Purpose Cursing Powder Bree's Banishing Powder Clean House Powder Come Hithe

breelandwalker

Witchcraft Exercises

Just a quick compilation of the posts I've made about exercises to help improve your craft. These can be used as journaling prompts, inspiration for activities, or as methods for pulling yourself out of a slump and recharging your witchy inspiration.

Witchcraft Exercise - Quantifying Your Craft

Witchcraft Exercise - Dig Through The Ditches

Witchcraft Exercise - The Book of Lessons

Witchcraft Exercise - Home Brews

Witchcraft Exercise - Witchy Inspo Journal

Witchcraft Exercise - Spring Cleaning

Witchcraft Exercise - Creating Correspondences

Witchcraft Exercise - Creating Your Own Runes

Witchcraft Exercise - Shakespearean Witchcraft

Witchcraft Exercise - Music To Witch By

Related Prompt - Music to Witch By

Most of these are also available in the May 2021 bonus episode of Hex Positive (check your favorite podcatcher).

Happy Witching!

(If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊)

blackcrowing

smh... there has been a recent spike in activity in my house again, which feels like a completely different being.

Which means my upstairs neighbors are either back in their uneducated woo-woo shit and have managed to invite something else in OR (I think more likely) they accidentally left a standing invation that something else took advantage of.

Regardless, I'm going to have to ward our space so whatever is going on can stay up their with them and I am absolutely ✨️trash✨️ at any kind of banishing/warding. I can cleanse and that's about it in that department, so it will certainly be a challenge for me to make more than a wet paperbag level of defense.

blackcrowing

As I was changing for bed a little metal ball fell out of my hoodie on the floor. I have absolutely no idea where it might have come from or what it could possibly be from.

This is honestly an unprecedented experience for me, I'm at a loss.

tuiliel

Oh dear! I've had things move and show up randomly before but uh. Not generally by a spirit I didn't already have a relationship with. 😬

How are you at sigil work or bindrunes or similar? When I lived in a condo my base ward was inscribed bind runes on doors/windows/etc but you could also do your ceiling.

blackcrowing

honestly I'm pretty bad at them, I can make ~ok~ runebindings but I can't ever manage to get them to... stick?... I'm horrible at any forms of energy manipulation so infusing them with enough to hold them is..... a task....

tuiliel

Ah okay fair, then I might suggest little charm bags instead? Iron nails and salt and the ashes of your favorite warding herbs. And if you don't have those, I'm partial to rosemary, rue, and St Johns Wort, myself. Hang in the top corners of rooms or off ceiling fans or over windows etc?

And there's nothing like drawing a little cross or rune (thurisaz perhaps? or ogham inscription) in your own bodily fluids for claiming a space. I frequently find that strong claiming at boundaries helps wards "stick". I was just helping a friend with that earlier this fall actually, we went around their whole property with fire.

windvexer

OP I know you didn't ask for advice so I don't want to overstep, but as I was reading through I was thinking of exactly what @tuiliel recommended.

I have helped a lot of people build wards and defenses and 90%+ of people who seem to struggle with placing effective wards are struggling because they are trying to directly raise and channel energy.

Usually when people try techniques involving making container spells with protective correspondences, the problem is solved.

(Claiming boundaries I also find to be massively helpful)

blackcrowing

I'm all for advice, like I said this is in no way one of my strengths.

😅 that is exactly how I've always tried to use them. Is there a good effective way you would recommend to ward that isn't dependent on physical objects? I have a toddler so basically anything physical is at constant risk of being disturbed

windvexer

Due to personal experience, I always recommend some level of physicality to wards/protections. So, spit runes would be a decent choice.

Is it possible to hang things up on the walls, out of reach?

A very good way to work a discreet protective ward is to make a macrame hanging and put it up somewhere high (ideally near entryways like doors and windows).

With a little practice you can make a few of these an hour and wear them as jewelry or pin them up out of reach. They do not have to be in view to work - they can be hidden in cabinets or other locked locations.

One popular way to disguise wards is to tuck tiny objects, like pennies or dimes, on top of door frames. Runes can be drawn on coins and placed in locations like these. Protective salts and/or ash can also be sprinkled in these areas.

upthewitchypunx

I also agree about wards having a physical representation. Mine often work on a hub and spoke system with items brought together for a purpose then dispersed but held together in that purpose. Lots of things can be charmed like this. I too love putting stuff above door frames or even writing stuff up there. A specific book on a shelf, a piece of artwork on a wall, a charm hung in a window or buried in a potted plant. What about drawing sigils on the back side of a doormat. Honestly, I'd build a child's toy into it, preferably one that makes noise. That could be a powerful tool.

What you are basically claiming your space in layers and saying only what you allow in the space can come in.

cafeconbrujeria

love the idea of a noisy children's toy in this capacity--makes perfect sense on multiple layers. I agree that layers are, in fact, key.

but may I also recommend another way to handle protecting a space that addresses the toddler potentially sticking things in mouth issue?

a BIG physical representation. one central protective element. way too big to be a threat to crawling or toddling babies, but also a very strong statement/threat. bigger object doesn't automatically mean more power, but in my experience the drama of it all does help, and you can work with/strength one physical object instead of several. easier still if you're inclined to work with deities or specific spirits or at least making tulpas.

I have a life size halloween skeleton who's up year 'round. he always faces towards the door. the one week in several years he was taken down for logistical reasons, I had unwanted and uninvited guests of the mundane physical kind as well as the invisible kind. of course, to me the house skeleton is not just a house skeleton, but that's personal.

and I've always felt that if I had to be less of an obvious weirdo, my beloved's body opponent bag / BOB would be a great central apotropaic ward. I've known people who do similar things with a skull (real or fake) hung on a wall, or placed centrally on a high altar.

or, you know. you can also stand alone in the darkness while everyone else is asleep and threaten your etheric enemies with a knife.

will-o-the-witch

Accidental Appropriation

It happens, we’re all human. Even if we try our best to be socially conscious, we can’t expect perfection. There are a lot of posts talking about what is and isn’t appropriation but not a lot about what to do AFTER you know. If you discover your practice has been less socially conscious and respectful than you thought, here’s what happens next:

Don’t beat yourself up.

Most people have one of two reactions to being told something they’re doing is bad: they get guilty or they get defensive (because getting defensive helps protect you from feeling guilty.) That’s a normal feeling- we’re told that only bad people do bad things, and we don’t want to be bad people. Getting reactionary and defensive only pushes the harm further, though, especially if you’re talking over members of a marginalized group about their own stuff. Instead, remember the truth: you’re not a bad person for genuinely not knowing better… you were just trying your best with the info you had at the time. What you do AFTER you know says a lot more about your character.

Learn up.

Exposing ourselves to a diverse range of voices helps us in so many ways, and discovering insensitivity in our own practice usually helps us reveal a gap. Take some time and fill in that gap and hear from actual members, so you can move forward with a better understanding. Knowing why specifically The Thing You Were Doing is culturally insensitive or appropriative is also super handy.

Apologize

Simple enough. If your actions messed with someone’s day, let them know you’re working to do better. If the harm was public, a public apology is often appreciated too. Just making right on anything wronged, basically. I’m also a fan of kinda “rebalancing” the universe and donating to a relevant nonprofit that supports the culture/otherwise supporting them in some way. Turn it into something good, yk? Lift people up.

Reflect on the appeal.

This is more for when it feels important to you in some way. It doesn’t need to be a huge internal journey, but it’s handy to touch on. What drew you to The Thing initially? Was it a useful witch tip you stumbled upon and nothing more? Does something about the structure of it really resonate with you? Or was the original culture just romanticized to have that mysterious and mystical feel? (Again, we’re imperfect humans.) Or was it something else? Getting an idea can help on deciding the next move.

Decide the next step.

There’s three directions to go here (I love a good list.)

Refine- Sometimes something is only appropriative because of key details, like the terminology we use or a specific sacred plant/tool. So adjusting that properly means everyone goes home happy.

Reach Out- Sometimes a path or practice is initiative, and cannot be properly accessed without going through the right channels. If this is the case and you really want to do The Thing properly, find your local people and get the ball rolling! Depending on the specific institution this can get very involved, so it’s up to you to decide how much work you’re willing to put in. If approaching it on their terms turns out not to be worth it for you, that’s fine, just proceed to the next step.

Replace- Sometimes a practice really is just closed to us, and that’s the end of it. Time to completely swap it out.This is why reflecting on the appeal can be helpful- it helps you find a suitable replacement by pinpointing exactly what you liked about it. Many open pracitces have the same appeal or similar, it may just take experimenting. Odds are you can find something that you vibe with and feel right at home in while still being socially conscious!

So yeah, we’re all human, we make mistakes, but how we grow from those mistakes is what defines our character. Be nice to each other, everybody :)

auressea

TL;DR “…you’re not a bad person for genuinely not knowing better… you were just trying your best with the info you had at the time. What you do AFTER you know says a lot more about your character. “

fw98

Crash course on fake stones/misrepresentations

Because I have been too lazy to type this all up.

Quartz:

If your quartz has teeny air bubbles it’s glass.

If it’s got a fruit name it’s dyed. End of story. (strawberry, cherry, lemon, pineapple, blueberry) yes there may be some very rare exceptions-fire quartz being dubbed strawberry- but due to the rise in fakes with that name it’s generally called fire quartz now.

Aura quartz is a regular quartz that’s been bonded with another material. (man made)

Cinnabar Infused Quartz usually reconstituted and mixed together to make a red crystal.

Green quartz can be grown in a lab and anything that forrest green color is

Turquoise:

Magnesite and howlite look very very similar to turquoise when they’ve been dyed, magnesite will have very deep cracks in it though.

No there is no white turquoise.

You can do a uv test to see if it’s real

Amber

Often faked with Copal. They look nearly identical.

Amber will float in salt water-copal will not.

Irradiated/dyed stones:

Very vibrant colors!!

Irradiated: (they irradiate the crystals to get a deeper or more vibrant color)

deeply pigmented topaz or kunzite

dark (almost black) smokey quartz

very deep pink or red tourmaline

colored diamonds

some cultured pearls

vibrant yellow heliodor

Dyed:

Pearls

Agate

coral

other stones may be dyed as well, generally if it looks fake..it is.

Heat treated stones: (really not a bad thing but if you’re going for natural)

Amethyst-lighten color+remove brown

Citrine-heat treated amethyst.

Aquamarine-remove green

Ruby-clearer stone

Sapphire-clearer stone

Rainbow Cal-Silica

Nope, completely fake 100%

Literally just car paint layered with calcite and resin.

Citrine: (im so sorry)

Much of the citrine on the market is lab made.

If it’s lab made it’s usually amethyst that’s been heated until it changes color

The bottom of these stones will be white with more color at the tips.

srry

Lapis Lazuli:

High quality is vibrant blue, hard to come by, and very expensive.

Low quality howlite, jasper or sodalite is dyed blue, and passed off as lapis.

Acetone will remove the dye but damage the stone.

Obsidian:

The clear green obsidian you see all over ebay is slag glass.

Natural green obsidian has been found but it is opaque and is more gray than green.

there is red obsidian as well but again, it’s not a vibrant red and is more brick colored.

Wikipedia is not always right.

Goldstone:

it’s glass it’s legitimately just glass

Opalite:

also glass.

real opalite exists but it’s green and not commonly found

once again, don’t believe everything on wikipedia.

Bismuth:

Doesn’t naturally form in the crystals, lab made!!!

rlly pretty though

Hematite:

Not naturally magnetic!

Magnetic hematite is 100% man made!

I’ll add more as I come across them~

fw98

Jade:

Real jade is p. heavy! A way to tell if it is real is that it’ll be heavier than it looks.

Jade is faked with the following:

Serpentine “New Jade” or “Olive Jade”

Prehnite

Aventurine quartz

Grossular garnet “Transvaal jade”

Chrysoprase “Australian jade”

Malaysia Jade- dyed quartz that may be called by its color – Red Jade, Yellow Jade, Blue Jade

Opaque dolomite marble “Mountain Jade” (usually dyed)

Dragon vein agate:

Quench cracked, bleached, and dyed agate and some is quench cracked, and dyed glass.

Snowflake obsidian:

Being faked with a very low grade cheap dalmatian jasper.!

Snowflake will be gray while Dalmatian should have a lighter color

Hollow galena:

A lot of pieces have been proven to have been faked through sand blasting + similar techniques (but there may be real ones I’m not 100%)

Charoite:

Chinese Charoite doesn’t exist.

If it’s called that then it’s not real, real charoite isn’t banded and is more swirly.

Moldavite:

Very very commonly faked!!

Biggest giveaway is the ‘wet’ look a faked piece has due to the molding process

White moldavite doesn’t exist!!

Sunspar:

It’s really just yellow Labradorite, which isn’t a v rare gem

chemicalheart-deactivated202009

i can confirm that this is 100% correct, most of the moldavite out there is literally just green glass. Like, if it looks like green glass that’s exactly what it is. True moldavite is very fragile but uh, u don’t exactly wanna test it by throwing it around or putting it in water :\ also a lot of people get a strange feeling called a ‘moldavite flush’ when handling it. Basically for gemstones u really wanna go to a reputable store and ideally in-person if you can. Also real citrine (as opposed to heat treated amethyst) is generally a lot lighter in colour.

elvenwitch

Another thing about hematite - EVERYONE SHOULD FAMILIARIZE THEMSELVES WITH HEMALYKE.

Hemalyke (also hemalike or hematine) is reconstituted hematite. That means it does have some hematite in it, yes, but it also has a bunch of fillers. It’s like the hot dog of gemstones.

There are tons and tons of shops out there, especially in the magic community, that will mislabel this brand of products as hematite. If you look at the stuff on Fire Mountain Gems, you’ll see a lot of the Hemalyke jewelry you’ve probably seen mislabeled as hematite in Etsy shops and from real life vendors. I’m a jewelry artist, and I use Hemalyke in a lot of pieces (and always label it as such). I’ve seen the same generic pendants in a dozen other places, mislabeled as hematite every time. So be aware of what you’re getting, because there’s a lot of this stuff out there.

libraford

I'm saying this from a place of genuine care: if you are seeing ghosts or shadows or having nightmares... and sageing, eggshells, Crystal's, and psychics arent cutting it..

Please.. please... check for things like gas leaks, water damage, vermin. I'm not saying your house isnt haunted, I'm just saying that carbon monoxide poisoning looks a LOT like being haunted.

libraford

I know that, you know that, but when it looks like supernatural things you look to supernatural solutions and you might not be thinking clearly.

I'm having a conversation with a pagan mom right now who thinks that dark forces are after her, so she's tried all the things that she knows... which apparently is not checking the hvac system for leaks.

libraford

Shes mad at me because I suggested getting an inspection because shes lived in the house for 14 years and she's always seen things like this and it's just gotten worse since she took over the house. Shes seeing entities, things are moving on their own, doors open and close on their own, people are being touched and scratched. 'Mold and gas dont do that!'

Drafty house. Uneven floors. Pressure changes.

Toxic mold syndrome can mimic depression and anxiety, cause listlessness. Guess what extreme anxiety can do. It can mess with your head. It can mess with your memory.

If you have scratches on you and you dont know where they came from, see a doctor. See a doctor. I dont know why you wont see a doctor. They can tell you if it comes from an animal. They can tell you if you're suffering from a mold allergy. They can tell you if you're experiencing side effects of gas exposure.

I wholeheartedly believe in ghosts. Absolutley not debating that ghosts and spirits and whatever you think you're seeing. I am posting this in a pagan facebook group. I 100% believe in ghosts.

I also believe in carbon monoxide.

Please check for gas leaks in your home. Please check for mold. Please check for critters. Like girl I believe you but please check these things.

libraford

She... got mad and deleted the post.

This is why we need to stress, and I mean really stress, that mundane explanations are just as important as superstitious ones, and why I genuinely worry about our echo chambers.

Yes, I know we all want to believe that the feelings of dread may be coming from an evil presence in the room, but also certain hvac systems hum at a frequency that causes confusion and anxiety.

Yes it seems reasonable that your doors open and close on their own because granmas ghost is still hanging around. But please consider that the foundation of your house might be shifting.

Yes, you might feel a sense that something bad is going to happen, but that can also be generalized anxiety or obsessive compulsive disorder.

And being in a circle that refuses to accept that mundane explanations for supernatural problems feeds and triggers delusions. The pagan/witchcraft community is extremely neuro diverse, and these delusions can trigger spirals and put people in very... very bad places.

Please accept mundane explanations.

You are not 'crazy' for seeing ghosts and your house is not dirty for needing an inspection.

If you get an inspection and it comes back clean, you can feel smug about being right. If you dont get an inspection and you're wrong you and your children could get sick and die.

Y'all I'm tired.

nudityandnerdery

This is relevant to something else I saw online today from Greg from How to Drink:

With a lot of things in the brain, we don't have another person's perspectives to know what's usually experienced- this is why I know a lot of us have had the, "Wait, that's an ADHD symptom?" moment. It's never bad to check out your experiences with a doctor.

cosmicpaladintaka

as a person with fucked up funny visual/neurological stuff like visual snow and palinopsia (I probably need to get it checked out) yeah this stuff is not normal. Kid me thought my vision was so good that I could see individual molecules but naaaah it’s astigmatism and difficult to diagnose/mostly inconsequential funny stuff with my brain

zhooniyaa-waagosh

Additionally: physical conditions can also cause emotional responses. One of the most common but least talked about symptoms of severe illnesses (including anaphylaxis and conditions affecting your heart and blood) is a sense of impending doom.

That's something I see people describe feeling in a lot of spaces, both religious spaces and ones dedicated to neurodivergency, and it can absolutely be a sign that you're experiencing allergic reactions or that you have a serious condition that your body is desperately trying to warn you about.

theconcealedweapon

Science and supernatural forces are not incompatible with each other. Believing in supernatural forces does not mean you should reject science.

robotslenderman

There is a very famous Reddit post that illustrates this perfectly, although the supernatural was never suspected:

A reply:

OP updated from in the hospital:

This post is basically in the Reddit hall of fame now. Always check for mundane explanations. Always.

rubykgrant

(knew somebody who insisted their house was haunted and refused to do anything “normal” about the clearly dangerous moldy spot in their bathroom. I finally suggested- “How do you know that isn’t just the way an evil ghost is messing with you? How do you know it isn’t literally causing the mold to grow, as a way to cause you harm in the living world?” so they finally called somebody, who took care of the evil ghost mold, and their breathing improved. even if you 100% believe in something spiritual or supernatural, sometimes you need to deal with the problem in a mundane way that genuinely works)

marzipanandminutiae

"I 100% believe in ghosts. I also believe in carbon monoxide" is one of my favorite quotes of all time

thetwistedrope

please, for the love of all that's dear, don't rule out mundane reasons for things that you experience. your health isn't worth being at risk for not double-checking.

windvexer

learning lenormand after learning tarot is so frustrating.

with tarot it's like, "five of wands? Conflict! five of wands + tower? Conflict that ends in disaster! five of wands + four of swords? Conflict that ends in rest, or maybe the conflict is coming to a rest! Conflict, you get it."

with lenormand it's like, "snake? well this could be a very sexy lesbian. Oh, snake + mountain? Well obviously that means that very few exotic breeds will be entered into the dog show this year, or maybe that your husband has a mistress, does that help?"

maybelenormand

Everything is on context.

Snake + Mountain : did you ask about the dog show ? Than it is about the dog show.

Is it about your husband mistress’ ? Than it is.

Is it a daily ? You’re having a bump on the road and you’ll get stuck on the side road. Have a nice day.

It’s. All. About. Context.

You take the Snake definition. You had the Mountain definition. Both in the simplest form. You apply context. Bam answer.

You note it down. You come back later. You facepalm. Those little buggers are … on point. Like those pesky people who’s always right…

windvexer

Haha, topical username :D I ordered a lenormand book, do you have opinions on The Complete Lenormand Oracle by Caitli`n Matthews?

brightgnosis-hebe-deactivated20

Oh I love Lenormand so much because it's so straightforward.

With Tarot I feel like I'm always having to pull teeth to get a straight answer, even when I ask a very specific and targeted question. But with Lenormand, it's always so clear; it's often very linear in nature, and everything is laid out right there for you in very simple terms. No mincing, no guessing, no dual meaning.

The thing is: Yes, each individual card has its own specific meaning and can act as a Key Card. But Lenormand actively cannot be read as singlets (except using very specific methods that are pretty rare in my experience, iirc). It's actively not supposed to be, and is not designed to be; to actually do a reading, Lenormand cards can only be read in linear pairs. That is where the real meaning and the actual interpretations of your reading come from.

These linear pairs each have a specific defined definition or meaning. Every single one of them. Often just one meaning, but sometimes they'll have two. And in my experience, personally? The difference isn't in what you asked about ... That's not really how Lenormand works so much, because with such defined and rigid combination definitions, there's not really enough variation to actually work with like that like there is in Tarot (where individual card and combination definitions both matter and one card alone can have up to 4 interpretations sometimes- not to mention its combined meaning with other cards to all sides of it; Tarot can get very complicated very quickly by comparisson).

Instead, if there's more than one interpretation of a combination, in my experience personally at least? Which one is the correct one in that instance actually lays more frequently in what order the cards appear in the linear pair ... So Mountain -> Snake means dog show. But Snake -> Mountain? THAT is the Mistress in the reading.

These aren't the actual meanings by the by, for anyone looking on; the Snake + Mountain combination actually means "obstacles vs desires" at its core ... Specifically, overcoming difficult obstacles and challenges that are in the way of what you want (Mountain -> Snake), or failed attempts at seduction or romance (Snake -> Mountain).

As for definitions and methodologies, I haven't read that specific book, personally (though now I know it exists, I'm going to pick it up!). I use 'Secrets of the Lenormand Oracle' by Sylvie Steinbach. But I also know how to read Lenormand. So all I really need are the (ridiculous amount) of pair keywords for my readings. And that's pretty much 90% of what that book is. So I wouldn't particularly recommend it for any beginners!

Hope this helps, though! Lenormand is so different to most other systems it can be hard for others to get into. I'd love to see more people give it a go, and it gets exciting to see it when it happens!

zarya-zaryanitsa

I'm a slavic christopagan and a big part of our tradition is ancestor worship. My problem is that majority of my ancestors were shit (domestic abusers, pedophiles, etc) so what would you recommend to people like me when it comes to this tradition? Are there alternatives?

First of all something I always point out is that we have a lot of ancestors, more than we can usually conceptualize. While many of them may have been cruel and abusive I bet many were also alright, although they might be (or feel) more distant than the obviously problematic ones. Having abusive ancestors doesn’t mean you have to give up on your whole family tree, though I would certainly communicate to the them that they are not welcome in your practice and perhaps ward them off for good measure. The cases you mention sound truly horrible and I’m sorry that’s something you have to be dealing with. At the same time it’s important to keep in mind that nobody’s family is made up of angels only, and pretty much everyone has some terrible ancestors to deal with. What I’m trying to say is not that the issues in your family are insignificant but rather that you are not alone in this struggle and shouldn’t feel like you are barred from ancestral veneration.

However, if you feel like this trauma is too much for you to deal with at this time (or ever) you still have plenty of other possibilities such as affinity ancestors (those who share your vocation, cultural identity, or other affinity), cult of heroes (you get to choose your heroes!) and veneration of Saints.

Best of luck to you!

upyrica

It might be added that ancestor veneration is not necessarily a matter of spending time personally with each of your predecessors, whatever their character might be - it is at its core about strengthening the connection to a line that fuels your personal fortune. You are using their support in order to succeed in life, and expressing fair gratitude for said support, not having a dinner date.

creature-witch

This is upg but Im chatty today so. When I work with ancestors, it's always plural, and it's always in the Ancestor Voice. (In that there is a large overwhelming consensus that is speaking to me.) Of course there are ancestors I feel closer to because I knew them personally but in general when I am doing any craft that involves them, it's not one or two or those in memory, it's the culmination of their driving force behind me.

Warding against specific people who you feel are involved in your spiritual path isn't a bad thing, but how far are you warding? Go back 200 years? 3? 4? Surely we are a thousand voices before us and I feel like it's impossible to filter every bad egg. On the same coin there is nothing wrong with excluding someone who you knew to be unfavorable.

I'm rambling a little. There are different categories of ancestor work, some involve all, some involve a select few. Experiment with what works for you or doesn't, and don't get trapped in someone else's guilt.

breelandwalker

Red Flag Checklist

Okay witches, let's have a round table.

When you're reading or contemplating the purchase of a book on modern witchcraft or paganism, what are some red and green flags that you look for?

I'll start.

Red Flags:

Disreputable Author - If the author is either a known source of bad information or bad behavior, or one of those "house names" that certain companies use, that's a no for me.

"New Age White Witch" Syndrome - If a text has a more-than-incidental or very deliberate focus on culturally appropriative practices ("Use this exotic voodoo doll ritual to hex your ex"), outdated terminology ("black magic," that G slur we don't use, etc), antisemitic bullshit (Lilith is not a pagan goddess), or anti-science rhetoric ("Essential oils are better than pills!") And yes this means the ever-expanding list of racist dogwhistles too.

Poor Understanding or Misrepresentation of History - If someone's repeating Murrayisms or insisting things are ancient that definitely aren't (POTATO GODDESS), that says to me that either the author didn't bother to do their research or they don't know what they're talking about.

Insistence on One Correct Way - If I encounter anything resembling "this is the only TRUE way," the book's going out the window. The more so if the author is citing their personal opinions or UPGs as fact.

Insistence on Gendering Everything - If a book insists on assigning a binary gender to everything (outside of citing a historical context), or is boomboxing ~*SACRED WOMYN'S WOMB MAGYCK*~ throughout, or even if it's just overly preoccupied with fertility and childbearing as part of the "natural" life cycle, I'm immediately putting it down. (This is more of a personal one, in a way? But it's a red flag for TERFy things too.)

Lack of Sources - If there's no bibliography, no works cited, no recommended reading, or just a really flimsy list that's rife with internet links or problematic titles, that's not a good sign.

Green Flags:

Inclusive Language - If the author refers to the reader or an unidentified person as "they" or "them," that's a good sign. Double points if it's in a context that you'd normally expect to see gendered elsewhere. There's always room for gendered language when it's appropriate, but to me, it's refreshing when an author doesn't assume the female identifies as female.

Health and Safety Warnings - If there are notes for safe handling or harvesting of potentially harmful herbs, or warnings about health hazards (i.e. keep this away from persons who are pregnant or nursing), or reminders to be careful with fire and glass and the like, this is a good sign. To me, it means the author has a practical mindset and is at least keeping real-world limitations in mind.

Lots of Sources...and GOOD Sources - If the book has a nice fat bibliography, especially if there are mundane sources as well as magical ones, and if those sources are solid? A+. Double points if there's an index or footnotes and citations throughout the text.

Lack of "Guru" Mindset - If the author encourages the reader to take what they've learned and continue to do research on their own, that's a good sign. Encouragement of critical thinking is excellent, and also the admission that there is more than one way of Doing The Magical Thing. (Hi Lee)

Good Formatting - A book should be visually appealing, but it should also be easy to read and formatted properly, in a way that makes sense. I like to see clean margins, good spacing, and clear text. Page decorations and pictures and fancy title fonts are fine, so long as they don't make the book difficult to decipher.

(Okay, your turn!)

creature-wizard

Some people ask me, "how do you decide what's true?" and I figured I'd share one way I go about things.

Let's say a channeler named Tiffany claims she's in contact with an advanced alien being named Zargos. Tiffany claims that Zargos told her that he knows a ton of advanced science, and he's constantly constantly monitoring Earth for threats to human safety.

This is obviously an unfalsifiable claim. Even if I don't personally believe that Tiffany is talking to an alien, there's no way I can test it.

But here's what I can do: wait for Tiffany to make a claim on Zargos's behalf that actually is testable, and see how it holds up.

Let's say that Tiffany claims that Zargos is keeping a very close eye on planet Earth, and that he's warned her that all the world's bananas have been replaced with alien cocoons, and they're going to hatch into monster moths in a few weeks. All I have to do is buy some bananas, then wait and see if they hatch.

If the bananas turn brown and mushy instead, and not a single soul anywhere reports banana moths, then this seriously damages the credibility of Tiffany's claims. I'd expect better from a guy who supposedly knows so much about what's going on around here.

Or perhaps Tiffany claims that Zargos told her that lemon juice can be used in place of toothpaste. I know for sure that acid exposure is bad for human teeth. I'd expect better from somebody who supposedly knew so much about science.

Maybe Zargos claims that ten thousand years ago, he visited the Land of Oz (which he claims is located in what's now present-day Colorado and New Mexico) before it was destroyed in a cataclysm. I know damn well that The Wizard of Oz is 20th century fantasy fiction, and I know enough about North America to know that there was no civilization or culture anything like what L. Frank Baum described. (Just for a start, where are the archaeological remains? Like, where are the remnants of the Yellow Brick Road? Where are the remains of the factories used to make yellow bricks?)

In the end, it kinda doesn't really matter all that much to me whether Zargos is a real alien entity, or whether he's a figment of Tiffany's imagination. What ultimately matters is that whatever Zargos is, he can't be taken seriously because so much of what he says is absolute bullshit.

ladybrythwensinclair

Unpopular Opinion time

Way back in the ancient days of Usenet forums and such (1998 C.E.), I had the opportunity to meet Z. Budapest. She was playing fast and loose with bad archeology to support her positions that changed like a weather cock except that men were the source of evil and oppression. She was promoting matriarchy and the oppression of men. I, at a young 17 years on this earth, couldn’t stand her gas lighting her followers, her verbal abuse of many of them when they refused to tow the company line, and her out right lies to uplift herself into a position of power. Her use of cult tactics was obvious. I called her out on it all. I repeatedly demanded citation of sources of what ever ‘fact’ she flung out to support her argument. When she refused saying it was “beneath” her to do such thing, I would go and find the academic paper (quite often with a woman in the lead on the research) that refuted her fact. I was making a point to challenge one of the leading figures of the Witchcraft community. I got called a ‘conservative christian plant’, i got called a number of unsavory things that I’m not going to post here because she was creative in her insults as she was in her lies. Eventually, other people began questioning her and she couldn’t handle it. She started going on about how she was their ‘mother’ and they ‘owed her respect’. When things hit that point, I simply said, “I give respect to those who respect me.” That’s about when she hit the roof and went on a tirade about how I was a traitor to women kind. The next day I was banned from her usenet chat group. I believe she may be talking smack about me this day because I made a point of directly challenging her and refusing to kiss the ring for forgiveness of my audacity to critically think about what she was spouting.

Next time y’all call Z. Budapest your hero, I will regard you with suspicion. I will regard your claims of being a feminist with suspicion. Yes, she wrote a women-focused book of magic. If you want feminism in your witchcraft, look at Starhawk. She owns her errors and does her best to improve upon them. She’s not a straight up misogynist looking to build a cult.

gefdreamsofthesea

This explains a lot, actually, like how she views the High Priestess as the unquestioned authority over the coven (among other things).

skaldish

Norse Animism is based on the notion that we can socialize with the world and that the world socializes in return.

Which means our relationship with anything is inherently collaborative. We are not just interactinv with things, but participating in their existence as they participate in ours.

skaldish

PRACTICAL EXAMPLE:

Go outside

Grab some dirt

Feel it in your hands. What's it like? Is it dry? Wet? Sandy? Full of clay?

This is the story the dirt tells you of itself. And in my experience, cool shit starts happening when you get better and better at listening.

(No seriously, go get some dirt and tell me what it's like.)

reflectionsfromalostgirl

My hand is now full of snow. It is cold and wet and heavy, which is not normal for this time of year. This time of year has been historically for dry powder and wind cold enough to freeze your skin in seconds

This snow is sorrow and loss.

skaldish

I like this! Great start. Thinking of things in terms of an ecosystem—"This is unusual for this time of year"—is a big part of it.

The snow's telling you of an anomally with unfortunate implications. It comes with that feeling of grief. That's the socializing aspect at work.

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