I see a lot of people coming to the Path and the Craft recently. There are multiple reasons behind it and unfortunately as a very old fashioned person I don’t really fancy some of them, but that’s my persona opinion. It’s not really relevant, though as some point I will write another post about it.
Some way or another you got here. Witchcraft intrigued you and you feel like it’s calling for you. But the question is, where to start? What to do? How to set up an altar? How do spells work? There are so many questions that sometimes you feel lost.
I went through that myself some time ago and it was an interesting experience. I was 13. Baptised into Orthodox Christianity, with atheist or more of agnostic parents I was lucky to be free with my choice of beliefs and spiritual paths I could follow. But no one in my family could teach me, nor my group of friends at the time, because it was the period of identity search and relationship search, when girls and guys were forming clicks and groups based of relationships, friendships and interests where I couldn’t really fit in.
So I found myself watching Youtube, looking for answers and watching films about witches that could give me the answers I craved. And looking at my past now, I am actually grateful that there wasn’t a lot of information and white noise about witchcraft and wicca there at the time.
Today, even Buzzfeed touched the subject and I am still not sure if it was a healthy idea for young witches. But never mind. You are here now, that means something. But now what?
1. Research, research, research.
Before practicing we are all meant to learn and sometimes without practice. Unfortunately, you can’t just dive into spellcasting and energy work without knowing the basics.
Read books that resonate in your heart, look for information online, don’t trust the source unless you found reviews or some other articles about certain practice and DO NOT create an idol.
Don’t follow some instagram personality or a blogger (even me) and trust what they say with all your heart and soul. False light, and people who give wrong information and false hope are everywhere, so before trusting the source or an influencer, check. Then check again. Use your constructive mind in order to find information you need.
The reason of this step is simple. No one wants you to harm yourself and others, so before doing anything you must know the consequences of all actions and the nature of all things working together.
2. Get back to school basics.
If you are in school right now, pay attention to biology, physics and chemistry. This may sound boring, but value what you teachers are giving to you. All science based subjects will provide valuable information about the nature of things and we all know that witchcraft is bound to nature.
Everything we learn at school isn’t always practical but understanding how material things work, how sound waves affect people, understanding psychology and even anatomy will give you answers to how our body, mind and nature works, how chemicals interact with each other. Chemistry can be very handy with potions for example, when you combine different herbs and liquids to manifest something or produce a certain effect on environment around you.
If you graduated school years ago and don’t remember some of the stuff, you can again use the Internet, because we have all this information in hands, on our phones and it’s easy to access.
3. Don’t get tools for the sake it.
The biggest mistake I’ve done on my path was getting the tools I read about in wicca related sources and never used them until I finally got the understanding of it.
As witches we don’t need fancy altars, expensive chalices and cauldrons all the time. Witchcraft can be in small things, even when you cool food for yourself or family. The Spirit and the Universe is within us. our inner Goddess is always at work and you can do little things using only yourself. Meditate, talk to animals, walk in the woods, add herbs to food for certain purposes (and I am talking about herbs that you can buy in shops in the spices section, they are always handy. don’t use poisonous stuff in food, check everything before eating).
4. Practice, practice, practice.
When you’ve done your research and you want to try and do something, do! Practice doesn’t always mean success. A negative result is an opportunity to analyse things and do something differently in order to grow and progress. Just keep learning. There is no point at this path, where you stop growing and stop learning, even masters of the Craft and High Priestess of covens keep getting new knowledge when they have an opportunity.
You are also free to create! Your own spells, brews, rituals. There is no right or wrong here.
5. Don’t create an idol.
I already mentioned that before, but I seriously want to stress this. Don’t look for a Mentor or Teacher or a Guide that will give you all the answers. Nowadays there are a lot of traps and scams, where you can fall and possibly never get out.
In a lot of fantasy film the Hero gets a Gendalf or a Dumbledore that will Mentor them through the Growth and learning process, but that’s not how it happens in reality. We are meant to do majority of stuff by ourselves, like self study. Because universe already gave us the knowledge we need and when we choose to find more, it will give us more.
The Teacher might find you one day. If your path requires guidance (like voodoo for example) you will meet your teacher, but it doesn’t happen because of you looking for it, it happens “accidentally” because universe will bring you both together when the time is right.
If someone asks for money to Teach you and open the mystery of the world and secrets of the path, that’s probably a lie and scam for money. Magic can be business when it comes to providing products or services. The Teacher/Student relationships are rare, because the Sacred knowledge the Teacher might have is priceless.
6. Be free and be yourself.
The most important part is here. Don’t be afraid to express yourself in the Craft. It’s your personal path and you really can do whatever works for you. Draw, enchant jewellery or clothes, work with deities no one works with, be free.
If someone who claims to be on the Path starts telling you’re doing something wrong, don’t listen (as long as you don’t harm anyone and yourself, don’t. If comments are addressing concerns of your health and wellbeing, listen).
And all that done, you will find your own, magical world that you created with knowledge and skills developed in practice. It is indeed hard work and magic isn’t like in Harry Potter or other fantasy films, where a wand fixes all you problems. It’s constant hard work on yourself and environment around you.
But don’t be scared. You are already at the start, which means the Universe is sure you should be here. Will you pass the tests and evolve? That a completely different story.
EM.
The Goddess Within 