Know Your Craft.
Know your Craft, the second goal, speaks to the witch in particular. Its called witchcraft for a reason. It’s what we do. To craft is to create, to act, to do things. As with all crafts, its by doing that you improve.
The craft starts off as an interest. You dabble; you play. Then you start to take it seriously and actually practice with the intent to hone your skills and get better.
It’s important to do that. They say it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master a skill.
It’s also important to understand what your doing or attempting to do.
Understanding your Craft
If you were making a recipe, you would want to know what it’s going to look like when its finished. That will help you in the process. You would want to know what each of the ingredients brings to the recipe.
Fun example: The Princess was hosting a dinner. She wanted to make a pie for dessert. She asked me for Granny’s pie crust recipe because it never fails. It’s always light and flakey.
Two days later she called with a question and in the course of the conversation informed me she was making the pie crust with gluten free flour.
NO! You’re not.
What she didn’t know was that you need the gluten to make the pastry dough. Gluten is the protein that gives bread and pastry that stretchy, flexible pull allowing it to perform the way you need it to perform.
This holds true for all crafts and practices. You need to know how each step affects the whole.
Especially witchcraft. We’re manipulating energy. We’re manifesting dreams. If we don’t understand the nuances of how our own energy and thoughts play into the spells we do, it could backfire in ways we never dreamed of.
You need to know what you’re doing but you’re not going to fully understand it until you’ve made a few mistakes.
Its also important to understand that sometimes thing look like their taking a turn for the worse but it’s actually just clearing the way for better than you asked for results.
I hear new witches complaining all the time about spells that seemed to go wrong. “I did a money spell and lost my job, what the hell?”
Well, my guess is that your job was never going to bring you that money so now your free to find a job that will.
Or the other one I hear a lot is about relationships. Lil’Witch casts a spell to strengthen the bond between her and new fling. Then they ghost her. I’m sorry sister, that really sucks. Apparently, they weren’t the right person, they weren’t capable of that kind of bond.
To Brew or not to Brew
I came into the craft when Borders had a whole section on witchcraft. My favorite past time was buying an overpriced coffee and perusing that section. FOR HOURS. Oh to have that kind of time, again.
There were more spell books than I could imagine. I bought a few of those Spell books and tried more than a fair share of other peoples ‘recipes’.
Eventually I began putting together my own. I burned candles, made charm bags, enchanted jewelry, and crafted poppets. I started a garden to grow my own ingredients, made spell jars and attempted freezer spells.
Some worked, some backfired, some didn’t do anything.
I also discovered that every now and then, I didn’t have to do anything at all. Just the act of imagining what I wanted was enough to manifest it.
That’s when I began to understand exactly how magic works.
That’s when I got it. The magic comes from me, not my ingredients, not the candle.
All those steps were just there to give me time to focus and feel into what I wanted. Yes, the herbs and crystal have an energy that will amplify your own. They are helpful and fun to use. However, they are not necessary.
I went a few years never actually using any of it. It’s okay if you don’t cast. You’re not a bad witch.
I came back to it, when I finally had the time. Mostly because I missed it. I find it fun.
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Herbology
Speaking of spells, a lot of those spells are going to ask you for plant products. Those plants will have specific properties and energies that lend themselves to support your intentions. It’s a good idea to know about them and their history in the craft. Most general witchcraft books will have a list of correspondences.
Some of my early go-to books were:
Everyday Magic by Dorothy Morrison
Spinning Spells, Weaving Wonders by Patricia Telesco
It’s also not a bad idea to look into herbal remedies. There’s more current information and actively practicing Herbalists to learn from. I’m a big fan of Rosemary Gladstar.
Rosemary Gladstar’s Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health
You can also find her videos on YouTube
If you decide to grow your own, you’ll want to learn a little gardening. It’s important to know what each plant needs as well as which plants will grow easily in your climate zone.
The Farmers Almanac website is a great place to start.
Divination
Most witches I know practice some form of divination. Tarot is the most popular but others pull Runes, scry in mirrors or divine with a pendulum.
Here’s a great book for overviewing divination practices.
The Book of Divination by Ann Fiery
Here’s my favorite for understanding the Tarot
Learning the Tarot by Joan Bunning
And a quick overview of the Elder Fark Runes. This one comes with a set of runes.
The Book of Runes by Ralph H. Blum
Astrology
Astrology will help you understand yourself and the people in your life. It can also give you a little insight to the energies affecting the world and the people in it. It’s big and complicated subject but interesting if your inclined. I have a number of books on my shelves such as:
The Power of Birthdays, Stars and Numbers by Saffi Crawford and Geraldine Sullivan
I have also been visiting Cafe Astrology for years. They offer a free natal chart.
Gods & Goddesses
If somewhere along your journey, you decide to work with a Deity, get to know them first. Make sure you’re a good fit and that they want to work with you too. Gods, Goddesses, Spirit Guides and Animals can all support and enhance your energy. They can knock away obstacles and barriers.
In my experience though, They want something in return. Consider it an equal exchange of energy, fair pay for fair work. All Magic has a price, deary.
Before you start imagining animal sacrifices, it’s not that dramatic. For example, Bab Yaga like a shot of whiskey. Sedna wants you to donate to an ocean conservation group. Some want a place on your altar or their own effigy. Could be as simple as a few flowers and a candle in front of a picture of the Goddess.
Sometime they’ll accept your energy. I knew a witch who turned her daily workout into an offering of thanks to the Goddess who supported her.
Science holds true in this respect, The law of Conservation of Energy states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed – only converted from one form of energy to another. The only way to use energy is to transform energy from one form to another.
The energy my Sister expended during her workout was the offering for the Goddess to use for whatever she wanted.
I primarily work with Goddesses. There are many books written on specific Goddesses but this was the first on my shelf and a great starting place.
Maiden, Mother, Crone by D.J. Conway
History of Your Craft
Another thing I think is incredibly important is to know the history of your craft. When did it come about? How has it changed over the years?
Witchcraft has an incredibly long history. It was alluded to in every culture since the beginning of civilization. Its been through numerous changes of the ages. It has been through golden ages and years of persecution. Witchcraft has recently been through a number of revivals.
Understanding where you’re craft has been will give your practice a richer experience. History books, websites, and documentaries offer a few options to understanding the history of witchcraft.
Also consult your ancestors or spirit guides. I’ve learned a lot about my own witchy heritage from the spirits of my ancestors.
It’s also important to know the history of different elements of your practice. Do you practice folk magic or high magic? Do you follow a specific Pantheon or Diety? Those histories will be important for your understanding and progress.
The Catch
Here’s the Catch 22. You have to practice to hone your craft. You have to cast those spells to get the experience. This puts you at risk of things backfiring or just not working (which is probably the better of the two).
It can be stressful taking risks. It can be disheartening when things don’t turn out the way you expect, but you have to keep practicing. Learning by doing is the best way to Know your craft.
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