New Year, New Magical Me: Advancing Your Craft in the New Year

As practitioners of magic, we know that learning never truly stops. With each new year we move through, the magical realm beckons us to explore uncharted territories and deepen our connection to the mystical arts. Whether you're a seasoned practitioner looking to expand your horizons or a novice ready to advance, the exploration of advanced practices can offer profound experiences and new insights that deepen our understanding of magic and strengthen our relationship with the spiritual/magical energies in our lives.

Holidays & Traditions, Rites & Rituals, Study & PracticeThomasinJanuary 5, 2024advanced witchcraft

A Cottage Witch's Altar: Creating a Sacred Space for the Hearth & Home

Practitioners who work to connect with these household energies can foster and honor their bond with their home and its spirits in many ways. One simple and meaningful way to cultivate this connection is to create a Cottage Witch’s Altar or a Hearth Altar, a shrine that honors the spirit of the home and all of the energies within it. This kind of altar not only brings harmony and warmth into the home but also provides a place where you can connect with your practice daily.

At the Witch's Table: Recipes for a Samhain Feast

Samhain is a Celtic Pagan festival that marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. Thanks to its place on the Wiccan Wheel of the Year, it has also been incorporated into the practices and observations of many other practitioners of magic and Paganism. In its modern observation, Samhain is a time of celebration, reflection, and remembrance. As the veil between the worlds thins, it presents a perfect opportunity to gather with one’s friends, communities, and loved ones to share a feast that honors the bounty of the earth and the spirits of the departed.

Crystals for Divination & Spirit Work: Enhancing Your Practice When the Veil is Thin

When the veil between the physical and spiritual realms becomes thinner, practitioners of magic are presented with an opportune time to enhance their divination and spirit work practices. Whether you are a seasoned practitioner or just beginning your journey, crystals and gemstones can be powerful allies in connecting with the spiritual world and gaining deeper insights into the mysteries of the universe.

Study & Practice, Divination, Curios of MagicJohannaOctober 18, 2023crystals, gems, stones, spirit work, spiritwork, divination

Into the Unknown: Celebrating Friday the 13th as a Witch

Friday the 13th is a date that has a long history of association with superstitions and fears, but for witches and practitioners of magic, it can be a day filled with enchantment, mystery, and opportunity. Rather than hiding from black cats or broken mirrors, practitioners of magic can embrace the unique energies of this day to enhance their spiritual practices. Let’s talk about a few ways in which you can celebrate Friday the 13th as a magical practitioner and tap into its energy.

Under the Thin Veil: Herbs & Spells for Personal and Spiritual Protection

As the leaves change and the air takes on a crisp chill, the magical energy of autumn permeates the air. This time of year is not only visually enchanting but also spiritually potent. During this period, the veil between the worlds is thin, making it an ideal time to focus on spiritual/magical protection and warding off negative energies.

A Remembrance Altar: Using Sacred Space to Honor Your Ancestors

As the month of October unfolds and the daylight hours grow shorter, many witches and other practitioners of magic begin to turn their thoughts to honoring their ancestors. One practice that allows us to express this desire to reconnect with our honored dead is the creation of an ancestral altar or shrine. Creating an altar dedicated to honoring one’s ancestors is a magnificent way to connect with your roots, remember loved ones who have passed, and tap into the themes of death and remembrance associated with the autumn season.

Autumnal Magic: Incorporating Autumn Energy Into Magical Workings

Autumn arrives. The days grow shorter and the air cools. There is a tangible change in the energy around us. The electric buzz of summer gives way to the warm, earthy tones of autumn, and the natural world undergoes a transformation. For practitioners of magic, this transition is more than just a change in weather. It can also be a potent and magical time to embrace the seasonal changes and harness their energy in our practice.

Aos Sí: The Otherworld Folk of Celtic Lore

‘Aos sí’ is a term used to encompass a complex and powerful array of figures within Irish pagan theology and Celtic mythology, figures I sometimes refer to as the Otherworld Folk and Otherkin. You’ll hear them more commonly called the Sídhe, fairies/faeries/the fae, the Good Neighbors, the Folk, the Good Folk, daoine sídhe/daoine sìthe. There are no doubt countless terms and names used to mean the aos sí, and just as many theories as to who these figures are, where they come from, and what they do.

Non-Magical Skills to Enhance your Magical Practice

What sort of skills do you think of when you think about improve your magical practice? For most people, the answer to this question is likely a long list of magic-related skills and abilities. We might immediately think of divination, for example, as a skill we wish to improve. Visualization and protective magic may come to mind, along with any number of other skills. What we don’t often consider when we talk about improve our magical practices is how our mundane skills serve our magical lives.

Ancestor Work: An Introduction for Beginners

Ancestral work is a term and concept that I’ve been questioned about a fair few times within the last year. As someone who has always been overwhelmingly approached about divinatory practices, strengthening one’s psychic abilities, and developing one’s magical craft in general, it was impossible not to notice the uptick in public interest in ancestral work and practices. I have to say, I’m quite excited at the prospect of so many stepping into this field because ancestral work is important when it comes to individual spiritual growth and exploring, understanding, and building one’s own unique world of magical craft.

An Cailleach: Mother, Goddess, Witch, Crone

An Cailleach – hag, crone, ancestral goddess, mentor, divine mother; all these things and then some, the figure an Cailleach has been venerated (and by many feared) throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man (where she’s known as Caillagh ny Groamagh) for ages and is still worshipped and revered today within those lands and by practitioners of Gaelic paganism all around the world. She is called an Cailleach, which is a title rather than name. The word ‘cailleach’ is found in Irish and Scots Gaelic and means ‘hag’ or ‘old woman’ but can also be translated to mean ‘witch’.

The Otherworld: Spirit Realms of Celtic Lore

The Otherworld is a realm not quite separate from our own, all around us and yet not always accessible or visible to us. It has been interpreted as one expansive world and as having numerous realms and kingdoms within the one Otherworld, and is home to many beings – gods, fairies, and spirits of all sorts, along with some of the most honored and beloved dead.

Curios & Symbols for Abundance Magic

Abundance is a hot topic word in many corners of the magical and spiritual communities. Perusing blogs and websites about magic, one will find a number of spells and rituals dedicated to attracting and manifesting abundance. Now, the word abundance simply means to have a lot of something. Although we may think of abundance as being focused on the amount of wealth we have or have access to, it can also refer to having one’s basic needs comfortably met, having an abundance of joy and happiness, or an abundance of opportunity. Abundance magic can be used to attract more prosperity into your life, bring customers to your business, open the doors for opportunity, or entice a wealth of love, happiness, and friendship into your life.

Journaling for Witches: Prompts for Magical Journaling

Journaling can be a powerful addition to your magical study and practice. In its many forms, journaling allows practitioners of magic to enhance their relationship with magic, spirit, and themselves; organize their thoughts and more thoroughly process new information; set goals and intentions; reflect on learning and experiences; and chronicle magical and personal growth.

Journaling for Witches: Techniques to Enhance Your Magical Practice

Journaling and other forms of personal writing are used throughout communities of all kinds. Keeping a journal can be done in many ways, and take many forms (including handwritten notes/notebooks, blogs, audio recordings, and videos). Regardless of the specific form or method of journaling, keeping a personal record of one’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences can have many benefits.

Free Printable: Censing Grimoire Page

ensing is used in many ways in the magical community; one of the most common uses being to cleanse spaces and things. Our censing grimoire pages printable is a straightforward, simplified guide to censing, which includes a brief list of herbs and incenses for cleansing with smoke, a simple censing rites, and a space for notes.

Free Printable: A Course in Craft-Building (Part Two)

This month, we are releasing Part Two: The Practitioner. With this worksheet, we ask practitioners to reflect on their magical origin story, some of their goals as a magician, and their beliefs about purpose, relationship and direction. The printable is available as a four page PDF download which can be used as a worksheet or as a guide for reflection, discussion, journaling or blogging.

Books of Magic: Books of Shadows, Grimoires, and Magical Tomes

One of the first things that newcomers to the study and practice of magic are told that they need is often a Book of Shadows. New witches and other practitioners are told from the start that a Book of Shadows is one of the most important tools in their magical arsenal--but they often are not told how these books can help them, how they can utilize them, or what the alternatives are to the Book of Shadows.

Magical Goal-Setting: Advancing your Personal Practice

For many practitioners of magic, advancement in one’s craft is something that is self-guided, self-managed, and self-assessed. There are, of course, magical traditions and formal practices that involve initiations and hierarchy. But the majority of magical practitioners are solitary practitioners, learning through research or more informal mentorships. And, for those practitioners, there are few official milestones to help measure one’s progress through their magical journey.