The Wizard's scrapbox

The obvious comparisons are woman/women and man/men. In my dialect, the last vowel in man/men is clearly distinct between singular and plural (the vowels in "ant" and "bed", roughly). However, in my dialect, the last vowel in woman/women is nearly the same between singular and plural (the first vowel of "minimum" for the singular and that slightly flavored with the first vowel of "bed" for the plural). Woman/women in my dialect are distinguished almost entirely by the vowel sound in the first syllable (The singular is close to the vowel in "put". The plural is the same vowel as "bit").

I'm having trouble applying either of these patterns to enban/enben. I'm not sure if I just need practice or there's another option I haven't considered.

Toxic Trends: Trust your gut over truth

[Text reads: Your soul knows when something is real, authentic and true. No matter what anyone else [sic] try’s to say or persuade you of, the truth will always feel different. You can’t fake it. Your heart knows when something resonates. Trust those feelings.]

Why it’s problematic: This insinuates that each and every person is an infallible lie detector and cannot be fooled, manipulated, or caught in their own traumatic assumptions. As someone with very strong clairsenses myself, I can absolutely tell you they are still fallible. Even the most gifted psychics/empaths can make mistakes. We’re human. This could open people up to reach unfounded judgments or to trust implicitly in emotional manipulation. Manipulators can make you feel many lovely things that aren’t true.

While hopefully, most people won’t take this super literally, it still insinuates that no further inquiries or reason is necessary once you develop a first impression of a person, situation, etc. The person you are getting weird vibes from? Are they really actually creepy or are they just mentally ill and acting neurodivergent? The person you feel is hiding something? Are they actually untrustworthy or have they been through severe trauma they don’t want to share? The person that you trust without a doubt? Did they earn that trust or was it coerced? 

Trust the experiences you have, but then look into whether or not your assessments are accurate. Acting on assumptions of others (good or bad) doesn’t make you woke, a strong clairsensitive or a brilliant empath. In reality, you could be judging people unfairly or miss skillful emotional manipulations.

For the first few years of my practice I… really didn’t feel like I had intuition about anything. I might have just been too immature to recognize these feelings in myself. Or maybe I was just “blocked” or whatever.

When people make these kinds of memes it’s like dang… what about mentally ill people. You ever been so depressed out of your noggin that you feel, truly deeply within your bones, that nobody loves you? And every single gut reaction you have is telling you that, even though you know it’s logically not true?

What if someone actually convinced people with depression that those feelings are infallible, or convinced someone with BPD that their feelings about their FP are ultimately true on a divine level.

For a period there I was pretty delusional and I went through a phase where I thought my friend’s boyfriend was my twin flame. I mean, I was convinced. My intuition was telling me it was true for sure.

Discussions about "mundane before magic" are important. I'm not against them.

When I was working full time, for half of the year I woke up before sunrise, worked all day indoors, and drove home after sunset. Being able to experience the weather felt like a truly magical event. Feeling the sun on my skin felt like a kiss from the gods.

And it's very handy for there to be awareness that, no, Apollo wasn't calling to me to be a devotee because the one day I was really stressed in December the clouds broke and it was sunny in the outdoor seating area.

Clouds just move sometimes.

But I am against people's need to come into conversations which are specifically about real magic that is happening, and say, "hold on! What if it's not happening, though? Rule out mundane first!"

It's actually fine for witches to have conversations that assume the reality of magic without people needing to barge in and say, "wait! What if this isn't magic at all?"

These conversations are not inherently unsafe or irrational.

The people participating in them are not automatically mentally ill or in need of medical treatment.

"Mundane before magical" is not a talisman that needs to be hung on conversations before they can be rational and useful.

It is not up to you to decide the route other practitioners want to take in order to explore their own experiences.

Sound bites about "ruling out mundane" aren't helpful if people do not understand how to practically apply that advice.

People are not obligated to trot out a list of their mundane discernment techniques before they make a magical post about magic in the magical community, and declining to do so does not mean that they failed to take those steps.

For heaven's sake. If you cannot comfortably exist around magical conversations without assuming that everyone else is engaging in irrational thinking, you are the problem.

Conversations about developing discernment of mundanity itself are very good and healthy.

But these talking points do not belong in every single conversation. Much less in personal posts where a person is just sharing cute photos of spells they did!

Look, practitioners do not owe you mundanity.

Practitioners do not owe you an explanation of the mundane shit they've done in conjunction with a spell.

Practitioners do not owe you an explanation of the mental health counseling they've received as part of their spiritual journey.

Practitioners are not obligated to tack on lip-service "mundane first :3" disclaimers onto posts that are clearly discussing the reality of magic within their own paradigm.

Magical practitioners do not owe you mundanity.

Please, make your own posts about mundanity discernment. Do research, ask practitioners, make well-rounded masterposts. Share and reblog these posts. Link them when appropriate. Be a part of the conversation that highlights these important issues and discernment skills. Contribute resources when people ask for help with their magical discernment.

For instance, one particularly potent omen that still sticks with me was a day when I was walking along the sidewalk and found two perfectly splayed out pigeon wings with the spine still connected.

Are there a lot of feral cats in my area? Yeah. Are there a lot of pigeons in my area? Yeah. Did a feral cat probably rip the wings off a pigeon? Maybe. There's a whole host of mundane reasons why it could've happened.

It's magically viable. I don't believe "intent is everything" but taking some of your willpower and shoving it inside a material object is the foundation of a lot of sorcery out there.

Especially when we are talking about consuming the stirred intent, feeding someone (including yourself) your enchantment is very magically powerful and can do things beyond just 'setting focus'.

You don't have to choose intents that are only related to self-enchantment ("I will have a good day today"). You can also choose intents to enchant the world around you ("I won't get stuck in traffic today").

It's a solid way to start examining your own beliefs and discovering what magic works for you ("weird, stirring intent only works for me when I use a certain folk charm...").

It's a good way to explore the problems and potential solutions of magical fatigue, or, are you the kind of witch who has enough energy to extrude this kind of magic every day? Or are you the kind of witch who must seek alternatives due to fatigue (such as permanent spell vessels)? Probably better to know this sooner rather than later.

Stirring intent into food or a beverage tends to have short term effects that last hours to a day or two and that means you can experiment with a wild and rapid amount of fun magic in a relatively short amount of time.

It's also a foundation to some more complex forms of sorcery which function on a basis of shove willpower into material object, now with extra steps correspondences. I.e., it's no use to have 50 herbs on the shelf if you don't know how to shove their magical wooblies into the candle, and stirring intent is shoving magical wooblies into things on perhaps its most basic level.

It actually works quite reasonably, decently good, if you've had some practice on it, to produce miraculous effects in your life without having to sit down and cast a spell (the trade-off I typically find being that in the short term, energy exertion might feel lower compared to prepping and casting an entire spell; but long-term, I'd bet you're allocating a lot more energy over the course of a month to stirred intent you do every day versus a single more serious spell to set the same effects for a long period of time).

You get into the habit that when there is an Actual Problem happening to you right now IRL, you can literally fix it right now IRL, instead of having to wait for a special moon phase or to plan an entire spell.

You develop the skill of casually enchanting shit, which is kind of a big deal for many common types of sorcery. E.g., making the incense do something special, or making the jar do something special, all often comes down to a form of stir your intent into it, and a spell with 15 vague steps that feels overwhelming can suddenly become, "ah, the spell instructs to burn a Cleansing Incense; I can do that, because I have incense, and I know how to stir Cleansing into it."

Yes, not everything is a sign.

Some things are, though, and instead of denigrating every attempt at sorting out what is and what isn't maybe we could just have more conversations around discernment and how to tell the difference.

I've seen the same thing happen with "mundane before magic" which, when we first started using it, was meant to be akin to "when you hear hoofs think horses not zebras". It wasn't meant to say "you must tick every mundane box off before you proceed with magic". Like, that's ridiculous. I never would have gotten into or given a fuck about witchcraft if I could only do it after I'd done all the boring shit first.

There's a time and a place for these sayings but we've really reduced them to nothing and repeated them so much, thinking everyone understood the context, that now there are a bunch of newbies repeating the same things but not understanding the nuances and where they originally came from.

I'm glad I had a solid practice before I ever came to this site tbh because there is so much just shooting people down when they should be experiencing the most exciting things witchcraft has to offer: that sense of wonder and discovery and "what if I do a spell for something I could easily do mundanely just for fun" because you WANT to and you want to see what happens.

Toxic Trends: Trust your gut over truth

[Text reads: Your soul knows when something is real, authentic and true. No matter what anyone else [sic] try’s to say or persuade you of, the truth will always feel different. You can’t fake it. Your heart knows when something resonates. Trust those feelings.]

Why it’s problematic: This insinuates that each and every person is an infallible lie detector and cannot be fooled, manipulated, or caught in their own traumatic assumptions. As someone with very strong clairsenses myself, I can absolutely tell you they are still fallible. Even the most gifted psychics/empaths can make mistakes. We’re human. This could open people up to reach unfounded judgments or to trust implicitly in emotional manipulation. Manipulators can make you feel many lovely things that aren’t true.

While hopefully, most people won’t take this super literally, it still insinuates that no further inquiries or reason is necessary once you develop a first impression of a person, situation, etc. The person you are getting weird vibes from? Are they really actually creepy or are they just mentally ill and acting neurodivergent? The person you feel is hiding something? Are they actually untrustworthy or have they been through severe trauma they don’t want to share? The person that you trust without a doubt? Did they earn that trust or was it coerced? 

Trust the experiences you have, but then look into whether or not your assessments are accurate. Acting on assumptions of others (good or bad) doesn’t make you woke, a strong clairsensitive or a brilliant empath. In reality, you could be judging people unfairly or miss skillful emotional manipulations.

For the first few years of my practice I… really didn’t feel like I had intuition about anything. I might have just been too immature to recognize these feelings in myself. Or maybe I was just “blocked” or whatever.

When people make these kinds of memes it’s like dang… what about mentally ill people. You ever been so depressed out of your noggin that you feel, truly deeply within your bones, that nobody loves you? And every single gut reaction you have is telling you that, even though you know it’s logically not true?

What if someone actually convinced people with depression that those feelings are infallible, or convinced someone with BPD that their feelings about their FP are ultimately true on a divine level.

For a period there I was pretty delusional and I went through a phase where I thought my friend’s boyfriend was my twin flame. I mean, I was convinced. My intuition was telling me it was true for sure.

Is that yet another spirit companion knocking on your door or are you just feeling lonely lately? Have you stumbled upon a new spiritual power or have you just been struggling to feel more self-worth? Are you actually under spiritual attack or are you just anxious (or yearning for conflict/excitement?)

Whenever we’re encountering a new spirit we’re thinking of working with, asking the right questions is important. Here’s a list of potential questions to ask that can be useful in figuring out their vibe and if they have a place in your practice.

What is your name/what can I call you?

Is there a name in my language for the type of being you are?

What do/would you want from me?

How do you sustain yourself? (aka, what do you “eat?”) 

What are you looking to gain/do/achieve? Short or long term.

What do you think of humans?

Do you agree to respect any boundaries I set?

Would you like or require offerings from me?

If so, what kinds of offerings do you like to receive?

What are your favorite colors/smells/foods/sounds/etc.?

Do you plan on staying around a long time or would any arrangement be temporary?

Do you have any other loyalties? With whom? (It’s not always bad if they do, but it’s important to know.) 

Is there anything you dislike or are afraid of?

What signs might you show me to let me know you’re there?

Do you have/want an anchor? What kind?

Do you have any particular talents? 

Also, is there any tangible way to receive answers / messages from spirits? I'm severely mentally ill (being treated) so I'm wary of trusting things like dreams, assumptions, vibes, feelings, meditation, etc.

Thanks!

Good question!

Physical tools like tarot/oracle cards, pendulums, etc. work well for a lot of people. Some people even have specific tools dedicated to specific spirits.

Automatic writing, typing, drawing, or painting is also popular.

Really any form of divination can be adapted to work with spirits if it isn't already built for it!

Even still, there will always be some element of faith involved; we can't objectively prove spirits exist in the first place (or that whatever may be out there works the way we envision it) so by extent we can't objectively prove the accuracy of messages, either. At some point you just have to trust your gut or go "okay, I'm going to move forward with this and we'll reflect on it later."

Seek out practice attempts which are verifiable.

Discerning between brain garble and spirit communication

Tips for practicing discernment

Related Articles

What is Witchcraft? Basics of Spellwork Checklist for Potent Spellwork Witchcraft Research Tips Threshold Theory

What is a spell log?

A spell log is a way of recording the spells you have cast. Typically it is a form of some variety that is kept in a notebook, google doc/sheet, or other program. These logs have a few key features such as:

Time & date

Timeframe for expected results

Brief description of the spell

Target of the spell and means of association (Taglocks, gnosis, thresholds, etc)

Correspondences used 

Spirits worked with

Spell purpose

Means of manifestation

Divinations about the spell

Noted results

Note the last point. After a spell has been cast, it is important to keep track of its results in order to learn and improve. 

Here is a list to use as a reference when creating a spell for yourself or when appraising a spell guide. All points that are absolutely necessary for spellwork will be colored blue and all points labeled red are big red flags if missing from a spell guide.

Concepts

Intent; a truth that is held by the caster, not desire.

Passion: a related emotional state that is channeled and felt during casting.

Gnosis: a singular point of unbroken focus, which becomes mores specific the more details it includes. Includes having enough presence to build up and channel all energies and emotions required.

Target: A specific target, not a broad generalization or area of effect that is too large to be conceptualized.

Means of actualization: a realisitc and probable path for the spell to follow in order to cause the desired outcome.

Path of least resistance: the combination of the target and means of actualization that, in combination, are the most efficient options.

Circumstance: the moment in time in which the spell is cast was chosen carefully with the path of least resistance in mind.

Theory: the underlaying properties of the magic employed do not attempt to break known physical laws, use defunct concepts such as the law of attraction, or rely too heavily on personal narratives.

Practice

Energy work: the energy work is clear, conscious, and is in no way reliant on visualization.

Nodes: all correspondences are unique and accurately relate to the purpose, target, and means of actualization of the spell.

Spirits: spirits involved (if any) have ample reason or purpose to act in concordance with or in aid of the spell.

Culture: the spell and it’s components do not involve aspects of traditions to which the caster has no claim and no thorough contextual understanding up.

Experimentation: the concepts, practices, and other aspects of the (final) spell have been tested thoroughly enough to determine how to best apply them.

Physicality: the use of tools, Sigils, incantations, etc do not interfere with or break the state of gnosis required for casting.

To be fair, very few spell guides include any of the following. However, I think it’d be prudent for the community to start doing so.

Recording

Logs: an accurate and detail log is taken about the working.

Guide: (applicable only to guides) the language used adequately relays all necessary information to reproduce the spell to some degree of precision.

Language: the language used accurately and precisely represents the concepts and practices that take place during the spell.

Verification

Perspective: the inclusion of possible mundane explanations for the outcome, such as (but not limited to) placebo, statistical inevitablity, and/or mental illness.

Divination: readings are done about the working as objectively as possible, from third party diviners without spoiling details of able.

Bias: all possible biases are noted and considered when reflecting on the outcome.

I MADE GREEK MYTHOLOGY STICKERS!!!

:) So far I only have the main pantheon (+Hestia), Ariadne, Hades, and Persephone as well!

They're $5 per sticker, or $45 for all of them!

Ichor In Ritual Magick

***I do not promote self harm***

Where there is mention of satanism, witchcraft, devil worship, or black magick, there is conjured the image of ceremonial bloodletting. Whether done in the sacrifice of a living creature, or the drawing of one’s own blood with a sacred tool, giving vitality to the spirits and gods to whom the ritual calls upon, is no small matter.

When it comes to physiology, though the mind and the body are a shared unit, the mind is autonomous, whereas the body is autonomic, this is referenced in scriptures where “the body is man’s temple”, and is to be cared for by the mind. In this statement I would like to point out, that though we may give sacrifice of that which we need through conscious action, blood is nomic and follows the laws of nature, therefore a sacrifice of no conscious and of great concern.

To elaborate on this look at it from a perspective of guardian and child, your anatomy is an equilibrium meant to sustain you, separate from your thoughts, as if a guardian to your mind (or soul if you will here), which has the say in what happens to the whole, if you cause yourself harm (the child who lives by emotion not reason) your body will fight you to repair it. In giving the offering of your blood you are not only binding your current intent, you are binding and readily giving your every state and significance of what it means to be alive.

This comes into use of the terms White Magick and Black Magick, in which I see no differences when it comes to condemnation, as the act of practicing magick is damnable in itself, but to each their own in their beliefs. Here the use of blood is seen in Black Magick, as the use of self harm, living sacrifices, or the sacred nature of living cells being given is general not used for greater causes. Not to say that it can’t be, but I have not witnessed many cases of it being used correctly otherwise.

Selling your soul to the devil may just be a saying, but if your state of mind is in compliance enough to give the most sacred part of yourself to the spirit before you, then a contract of will isn’t that far off. Whether you give this blood as symbolism to your devotion, or to be a feast to the demon most familiar, you’re fully giving consent to the encompassment of all you are. I would never suggest this form of offering to an unfamiliar spirit, as you simply don’t know and cannot control the outcome, there are far too many loopholes in the Reflux Current to safely and adequately avoid harm and misuse of your being through this method.

There is power in life, for life is nature, and beyond man’s laws, and in use of vitality through the supernatural, there is great reason to respect and refrain from use of blood in magick unless experienced and most certain of your outcome. The symbolism of blood-use is staple and binding, and cannot be undone. It is a blasphemous method in the eyes of right and wrong, and there is a great animosity towards it’s use for good reason. The greatest sacrifice presentable by your person is your very blood.

This alludes to the purpose of such a necessity of it’s use in practice, as a gift given that great can only signify the magnitude of that which is being requested. This is why blood-use is seen as a detrimental act and is associated with misfortune, evil, and fear. Even in witchcraft and voudun, where remnants of the body are used, such as hair and fingernails, blood is revered as the most intimate of a persons ability to give.

I primarily use this method in my ritual work with the daemon N, as my devotion to his name extends further than my own ability to separate from Him. I do this in His honor and, though rare in my need of ritual magick, should be noted the seriousness of my purpose in using it. Through these methods my intent has always been fulfilled without fail with the utmost satisfaction. I am a creature who doesn’t feign in my affiliation to N, and the markings on my body from my ritual work is for all to see.

Picture of and by: Belmont Lowe, a devout practitioner and renown artist of blood related art in occult design.

RED

Emotion: Anger, Passion, Protection

Magick: Wards off enemies, charges you with boldness, makes your words hit harder than they should

Best With: Black (for dramatic curses), Yellow (for unstoppable energy), or Pink (for passionate chaos)

Warning: May cause shouting

ORANGE

Emotion: Mischief, Spark, Hunger

Magick: Attracts attention, confuses the boring, calls small spirits to your side

Best With: Green (for luck tricks), Blue (for confusing dreams)

Warning: Birds might follow you. That’s part of it.

YELLOW

Emotion: Joy, Ego, Wildness

Magick: Enhances charm, confidence, and chaotic decision-making

Best With: Purple (for royalty energy), Red (for heroic nonsense)

Warning: Bees may treat you like a friend. This is mostly safe.

GREEN

Emotion: Curiosity, Greed, Growth

Magick: Finds lost things, encourages hoarding, strengthens small magic

Best With: Brown (for grounding), Orange (for pranks), Silver (for plant spells)

Warning: Causes dreams of forests you’ve never been to

BLUE

Emotion: Memory, Focus, Sadness

Magick: Strengthens dreamwork, keeps secrets locked, calls rain if you hum while wearing it

Best With: White (for clarity), Gray (for sorrow magick), Pink (for poetic suffering)

Warning: Water may act strange around you

PURPLE

Emotion: Mystery, Power, Drama

Magick: Strengthens spells, enhances glamours, makes your voice echo at the best time

Best With: Gold (for majesty), Red (for wrath), Black (for elegance)

Warning: May speak cryptic phrases out loud while you sleep

PINK

Emotion: Love, Softness, Wild Hope

Magick: Attracts affection, invites confusion, seals magical promises made with a giggle

Best With: Blue (for devotion), Red (for danger-love), White (for flirtatious lies)

Warning: Binds you to things too easily. Use with glitter for a safe exit.

BLACK

Emotion: Control, Strength, Secrets

Magick: Shields you from spiritual nonsense, silences magical detection, makes your intentions unreadable

Best With: Anything. Especially neon colors.

Warning: It remembers everything you say while wearing it

WHITE

Emotion: Clarity, Emptiness, Sharpness

Magick: Cuts through illusion, reveals what’s hidden, helps you remember what was forgotten

Best With: Blue (for truth), Pink (for forgiveness), Gold (for divine chaos)

Warning: May make people tell you things you didn’t want to hear

BROWN

Emotion: Stability, Hunger, Sleep

Magick: Grounds chaotic spells, anchors spirit work, makes your feet stronger

Best With: Green (for moss magick), Gray (for bones), Silver (for dusk magicks)

Warning: Attracts raccoons and minor earth spirits

SILVER

Emotion: Reflection, Change, Liminality

Magick: Binds contracts, connects night-time thoughts, helps you walk between “yes” and “no”

Best With: Purple (for rituals), Blue (for moonwork), Green (for shapeshifting)

Warning: Your reflection may wink at you

GOLD

Emotion: Glory, Delusion, Blessing

Magick: Blesses objects, charms small gods, enhances luck in competitions or performances

Best With: Purple (for divine prank energy), Red (for flashy declarations)

Warning: May attract curses. Gold is cocky.

RAINBOW / MULTICOLOR

Emotion: Overload

Magick: Does everything at once, unpredictably and with flair. Useful for spellbombs or friendship explosions.

Warning: Do not string in perfect order unless you want the spell to judge you

BRASS

Emotion: Stubbornness, Memory, Trickery

Magick: Enhances long-term curses, makes pacts harder to break, echoes with ancestral gossip

Best With: Green (for stubborn nature magick), Black (for heavy secrets), Red (for bold declarations)

Use It For: Contracts, locked-in promises, jewelry you intend to pass down (or throw dramatically into a swamp someday)

Warning: Brass beads may ting when lies are told nearby. This can be socially inconvenient.

COPPER

Emotion: Warmth, Change, Mischief

Magick: Boosts charm magick, speeds transformation spells, connects your jewelry to weather and electricity

Best With: Orange (for mischief), Blue (for storm dreams), Silver (for connection spells)

Use It For: Friendship bracelets that tingle when the other person’s in trouble. Weather-reactive trinkets. Mood-amplifying charms.

Warning: May heat up when angry. Do not wear during dramatic arguments unless you want the bracelet to sizzle.

WOOD

Emotion: Memory, Softness, Ancestor Stuff

Magick: Grounds magick. Stores spells gently, like dreams in a drawer. Speaks to mushrooms, worms, and ghosts who miss their trees.

Best With: Green (for plantwork), Brown (for grounding), Pink (for sweet, gentle pacts)

Use It For: Spells that age slowly. Keepsakes for loved ones. Protective charms that smell like home.

Warning: May grow moss. May hum. If it sprouts, say thank you.

IRON

Emotion: Protection, Finality, Anchored Rage

Magick: Wards against spirits, binds oaths, locks spells in place like nails in wood

Best With: Black (for boundary magick), Red (for furious protection), Brass (for oath-binding)

Use It For: Jewelry that keeps fae from touching you. Curses that can’t be broken until the bead is melted. Locking a memory into place so you never forget (even when you want to).

Warning: Iron beads will rust if you break a promise while wearing them. May burn invisible things that get too close - don’t wear to ghost tea parties unless you want to start a fight

GLASS

Emotion: Vulnerability, Clarity, Sharp Truth

Magick: Reflects intentions, reveals illusions, captures the emotional imprint of whoever last touched it

Best With: White (for clarity), Blue (for dreams), Pink (for delicate binding)

Use It For: Spells of perception, confession, and honesty. Jewelry that remembers feelings (glass beads from a happy day will feel warm for years). Charms to help you see through glamour or social nonsense.

Warning: If it shatters, the magick escapes - violently or beautifully. Never gift a glass bead unless you mean it. It will crack if the affection was fake

Special Notes on Shape & Condition

Smooth iron: reliable protection

Twisted or barbed iron: curse delivery, especially for long-distance spite

Clear glass: reflects others

Colored glass: reflects you

Cracked glass: opens portals to memory. Can be used for grief, haunting, or poetic mess

Bonus Tip: Patina Matters

Shiny copper or brass: active magick, alert and flashy, best for rituals you wear once.

Tarnished or greened metal: aged, haunted, slow-burning. Good for curses, memories, and griefwork.

Rough wood: protective, stubborn.