Oh The Delimna Of Wanting To Go Do Something, But Also The Not Do Anything At All.

How to reference in your grimoire

If you intend on sharing your grimoire with the public or you're a fan of a more academic style of writing then you're gonna want to reference your sources to avoid any kind of plagiarism.

You may have already learned how to reference at your college/uni, in which case follow that method, but if you haven't let me show you what i've been doing in my grimoire.

The referencing style I was taught in my degree is a form of APA 7th edition. This style is best for essays and small research papers and since my grimoire is essentially a bunch of mini contextual essays stuck together I thought it was appropriate.

Here's the format:

Author Surname, Author Initials. (Date of publication/release). Title of source: sub-heading/title of chapter. Publishing company/website. Place of publication/website link. [Format]

So for example, the book I'm currently reading is Buried by Professor Alice Roberts. If I were to reference this book in this format it would look something like this:

Roberts, A. (2023). Buried, An Alternative History of The First Millennium in Britain: Water and Wine. Simon and Schuster. London. [Book]

(Its up to you whether you decide to put the chapter before the book title, it doesn't make a difference, but I prefer doing it this way.)

This reference will need to follow an in-text citation. You can do that by adding a little number in parentheses next to your quote or paraphrase that corresponds to the number on your list of references OR you can make a mini reference following this method:

(Author Surname, Author Initials. (Date of publication). Page number if required)

So following this method an in-text citation would look like this:

(Roberts, A. (2023). p1)

Tips

If you are citing a source with multiple authors, organised them alphabetically by surname, your in text citation only needs to include the first one.

If you're referencing an online upload of an old source like Internet Archive or Project Gutenberg, include the original authors name first, uploaders name/ID second and mark which is which in parenthesis, then the date of original publication if you can find it, followed by the date it was uploaded to the site.

If you are referencing a film/TV episode, use the name of the director and include (Dir) next to their name.

If you can't find a date of publication/upload then write DNA instead.

Always put your references at the back of your grimoire. If your grimoire contains multiple chapters, group them by each chapter and then organise either alphabetically or chronologically. If your in-text citation uses numbers, organise your reference list chronologically. If you're using a mini reference, organise your reference list alphabetically.

This last bit is especially important for practitioners who intend to publish their work. Please please please do not skip referencing! I've read so many traditionally published witchcraft books who's authors don't do this or do it half-assed and I can't stand it.

Readers deserve to know where your information is coming from so they can be the judge on whether or not it's appropriate for them to practice themselves. Not doing so creates a cycle of ignorance among readers and new practitioners that encourages the spread of cultural appropriation, poor media literacy and poor historical and scientific understanding. Always cite your sources.

🧝🏼‍♀️ and 🫧 for the witch ask game!!

What type of witch? Truly, I'm eceltic, I dabble in lots of things, but my strongest is solar witch. Sub types include, kitchen, weather, some fae.

Favorite method of cleansing? This varies depending on what it is I'm cleansing. In a "basic" situation, such as just had a bad day, been a rough week, etc. I will do a simple candle spell with incense as I'm physically cleaning something, tidy the room, quick load of laundry. This helps me personally clean my mind and my space. I also have an easy self cleansing spell I do too. For heavier situations, candles, incense, and ring bells. But, I am still going to physically clean my space as well. Like a deeper clean, so like dusting polishing furniture, etc. As well as opening windows to let some fresh air in.

I say this simply because the state of my spiritual space and my head space show in my physical space and vice versa.

As the vampire that is doomed to work in retail, as called by @fernthefanciful, they are promoting me! I need a job position title 😆!

What is your favorite part of your day?

Oh, hmm, anytime I can spend journaling. Depending how the day is scheduled determines when journaling time is, but as long as I have some time to do work on my writing journal or my bullet journal that's my favorite part of my day. That and cooking. Those are tied with being my favorite.

Just got off work, and I'm off for a couple of days. I'm contemplating offering free readings to kind of get back into the swing of things, because I can read for my boyfriend and myself, but it's different when reading for others.

But this is only an idea, and I have to think about my personal boundaries and guidelines for the types of questions I will answer. Any who, I'm going to go home, get into comfortable clothes then cuss out my laundry as I fold it.

Y'all know it's okay to just try stuff in witchcraft, right?

Across the internet, I see a lot of people who seem to be asking for permission to do what they want. While I see some validity in getting wisdom from others, I worry that the people asking these questions might miss out on the experience they could get from going ahead and making a good faith attempt.

"Can I do this spell even if I don't have rosemary?" I don't know. Try it!

"Can I use fruit juice as an offering to my goddess?" I don't know. Ask her!

"Can I include a pocket watch in my magic?" I don't know. See if it works!

Of course, it's not a good idea to jump in and try something that could be harmful, but if you're not hurting yourself or others and you're not appropriating from a closed practice, just give it a go! You're allowed. You're a witch with magic and power and discernment of your own. You don't have to get permission from a bunch of internet strangers. Have fun trying new things!

.☘︎ ݁˖᯽𖣂𖣐𓏢𖦏

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