#bruxtia

[breelandwalker]

Mama Bree, this is a weird thing to ask but: can you recommend any good fiction about witches and sorcerers? I've read LOTR and The Silmarillion but I'd like to branch out, maybe try something more modern, and I wondered if you had any faves.

I gotchu, fam. 😁

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Patricia C. Wrede)

The Codex Alera (Jim Butcher)

The Harry Dresden Series (Jim Butcher)

The Practical Magic Series (Alice Hoffman)

The Abhorsen Series (Garth Nix)

A Nameless Witch (A. Lee Martinez)

Uprooted (Naomi Novik)

Spinning Silver (Naomi Novik)

Sebastian (Anne Bishop)

Belladonna (Anne Bishop)

Toil and Trouble: 15 Tales of Women and Witchcraft

Wicked Witches: An Anthology of New England Horror Writers

If you want something more along the lines of a solid brick of high fantasy, I might also recommend The Ruins of Ambrai / The Mageborn Traitor by Melanie Rawn (if you don't mind that she's never going to finish the damn trilogy) or her Dragon Prince series (it was written in the 1980s and it shows, but it's very entertaining).

There's also a particular subset of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series that focuses on a group of absolutely wonderful witches. I recommend starting with Equal Rites (Granny Weatherwax et al) and The Wee Free Men (Tiffany Aching) and going from there.

Happy Reading!

[jasper-pagan-witch]

OK, I know that this sounds awful, but can I figure out my own correspondences for crystals using a combination of folklore, mythos, color magic/psychology and scientific properties?

Welcome back to the ask box, Bruxtia!

Okay, so! Originally I was going to reply to this with a snarky but not-mean-spirited answer of "Where else do you think they come from?", but then I spent a few hours away and thinking about it and realized that my experiences and knowledge aren't universal here, so let me answer this as genuinely and thoroughly as I can.

In short: Yes.

In long: There are many different ways to figure out correspondences, with or without some weird New Age crystal-healing chakra-appropriating mess. These methods include:

Folklore and mythology

Color psychology

Scientific properties and builds

Personal experience

The experiences of others

Cultural context

And much, much more!

Ever wonder why it seems that everything that's green is associated with money, nature, and abundance? Well, United States dollars and British pounds are green, and most people writing magic/witchcraft books in English are either American or British. People look at grass and trees (which are both usually green in the summer) and go "Ah, green means nature!" And from that, people often associate abundance with having money and a physical abundance of things (though that's not the only definition) so it ties back to the money thing.

Pyrite gets associated with money because everyone kept thinking it was real gold until it got the name Fool's Gold. In my experience, it would represent false wealth better because of that history; but apparently, I'm the outlier here. And that's great because that personal experience works best for my practice!

(Cue a cut rant about results-based magic being the center point of my magical practice.)

A lot of the problems we find with correspondence lists is that we can never really tell what approach the people making these lists are taking. Are they repeating what they've read from other books or seen elsewhere online? Are they talking about personal experience? Are they going for historical usage of these things? (And if so, where are their sources?) This is why correspondence lists are far more useful for quickly jogging your memory on something or to make and use for yourself - that way you can make sure it works just fine for you.

~Jasper

[breelandwalker]

So pretty much I've come to the conclusion that a baby witch should study botany, animals, minerals and crystals, folk magic, history, folklore, various religions and the occult ( albeit with caution for the latter , and without culturally appropriating anything) but is there any order in which I should study these things, or can I study them randomly/ at the same time? Right now I'm reading a really goofy herb book.

Sounds like you're off to a good start! Studying those subjects in practical sources will definitely give you a better framework in which to understand and expand your magical learning.

There's not really a particular order they need to be studied in, although I usually do recommend bringing in the history right from the start, due to the amount of misinformation floating around. For the rest, I think it's probably more feasible to take up the mundane subjects as they become relevant, so you don't go into information overload.

So when you're studying plant magic, read up on botany. When you're looking into shiny rocks, you can dig into geology and gemology. When you're looking into deities or folk magic, bust out the folklore and mythology. If you happen to come across claims about religious principles or historical events, bring in the books on those topics. And so on and so forth.

I also fully recommend Margot Adler's "Drawing Down The Moon" and Ronald Hutton's "Triumph of the Moon" as baseline resources for the history of the modern witchcraft movement. They are both Weighty-Ass Tomes, but they have really good information and solid research behind them.

I have a big masterpost of book recs here, if it helps. Doesn't cover every subject, but it might provide a starting point. 😊

[jasper-pagan-witch]

This could be considered personal to your craft so you don't have to answer it but what does magical energy feel like to you? How would you describe it, and how do you know when you're sensing it?

Hey, sorry this took a while for me to come answer. I haven't been ignoring this on purpose, I promise!

I'm in a very particular position where I'm only able to just barely sense energy in something if it's super-saturated in the area OR I'm holding the object in my input hand. Other than that, I'm completely blind to it. I can't even see ghosts and shit like my mom and Bagaw can. Still waiting for Ghost Puberty 😔

I previously compared my method of drawing energy and putting it somewhere else as being similar to using suction to pull milk up a straw. It's just honestly not that deep? I have silly milk straw arms and sometimes the area I'm in is too loud.

Though I did notice something interesting. The day before yesterday, I was walking across the farm with my stepdad. In places where I normally felt a lot of energy (the Shadowed Boughs and the Patch, as I call them), I felt nothin' alongside my stepdad. It was interesting, and I have a few theories as to why this was.

~Jasper

[breelandwalker]

If I can only get one right now, either Owen Davies' Oxford Illustrated History of Witchcraft and Magic, or Ronald Hutton's The Witch : A History of Fear, From Ancient Times to Present, which should I as a baby witch get right now?

OOF, tough call! It really depends on how many illustrations you want, I suppose, and whether you want a study on witch trials and witchcraft-related superstitions or a more comprehensive look at the development of magical beliefs and traditions.

Davies' History has a great deal of color plates that are very interesting and the material covers a number of magical traditions, the history of witch trials, and pop culture depictions of witches from the modern day as well.

Hutton's The Witch is more focused on the fear and superstition surrounding magic and witchcraft, and traces parallels between the European witch trials and similar events and attitudes toward witchcraft elsewhere in the world.

To sum it up, Davies focuses on history while Hutton focuses more on anthropology.

Personally, for a newer witch, I'd recommend Davies' History of Witchcraft and Magic, but make room in your budget for a different Ronald Hutton title in the near future. The Triumph of the Moon is an intriguing look at the origins of Wicca and the modern witchcraft movement, and it makes an excellent companion to Margot Adler's equally indispensable work, Drawing Down The Moon.

So I'd start with the overall history and then pick up the two volumes on the modern movement. This should give you a pretty good overview and plenty of context for your studies!

(I might also recommend checking out Michael D. Bailey's Historical Dictionary of Witchcraft and the Magic in History book collection if you're a history buff.)

[jasper-pagan-witch]

As far as book recs, what books are the least "suspicious"-looking title-wise, like in a won't weird your family out too much way?

This is an interesting question because I'm objectively the least weird person in my immediate family as far as books go. But I'll give this a shot! I'm gonna avoid books with "witch" in the title, but honestly, I have no idea how wary your family may be of books.

The Farmer's Almanac of the year: Once you get past the advertisements, there's a lot of practical growing advice and a surprising amount of magic-related stuff. Well, astronomy/astrology-related stuff, but still. I started using these as of earlier this year and have both the 2022 and 2023 editions. Jasper Category: Regional/Personal Practices.

Roots, Branches & Spirits by H Byron Ballard: My first introduction to the concept of folk magic was this wonderful book on Appalachian folk magic. It inspired me to look a lot more local and eventually led to me finding the Ozark Magic series by Brandon Weston. I'm not sure if it's particularly telling to the casual observer, but it's a fascinating look at someone's personal journey into their local magical tradition. Jasper Category: Regional/Personal Practices.

Badass Ancestors by Patti Wigington: I've gone over this book before, but if you're trying to learn about ancestor work (or even just your ancestors), it has some valuable resources and ideas of where you can look. It's useful enough that it's made it into my reference stacks. Jasper Category: Miscellaneous.

Willow and Sage Homemade Bath and Body: More of a magazine than a book, my May/June/July 2022 edition is a very practical guide for making all kinds of products. I look forward to actually trying out the recipes. It's not magic by any means, but it's helpful. Jasper Category: Miscellaneous.

Pretty much any mythology or history book: We all have those periods of time that we go absolutely batshit over mythology and history, right? Right? Yeah. This is also where my copies of the Homeric Hymns, the King James Bible, and others are located. Jasper Category: History, Religion, and Mythology.

Do I Have To Wear Black? by Mortellus: Likewise, this is an in-depth look at the various religious funerary and mourning practices, especially in modern contexts, brought to us by someone who actually works in that field. Jasper Category: History, Religion, and Mythology.

Regional ghost stories: I happen to have several Missouri-based or Mississippi River-based books on ghosts. These help take a look at folklore, history, and how things evolve and change over time, as well as how they stay in the public consciousness. Jasper Category: History, Religion, and Mythology.

Regional farming/planting guides: Similarly, I'm in Missouri, so a good number of my gardening guides are either about planting indoors, planting edible plants, or planting things that work great here in Missouri. Jasper Category: Gardening and Plants.

Historically- or locally-significant books of folktales, poetry, and fiction: We've got Edgar Allen Poe's complete works, we've got the Brothers Grimm, we have five great Greek tragedies in one book, we've got Horrible Phobias Lovecraft's works (may he rest in the racist squallor box and may he spin in his grave over everyone wanting to kiss his monsters), we've got Dante, we've got the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, we have "Jasper ran out of money but keeps trying to wipe out the book store's shelves of any significantly-old book with a new or fancy cover EVEN IF THEY ALREADY OWN IT." We've got the range. These are great for summoning up specific feelings or memories, for coming up with chants, for pop culture magic, for everything! And if anyone asks, you're just a fan of the classics! Jasper Category: Old Shit.

Unfortunately, most of my beginner-focused books, my tarot books, my spellbooks, and my correspondence-based books are a lot less low-key.

I hope this gives you a few ideas! I'm sorry if this isn't particularly helpful, I'm just not in a place where I have to be worried about people seeing that I practice magic. I mean, I have 62 tarot and oracle decks lined up on my shelves, it would be foolish of my family to NOT notice.

~Jasper

[jasper-pagan-witch]

🔥

Tarot?

Too many people say "Oh, [X gendered card] doesn't HAVE to represent [X gender]" and then proceed to describe it almost entirely as that gender.

And if you bring it up, they get really, really defensive about it and act like you noticing something they do is somehow calling them transphobic/sexist or you kicked their puppy in front of them. Like, y'all! We aren't perfect! I get that, I know that it's hard to see how you're contradicting yourself.

But if you preach it, you should probably practice it! If you're going to say that X, Y, or Z gendered card doesn't have to be gendered, then don't gender it.

Or you can acknowledge that cards are gendered, and how that gender can change between different decks. The cards depict people, and there's nothing inherently wrong with people having genders; the problem comes from weird gender roles in society (mostly in the United States, because that's the primary perspective you see in online English-speaking spaces).

Does this make sense? I don't know. I'm just putting words on a screen and hoping I can get the thoughts out of my head.

~Jasper

[jasper-pagan-witch]

Yeah, creating my own correspondences for crystals is gonna get wild.

I found out that Sunstone and red aventurine ( two crystals I have ) contain hematite. Hematite was used in funeral jewelry prior to the 1920s, and ocre ( made from Hematite) was used in funerary practices in ancient times.

This is significant: I don't know what funerary practices would lend to magical signatures, but I've got to figure it out. And absolutely adore the red aventurine.

I am a big supporter of funerary practice stones. I don't know what exactly it means, but I've found that those are the less, ah, "pacifist route" style stones. They're not afraid to help fuck people up.

Hematite and aventurine are such good stones. I've never had any luck with sunstones, but that might just be a me problem.

I hope you have fun researching more crystal lore and building your own correspondences!

~Jasper