What I Wish I Knew Before I Began Practicing Witchcraft | Part 2

These are some beautiful tips. What you said "the fear of beginning is what kept me behind" really hit 💗 anyone can practice spell work.

I was very naiive when I began and just started with very simple cleansing and self love spells without worrying too much. Then I strated to do more research and suddenly I felt I had been doing evrything wrong. Everybody was talking about deitys, wands, cauldrons and all these other things I had never used or, in some cases, never even heard about. So I began setting up an alter with deitys on that I never really felt a connection to. I worked with spells by others and went out of my way to follow them word for word and spent a lot of money on the way because I didn't have most of what was supposedly needed for it. All of that felt so wrong, that I stopped praciticing for years. And then I stumbled across a line somewhere saying that every witch has a different way of practicing and that you didn't have to be wiccan or work with deitys to be a witch and that blew my mind. So I had been right all along! I started my practice and my research once again but this time listening to what felt right for me and sticking to it. The void I had felt without the craft was filked and I couldn't be happier now! The one thing I do wish I had known and done from the beginning, is keeping a book of shadows. It would have been nice to look back at how I started, but it's okay. I keep several seperate ones and they are an invalble part of my craft.

I've been a practicing Pagan Witch for over 24 years and I'm still learning! The one thing I've taken from it is; it's okay to be perfectly imperfect!

As a 77-year old Green Witch I would like to add something - hope you don't mind Two things actually... 1) remember our creed: Do as you will but harm none, and 2) be VERY clear with setting your intention for any spell. It can go horribly wrong and have the opposite effect of what you intended... Blessed be!

As a 14 y/o whose really into witchcraft, with a Christian family and unable to be on my own yet, I love this little series. It lets me know that I’m into witchcraft because I find it fun, I have no obligation to it. Even with my limitations as a minor, I still love to learn and read and practice what I love. Thank you so much for just making these videos. They’ve brought me so much closure.

Thank you for mentioning closed practices and respecting the boundaries of other communities ❤️ it’s so important and not often talked about ✨

I love how you always have a gentle and welcoming presence and really give everyone a space that makes, even just the idea of, practicing witchcraft accessible to all🌿

Intermingling of cultures is how we grow as community. Cultural Appreciation is tantamount to peaceful coexistence. If only the Europeans had had this appreciation, think of all the ancient knowledge that would not have been lost.

Such great points. I first started practicing witchcraft more than 40 years ago. I say “first started” because I’ve restarted several times. As my life has changed, my path has changed, too, and I’ve been a beginner at something or everything just about forever. The life-long journey advice really hit home for me. If you’re always learning, you’ll always be beginning something, and I think that’s at the heart of living life as an adventure. The journey is the doing. Regarding closed practices, I avoid them for two reasons: Either they are exclusive groups that maintain secrecy and separation, and that might work for some people, but it’s not my scene. I don't dig exclusivity, in witchcraft or anything else, honestly. Or else the practices are someone else’s cultural tradition, and I want to respect them enough not to do their thing without their invitation. Being an American and from NYC, I come from a multicultural society, so if I feel a connection with a type of practice or a deity or spirit, I will work with them, but in my own way. I won't imitate their mother culture's rituals or language unless I am properly educated and welcomed into it. That's how I approach things.

Do what you want as long as you harm none 💯 Follow that and you should be ok. Stay in the light, focus on what your soul wants and not what your ego desires 🙏

I find this really interesting as an Irish person when I see people talking about Samhain, Bealtaine, Lúnasa etc. which come from my culture (did you know all of these words are in Irish, our original language? : ) ). I see a lot of my culture being appropriated, particularly by English and American Witches. They don't even spend the few seconds it takes to learn how to pronounce the previously mentioned words, let alone learn about our history and where these festivals etc. come from. It can be especially hurtful when English Witches do it considering how our language & culture have been damaged (and almost erased in the case of our language, Gaeilge) by their ancestors. Sometimes it seems only some cultures deserve respect and not others. Just my rambling thoughts on the subject.

This hit me like a wave: "All those coincidences or moments you wished for that came to be are examples of accidental everyday spellwork". Certain things that have happened that I wished for, I've been awestruck, because it seemed impossible or improbable. I figured it was some odd coincidence, but I wished I'd known if something I did brought it about. That's what I want to understand; how I did that, how I tapped into that positive energy so I can bring about more positive changes.

I'm so so glad that you mentioned closed practices and leaving them alone. I've been a longtime lurker of the witchcraft community and part of my hesitancy in getting involved has been the overwhelming presence of appropriation and witches who don't care and won't listen to marginalized voices. this video was so reassuring!

Closed practices are a hard one(I’m not advocating for practicing them) simply because what is closed or open depends on a persons definition, for instance someone once told me that I can’t commune with local nature spirits because I’m not native(Which I am) while another said that because she’s native she can sell people white sage that she buys from Walmart but they can’t openly buy it, so I’d say do research and be as respectful as you can.

When to start practicing spells My answer is when you have the right mindset towards the way things work. Not everything will work in your favor as you want it. Two. Faith is the basis of everything, faith in yourself and your own work. Faith is what allows you to be determined.

Loved this. There is a lot of fearmongering in witchcraft circles that stop new practitioners from starting. I remember you’d said in a previous video that you had moved away from Wicca. I was hoping you would do a video describing your current practice as a non Wiccan. Unless I missed it!

As someone who also had the anxiety of starting spellwork, it's always nice to know you're not alone, lol. I blame the perfectionist in me. Thanks also for touching on education and understanding/respecting closed practices. I feel like sometimes that gets lost and dusted into the cracks. Appreciation is one thing, appropriation is another! Thanks as always for being so chill, love seeing your vids! <3

Thank you! I come from a long line of people who work with spirit. I was always taught to say some words before doing so, such as a prayer, to ask for protection from negative energy. We see spirit as a spectrum of positive to negative and everything in between just as people are. You don't want to invite negative energy into your life or practice. Have a great weekend! 🌸

I feel like this is something I would get into for anxiety and stress relief, and for fun! Since I personally find magic hard to believe, the witch community is really inspiring

I love how your videos exude an energy of warmth and comfort. Listening to you talk fills my space with peace and calm and I really appreciate that. It makes me enjoy your content all the more. I also appreciate your sharing these kinds of beginner witch topics. I’m not exactly a beginner, but I have been overwhelmed and hesitant about delving deeper into my craft for a very long time. These videos make me feel safe and encouraged to figure out what works for me, and to do it in my own way.