Hi guys,
I need a little advice as a low level witch. I dont feel very involved in the craft. It feels like i only pay attention to witchcraft when I need something. I cast spells on average, once or twice a month. I want to know what I can do to become more involved, and not feel like I am only using it for my personal gain. I want to respect the craft and have good faith as well. What are some daily or even weekly things I can do? Thanks so much for help.
If you want to get more involved in witchcraft I advice you to find a path you feel comfortable in. The most important is that you have fun while doing it.
look for books talking about 'the next step' of witchcraft, so instead of beginners guides you might check out The Goddess is in the Details and Everyday Witchcraft both by Deborah Blake or To Walk a Pagan Path by Alaric Albertsson. they go for a 'you know what an Athame is, let's skip the tutorial and talk about living your life'
daily practice comes with retraining your brain so you get into new habits, as well as being mindful of your life.ask yourself what you feel is a 'witchy life' then see what parts are reality [daily mediation] and which are fantasy/desired reality [herbs hanging from a cottage ceiling for example] this should help you shape a more realistic goal for your every day.
from there, it's daily things like meditation, energy work, shielding, grounding, journaling, maybe yoga or some morning ritual. you could also look into kitchen witchcraft to incorporate magick into your cooking [which we need to do daily] as well as blessings/prayers before meals, in the morning and evening [i went a few months doing 5 prayers a day but eventually went 'this is ridiculous for me' and cut down to 3 breakfast, lunch, dinner with the occasional 'thanks for the day' thing on mornings i'm relaxing outside] i also do a regular cleansing when i shower. visualize/feel negative energy being washed away and chant 'stress and strain go down the drain' [you could also charge cleaning supplies or make your own cleaning solutions and cleanse while you clean]
if possible, try setting up a permanent altar. if you cannot, try having symbols of the elements in your room [say in the south corner you keep you candles, the east your incense burner or feather, a glass of water in the west and a plant in the north] you can also try filtering media. i'm not saying cut out everything you love that isn't witchy or accurate about witchcraft [i'll never give up my Hocus Pocus DVD!] but observe how you feel after certain things. say you hang with a friend who's always complaining, do you feel glum or drained after spending time with them? do you watch movies about people being cynical which makes you rather snarky as a result? if something makes you happy, don't cut it out [i'm a sarcastic person, and i still enjoy watching Daria] but if it causes you to go to a place you don't like, you might consider distancing yourself from it.
there's also Youtube, Podcasts, Blogs, Facebook groups and many different websites to cater to pagan perspectives, perhaps check out some of them could give you a new view or inspiration. [if you need a list i can give you one, the majority of my online presence these days is either Pagan or Anime lol]
thanks to all the comments for help, and the above one especially. you talked about online presence, and mentioned you could show me a few resources... if you could, that would be super helpful. i guess i really just need to gather my thoughts (which is something ive never been very good at) and just figure out where I want this craft to take me. one of my biggest issues is that i can never really find spells or rituals of any sort, at least not a very wide variety. mainly I look at witchcraft blogs on tumblr, but then that brings up questions of accuracy, as well as trouble finding what i need. and i cant really afford a ton of books, nor can i keep them in my home since i am closeted...
well regarding youtube witches TipToeChich has always been a big influence for me. theres als Ember HoneyRaven but she's made the majority of her witchy videos private because she's going through a nasty divorce right now and they can be used against her. TheLadyGraveDancer is a similar youtuber that i really like, she's a generational witch so her videos are part witchy chats, part spells/rituals, and part family v-logs. you might also like TheWhiteWitchParlour, she posts when she feels the calling to so don't expect regular stuff [i don't think she's posted in a few months tbh] but she's very positive and posts a lot of top 10 videos [like top 10 ways to celebrate Mabon] if you want a bit more tarot and spiritual/self-love stuff there's Kelly-Ann Maddox. [and of course there's links to other youtubers on their page you could check out too]
podcasts i've only really found one i really like and thats Hippie Witch, if you don't do podcast Joanna DeVou has her own youtube channel too. don't really do tumblr or intagram but many of the youtube people also have facebook and instagram groups/pages. facebook i'm a member of a few private groups, but of the public ones my favourite is The Cottage Witch [mostly pictures though] magical recipes online [also a website and youtube channel] and the pagan witch [you might find links or suggestions to the private groups, i can message you the names if you would like, but they do review members before joining]
while i do own many spellbooks, you can find it all online. you can write your own too and just write it down in your book of shadows for later. you might also consider reading up on things like kitchen witchcraft so you can start adding some magick into your everyday.
To add to the amazing list of Youtubers that Nekoshema gave, is like to add Alaska Wolf who is actually a SoM member and you can find some of her videos on the videos tab of this site. It's not always day to day type of stuff, but it's helped me remember how the smallest thing can be part of our practice. Mostly because when I watch her videos I think about the information she's giving and how to implement them into my day to day life. Like crystals for example.
There is also a girl I used to watch often names Cara I believe and her channel name is Cutewitch772. She has a lot of blog style videos as well as informational videos. Once you start watching videos, you'll get videos recommended to you that are sometimes by some amazing people. It's how I found most of the witchy people Im subscribed to!
