It was quite a thrill considering my parents are strict and actually know how to make out signs of witchcraft and send me to christian counselling.

I wrote "Peace, protection" alongside a pentacle and moon phases symbol on the leaf, then with some struggle finally SAFELY burned it and snuffed the candle out. I also bottled up the remains for a little talisman and milestone for my first candle spell :)

The rush of adrenaline was so worth it, but I'm kind of nervous since it left a smoke smell in the bathroom. Managed to cover it up with Lysol scent spray and white vinegar, though.

If they ever question why the bathroom still smells like my smoker grandma hit it up in there, I'll blame it on my curling iron.

Dont worry guys, I did it in a safe environment and nothing was burnt or harmed besides the poor little bay leaf. Won't be doing this again until I get an apartment soon.

I've been open enough in my religion practice at my home. Ive had an altar for the nearly two years that ive lived with my dad. But today my dad told me i need to take down my altar or he will do it himself and says it doesnt align with his religion. I feel lost, betrayed, and unsafe. Im going to move some of my things over to my mom's soon, as i actuslly know thst she wont destroy my stuff and instead supports my religion, as well as all of my siblings religions. (She and ny stepdad are heathens, but two of my siblings are more eclectic, two are atheist, and they let one go to church with his friend). But I still want to keep some of my practice here until i can move out. It makes me secure and it makes me happy. Does anyone have any tips or ways thst they hide their practice?

Inspired by a comment I made on another post recently, I thought it might be helpful to post a list of hobbies that can be used to mask the craft, in no particular order:

• Gardening, for access to all sorts of herbs and plants. Books about green witchcraft have a lot of uses and tips here.

• Cooking and baking offer not only access to herbs, spices, and cauldrons, but often enough also the chance for offerings. Books on the path of the kitchen witch have a lot of ideas and spells that are useful here.

• Candlemaking to justify why we have so many candles, and some unusual ones at that. A spell candle that you made will be a lot less noticeable if you make a lot of candles in general.

• Scrapbooking can mask a book of shadows.

• Walks or hikes can bring us close to nature, depending on where we live. This can also be a chance to give offerings discreetly, depending on local laws.

• Collecting - consider starting a collection of crystals. No matter what your official collection is, it gives you an excuse to visit flea markets and garage sales, looking for witchy stuff.

• Embroidery or sowing - a sowing kit can hide all sorts of witchy things, and there are quite a few spells one can cast with chalk, needles, pins and coloured thread. You can also stitch runes or sigils into clothes.

• Volunteering can be a great opportunity for acts of devotion, for instance at a dog shelter for Hecate or at a homeless shelter (which may count as offering hospitality, a near universal act of devotion).

I'm sure many have all of this figured out, but there are always people taking their first steps. Please leave ideas about what else should go on this list in the comments.

Calling all pagans! (in the broom closet or out) From the curious fledglings to the adept masters of the craft! Whether you're starting your journey or you're a seasoned spellcaster, our server is the perfect place for you to:

• 🌱 Grow your knowledge with resources and discussions & study groups led by fellow pagans.
• 🔮 Enhance your practice through shared experiences and tips.
• 🤝 Make meaningful connections with fellow practitioners.
• 🌕 Celebrate the esoteric arts in a supportive and friendly environment.

Join us to explore, learn, and flourish among peers. Let's weave enchantments and friendships together!

👉 Step through the portal: https://discord.gg/8NZan4MA

We hope to see you on the other side! Blessed be! 🌒🌕🌘

So for context, I’m not new to the metaphysical world in the slightest. I’ve had abilities and experiences since I was born and had always considered myself an empath, Claircentient, light worker or an Indigo/Crystal Child. I’ve always done divination, manifestation and have a lot of experience with spirits and shadow people but never got super into the witchcraft side of the metaphysical world(spells, deities and such) I feel like I have been called to witch craft for a while now but have only recently gotten comfortable with the idea of it. I feel like I definitely had the witch wound that is starting to heal the more I step back into my power.

Anyways, I am a beginner with witchcraft and don’t really know too much about it if I am being honest. Just the stuff I picked up which I was researching other metaphysical things. Like, what are the rules? I know that I shouldn’t do any spells that could mess with someone’s free will, I know the rule of thirds and how intention is everything but I’m a little stumped on the rest. The big part about why I didn’t get into it earlier is it is pretty intimidating lol I feel like there is so much to learn and I just want to make sure I don’t do anything wrong!

So I guess my questions are:

How do I work with deities? I feel like I have had so many deities and spirits trying to contact me but I don’t know who they are or what I should do. I don’t want to be disrespectful and ignore them but I genuinely just am confused. I have a alter set up already and I work very closely with my spirit guides and angels but I feel so out of place(like I’m only just learning) when it comes to deities and other spirits. I do gotta admit though, my last 5 year relationship took me out of the spiritual game and totally disconnected me from my abilities so that could definitely be why I can’t understand who is trying to contact me.

I just wanna know if there is anything I need to know going into this?

Any advise you wish someone else had given you?

Anything you learned along the way that you think would be useful?

Some of the basic rules to follow?

Can I drink and smoke weed and still be intune with my abilities?

If I do smoke or drink do the deities find that disrespectful or rude?

What are something’s I should absolutely NEVER do?

Sorry for the long ass post lol I just wanna learn as much information as possible!

Thank you so much for your help in advance! 🩵✨

Hello. I'm new here & a relatively beginner witch. I've been looking through old posts in this subreddit for general advice & book recs. Something I've only seen mentioned briefly once is encrypting files on your computer or portable drive. This could be a good tip if you have to used a shared computer or if you have to occasionally let others access yours.

If you mainly work with your notes/grimoire online like I do, a possible drawback is that you may sometimes need to access your stuff when you don't have a stable internet connection or the service you're using is down. Online storage can also sometimes get buggy, hacked, etc. & cause your data to be corrupted or your account to be locked. So may want to keep offline copies of essential content but protect them from prying eyes. It's generally a good idea to keep multiple backup copies of your most important files anyway. It'll give you a way to recover at least some of your work/references if your main copy is deleted/unreachable for some reason.

I'm good at unintentionally hiding physical objects from myself, so if I print anything out and hide it somewhere good, I might as well forget it exists. So I usually have to hide digital files in plain sight like my computer's "Documents" folder. I don't like giving files fake names because I will forget that I did that too lol. So I create encrypted folders that scramble the file names/contents for me.

Doing this requires keeping passwords so make sure to use a reliable password management system of some sort. (Could be a password manager app and/or paper if you can hide it well).

Some apps have built-in password protection already. For example, at my job we often save Excel spreadsheets w/ a password. OneNote can encrypt individual sections, Apple Notes can encrypt individual notes, etc. If you give files/notes fake names & you don't have too many of them this can be good enough. Your operating system may be able to encrypt any file/folder as well, depending on the version. Then there are several 3rd party zip & encryption utilities. This is a pretty good basic article about different options: https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-encrypt-any-file-folder-drive/ . If you like the article, print/screenshot/save it because reading for free is limited.

If you ever want to try this tip, I recommend creating throwaway files/folders to experiment with until you figure out what methods/tools work for you.

Does anyone have advice on what offerings Pan likes, and perhaps what acts of devotion would be good, I'd need things that are small and or discreet as I have a small hidden altar for him, thank you to anyone who reads this

Too add a bit of explanation, I personally am Hellenic, I already do some deity work and my patron god is Hades, my family is extremely Christian and 100% most definitely does not support, I'm seeking help in ways to very discreetly practice and have already been doing tons of research, I'm also open to any suggestions, and don't mind sharing experiences and any ideas others might wish to share, Thank you so much to anyone who reads this

Hi I am a baby christian witch or I want to be one but my family is christian. I read the faq but it was long and I was going to talk to my pastor (pastor James) but I think he might think witchcraft is evil and tell my parents. My mom says democrats do witchcraft (she is a republican) and I think she won't like it but my dad doesn't talk to her about it and I am closer with him so I think he might be ok

​

(also pastor James said that reiki is from the devil so I am worried he will not like witchcraft)

​

I read that magick is like prayer with extra steps and I like that but I do not know if they will understand.

​

Should I ask pastor James about witchcraft or my parents or stay in the broom closet?

Anyway good night I stayed up too late

Also I don't want to be wicca because that is not God's will

I’m building up my altar as a “decorative area” of my room where it wouldn’t look out of place. I currently keep perfumes, lotion, meds (daily and emergency), and deodorant here. Is that okay to keep them there or should I move them? Or would it be a good idea to keep them there and explicitly bless/charm them?

ETA: the altar is specifically going to be on a mirrored tray. So would moving anything be fine to just moving it to the surface of the dresser it’s on or should I move things completely from the area?

r/WitchcraftBookReviews

Review witchy books you've read, and help others find the witchy tome they're looking for!

Ok so my current situation is this:

• Strict parents
• Cristian dad
• Self-religion mom
• They both think wicca is only about black magic, im slowly managing to make them change that idea but its really hard
• My mom is scared i will atract "evil spirits"
• Dhe says that if i want to do wicca she will make me read a very long book about spirits?... (No idea what the book is called, she wont tell me the name or anything)
• I rarely can go out alone so i cant buy stuff
• small room, ive managed to hide some stuff but its still hard
• I do have candles and stuff that could help me make spells tho so the idea of doing wicca is not that crazy

I am a very very very baby witch and I did get what to do when you don't have ingredients but all I really want right now is a trait and that is being a hardworker or more like addicted with working but in a healthy way cause I am a big procrastinator and only if I stop procrastinating then I can afford anything I want. I have the skills and clarity to succeed but I only struggle with motivation and procrastination.

I have tried to stick sticky notes with work and even positive rewards (if I complete a work occasionally) but I end up not working all day which leads to regret at night.

This is because I have a very noisy atmosphere where I live. I share rooms with my roommates and really can't find anywhere else to work on myself or get the peace so I just want to make myself a work addict so that I can work any time in any situation.

Never heard someone manifesting a trait through witchcraft? I am an elemental witch and just need to know if there is any spell to get a trait like this. I will try to do it when everybody sleeps in the name of overtime at internship 😭

Thank you in advanceee ;)))

Quick explanation I live in a very strict Christian house with my grandma (the strictest) staying in my room for a few months and as such I can’t buy spell jars, plants, or any of that, I have found a few ways to hide alters (I’m making a themed box) and a candle (I like the smell) but for spells and jars it’s difficult I have a loft bed so I can decently hide videos but any physical objects are a no any tips?

my family doesnt allow me to have candles for reasons i wont get into, but what do i do if i dont have any candles to seal the jars with? im not aloud any fire or things like that so how do i cleanse? i wanna get into spirit work but idk how

Hi, I need to do a spell but I don't have what I need (candles and stuff)

What I do?

Hello All! New to reddit, not really sure how this all works. I've never worked any hexes, so I'm a bit lost how to proceed, but I'm out of other ideas.

I am looking for a hex to place on my soon-to-be ex-brother in law that will either make him disappear from our lives, lose a court case...I'm not really sure what the end goal I need is, honestly...so here's the situation, and maybe someone has some good ideas or suggestions?

My sister is in the middle of a very difficult divorce with a man who has been verbally and emotionally abusive to her and both of their children throughout the entire 14-year relationship. This Thursday they have a hearing for Time-Sharing - out of the order that the hearings should be, because his lawyer is trying to halt us from getting the children a Guardian Ad Litem (basically, a representative who speaks for whats best for the kids based on what the kids want and what they feel is best based on interactions with them).

We live in Florida, and it's very hard to get anything other than 50-50. It's honestly kind of ridiculous. But this man once fired a gun (loaded with blanks, thank the goddess) in a small bathroom with their daughter when she was 3 as a "bonding experience," completely terrifying her. She got stung by a wasp and his version of first aid, despite being 5 feet from the house, was to let his father spit on her. (His father, btw, who leers at her chest and behind, and has done so since she turned 10...but does no wrong to soon-to-be ex-BIL).

He doesn't actually want the kids...he's only doing this to hurt my sister to petitioning for divorce and leaving him. He doesn't text or call his daughter, despite her having her own cell phone, and he declines every invitation my sister extends to spend time with the kids since she took them from the house and moved in with our mom. He is very self-absorbed, and spends his time drinking, smoking weed, and playing video games. That's all he ever wants to do.

My niece is now 13, and has told me multiple times she does not want to be at his house, visit him, or live with him / stay with him for any amount of time.

My nephew is 5 and Autistic. His father knows nothing about his routines, his therapists (occupational and speech), his doctors, his needs. He gets frustrated with him easily, yells at him when he's upset or having a meltdown, shakes him / hits him / screams at him inches from his face...it's not a good situation for my nephew to be in.

I am so terrified of the kids being left alone with him for any amount of time.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you. Well met and Blessed Be.

Hi, I'm a young beginner witch, I've read like 4 witchcraft books already, but... I'm a little sad. I really like witchcraft!, and I have always felt attracted to the mystical, But my family has always told me that witches always do black magic, And I always said 'I don't think everyone does bad things, there must be witches who help others And who do good things', and well, I was right! I have always been attracted to magic, watching movies about witches and seeing that room full of plants, the wands, quartz excited me! My family is quite...ignorant, and I don't know how to start without them realizing it, I can't have an altar, I don't have tarot cards (I love tarot, And it seems to me to be the best tool for self-knowledge and help!). I have a rose quartz, a wide variety of incenses (which I don't know how to use to cleanse bad energies, help), And some already dried plants, For tea, and stuff (I love tea) The only thing I have done is make a wand that I already blessed (What I have in my room, hide, and I feel a great connection with it, but i don't use it) I want to do magic only for myself, or for loved ones, I agree with the Wicca philosophy (although not with everything, I do not believe in gods or goddesses, only energies) Witches, Can you give me advice on how to practice witchcraft? Does anyone know how to make subtle tarot cards or something like that? I will read your comments, thanks you, have a good day.

Hello I'm very new to spirituality and recently came across the term spirit guides . So I have no experience of meditating before alas one day after dinner I went to bed and listened to a 40 mins audio to meet my spirit guide on YouTube . Everything felt good , light , I even cried a little bit thinking about the things I'm grateful for but when it came to me imagining a figure or a source of light. I saw a metallic figure with no clothes . Looked like some Egyptian statue or a painting from the olden days of how they used to draw men . His eyesand lips were very big and the eyes shone big bright light . There were no eyeballs . As soon as that thing was approaching towards me I gasped and got scared and woke up . I'm scared is it my spirit guide or what is it some sinister being or just my imagination doing wacky things??? . Here's a similar pic of how the being looked alike :

I’ve been thinking about working with deities and last night I asked for a sign if any deities wanted to work with me. I fell asleep and had this very odd dream but I won’t get into all details, there was an airplane at the start of the dream then I was dropped off somewhere. There was a girl with me she told me the name of the place but I all I can remember is that it started with M and was complicated. The part I felt was most important was at the end of the dream, it turned to night and there was this beautiful black ancient looking temple, while I was admiring it I felt I had to look to my left and there was a man leaning on the gate smoking. Right before I woke up he said “it’s beautiful isn’t it.”

I would like help identifying who it could be or what it could mean.

In only a few weeks, the place I live in will be FULL of blueweed, and I was wondering if I could use it in any of my work. I tried to do some research, but I couldn't really find anything about it. (I do a lot of different things, including baneful magic, but only when absolutely necessary)

Backstory: I've been wanting to dive into my own spirituality and for me Ive been thinking that a big part of that is magic and witchcraft. Ive been thinking about how to start for a few months now and last month I saved a couple reddit posts about book recs.

This book was basically the top rec on most of the posts i've seen. I didn't want to buy it on my kindle, and I share an amazon with my fiancé and didn't really want to ask them to get it for me. So I've just been waiting either for my next trip to a book store or for an amazon gift card or something. However you want to look at it, i've been putting off the purchase of this book.

So here's what happened to me earlier. I decided I needed to go on a walk today, i'm not usually a hot girl walk girly - but my legs were crazy sore from yesterday's workout and I needed to get my blood flowing. I was walking through my neighborhood, when I found this GEM staring at me in a little library!!

The whole moment just felt surreal, there are a lot of little libraries in my neighborhood and I check them fairly often. Usually they're filled with non-fiction political books, which makes sense for where I live. So to see this book today felt like a sign.

I'm a big believer in the mantra "What is for you, will not pass you." and this felt like one of those moments for me, just wanted to share :)

TLDR; i book ive been meaning to buy found its way to me.

I'm seeing a bunch of altars on my pinterest and they all have statues! I do have candles with my deity's symbol on them, but do I need a statue? I've tried putting up pictures/paintings of the deities, but my Christian parents took them away! I don't know if I need to do something more for my deities!

As a closeted witch, I have had to come up with numerous ways to obtain the supplies I need while staying spiritually anonymous. As such, I have some suggestions for anybody else in a similar situation.

- Small craft glass jars found at Dollar Tree that are five to a pack and cost about $1.25 make excellent chime candle holders!

- Glass aquarium stones in different colors make awesome altar significators for the elements/directions (Earth - green, Air - yellow, Fire - red, Water - blue, Spirit - clear).

- If you can't burn incense, ringing a bell is a great way to signify air and cleanse a space.

- Using a binder or discbound book for your grimoire/BoS allows you to organize and reorganize at will.

- In a pinch, your finger can serve as your wand and you can cup your hands together for an impromptu chalice.

- Instead of a fancy abalone shell for your burning items, you can buy a single egg frying pan for a couple of dollars; even a stoneware spoon holder for atop the stove will work (I recently got one for a traveling protection kit and, because it was Christmas themed with a pretty tree, it cost me a whopping $0.45 including tax!).

- For sound cleansing, snapping your fingers works just as well as bells or horns.

- No pendulum? No worries. Make your own dowsing tool with a strand of your hair and a favorite ring.

- Those little $3 cinnamon brooms at dollar stores all around make great besoms; if the cinnamon is not for you, just let the besom charge in open air and the smell will dissipate. (Although it is of note that cinnamon is a powerful tool in magickal workings, aiding with finances, extra power, passion, strength, protection, and so much more.)

- Cartomancy is a great way to have a divination tool at your fingertips without having to invest any money in a dedicated tarot or oracle deck. In fact, playing cards are thought by many to be the successor of tarot and made for playing to hide their true divinatory purpose. Lots of free information about this method of divination exists online, too!

- Astragalomancy is divination through the reading of dice. There is not a whole lot of information available about this type of divining, but there is some. (And this divination works with specialized dice as well as standard dice - both traditional and various polyhedral dice can be employed for these purposes!) (As an aside, I have information on any divinatory methods I post here. If you're interested in knowing more, send me a DM.)

TW - death, severe health issues, extreme poverty

​

​

Hello, all. I am a Pagan and Eclectic Protection Witch in the southern US in a tiny town that would literally ostracize and oust my entire family (myself, my husband, and our three underage daughters) if they knew that I am anything other than a God-fearing Christian. It is a soul-shattering experience to look around at all these smiling faces and know that they'd turn overtly hateful in an instant if I were anything other than what I am expected to be.

This issue is compounded by some truly awful happenings that began in the latter half of last year. Shortly after observing the tenth anniversary of my son passing in my arms, I found out that I had cancer. I had to postpone having the tumor removed so that I could participate in a Department of Human Services EBT interview to ensure that my family would not lose our food benefits. Then we lost our food benefits for over a month and a half anyway (resulting from a state software error that endangered so many families including ours) and we would have absolutely starved had it not been for the acceptance and assistance of the Christian community. Since we live in government housing, my husband is on Social Security Disability and cannot work, I cannot currently work as I am now in chemotherapy and then will be having major surgeries, and the legal fathers of my children have not financially assisted in years (let alone had anything to do with their children at all), we have been in a precarious position for well over a decade but that position is now exponentially exacerbated. As such, we ended up joining a church and so here I am, a hypocrite, knowing in my heart that my path is the right one for me, my Power (Lady Bast) is my Power, and that I have no choice but to continue to play the part or directly threaten my family's survival.

My husband and a dear friend have both informed me of an Islamic practice known as Taqiyya, in which it is acceptable to physically decry one's beliefs to survive. Another friend recently reminded me that my Lady will not forsake me as such thinking is a Christian belief. I cling to these beliefs to justify my actions and keep myself from completely falling apart. Still, I am ashamed and turn to my Lady daily to beg Her forgiveness and assure Her that my heart is always Hers.

Is anybody else in a situation like this? If so, how do you cope knowing that you have to betray your Power(s) and yourself to stay alive?

As an aside, my magickal space (I refer to it as my magickal alcove) is LITERALLY in the (broom) closet. I converted my bedroom closet into the space, complete with tiny altar. I have a few choice pieces of clothing hanging strategically in the closet so that, should anyone look into it, it would simply appear to be a regular closet. (It is of note that government housing here regularly inspects the units to ensure there is no damage and that tenants are rules compliant. Each door in the unit has to be opened to ensure that they are all working properly and, as such, I will have VERY judgmental Christian people poking around.)

Please let it be known that I am, in no way, knocking or hating on Christians. One of my dearest friends (and my chosen sister) is a Christian witch and I adore her and would not change her for anything. Actually, I have quite a few pieces on my altar because of her, and I have not only done (permitted) magickal workings on her behalf, but she has come to me specifically for direction in matters that are my specialty. I love genuine, good Christian people. The problem I have arises when I encounter people who tout themselves as good Christians, yet then promptly and continually act in ways anathema to true Christianity.

If you've read all this, thank you and cheers! May you have a blessed and magickal day!

I’m new to witchcraft and think I have found a deity that I would like to start to at least acknowledge and make offerings to. Instead of having one specific space be an altar, could I make it my whole living room with things here and there, or even my entire house?

I'm currently a broom closet witch in the bible belt. I'm moving to a new state (still in the South) but I want to meet more like minded individuals. It was easy to find other witches when I was in Seattle, but I'm not sure how to go about meeting witches in states where we are mostly shunned. I've tried MeetUp, but there's no covens or groups in my area (Louisiana). Any tips on how to meet new witch friends that I can hang out with?

I asked the universe for 3 angel numbers throughout the day as a sign that the love spell I payed for worked and I got more than 3 angel numbers in one go, does that mean the spell is working better than expected or does it mean another thing?