How Can I Find The Energy To Practice When I’m Dealing With Bad Depression? I Feel Like I Can’t Do

As someone who’s been wanting to convert for a while and who’s also been drawn to witchcraft for ages, do you have any resources or starting points for how Judaism and witchcraft can work together? I’m stuck in this battle of feeling like I have to choose one or the other to commit to and I’m Bad for wanting both, and I feel like I’d face extra judgement as a convert, if that makes sense to you?

(I’m happy to donate in exchange for this question, because I know you must get a lot of the same kind of thing but I don’t know where else to go)

jewitches.com has a lot of great articles, many of which dive into the intersection of Jewish practice and witchcraft! Zo is a lovely human being and also cites all her sources. YIVO institute also has a great, free (free!) course on Ashkenazi folklore which I think is really neat (and I'm happy they make the distinction that it's specifically Ashkenazi instead of treating it as universal.) Here's a link.

Obviously I'm biased, but I really don't believe magic work and Judaism are opposing forces. A lot of folk practices and religious rituals (in a lot of religions, really) would be indiscernible from magic work on paper. We're just busy calling it tradition instead of magic. The word "witchcraft" is also very nebulous and can encompass a lot of different practices, some of which you may decide to abstain from because of your religious affiliation or not. That part is totally up to you.

You're not Bad at all for having your own approach, no more than anybody else is bad for doing their thing. Your connection with the Divine is between you and that Divine! You'll have a lot more luck converting under reform or renewal movements, probably. You don't have to be "out" about your practice with your peers if you don't want to, that's your business. I don't recommend lying to your Rabbi though, so you'll want a Rabbi who is willing to have those conversations. I'm sure they're out there!

I hope all this helps! Totally reach out if you have any other questions. :) And thank you so much for offering to tip, that's very very kind of you. Usually I would refuse, but you caught me in the middle of trying to stop immediately rejecting every nice thing people offer me so I'll share my Paypal and Venmo links just this once lol. Please do not feel obligated to tip me though!!

MOON PHASES

NEW MOON : Setting intentions, taking actions, moving forward, focusing in the increase, starting new ventures, exploring opportunities

WAXING CRESCENT : Redefining goals and taking first actions, consistency, gaining momentum, determination, pushing forward

FIRST QUARTER : Finding the balance between the new goals and habits, expansion, being practical, concentration on goals

WAXING GIBBOUS : Cultivating actions toward goals, improving and readjusting, intensive growth, pushing boundaries

FULL MOON : The energy of completion, gratefulness, cleansing, charging, appreciating progress, psychic work, letting go

WANING GIBBOUS : Giving thanks, decluttering, eliminating negative habits, slowing down, reevaluing goals

LAST QUARTER : Letting go, practicing forgiveness, finding time to relax, cord-cutting, get rid of unhealthy habits and addictions

WANING CRESCENT : Making room for new, rest and surrender, energizing by doing things we love, discharging the health issues

ASCENDANT signs indicate SOCIAL compatibility  (the impression you give others/ the “face” you put on when confronting the world)

SUN signs indicate TEMPERAMENT compatibility (how your personality interacts with others under stimuli/changing environments).

MOON signs indicate EMOTIONAL compatibility (how you relate/ connect/ empathize. This is internal and may not be necessarily obvious).

MERCURY signs indicate INTELLECTUAL compatibility (how you communicate and share thoughts).

VENUS signs indicate ROMANTIC compatibility (how you love/ receive love. What you idealize and fantasize for in relationships).

MARS signs indicate PHYSICAL compatibility (the personality of your aggression. how you interact physically or sexually).

JUPITER signs indicate IDEOLOGICAL compatibility (how you react to each other’s beliefs, values and opinions).

SATURN signs indicate LONG-TERM compatibility (how your relationship may develop and be sustained over time).

Wordpress still won’t reconnect to here for some reason!

Therefore I’m sharing with you all here a much ancticipated and requests blog post!

How to Write Your Own Spells

Every time I open my asks on Instagram I probably get 8 messages about this topic.

So… here you have it. The topic is written!

I hope you enjoy!

Meditation steps and tips for beginners

Professional meditators always have a Zen garden: https://www.amazon.com/ICNBUYS-Japanese-Censers-Pushing-Diameter/dp/B01II9PHI4

Read more on Jewitches.com

The Journal Witch