The Witches’ Inn

You can usually find books on witchcraft, yes, but there’s also field guides on local foraging and wildlife, cookbooks, books that teach you how to craft and DIY, books about environmental protection and stewardship, books on how to use herbs medicinally, books about other religions, cultures, and spiritual practices. My favorite local library even has a seed swapping program and fantastic resources to research your own family history!

Because the point is to make life easier, and sometimes the simple mundane solution is easier.

...

She hypothesized that perhaps new witches didn't really "believe" in magic, or only used it for fun and games and not a serious problem-solving tool.

My reply was that new witches were exactly doing their best in situations by using their most adept problem-solving tools, all of which are mundane, because those were the skills they had honed for their entire lives.

If someone has been solving X problems with mundane skills for 20 years, and they have just learned magic 6 months ago, which skillset should they turn to in times of crises - mundane, or magical? Most pragmatic people would choose the mundane, given they have 10x the amount of experience in it.

A problem can be solved by a 2-step spell or a 5-step course of mundane action, and for people who are adept at mundanity, the 5-step course of action can still be the easiest.

"If you're a witch then why would you do something by mundane means that you could do with a spell instead?"

might as well be asking

I remember being overwhelmed when I saw how many different things there were to learn when I first started exploring witchcraft. I’ve seen others getting overwhelmed too.

You don’t have to learn spell jars, spell candles, astrology, sigils, etc. You don’t have to learn every type of divination. If you want to, that’s great; but there’s no need to if you don’t want to.

May Odin once again grant us His wisdom

May Frigg once again care for us

May Thor once again protect us

May Jörd once again be favorable

May Freyr once again make the land prosper

May Freyja once again offer us Her tenderness

May Baldr once again bring light to our days

May Loki once again bring us laughter

May Tyr once again give us our strength

May Heimdall once again watch over us

May Forseti once again give us discernment

May Skadi once again make us bold

May Hel once again guard our loved ones

• Don't run your mouth 24/7, shut up and just listen.

• Do not get carried away with alcohol, it can turn a wise man into a fool very fast.

• Reciprocate the nice things your friends do for you.

• Do not feel ashamed if you are lacking more than others. All one needs is clothes on their back and a roof over their head.

• Find happiness in yourself and do not rely on others for this happiness.

(all from the Hávamál)

Below are three piles you choose from! If you haven’t done a pick-a-card reading before, simply choose the pile that jumps out at you the most. ☺️ These messages are meant to be gentle, kind, and encouraging. They are intended to come from the creatures of the Earth. Remember to simply take what resonates and leave what doesn’t; not everything may resonate with you, and that’s both normal and okay! The cards used are from The Wild Unknown Oracle.

we remembered the magic of our loose teeth, how we used to know how to talk to trees. we're taking god out of the church and prying worship from the dirt. making our lives about using the finer things, about just-trying. the leisurely enjoyment of laziness, lawlessness, of leaving the dishes undone. of enjoying food without apology, of showing off our naked body, of kissing her. call it hedonism, sure.

always knew something else about ourselves. spent our whole lives hushed up; told we're made wrong. that's fine, these days. we used to know how to cast spells on the clouds. we have always been a little bit of lightning. the moss will teach us the soft hand - here's how to belong.

Unfortunately I really don't.

Like beginner stuff is easy to recommend because in the solitary practice driven world of the modern witchcraft movement it's the main way 90% of us get started. Reading for your first few years becomes a necessity, and for a lot of folks that's where they find out what a lot of the options are.

And so those books sell. Those books get published.

One problem is, after that, you get into more specialized things. There is no general intermediate version of Witchcraft. People branch off and get into way more specific things. It's like how when you're a kid there's just "science class" but in college it splits off into so many disciplines. If you tried to write one book to cover all of it, it would be massive and unmanageable (or just not end up giving you enough information to be worth it and just be another beginner book).

The other problem is that these books are harder to sell for publishers because the audience is smaller. You always sell more beginner books for any topic (because there will always be folks who want basic understanding but not more -- be the subject carpentry or witchcraft), plus those that specialize will fraction off to what they want to do next.

So yeah. That means there are way fewer "intermediate" books out there.

And book availability aside, the main reason I can't recommend any... is that I haven't read a lot of them. Y'all, I love doing witchcraft -- I've spent the last twenty five years of my life being a witch -- but I don't actually enjoy reading witchcraft books like some of y'all. I mean, don't get me wrong, I research the hell out of stuff I do, but I'm pretty set in my practice. I learned a lot of stuff by trying and doing within the frameworks I've developed. I also learned stuff from working and discussing with other witches. I stopped actively reading witchcraft books for fun a couple of decades ago.

Folks ask me "what do you think of [author who first published five years ago]," and my response is either "I don't know their stuff" or "Ah fuck, you're going to make me read something aren't you just to find out whether something is terrible or not." Or I ask one of my friends if the author is terrible. Most of the time it's that third thing.

I'm like the opposite of @asksecularwitch in so many ways.

Like so many of my witch friends just spend so much time reading witch books, and that's great. I'm glad they're enjoying it, but I'm not that person. I've always been much more one for direct conversations with other witches -- and then when I do research something spending more time with non-witchcraft sources to make sure I'm getting the cultural, historical, and scientific sides right.

So, uh, yeah.

That's why I don't have any good recs for you.

Sorry?

There's actually books on Tarot Spells in particular that use tarot completely differently. Yes, they are 101 books but really if you're picking them up to compare and contrast and to understand how others see Tarot spells, that's very different. You may also find zines that are focused on particular topics. Like I just picked up over the weekend a zine that was about a specialized kind of witchcraft (I think, I've not read it yet). But the only reason I know about zine is from @upthewitchypunx . So that may be another publishing option that isn't a book or a blog.

Finally, I didn't start reading books (tm) until I joined tumblr. So like I think I joined in 2012 - 2013? Something like that, so like until 10 years ago I didn't read a single occult book. But I had been practicing over a decade and some change by that point. So I read these books just to see what they are saying to and see if they are actually good.

So far I've had 1 recommendation - Buckland's Practical Candleburning Rituals. Why? Because some of it is some of the best candle magic with textile techniques I've ever seen. A lot of what Buckland says is impractical in some cases and also Buckland was very irritated that he had to make a book in the Practical magic collection. So it shows. I would argue that this book is not a 101. But some other flavor, like an elective of a beginner class.

So yeah, I think ask yourself what information you need more information on to move past introductory and then start there.

What most people said "pick a direction and go" most of what's beyond witchcraft 101 falls into 4 buckets:

1 Specific traditions which are often initiatory to gain more info, but you can study about traditions and not claim them as your practice.

2 General folklore and history of different cultures or magical systems

3 specialized open areas to study more deeply like tarot, spell techniques, spirit work, etc.

4 fuck around and find out and do it yourself.