Hello, I'm a girl from a very religious, Christian country.
I was always a spiritual person - I always thought I could feel nature around me. Now I don't consider myself religious at all. I am an electrical engineer and a scientist so religion is not really something I believe in. I think that everything can be explained by science, but we don't have enough knowledge to do so yet. Even though I consider myself highly science based, I still have a feeling that intentions I put into making food, preparing tea or some other things like that, always manifest. I recently got into tarot first and then found some information about magic. I am not really sure what to do right now. I do want to learn how to practice magic, but I don't even know what kind of magic would suit me. I also found out that you don't have to be particularly religious in order to practice magic so that is a good beginning for me I guess. I'll also tell one story: In orthodox Christianity we sometimes practice what witches would call smoke cleansing (tho it's now required to open windows and doors so that the smoke goes out of the house). We light up a coal (i think it's called coal in English, though I'm not sure) and we put little cube on top. Those cubes are made out of different ingredients and they small fantastic. Usually a priest should come and do this ritual at home, however it is okay to do it yourself. first time i did this i went to the second room and the bowl i was holding in my hand to carry the coal around the house suddenly broke. It felt though someone just kicked it out of my hand. I thought it was because the bowl was suddenly too hot because of the coal, but that wasn't the case when i put the coal on the same type of bowl. It has never happened after that.
if you have any suggestions on where to start and what should i do please give suggestions. thank you in advance.
You mention being from a very religious family, and when speaking of the incense being burned with the coal, say that this is allowed in the home but generallya priest does this.
Is your family Christian or Catholic?
At any rate yes you need not be religious to practice witchcraft. Witchcraft is a magical practice that can be combined with other religious practice or none at all.
I am from a French Catholic family on my mother's side and Christain on my father's.
My grandmother was a Catholic, but read tarot cards, as well as another form of divination, and she also worked with bells to cleanse/bind spirits.
Pretty taboo.
My grandfather openly scorned my practice of witchcraft, and we argued about it.
As far as types of magic and being unsure, I suggest you research first. Look at different types of magic commonly practiced and see if any interest you.
Look into the basics of working with energy in spellwork. Learn about raising, directing, and grounding energy. Start slow. Try not to worry about the types of magic and witchcraft just yet as it is possibly far better to take your time and learn what best suits you first then to limit your magical practice with a label. You don't need to stick with a certain type of magic if it is currently popular, and you do not really need to label your practice at all if you choose not to.
You said you find your intentions manifest quite well when added to food or stirred into beverage. You may find you enjoy kitchen or cottage/hearth witchcraft and you may wish to look more into this.
Ultimately what your practice looks like is up to you.
Hey RomanRuin Thank you for your answer.
my family isn't that religious tho society i live in is. Our main religion is Georgian Orthodox Christianity. As a kid i enjoyed practicing this religion, but when i saw some ugly sides to it i kinda drifted away from it. It is very interesting to me that Catholic people aren't as taboo towards tarot and magic as Christians are here in Georgia. Tho i think they believe and like it more than they let on. Thank you for your suggestion, i think i'll look up some stuff bout kitchen magic :d
