I’ve been reading that overthinking and anxiety can pause a spell causing it to delay but can it completely block it even when you correct your patterns?

My window is glued shut so i cannot open it but id still like to do a cleanse. I probably won’t be able to open my door either to avoid setting off the smoke detectors. Is this even a good idea or does anyone have any other cleansing ritual ideas
Tysmmmmmm

My daughter is 7 months old, and for the past several months I’ve noticed that she will occasionally grasp the air near my body and make a motion that looks like she’s pulling out a cord that is attached to me that only she can see.

It’s a very intentional movement, and not at all like the random gestures and movements she often makes otherwise. After she does it, she looks into my eyes very intensely. I can sometimes feel an energetic shift afterwards, but not always.

I have a strong feeling that she is perceiving something that isn’t visible to me. Is this something anyone else has experienced?

I’m more venting than anything because I‘ve been searching for answers on this and there really are none due to a split viewpoint. on one hand, I love the idea that everything has a meaning and a place in witchcraft, but on the other hand, I really dont want to buy so much waste, especially crystals that are reaped from the earth and kill so many. how “positive” can a crystal be if kids died trying to mine it, if it’s being torn from it’s home malevolently for greed with child labour or unpaid labour

other things I have figured out. I use one white candle for everything and then place a colored sheet of paper underneath.(I dont light the candle due to asthma so its a forever candle!) lol herbs are fine, as I can grow or buy sustainable herbs, moonwater can just be put in old jars I’ve collected from food I’ve eaten. But the stones really get me.

How is buying these stones any good spiritually for your practice or for the earth, which witches are supposed to be in tune with and care about. I’ve seen a few posts about this but really the community needs to be better about sourcing better stones, its like she shein of crystals. horrible work conditions, underpaid wages, child labor, bad for the earth and the people. why are so many people, especially witches, okay with this?

I’ve been looking into lab grown crystals and local rockhounds, but even local rockhounds near me buy from other unverified sources. most lab grown are for jewlery, and I prefer the rough, raw edge stones so it’s difficult to find.

if anyone has stone sources that prevent child/dangerous labor please send em my way!

edit: will reply to everyone after work when I can focus on everyone’s messages (: thanks for yiur replies!

Hey folx,

I have been a practicing witch for the past 19 years or so.

For the bulk of that time, I have been a dedicated follower of 2 specific deities, and have recently found that my path has shifted away from them, and so it is time to part ways a bit.

As such, I am having my preisthood and community present to re-dedicate myself into my Celtic Pagan path of witchcraft to reinforce that I am not turning my back on my heritage and belief & show that I remain open to guidance and will continue my practice.

Here's where I need help:

I don't know what chant to have sung at the crux of my dedication ritual. 😬😅

At home, my practice is less about sung chants, and more, I donno, *mundane* I suppose. I focus on close to home workings. Lots of food magic and home maintainence magic. Small charms that increase the well-being of my household and anyone invited in. I'm an animist and focus on a lot of connection-based magic. I respect and heed to the superstitions of my family's history. I pass down scottish stories and family legacies to my children, that sort of thing. I don't do a lot of "high magic", so chants aren't really my forte.

My current life path has moved from personal healing into more protecting and advocating for others. I've become more largely more active in the community, and food and hosting are incredibly important to me.

Did you have a formal dedication? What chants did you like while deciding how to show who you are as a practitioner?

Any thoughts as to what song/ chant would best represent my practice, and new path?

How to deal with spiritual predictions?

The Background:
For 10 years, I’ve been very close to my aunt and her best friend.
They are highly spiritual and frequently make predictions.
Note: Their track record is not 100% accurate, but I’ve always valued their insight.

The Conflict:
For 5 years, my dream has been to join the Air Force. I want this, and I fully understand the risks.
When I told my aunt, she completely shut it down.
She says she and her friend both "see" me getting seriously hurt or dying if I enlist.

The Mental Toll:
Even though I know they can be wrong, hearing those exact words from someone I love has messed with my head. I am stuck in a really tough psychological space, feeling crazy and second-guessing my dream.
How do I shake this anxiety, separate love from fear, and make the right choice for my own future?

Any advice on what I can do or navigate this ?

Not even a full day later I was in a random parking lot and the car parked near me had a single bumper sticker: 3 ravens.

As the title suggests, are spells stronger/weaker/not affected if you make the spells yourself? I don't mean you're the one that performs the spell, I mean when you make the steps and when you direct the symbolism + meaning.

I've been making my own rituals and steps because I really haven't resonated with any of the classic rituals. I've been thinking whether or not that makes me a weaker/stronger magician because I'm not doing it traditionally.

Thank you :]]

Hey everyone. Been out of my craft for so long and I’m trying to get back into the swing of things.

I’ve been very interested in deity work, and even though I have had altars set up for Cernunnos and Elen of the Ways for a couple of years, I’ve never actually done anything but light a few candles and maybe put a flower or a bit of tobacco there when I remember.

I would love to have an actual go at creating a working relationship between me and my deities, but I have absolutely no idea where to start… I don’t know how to go about working with deities, and the stuff I read just makes no sense to me. So can commonplace really dumb it down to me how I can start working with, worshipping and honouring and opening myself up to deity? Any help will be very appreciated

Often times when I cleanse with incense, yelling and fights in the house break out the following days after wards.

Anyone else experiencing this?

3 weeks ago I found this job opportunity which would change my life and give me a chance to leave my current toxic workplace, it's also something I've always wanted to do since childhood. I applied and prepared for the exam staying up late while managing both my full time job and studies. I didn't only worked myself to exhaustion I did a candle spell on Thursday during the waxing moon, did a sugar jar on the interviewer, left my pen on the workplace during the interview day and also made a spell jar with the dirt and pebble I collected from that place. However I did not get selected even though being qualified, one thing I should have done before and not after is divination. After being depressed for over a week I asked my friend who's good at tarot to do a reading on why I didn't land the job. He pulled the Chariot, 3 of pentacle reversed, 4 of cups reversed and 7 of wands reversed. He said that I put my efforts in the wrong place and wrong time and it wasn't really meant for me but I cannot think of any better opportunity than this one. From my understanding, spell work and magick is supposed to manipulate the energy or reality instead of doing "what's good for me". I did everything possible both in magickal and mundane ways but still did not receive desired results so I'm really questioning everything about my practice right now please leave your thoughts on this.

Okay. Let me know if this perspective of how to deal with this situation within witchcraft is an option vs "what kind of spell should I do?":

I am in my late 30s F so, really, this is a serious curiosity I have.

I have a few men who are interested in me. One is my choice, regardless of details. But I am telepathically linked with one guy and his mom are intercepting. Cord cutting is often in motion. There is also interference from other sources.

Am I overthinking or being thorough to try it by doing separate and appropriate spells for each source? Is there an area of the craft that maybe I didn't explore yet?

After many years of experimenting with various ritual setups, offerings, and sacrifices, I arrived at this conclusion:

A spirit has no use for physical matter—matter is just dense, stagnant energy. The object on the altar is merely a physical anchor for human intent.

The real offering is the sovereign practitioner’s cognitive currency: the time spent in contemplation, the focus required to orchestrate the space, and the willpower exerted to align with that specific current. The relic is just the cup; your conscious life-force is what fills it.

Sometimes I get this feeling in my stomach that I know something that I don’t know. I’m more often than not given a reason after the fact, but I can never pinpoint the direct reason I feel this certain way while I’m feeling it. All I know is I don’t know, it’s like if uncertainty was a physical emotion. Similar to anxiety, but I can tell the difference. I’m still clear headed and focused, just with this unignorable feeling in my stomach. I think I’m asking for advice? What I can do about it or learn from it? I don’t know. Is this experience common?

Hey everyone,

As the title of this post would suggest, I'd really appreciate help with something because I'm a bit stuck on what to do.

The backstory is that I'm currently on holiday with my family in this beautiful, little, 18th century cottage in Norfolk.

You can tell when you walk in that there is spirit activity and spiritual memory but i want to stress it's not negative or heavy or dark, not at all. Instead it's full of softness and positivity and welcome. It's such a gentle and warm energy, and it makes it such a lovely place to be.

However...

When my parents read through the history of cottage as part of the welcome info, they immediately honed in on the part that said in passing that this site used to be used as a palmistry.

The important context here is that my parents are very religious in a traditional sense and they immediately made it clear that they would "have to pray over this place later." Not because of something they felt but because of the history they read.

I don't know maybe I'm overthinking it but I'm really keen to prevent them from disturbing the entities and the emotional memories of this place (however inadvertent they might be to what is going on here away from that single, throwaway line on a page).

My parents don't know about my craft so whatever rituals i do have to be discreet.

I'd just really appreciate some advice because I'm a bit stuck as to what to do.

Apologies if this post is irrelevant to this r/ if it is, please do remove as applicable.

Thank you, everyone!

update: thank you for all the help

so i have some issues with depression and whatnot, but i very frequently make sun water for my plants and offerings. but i need to ask, could i use it for consumption purposes? i only use filtered water in a clean mason jar.

sorry if this is a disrespectful question but i'm genuinely wondering

i have been having very vivid dreams lately that have been coming true quicker than usual. i often have dreams of conversations or mundane things that will happen exactly the same months later. this week though its been seeming like something from each dream comes true the next day and i have been wondering why. well just now i found one of my familiar's whiskers lodged into the stuffed animal i keep my sleep charm and moonstone in and i suspect this is why! she is a very special kitty and im wondering if she's done this on purpose to keep me safe and guide me in my dreams. what a sweetie 🥰🐈‍⬛ she has also been watching me sleep more often lately

I'll be keeping the whisker in the pouch of the stuffed animal so she can continue her work

This isn't meant to be a snarky question or anything, but I'm genuinely curious: since so much about witchcraft depends on intuition, your vibe and your reality, do ingredients even matter in spells? Like I could be using bay leaves or rice or something random. If I believe what I'm doing is going to work and I feel good about it, is there even a way things can go wrong?

Trying to get a grip on things as I'm new to this

This might be a stupid question but im a baby witch and I’m very puzzled because I’m an atheist I believe in science but I also believe in witchcraft. I’ve been very interested in Hellenism and have been studying it for a long time and it seems like a lot of witches worship the Greek deities (mostly). Long story short I don’t believe in any gods but I feel drawn to Hecate but I’m very puzzled because like I don’t know how that works or if it even does. And most importantly I don’t wanna offend her or anyone really. I seem to believe in her but I still think there isn’t a god up there that created the universe.
Someone help out pls idk wth I’m doing

THANK YOU ALL!!

TLDR & Outline at the bottom

Ive update my template for crafting spells from scratch and though I would share.

I've seen lots of post for ppl looking for a particular spell to copy AND wondering if they should write things down. There's nothing wrong with using general styles of magick like candle magick or personalizing some of the very common spells chord cutting, freezer spell, or road opener. The hard part can be when trying really narrow down your intention, figure out your ingredients and put it all together, then remember what you even did and if you feel it worked.

So here's my outline to address both of these. Start with your intention and narrow it down to sentence, maybe 2. Trouble refining the sentence? Good. Use that refinement process to really hone in on want you want. You can further refine it by taking the core elements of that sentence and turn it into a title for the "name of spell" portion and further refine that name into sigil. Use your intention to find ingredients work with what you want: colors, herbs, styles of magick, tools whatever! Mesh those ingredients into a large spell category like candle, jar magic, or even your own idea.

I like to use this outline to plan bigger spells in advance and as a checklist. Recent changes include

• Moon Phase - to record the phase, whether you deliberately work with the noon or not
• Divination - results such as a tarot spread regarding the working
• Other Tools - so that you can plan in advance for what you need and you don't find yourself without a lighter for your candle spell you've waited a month to do.

I Its not required to fill out each part if you feel it doesnt apply, especially under ingredients.

TLDR: Make your own magick starting with the intention then build the ritual.

Date | Time | Moon Phase

• Name of spell:
• Intent:
• Divination:
• Ingredients:
  • Sight:
  • Sound:
  • Taste:
  • Touch:
  • Smell:
• Other Tools:
• Incantation:
• Visualization:
• Action:
• Location:
• Results:

Hellooo !

I'm new to witchcraft as a whole but I have a specific delimma I'm working though regarding record keeping. I have ADHD and Autism. I'm very bad with note keeping ever since I was little, but I've learned writing and taking notes does indeed help.

I have a small notebook I use for personal craft stuff (what symbols resonate with me, how I meditate, etc) and I use the app Obsidian for brainstorming notes, technical stuff and writing notes from videos I'm watching.

My little notebook is about the size of my hand with not so good feeling paper. But I feel bad for not using it. I have a larger unused notebook. Its felt/cloth covered with a premade old vintage book look. I love it.

Problem is: because I'm so new to the craft, and the fact I have neurodivergence that makes record keeping different that others, I know the notes will not be organized. I domt know which format to go with.

- Using obsidian is fine, but requires my iPad that I don't always have
- using my little book is ok, but again the paper as well as how small the book is to write in feels challenging
- the new notebook is tempting, but if my practice is so new, is there a point to use a book that has a fixed number of pages and no way to reorder them without destroying the book ?

Theres also the factor that I'm in the broom closet, meaning using a large binder feels too ..open ? In a way?

I'm likely overthinking all of this. So I wanted to reach out for input. Any insight is appreciated!

Hello friends! So my blue collar husband asked me "sage the house and his truck" Its been a hell of a couple weeks. Well, im not going to do that because I dont have any sage because I dont think I should be using that personally. I have been a on and off witchy person for years. I basically follow the wheel of the year and occasionally would do some spell work and candle magic. Everything I do is small scale. Not like what he is asking. I have some stuff at my alter I can use but was wondering if anyone had a great go to house cleansing/protection spell. Right now im planning to use my stick of selenite, gonna open all the windows and doors, going to do a tarot reading before and after, going to ring my bell, and i got some resin incense for awhile ago but unsure which to use. I got regular frankincense, black frankincense, white copal and dark copal, myrrh, dragons blood, and two mixes. One with frankincense, myrrh, and benzoin. The other is frankincense, benzoin, and lavender. Its important for me to get stuff out and then fill my home with good because I dont want any empty space for bad to come back in. Thank you for any advice!

Hello my little advanced witchies. I need some help 😅. I created a bindrune last night amd drew it on my arm for personal use only today, and I kinda feel like I can genuinely feel the energy from said rune, and what strong vibes it gives. But im not sure if its real energy, or just me thinking it is. Is it actually genuinely real or true if I feel genuine energy from a rune I created? Or is it imaginary? I trust myself, but i also want some expert advice as well. Thanks!

Hello! New to witchcraft here! I did a spell and before I did said spell I did a protection spell, I’ve seen online that you should let the protection candle burn completely out (which I’m planning on doing) but if I only needed it for the spell I was doing could I put out the protection spell flame after my main spells flame goes out? If yes, how should I properly snuff out my protection spells flame so it isn’t burning all day? I’m more so thinking ahead on the future if I do a spell and have to leave the house. But any advice is wanted!

Also how long to protections spells last? Should I do one once a week? Or do one with every spell I do? Or can I create protections in my main spell that would work just fine?