Sooo...I'm Just Throwing This Out To The Void

Since one or two folks have expressed “disappointment” in me because of my “shadow work isn’t a requirement for practicing magic” post, I’m doubling down and reminding everyone that as far as I’m concerned nothing is a requirement for practicing magic except actually practicing magic. Nothing is a requirement for being a witch except practicing magic and choosing to call yourself a witch.

I have a theory that some people find themselves unable to progress in their practices until they master a certain skill because that skill was a requirement FOR THEM, for their particular practice, laid out for them by their specific spirits, to accommodate their specific needs. And then sometimes they assume that their experience is universal. Did you have to 100% master protect spells, banishments, and divination before you could get spirit contact to work for you consistently? Then maybe those were the requirements for your particular path to get to spirit work. That wasn’t my experience. I started with spirit work, no pre-requisites to speak of. We had different paths to get to same goal, and that’s fine. Some people are born with amazing singing voices, some people have to take years of lessons to be able to carry tune. We’re all doing our own thing, and it’s going to look different for everyone - even two people in the same lineage with the same teacher are going to have variations.

So let’s stop pretending that there are universal milestones that everyone and their mother has to acomplish. You can do what you believe is necessary for you, and I will continue to never do shadow work.

To maybe help elaborate not all trees are nice, there is the Stinging Tree in Australia where everything you touch causes so pain and itch. The symptoms are said to cause pain for weeks to months. There are certainly other trees where every part or at least most parts are toxic and/or are deadly.

Some little things I've learned over a decade of witchcraft:

If you are feel called to work but are tired/drained, sit outside. Take in all the energies around you. Nature can help charge you

Every witch does a little bit of a bunch of types of magic but sticks mainly to one or two in general. You usually won't be eclectic forever. You'll find what magics work best with you.

Never be lazy or cut corners with spirits. Always be respectful and always tell them to leave when you're done

When you see a plant or ingredient with a long list of properties, there are different things at play. Season of collection, the part of the plant, the health of the plant, etc all play a role in impacting which properties it will carry.

Don't call on spirits unless you have confidence and control

Be careful with sea/water magic. Get into it gently and slowly until you have the energy figured out because it can get out of hand quickly.

Adding a little pinch of magic into your breakfast can make a major difference in your day.

Your personal emotions/feelings over something will impact a work

Planting some plants is good, not only to have a garden, but the dirt helps cleanse you too. Get all dirty and muddy. It's good for ya

Not all trees are nice

The more you listen to your intuition, the easier it will be to tell it apart from your anxieties and worries

Incense is very easy to make which is why it's usually cheap to buy. But you can find a million tutorials online on how to make your own personal incense which is great if you want a spell to take effect over a while but also want to infuse the fire energy in it.

The more you work with something the better feel you get for it. Cinnamon goes in almost everything i cook and most of my spells because me and cinnamon just get right along

Your path is yours and no one else's. It will look like yours and no one else's

As somebody with ADHD as well, how do you balance a secular witchcraft practice and deity worship? Also, ty for showing me that I can separate the two!!

Good question! UPG and secular witchy things ahoy.

The way I see it, my witchcraft and my pagan practices are pretty much two separate things. When I'm venerating my deities or making offerings, that is Bree the Pagan doing the thing. While there may be special occasions where magical ritual as part of that, like around Samhain, it's not the focus.

When I'm creating or casting a spell, 99% of the time I'm not asking for divine aid, I don't require it, I don't think about it. I'm relying on my own resources and tools to make things happen. And while there may be some special occasions where I invoke my patrons for aid, usually for protection, that's not the focus.

So I'm a witch who also happens to be a polytheist pagan, rather than a polytheist pagan witch, if that makes sense. When I talk about my witchcraft, I talk about magic and technique and theory and such, but not my deities. When I talk about my paganism, I talk about my deities and veneration and my experiences with them, but not my witchcraft.

Surprisingly, my ADHD doesn't really affect my ability to compartmentalize in this way. I rather feel like it makes it easier to say The Witchcraft Is Over Here and The Paganism Is Over Here. Separating the two also helps eliminate a source of anxiety for me. Relying on the input of others to help me accomplish my goals has, historically speaking, been fraught with disappointment. So if I'm just relying on myself, it's easier to fully invest my energy and determination into the working, without the distraction of worrying whether the additional aid will come through or if I'm doing something "wrong" with regard to the inclusion of a deity or annoying them by asking for help.

So yes, it is perfectly possible to separate the two things. You can be a witch without being a pagan or a pagan without being a witch. Or you can be both without putting chocolate in your peanut butter, as it were.

Hope this helps!

First day at Bealls!!!

Quick update! Got all the initial training videos done, and completed the money forms. They asked me to come back at 2 to shadow another woman. I said sure no problem, grabbed some lunch and decompressed a little. It's a relief. Not only financially but also it elevates the all anxiety I was dealing with. This whole situation really triggered my GAD pretty bad, but now I can breathe again.

I feel this very much right now!

Some days, you just gotta revel in the fact that laundry and dishes are done. 🧺🥣

marylander trying to describe a tornado: imagine a crab cake

Pages from my Grimoire : The Sun's Journey and the correspondences of each part of the day.

Ra My mom hasn’t ever had any pictures of her god around, so I made one as a Christmas present! Lotsa love and good vibes went into this <3

4.5″ x 7.5″ Ink, marker

As long as you don't shoplift at my store while I'm on shift, you'll be alright.

reblog if it's okay for your mutuals to message you and create an actual friendship, not just interactions