I've been in and out of the witch community multiple times since I was 13 or so. I always ended up repressing my interest in magic out of shame. I felt like I could never really find my place in magic.
Now, I'm feeling much more confident and comfortable, and I want to cultivate magic that is personal to me and my beliefs. I've discovered a personal deity for myself, Calliope (not to be confused with the Greek muse) and ever since I've known that she was special to me. I want to use this space to explore and share my beliefs and talk about Calliope!
I don't know where I'll end up, but I'm very excited :)
Like yes, there's no rules, but if your takeaway from that is that there's literally no rules, then I think you missed the larger conversation about the specific ways in which there are no rules.
What "there's no rules" means is that there is not one universal set of rules that applies to every practitioner.
It means that nobody gets to act as an authority on what the rules are for everyone else.
It means that if you show up on somebody else's post saying "the first rule of witchcraft is that you must only use magic for good" you will probably (and deservedly) be told to fuck off.
What "there's no rules" does NOT mean is that there are literally no rules. There are SO many rules. People just work within their own set of rules.
Some rules come with the territory of working within a specific tradition.
Some rules are set by entities that practitioners work with, and might be quite specific to each individual.
Some rules are like laws of physics. They define the mechanisms by which magic works within a paradigm, and what the limits are on what it can do. A magical practice consisting of "I can do literally anything," is typically a practice that hasn't had a lot of genuine thought put into it. I have yet to meet anybody who can literally turn invisible or fly.
Some rules are more like a personal code of ethics.
So, when you burst into someone else's post to announce that there are no rules, you might not be told to fuck off quite as quickly as if you turned up to impose your personal rules on other people, but you are essentially signaling that you do not understand the concept of rules within a magical practice.
Disclaimer: some people are going to be obnoxious and make their own posts about how everyone else should be following their rules, and while it might be tempting to correct them, in my experience these people tend to get 0 notes, and you're more likely to give them the exposure they desire by starting a flame war. When they find that followers don't come flocking to them, they eventually get bored and give up.
This altar is my sacred space — a reflection of my journey and devotion. I share it here with love, for it holds deep meaning to me — kindness is always welcome.
I NEEEED to make myself a wand... I used to make wands for myself and my friends when I was 13 or so, it felt so good to do... I think my skills as an artist have greatly improved since then, I would love to make one now that I won't be too embarrassed to use :)
I think it's so lovely when a deity finds you instead of you searching for them... I found Calliope because I already believed in everything she represents. Getting to discover and shape my practice around her is so beautiful... I get to create symbolism for her, write about what she means to me, create holidays for her... I've created a runic alphabet for her! Letting a deity find you and guide you through telling their story is so wonderful :)
I'm a little surprised by the lack of people "making" their own deities. (I think I found Calliope rather than made her, everything she represents was already here, I just had to discover her.) In my mind that's what all deities are, just people putting an identity to things that were already a part of their lives. I figured there would be more people who have found their own unique, individual deities!
The gods don't always show you they're with you in big ways.
Sometimes it's small things, a butterfly hovering around you, a wild animal coming to you for help, hitting every green light when you're running late, an extra dollar in your pocket when you need it.
‧₊˚ ☽ ⋅ SHARING MY KNOWLEDGE OF WITCHCRAFT (PART ONE)
Moon Magick Witch Tips
Harnessing The Moon's Power for Your Hair
Scent Magick: The Power of Aromatic Alchemy (RECENT)
Storm Water in Witchcraft
Different Types of Clouds in Witchcraft
Apartment Witch Tips
3-3-3 Morning Ritual
Meditation Doesn’t Require An Empty Mind: The Biggest Meditation Myth Busted
First of the Month Rituals
Money Bowl Magick
Cleansing + Recharging Your Protections and Wards
Energy Vampires vs. Dark Entities: Spotting the Difference
5 Signs You're Already Manipulating Energy: Many Do These Daily Without Realizing
Graveyard Etiquette
Understanding Deity Work vs. Deity Worship and Addressing Common Fears
Deities Are Not Pokémon Cards: Stop Collecting Gods Like Trophies (RECENT)
Animal Associations with Deities Tarot Timing: Methods That Actually Work
Journaling After A Tarot Reading
Strawberries in Witchcraft
Don't Fall For These Witchcraft Scams: Red Flags You Should Know
Shedding the Light: Toxic Trends in the Spiritual and Witchcraft Community
Super easy and cheap devotional acts for beginners.
A nice cup and some clean, fresh, water on the altar can often be all you need for daily offerings
Grow a plant on your altar, use your weekly watering as a devotional act. Hermes is currently helping my peace lily grow :)
Draw their sigil on your nails and then paint over them with nail polish that matches their color correspondences.
If you can’t acquire alcohol for your deities (wine, vodka etc) because you’re too young, white vinegar also works. The quality we’re looking for is the purification aspect. White vinegar is natural, antibacterial and never goes bad. You can leave it on your altar until it evaporates if you want.
If you work with a deity involved with self love like Aphrodite, investing a little more time into your skin care and scent can be very rewarding. Nothing super boujie, it can be as simple as getting some nice smelling lotion at the dollar store.
Food and water offerings don’t have to be external, especially if you’re in the broom closet and don’t have an altar. Reserve the first bite of your meal for your deity. Savour its taste while you think about them. Pour yourself a crisp glass of cold water and guzzle it as a devotional act.
Use a washable or dry erase marker to draw sigils on your shower wall for bath rituals. It’ll come right off when you’re done.
Tea bags are just bags of dried herbs. You can use these as offerings or draw sigils on them and burn them for witchcraft. No one is ever suspicious about a little tea. Adding a tea bag to your water offerings also gives them an extra kick.
A couple dollars at the thrift store will take you a long way. I love thrifting items because they’re usually well loved. I especially like thrifting spirituality books that past practitioners have written in. Sometimes my deities communicate with me through the books that are available on any given day. If I was just talking to Leviathan about the power of water and I see a book about Hydromancy, I know that he’s sending me a sign. Like, 90% of the books Lucifer has sent me popped up at the thrift store. Most expensive one was $7.99. (and I tag swapped it for 2.99 😊 thanks, Hermes-
and on this note, literally steal. Not from small local thrift stores, but I mean this with my whole chest, steal from Value Village. If you can sneakily swap a tag and get something for cheaper literally do it. Value Village gets all their inventory for free I literally do not care. Corporate thrift stores don’t deserve rights. I steal from Value Village as a devotional act to Hermes 😊 lmao )
If you don’t have money to spend on really nice paintings and posters of your deities for your altar, start buying books about them. It’s a double win. A book about Greek religion will certainly have multiple beautiful sculptures and paintings of Aphrodite that I can cut out and put on my wall. A book about angels might have a cool painting of Lucifer. Books about Goddesses, ancient religions, anthropology, astrology etc. You get the opportunity to learn, and if it’s a book you don’t particularly care too much for, you can take it apart for imagery. People ask me all the time where I got all of my paintings and pictures from. BOOKS.
Does your deity have a kind of complicated sigil that you love but you also kinda hate redrawing every other day? Sorry Cerberus (Naberius) I love you but that sigil is so complicated babe.
Learn how to block print! It’s very simple. You get a block of linoleum (usually pretty cheap, I think mine were like $5) , some ink (~$10), and a carving tool (varies depending), and make a sigil stamp! All you gotta do is draw your sigil and carve it out nicely one time. You can still bless it and imbue it with your energy, and you can easily put it on prayers, talismans etc.
Chalk is your best friend. Use it to draw sigils on the floor or wall that can easily be wiped away. You can imbue special chalk and use it for casting circles if you don’t like the mess of salt.
Let’s be real, witches — it’s time to talk about something long overdue.
There’s a rising wave of people slapping the words “witch,” “pagan,” or “magical” onto themselves while still upholding systems of oppression, exclusion, and harm. They toss herbs into jars, chant affirmations under the moon, and still spew racism, homophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, ableism, or cultural superiority.
So, let me say this clearly — and feel free to repeat after me, loudly and unapologetically:
You can’t be a witch and be racist.
You can’t be a pagan and be homophobic.
You can’t be a polytheist and be transphobic.
You can’t be a witch and hate on other religions, minorities, or cultures.
You can’t be a practitioner of any tradition rooted in honor, nature, community, and reverence and then turn around and act like a bigot.
You can’t be pagan and be a fascist.
You can’t say “love and light” and then vote for policies that strip rights from others.
You can’t call yourself a steward of the Earth and still dehumanize Her children.
In short?
You can’t be a witch and an asshole.
Not without violating the very heart of what these spiritual paths are about.
🌾 Paganism & Witchcraft Are Community-Centric Paths
Despite what TikTok may have you believe, real witchcraft isn’t just aesthetic spells, dark eyeliner, and a book of shadows you bought off Etsy (though those can be cute too).
Real paganism — in all its forms, from Hellenic to Norse to Kemetic to Celtic and beyond — is about living in relationship with the world, the divine, your ancestors, the land, and other people.
It’s not an edgy costume. It’s a way of being that demands accountability.
These paths were born from collective ways of living — not individualism, not supremacy, not gatekeeping, and definitely not hate.
To be a witch is to be part of a larger web of existence. If you weave poison into that web — through hate, cruelty, or exclusion — you unravel the entire thing.
⚖️ Pagan Ethics 101: What the Ancients Actually Valued
Let’s take it back — way back — to the pre-Christian world, the one so many pagans claim to be reviving or reclaiming.
The ancients valued:
Xenia – sacred hospitality, the moral obligation to care for guests, foreigners, and strangers.
Ma’at – the Kemetic principle of cosmic balance, truth, justice, and order.
Frith – the Old Norse concept of peace within community, the responsibility to protect one another.
Reciprocity – across almost every ancient tradition, the idea that what you put out, you get back (energetically, spiritually, communally).
So if you’re spouting hate in the name of these traditions?
You’re not reclaiming your roots — you’re betraying them.
🕊 You Can’t Be Pagan and a Colonizer
This part is especially important:
Paganism and white supremacy are not friends.
If your practice is built on stolen rituals, misused cultural items, or bastardized interpretations of someone else’s tradition — especially without respect or acknowledgment — then you’re not a witch. You’re a spiritual colonizer.
And if you think “closed practices” are just gatekeeping, consider this:
Some magic is dangerous. Some paths require initiation, training, ancestral permission, and cultural context. That’s not gatekeeping. That’s respect.
So no — you don’t need to call on deities from cultures you don’t belong to.
No — you don’t need to use Indigenous terms you don’t understand.
No — you don’t get to claim spiritual superiority because you read one book and burned some sage from Walmart.
Do your research. Earn your path.
Magic without accountability is just ego.
🌈 A Word on Gender, Queerness, and the Craft
Let’s talk about transphobia and homophobia in the witchy world, because yes — unfortunately, it still exists.
If your witchcraft only recognizes binary gender roles, excludes trans and nonbinary people, or reduces womanhood to wombs — congratulations, you’ve fallen for patriarchy disguised as spirituality.
Historically, queer and gender-fluid individuals held sacred roles in magical societies around the globe:
Galli priestesses of Cybele in ancient Rome, who were trans or gender-nonconforming.
Two-Spirit people in many Indigenous traditions, honored for their dual spiritual perspectives.
Hijra communities in South Asia, who have long played ceremonial and spiritual roles.
Queerness is not new to magic. It is magic.
To exclude LGBTQ+ folks from the craft is not traditional — it’s ahistorical.
🛑 What About Free Speech, Though?
This always comes up, so let’s say it loud for the people in the back:
Free speech protects you from government punishment.
It does not protect you from community consequences.
If you spread hate, lies, or oppression, people have every right to call you out, ban you from spaces, and stop buying your snake oil.
Being a witch isn’t a license to harm.
Being “controversial” doesn’t make you enlightened.
Being “honest” doesn’t excuse being cruel.
🧹 Clean House, Witches — Spiritually and Socially
If you’re reading this and feeling seen — good.
If you’re reading this and feeling defensive — even better.
Because here’s the truth:
We all mess up. We’re all learning. But it’s what you do next that counts.
Are you willing to deconstruct harmful beliefs?
Are you listening to marginalized voices?
Are you giving back to the communities you take from?
Are you unlearning supremacy disguised as “tradition”?
Are you practicing consent, compassion, and clarity?
That’s the real spellwork.
🔥 Final Word: Paganism Is Not a Refuge for Bigots
If your witchcraft only works when others are suffering — it’s not witchcraft. It’s control.
If your paganism only uplifts people who look like you — it’s not paganism. It’s a cult of ego.
If your spirituality isn’t rooted in love, justice, balance, and humility — it’s not divine. It’s dangerous.
Let’s stop pretending otherwise.
Let’s make it crystal clear:
Paganism has no room for white supremacy.
Witchcraft has no room for transphobia.
The sacred has no room for hate.
And if that offends you? You can kindly hex your way out the back of this blog.
🌱 Keep It Sacred, Keep It Just
Let’s build a spiritual community that honors:
The land we walk on.
The ancestors who guide us.
The people beside us.
The futures we’re shaping.
Magic without ethics is just manipulation.
Spirituality without justice is just performance.
And witches, we were not made to perform.
We were made to transform.
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