Tag: witch

What would You put in a beginner’s witch kit?

upthewitchypunx:

It was inevitable that someone would ask me this, right? I’m assuming this is for someone interested in my style of secular witchcraft?

I was gonna break this into two, like a dip-the-toe-in-the-water kit and then a larger kit, but I’ll just got with the whole thing:

  • A copy of my zine Brainscan #33 DIY Witchery (an exploration of secular witchcraft) this pretty music explains my personal trajectory, philosophy, politics, and punk in my witchcraft.
  • Natural Witchery by Ellen Dugan
  • DIY Magic by Anthony Alvarado
  • Grove Daughter Witchery by Bree NicGarran
  • The Art of War by Sun Tzu
  • Equal Rites by Terry Prachett (and a list of all the other witch books in the Disc World series)
  • Modern Tarot (book) by Michelle Tea
  • a simple Rider Waite Colman Smith tarot deck
  • a link to this Rune Soup blog post about sigils
  • a notebook and pen
  • a hand written correspondence list of items that can be found in your spice cabinet and weeds found around town

Then in a big swing top mason jar I would put all this stuff:

  • a few smaller jars

  • A pen

  • a sharpie marker

  • fabric scraps

  • those scissors that are one piece of metal that have a loop on the back

  • a bunch of embroidery thread in various colors

  • thread and needle

  • sticker paper

  • bit of broken mirror

  • some rocks from my own collection: amethyst, quartz points, obsidian, smokey quarts, and whatever other stones that seem to want to go on that adventure with my friend

  • chime candles in white, black, red, blue, green, purple and brown

  • at least 3 candle holders for chime candles

  • a bunch of tealights

  • ink, maybe a simple pen that uses ink, but ink is pretty helpful as it is

  • oils: the mercury retrograde protection oil I make, black pepper, sage, cinnamon, clove, lemon, dragonsblood, lavender

  • incense: frankincense & myrrh, clove, and a few blends that I enjoy

  • a big piece of black cloth

  • some earthenware dishes

  • some tweezers

  • a sprig of rosemary and a sprig of lemonbalm from my yard

  • and whatever strange stuff makes itself present on the way to give my buddy this bundle of stuff: washers, literal forks found in the road, acorns, leaves, twigs, etc.

I think that is it for the ultimate witchy gift set I would I would give a friend.

Edited to add a $20 gift card to a thrift shop!

Who are your favorite witchy authors?

southerncunning:

I fucking love celebrating other content creators so this is going to be fun. I’m going to use “witchy authors” super broadly too.

Published Authors Who Are Witches/Magical Practitioners:
Morgan Daimler: Morgan primarily writes about the Good Neighbors and how they are involved in her personal witchcraft practices. She has the best balance of real world examples to verified source citation I’ve ever seen from a witch. She also writes about Celtic Reconstructionism and I literally can’t get enough of it. I consider myself religiously CR so her work really strikes a cord in my private life. She’s written numerous Pagan Portals for Moon Books (a very decent publisher of pagan/witch books) but I feel she really shines in the longer books. I recommend Fairycraft for first time readers. Oh! She also has a fiction series that I’ve heard good things about! Also her blog is fantastic and I’m constantly waiting for the next update http://lairbhan.blogspot.com and she just made a Tumblr @carasidhe

Lee Morgan: Another Morgan! Lee wrote the book Deed Without a Name, the only book I recommend to folks on traditional witchcraft. It is densely packed with information that really fleshes out what traditional witchcraft (what I call folkloric witchcraft in my own writing) is and the sources behind it. Much like Daimler, Lee has snippets of modern experiences to help flesh out and bring life to these sometimes abstract concepts of magic. I obviously recommend Deed Without a Name but Lee is also well known for his fiction, which I’ve been told is full of bits of magical knowledge. (Writing this I am very aware that I should be reading more fiction). Lee’s author page on Moon Books http://www.moon-books.net/authors/lee-morgan (I tried finding other sites/blogs but the links are all broken)

Erynn Rowan Laurie: This is going to be a HUGE recommendation to any Celtic Reconstructionists out there (Gaelic specifically), go out and get a copy of Ogam: Weaving Word Wisdom right now. It was a path changing book for me in terms of how I viewed Celtic language. The book is about how the Celtic script Ogam can be utilized in divination and magic. It is the only book on Ogam I recommend as the author really dives into each aspect of the feda while also giving the reader a deep insight into the overall approach of Celtic Recon. http://www.seanet.com/~inisglas/

Authors who write about witches:

Emma Wilby: So everyone saw this coming right? Wilby has changed the game in the world of witchcraft right now. Her academic work and hypothesis around Isobel Gowdie as fulfilling the role of “dark shaman” is riveting. Her hypothesis is so well backed up and the material she presents in Visions of Isobel Gowdie are just astonishing. If I had to recommend only one of her books though it would be Cunning Folks and Familiar Spirits because it is much more accessible and probably offers more usable info for most practitioners. Wilby is an academic of course, not a practitioner. Meaning that it may be unusual for some folks to read (because it’s literally a textbook) but also THE CITATIONS MY FRIEND THE CITATIONS.

Hubert J. Davis: this mans book The Silver Bullet and Other American Witch Stories changed my life. Please, go read these stories.

Bloggers right here on Tumblr!

@leaping-hare-witchery : LHW is a knock out writer who always comes straight from the heart. LHW is another witch focused on their locality, but also has a massive focus on brewing and potion craft. He has a way with ritual that even has an ol’ swamp hag like me wanting to go tread the mill. My absolute favorite piece by LHW is this one on the Mortar and Pestle 

@ofwoodandbone : I’m sure this won’t surprise anyone either, this blogger has changed the traditional witchcraft tag in ways that have made differences outside of tumblr. In fact, ofwoodandbone is the only blog that I was reading on tumblr before I made one. There are plenty of great posts by them, but Necromancy: Sing Them Awake Is my favorite. 

We are strongest when we are supporting each other. Please share the love, read these folks works and keep encouraging each other to write and express the varying kinds of crafts out there. And folks, there are a million ways to express your craft. If you have ever been afraid to write about your experiences, just do it. Even if its just for yourself. I really hope to be able to keep adding to this list because everyone deserves to have their art celebrated and shared with the world. 

smokywoodwitch:

🌱 – Book of Shadows update! / Beginner’s witch tip.

Yesterday I went on my first foraging trip, so I drew up a page for my little hike. I realised I didn’t quite have all the things that a forager should have, but I made do. I had 1 gardening glove (unfortunately I couldn’t find the other!), a pair of scissors, a few things to hold the contents of my findings in, my phone, a rucksack, and my trusty pair of walking boots. 

So, if you’re a witch who is struggling to find things to fill your book of shadows with, then consider documenting your foraging/other witchy activities. 

albaillustration:

I’m really excited to paint this card! Gratitude and Thanks, one of the Air cards in the upcoming Everyday Witch Oracle deck I am illustrating with author Deborah Blake for Llewellyn Worldwide.

My patrons are getting lots of exclusive and early sneak peaks of the deck at www.patreon.com/elisabethalba! I plan to film a timelapse of the inking and painting of this card that will be posted for my Painter Tier patrons, and there will be plenty of sketch-to-finish process photo posts for my Sketcher Tier.