#practioner

If you intend on sharing your grimoire with the public or you're a fan of a more academic style of writing then you're gonna want to reference your sources to avoid any kind of plagiarism.

You may have already learned how to reference at your college/uni, in which case follow that method, but if you haven't let me show you what i've been doing in my grimoire.

The referencing style I was taught in my degree is a form of APA 7th edition. This style is best for essays and small research papers and since my grimoire is essentially a bunch of mini contextual essays stuck together I thought it was appropriate.

Here's the format:

Author Surname, Author Initials. (Date of publication/release). Title of source: sub-heading/title of chapter. Publishing company/website. Place of publication/website link. [Format]

So for example, the book I'm currently reading is Buried by Professor Alice Roberts. If I were to reference this book in this format it would look something like this:

Roberts, A. (2023). Buried, An Alternative History of The First Millennium in Britain: Water and Wine. Simon and Schuster. London. [Book]

(Its up to you whether you decide to put the chapter before the book title, it doesn't make a difference, but I prefer doing it this way.)

This reference will need to follow an in-text citation. You can do that by adding a little number in parentheses next to your quote or paraphrase that corresponds to the number on your list of references OR you can make a mini reference following this method:

(Author Surname, Author Initials. (Date of publication). Page number if required)

So following this method an in-text citation would look like this:

(Roberts, A. (2023). p1)

Tips

If you are citing a source with multiple authors, organised them alphabetically by surname, your in text citation only needs to include the first one.

If you're referencing an online upload of an old source like Internet Archive or Project Gutenberg, include the original authors name first, uploaders name/ID second and mark which is which in parenthesis, then the date of original publication if you can find it, followed by the date it was uploaded to the site.

If you are referencing a film/TV episode, use the name of the director and include (Dir) next to their name.

If you can't find a date of publication/upload then write DNA instead.

Always put your references at the back of your grimoire. If your grimoire contains multiple chapters, group them by each chapter and then organise either alphabetically or chronologically. If your in-text citation uses numbers, organise your reference list chronologically. If you're using a mini reference, organise your reference list alphabetically.

This last bit is especially important for practitioners who intend to publish their work. Please please please do not skip referencing! I've read so many traditionally published witchcraft books who's authors don't do this or do it half-assed and I can't stand it.

So, I am climbing up on my soapbox today. I see it asked all the time: "where do I start?"

And every answer seems the same: Research!

Great! But what does that mean? How and where do I research?? ... Starting out in The Craft is both easy and extremely challenging. Prior to the internet, research meant knowing or hoping to randomly meet other Practioners who could guide you. Or, if you were brave, checking a local library. At that point, starting was hard because getting access to information was hard.

Now we have the internet. And the problem exists in reverse. There is now SO much info available that it can be overwhelming at times. It certainly was for my nerodivergent brain. So I have typed up a "brief" summary of my process so that mayhap it will help others::

Research research research! There is so much out there and it can be so overwhelming. How i personally suggest you start? First, accept that you dont need fancy tools and ingredients to be a successful Witch You are enough as you are.

From a research aspect:

1. Look up the major types of spell work. (Candle, Kitchen, Jar, Offering, Sigils, Simmer Pots, Intention Spells, Oils, Sachets, Sprays, etc). This will give you an idea just how broad actual Craft and spellwork can be. Also, it will strike some examples of what to research and give you an idea what you will be most interested in. For example, I primarily love jar spells, sigils, and simmer pots.

2. Make a list of a couple types of spells or works that interest you. Like healing, self love, cord cuttings, etc. This will give you a list to work of to then build your research plan/database.

PLEASE NOTE, I PERSONALLY RECCOMEND THAT YOU DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY OF THESE SPELLS YET. I AM SUGGESTING YOU MAP THIS ALL OUT SO YOU HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE BREADTH OF THE CRAFT. It will also help you decide what kind of Crafter you will likely be. Personally, I am eclectic, and grey with very white leanings. I am not actually Wiccan, though the Wiccan aspect plays a huge role in my Craft.

Huge massive tip in looking stuff up? Using google or your fav search engine, type "metaphysical properties of____" or "magickal/magical correspondences of____" or simply "_____ Correspondences" and you can either read the articles and links or simply look through the images section. Though not everything will have extensive info available.

3. Pick a random spell. Anything. Now RESEARCH what doing that spell would entail. This will give you an idea of what kinds of things to research and where you want to put your emphasis.

For example, I wanted to do an anti anxiety spell. So I researched that. Discovered I have a flair for sigils. Then quickly realized I am an AVID Jar spell kinda gal 😅😁 So I then went searching for jar spells for  anti anxiety to see what would be required. Then realized how many different ways there are to do one. Which lead me to research crystals and herbs to find what ingredients to use for what. Which lead to me making my own comprehensive hard physical copy (alphabetical, might I add) of all the herbs and plants I could find and their many uses. Did the same with crystals. Then candles and their color meanings. Which lead to color magick research.

(..... It has now been 3 years since I went looking for that anti anxiety spell and I haven't performed it yet. I HAVE found so much peace within myself as I have settled into my Craft by learning. Because remember, witchcraft is NOT always JUST about performing spells. Anyway... back on topic)

I quickly realized how much info there was out there to learn and how to go about it.

Id also research the sabbats and all they entail.

Research deities for future knowledge. Though I suggest waiting on actual deity work until you are further down your path  but that is a personal preference.

Research cleansing types and methods.

At the end of the day, your path and your Craft is your own. Follow your intuition and instincts. Follow your heart and soul. And do as much as you can to research something before casting. Google is your friend. Also, i have a list of books. If you want it, just as a place to start, let me know :)

Once you start spell craft, I found it easiest to start with Sigils, once I got the hang of those, I moved on to simmer pots and candle magick (easiest ingredients to get ahold of for me). After getting comfortable with those, I moved on to Offering Spells. Then Jar Spells. I have more or less stopped there in my actual spell progression, as I have found I excel at and greatly enjoy Jar Spells. I have also ventured into oil rollers, sprays, sachets, etc. And I occasionally do rituals, like cord cuttings or ritual baths, but have not overly ventured in those directions. As such, I research as needed for those types of spells.

Shadow work and observing the Sabbats were also a huge learning opportunity for me.

People always say "do your shadow work" and it took me forever to realize they mean working on yourself. Facing your inner demons. Accepting your faults and working to correct those you can. Accepting yourself for who you are and learning to love yourself and be happy with who you are.

Researching the Sabbats and how the many cultures celebrate and honor them gave me another way to research and learn and then work that new knowledge into my craft. People jump over a fire during Beltane. Why? There is a good research topic for you. Yellow flowers, why are they important in the spring? Why are apples associated with fertility. What kinds of activities are engaged in for Samhain? Why?

And along the way of these activities and researching, you will find yourself learning things that can help you elsewhere. Like learning about the color green and its importance at Beltane will later help you in health and fertility spells.

I think I started actually performing spells about 1/4 of my way through all this research. Once I had a good enough basis to understand the materials I was working with and knew my energy and magic enough to feel comfortable and confident in my workings.

I still perform lots of research regularly, but have reached a comfort zone in my Craft where I don't do big things every day, or even every week, but I work my craft in in little ways, sometimes even unconsciously. I have found I am happy, comfortable, confident and at peace with my self and the life I live. And a stable and reliable Craft is a great addition to that peace, if not outright the building blocks for it in my case.

My inbox is open if anyone has questions. Wants to chat. Wants a new witchy friend. Etc. As a Polyamorous, Pansexual, Christian Druidic Mother and Wife who is 420 friendly...... I am an open book with nothing to hide and virtually no judgement left in my brain. I don't care who you are. Do no harm, take no shit and we will be a-okay :)

Merry Part and Blessed Be

Deity Worship: Lucifer

“I am going to wing it” 

-me something I should definitely not wing. 

This lecture has given me an insight into Schwitters work with techniques that I can apply to my work to communicate my narrative effectively. His broad exploration of work throughout his lifetime has given me a range of ideas to work from. 

Collage is the art of pasting paper and cut-outs onto various surfaces. This can include 3D, drawing, music and more as additive elements. Schwitters gave worth well found objects new life in compositional elements. 

One quote that stood out for me was “make connections if possible between everything and the world” which is something to consider when making my narrative to constantly make connections to the environment I am portraying. 

This collage explores overlays with lighter paper on the lower middle part of the piece which adds another layer of depth to the work. I also like the colour clash and the accent of red in the work to really draw your eye to it. 

The use of found imagery in strong in this piece with the external wrapper to table salt. There is a simple use of drawn type to mimic the type on the wrapper with adds another layer of depth. The overlay drawings reminds me of the TedTalk and drawing over collages to add another meaning to the piece which is something I could explore in my work. 

This magazine cover and back spread uses bold black and red geometric lines in negative space to create direction and editorial modular composition. the sans-serif type is placed in an asymmetrical layout and overall uses the type’s power in the piece b y considering social awareness. This makes me consider how can I use type to my advantage in my work.

Working with found imagery, this piece uses space to create an editorial style piece of work. He keeps the work contained by using heavy layers but have a sense of spacial awareness to create breathing space to the viewer which is something to think about to make sure that my work is easily communicated effectively. 

This journey through collage I really like as this journey is presented with the use of line and direction in the work with the position of the collage elements. I want to explore this in my work to create a sense of movement in my narrative to bring my story to life. 

The use of the type is very significant in this piece, especially the 23 as it catches our eye and draws us into the work. This adds a point of focus which I could explore to capture the reader’s attention to a certain element I want to portray perhaps. 

Shielding: A Concise Creation Guide Shielding: The art of protecting yourself from other entities. This post will be much longer and more in depth than my other posts in the creation guide category. This is one of the areas that I have quite a bit of experience with and will be covering it from basic techniques to more advanced ones. --**-- Shielding is one of the first techniques a novice should learn in magick, and to do this one must ask what a shield is-- a shield in magick is a simple protective device that is utilized to keep certain energies out. There are numerous types of shields. They can be focused around an object, a place, or person and depending on what it is focused on will change the execution and nature of the shield. Shielding focused on objects usually take on the forms of amulets or seals of protection. I have a guide on making protection amulets ill post at a later date.. While my guide was focused on personal protection, objects can too be made to protect whole places with similar methods. Seals of protection are usually made to seal a negative energy source away. Maybe you have a ring that has only brought bad luck but you don’t want to completely remove the ring from your life. One may put the ring in a box and then either put a seal on the box or carve one into it (doing both can help strengthen the seal). As the seal is placed onto the object one should visualize energy surrounding the box and hardening into a solid state. Usually a seal is broken when the box is opened; especially if the seal is physically broken such as a properly place paper seal would be (as paper seals are usually placed on where a object opens physically sealing it shut). Next, I will go into a little more detail on how to craft a simple seal. First one must find a container that can fit the object that is to be sealed away. This container should be sturdy, preferably made of wood and not a material that allows energy transfer easily, such as metal. If you do use metal try to insulate the contents from the metal. Now that the container is selected it is time to craft the seal. How this is done will differ a lot from person to person. I usually adorn the container with symbols that I have developed myself over the years. I encourage all practitioners to determine what symbols mean and convey ‘protection’ most to them. Many use religious symbols and others use well established symbols of protection from their beliefs. Ideally these will be engraved into the box itself, but they can be drawn on to the box but it is not nearly as effective. Beyond symbols be sure have a spell engraved into the box or paper seal which can improve the entire seal. I highly recommend writing this spell yourself instead of using a ‘stock spell’ as it will be more personable much stronger in the long run. An example of a spell would be something like ‘may all energy in this container remain still.’ I find simple is better when it comes to the spell, but if it comes down to it, it is up to your own discretion. If you are making a paper seal the process is essentially the same. Paper seals are often strongest if placed where the box or container opens. Now that everything has been constructed, place the object in the box. Completely close the container. If the container has a seal engraved or written on it, visualize energy flowing through you into the box as you close it. Wrap the energy around the box. I usually then infuse the symbols and the written spell with energy while saying the spell out loud to help direct the energy into the right places. This is followed by placing the paper seal, if one is available. If only the paper seal is available the process is essentially the same but most of the energy work is saved for when the seal is placed not when the container is closed. There are multiple ways to modify the above spell to improve its effectiveness. These are more advanced techniques but I won’t be covering them in nearly as much detail during the go around. One could engrave spells to make an object harder to notice. If hiding away the object permanently is desired one could bury it with salt and cast spells to try to keep people away. Inserting semi-precious stones, such as amethyst, can make the protection stronger. Shielding focused on places is perhaps the most common and diverse group of shields. There a multitude of purposes for having a locational shield and this can change how such a shield is created and maintained. One of the most widely used shields that is based on location is Circle. Most rituals call for the creation of a circle as the first step. It not only protects those encircled but also makes sure no other energy interferes with their rituals and practices. I have written a guide on the creation of circles on another site and will post it at a future time, Going further than circles almost all practioners end up shielding their homes and personal spaces. One of the most important things to think about regarding a locational shield is how long it should last. Many of the long-lasting shields use foci for the magical energy. Foci is plural for focus, this is an object that is the focus of the spell as the name implies. Pretty much anything can be a focus though items with certain properties work well with certain spells. A focus can be as simple as a piece of paper with a symbol and spell on it, to an actual ornate symbol carved into the wall. While more elaborate symbols usually last longer, there is some benefit for simple methods, being that they are usually easier to hide from those pesky people prying eyes. These foci usually help the shield remain strong and balanced. Foci should be infused with new energy at fairly regular intervals. It is important to remember, even though foci usually last longer, it’s not the only way to shield an area. Blessing an area is another form of shielding but doesn’t usually use foci. As shown below are so methods of shielding from most easy to most difficult—bear in mind that this really just depends on a practioners personal strengths and weaknesses.

A Communal shield: I list this as the easiest because many do it without even realizing that they are doing it. That being said it may be harder to intentionally do it as it requires a large number of people. This type of shield is usually incredibly basic due to the untrained nature of those who often create them. That being said this can also be one of the most powerful. They are usually created by a large number of people praying and believing in the protective nature of a place. Most religious places have one of these up and it can be why you sense you don’t belong when entering them. That’s really all there is to these shields. Just know the strength of a shield can drastically increase with a focus or a more skilled practitioner guiding it. A Circle: while it may not seem that easy at first, the amount of ritual behind it and information of their creation leaves little for a novice to mess up, as long as they do their homework. Circles are often a group effort as well which can make them even easier. I go into more detail explaining the creation of a circle in the link below. A basic blessing: while these are usually weaker and less guided they are extremely simple to perform. Usually the more faith someone has in a deity makes these easier to perform. It requires nothing more than performing a sacrifice or prayer at an altar or an altar’s equivalent and beseeching a deity for protection over the place. An advanced blessing: this requires more time and materials. This can also function to banish negative entities or energy from a location. You will need some sage, salt, and ideally a proper sacrifice to a deity. First spend some time in prayer or contemplation. Figure out a route around the place that requires the least backtracking. Usually clockwise or counterclockwise around a house. The beginning and ending should be at the same entrance or window. At the start point begin by saying a prayer for protection and light the sage. Now walk around the inside of the place. Whenever you enter a new room say another prayer of protection then walk around the room. Continue to move throughout the place. Once you have returned to the start point with your energy try pressing all negative energy out. Maybe say a spell out loud such as “I banish all negative energy from this home.” When this is completed do to this entrance as you did to the other outside exits. Once completed all negative energy should be removed from the home and a shield in place. This shield not having any focus will disappear over time but with some skill it can last for years. A personal room focus shield: on a piece of paper wright out a personal spell of protection such as “may no negative energy touch this place.” If you would like to you can adorn it with symbols of protection. Having one main symbol can help focus the spell. Now Infuse this paper with energy. Walk around your room focusing energy into the paper and visualize the energy coming off the paper and forming a barrier around the room. When finished place the paper somewhere safe but fairly open if possible. Under a bed or end table can make a nice, quick access location. The power of this shield varies widely based on skill of the creator. My personal location shielding technique: over the years I have developed my own technique for shielding my location. I have used this technique on room, houses, and even vehicles. It is similar to the advanced blessing but uses no materials other than an optional focus (which will act like a battery). It also uses no divine aid instead relying completely on my own ability. This technique requires a lot of skill in energy manipulation so novices will likely get no results from it. I start by meditating and focusing myself. I then walk counter-clockwise (though clockwise would work fine) around the place I am protecting. I stretch my hand out along the wall and pull my energy along it. At each exit to the outside I draw my personal symbol. When back at the entrance I draw another symbol of protection and infuse it with a lot more energy. Ill then link that symbol to all others I have placed in the location. It is now the heart of the shield. Then with one hand in the air and one towards the ground ill pull all the energy both up and down to form a bubble. I then walk to the opposite side of the location. At this point I pull the energy together and draw another symbol (which I connect to the heart). The basic shield is now done. I usually modify it afterword by adding a something like a battery. I usually carry a small orb or stone that I regularly infuse with energy. This is then connected to the heart of the shield. I try to leave the battery in the same room as the heart to keep the shield strong for as long as I need. Another modification I have done was infusing the battery with the ability of absorbing ambient energy making it need far less recharging. A personal shield: Typically set around a person with the person themselves being the focus point. Many advanced practioners have a personal shield up pretty much all the time. This is especially true if they know they are in an unshielded location or are in an area with many other practioners they are unfamiliar with. These shields are generally weaker than object or locational based shields unless they are being actively fortified. Stronger personal shields can take a lot of focus to maintain which makes them less common, usually only a weak shield is maintained which is then strengthened when the caster feels uneasy or threatened. The biggest skills which effect personal shielding are energy manipulation and visualization. Practicing is really the only way to get good at it. The breath shield is probably my favorite way to teach newcomers to personal shielding. Breath shield: I have found that this is one of the easiest ways to learn the basics of shielding. To begin, sit in a comfortable position and allow your mind to relax. Now on every exhale visualize energy leaving your mouth and forming a barrier around you. Early on this may take some time don’t rush and allow this energy to crystalize in your mind. To help strengthen this energy every time you inhale, try drawing energy to your lungs. Once the shield seems to be in place push it out with each exhale. Do this till it seems overextended and weak. Allow the shield to dissipate, rest, and try again. Each time try to get the shield to go a little further. After enough practice it will become second nature to keep the shield up just like breathing. If you need to strengthen it just breathe more energy into it. That being said, when using this to protect yourself don’t try expanding it unless you absolutely need to. Expanding it in practice is simply to give you more control over the shield when you need it. A religious practitioner may also ask their deity(s) to keep him or her safe which can result in a personal shield. Looking at your pantheon to see if a deity is known for a protection and performing a sacrifice and/or asking for aid is all that really needs to be done. Doing this before taking risk is a common practice. There is another type of personal shielding that many tend to overlook. It can be incredibly easy to accomplish or it can be nearly impossible based on your mindset. Its main focus is to protect one from negative entities or curses. It follows the principle that these things need to sustain themselves with negative energy. All one must do is not be negative. In essence this starves these entities and curses, effectively breaking them. In other words be positive and you will be amazingly hard to curse. One weakness to this shielding is if there is someone actively supplying the curse with energy, but that’s rarely the case.