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What I Wish I Knew As a Beginner Witch

We are only a month away from 2020, which will mark my 10th year as a Witch and my 5th as a Pagan. So, it's been a while since I was a beginner. Looking back, here are some things that I wish I had known when I was first starting out, since it would have made things a lot easier for me.

Please know that some of this is my own UPG and is based solely off of my personal experience as a Witch.

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1. Many books written on witchcraft contain misinformation about the persecution of witchcraft, conflate cultural practices that are closed and have no connection to each other, and are steeped in society's views of gender and sexuality at the time of their publication. Even today, books still sometimes get published in the Spiritual genre without much fact-checking. So, take what you read with a grain of salt and always do outside research to confirm an author's claim before believing it as truth.

2. There are multiple theories that explain how magic could possibly work, from the Energy Model to the Spirit Model to the Psychological Model. It's okay to take your time to determine which theory or theories you believe to be true.

3. You can learn just as much, if not more, directly working with spirits (ancestors, Fae, ghosts, angels, etc) or deities as you can by reading books.

4. Research is super important and crucial to being a Witch, but if you absorb knowledge but never put it into practice, you may not progress as quickly as you'd like.

5. Ancestor veneration can include more than just your blood ancestors. You can also honor deceased witches, ancient heroes, family friends, activists, and more.

6. Witchcraft is capable of feats far greater than you can imagine.

7. Gods and spirits definitely play favorites, which can either work for or against you depending on who they favor.

8. Gods/spirits know the difference between a devotee being low-energy because of illness/other circumstances and just being lazy.

9. If you're feeling stuck on what to learn next, start looking into family traditions and local folklore/superstitions!

10. Your Craft will shift and grow as you develop as a Witch. How you practice right now probably won't be how you practice 10 years from now, and that's okay! It's okay to be a beginner and not really know what you're doing. Just keep learning, studying, and practicing!

What do you wish you had known when you were a beginner Witch?

If you enjoy my writing on Witchcraft and Spirituality, please consider supporting me at

patreon.com/nightshadeandroses or

ko-fi.com/nightshadeandroses!

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Small Things To Contact Spirits About

…If you want to flex your communication muscles but don’t want to be cutting deals or making things complicated for now. Just little things to try.

Let me hear a love story

Show me a song from your people

Tell me something you did today that you are proud of

Let me draw a portrait of you

Tell me a little about your culture

Ask me any questions you may have about human culture (and I will answer them, if I can.)

Look at this song/story/poem I wrote, tell me what you think.

Tell me my local reputation, if I have one.

Tell me your story (and if desired, I will record it and pass it on for more to see.)

Share a joke.

Let me admire your beauty/grace/powerful appearance/plumage/scales/wings/great personality

Tell me about your friends

What is your one big token of advice?

Teach me how to make my home more welcoming for you (while still being safe for me.)

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Witch tip

If you burn incence on charcoal, try using salt instead of sand in the container.

You can then mix the ashes with the salt and you’ll always have powerful “black" salt at hand.

I use it for purification, protection and especially for cleansing my home with.

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Vanished Gods

(had time for a personal piece recently, yippee!)

Prints

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Reblog if your asks are always open for witches seeking advice 🔮🌙

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Fighting Consumerism in Magic

aka, little things to distance your craft from capitalism

Let’s all just admit that buying stuff is fun. That said, there’s a big issue of consumerism within the witchy/pagan scene. As magic work and the pagan “aesthetic” becomes more of a commodity in the mainstream, there’s a mounting attitude of needing All The Items in the highest quality (even if we’re not certain we’ll use them,) and big corporations mass-producing cheap stuff to make a buck off of a growing trend. Here’s some things you can do to help detach your practice from that and support other people in the craft:

Go outside. Check your backyard or local park for local plant life, waters, roots, etc. If your work involves things from nature at all, you can probably find a lot of your supplies… in nature. It takes a little more time, but it’s free and then you’ve gathered stuff yourself! 

Make stuff. This one is pretty straightforward. There may be key items to your practice that you can make yourself instead of buying it! That said, I know sometimes spending money is inevitable so I won’t dwell too much on this… let’s talk more about shopping:

Shop mindfully. The price of a lot of items will skyrocket once it has a pentacle or other symbol engraved on it. For example, little mortars and pestles can be very pricey in witchy shops, but you could probably get a bigger one that’s actually food safe for less at a nice grocery store. Antique stores and international markets are now your new best friends.

Support small businesses! Things are cheaper on Amazon, but the extra money goes to support real people, likely other practitioners. If you can, supporting small, local, independent shopkeepers and crafters does a ton of good. It also helps build and sustain a local community. 

Shop based on need. Don’t get something “just in case” (unless it’s banishing or hex breaking stuff; those are decent to have on hand.) It’s tempting to impulse-buy a ton of niche items and ingredients, but unless you have a reasonable idea what you’re going to use them for in the near future, it’ll probably just create clutter for you to deal with later.

Prioritize effectiveness over aesthetic. Ultimately your practice has to work for you, not just look good. I think making your work aesthetically pleasing to yourself can be an important part of really connecting with what you’re doing, but don’t make that desire burn a hole in your wallet and distract you from what brought you to this path in the first place. Altar envy is a real thing. 

Recycle/Upcycle. Use old clothing fabric for an altar cloth. That old trinket dish makes a great offering dish. Enchant jewelry you already own. That jar of strawberry jelly you just finished off will work just fine for that spell. Things can be re-purposed and made into new things.

Analyze your offerings. Special occasion wine isn’t a special occasion if you do it every time. Not every offering needs to be a grand gesture, regular maintenance is more important generally.

Organize trades. Have any pals that also practice? See if you can help each other! You could trade different goods (that old mini cauldron you bought and never used for that abandoned tarot deck, maybe?) but also services. A protection spell for a luck charm. A reading for a reading. You help them with the laundry and they cook you a meal one day. 

As always, the goal is to foster a local community of individuals doing honest work, and shedding the consumerist mindset society taught us to make us spend more money. Take up the idea that you can do magic completely on your own with what you already around you, and if you do want to spend money, see if you can do it in a way that helps the world a tiny bit.  :) 

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 As soon as New Year’s Eve hit Day, the Black Moon Goat was and cast into the fire pit as a send-off and giving thanks for what it helped me accomplish. I await the next moon to consecrate another, stronger vessel.

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I never would’ve thought I would be into unicorns yet here I am.

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Succubus (Oil on Board) by AaronMiller

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Into the Sun - Elijah Gowin

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Modern Male Witch Project, by Brenna-Ivy on Tumblr and Society6

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Old Phil. dancing his way way into your dark little heart forever. 

Clickety Clackety!, Acrylic on board, 2019

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coronation of the serpent

IG: @strangegodsart

FB: The Art of Valin Mattheis

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New altar setup 🔮🕯💕

IG: femkitti