"Do your own research"
“Do your own research”
Okay, cool, guess I’ll die.
It’s alright, take a deep breath. Trust me, I understand. As someone with ADHD, I have a hard time with researching, and just reading in general is difficult for me. But I HAVE SOME TIPS.
Where do I start?
I’m gonna say something a bit controversial here, but start by finding some good quality YouTube channels. You will not be able to build a full-on practice from YouTube channels, but a lot of great witchcraft channels on there have resources, talk about things they wish they knew at the beginning, and there’s ongoing conversations about relevant, current topics within the community. If you look at witchcraft books, you’re much more likely to find old, outdated information, misinformation, appropriated practices, or just waste your money on books you might not find relevant.
Youtube is free. And you can quickly cross reference what multiple people are saying.
Is it perfect? No. There is still going to be bad information on YouTube, which is why I advise looking at several different kinds of channels.
Some channels I recommend for beginners - these folks won’t steer you wrong: Witchofwonderlust (secular witchcraft) Warriorwitchnike (folk magic/astrology) Ocean Keltoi (Norse paganism) Aliakai (Hellenism) The Oak Witch (Tradition British folk magic) The Green Witch (green witchcraft)
I believe every single one of these channels have book recommendations, tips for beginners videos, and many of them discuss more tips for researching.
Where I would recommend you avoid getting information when you’re just starting out (or just in general): Tiktok. I love tiktok, I’m on it too much. But I don’t recommend using it to learn about witchcraft. At all. Firstly, 60 seconds isn’t enough time to give any kind of information accurately or with the nuance and respect it requires. Secondly, it is so full in misinformation and people looking to build a following saying anything, even things that are harmful and untrue. There have been full-on cults springing up on TikTok in the Witchtok space, so I’d avoid it until you have your basics firmly. Witchtok can be fun for community, but it’s not a resource.
Low-cost resources:
Scribd - I did their free month trial back in September when I was on a sick leave and… it’s the best. Access to a large library of all sorts of books including a ton of witchcraft books. There are amazing books on there, BUT THERE’S ALSO A LOT OF SHIT so just careful :) I use text-to-speech to help me read as well, but there’s also a fair amount of audio books!
Podcasts - A free resource that’s really great for people like me with ADHD or who have a hard time with reading. It’s a good place for members in our community to discuss topics on a long-form format, meaning you can get more in-depth information and conversations there. Again, some are much better than others. Some I recommend are: -BS-Free Witchcraft by @traegorn (also go follow them here, they’re hilarious and lovely and so smart) -Magnolias and Magic - Hosted by WarriorwitchNike and Georgina Rose of Da’at Darling with Anthony Wolfe -Test Tubes and Cauldrons - Astra, Fel, and Han discussing Magic’s place in a material world. -The Witch Daily Show - a cute little monday-friday podcast discussing lots of different topics and headlines, hosted by Witch Way Magazine. -New World Witchery - by Cory and Laine, they discuss practices of North America, great for people on this side of the pond who are more conscious of their local environment.
There are some other websites with free public-domain documents and books, but I honestly wouldn’t recommend them for new practitioners. They’re a little difficult to navigate sometimes and I think they’re a bit more advanced.
Topics I recommend getting a solid understanding of: -History and origin of modern witchcraft/magic traditions (Wicca, neopaganism, new age) -What is a correspondence and why do they work? -Protection magic -Types of magical paradigms (spirit model vs. Psych model) -Cultural appropriation, common trespasses (I’m gonna give you one for free - stay away from white sage), what is a closed practice, and cultural appreciation
You can get a pretty good foundation of the lay of our community when starting with these topics and it’ll give you a head start on figuring out what you believe and how your practice will unfold. I think these topics are some of the most important ones to get right at the beginning. Everything else will come in time. You can look up how to cast a job spell, but if you don’t understand why it works, it’ll be less effective. It’ll also give you the ability to analyze a spell and make substitutions as necessary. It’ll also keep you safer from some of the more unsavoury parts of our community because there are people who want to hurt you or recruit you.
Lastly, I want to just address one thing: people will tell you that you shouldn’t do xyz for some amount of time when you start. You don’t have to listen to them. Usually people say this about spells or deities because those are considered to be “dangerous.” This isn’t necessarily true. You don’t actually have to listen to anyone. You can ignore everything I’ve said here and start your research with a book on astrology.
My main advice here is to use critical thinking skills with everything.
What is being said?
Who’s saying it?
Why are they saying it?
Who benefits from it?
Who is harmed by it?
When was this written?
What influenced it?
These are some basic questions to ask when researching any topic, but especially witchcraft and magic. There’s a lot more questions you can ask when using critical thinking, but that should be enough to get you started.
Have fun friends, and enjoy the journey. It takes a long time to get anywhere, but the work is well worth it.