#local witchcraft

[alfrungrima]

Saw in a community a question about how to start to work with land spirits. Sometimes it can be as simple as choosing just one tree or rock in your neighbourhood and visit it every day. Or do a every day walk with three or four trees and/or rocks and one crossroad. Stand still on those places, stop your daily running thoughts, knock softly with your hands on it, whisper a few words as a greeting, ground and center on the crossroad you choose, offer your attention, listen and be open for communication. Feel the wind, listen to the sounds over there, absorb everything. Accept that it takes time to build a good relation. Perhaps you won't notice things in the first period, but over time everything will remember you and start to communicate with you.

Don't be surprise if you start to find local folklore because you start to meet people with all kinds of knowledge, because you find unexpected books or things in newspapers, because you hear things about local history, because you start to find things about local biology. Just offering your time and attention causes more than you can imagine. It is a start of a puzzle. This is how you build allies and local witchcraft. With all these ideas in your mind you can shape your witchcraft and the land itself will feed you.

[path-of-grass-and-leaves]

Localizing A Magical Journal

When I was starting out, every book I read on the subject of witchcraft seemed to contain a long list of crystals and imported herbs. Many of these were not easily accessible and didn't fit into my personal practice. Magic came easier to me and became significantly more meaningful after I started localizing my practice.

It has also made writing my magical journal that much easier. Even after over a decade of practice, I still found the task of writing a grimoire to be a daunting one. Adding more local and personal elements to my practice has helped me to organize my journal, making the act of actually writing in it much less strenuous.

If you're looking to localize your grimoire and don't know how to get started, here are a few ideas:

Sections for Native and Invasive Plants

This section can include folklore, culinary uses, medicinal uses, cultivation, a planting calendar, which animals/insects they attract, and a personal correspondence list. I would write one chapter for invasive plants and another for native ones. Additionally, you could add a section for garden crops if desired. I would also add notes on toxicity to humans and pets.

Why work with invasive plants? Because they're abundant! Foraging them helps reduce their population and we get the benefit of a new plant to use in our practice. In fact, mugwort, a popular herb among the occult community, is an invasive plant where I live.

Local Animal Symbolism Section

I organize my animal symbolism section by mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, and fish. These chapters can include folklore, physical characteristics, behavior, habitat, diet, and correspondences/symbolism.

Entries can be made more personal by observing animals and recording experiences (just no hand feeding or interacting). I also like to include different forms of veneration. This can be spiritual in nature, like leaving offerings, or mundane, like installing a nesting box for birds.

A chapter on bugs and insects is also a good idea. This could be helpful if you keep an outdoor garden and want to record information on common pests and pollinators.

Local Stones and Crystals

One of the least ethical occult practices, in my opinion, is the use of crystals. The rising popularity of crystals is the cause of a lot of suffering. Does that rose quartz really promote love when it was sourced through child labor? It's important to know where your crystals come from and how they are harvested.

One way to localize your stone and crystal collection is to research which are specific to your area and where to find them. For example, there are certain rivers in my area that contain agate, jasper, and quartz. If you can't go out and search for them yourself, finding an ethical distributor to purchase from is more than sufficient.

Entries can include their composition, how they are formed, what they are used for, and personal correspondences.

Family Recipies and Local Edible Plants

I imagine that having a recipe section would be very important to a practitioner who performs most of their workings in the kitchen. I love to cook, but it rarely makes its way into my practice unless I'm preparing an offering of some sort. Either way, I think that having even a small section of culinary recipes can be beneficial, because it adds a personal element to a grimoire.

I would include your favorite recipes, family recipes, and even dishes that can be made from locally foraged plants. Correspondences can also be noted for each dish and recipes can be specific to certain deities, holidays, or workings.

Urban Legends and Local Superstitions

Urban legends and local ghost stories can be a fun addition to any personal grimoire. You can research the origins of these stories, read the personal experiences of others, and record them in your journal. You can also visit places associated with urban legends (only if it's safe and legal to do so) and record your own experiences.

Another way of localizing your grimoire is to research common superstitions in your area and where they come from, or record your own family superstitions.

Local Spirits and Places of Importance

For spirit workers, research local spirits and entities, their associations, appearance, and origins. In addition to this, write individual entries on spirits that you work with personally. I would include their assumed appearance, location, personality, how to call them, preferred offerings, and areas of strength/weakness. You can also add a section on thoughtforms, if you use them in your practice.

It's also important to think about which local areas are significant to you personally. Is it a river? A clearing in the woods? A hiking trail? Your own backyard? Make a list of areas that inspire you. How can you get there? What grows there? What kind of animals live there? Are there spirits? Would you perform specific workings in these areas?

[crossroadtoad]

The Floral Codex

We are born in fire and water, glowing in starlight, we reach forwards beyond the veil. The Star Songs reverberating in our marrow. Birthed in sky, mist, and grove, do we walk the crossroads of life - echoed.

the songs echo through the mist as we wake and rumble through the drum hearts beat that follows our life through. that ancient sound that pounds and resounds through the first bell toll of the universe.

I rose from the ocean deep, struggling to be born - the waves crashing in moonlight - Huron! my Huron, we have returned to you over and over my love. And from the pearls woken in mucous foam, grown.

I groan forth in waves, clashing along the sand, my windswept breath caught erring on my survival; crawling in the cold deep dark, lost and found, when walking through the sands of time, drifting is as natural as the flow to which it moves.

Land, Sea, and Sky call the boundary in-between, the Other places we long to see, feel, and touch. You can learn to access these places by being, and by doing. The early morning is a gateway to these places as well.

Everything contains within it a spirit, and that spirit is the hearth fire of life. The collective soul of Earth is known as the World Soul. If the world soul is sick, witchcraft must respond. And so they become one with the spirit of creation.

Dig deep in the soil and find the truth, blessed with loam and peat. Alas the grove is where the magic happens: And crawling worms writhe in the pleasure shadowed soil, where the throws of life begin and end.

The journals, the Journals, they are the altar to which the work is performed. So many and so few - the pages grow and warped forming gateways to other places lost, created, and endless. Fate and her bindings, keeping in tune with the rhythm of life. The Journal takes on the soul of its Author.

They are the threefold guardians of the night - the grail which seeks and what finds. Found in their Cunning, they guide us through the threshold; holding onto starlight and repose. They are the Chosen of the Crossroads, Three, Three, and Three.

The ancient song resonates within us all - it is up to us to seek it out. Each person’s song is unique, given to us from the stars above. To hear our own song is to follow our own path.

We have our wounds to bear, literal and metaphorical. These scars should be tended to and nurtured. A scar is a heavy burden to carry, thus the reliance on strong bonds, friendships, and fellowships is important to live a charmed life. We do not exist in separation to each other.

The road ahead is awash with new challenges to face. Brave is the one to walk head on. Balance is the key - for what is within, without, and what is without, within. Seek out what remains hidden, gaze into your own soul mirror, and go forth in flesh as truths made whole.

[crushedrosewitchcraft]

Hello!

I'm a practicing witch, interested in green witchcraft, spirit work, folklore, and kitchen witchcraft. This space mostly functions as an online grimoire and inspiration board. Tags are for organization for my blog more than anything else

Thanks for visiting!

[jasper-pagan-witch]

Keeping It Local

In a time where all of the stuff we order online is stuck in the ocean somewhere and immediate access to magical tools is needed more than ever for many people, turning to our local areas for help and resources is becoming more and more common. It may be because some of us want to reconnect with nature, it may be because some of us are learning to identify local flora and fauna, it may be because some of us decided to eat a leaf right off of a tree without thinking about it. (No? Just me? Okay.)

So how do you practice local witchcraft?

Well, look at what you have around you! Just remember to not take things from national forests and other protected areas, because that’s illegal.

Look for your local plants, from the ones that grow in the sidewalk cracks to the towering trees. Ask them what they can do! Research them! Find out which ones are native, which ones were introduced, and which ones are invasive species!

Learn about local animals and bugs. Pretty much every animal has some kind of symbolism, but if you can’t find any, think of how these local creatures are treated or talked about to come up with symbolism yourself.

You can also pick up spices and flavorings from supermarkets to have more “common” herbs for spells. The ones sold here are also food safe in case you have a spell that you want to eat (which is very, very tempting).

Stones and rocks have their own correspondences. Yes, even rocks that aren’t put in jewelry have correspondences! You can even go “rockhounding” to find crystals in your semi-local area.

Candles can be picked up from even dollar stores. They can be made if you so desire, but this guide isn’t here to teach you about making candles. They usually come in white in their cheapest forms, but I’ve also found red seven-day candles at the dollar stores I’ve gone to.

Who and what came before you? Learn your area’s history and local folklore, visit local sacred spaces, learn about the indigenous peoples and colonizers who were on the land before, learn who owned the land, house, or apartment before you.

How about the local folklore and cryptids? Things like the crybaby bridges pop up practically everywhere in the United States. Even things like a school campus can be a place to find an intense oral history that no one wants to speak above a whisper.

Adjust how you do spells or rituals to fit your location. For instance, you shouldn’t light fires outside during a burn ban (sorry Australians). Learn about local weather patterns like average temperatures during each season or upcoming weather forecasts. Farmer’s Almanacs can be useful for these. Additionally, if you celebrate seasonal changes, consider celebrating on the day when it changes locally instead of using a static date for somewhere potentially far away from you.

You can also print out a map of your local area and write down notes on it, like places that feel “strange” or things you want to make sure you don’t lose. When you’re done, these can go in your magic book (whatever you may call it) for future reference.

Visiting local shops and sights could also help you connect with your local area. Of course, this requires you to have local shops, so maybe not the best option for rural witches. City and town witches, this one’s for you!

No matter where you are, so long as you feel safe, you can take walks to explore your local area as much as possible. Taking walks and exploring can lead to you connecting with the genius loci, the spirit of the place. These spirits are the history, folklore, personality, and so forth of the area, all condensed into one being. Stopping to soak in the atmosphere of a location can help you connect with this spirit. There is a “genius loci” (spirit of place) for a local spot by a river all the way up to an entire city itself – even one’s own house or apartment can have a genius loci. The genius loci is a Roman term, but there are other names for it in other cultures (such as the landvaettir in Norse belief systems). I’ve seen them referred to as “land wights,” among other things.

People who believe in animism believe that everything has an individual spirit, from the ponds and lakes to the trees and shrubs. If you’re an animist, consider bonding with spirits attached to local things.

This could also extend up to deities of very specific locations, deities of the people who used to live there, or deities that settlers brought with them. I warn against cultural appropriation – be respectful, know what you can’t take, and listen to the people whose cultures you’re learning about. What may seem like a fun and quirky little thing with no part in a grand scheme to you could very well be a major part of someone else’s beliefs that they weren’t allowed to practice for literally hundreds of years.

Sources & Further Reading

Earth Magic. Dodie Graham McKay. 2021. Pg 187-199.

Tumblr user @crazycatsiren on working with one’s local area: https://jasper-grimoire.tumblr.com/post/667941422263074816/do-you-work-with-your-local-area-in-your-craft-do

Tumblr user @ofcloudsandstars on working with one’s local area: https://jasper-grimoire.tumblr.com/post/666694526050664448/can-you-talk-more-about-how-you-work-with-your

“5 Challenges to Get Better in Touch With Your Location” by @mintylilacs on Tumblr: https://jasper-grimoire.tumblr.com/post/667060577274839040

“A Word on Plants” by @notyourmothersspellbook on Tumblr: https://jasper-grimoire.tumblr.com/post/666683963920777217/a-word-on-plants

“Bonus Prompt: Local Plants” by @2019grimoirechallenge on Tumblr: https://jasper-grimoire.tumblr.com/post/667597861103534081/bonus-prompt-local-plants

“Books Don't Cover Everything.” by @rootandrock on Tumblr: https://jasper-grimoire.tumblr.com/post/666684284416000000/books-dont-cover-everything

“Genius Loci (The Spirit of Place)” by a private blog on Tumblr: https://jasper-grimoire.tumblr.com/post/666695145381609472/genius-loci-the-spirit-of-place

“Genius Loci - How to Connect” by @jbird-the-manwich on Tumblr: https://jasper-grimoire.tumblr.com/post/672138911778226176/genius-loci-how-to-connect

“How to Connect to Nature in Your Craft” by The Oak Witch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbfvdXJH9OQ

“Local Witchcraft” by a private blog on Tumblr: https://jasper-grimoire.tumblr.com/post/666684286458544128/local-witchcraft

“Localizing Your Practice” by @will-o-the-witch on Tumblr: https://jasper-grimoire.tumblr.com/post/672754469360058368/localizing-your-practice

“Prompt: Take a ‘Hike’!” by @spiritualjournalingprompts on Tumblr: https://jasper-grimoire.tumblr.com/post/670656488565604352

“To Be a Local Witch” by @north-of-annwn with additions from @natureandthecraft and @therestlesswitch on Tumblr: https://jasper-grimoire.tumblr.com/post/666684278412836864/to-be-a-local-witch

“Witch Tip:” by @imaginarywitchcraft on Tumblr: https://jasper-grimoire.tumblr.com/post/667111668106641408

“Witch Tip #5” by @will-o-the-witch on Tumblr: https://jasper-grimoire.tumblr.com/post/666684282411139072/witch-tip-5

“Working With the Land: 5 Ways to Practice Local Witchcraft” by Willow on Flying the Hedge: https://www.flyingthehedge.com/2019/01/working-with-land-5-ways-to-practice.html

[a-decolonial-beandraoi]

Local witchcraft | Endangered AR Species | Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (Leuconotopicus borealis)

endangered in Arkansas

Near Threatened in general (G3 rating)

Associations/Correspondences (I created these myself based on what I've learned about their ecological roles so far)

Plants:

Pine trees, preferably Longleaf pines (Pinus palustris)

This species is the only American woodpecker that bores holes in only living trees (as opposed to the rest of the woodpeckers who bore their homes in dying trees).

Forages wild fruit and berries

Insects:

eats ants, beetles, cockroaches, caterpillars, wood-boring insects, spiders, and corn earworm moths

Magick:

Love (territorial, nonmigratory, cooperative breeding species, frequently having the same mate for several years).

Protection (territorial, cooperative breeding)

Harmony (Cooperative breeding)

Renewal, regeneration (I personally associate all threatened species with the possible capability of renewal, regeneration, and restoration; additionally, abandoned woodpecker homes make new homes for other birds and small tree-dwelling mammals.)

Perseverance (Cavities bored by these woodpeckers are generally excavated over 1 to 3 years.)

[cloudselkie]

I'm so excited for wildflower season! I've learned a lot in the last year and I cannot WAIT to converse with the bluebonnets.

[crushedrose]

If there's anything I've learned from just watching the nature around me, it's that there's no clear start to the seasons; they each bleed into each other little by little.

There are hints of autumn in the August heat, and winter bites through the spices of fall.

There's beauty in that, and maybe a lesson-- at least, something to think about-- There's not a clear ending to things. There's an art in gently letting go.