#tinydragon magic

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Easy Ways to Connect More Strongly with your Deities

Say Good Morning when you wake up, say Good Night before you fall asleep

Share your food with them. If you’ve ever wanted some of your friend’s french fries, you know how they probably feel. 

Donate to causes that fall under the jurisdiction of your deity. Are they a goddess for women? Donate to a women’s shelter or Planned Parenthood. Is your deity a patron of the arts? Give to PBS or local theatres.

Cook a full meal in honor of your deity. Seriously. It sounds silly but you can definitely find a regional cookbook based on your pantheon to cook a full ass feast for them.

Write them letters or notes. Keep a little notebook of notes and letters to your deity. Did you see a cute cat that you think Frigga would’ve liked? Maybe you saw a girl’s outfit that would’ve made Aphrodite drool. Let them know, or give yourself a reminder to tell them about it later.

Change your phone background. Does your deity have a temple or built pantheon? Put that shit as your wallpaper! Did you find a picture that so perfectly captures the spirit of your deity? Make it your lock screen.

Make them a Mix Tape. You know, so you can belt out songs in their honor while making your way downtown. Faces pass. And you’re home bound. 

DIY your Altar. I’m not going to lie, I’m not to altar type. However, it is a fantastically personalized space that you can do anything with. So don’t let anyone stop you from knitting that mini statue of Hecate a scarf. 

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NSFW (Not Safe For Witches): Staying Safe in Magic

A lot of this may seem like common sense, but it needs to be repeated, because Hi, I’m the Mom Friend. Stay safe, friends.

Don’t leave candles burning unattended. Do you want to burn your house down? That’s how you burn your house down. Get a candle snuffer if you’re uncomfortable blowing out your candles or you can use LED candles instead.

If you get a strange reaction to your incense, oils, or herbs, please talk to your doctor. There’s a lot of stuff that you might not realize you’re allergic to. Some people refuse to admit when they have an adverse reaction to their supplies. Don’t be silly. You can swap out any of your supplies for something else that won’t affect your health.

If you practice blood magic, always sanitize your instruments and wounds, or wait to use the blood from accidental wounds. Study first aid until it’s as fluent as a strongly studied second language if you practice blood magic. Stay safe medically, the same goes for sex magic.

Are you foraging for things to use in your craft at a local park or beach? Buy a field guide from your local book shop or borrow one from your local library. It’ll help you discern what’s safe to touch, take, and use from what could potentially result in hives, illness, or worse. I find it also helps to photocopy the images and add them to my grimoire or BoS for reference later on. 

Don’t burn anything you have not fully researched. If you’re not sure if that leaf you found could cause your dog to have a seizure or cause you to go blind, find out what it is first. Research is a witch’s best friend.

Pet-safe your practice. If you have pets that may wander into your space, make sure that nothing you’re using can make them sick. This applies to small pets like hamsters and the like who may be restricted to cages and can’t be away from your space while you’re practicing as well.

Watch where you go. If you’re going to practice outside, make sure you’re not trespassing on anyone’s property. Safety includes keeping yourself safe from the law too, pals.

Use common sense and intuition. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t do it.

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Evocation vs. Invocation vs. Incantation

Let’s discuss some semantics here, if only for a better understanding of the craft itself. 

The dictionary lists their definitions as:

Evocation: (noun) 1. The act of bringing or recalling a feeling, memory, or image to the conscious mind. 2. The action of invoking a spirit.

Invocation: (noun) 1. The action of invoking something or someone for assistance or as an authority. 2. The summoning of a deity or the supernatural. 3. An incantation used for this.

Incantation: (noun) 1. A series of words used as a magic spell or charm. 2. The use of words as a magic spell.

To put it more simply and practically, invocation is the action of summoning an entity. This could be any god, goddess, spirit, fae, etc. The act of invocation is left open to interpretation, although you might find yourself coming across more rituals than anything else. It can be done through incantation as mentioned in the definition.

Evocation is summoning either a spirit or personal energy. This may seem odd, but mustering personal energy is something we do constantly in our daily lives. Picturing your happy place to calm down is a form of evocation. It is also left open to interpretation as far as the actual act goes.

Incantation, as stated above, is the use of words as a spell. It can be the whole spell or a portion of a spell. This can be as simple as a mantra to repeat when you need it or writing a full four page long epic poem homage to your patron deity for an offering. 

Incantations, while often used out loud, do no have to be said out loud to have power. Just thinking or writing the spell will work. 

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How to Read Tarot Cards When You Don’t Know Shit

OR: HOW I STOPPED WORRYING AND LEARNED TO LOVE PRACTICING TAROT

This is a simple exercise I’ve done really to hone my intuition while divining. I like to pull a three card spread (past, present, future) but you can really use whichever spread you’d like.

Major Arcana:

Most trump cards can be self explanatory if you’re good at word association.

The Fool card starts a story that follows a journey through to the World, the end. Everything in between is character development.

Death does not mean death. Unlike most horror films, its appearance can actually signal a new beginning or change.

Minor Arcana: Know what each suit means or symbolizes in general.

Cups: Water, focuses on your emotional self, creativity and romance, following your heart over your head.

Pentacles: Earth, focuses on your physical self, material ideas like business or wealth, manifestation.

Swords: Air, focuses on your mental self, action and concentration, intelligence and conflict.

Wands: Fire, focuses on your spiritual self, intuition and inspiration, values and flaws.

All in All: 

Use the context clues in the imagery of your cards to guide your intuition.

Don’t worry about misreading a card or getting anything wrong. This is really about trusting yourself and your gut instincts.

Don’t be afraid to take the surface value of the card during this exercise. It’s just an exercise. 

I hope this helped you if you’re just starting out, want to try a different method to divining with tarot, or just want to generally work on trusting your gut.

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Finding your Own Associations

What is the first thing you do when you start practicing witchcraft? Probably start collecting candles and jotting down the associations for herbs, colors, scents, and whatever else you can find. 

I’m not going to tell you this is wrong, after all associations tend to be the foundation for everything else we do in spell craft, as well as magic as whole. However, it is not the strongest way to use associations. In truth, to get the strongest impact with your supplies, you’re going to want to use your own associations.

But how do you even start to form your own associations?

1. Start with a list of what you want to make associations for. This could be anything from colors to carnivorous plants. I recommend using scrap paper or a side notebook for this, as it’ll function more as a work space than a solid list.

2. Go down your list. Note the first five words that come to mind when you first read the name you’re on. Example, when I think of daisies, I remember my mom receiving a bouquet of brightly colored Gerber daisies for her birthday. My associations would be family, happiness, vibrancy, celebration, and abundance. This might not be the same list you’ll make, but that’s okay! 

3. If you’re unfamiliar with something your list, look up what it is. I’d recommend looking up the most objective descriptions of whatever it is so you don’t feel swayed by the associations of others. For this, I like to use field guides from my local library or even Wikipedia. If you find yourself unsure of how to feel about something then, look up the historical uses of the subject.

4. Repeat the process over a period of time. If it’s a smaller list, like the 7 colors of the rainbow, you can repeat this over a couple days. Although if you have a bigger list, break it up into sub-lists or smaller groups, and focus on one group each day. The point of this is to make sure your associations are consistent. I find it also helps filter out the possibility of suddenly remembering something bittersweet or straight out awful later on about the emotional trauma of lavender from your childhood while mid-spell.

5. Finally, take your most consistently used associations for each item and make a permanent log or reference guide for yourself. This can be a word file or a fancier notebook where you keep all your witchcraft notes. The point of this is to keep a solid, permanent record of these associations to refer to later on. If you’ve been working for a while in magic, you already know how often you look back at your notes on associations. If you haven’t been practicing for a while, or if you’re brand new, you’re gonna learn.

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Witch etiquette?

Witch Etiquette is a mixture of not being a dick in your own practice to other people, whether it’s coven mates or just people who happen to occur around you.

Always Ask Before You Light Something Scented

If there’s someone else around, always be sure to ask them if it’s okay before you light a scented candle, incense, or any other scented device. Something might be delightful to you, but it could feel like walking through a cloud of gross cologne to someone else.

This is especially important if you have a roommate in a smaller space, in which case you should ask about their reactions to scented devices. If they have an allergy, you don’t want to be the reason someone’s throat closes up. Don’t worry, your deities and spirits will understand.

Clean Up After Yourself

Spill some wax while moving a candle? Flick some ash onto the floor? Left your offerings out too long, maybe they started to smell? Don’t make it anyone else’s problems but your own. Clean it up as soon as you notice it, or after you finish your spell.

Ask Before You Set Up

If you’re using a public space, ask to make sure it’s okay for you to practice there before you start placing your supplies. Some people may go to public parks at night, but even then you should ask. It also shows them you’re not a troublemaker. 

Don’t Bless Without Permission

Hey Wiccans in particular, please do not wish Blessed Be onto other people, pagans or otherwise, without asking them if they’re okay with it. 

Everyone, do not magic someone else’s life without permission. Even if you think you’re helping. Do not curse, bless, hex, charm, or anything else anything they do not ask you to.

Don’t Bring Others to Your Deities’ Attentions

Again, even if you think you’re helping someone by telling your gods or spirits that a friend of yours could use their blessing, don’t do it without permission. We’re all handling our own paths, and it just gets confusing if there’s too many deities in one’s ear.

Never talk down to younger or less experienced witches. (Or anyone else for that matter)

It’s one thing to steer someone away from problematic writers like Raven SilverWolf. It’s another to continuously tell them that they’re wrong, ignore their ideas, disclude them from discussions, and keep putting them down in general. 

Putting down anyone else’s path is one of the worst things you could do to another witch. 

Do Not Be Rude.

Self explanatory.

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15 years? Wow. how did you start practicing so young? fmily?

I found an interest in it at a young age! I read a lot, and I got curious about how realistic witchcraft was. The more research I did at my local library, the more I found myself dabbling. Before long, it just became something I did.I wasn't super open about it until high school. Even then, it was something I only spoke about in drips.It wasn't until much later on (about age 18) that I found out that I had practicing relatives.

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Obscure-ish Ways to Charge Spells (Mostly Crystals)

Hold onto your crystals, spell jar, or other bit of witchery while watching a film that riles you up emotionally. (personally, I find Lifetime movies to be perfect for this)

If you’re one of those people who meditate before bed (and, like me, fall asleep promptly afterwards), either hold onto your crystals in your palms or keep them in your pajama pockets.

If you work retail (or any other similarly aggravating job), carry or wear a crystal around your neck and focus all your annoyance into it instead of getting fed up. It cooks up a solid frenzy of energy, perfect for a small hex, curse, or otherwise petty spell.

Sing to your spell.

Scream. Just fucking scream at your fucking rocks.