I often get requests for information and resources from those just beginning their journey into witchcraft and magick, and have recently begun a series of articles geared towards new witches. While, for the most part, I try to make every article I write accessible to new witches, these, in particular, focus on key concepts with regards to witchcraft and magick, and will hopefully be helpful for those just starting out. I strive to write from a non-denominational perspective, but I hope you will find these useful for starting to incorporate witchcraft into your path, regardless of what that might be!
Curious about witchcraft?
I can only offer my own advice, coming from my personal experiences, and my views may not resonate with everyone. I just want to say that you’ve probably heard a lot of things about witchcraft, witches, and magick that are simply not true.
You may have heard that all witchcraft is evil and harmful. This is not true. On the other hand, you may have also heard that witches never harm or interfere with others via magick, but this, too, is quite false. Witchcraft takes many forms and can be used in ways both helpful and harmful.
You may have heard that, to be a witch, you must worship a certain god or goddess, or join a certain religion. Also not true! While many witches mix religion with witchcraft, it isn’t a requirement, and not all witches have religious beliefs or engage in worship.
Some may have told you that witchcraft requires purchasing expensive tools and painstakingly following ancient rituals, but this isn’t true, either. Witchcraft is often innovative, and a skillful witch can make use of almost anything in his or her work.
Witchcraft requires self-awareness and reflection, but not ideology, and those who begin their sentences with “A true witch must…” or “All witches…” can be safely ignored in favor of blazing your own trail, as those who came before you did.
These articles are mostly preliminaries that introduce concepts and my personal views on witchcraft. They are worth a read, especially if you’re brand-new to the fact that witchcraft even exists. They will also likely give you an idea of whether my own views on magick and witchcraft mesh with yours, and just give you perspective on where I’m coming from.
Of note, I recommend you read What Makes a Witch before hitting my askbox with questions about whether you’re a witch, whether you could become a witch, or about how I “realized” I was a witch. Suffice to say, witches in real life don’t operate much like those seen in Harry Potter and Sweep, as the article makes clear. I also recommend any newbies read my articles on Witch Hunts and also the one on Gaslighting, both of which highlight dangers in the magical community.
Is there a “wrong” way to practice witchcraft?
Wiccan Versus Non-Wiccan Magick
What To Do If You Feel Cursed
Keep Calm When You Succeed
The Perils of Self-Discovery
These articles, while not spells or rituals themselves, give information about techniques for casting and practical spellcraft. Some are highly theoretical, but give what I feel are important foundations for magickal practice, such as the use of correspondences and symbolism, as well as visualization. Special emphasis has been given on my blog to magick that requires little or no tools, such as sigilization techniques, but you’ll find some articles in this category that do describe work with herbs and other ingredients for those who are drawn to that. Again, these articles are not spells, just techniques and information about the building blocks of magick as I see them. If you’re interested in spells, visit my grimoire page.
About Correspondences, Associations, and Symbolism
Discovering Your Personal Correspondences
Sensing “Energy:” Positive and Negative
Basic Visualization in Witchcraft
Sigils, Symbols, and Sketched Witchery
Charging Sigils: My Method
The Basics of Potioncraft
An Introduction to Bottle and Jar Spells
Enchanting and Empowering Objects
Introduction to Incantations
Divination is a big part of my magickal practice. While that won’t be true for every single witch, I’m an enthusiastic fan of experimenting with divination methods, particularly Tarot and scrying. Here, you’ll find a series of articles with tips, tricks, exercises and information for budding diviners. Of note, especially, are the articles on scrying. Tarot may be more popular, but I personally find scrying to be an extremely useful tool, as well. This section is relatively short, so expect additions to it in the future.
Budget Solutions for New Diviners
The Basics of Water Scrying
The Basics of Fire Scrying
The Sky as Mirror: An Air Scrying Technique
Scrying the Senses: An Exercise
Celestial Powers in Witchcraft
These articles all concern developing connections with the celestial or cosmic powers, namely the planets, and how these connections might be used for effective spellcraft. Thus far, this section is mostly limited to the seven classical planets, but I’ve plans to expand it to include information about working with the outer planets and Zodiacal forces, as well. Some people might disagree, but I believe planetary workings are excellent for beginners and help to build a solid foundation of connectedness on which a budding witch can build their practice. I’ll admit, this is a pretty complex topic, but it simplifies a lot of aspects of magick once understood, and can be useful for many witches.
An Introduction to the Classical Planets
[Image] Classical Correspondences for the Planets
Timing in Planetary Workings
Using Planetary Squares to Create Sigils
Using Planetary Glyphs in Magick
Using Planetary Septagrams and Hexagrams
Witchcraft is hardly all spellcraft and throwing your will around. Much of it involves just doing your homework, researching, recording, and studying magick in order to practice it more effectively. The articles below are the best advice I can personally offer in that regards, and will hopefully be useful for those beginning their journey into exploring magick through the written word and beyond.
Grimoires, Diaries, and Books of Shadows
Tips for Buying Your First Notebook
Book Recommendations for Fortunetelling
Witchcraft Book Recommendations
This post is mirrored here on my site, and will be frequently updated with new articles and information. I hope you find some of it useful. Also, as noted, I have a tag for beginner-friendly posts specifically, located here. As always, my askbox is open constantly, and anon is enabled, but please read the FAQ first to see if your question has been already answered. Also, uh, if you like my work, consider donating or visiting my shop.
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