Practical Answers for Beginner Witches...
- T. M. Hoy
- Mar 7
- 9 min read
Here are some answers to questions I've posted on Quora - by beginner witches seeking some guidance and foundational knowledge. Hope it helps !
Practicing for over 50 years, with many esoteric experiences1h
A ‘wish’ spell is no different from any other, really. There are no ‘restrictions’, except don’t do anything that contradicts or blocks what you hope to gain. A good spell should start taking effect in a few days - if it doesn’t - it was not effective. Here are the basic steps to cast a powerful spell:
First, create a ‘sacred space’ or area that you can consecrate as holy - a place that is quiet, private, and where you won’t be interrupted or disturbed. Make an altar to hold the things you will need for your ritual, and for objects of power or items that are spiritually significant to you.
Second, focus your ‘intention’ - concentrate on what it is you want to achieve. When you know what you want the spell to do, see the results clearly in your mind’s eye, then gather what you need for your ritual to be successful.
These are things that correspond to the ‘vibration’ or the intent of the spell. For example, if it is a love spell, you would get two red or pink candles; some rose quartz crystals, something belonging to your beloved (or a picture of them, or even just write their name down on a slip of parchment), a fresh or dried rose, a small jar of honey, and some cinnamon sticks. You might add other things, or not need all of what I’ve mentioned, but these are things comonly used in love spells. For different intentions/goals, choose items with the right corresponding ‘vibe’ - there are many books on correpondences - choose one (I think Llewellyn’s Book of Correspondences is very thorough and easy to use).
Finally, perform the ritual that ‘casts’ the spell. If we continue with the love spell, you might take the parchment slip with your loved ones name on it, and carve their name in the wax candle. Slowly drip the wax from the lit candle onto parchment, as you visualize your lover holding you and kissing you, and love flowing between you. Take the parchment covered in wax, and submerge it in the jar of honey, as you chant your lover’s name. Seal the jar and bury it in your garden. You can change this ritual in many ways - use the cinnamon (or sugar) to sprinkle the parchment; ‘charge’ the rose quartz crystal and keep it close to your heart, and so on. Write rhyming or memorable words describing what you desire, to chant as you perform the ritual, to help make it real. Be creative !
One you have done the ritual, you ‘close’ the ceremony and ground it by thanking the elementals (the Spirits of Earth, Air, Fire and Water), and the higher powers (the Goddess and God, or Powers of Earth, Sea and Sky), and release your desire into the universe/cosmos.
Take time every day to focus your energy, and clearly visualize your goal/desire. Imagine clearly what a successful spell looks like, and imagine how you will feel when you have gained your desire. This is the key to successful manifestation - simply summoning up intense energy and immersing yoiurself in the positive emotions you would feel if/when your goal is achieved. Do this until you have convinced your subconscious mind (your magickal inner child/dream self) your desire HAS been achieved, and it will manifest itself in the physical world.
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Practicing for over 50 years, with many esoteric experiences18h
There hasn’t been a law against sorcery, magic or witchcraft in the United States since the early 1700’s (when the Age of Enlightenment and the success of Empiricism/ the Scientific Method put a stake through the heart of superstition).
You can practice ‘black magic’ all you like, and as long as you don’t freak out the local Homeowner’s Association or commit any cruelty to innocent animals, you are fine.
Just as a note, there are MANY places that DO prosecute sorcery and/or witchcraft - including most of Sub-Saharan Africa, South-East Asia, and countries where Islam is the state religion.
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Practicing for over 50 years, with many esoteric experiencesFeb 20
To understand the origins of modern witchcraft, you need to realize it is a very recent compilation of beliefs. The Spiritualist Movement, which was focused on communicating with the dead, became popular in the U.S. after the carnage of the Civil War. It caught on in Europe, and many other strange beliefs evolved during that same period. Characters like Madame Blavatsky, Aleister Crowley, and the mystic Gurdjieff (to name a few) created their own belief systems, some quasi-religious, others more magickal or mystical, but they were tapping into a popular craving for interesting, bizarre and mysterious experiences, that reinforced the idea of a ‘spiritual awakening’, life after death, and related esoteric concepts.
By the turn of the century (early 1900′s), this rather wild mix of ideas was widely accepted by the public. The Rider-Waite Tarot deck was created in this period, for example. A desire to reconnect with nature - an ideological leftover of the ‘Romantic Movement’ of the late 1700′s and early 1800′s, combined with a widespread interest in Classical antiquity, may have sparked the folk beliefs that became modern witchcraft.
Charles Leland, an American journalist, wrote ‘Aradia: Gospel of the Witches’ in the 1890′s, and is considered the first real emergence of modern witchcraft. Within a short time, the archeologist and scholar Margaret Mead wrote her own book, claiming an ancient witchcraft cult survived all the purges and persecution of Medieval and Renaissance Europe. This was debunked, but it attracted a lot of attention and spawned imitators. Further, the brilliant author Robert Graves, with his work ‘The White Goddess’ (about the moon goddess, and how that related to a host of Pagan belief systems), also wrote and lectured widely on the subject and helped popularize it.
After the end of WWII the U.K. legalized fortune telling, and decriminalized the practice of witchcraft. In the 1950′s, two main figures - Gerald Gardner, and Sybil Leek, both British, independently started the witchcraft movement. Gardner developed a coven and cultivated a following, that later was spread by his devotees. Leek mixed astrology with witchcraft, and attracted a different audience, through paperback books.
By the 1970′s witchcraft ‘traditions’ of many kinds were well established in the U.S. and Britain (and to a much lesser extent, in Europe).
Thank you for being so patient ! Now to answer your question directly - all the people who followed Gardner, Leek, and their imitators, cherry-picked whatever beliefs took their fancy. Celtic mythology was - and remains, a popular influence among witches. Ancient Greek and Roman myths - especially those concerning ‘dark’ goddesses like Hekate, Lillith, and Nemesis, have also been widely incorporated into witchcraft traditions.
In general, whenever ancient Pagan beliefs emphasize the divine feminine they have been folded into rituals and modern folklore. Further, many ideas from the Hermetic and Occult philosophies of Renaissance Europe, especially ritual magic, astrology and alchemy, also have been adopted into modern witchcraft.
In short, it is an eclectic mix, very appealing, emotionally satisfying, and highly attractive to people tired of the boring withered organized religions foisted on Western cultures. It is a hodge-podge, and defies easy categorization, but is a lively, friendly, and easy-going religion, that loves the earth and nature.
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Practicing for over 50 years, with many esoteric experiencesFeb 21
love are uniformly divine. This may be due to the profound importance of love in human life, and/or the mysterious nature of love itself.
But love goddesses in general, and Aphrodite in particular, are NOT mort
Definitely a goddess ! In every story, by all the various mythographers of Classical antiquity (Greece and Rome), Aphrodite is immortal and divine.
In fact, in every European mythology, and almost universally in cultures worldwide, goddesses of love are uniformly divine. This may be due to the profound importance of love in human life, and/or the mysterious nature of love itself.
But love goddesses in general, and Aphrodite in particular, are NOT mortal.
Practicing for over 50 years, with many esoteric experiencesTue
The darkly shining Void. We emerge from the Void at birth, and return to its embrace at death. It holds all energy within itself, and all potential futures exist there.
It is without ego, but it is conscious. Some consider it to be the Tao, formless, but the mother of all natural structures. It is, perhaps, the gently motive force that urges material things to achieve ever greater levels of awareness and the evolution of consciousness.
The Void is far beyond belief systems and gods, but judging from the often absurd and humorous nature of life, it probably finds comic relief in our deities.
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Practicing for over 50 years, with many esoteric experiencesFeb 17
Absolutely. Though most people who practice witchcraft prefer to call it ‘Wicca’ or Paganism.
It is nature worship, with a mixture of Celtic, Norse, and other European cultural elements (for example, the widespread worship of Gaia, Hekate, Lillith, and other goddesses, as well as versions of Cernunnos - the ‘horned god’).
It is a modern phenomenon, which started in Britain in the late 1800′s, with the first ‘witch’s gospel’ by Charles Leland. This was helped along by scholar Margaret Mead, and her theory of the survival of an underground or hidden witch cult through the centuries.
It took off after WWII, after the legalization of fortune-telling and witchcraft in Great Britain in the 1950′s.
Today there are many different branches or ‘traditions’ as they are called. Mostly named after their founders. Alexandrian, Trad, Faery, just to name a few popular ones.
In general they all get along pretty well, and avoid the sort of sectarian bitterness and backbiting common among Christian sects (much less within Islam).
So to sum up, yes, witchcraft is very much a religion (or it can be, if you choose - there are many ‘solitary practitioners’ who do their own thing, without ever joining any organization).
Practicing for over 50 years, with many esoteric experiencesTue
There are so many great books to choose from, it is difficult to narrow it down !
Two great and very knowledgeable authors, however, are: Scott Cunningham, and Isaac Bonewits. Cunningham - famous for his work devoted to ‘sole practitioners’ (those who don't join a coven, or choose to worship and practice privately), is an excellent choice for beginners. He wrote many books on witchcraft, including candle spell work, using crystals and gemstones, and an herbal, and many more.
Bonewits is more for intellectuals, and his work tends to delve deep into sources and origins. It is ideal for a beginner who seeks deeper understanding of the why’s and how's of practicing witchcraft and magic, with a strong dose of occult philosophy mixed in.
Lastly, I must mention two excellent classics, that by themselves deserve a read by anyone who is interested in Wicca or witchcraft. The Spiral Dance by Starhawk, and Drawing Down the Moon, by Margot Adler.
This will get you started in the right direction.
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Practicing for over 50 years, with many esoteric experiencesTue
A library's worth of volumes have been written on this subject, but here are a few good examples to get you started.
Think of spellwork as focusing energy towards a goal or intention. Crystals all vibrate at different frequencies, which can help you with energy intensity and direction.
Clear quartz crystals are a kind of universal frequency (over a quarter of the earth's crust is made of quartz), and is excellent for healing work and meditation, as well as casting a spells energy (in a wand for instance).
Rose quartz is good for use in love spells, as is amethyst.
Rubies and pyrite are good tools in wealth and money spells.
Selenite is superb for cleansing negative energy.
Black tourmaline is very effective as a protective crystal.
To boost spiritual energy, moldavite is second to none.
Sapphire is useful for scrying and seeing visions (clear quartz spheres are also very good for this purpose).
Visit a rock/mineral shop, or a lapidary and just pick up some stones, see how they feel to you. A short visit will be sure to reveal gemstones that will suit you personally.
There is no right or wrong with crystals and spells - just find the stones that work best for you.
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