Wolves By DeerandFox

Okay now that I got the bitchiness out of my system a bit, let's see if I can write a bit on """"rules"""" of witchcraft as I would like to see them.

Stop bitching about other people's practices and focus on your own. If you spent a lot of time worrying or raging about how other people practice, how will you ever grow your own? Focus on yourself and your own power and let other people do their thing.

Other people's practices are inspiration, not goals. On the flip side, if there is someone who you look up to, or someone's practice you love seeing, take it as inspiration for your own, but don't look it at as a goal to achieve. Firstly, what people share online is not the whole of their practice, and secondly you're not them and their path is not yours.

Be curious. Why are people harping on "black and white magic"? Why are Starseeds bad, but Alienkin and Starkin are fine? Why is cultural appropriation such a bad thing? (If you answered "because racism" on all three of these, have a cookie!) And not just curiosity about these concepts, but also about correspondences (Why are red roses a symbol for love?) or ingredients you have in your home (will this basil work as well as rosemary for this spell?) or other paths and techniques, or spirits, or -- you get the point. Once you know the "why" you can use your own discernment. Does this work for me? Do I agree with the why? Etc. etc.

Be respectful -. To other people, to other practices and cultures, to spirits and deities. Find out their customs and cultures if you can, and act accordingly. Did you know that not saying "thank you" to the Fair Folk is only a custom in Irish and Scottish folk tales? Yeah, exactly.

-But don't be terrified. You're a witch/wizard/warlock/unicorn/whatever dammit! Act like one! Witchcraft is about empowerment, so be fucking empowered! An anarchy saying is "no gods, no kings, no masters". As a polytheist witch who works with the Fair Folk for me it's more "lots of Gods, some Kings, no masters!" I meet them with respect, but on equal footing. I experiment because if I screw up, well, I'll have learned something, and I've learned a lot about getting myself out of weird stuff.

Have fun. For fuck's sake, your practice is supposed to bring you joy. If it doesn't bring you joy or make you feel fizzy with inspiration and energy, try something else. If you need to, toss the whole thing out and start over. Trust me, it helps.

Set the fires. Bury your doubts. Rise like something ancient remembering its own hunger. Dance barefoot where the wild things grow. Crown yourself in petals and stems. Breathe in with the winds, throw a kiss to the storms, run like the rivers and creeks in your space

i feel like a lot of shifters need to talk to other shifters about how they found out about their species because sometimes "i shifted and i was just this," doesn't always help and not all shifters can shift/have the right environment to.

it's difficult because a lot of shifters rely on their dreams and visions, and consistently don't know what or who they are because all of our history has gone kaput - and so have our ways to connect with ourselves.

-🔮☀️

Yesss exactlyyyy!!

We will be honest with you we have a few tips we actually want to give because we hate to see this info degrade away. So, this is the rare occasion we will respond with information rather than just tags ♡♡

First of all what you are as a species shifting-wise is usually not discovered through shifting into said animal. We have never shifted into our animal as of now and there was a few ways we found what we were. A lot of shifters we know followed a similar path.

One tip we saw floating around was your species could be based on *where you live*. So, if you live in the americas theres a chance you could be anything native to america.

Another is choosing an animal that gives you the "this feels right / this feels like me" vibes and allowing yourself to experience that animal fully as if you are that animal (since you are questioning theres no way to know, you know?) So you research it, mental shift with it, feel phantoms, meditate with it, connect with it... etc. Pay attention as to how YOU feel being this animal. And we dont even mean like "oh this is a trial run this may not be for me"... just allow yourself to confirm it and explore it for awhile. If its not right, move on!

Keep allowing yourself to sniff around and settle, chase feelings and be okay with confusion for awhile, because honestly you may be pulled a bunch of directions regarding this. Just remember, its finding that other part of YOURSELF, not what others want you to be or what you think would be cool.

(I didnt want to be the feline i am now in the past! I wanted wings, i wanted to have a pack, i wanted to be cool, ill be honest lol.)

With mental shifting, you can do this with any animal or creature. Meditation-wise, you just close your eyes and vividly imagine yourself in first pov as the creature you chose and explore the world the creature lives in. Assign sounds, tastes, feelings, basically be fully immersed. If you want to take a more traditional route its always helpful to do this a handful of times and record how it felt, how you felt, what it did for you, afterwards the general vibe, etc.

A lot of older guides say you have to do this a lot and "fully mental shift" -- we personally believe that this process is a form of solidifying the other half of yourself into a consciously recognised part of you, as we all tend to hide anything that isnt human.

There is a huge culture back then of immersing yourself into the possibility of you being an animal -- basically degrading the older beliefs that "you are only human" and "shifting is impossible" fed to us by society. Which was like little things, such as changing your room to be more of your habitat, researching, writing affirmations (ex: "i am a wolf"), keeping a log of your shifts, and analysing your doubts to later take them apart.

Regarding what you have said that shifters only experience their forms through dreams or visions, this isnt true either for a lot of shifters. Usually shifters have dreams and visions.... after... theyve discovered their forms, although its not impossible to have visions or dreams.

Overall, we would recommend researching and following what feels right to you, even if you have no shifts or a faint clue of what you could possibly be. We didnt have any at all actually, we had deeply repressed our feline self to the point where it never happened.

We have also seen people telling newbies to look back at their past or their ancestry to figure it out, but we find this to be very shaky and apply to anything. Rarely does someone have access to family history, including regarding the supernatural, and what you do in the past is too hard to pinpoint to a root cause until many years after you are no longer in the discovery phase.

We hope that this was helpful to any in the discovery phase of their journey! Its actually pretty similar to the therian community, albeit a more rudimentary way of doing it.

And please document your journey, its super easy to forget those first few months / years of this path, and it can be very helpful to have a record as such.

Take care ♡

𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐢𝐬 - 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠

this week i've really fallen in love with the act of praying.

i've been praying to my deities first thing in the morning and sometimes even right before bed. i've been keeping them updated on life, and really taking the time to strength my bond with them.

and it got me thinking - why didn't I do this earlier?

I think coming from a catholic background, I was always told how to pray and what to say. I was taught the structure from an early age and learned it until it felt comfortable and second nature.

but with paganism, there aren't any structures to follow - there aren't any rules to learn and memorise. you have the power of doing your acts of worship in any way you want - and that can be a little daunting for someone like me.

I didn't know the right things to say or how to structure it - and I guess I didn't want to look stupid 'doing it wrong' if that makes sense.

until it dawned on me that prayer is just a conversation. it doesn't have to be magical and one of a kind. It can just be a good morning or even a thank you to count and sometimes that is all you need to keep that connection alive with your deities + loved ones.

so for those overthinking it like I was - remember it doesn't have to be a massive grand gesture to be special.

sometimes deities just like to know that you're doing okay ‪‪❤︎‬

this gif is not mine.

Moon phases all have meaning, from new beginnings, to letting go, balance, success, divination, creativity motivation & cleansing & healing.

Ingmar Bergman

you don’t need 60 mini spell jars from etsy. you need FRESH AIR and THE SUN. ppl stop feeding witch overconsumption to baby witches and claiming they ‘NEED’ something for their practice. it’s ridiculous.

i’m currently working on a large post for free / extremely cheap witchcraft tips because this drives me up the wall.

— 🦌🌿☕️✨

a reminder that the trees you grew up with have not forgotten you and the way your feet padded along the ground.

the breeze that sweeps through the foliage once swept through your hair and between your fingers.

the moon has not forgotten you, in fact she still watches over you during the night.

The hard truth about occultism and witchcraft is that you genuinely do have to be willing to lose your mind. That’s not me romantisizing mental struggle or psychosis.

The thing no one talks about, at least not honestly, is the threshold one passes in initiation, where the mystical, psychological, symbolic and literal merge. When I say you have to be willing to lose your mind, I mean you have to be willing to accept the possibility that you may in fact be crazy. Your worst possible fear, none of this is real and it’s all happening in your head. What will you do if you realize you’re simply crazy? The wise man will turn away, but the initiate, the alchemist, will be unphased.

All people who dabble with spirituality and occultism will eventually meet this threshold. When things actually start working, when your spells yield results, when the impossible occurs and you truly have no other explanation. When the Gods finally respond. Be willing to lose your mind, be willing to experience things you cannot explain. And be willing to talk to yourself with the honesty that you simply cannot know. That’s what makes your faith and pursuits worthy.

The most talented and most powerful witches and magis are those who do not flinch when the impossible occurs. They no longer question themselves about the absurdity, they no longer wonder if any of this is real because they know it doesn’t matter. And that’s why they’re so powerful, they have complete faith that their work is very real. And when someone challenges that, they don’t crumble, they rise. Because the challenge in that idea is worthy of pursuit itself. Maybe we are crazy, maybe this is just in our mind. The significance however, that is real and that stays, regardless.

Yap yap yap

We talk a lot in this community about the concept of “awakening” to your psychic abilities. Sensing energy, having divine intuition, telling fortunes and affecting the world through intention. But we hardly ever expose that before those gifts explode, there is always a period of what feels like insanity. The mind interrogating itself. Sensitivity to the mystical. It feels like being given access to the background code of your simulated reality, and realizing that the same code is written into your flesh, mind and soul.

Tldr. Witchcraft is very aesthetically pleasing, very pretty. We often don’t show the very ugly side of it, the white knuckles, the tears and chaos. Inviting these forces into your life is not trivial, not at all. They will force you to change and they will force you to lose your mind, even if only to teach you how to find it.

Every few months a friend of mine who is also a witch will come to me and express that she thinks she’s losing her mind again. And I smile because I know that she must be growing so much, getting so much more powerful. And a couple days ago, when I went to her and expressed that I was losing my mind again, she laughed too.

“Welcome to the next phase of your journey with Lord Lucifer!”

and her saying that immediately made everything click. I’m still being tested and cultivated. This bought of insanity is surely far from the last i will experience. Getting this far and surviving means I am not only advancing, I am continuing to grow into the role I was meant to serve for him.

Anyways, if you get to that point in your practice where you feel like you’re at your breaking point, I won’t fault you for stepping back. That’s the logical decision.

But I can also assure you, you are not alone. The mystic floats in the same waters the psychotic drowns. It may feel like you’re drowning and struggling, you may in fact just be learning how to tread water. and if you think you’re beyond this phenomenon, if this has never happened to you.

Oh, just you wait.

Befriending And Working With Crows

Crows have long been associated with witches due to their behavior, mystery, and connection to the supernatural. In folklore, they are seen as messengers between worlds, carrying secrets and omens. Witches were believed to communicate with or shape-shift into crows, using them as familiars to gather information or perform magical tasks. Their black feathers and eerie caws made them symbols of transformation, death, and hidden knowledge. This connection persists in modern witchcraft, where crows are often seen as guides for those practicing divination, shadow work, and spirit communication.

Crows are among the most intelligent birds, possessing problem-solving skills, advanced memory, and the ability to use tools. Studies have shown that they can recognize human faces, plan for the future, and even understand cause and effect. Their complex social structures and ability to communicate information indicate a high level of cognitive function, comparable to that of primates. Crows have been observed crafting tools from leaves and twigs, solving multi-step puzzles, and even holding grudges against perceived threats. Their intelligence makes them highly adaptable and capable of thriving in diverse environments.

Crows are highly intuitive, mysterious, and deeply connected to witchcraft, omens, and spirit work. These birds are known for their symbolism in folklore, association with deities like The Morrigan, Odin, and Hekate, and their ability to form strong bonds with humans. Befriending crows can be a rewarding experience, offering companionship, spiritual messages, and even small “gifts” from the birds themselves. Connecting with the crows isn't hard as they tend to be everywhere and their bravery and curiosity makes them willing to approach certain humans. They have senses of humor, empathy, critical thinking skills, and a lifespan of up to 30 years, all of which makes them excellent companions. Get to know the crows in your neighborhood.

🐦‍⬛Understanding Crow Behavior

Before approaching crows, it's essential to understand their nature:

• They are highly intelligent – Crows can recognize human faces, solve puzzles, and even speak.

• They have strong social bonds – They communicate within their flocks and even warn each other about potential dangers.

• They can be wary – Earning a crow’s trust takes patience, consistency, and respect.

• They have fantastic memories – A crow won't forget the face of a human that was kind to it and especially not that of one who was rude.

🐦‍⬛Attracting Crows to Your Space

To encourage crows to visit you regularly, follow these steps:

1. Offer Food Consistently

Crows love high-energy foods. Some of their favorites include:

• Unsalted peanuts (in-shell or shelled) – A crow favorite!

• Sunflower seeds – Nutritious and easy to scatter.

• Fruits (apples, grapes, berries) – Fresh or dried.

• Leftover meat scraps – A natural part of their diet.

• Hard-boiled eggs – A great protein source.

What to Avoid:

• Never feed crows processed, salty, or sugary foods.

• Avoid bread – it lacks nutrition.

• Do not leave large amounts of food – too much can attract unwanted pests.

2. Choose a Safe Feeding Spot

• Select a quiet, open area where they feel comfortable landing.

• Keep a routine – feeding them at the same time each day builds trust.

• If possible, create a dedicated offering space, like a small platform.

3. Provide Fresh Water

• A shallow birdbath or bowl of clean water can help attract crows, especially in dry seasons.

• Change the water frequently to keep it fresh.

🐦‍⬛Earning Their Trust

1. Observe From a Distance

• At first, let crows come and go without interference.

• Avoid sudden movements or loud noises.

• If they seem cautious, step back and let them approach at their own pace.

2. Speak to Them

• Crows recognize human voices and can distinguish between friendly and hostile tones.

• Greet them softly or whistle a simple tune when feeding them.

• Some witches even give their crows names, reinforcing a bond.

3. Leave Small Offerings

• In addition to food, place shiny objects (small trinkets, marbles, beads) as “gifts” for crows.

• Some crows may return the favor by leaving tokens like buttons, feathers, or shells.

🐦‍⬛Building a Magickal Relationship

Once crows recognize you as a friend, you can incorporate them into your spiritual practice:

1. Crow as a Spirit Ally

• If a crow visits during ritual work or divination, take note—its presence may carry a message.

• Crows can serve as psychopomps, guiding spirits between realms.

2. Divination & Omens

• A single crow cawing may indicate a warning or message.

• A group (a murder of crows) could symbolize change, transformation, or ancestral spirits.

• Here's some more information about counting crows.

3. Offering a Sacred Space

• Create a small altar outside with natural elements where you place food and gifts.

• Meditate near their space, listening to their calls and energy.

• Put up wards and cast protection magick for the crows.

🐦‍⬛Strengthening the Bond

• Be patient – Some crows take weeks or months to trust humans.

• Stay consistent – Regular feeding and positive interactions reinforce the bond.

• Respect their autonomy – Crows are wild and should never be captured or forced to interact.

🐦‍⬛Crow Spells

Crows can assist with your magick as well, through their presence and the lovely black feathers they often leave as gifts or lose through natural shedding. Here are some spells you can do with your crows.

Crow’s Omen Spell (For Divination & Messages)

Needed:

• A quiet outdoor space where crows gather

• A small offering (unsalted nuts, shiny objects, or seeds)

Instructions:

Sit in a place where crows are present and place the offering nearby. Close your eyes and ask the crows for a message:

“Messengers of fate, winged and wise,

Show me the truth with your keen eyes.

A sign, a word, a lesson true,

I call on crows to send their view.”

Observe their behavior. Watch how they move, call, or interact. Their actions may symbolize an answer to your question. Thank the crows and leave the offering as a sign of respect.

Crow’s Wisdom Spell (For Guidance & Insight)

Needed:

• A feather from a crow

• A small black candle

• A piece of paper and a pen

Instructions:

Light the black candle and sit quietly, focusing on a question or situation where you need insight. Hold the crow feather and say:

“Wise crow, keeper of secrets and sight,

Bring me knowledge, clear my mind this night.

Show me the path, help me see,

Reveal the truth and guide me free.”

Meditate for a few moments, then write down any thoughts, visions, or feelings that come to you. Let the candle burn down safely or snuff it out to use again.

Crow’s Shadow Cloak (For Invisibility & Stealth)

Needed:

• A black cloth or scarf

• A  crow feather

• A small mirror

Instructions:

Hold the black feather and visualize yourself surrounded by a shadowy aura. Place the mirror face down on the cloth, symbolizing the reflection being hidden. Whisper:

“Dark-winged shadow, silent flight,

Hide me well, keep me from sight.

As the crow vanishes into the night,

Let me fade from every light.”

Wrap the feather in the cloth and carry it when you need to go unnoticed.

Crow’s Omen Spell (For Divination & Answers)

Needed:

• No physical tools, just observation

Instructions:

Find a place where crows are naturally present. Ask your question either aloud or in your mind.

Observe the crows for signs:

• A single crow cawing: A warning or negative response.

• A pair of crows flying together: A positive or cooperative outcome.

• A group of crows circling or gathering: Major change or important news coming.

• A crow bringing or dropping something near you: A strong affirmation or message from the spiritual realm.

Thank the crows for their wisdom.

Crow’s Curse Spell (For Revenge & Justice)

Needed:

• A black feather given by a crow

• A piece of paper with the target’s name

• A dark stone (obsidian, onyx, or jet)

Instructions:

Write the target’s name on the paper and place the crow’s feather over it. Hold the dark stone in your dominant hand and visualize the negative energy returning to its source. Say:

“As the crow flies, swift and free,

Let justice return threefold to thee.

No more harm, no more pain,

What was given, be reclaimed.”

Let the feather sit overnight. The next day, release it into the wind or place it somewhere the crows frequent.

Crow’s Guardian Spell (For Protection & Psychic Defense)

Needed:

• A crow feather

• A small black candle

• A piece of black string

Instructions:

Light the candle and hold the feather. Close your eyes and visualize a crow circling around you, forming a protective barrier. Tie a knot in the black string while chanting:

“Black-winged guardian, fierce and free,

Stand between harm and me.

No ill may pass, no foe may near,

On shadowed wings, keep my path clear.”

Carry the string as a charm of protection, or keep the feather in your home as a spiritual ward.

By observing, working with, and honoring crows, you can create powerful bonds that enhance protection, divination, communication, and justice in your magical practice. If nurtured properly, crows can become lifelong allies, offering wisdom, companionship, and even protection. Treat them well, and they may even  become your loyal feathered familiars.