#helpful witch tips

[witchcraftingboop]

I honestly love how my last post has become a "how to get terrible guests to leave your home" tip jar, 'cause like I know damn well my socially awkward ass needs hella tips 'n tricks for that!

[witchcraftingboop]

Some of Boop's Tarot Tips

Take more than a day to bond with your new deck

Draw only one card at a time when first starting

Don't reshuffle if a reading makes no sense to you, give it time

Try and bond with one deck at a time

Try not to go deck crazy if you're new to tarot

Leave reversals for when you're more comfortable with your deck

Don't throw away the accompanying book/let if you feel like it's not time yet or you're still a little shakey

If you're interested, check out the theories on the history of tarot

Ask your favorite tarot readers how they read or started reading tarot

Don't feel like you have to do tarot stuff daily

Try not to go into a reading expecting/prefering one answer over another

Ask the questions you actually want answers to

|☆| Note: These are just some general tips that have worked for me; if they don't match well with you, that's fine too. I've just been asked a few times for some tips, so here they are! |☆|

[witchcraftingboop]

Bamboo & Witchcraft

"The seed of a bamboo tree is planted, fertilized, and watered. Nothing happens for the first year. There's no sign of growth. Not even a hint. The same thing happens -- or doesn't happen -- the second year. And then the third. The tree is carefully watered and fertilized each year, but nothing shows. No growth. No anything. For eight years it can continue. Eight years! Then -- after the eight years of fertilizing and watering have passed, with nothing to show for it -- the bamboo tree suddenly sprouts and grows thirty feet in three months!"

- Zig Ziglar

[witchcraftingboop]

Sorry to be a bother,I have a question. I used to be Christian, and went to church regularly with my grandmother. I never particularly felt a connection to the Christian God, but went more for the community. That's besides the point, though.I'm now a pagan, and I keep seeing posts on honoring the dead on Samhain. I'd like to do something for my grandmother, but fear she will reject me, as I am no longer christian, or offend her if I do include her with this type of thing. Any thoughts or advice?

You're not a bother at all, dear! Hardly anyone talks to me on this site, so I really appreciate whenever people reach out to me.

I also used to struggle with this.

Half of my family are Jehovah's Witnesses, so I 1000% get where you're coming from. When my great grandfather passed away this year, I felt conflicted as well because he was so devout, and I didn't want to offend him with my practice. But humans are strange that way, I suppose. We all want to be shown we're loved, but we fear expressing our need to love and be loved as well. And that's what honoring your dead is about really, giving them that love and recognition that they, and you yourself on a deeper level, crave.

In the end, I could still feel him and his love for me, and the way in which I went about communicating that to him didn't really matter to either of us.

Your religion doesn't change or alter the connection that you two have. Just stay true to the emotions and bond that you two share, and no matter what path you follow, you should still be able to reach out to her and honor her spirit.

It's like how grandmothers, or at least mine anyway, constantly rant about your way of life, but then still welcome you into their homes with open arms. That surface-level stuff can't touch the ties that bind us.

Thank you again for the ask, and I hope my perspective has helped you in some way!

[witchcraftingboop]

Any tips for a secret witch living with nosy fundamentalist Christian parents? I feel a ridiculously strong pull to witchcraft but I can't really express it and it's upsetting.

I do have some actually!

Keep books or pdfs saved on your phone under "book research" (if you parents are the type to snoop into your files too)

Start your crystal collection with your birth stone crystal, and if you get more, just say that you really like how pretty and aesthetic they are

Get herbs in the form of different teas as opposed to like suspicious looking bottles

Keep any altar things in a shoe box with layers of nick nacks on top

Don't draw any pentacles, do stars instead and say you're interested in the sky. You can also sprinkle salt around it to turn into a pentacle as needed

Keep a journal on your phone instead of physically in your room, put it on something like Google Docs and log out after using it if they're the type to snoop through your files/apps

[witchcraftingboop]

Tarot Decks & Callings

I think it's pretty well known at this point that I have an animist perspective and feel the need to build a bond with my tarot decks before even considering working with them. If not, well now it is.

So before I do even an interview spread with my decks, I keep them near me and try to get to know them and their energy. That's partially why I was so shocked when I did an interview spread with my Shadowscapes Tarot and they calmly but firmly told me they aren't in my life to fuck around and play games.

But stepping away from that, I wanted to talk about callings or the pull decks can have. There's this unfortunately common idea that if a deck doesn't strongly call out to you, then it's not the one. So I'm adding my two cents.

Every deck has its own personality. Therefore they all have different ways of calling or reaching out to the people who catch their eye.

Take my Enchanted Tarot, for instance. They scream. I was at my aunt's house and they just would not let me sleep until I pulled them out of my backpack and put them by my pillow.

My PCS deck, though, is very quiet. They aren't as loud or strong with their call, but if I'm meditating and my mind is clearing, I can feel them better. It's like a small child's hand curling hesitantly around the wrist of an adult, very soft and hardly noticeable until you're actually making contact. And oftentimes I don't hear them. Because the Enchanted Tarot screams, the Shadowscapes is wild, and the Wildwood likes to radiate general vibes of "I'm over here."

My point though is that even if you don't feel a strong pull towards a deck, if you find yourself still wanting to purchase it despite this, chances are that deck's calling is still taking effect, it's just not as vocal as some of the more common stories. A soft pull is still a pull. And even if you think there's no pull, but you still find yourself thinking about buying a deck, chances that is still a pull.

Also, don't be too worried if you pick up your deck for the first time and don't feel an immediate connection. A bond is something that you forge. Some decks start bonding with you as soon as you pick them up, and others need to slowly warm up to you. Don't lose hope so early on just because your relationship to your deck isn't following the same track as someone else. Each deck is different and so is every witch. Just do what works best for you.

[witchcraftingboop]

Books of Magick

As requested, a post!

Grimoire

A grimoire is a book of magick used by witches to store reference material or facts. It has little to do with the specifics of a witch's personal practice and can read almost like a "what's this" or recipe book wherein the aspects or properties of magick are kept track of for future reference.

To tell if you have a grimoire, there are a few basic ways:

The idea of your grimoire being shared with another witch gives you little to no discomfort.

Your grimoire is a mish mosh grouping of tables and charts and correspondences and the like and doesn't read at all like a personal journal.

Some, if not most, of the information in your grimoire is taken directly from a book or other reference source.

Book of Shadows

Today, this term is more commonly associated with Wiccans, but it is one of the more common terms to describe a witch's personal book of magick.

A Book of Shadows is named as such because it is a magickal book that is meant to reveal the inner shadows of the witch or practitioner who writes in it. It is a tool that is meant to illuminate the pathways of your mind and path and lay them before you. It is meant to show you what you hide from others and lay bare all the facets of yourself and your world that you would rather not face.

Within this book, you'll find it reads more like a journal. It tracks the path and development of a witch on their journey. These books can have more of a grimoirian twist in that they store both personal path and reference or factual information. The practice of keeping a Book of Shadows is very common, but there are as many witches as there are ways of keeping one. A Book of Shadows, afterall, is an individual (or group in some cases) experience, almost entirely dependent on the practitioner who uses it.

In Practice

Stepping away from the meanings and associations with these two books of magick, it's important to understand one thing: you can use witchever term you like.

You can have a Grimoire and put personal path information in it and vice versa.

Some witches are uncomfortable with the word "shadow" due to its association with certain darker entities and realms. And others like the simple yet exotic feeling of having that one word "Grimoire" spralled across the cover of their book.

No matter your reasons, you call your magickal book what you will and use it how you please. You can call it a book of magick or a tome or a witch's bible if you feel the need to do so.

The title of your book does not matter, only that you use it.

[witchcraftingboop]

Witchy tip: drink verbena tea if you're drained after a working, it'll refuel your magick. (Also it's delicious)

So I stared at this ask for a hot minute with just straight up question marks around my face, and then it very slowly dawned on me that this is good advice for after I drive away spirits, so thank you!

I usually go to my herbs and use the energies they're putting off in that moment to decide which ones I'll combine and use. I don't know if I have any verbena, but I'll keep that in mind!