Introduction to the Hub

This thread is for people who are witches or are interested in witchcraft. In this thread, our goal is to guide, help and discuss witchcraft in a friendly, open-minded, and respectful manner. It can be talking about your spell work or sigils. Get help with your tarot reading, get ideas for your BoS (Book of Shadows) and so much more! Feel free to ask any questions that you may have about witchcraft here.

Rules & guidelines

• Be respectful, mindful, and kind.
• No fights or arguing. Open discussions are okay but please keep it civil.
• Do not spam the forum.
• Should someone say something offensive, off-topic, or in any way disrespectful, please don’t reply to them. Report it.
• This thread might be used as a place where people can ask for spiritual guidance, ask deep questions, or just a place where they can be themselves.
• More rules can be added/changed over time.

What is Witchcraft?

When people think of witchcraft, they often will picture cloaked figures in a dark or dim room, casting curses or hexes on the town they live in — while being surrounded by jars filled with eyeballs or dried herbs and bones from the ceiling. These stereotypes are printed into the mind of people who only think that witchcraft can be found in movies, books, or around Halloween time. However, that is not true witchcraft. Witchcraft is usually about the self in most cases. Growing and learning to be yourself and connecting with the world around you. And yes, there are witches that practice what most would consider ‘dark’, however not all that is dark is evil.

Witchcraft is a craft, like knitting, yo do not sit down and are able to knit a sweater right away, you need to learn the building blocks and that takes time. So does learning the craft. Everyone's practice will look different and there is really no right or wrong unless it comes to cultural appropriation but that is another topic.

Definitions

• BoS = Book of Shadows.
• Alter = A personal space for rituals and prayer.
• Athame = A ceremonial knife, used to direct energy, never for cutting things.
• Coven = A group of witches.
• Witchcraft = The practice of magic, spells, and the invocation of spirits.
• Need a term defined, just ask!

Hot Topics and Information

Here I will post links to documents with information on witchcraft as well as some interesting articles. Feel free to share your own. Make sure any links follow Lorwolf ToS. I will be vetting links.

Book, Podcast, YouTube, Etc. Recommendations

Here you will find recommendations for books, Podcasts, YouTubers, etc. separated by topic.

Beginner Resources:

• Google doc with beginner resources and a general beginner guide. Not this is not mine it is a source I found. I have read it.
  • https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iC75j7xfzjOGh77DR9hyUFVvnkg5cEeF4nmgRztwg7Q/

Cultural appropriation and closed practices

What is cultural appropriation? this is, "the uncredited and out of context use of a culture’s significant practices by someone outside of that culture." - this can be done intentionally or unintentionally, but the outcome is still the same.

Here are some guides on what may be considered cultural appropriation!

• https://docs.google.com/document/d/11B8xsPnxN762LFXhdKQaMOjuWoWRFXAhd5P6-WnWIN4/edit
• https://apihtawikosisan.com/2012/01/the-dos-donts-maybes-i-dont-knows-of-cultural-appropriation/
• https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BxT8sy0W4rkXbw92s7smOh5VJx6fh0r0gZIUjUrF7Go/edit
• http://www.sfu.ca/ipinch/sites/default/files/resources/teaching_resources/think_before_you_appropriate_jan_2016.pdf
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/19RAQ_S6PiYzd6KN3O6fbD_hJCSfEE45f/view?usp=share_link

Here is a list of practices that may be considered closed.

• https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wLwlGkTnOdejhHx-Z7AL4drgw3kGf5m06y-3Mqf7dNQ/edit?usp=sharing
  • Please note. closed religions are not a “one-size-fits-all” kind of policy. Each religion and sect could be different and my word is NOT final! I am learning too!

Sigils

• The Basics of Sigils - YouTube
• Sigil Magic | Alternative Ways of Creating Them - YouTube
• Sigils! Ft. Jaxon || The Witches Box Unboxing - YouTube
• The Basics of Sigil Making || Witchcraft 101 - YouTube

Divination

• Bones
  • (94) Bone Throwing 101 - YouTube
• Runes
  • (94) What are runes? What is the Futhark? || THE RUNES #1 - General information - YouTube
    • They have a whole series of runes.
      

What a great hub to have!

Hi everyone, I'm Chelle! I've been reading tarot, oracle, lenormand, and traditional cards for about 12 years now! My personal practice is mostly influenced by Santeria (thanks to growing up with my stepmother) as well as Appalachian folk magick (ancestors on my bio-mom's side). I'm very big into daily magic, the little things and habits you do each day to keep up wards, encourage manifesting, and just general honoring of spirits and ancestors!

Been putting together a bone casting set for a while now, it's been one of those “when the timing is right” kind of things so I'm being patient.

I'm always open to answering questions and discussing different paths!

hi, I'm Lucky or Loucky, either's fine. I'm a very casual witch and mostly work with emotional and natural energy, although I do occasionally read tarot as well. I've never really followed any particular teachings, as I've found traditional practices don't work for me.

my practice is mostly based around storing, transferring and withdrawing emotional and natural energy through object association. this is hard to explain, so allow me to give a few examples for illustration first:

• I have many, many animal and other figurines, most of which hold a memory or association that fills them with positive energy. one in particular, a Sleich brand toy pinto horse named Floris, holds so many fond childhood memories that he is arguably my strongest source of stored positive energy, at least in that collection.
• said figurines are all stored in a simple Ikea cabinet (really just a bookcase with glass doors) that I put together myself. through that effort, I charged it with protective energy to keep my collection safe.
• I also have a desk, again a simple one from Ikea, that I put together myself. it's my work desk, and through the effort I made to put it together, I put a productivity spell on it that keeps me from getting distracted while I work.

basically, I put energy into objects through memories, assocation, or effort, and said energy is then available for me to use later. some sources are near infinite (especially the memory based ones) since they automatically renew themselves, while others need semi-regular maintenance to keep their spells from fading.

I hope that all made sense!

It is nice to meet both of you!

Hi, I'm a bit nervous about posting here, but here goes.

I'm a very STEM-minded person who's interested in the practical applications of magic and unexplained phenomenons, and I'd like to get to know more about why each person here practices. For me, it's about finding the cheat codes to life and executing them correctly, narrowing down what does and does not work, etc.; it's as much of a science as an art.

Unfortunately, I just know very basic things at the moment, such as focusing energy with intent towards things to try and get what you want. It's…not very useful on its own, as I lack conduits to be able to influence the greater scope of things. To put it bluntly, I feel like my problem is sometimes, I'm inputting the Konami Code on a Nintendo Game and expecting it to work. Othertimes, I'm left feeling like I'm trying to use an Action Replay code without owning one.

So uh, I guess the TL;DR is: Can anyone tell me about resources to get better at magic?

@Heemi I hope I can help! I also do typically take a more fundamental approach to my practice, however I have learned over the years sometimes the less structure and form the better my results. The world is chaos and we are desperate to make sense of it (my personal philosophy is Absurdism I mean no disrespect!)

It took me many years to find what really “works” for me. A tough part of replicating any workings and getting the same results is there could be any number of unknown factors (or factors we just didn't consider) such as our personal energy, emotional state, quality/quantity of materials used, external factors (astrological states, the energy of our home, energy of other people influencing us), etc.

I took my time finding traditions that felt “right” for me, which took a lot of trial and error. You'll eventually come across something that just clicks, whether it be because it is fascinating, is part of your family lineage, or just “because”.

I recommend taking a look at what your ancestors may have done. You might have to go back many, many generations. See where they came from, what the practices were of that area, etc. Most beliefs hold the idea there is power in your blood, literally and figuratively. This is all assuming you are able to trace back a family name and/or genetics, if this is not possible for you then I highly suggest just doing research into cultures you find interesting!

Keep in mind there are some practices that are considered “closed”. In these situations, it's best to look into authorities within those practicing communities to learn.

Basically, any type of witchcraft is going to rely HEAVILY on research. A lot of reading, trial and error, and always growing. Patience is a virtue, and you will always experience something new.

Hello Heemi, sorry for the late reply. The best thing to do in my opinion is find books and podcasts that focus on topics that you would like to learn about and things that you feel drawn to and go from there. Research is key, otherwise, it is like getting on a bike for the first time in your life and expecting to win a competition.

OK. Guess I'm going to (re)read those witchcraft books I got that have kind of been gathering dust on my shelf… They're really my only lifeline to the craft at this point, and I'm not sure if they'll even work for me, but I have no idea where else to look.

There's so much cultural appropriation floating around in the witchcraft sphere, it makes me massively uncomfy, and I just can't figure out where to start for open practices other than like, green magic, which is the books I have.

I'm also extremely interested in sigils and divination, for the record, but finding open, free resources for those is hard for me, maybe because I don't know what to search.

@Heemi Here is some information taken from some of the witchcraft discords I am on.

Cultural appropriation and closed practices

What is cultural appropriation? this is, "the uncredited and out of context use of a culture’s significant practices by someone outside of that culture." - this can be done intentionally or unintentionally, but the outcome is still the same.

Here are some guides on what may be considered cultural appropriation!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11B8xsPnxN762LFXhdKQaMOjuWoWRFXAhd5P6-WnWIN4/edit

https://apihtawikosisan.com/2012/01/the-dos-donts-maybes-i-dont-knows-of-cultural-appropriation/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BxT8sy0W4rkXbw92s7smOh5VJx6fh0r0gZIUjUrF7Go/edit

http://www.sfu.ca/ipinch/sites/default/files/resources/teaching_resources/think_before_you_appropriate_jan_2016.pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19RAQ_S6PiYzd6KN3O6fbD_hJCSfEE45f/view?usp=share_link

Here is a list of practices that may be considered closed.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wLwlGkTnOdejhHx-Z7AL4drgw3kGf5m06y-3Mqf7dNQ/edit?usp=sharing

Please note. closed religions are not a “one-size-fits-all” kind of policy. Each religion and sect could be different and my word is NOT final! I am learning too!

Sigils

The Basics of Sigils - YouTube

Sigil Magic | Alternative Ways of Creating Them - YouTube

Sigils! Ft. Jaxon || The Witches Box Unboxing - YouTube

The Basics of Sigil Making || Witchcraft 101 - YouTube

Divination

What type of divination are you interested in? That will help me narrow down resources.

@Rowan

Mostly Runes and Bones at the moment, for divination. I would be interested in Mirrors but I have intrusive thoughts so I'd probably get spooked, LOL.

@Heemi

Bones

(94) Bone Throwing 101 - YouTube

Runes

(94) What are runes? What is the Futhark? || THE RUNES #1 - General information - YouTube

They have a whole series of runes.

I stay away from mirrors too, they freak me out lol.