To see any updates to this post, click [here]. I’ll likely update it.
Disclaimer No single witch knows about all these things or has answers to all these prompts. This is just a reference list. Don’t get overwhelmed and focus on what interests you and relates to your path when making a grimoire or book of shadows.
Does your grimoire have an index for organization? Make one!
Write about the history of witches, the occult, Paganism, ect.
What is witchcraft?
What is intent? What is your will? How do they work?
What types of spells are there?
What are some methods for spells?
What types of witches are there?
What is cleansing? Why is it important? How is it done?
What is charging? Why is it important? How is it done?
What is grounding? Why is it important? How is it done?
What is shielding & warding? Why is it important? How is it done?
What are circles? Why are they important? How is it done?
What is visualization? Why is it important? How is it done?
What methods are there for divination? How can it be used?
What is consecration? How do you consecrate tools?
Write about energy, energy work basics, how is energy used?
What methods of meditation are there? Have any favorites?
Write about any tips for meditation you know of!
Make a list of terms commonly used in reference to witchcraft
How to write your own spells
How to make moon water
How to make sigils
How to dress candles
The wheel of the year. What is it? How do you celebrate it?
Make a pendulum board
Write the entire Theban Alphabet
Taglocks. What are they? How do you use them?
The Elements
The directions - North, South, East, & West
Moon phases
Zodiac signs
Planets
Days
Times of day
Numbers
Colors
Tarot cards
Runes
Herbs & Spices
Flowers
Trees/Wood
Other plants
Essential Oils
Incense
Teas
Seashells & other things from the sea
Crystals & Metals
Gods & goddesses
Spirits
Angels
Fae
List pantheons/deities
Basic spirit work
How to protect yourself from spirits
How to bind and banish spirits if something goes wrong
Fae etiquette
Types of Fae
List ways to communicate with deities/spirits/Fae
Information on constructs, servitors, tulpas, ect.
Page of tips/reminders
List practices, topics, deities/spirits of interest
How did you discover witchcraft?
What kind of witch are you, if any labels apply besides witch?
Why do you do witchcraft?
What inspires your practice?
Is your practice based on any certain culture, religion, ect?
Is witchcraft spiritual for you? How so? Are you Pagan, Wiccan, ect?
What is special about your practice? Do you have any unique methods, ideas, systems?
How do you believe magic works?
What has being a witch taught you?
Do you have any rules for your path? What are they? Why do you have them?
Write about your goals relating to witchcraft.
Do you have any familiars, deities or spirits you work with? Write about them.
Are there many witches, occultists, Pagans, ect that inspire you? Who? What about them is inspiring?
Make a correspondence page for you. Your natal chart, birth tarot card, numerology, elements or signature ingredients you connect to, ect.
Draw a chart of symbols you use in your practice. This could be alchemical symbols, sigils, runes, ect.
Offering ideas for your deities/spirits
Plants you have and how to care for them
Do you have any witchy drawings or doodles? Add them! Make some!
Write about folklore, especially personally significant or local folklore
Write about any myths or folk tales you like
Write about local animals, plants, in your area
Witchy recipes, crafts, projects, ect that you wanna do
Tarot spreads you like
Other spreads you like, oracle, runes, ect
A section or separate book for readings/spells/rituals you do
Witchy places you like, that be it woods, cemeteries, shops, ect
A witchy wishlist, tools, ingredients, ect that you want
Witchy books you have and witchy books you want
Astrology
Astral projection
Auras
Crystal grids
Dream interpretation
Familiars
Herbalism
Lenormand
Runes
Sacred geometry
Scrying
Symbols
Tarot cards
Oracle cards
Palmistry
Pendulums
A spell is a manifestation of intents, ingredients, and influences combined to bring about an intangible effect. However, there are a number of different of types of spells, intents, and methods.
CURSE— A spell designed to cause a person or place harm or misfortune of a grand scale. Occasionally used to protect when it used against a concept, “cursing out” infections and medical problems.
HEX— Commonly thought as similar to a curse, though it comes from a German word for witch. Commonly interpreted as a weaker curse, or a midpoint between a jinx and a curse on a scale of annoying to devastating.
JINX— A spell to cause momentary bad luck or annoyance, but can occasionally come back to bite someone later. Usually paired with irony, or used to bring about the opposite effect of what someone says out loud or hopes for.
BANISHING— A type of spell, designed to get rid of something specific, whether it be a concept, a person, spirit, or otherwise, and to keep it away.
WARDING— A type of protective spell in which you create and put up magical walls, usually against a specific thing, such as spirits or negative people, but could be used for evangelicals and teenagers that theoretically loiter on your lawn.
BINDING— Similar to banishing. Instead of removing a person, object, or situation from your vicinity, you prevent a person or creature from performing a particular action.
GLAMOUR— Often used for beauty spells, are a type of spell used for creating an illusion over a person or object. They can be used for a number of purposes, to make someone more attract, or to make an object harder to find, or a person be more or less likely to be noticed.
CONSECRATION— The ritual blessing of an object or place by cleansing it and instilling with a specific energy. Cannot be done to living creatures.
POTION— Any drink made to have a magical effect.
JAR SPELL— A spell made and contained within a jar, often herb sealed with wax.
these are just a few types, feel free to add your own!
Oh my god, food extract is not the same as an essential oil.
Food extract is the flavoring of something cooked down into a carrier oil or alcohol that is safe for human ingestion.
Essential oil is the pure extract of the plant refined down and distilled for concentrated medicinal purposes to a significantly higher strength than simply adding ground up mint leaves to your water. The two are not comparable in any way.
Cinnamon extract and cinnamon essential oil are not the same thing.
One is about 100 times the strength of the other and can also cause acute organ failure. I’ll give you a hint, it’s not the food extract.
Sweet gods I’m not trying to be mean, I want you to be aware and safe and stop putting yourselves and others at risk. Please.
A while ago I devised a simple divination method of casting stones on a board and interpreting where they fell. I ended up writing an entire ritual around this concept and performed it as a public ritual after teaching a class on the magical properties of crystals and stones. If I’m going to be teaching class and running a ritual afterward I like to tie the ritual into the subject covered in the class, so people can apply what they learned.
I decided to divide a reading area into three sections, for the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of the Element of Earth, which would be marked with the colours associated with those aspects - green for physical, brown for mental, and black for spiritual. To really drive the Earth symbolism home I put the alchemical symbol for Earth on the centre of the reading board, and decided that if a stone fell inside that triangle then it had a stronger influence in the reading.
The three areas would break down as follows: Physical (green): The body, the home, physical concerns, structure, ‘real life’, wealth and finance Mental (brown): Control of thoughts, memory, discipline, patterns of thought Spiritual (black): Religious community, buildings, heirarchies, grounding, obedience and duty, moral and ethical issues, foundations
In order to make the board I went to Michaels and got the biggest wooden disc I could find, then carefully determined the centre and divided it into thirds which I painted with acrylic paint. I wanted the brightest colours possible, as I’d be doing this by candlelight. Two coats did the trick. At some point I may varnish them.
I gathered some of my collection of stones and decided to go with tumbled ones to minimize any possible damage. I wanted a wide variety of possible meanings for each reading, so my choices on what stones to use was heavily reliant on the symbolism I attach to them. I went with the following:
First row: Clear quartz: Clarity, power, wisdom Carnelian: Fire, strength, physicality, the body Hematite: Grounding Second row: Lapis lazuli: Divinity, the Gods, the sky Moss agate: Friendship, growth, the Earth Fluorite: Peace, inner calm, structure, learning Third row: Abalone: Inner beauty, secrets, Water Tiger’s eye: The Sun, power, protection, strength Moonstone: The Goddess, motherhood, the Moon, the psyche, magic Fourth row: Malachite: The Earth, growth, love Rose quartz: Love, pace, acceptance Amethyst: Sleep, dreams, peace, magic, the psyche Fifth row: Labradorite: Dark Moon, hidden secrets, new perspectives Amber: The God, the Sun, strength, power, healing Jet: Earth, night, grounding, stopping negativity
A sample reading: Physical: We have lapis lazuli, malachite, and jet, although the jet is partly on the spiritual side as well. Note the carnelian rolled off the board and as such doesn’t matter for this reading. The lapis is far from the centre, so has a weak influence here - the Gods and Their worship are not primary concerns for you right now as there are more important things going on. The malachite right on the Earth triangle tells us that growth is on the way, probably financial - the querent would have what they need to be fulfilled. As for the jet, its placement here implies that Earthy concerns are currently important to the querent, and it’s possible that they are feeling ‘in the dark’.
Mental: Abalone, right on the Earth triangle. There’s a foundational part of your self and psyche that you’re not revealing to others because you’re afraid to do so.
Spiritual: Moss agate outside the triangle tells us that the querent is making spiritual connections, be that to Gods, Elementals, some form of spirit, or connections in a religious or spiritual community. These connections lead to growth, but not in a spectacular way. The borderline position of the jet between physical and spiritual shows that the querent is a little uncertain about the connections they may be forming.
Of course, the stones used could be different, or a different reader may have a different interpretation of each stone, but still, I found it to be a useful method of divination and others seemed to appreciate the readings.
Basic Witchcraft Sigils Spell Writing 101 Energy Work Masterpost Correspondences Candle Colour Meanings Crystal Correspondences Crystals Masterpost A Spell Masterpost
Energy Work Energy Work Masterpost Cleansing Correspondences and Masterpost Cleansing Methods Enchanting an Item How to Enchant an Object Simple Enchantment How to Enchant Enchanting Items How to Enchant Items Charge items
Correspondences Masterpost Another Masterpost Smells Love Candle Colours Herbs
Healing Crystals Uses Healing Crystal Masterpost Crystal Correspondences
Spell Masterposts Gentle Witchcraft Wake-Up Spell Self Care Masterpost Room Healing Household Healing Everyday School Spells Finals Week Spells Pen Enchantment
Tips and Ideas Witch’s Morning Routine College Witchcraft Ideas Tea Ideas
[via @risingwoman on Insta]
good things will happen 🧿
things that are meant to be will fall into place 🧿
If you can’t get a lot of candles to seal your spell jars, melt crayons and use them! They’re wax as well and believe you me, it works. (Lowkey this tip has been saving my life)
Warding doesn’t have to be complex- tape up sigils around your space, draw an evil eye talisman, sprinkle around some salt, whatever.
Your grimoire can be whatever you want it to be. I tried to have a journal grimoire, but now I’m switching to a typed grimoire and a separate BOS which i’ll transition into two binders. (This is going to cure my scatterbrain)
Sigils can be whatever you want them to be as well. Decorate them, make them gorgeous and intricate, make them look like doodles, whatever you want. Sigils are an expression of your personal intention
If this post does well I can do a part 2! Comment your beginner witch tips!
Blessed be!
Unity, positivity, strong will, new beginnings, and pure energy.
Duality, partnerships (romantic or rivalrous), love, balance, and choice.
Magic, intuition, versatility, expression, and creativity.
Solidity, persistence, grounded nature, calmness, and home.
Travel, primitive energy, sudden change, and adventure.
Harmony, balance, sincerity, love, and truth.
Manifestation, scholarly activities, mystery, and the focused search for esoteric meanings.
Business, continuation, success, repetition, wealth, and cycles.
Attainment, satisfaction, accomplishment, intellectual power, inventiveness, and influence over situations and things.
a quick guide on grounding with storms for storm witches
☔ to be done during a storm
☔ stay in a safe place when you practice this form of grounding. only allow yourself to get wet if your health allows, and please avoid places that would get you struck by lightning.
☔ have a view/hearing of the rain to the best of your ability
☔ visualize:
each thunder strike rattles you to the core, and leaves nothing there. each drop of water brings energy that replenishes and re-energizes you.
every drop is one of millions, but every drop has importance. each one soaks into you, cold and bright. it fills you
every sound of every drops rebuilds you from the inside out.
each lightning bolt ignites within you, calling up new energies and instilling a calm in its wake.
☔ when you are ready, let the storm fade its hold on you. you are not severing the ties harshly, only letting them fall away, the way rain dissipates and the storm calms down.