Heya!

So, couple of suggestions here. If you’re looking for something aesthetic, I really, really love these wax electric candles I found on amazon. 

I bought them for a coven-mate for Christmas (she lives in a dorm) and they’re perfect. So if you want a candle-type thing… but can’t use a flame, that’s what I’d suggest.

But, circling back to substitutions in spells… Sometimes, I like to think of witchcraft kind of like baking, or chemistry. You assemble the ingredients, apply energy, and hopefully get the result you want.

The thing is, once you understand the chemical reactions happening behind the scenes in baking (or actual chemistry) you can start to change things around. For a super simplified example, say the reaction required an acid. And whoever wrote the reaction specified a specific type. But you know, that all that is needed is the acidic property. You can swap out the called for acid with something you have on hand.

If a spell calls for candles, try and work out WHY it was included. Figure out what sort of energy/vibe/etc the candle brings to the spell, and it’ll give you an idea of how you can work around it.

Something else to note… correspondences can be different for different people. Let’s say a spell calls for something from the ocean, for this example we’ll say salt water itself. Witch A finds the ocean calming, peaceful, and uses the salt water to help bring that healing energy into their spell. Now, Witch B is terrified of the ocean. The storms, tsunamis, deep trenches with who knows what lurking down there. In their spell the salt water brings angry power, perhaps fear. In both cases the same ingredient is used, but the desired effect is very different. If Witch B tried to do Witch A’s spell, they might find it difficult because of what they associate the salt water with. And vice versa.

This is one of the reasons I don’t particularly like using premade spells written by other people. There are so many different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences out there in the world. And all of those things play into our magic whether we realize it or not. Correspondences are not global, and I find that most written spells do not take this into account.

So my biggest piece of advice is to look at the premade spells as sources of general inspiration. Figure out what the purpose of the spell is, and then begin to build your own spell using things that have meaning to you. I can pretty much guarantee that your witchcraft will be far more powerful as a result.

<3 Your Witch Mums

Hey there! Lots going on here in this ask, so I’m going to break it down a little in my answer.

Don’t force yourself into anything

Witchcraft should be the exact opposite of forcing yourself into something. From our perspective witchcraft is about empowerment. It’s freedom. So if you feel like you’re forcing yourself into it… don’t.

Being a skeptical witch is a good thing

Both of us here at witch mums carry the skeptical tag proudly. Question everything! That’s an excellent approach. There’s a lot of (I’m going to be diplomatic here) interesting and conflicting information that is out there as far as witchcraft goes. On Tumblr, on blogs, and even in printed books. Some deep-seated, long-held beliefs that are problematic, or even outright wrong. Just because you read it (and it seems lots of people believe it) doesn’t make it right.

The very best thing you can do as a new witch is to approach everything skeptically. Approach like you would any other information. Just because it’s the occult doesn’t mean you have to completely disregard the logic/scientific part of your mind!

At the end of the day, your path as a witch is determined by you, and you alone. If something doesn’t sit right with you… there’s probably a reason for that! Your craft doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s in order to be valid.

What about faith?

Faith is a tricky one, because it’s often associated with religion, and witchcraft is not a religion, it’s a practice. So instead of viewing witchcraft as something you need to take on faith, perhaps start thinking about it as a skill.

If you’ve never done art before in your life, you’re unlikely to paint the Sistine Chapel or the Mona Lisa on your first go-round. If you’ve never run before, odds are you aren’t signing up for a marathon as your very first race. And if you DO (sometimes jumping in with both feet is good) then you’ll want to give yourself time to practice first.

For us here at Witch Mums, witchcraft is mostly about manipulating the energies around us. It’s like a muscle, you start small, you repeat regularly, and soon you’re able to manipulate more and more bits of energy.

Don’t pretend

This goes a bit in hand with the faith part, but I wanted to give it its own section because it’s important. Witchcraft is NOT about pretending. It’s not a case of “fake it til you make it”. 

A spell will not work if you don’t believe it will, because as the witch casting the spell your intent, your belief, is the one ingredient that cannot be substituted.

Keep reading

I mean they CAN, but there can also be numerous other factors at play that cause a spell to bust. I try not to interpret it as a personal flaw, for confidence’s sake ✨