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Free Box Witchcraft

@freeboxwitch / freeboxwitch.tumblr.com

Show off witchy things you find for free or at thrift shops!
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10 *Free* Things to Add to Your Altar

When you’re witchy but also broke, you can still beautify your altar with:

  1. Interesting rocks that catch your eye
  2. Wildflowers that grow near where you live
  3. Old glass bottles (that you take the labels off) for offerings/use as vases
  4. Origami animals and hearts (handmade energy AND cute!)
  5. Wild-growing berries (handle carefully and don’t eat - not for pets)
  6. Hand-written sigils and enchantments, burn the edges of the paper for effect
  7. Mini-potions contained in old lip balm containers
  8. Homemade candle-holders made of old jars with the outsides painted
  9. Cork animals x
  10. DIY incense holder using an old bottle & a clip x

Adding things like pinecones, sticks, and leaves <333 I have many a pinecone lying around.

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da-at-ass

Trash witch tips GO

Presented in no particular order with very few rules. These are suggestions and ideas! There is no “school” of trash witchcraft and you can combine it with all sorts of other workings and traditions. Trash witchcraft is all about having a good time and changing the very nature of reality with something you picked up on the way to the bus stop.

What is “trash?” Well, it’s all relative, isn’t it? I think of trash as “stuff someone is no longer using that’s been left somewhere I can get to it.” My trash witchcraft focuses on getting use out of items people thought were useless, and making beautiful things out of what’s been written off as refuse. I’ve also found trash contains things that are unique to it - energies and thoughts from previous possessors, energies of being reused and recycled, energies of BEING trash, entropy, death, life, perseverance, marginalization, chaos, and a strange kind of peaceful order. Just depends on what you find!

Getting Trash

  • Recycle! Save your drink cups and straws and even straw papers.
  • Some low-income hipster/artist areas have “free” boxes on the corner that you can pick amazing stuff out of
  • Goodwill is acceptable, if you pay for your trash at least pay an organization that helps people.
  • Library free book piles, they get a lot of useless donations. Books are sacred on some levels but do not be afraid to rip apart a book on how to use 2005 Microsoft Encarta and turn it into a Sharpie Grimoire. You’re giving it more life than it ever had.
  • You’re gonna look at the ground a lot. You’re gonna look at soda can tabs in new ways.
  • Loose/broken cassette tape used to be common on roadsides but not anymore; you can usually get tapes for something like $1 apiece at a thrift store if you don’t want to wait. The tape inside is useful for all sorts of things, same with VHS tapes!
  • Discarded roadside CDs tho.
  • Rocks aren’t trash but you’ll start finding them if you look at the ground long enough! Even some stuff that’s kinda valuable. Get a rockhounding book and start finding even more treasure!
  • Asphalt and other manmade rock chunks are abundant because roads and sidewalks are constantly being repaired.
  • Near construction you may even find rebar, screws, etc.
  • Dirt is useful. Different kinds of dirt is useful different ways.
  • All sorts of interesting weird bits of metal and glass and plastic!
  • Discarded lighters, some of which still work!
  • Free matchbooks in bars, plus lemons and nuts and cocktail picks.
  • B O T T L E S
  • You will likely find some money even if it’s a bit of change. Spend it or save it for spell stuff (or just because you’re wise).
  • Animal bits are everywhere really.
  • U-Pick/Pick-n-Save/U-Pull-It type car lots will let you go into their broken down/wreckt car lot and pull anything off of vehicles for flat fees and it’s quite cheap.
  • Craigslist: for people who want to take other people’s junk away for them.
  • Freecycle-type trade groups and dumpster diver groups are good places to start on both practices, give em a google.
  • Watch the animals around and see if they lead you to something interesting.

What it’s useful for

  • Anything that has been run over or left on a road long enough has been charged with the energies of the roads. The energy might change depending on the type of road, a slow rural dirt lane will have a different feel than busy urban blacktop.
  • Even empty cups are useful for a jar replacement, especially temporary spells.
  • Straws can be used to build lattices, mock-structures (build a house of of straws and blow it down!), can even be used as temp wands.
  • Straw papers can be braided or written on and then wrapped around things for a binding spell or wish spell. For instance write a wish, wrap the straw paper around the straw, blow through it to charge.
  • Write a spell on the paper of an wrapped straw, then unwrap one end and blow through the straw to launch the paper and spell!
  • A cocktail sword is now your tiny ritual knife. Rejoice.
  • Logo/corporate magic: you can use discarded items with a company’s logo with it to draw upon that company for help or even attack it. Use the money attached to the Starbucks brand to make a Starbucks cup the focus of a money jar spell, etc. Or just curse Blockbuster. Oh wait, too late.
  • Glass that changes the light (curved, warped etc) can be used for magnification or focus spells. Colors of glass can add certain aspects depending on how you associate colors. Green is commonly associated with money; there’s lots of green glass out there since it’s a common drink bottle color!
  • All your tiny metal/glass/concrete bits are great jingles for a spell jar that should be shaken, or even a jar bell just for making noise.
  • Flatter lighter shiny clinky bits can be tied up on a frame as a wind chime, gathering wind energy or just being decorative. Add string/knotwork if you want! Great to do with found silverware.
  • A chunk of a place helps call up the presence of that place or draw on the energy of that place or influence that place. This applies to dirt, rocks, roads, concrete, bricks, asphalt, etc. Get macro (a whole city) or micro (this corner of the street) but either way, tap that!
  • Pendant materials abound if you look in the right places, especially if you know how to wire-wrap a weird chunk of chrome.
  • Broken window glass to shatter illusions, break defenses, and expose lies.
  • Broken mirror for scrying mirrors or defensive traps.
  • The right rocks can be used to draw on concrete in lieu of chalk, do a scratch test.
  • Mark the corners of your neighborhood or yard with innocuous, tiny bits of rocks and other things that aren’t likely to be picked up. Even just arbitrarily moving bits of stuff around helps increase your sovereignty over a location. Be aware of who else might control the area though!
  • Trash is useful for shadow work. Find a trash object that you can meditate on or use for an energy focus. A lot of feelings can resonate with trash - the feeling of BEING trash, being discarded or used, being broken. These can be focused on for catharsis or for calm. Walk through the life of this trash item, empathize with its journey, see where its journey parallels yours. Give it a new home if you’ve found some part of yourself reclaiming (a lot of “trash” is actually worth keeping and was mistakenly devalued!); if you’ve found parts of yourself to let go and move on from then throw them away with the object.
  • This can also be a focus for luck or serendipity workings - do a working to find something precious, then do a trash hunt and see what comes up!

Collect safely!

  • Broken glass and sharp metal bits ABOUND in the places where the best trash is. So you’ll want good gloves and I suggest keeping your tetanus shot up to date.
  • Depending on what you’re doing, eyewear may be good too, and I’d wear tough jeans and a shirt you won’t mind getting snagged.
  • Watch where you hunt trash. Some other people may be trying to get returnable bottles or metal for money; I suggest just giving them right of way.
  • People and animals are unpredictable so only work with those you trust and know the rules for if you’re out of your element.
  • Sometimes places with interesting trash are already occupied by belligerent spirit entities who are keeping that as their hoard. Only approach if you’re willing to bargain fairly or otherwise if you’re willing to fight the entity. (I suggest bargaining or leaving. Remember, it’s just trash.)
  • Look, if you pick anything up that’s squishy keep some hand sanitizer on you and some resealable bags.
  • Actually resealable bags are a good idea anyway, stay organized! Label with date/place if you like to draw on specific associations.
  • Add sigils or cleaning/sealing spells to your bags to keep newly-collected materials from causing spiritual/magical problems before you have a chance to take them home and deal with them. If you have an on-the-go cleanse spell then that’s important to use, but sometimes an extra layer helps for really gunky stuff, and trash tends to have a history attached to it.
  • Animal parts - please do some research before you collect so you know how to safely do it and preserve things without violating the Migratory Bird Act and other local laws. There are a lot of “vulture culture” people on tumblr alone, see if you can talk to someone who works with animal spirits so you’ll know how to respectfully harvest materials.
  • If it looks too nasty to touch or reach for or get to, let it go. It’s just trash.
  • Remember that rooting through other people’s trash that’s part of their property is technically crime and a theft. Be aware of when you are trespassing.

Add some stuff! Be trashy with me!

Trash witches rule! Portland has glorious freeboxes all summer. There is this corner by my house were cool stuff keeps showing up. I sort of feel that part of trashcraft is also giving back. When I don’t need things anymore I put them on my corner to find a new home.

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reblogged

I also scored this bag of 33 candles for $4 at Goodwill. The check out lady asked me what I was going to do with them… I couldn’t just tell a country cashier that I’m a witch. I told her that I like to stock up for when the electricity goes out explaining about the big storm that knocked out our power for 4 days last year. She then told me that was a good idea and how she lives in the woods so she understands. She keeps a candle by the stove whenever there is a storm. Now I hope she doesn’t gobble up all my candle stash at the Battleground Goodwill!

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A Low Budget List of Altar Supplies

This list was submitted by Solardata, and has some really good ideas. Go at it, fellow LBW!

Broom: make your own! I have both a large and small besom I made. You can even find scented yarns to tie with (though I’ve found a tightly pulled rope to be best). Wand: a stick! Or you can get creative with cutting down a dowel and decorating it. Censer: you can get a stick incense holder for $1 at the Dollar Tree. Same with a cone incense holder for $1 at some walmarts. Falling that, a small bit of folded aluminum foil works for me and my cone incense when needed (just make sure it’s stable and flat!) Cauldron: a metal bowl might be suitable? I actually found a metal cauldron at a thrift store for $2, but it took a lot of looking (and I very rarely use it in my work honestly). Athame: typically black handled, you can get a black handled paring knife at Walmart for 88 cents. It doesn’t 100% fit the description but it works if you don’t have much money. Chalice: thrift stores. I got mine for 69 cents at goodwill. Pentacle: draw one on paper, or you can get a piece of wood or metal from a craft store and draw/engrave/burn it on that. Book of Shadows/Grimoire: tumblr! Or if you want a physical copy, a lined notebook or blank sketchbook works. Bell: craft stores. You can get all kinds of bells there, choose whatever feels right. Bowls: again thrift stores. I got my offering bowl for 49 cents. Snuffer: mine was a gift, but I’ve seen some at thrift stores for $2 and less. You can snuff any fire with something fireproof and that which blocks oxygen to the fire. I used to use tops to old jar candles, depending on the size of the candle. Mortar & Pestle: mine was $2 at goodwill (after months of looking through thrift stores). A makeshift mortar & pestle could be a small ice cream scooper & a bowl. Other than that, there’s a $6 - $10 white set on Amazon if I remember correctly. Candles: birthday candles are 24 for $1. Seek out pagan shops for other candles, my local one sells chime candles for 30 cent each. Thrift stores also have candles for cheap sometimes… Just make sure to cleanse them and look for non burned candles. Thrift stores also have fancy shaped candles sometimes. Also, white candles are catch-alls and can be substituted, so don’t think you need every color of the rainbow off the bat. Walmart sells 50 white tealights for about $3 where I live. Candle holders: my only advice is for birthday candles, which is metal sewing bobbins. For chime candles I have chime candle holders, and for taper candles and votives, you can find holders at thrift stores and dollar stores. Walmart also carries votive glass holders for around $1 each. God image/goddess image: print out a picture from the Internet or copy a picture from a book at the library or friend’s house. Walmart sells picture frames 5x7 for about $1 (though I prefer hobby lobby’s predone frames more personally, but they cost a little more) Knot magic: you can get embroidery thread for 15 cents or so at craft stores, and it comes in a variety of colors. Baring that, you can also get cord by the yard at craft stores for cheap too. Note: a lot of craft stores have 40% coupons on their websites, so you can save even more.

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ace-bucky

quick, cute, and easy candle holders! step 1: locate and obtain one (or more!) empty bobbin step 2: tape the hole where you want the bottom to be step 3: locate and obtain one (or more) birthday candles (yes they have ridiculous colours, but they’re fun and you could always just use white) step 4: put the candle in the bobbin

(this is just precious and it’s fun!)

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reblogged

My thrift store score from earlier :) Four books, two star shaped taper candle holders, 2 unpictured reuseable bags and 17 tall taper candles (half white half red)… all for $7. I’m especially happy about the little Trees of the Great Lakes book because my old tree book is beat up to all hell and now I have a replacement! Pocket sized too! Woot woot!

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swampseer

Witch Tip:

If you don’t already, start saving all your jars! Condiment jars, jelly jars, bouillon jars, etc. Soak them in hot water to get the label off, wash them with soap, then boil them to sanitize them. Jars are great for containment spells, storing herbs, etc. Eco friendly and free!

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phillypagan

i am off to see if i can steal some branches from thrown out chrssmss trees because that is the type of cheapass city witch i am

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libraford

Here’s another cool thing I found at Goodwill! A tealight holder in the shape of a minimalistic house! Though now that I think of it there’s the chance it might have been intended to be a church, with the arched windows. But I would like to think of it as a house. 

I can think of witchcraft, yes. 

thrift-shop witchery at its finest

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reblogged

Some lovely things I got today for free.

The candles came in a belated wedding present from Zach’s uncle. I saw a bunch of organza bags at a jewelry booth at pike place market and asked how much they were. She said they weren’t for sale then asked how many I needed. I told her I needed a yellow one and she just gave it to me. When I have more money I’m going to go back to her booth and get a present for someone.

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reblogged

I try to do witching on a budget. I buy from thrift stores a lot or make stuff out of things that I find out in nature. My altar is a small table we bought at Walmart years ago. My altar cloth is special to me. It is a pink baby blanket crocheted by my mom for my only daughter.

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reblogged

My thrift store score from earlier :) Four books, two star shaped taper candle holders, 2 unpictured reuseable bags and 17 tall taper candles (half white half red)… all for $7. I’m especially happy about the little Trees of the Great Lakes book because my old tree book is beat up to all hell and now I have a replacement! Pocket sized too! Woot woot!

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