Ultimate Protection Magic Masterpost, Part 2

The Planets and Their Correspondences Masterpost

The Sun

The Moon

Mercury

Venus

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto

Witchy Record Keeping; What To Do With A Grimoire/Book of Shadows/ etc.

In my practice, the most important tools are my Book of Mirrors and Grimoire. Record keeping is very crucial to my witchcraft practice. Emphasis on mine, some people find they don’t need to keep records on their magickal information. I feel I need to keep track of where I am in my practice and have it for the future should I ever want to look back. 

Witchcraft is deeply personal to each Witch, or your practice is I mean. I find it important to keep records as we are so prone to change we have to keep in mind our past and present to move into our futures. So, here we go.

What’s The Difference?

What is the difference between a Grimoire and Book of Shadows? Well, based in the dictionary there is one, but these words have adopted a different meaning to different people. 

Technically speaking, a Grimoire is for spells whereas a Book of Shadows is like a magickal diary or journal. It holds all the other information for your practice. 

There is some overlap and some blurring of the lines for some people, and it isn’t required you have both or either. You can really call it whatever you want, there’s no rules to it.

I don’t use a Book of Shadows anymore. My first book was a Book of Shadows but I have since moved on to call my new one a Book of Mirrors. I have a friend who calls hers a Book of Ursa Major. You can call your witchy book whatever you like. 

What Should It Look Like?

What do you want it to look like? Ok, I know there’s a big thing with the witch aesthetic to have a beautiful leather bound journal. Yes, my old Book of Shadows is leather bound and so is my Grimoire. But my Book of Mirrors is a blue binder I bought at the store with some cool dividing insets and some covers I made. 

You can do whatever you want! You want that leather bound journal, save up for it! You want some old notebook? Go for it! Want to do it electronically? You do you! It’s whatever works for your practice. The only reason I used leather bound for my first Book of Shadows was because it had been a gift from my grandparents. I already had it. 

Do what makes you happy and also what you have available to you. There’s nothing wrong with using a notebook or binder, actually I find the binder really useful in keeping things sorted. 

Use what you have, it doesn’t have to be fancy.

Where To Start?

I always make a cover page when I start, some people will put a blessing spell in the front, and if you’re Wiccan you can put the Wiccan Rede on the first page if you so please. The reason I make a cover page is to give it an introduction, to write down my book and know this is something important to me. If you want, go in and start writing spells in it. I do recommend you do a blessing spell on it. Just to ensure it is protected and will give you inspiration. 

Book Blessing Spell

Take three crystals and put one at the top and two by the sides of the book, you sit with the bottom of the book facing you.

Lay your hands on the cover and recite

“Book of Shadows made to hide,

Book of Light made to guide.

It is you and I, mighty book,

To discover the secrets others overlook.

So mote it be, my good friend.

May we be there till the end.” 

How To Fill My Pages?

How do you want to fill the pages? With spells, obviously, but you can include a myriad of other things. Are you a kitchen witch? Put your favorite recipes in there! A green witch? Fill with information about plants! Worship Gods and Goddesses? Put their stories and correspondences in there!

It is to be made by you and no one else. Below are some extra prompt ideas. 

Prompts

Ancestor Dedication

Tarot Guide

Personal Correspondences

Symbols Guide

Tool uses

Secret messages 

Maps

Flower or herb pressings

Your own art

Stories from your astral travels/ dreams/ nature walks

Your hopes and dreams

Anything Else?

Because this book is made to keep records of where you are in your path, try and date everything. Also every now and again write down your beliefs, what gods you follow or don’t follow, what you believe about the universe, what you believe about magick, etc. Talk about the why and how of your practice.

Most of all, enjoy what you’re creating. Your Book of Shadows/Mirrors/Light/Whatever You Call It is all about you and your practice. Make sure it’s fun and make sure it’s a reflection of you. 

This might be one of my longest posts yet but it’s something that’s really important to me. I want other witches to know their practice is their own and everything they do it in belongs to them. 

Blessed Be!

Tired Witch Tips

Witchy routines you can do in bed:

Journaling 

Tarot readings

Affirmations

Creating Sigils

Dream journaling

Meditation

Lucid dreaming

Astral traveling 

Lazy little shortcuts

Carry things around with you to charge, collect energy, bond with them, or even to keep spells near by/activated (harking back to the idea of shaking a spell jar to reactivate it)

Visualize how you want to be seen while putting on makeup for a quick and easy glamor spell

express gratitude to deities and nature regularly - this counts as witchcraft and is low effort

Showers can not only cleanse you physically, but the element of water cleanses spiritually as well

similarly, baths are calming and can be used to create spells by the addition of safe plants and oils

incorporating music into verbal spells and meditation can cleanse and boost 

the simple act of practicing self care and self love is witchcraft with the right intent!

Tips to help with sleep and dreamwork

Here is a link to some tips and trick for lucid dreaming!! - https://www.instagram.com/p/CAoft-8g9Yo/?igshid=1278r1ce8chpw

Source:

https://xristiwitch.com/lazy-witchcraft-for-the-lazy-witch/

Witchy Youtubers

Here’s a list of some of my favorite witchy/spiritual youtubers that I can’t get enough of. This is by no means a complete list, feel free to add onto it!

Anais Alexandre

Annie Tarasova

Ashera Star Goddess

Avalon Cameron

Azura DragonFeather

Broom Closet Artistry

Creosote Coyote

Dewdrop Dwelling

Ember HoneyRaven

Ethony

Harmony Nice

Hibiscus Moon

Jessi Huntenburg

Joanna DeVoe

Joey Morris

Kelly-Ann Maddox

Laura Daligan

Molly Roberts - HerSpeak

new age hipster

Oolong Witch

Orriculum

Owlvine Green

Samantha Valens

Scarlet Ravenswood

Snow Orchid

Sunshine MorningRae

The Sea Priestess 

The White Witch Parlour

The Ladygravedancer

WitchandMoon

WyllowWynd The Thrifty Witch

May the moon light your path.

Altars - My Digital Grimoire Series

*these are my pages, please do not repost as your own!*

Tarot deck cleansing ideas 🖤

ancient greek word of the day: κακοθερής (kakotherēs), unfitted to endure summer heat

Witchcraft 102 Masterpost

So. You’ve covered the basics. You know what every kind of ritual tool does, you understand all the terms that seemed alien to you before and you think you’re finally starting to get a feel for this witchcraft thing. You’re not a baby witch anymore, but… where to from here? Making the move from beginner witch to intermediate witch is a lot more difficult than it seems, purely because resources aimed at intermediate witchcraft are few and far between. But there’s a good reason for that.

There are general rules and ideas that can be applied across all of witchcraft. There’s so much to learn from other witches, but your greatest teacher will always be yourself. There is a reason witchcraft is so customisable to the individual: some things just work better for certain people. Not to mention pretty much every magick practice in history was developed by witches using their intuition! Because of this, it’s hard to create resources that tell somehow how to go from a beginner to an intermediate. However, they do exist! You’ll just find that most of them will act as prompts or scaffolds. They’ll instruct you on how to figure things out for yourself.

This next stage of your craft will involve a lot of introspection, and a lot of trusting your gut. It’s the reason you learnt all that baby witch stuff in the first place. This is where most of the personal growth happens. It can be scary, but it’ll also be magical. It’ll be a while before you actually qualify as an ‘intermediate witch’, and there’s no shame in that. The process of moving from beginner to intermediate is one that can take years, simply because witchcraft is such a deep and complex art. I myself definitely wouldn’t identify as a baby witch, but I’m still a beginner in many aspects despite having been a witch for years.

Without further ado, I present to you witchcraft 102.

GENERAL

The Problem with Sharing Advanced Magic

Using Tumblr as a Resource

How to Stop Being a Beginner Witch

How to Deepen Your Craft

Developing Your Craft Beyond Tumblr

Creating a Spiritual Calendar

SOAP Journaling: a Devotional Framework

Devotional Journal (for deity worship)

Questions for a Deeper Spiritual Practice

ORGANISATION

When reading through information, I recommend taking notes on the content, as well as your thoughts on it. Do you notice any connections to other texts or ideas? Do you have any questions you’d like to follow up? This will not only help you remember the information, but encourage you to look at it critically and see the bigger picture. Here is an example of my personal note-taking scaffold which includes some of the notes I took a while ago. I adapted it from the Cornell notes system based on my personal needs.

At TechnoCoven, a recent online witchcraft convention, there was an hour-long panel about planning in witchcraft called Spirit Papers. Here is a link to the recording. It goes over different organisation systems, notebooks, etc.

Why you should cite sources

How to cite sources

What is an annotated bibliography?

I would highly recommend setting aside a specific time every day to study witchcraft. This way, you will be improving your craft every day. Even if you only set aside half an hour, you will be doing three and a half hours of study a week. An hour a day totals to seven hours a week. If you can’t find a specific time every day, then find a specific time every week. 6pm-8pm on Tuesday and Saturday, for example, or reserve all of Sunday afternoon. This structure obviously isn’t compulsory, but with it you will advance at a much quicker pace and probably find your craft more fulfilling.

You should definitely have a grimoire already, but if you don’t, get one. It can be on paper or online, if you’d prefer. OneNote, Evernote, Microsoft Word and Google Docs are all viable digital options. You probably have lots of loose information lying around, whether its physical, in note form or on your Tumblr blog. Categorise it and order it. Then go through it. Document the important and useful parts in your grimoire.

READING

Elemental Magick in Science

Elemental Systems

The Darker Elements

History of Magick Part 1

History of Magick Part 2

History of Magick Part 3

History of Magick Part 4

How Location and History Affect Spiritual Practices

Botanical Medicine for Women’s Health (ebook)

TAROT

Stop Learning Tarot Like Flash Cards

Learning the Major Arcana

Learning the Court Cards

Reading Tarot Cards Vertically

Reading Reversed Cards

How to Take Notes on a (New) Tarot Deck

Understanding Yourself Tarot Mega-Spread

Conceptions of the Self Through Spreads

Shadow February Divination Challenge

Daily Tarot Journal Printable

SHADOW WORK

Introduction to Shadow Work

6 Phrases for Shadow Work

Safety Planning (good to have one of these if you’re doing shadow work and have a mental illness)

Shadow Working with Stuck Points

Shadow Work with Hillbillyoracle (pt. 1)

Shadow Work with Hillbillyoracle (pt. 2)

Hillbillyoracle’s Personal Shadow Work Framework

RESEARCH

Good Things to Research When You Don’t Know What to Research

Areas of Research for the Intermediate Witch

Masterlist of Journals, Articles & Books on Folklore, Mythology and the Occult

Index of Old Grimoires

Working with Plants

Tips on How to Google Correspondences

The Cornell University Library Witchcraft Collection

Sacred Text Archive

Bocastle Museum of Witchcraft

Occult Library

Hermetics Library

Project Gutenberg Paganism Bookshelf

Legal Free Ebooks Masterpost

Good Pagan & Wiccan Publishers

How to Get Use Out of Older Texts

Finding Experienced Witches

PRACTICE

What to Do When You Fall out of Practice

Making Your Own Correspondences

Pendulum Dowsing for Correspondences

2019 Grimoire Challenge (a year of grimoire prompts)

Stones for Advanced Practitioners

On Tools and Psychodrama

A Way to Astral Project

Energy Alignment Identification

Magic in the Body

Spell Circles

Irish Concept of “On the Breath”

Sky Catch

Verbal Sigils

PODCASTS

Tea With the Gods

The Hillbilly Oracle

Hex Positive

The History of Witchcraft

The Empowered Modern Witches Show

Academy of Affluence

TESTIMONIALS

A Samhain Fairytale

Foundations of Diywitchery’s Practice

Godphoning

Devotional activities

GET OFF TUMBLR (AKA GET SOME VARIETY IN YOUR SOURCES) I’ve got some examples listed here but there are definitely more out there!

Bree NicGarran’s Blog

Luna Luna Magazine (Blog)

Witchy Words (Blog)

Mumble & Things (Blog)

Down the Forest Path (Blog)

The Travelling Witch (Blog)

Prisoner’s Apothecary (Blog)

Harmony Nice (Youtube)

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

6 Books for Advancing Your Craft

Hellenic Polytheism Books

Walker Between Worlds by Robert Kirk (I haven’t read it so I can’t vouch for its quality but I’ve heard its a valuable resources for those wanting to learn about the fae)

The Study of Witchcraft: A Guidebook to Advanced Wicca by Deborah Lipp (I will link to my book review here; this book is essentially a study guide)

Evolution of Goddess by Emma Mildon (book recommendation) (especially good if you are looking to find a deity but are unsure of where to start)

The Occult, Witchcraft & Magic: An Illustrated History by Christopher Dell (a fantastic starting place for looking into occult history)

Helpful for the baby witches out there 🌙🖤