#witchcraft class

Energy Manipulation Introduction

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By KB [AncientCraft]

Introduction

We all know energy is everywhere, constantly surrounding us. It is everywhere and makes up everything. Energy Manipulation is the act of moving and transforming energy inside and around yourself in order to accommodate your purposes. You must have a good understanding of your personal energy in order to successfully work with other energies.

How Can I Use It?

Well, before you even begin to use it you must know how to sense the energy. Remember to clear your mind of any negativity as it will be much easier to get a feel of the energy this way.

Technique 1

Sit in a comfortable position in a quiet space. Take a few deep breaths, relaxing every muscle with each exhale until you are fully relaxed. *toes, feet, knees, legs, hips, belly, chest, neck, face, eyebrows. Relax it all. Let all the tension go with your breath.*

Place your hands close enough together that you could place a dime between them and hold it up. Now, still keeping your breathing rhythm, concentrate on the small dime sized space between your hands.

This could take a few minutes, as everyone is different. You should begin to feel a sensation between your hands. *tingles, heat, cold, magnetics*. When you can confidently identify the sensation and become comfortable in it, you should realize that this is your personal energy!

Technique 2

This technique follows the first two steps of technique one, although this technique requires visualization.

After the first two steps have been completed, picture a small ball of any color in between your hands in your minds eye. Visualize it until you can almost feel it, taste it, and smell it.

Concentrate on this feeling between your hands. You should also feel the same sensations as listed above.

Grounding

We will be getting into this more in depth later on, but for the purpose of this lesson, we will be focusing on a basic grounding technique using personal energy.

Sit however you like, but on the ground in some position will be best for this exercise. Start by closing your eyes and being present in the moment.

Listen to the breeze, feel it on your face, feel the sensation as it interacts with your hair on your head and arms. Now, we will add another layer, feel the light (sun or moon) on your skin. Resonate in the power you feel emanating from them. How do they make you feel? Feel the cool ground underneath you. Place your hands on the ground. How does it make you feel?

Send your energy to your finger tips. Feel the energy of the earth meeting your personal energy. It should feel kind of like when you sit on your arm in a funny position and it gets tingly. That tingly feeling will be in your fingertips and below them.

In your minds eye, picture a root going from the top of your head all the way to the bottom of your spine. Once it gets to the base of the spine, continue the root going through the ground and going deep into the earth, spreading the roots out.

Visualize the energy from the earth being absorbed by the roots and flowing into your body.

This is personally how I like to ground. ♡

Moving Energy Through the Body

This is a skill that will come in handy with more advanced skills on down the line.

Technique 1

Repeat the first 3 steps in the Grounding section.

Visualize this energy, picture the energy in your hands moving to another body part. Visualize this until you can feel the energy in that body part.

Technique 2

Repeat the last 3 steps of the previous technique.

Assign one hand as giving and the other one as receiving. In your minds eye, visualize your receiving hand as an energy magnet.

Now with your still charged giving hand, move the receiving hand up your arm, allowing this energy to flow through to your palms.

Psi Ball

This is one of the first constructs you will make. A construct is an object you make out of energy. It will require some form of visualization and being able to feel your energy before hand.

Technique 1

Repeat the same first 3 steps in the above section.

Hold your hands at baseball width apart. In your minds eye, visualize the energy in your hand forming until a dense ball. Do this until you can feel it in your hands.

Toss the ball back and forth between your hands.

Now visualize the ball moving between each of your hands.

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(originally taught in The Alexandria Archives on 4/9/2020) 

Divination is most certainly one of the oldest practices of witchcraft. Reading omens, trancing for prophecy/scrying, and using tools to read symbols or patterns have all been used in some form for practically as long as society has existed. Many people are familiar with the mainstream ones: Tarot, runes, tea leaves, scrying, etc. Last time I went over some more unusual methods. Today, in light of the current global situation having many person’s stuck in limited spaces with limited supplies, I thought we could touch on some modern methods. Most require nothing more than what you already have at your fingertips!

We will explore in some detail:

Shufflemancy: divination using randomized songs

Stichomancy: divination using passages in a volume of writing

Traffic omens: Modernizing weather style omen reading using things like cars, stoplights, types of buildings passed, etc.

We’ll also touch on a couple other ideas you might try expanding on:

Online Randomizer: Think like the old web extension Stumble upon or even those websites that give you random quotes, images, names, etc.

Social Media Image Scrying: using a collection of images online to select a particular one for interpretation.

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Shufflemancy

Many of you have probably heard of this method, likely even tried it! Shufflemancy is the method of divination that uses a platform or application to randomize a selection/playlist of songs for interpretation. You can either just hit the shuffle button once and go with that initial song or you can incorporate a more personalized experience by having the querent choose a number of skips to hit. It can also be tailored by using specific playlists you’ve compiled or certain genre options on applications like Spotify or Pandora.

You can expand on this with applications like Youtube to include videos. It’s my fantasy that platforms like Netflix or Hulu will come up with a “randomizer” or shuffle type option someday. It would be such a blast to play a random video and then use that for divination!

It’s important to take into account both the lyrics and the melody/mood of the music when your selection is being interpreted. If you aren’t sure if you’d be comfortable with that initially, I recommend building a “beginner’s” sort of playlist that is filled with songs you know very well and have personal feelings about. It makes the interpretation that much easier. Much like using a Tarot or Oracle deck that has art styles or characters you’re familiar with. You may also incorporate the visuals of a music video if there is one for the song. Shufflemancy usually works better for more expansive readings rather than just yes/no questions. Although you can sometimes get that sort of immediately “positive” or “negative” impression from many songs, assuming it doesn’t have both! 


This method is a therapeutic way to delve into some modern divination. The emotional and cathartic aspect can be soothing for both the reader and the querent. Not to mention the connection it builds as you share music between you. A feel good way to practice some divination with no physical tools beyond some technology access.

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Stichomancy

This method of divination, sometimes called bibliomancy, uses a book or similar volume of writing to select passages from to interpret. Most people use the page number as the way to select, telling the querent to select a number between the first and last page (and what the highest number possible is). But there are intuitive methods as well. Using the physical shuffling of pages until it feels right to stop rather than a selected number. I find the latter method more useful when reading for myself and the former method more cooperative when I’m reading for others.

Like with shufflemancy, stichomancy is much affected by your personalizing of the tool. Use books you love! Use books that have specific genres for specific queries (a romance book for a relationship reading?). Use anthologies (short story or poetry collections) to get a variety of styles and language to work with. 
 


You can also use books that are more visual, like my headstone symbolism book pictured above. It makes the reading more akin to Tarot, but you can use captions to help expand on the interpretation. Practice trial and error with multiple books until you feel comfortable and confident that the results are accurate enough. The books I have in the photo I shared are the five I’m comfortable using in regular readings. I play with others for myself or specific queries for friends or family but often I’m not comfortable adding them to my regular repertoire. I have a series of dimestore style paperback mysteries that love to give readings for a dear friend but are useless in accuracy for anyone else. Books have personalities- if you didn’t already know that this method will teach you that fact quickly. You can also create your own specific stichomancy book using a notebook with numbered short passages and poems of that have significance to you. It can be an enriching process to collect all the passages to add to your own book and you can give them more specific and more easily remembered associations when compiling them yourself. Do remember to give proper credit/sourcing to all your collected passages though!


You don’t need the largest book possible to be effective with this method of divination. “Desperation” and “Chilling Ghost Short Stories” are my thickest books, but honestly I’ve gotten more insightful readings from my two slim fairy tale volumes. It’s truly a method you make your own. I have friends who prefer to exclusively use books of poetry rather than fictional prose. That is good too!

A note: don’t feel like you need to have a physical book- I’ve had some success with ebooks! It can be trickier to do the flip-through for sure, but not impossible.



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Traffic Omens

I was probably about 8 years old when I first played the “If, Then” game. “If this next light turns green before we reach it, then I’ll get McDonalds for lunch.” A simple and almost childish game of course. But essentially, traffic omens. I expanded on it as I got older to include seeing certain makes and colors of cars during my commute. Or a certain number of common buildings like churches or banks. A type of architecture or statues featuring certain things. It can be as common or uncommon as your needs require.

This is a method that’s a little trickier to lay out for others in step-by-step ways because it is omen based and therefore requires you to select what works for your specific area/region, what type of commute based omens you feel comfortable noticing, what meanings they have for you, etc. And since this is omen-based, it isn’t exactly ideal for actively standard divination reading. It’s more ideal for a passive style, or personal predictions in your own life.

You can build a system that works for you and could predict luck in a career, prosperity in the home, or a new friend. I recommend starting a journal of the sort of “omens” you notice on your commute. Follow up with a short blurb about how your day went and how you felt. Then you can refer back to it and create the personal system from there. You can vary the more common with uncommon omens- just remember to ascribe the appropriate association. Seeing a certain number of bank buildings can be good for meaning an increase in general finances but you’d likely want something more uncommon like an usual make and model of a single car for snagging a dream job. You can also create variations for when you’re walking during your day instead of commuting!



A bit more involved but something interesting to experiment with in our modern society. And keep a bit of that childlike wonder!

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Online Randomizer

Did you ever play with the web extension “Stumble Upon” back when it existed? The idea was that you installed it in whatever web browser you happened to be using and then clicked it to get directed to an entirely random website. Though it’s intention was obviously to curb boredom, it is definitely something interesting to try as a divination tool. Stumble Upon no longer exists (as far as I know), however there are similar extensions or webpages that let you do the same thing (this one comes to mind: https://theuselessweb.com). There is also options like Wikipedia’s “random article” ability that works along the same lines. This method is similar to stichomancy in that you’ll likely be working with text a lot of the time. But be aware of the medium you’re working with- a webpage is more than just a page in a book. What is its purpose? How well is it designed? What sort of visuals does it use? What emotional impressions do you get from it? It can start simple, but you can see the options are there for expanding an interpretation pretty elaborately. And again, a number of clicks can be incorporated if you like.

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Multi-Image Scrying (Social Media Image Scrying)
 


It’s hard for me to come up with a concise name for this. But it’s possible you’ve come across persons doing this on various platforms like Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, etc. There is a selection of images in a format similar to a moldboard to view. The reader has a querent select an image that stands out to them and builds a reading based on the selection. Similar to a random draw from a Tarot or Oracle card with symbolism and art imagery lending itself to the interpretation. This can be great to try if you are into color symbolism or can easily see how certain artwork evokes certain emotions. Similar to what websites like Buzzfeed or the astro.com color chart quiz is! Almost like an alternative horoscope based on visual selections you are drawn to.

Be sure to ethically collect images for something like this if you plan on offering it to others. There are many websites that have royalty free images you can use for projects like this. Or you can even use ones you have yourself! These don’t have to be high art photographs, simple ones on your phone can absolutely work. The biggest goal is to make sure they are varied so a large amount of interpretation is possible.

There is a version of this using face down Tarot (or oracle) cards as well. You take a photo (or have video) of them face down and then have your querent select one at random without either of you knowing what it is. Then once you flip it over you can giving a reading based on that. It’s not especially different from a standard long distance Tarot reading except it can be used on a mass scale. For example, I’ve done this for my business Facebook or Instagram where I have a grid of numbered face down cards. Then I put the meanings of each card in the comments so someone can select the card before reading the comments and get a low-tech daily reading without an app.

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Getting Your Feet Wet

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By KB

I'm going to be uploading sessions from a class I taught this spring here ♡

INTRODUCTION

So, you're interested in learning about the world of witchcraft, the occult, or maybe just the spirit world. Whatever may bring you here, welcome to the first study session to our beginner's course. Today, we're going to be talking about how to actually start your own practice in order for you to discover your own unique path. First and foremost, throw everything that you have seen in movies and most of what you think you know in the garbage. The metaphysical world has been misunderstood and misportrayed for years. With that being said, let's look into some of the ways that you can begin your own practice and avoid burnout from overwhelming emotions. I encourage you search for other methods outside of what is mentioned here if you have the energy to do so.

First & Foremost - Research!

We already get it, ugh! This is actually the most crucial aspect of learning, despite what you're probably thinking. The toughest part of conducting research isn't necessarily doing it; it's determining out where to start. I recommend all of you to begin your own research into the craft in your own time, as it will be a full proof method of finding out what you're most interested in learning, which will ultimately help form a foundation for your path. Here are some places to begin your research. Of course, these are only a few suggestions and I encourage you to look outside of this list for other things to include in your research! Remember, this is not mandatory, but it would definitely be beneficial for you if you were to go ahead and take a look into some of these.

♡ The History of Witchcraft

♡ Energy (sensing, raising, manipulation, etc)

♡ Grounding

♡ Meditation

♡ Intention

♡ Intuition

♡ Altars

♡ Correspondences

♡ Candles

♡ Crystals

♡ Cleansing

♡ Spirits

♡ Deities

♡ Mythology

♡ Entities

♡ The Fae

♡ Moon Phases

♡ Divination

♡ Pagan Holidays

♡ Self-Awareness

♡ Shadow Work

♡ Zodiac Signs

♡ Spellcasting

Now that we know what to research and have a few beginning points, how do we go about carrying out the study and ensuring the information we have gathered is correct? Unfortunately, in this day and age, misinformation is pervasive in our everyday lives, making it difficult to distinguish between what is true and what is fabricated. Turn on your witch brain and never be scared to cross-reference your knowledge.

Before we continue to the following section, one more thing. Please, when searching social media sites for spell and ritual advice, use reason and a careful eye. Due to the rise in popularity of witchcraft, many bloggers are generating revenue by creating trendy works of art that adhere to the "witch aesthetic". Despite being visually appealing, these lack crucial substance, especially for novices. Let's look at some examples of the current spell jar trends. The elements are listed, yes, but they don't explain why you should add them or how to raise and direct the energy so that your spell will manifest and produce tangible effects. Always remember that if it doesn't include specifics about programming, energy, or correspondences, it's most likely just trendy wishcraft and not the real deal.

Class Dictionary

Aʟᴄʜᴇᴍʏ - a form of chemistry and speculative philosophy practiced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and concerned principally with discovering methods for transmuting baser metals into gold and with finding a universal solvent and an elixir of life. any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value. any seemingly magical process of transforming or combining elements into something new

Asᴛʀᴏʟᴏɢʏ - the divination of the supposed influences of the stars and planets on human affairs and terrestrial events by their positions and aspects

Aᴛʜᴀᴍᴇ - A ceremonial pointed knife or dagger, used especially in Wicca and other neopagan traditions and typically having a black handle with magical symbols on it.

Aᴜʀᴀ - an energy field that is held to emanate from a living being

Bᴀɴɪsʜɪɴɢ - banishing refers to one or more rituals intended to remove non-physical influences ranging from spirits to negative influences

Bɪʙʟɪᴏᴍᴀɴᴄʏ - divination by means of a book, especially the Bible, opened at random to some verse or passage, which is then interpreted.

Cᴇʀᴇᴍᴏɴɪᴀʟ ᴍᴀɢɪᴄ - encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories to aid the practitioner. It can be seen as an extension of ritual magic, and in most cases synonymous with it.

Cʜᴀʟɪᴄᴇ - a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning.

Cʟᴀɪʀᴀᴜᴅɪᴇɴᴄᴇ - Act of hearing, or the ability to hear, sounds not normally audible; -- usually claimed as a special faculty of spiritualistic mediums, or the like.

Cʟᴀɪʀsᴇɴᴛɪᴇɴᴄᴇ - the ability to sense the past, present, or future physical and emotional states of others without the standard five senses — smell, vision, touch, hearing, and taste.

Cʟᴀɪʀᴠᴏʏᴀɴᴄᴇ - knowledge of information not necessarily known to any other person, not obtained by ordinary channels of perceiving or reasoning—thus a form of extrasensory perception

Cʟᴇᴀɴsɪɴɢ - to metaphysically rid the environment of unwanted energies or entities

Cᴏʟᴏʀ Tʜᴇʀᴀᴘʏ - based on the idea that color and colored lights can help treat physical or mental health. According to this idea, they cause subtle changes in our moods and biology.

Cᴏɴᴊᴜʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - the evocation of spirits or other supernatural entities or a the raising of energy

Cᴏᴠᴇɴ - is a group or gathering of witches.

Dᴇᴍᴏɴᴏʟᴏɢʏ - Demonology is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or occultism

Dɪᴠɪɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual.

Dʀᴜɪᴅɪsᴍ - A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts.

Eʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛᴀʟ - In certain occult systems, an inhabitant of one of the four elements, especially any of the beings described by Paracelsus as intermediate in corporeality between humans and spirits.

Eɴᴇʀɢʏ Mᴀɴɪᴘᴜʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - Energy Manipulation is the ability to generate, control, and manipulate various forms of energy.

Eɴᴇʀɢʏ Sᴇɴsɪɴɢ - the ability to sense and perceive shifting metaphysical waves

Esᴏᴛᴇʀɪᴄ - confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle

Eᴠᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - Evocation is the act of evoking, calling upon, or summoning a spirit, demon, deity or other supernatural agents, in the Western mystery tradition.

Fᴀᴍɪʟɪᴀʀs - the double, the alter ego, of an individual. It does not look like the individual concerned. Even though it may have an independent life of its own, it remains closely linked to the individual. sometimes elemental spirits.

Gᴇᴍᴀᴛʀɪᴀ - the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word or phrase according to an alphanumeric cipher. A single word can yield several values depending on the cipher which is used.

Gᴇᴏᴍᴀɴᴄʏ - a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand

Gɴᴏsɪs - it signifies a spiritual knowledge or insight into humanity's real nature as divine, leading to the deliverance of the divine spark within humanity from the constraints of earthly existence

Gᴏᴇᴛɪᴀ - a practice which involves invoking angels and demons

Gʀɪᴍᴏɪʀᴇ - is a textbook of magic, typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination, and how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels, spirits, deities, and demons

Gʀᴏᴜɴᴅɪɴɢ - the practice of physically connecting oneself as closely as possible to the Earth in order to obtain earth energy

Hᴇʀᴍᴇᴛɪᴄɪsᴍ - a philosophical system that is primarily based on the purported teachings of Hermes Trismegistus (a legendary Hellenistic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth)

Hᴇx - a short term working designed to cause misfortune

Iɴᴄᴀɴᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - words that are believed to have a magical effect when spoken or sung

Iɴᴛᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴ - directly related to Will—that mysterious, primal force by which personal magick can effect change on the otherwise unyielding material world

Iɴᴠᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - The act or an instance of invoking, especially an appeal to a higher power for assistance. A prayer or other formula used in invoking, as at the opening of a religious service.

Kᴜɴᴅᴀʟɪɴɪ Eɴᴇʀɢʏ - Kundalini is a form of divine feminine energy believed to be located at the base of the spine, in the muladhara. It is an important concept in Śhaiva Tantra, where it is believed to be a force or power associated with the divine feminine or the formless aspect of the Goddess

LHP/RHP - the left-hand path and right-hand path are the dichotomy between two opposing approaches to magic. This terminology is used in various groups involved in the occult and ceremonial magic. LHP is often equated with malicious workings whereas RHP are perceived as benevolent

Lɪᴍɪɴᴀʟɪᴛʏ - liminality is the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of a rite of passage, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they will hold when the rite is complete - "the in-between"

Lɪᴛʜᴏᴍᴀɴᴄʏ - a form of divination by which the future is told using stones or the reflected light from the stones.

Mᴀɢɪᴄ[k] - the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces

Mᴀɴɪғᴇsᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - the creative process of aligning with the energy of the Universe to co-create an experience that elevates your spirit and the spirit of the world

Mᴇᴅɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state.

Mᴇᴅɪᴜᴍsʜɪᴘ - the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spirit channelling, including séance tables, trance, and ouija

Nᴇᴄʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄʏ - communication with the dead by summoning their spirits as apparitions or visions, or by resurrection for the purpose of divination; imparting the means to foretell future events; discovery of hidden knowledge; returning a person to life, or to use the dead as a weapon. Sometimes referred to as "death magic," the term is used in a more general sense

Nᴇᴏᴅʀᴜɪᴅɪsᴍ - modern spiritual or religious movement that promotes the cultivation of honorable relationships with the physical landscapes, flora, fauna, and diverse peoples of the world, as well as with nature deities, and spirits of nature and place.

Nᴇᴏᴘᴀɢᴀɴɪsᴍ - Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Africa and the Near East.

Nᴇᴡ Aɢᴇ - a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture, with an interest in spirituality, mysticism, holism, and environmentalism.

Nᴜᴍᴇʀᴏʟᴏɢʏ - the study of mystical relationships between numbers, letters, and patterns. As in most methods of divination, numerology is a tool that is used to gain a deeper knowledge of the self, others, and how we relate to the world at large.

Oᴄᴄᴜʟᴛɪsᴍ - in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism and their varied spells

Oғғᴇʀɪɴɢs - religious offering or sacrifice, voluntary gifts, as an act of virtue

Oᴜɪᴊᴀ - a flat board marked with the letters of the Latin alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words "yes", "no", occasionally "hello" and "goodbye", along with various symbols and graphics. Used as a method of Necromancy

Pᴀɢᴀɴɪsᴍ - religion other than one of the main world religions, specifically a non-Christian or pre-Christian religion

Pᴀʟᴍɪsᴛʀʏ - practice of fortune-telling through the study of the palm

Pᴏᴘᴘᴇᴛ - a doll made to represent a person, for casting spells on that person or to aid that person through magic

Pʀᴏᴛᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ - it can entail a number of things but the gist is self-preservation and/or the safeguarding of others. Looking after one’s holistic wellbeing. To this end, protective magick may be proactive where one creates amulets, or practices intentional setting of energetic or spiritual barriers around self, property, family, etc.

Psʏᴄʜɪᴄ - relating to or denoting faculties or phenomena that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, especially involving telepathy or clairvoyance.

Rᴇɪᴋɪ - healing technique based on the principle that the therapist can channel energy into the patient by means of touch, to activate the natural healing processes of the patient's body and restore physical and emotional well-being.

Rᴜɴᴇs - Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised purposes thereafter.

Sᴀᴛᴀɴɪsᴍ - history of being a designation made by people against those whom they dislike; it is a term used for 'othering'. The concept of Satanism is an invention of Christianity, for it relies upon the figure of Satan, a character deriving from Christian mythology

Sᴄʀʏɪɴɢ - the practice of looking into a suitable medium in the hope of detecting significant messages or visions.

Sᴇᴀɴᴄᴇ - an attempt to communicate with spirits.

Sɪɢɪʟ - sigil refers to a symbolic representation of the practitioner's desired outcome.

Tᴀʟɪsᴍᴀɴ - any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made

Tᴀʀᴏᴛ - a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games French occultists began to make elaborate, but unsubstantiated, claims about their history and meaning, leading to the emergence of custom decks for use in divination via tarot card reading and cartomancy

Tʜᴇʟᴇᴍᴀ - a Western esoteric and occult social or spiritual philosophy and new religious movement founded in the early 1900s by Aleister Crowley

Wᴀɴᴅ - Wands are traditionally made of wood— practitioners usually prune a branch from an oak, hazel, or other tree, or may even buy wood from a hardware store, and then carve it and add decorations to personalize it, though one can also purchase ready-made wands.

Wɪᴄᴄᴀ - a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism.

Wɪᴛᴄʜᴄʀᴀғᴛ - the practice of magic or sorcery worldwide

Wᴏʀsʜɪᴘ - the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.

Practice Mindfulness & Self Awareness

One of the most important foundations for any practitioner to have is to know thyself. I know most of you are probably sitting there thinking "well of course I know myself, no one knows me like me" and while that very well may be true, do you know why you are the way you are? Are you aware of your actions & reactions? Are you aware of your emotional changes and what causes them? Or do you subconsciously just float through your day, not really paying attention to your thoughts, words, actions, or emotions? By beginning your journey into self awareness, you'll be able to get a better grasp on your subconscious mind which is an essential step in healing yourself and unlocking true potential. Here are just a few ways to begin your journey of mindfulness.

♡ Try out the various personality tests out there! While they are not perfect, they can help give you insight about your attitude and behaviors.

♡ Keep a daily log of emotions, thoughts & habits. It can be very beneficial in order to reflect on your behavior and become self aware as the moments arise.

♡ Make time to eat 1 meal a day without any distractions. This will help you center and bring your attention back to your bodily feelings.

♡ Practice intentional breathing for 5 minutes a day.

♡ Do a 5 minute meditation session a day.

Of course, this is just a short list and I encourage you to seek outside of this list for other ways to begin your journey to mindfulness! Different things work for different people, so don't feel like it's hopeless if none of these suggestions work for you.

Organization Tips

Ah, yes, the second most tedious response to the question "Where do I start?", but this is extremely important to avoid unnecessary overwhelming feelings. First and foremost, you're going to want to have a nice outline for your Book of Shadows/Grimoire. Regardless of what some may say, these terms can be used interchangeably, although some like to use "Book of Mirrors" as a more personal journal, and a Book of Shadows as more related to metaphysics. Don't worry about making it perfect, you can always go through & edit layer, but having a basic outline for how to organize your information will be very helpful as you accumulate more & more of it.

☆ 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿

▪︎ favorites; color, tools, herbs

▪︎ info card; birth card, birth chart, personal beliefs, relationships with divine

☆ 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰𝘀

▪︎ Anointing

▪︎ Banishing

▪︎ Charging

▪︎ Circle Casting

▪︎ Cleansing

▪︎ Dressing Candles

▪︎ Energy

▪︎ Enchanting

▪︎ Intention

▪︎ Intuition

▪︎ Manifestation

▪︎ Meditation

▪︎ Mindfulness

▪︎ Protection

▪︎ Shielding

▪︎ Talismans

▪︎ Terminology

▪︎ Visualization

▪︎ Warding

☆ 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀

▪︎ Awareness

▪︎ Baneful

▪︎ Banishing

▪︎ Cleansing

▪︎ Colors

▪︎ Crystals

▪︎ Elements

▪︎ Essential Oils

▪︎ Incense

▪︎ Healing

▪︎ Herbs

▪︎ Love

▪︎ Luck

▪︎ Lunar Phases

▪︎ Mental Clarity

▪︎ Protection

☆ 𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗿 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀

▪︎ Sabbats

▪︎ Seasonal

▪︎ Deity

▪︎ Ancestral

☆ 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝘀 & 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁𝘀

▪︎ Jars

▪︎ Jewelry

▪︎ Knots

▪︎ Wands

☆ 𝗔𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆

▪︎ Birth Chart Breakdown

▪︎ Correspondences

▪︎ Planetary Days & Hours

▪︎ Transits

☆ 𝗖𝗿𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀

▪︎ Caring Guide

▪︎ Detailed Description

▪︎ Elixer Recipes

▪︎ Folklore

▪︎ Gridding Designs

☆ 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

▪︎ Interpretation Key Page

▪︎ Runes

▪︎ Pendulum

▪︎ Scrying

▪︎ Tarot

☆ 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗯𝘀

▪︎ Botanicals

▪︎ Edible vs Non-Edible

▪︎ Folklore & Mythology

▪︎ Gardening Tips

▪︎ Medicinal Values

☆ 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀

▪︎ Anniversaries

▪︎ Astrological & Astronomical Events

▪︎ Sabbats & Holidays

☆ 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆

▪︎ African

▪︎ Aztec

▪︎ Buddhist

▪︎ Celtic

▪︎ Chinese

▪︎ Christianity

▪︎ Druid

▪︎ Egyptian

▪︎ Irish

▪︎ Japanesw

▪︎ Jewish

▪︎ Gnostic

▪︎ Greek

▪︎ Hindu

▪︎ Mesopotamia

☆ 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀

▪︎ The Clairs

▪︎ Empathy

▪︎ Identification of Self Abilities

▪︎ Narcissist

▪︎ Personal Experiences

▪︎ Psychic Vampire

☆ 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗲𝘀

▪︎ Beauty Mixes

▪︎ Cleansers

▪︎ Floor Cleansers

▪︎ Food

▪︎ Potions

▪︎ Powders

☆ 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗹𝘀 & 𝗦𝘆𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗹𝘀

▪︎ How to Create

▪︎ Identification Key

▪︎ Personalized Sigils

☆ 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 & 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝘀

▪︎ Candles

▪︎ Herbs

▪︎ Tools

▪︎ Healing

▪︎ Abundance

▪︎ Prosperity

▪︎ Personal Spells & Rituals

Alright! Now that we have a pretty good grasp on how to store the information we collect, let's move onto the next section. I promise, we're almost done here.

Learn To Manipulate Energy

Regardless of what you may have been told or believe, intention is NOT the most important part of metaphysical working. While it is a big factor, without the skill of raising and directing the energy towards your intention, it's just wishcraft. Energy manipulation may come naturally for some, and others may have to practice diligently to be able to interfere with energy in the way they would like to. I highly recommend beginning research into this if you're interested in spellwork. Feel free to check out my Energy Manipulation Series in the Guides section of the group. This is something we will cover towards the end of the course, so stay tuned!

Stay Focused

Remember, it is you who has made a commitment to learning and beginning the path of self discovery. No one has a right to tell you which way to turn, or what to do. You have free will for a reason, and a brilliant mind and intuitive system to navigate you through choices. While some systems may have guidelines to follow, witchcraft as a whole has no rules & you are free to do as you wish, when you wish. If something doesn't align with you, you don't have to practice or follow that particular topic. I like to compare the world of metaphysics and witchcraft to that of medicine. Sure, anyone can perform surgery, but would you want just anyone performing heart surgery or even treating you for an ailment? I didn't think so - the same goes for any ritual working. This is also the underlying notion of why some practices are closed. A lot of closed traditions work closely with that specific traditions ancestors, so when doing workings of that tradition, you are essentially opening a portal to someone else's ancestors which may or may not be gracious towards you. Turn that witch brain on, use it wisely, and never let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do. You decide what is best for you.

Our Black Rose Witchcraft online course celebrates 10 years this month!

The Witch & The Rift Anchoring Your Magick in the Sacred Chaos of Eclipse Season

A 4-Hour In-Person Witchcraft Workshop

What if you could meet eclipse season not with hesitation, but it presence - and stop bracing for its chaos, trusting instead in what your craft is capable of in the dark?

Eclipse seasons have long been cloaked in fear - whispers of chaos, warnings to step back, and superstitions urging Witches to still their magick.

But what if the eclipse isn't a threat... but a threshold?

In this class, we'll gather in sacred space to explore:

💎 The cultural and magickal roots of eclipse fear 💎 How to reframe eclipse energy as sacred disruption 💎 Spells, tools, and approaches for eclipse-aligned magick 💎 Guided personal reflection, a group exercise, and small-group discussion

You'll leave with insights, practices, and magickal frameworks that help you stay grounded, attuned, and empowered with the skies (and your inner world) shift.

🔥 All materials provided (journals, writing tools, resources) 🔥 Movement encouraged | Flexible seating | Body-honoring space 🔥 Open to Witches and seekers of all experience levels

🔮 Venue: Rock Mama, Sacramento, CA 📅 Date/Time: August 16, 2025 - 4:30-8:30PM 💵 Cost: $75 - includes all materials and heavy snacks 🔗 Register at: https://rockmama.com/products/the-witch-the-rift