The Basic Practices of Witchcraft
Why do we practice spells and rituals? What’s the point of an altar? What really goes into a grimoire? Let’s get back to the basics and explore the purpose of basic witchcraft practices.
Tools and Ingredients
Crystals, tarot cards, pendulums, wands, cauldrons, herbs, candles… the list could go on and on! Tools and ingredients are a huge part of witchcraft. They’re the backbone of spells, rituals, altars – basically every part of the craft. Witchy tools are just that: tools. They help us to focus on our intention and manipulate, change or amplify energy.
A lot of New Age folks believe that tools and ingredients are unnecessary because we hold all the power we’ll ever need. And while that may be true, it also makes life way harder than it needs to be. The tools and ingredients we use today have been proven to work over centuries of trial and error from our ancestors. Each ingredient has its own vibration and energy, just like we do. When used properly, the right tools and ingredients can create powerful effects and help us get things done much quicker and easier than if we relied solely on ourselves.
Even though it’s important to have a variety of tools to work with, don’t worry about having every witchy gadget and ingredient under the sun. Collect what you’re drawn to and use what feels right.
Also, this should go without saying but I’ll say it anyways. Treat all magical tools and ingredients with respect and never work with something you don’t feel right about or don’t fully understand. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things but remember that practicing magic can go wrong if you have the wrong intentions.
Spells and Rituals
Rituals and spells are one of the oldest parts of witchcraft. They help us direct our energy and intention into one place so that it can be put out into the universe.
Rituals help us stay consistent in our craft, which is equally as important as intention. Practicing magic daily, or as often as you can, keeps you connected to your higher self and the universe. Imagine you’re a soccer player and you suddenly stop going to practice for a month. When you go back to playing, you’ll need to warm up longer, stretch more, and get back into the groove before you can play properly. The same thing happens when you don’t practice your craft regularly.
Spells can be complex or simple, personal or generic. They can be changed and altered to fit your needs – plus they’re usually stronger when personalized. While you can google a spell for weight loss and fine one, its potency won’t be nearly as strong as if you customize or incorporate local ingredients and traditions. It takes experimenting to find out what works best for you and your craft, but that’s the beauty of spells and rituals.
Altars
The point of an altar is to create a sacred space made specifically for your practice. An altar allows you to put aside all external feelings and forces and focus only on what’s in your sacred area.
There are many traditional ways to set up an altar and using a classic layout is a great way to start, but feel free to change things up as you learn what works for you. The beauty of setting up an altar is in the way that you create your personal, unique sacred space. How you choose to do so is up to you.
If you’re stuck in the broom closet and can’t display an altar in your home, a portable altar works great. Many witches create portable altars for magic on the go – plus you can stay connected to your craft by carrying it around with you.
Grimoires and Book of Shadows
The point of a grimoire is to hold all of your experiences, questions, research, (any and everything related to your craft) all in one place. When we think of the term grimoire or book of shadows, most of us picture those old, leather bound, beautifully illustrated books full of ancient knowledge and wisdom. And while there are some witches who have time to create something like that, most of us just don’t.
Grimoires (or book of shadows) don’t have to be fancy and complicated. They don’t need to be organized or pretty. A grimoire simply for keeping all of your witchy knowledge and practices straight. They’re for holding your notes, experiments, journal entries, spells – anything you want!
Modern grimoires come in all different shapes and sizes. Three ring binders with lined paper, digital files on an iPad, mini notebooks, legal pads, etc. If you can write in it, you can make it a grimoire. And if you don’t have time to make pretty grimoire pages, I’ve got you covered. I’ve made all of my personal grimoire pages available to you in my shop.
Visualization
Visualization (to me at least) is when you create an image in your mind’s eye of your energy so that you can manipulate it. For example, to create a protective shield around yourself, you might visualize a warm golden light emanating from your core and illuminating a barrier of healing light around your body. Basically, visualization helps us manifest our energy without using any physical tools like wands or spells.
Similar to intention, visualization only works with focus and dedication. Practice meditating and grounding yourself before you try to visualize for the best results.
Often times new witches struggle with visualization and have to use tools to connect to their energy. This is totally okay! There are mixed opinions about visualization because it takes so much of our personal energy, and many witches choose to use tools because it doesn’t drain them nearly as much. Listen to your intuition and use visualization when it feels right.
Every Witch is Unique
Each witch will use the basic practices of witchcraft differently and each practitioner is entitled to their personal opinion. These are just what I consider to be the main ideas of witchcraft. Witchcraft is not black and white and never will be. Every witch will experience their practice differently and that’s the fun part! Take everything you learn with a grain of salt and interpret what you find in a way that makes sense to you.