The Importance of Salt in Witchcraft

Image credit: www.saltinstitute.org

In witchcraft, as in biology, you cannot survive without the use of salt. Salt is the ultimate purifying agent, and it has extensive ritual and spell usages that every single magick-using culture has come to recognise and use. Everything from Terry Pratchett to Supernatural has used salt in their work related to magic lore, and this is because it’s extremely common in real-world customs, traditions and rituals.

Important Witchy Facts About Salt!

Mineral salts:

Look. I’m not gonna judge if you want to use fancy pink salt or whatever. That’s your call. All I’m saying is, it’s really expensive and it’s literally no different to the cheap table salt you get from the shops. Magickally speaking, salt is salt. Magick doesn’t care if it’s Himalayan mountain salt or if it’s Woolies Homebrand table salt. Don’t waste your money! Honestly, it’s not worth it unless there’s a very specific reason to do so.

So, keep a stash of salt in your house! It’s an awesome thing to have for magick, and boy is it good to eat too!

– Juniper

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Just a quick reminder since I'm seeing a trend in my recent new followers -

If you are a radfem/gender critic/gender essentialist/TERF, don't support trans rights, think that "witch" is not a gender-neutral term, or believe that magic comes from the womb / only cis-women can be "real" witches, get the fuck off my blog.

Don't follow me, don't ask me questions, I don't care about your journey, I don't care about your reasoning, I'm not interesting in talking to you, I will block you on sight.

This is not a safe space for TERFs. There is nothing for you here.

My favorite simple wards to guard the home

This is your witchy reminder to research the author, their background and the source of the information contained in any books that you're reading. There is way too much n@zi bullshit surrounding modern occultism/spiritualism/witchcraft nowadays. So, beware of what the roots of that knowledge you're gaining might actually be.

Man I love making charms. I made it I used it I cared for it I brought it with me

This acorn in my pocket this knot charm on my bag this slip of carved wood this creek stone this ochre stained bone this embroidered scrap of flannel stuffed full of dry flowers

I sought the gift I called the magic up I asked the stone the wood the bone the steel to take on new purpose

I painted I carved I sewed I dried and filled and inked and dyed. My use gave it meaning. My familiar fingers wear it smooth my touches stoke the magic my offerings give it strength.

The magic is mine it's in me it becomes tangible under my hand it gentles when I ask it presses back against me to guide and teach. my oil sustains it. my care gives it meaning. my confidence regains its shaky footing and there's magic in a lilac twig, carved, short and thin, bone white.

Red Flag Checklist

Okay witches, let's have a round table.

When you're reading or contemplating the purchase of a book on modern witchcraft or paganism, what are some red and green flags that you look for?

I'll start.

Red Flags:

Disreputable Author - If the author is either a known source of bad information or bad behavior, or one of those "house names" that certain companies use, that's a no for me.

"New Age White Witch" Syndrome - If a text has a more-than-incidental or very deliberate focus on culturally appropriative practices ("Use this exotic voodoo doll ritual to hex your ex"), outdated terminology ("black magic," that G slur we don't use, etc), antisemitic bullshit (Lilith is not a pagan goddess), or anti-science rhetoric ("Essential oils are better than pills!") And yes this means the ever-expanding list of racist dogwhistles too.

Poor Understanding or Misrepresentation of History - If someone's repeating Murrayisms or insisting things are ancient that definitely aren't (POTATO GODDESS), that says to me that either the author didn't bother to do their research or they don't know what they're talking about.

Insistence on One Correct Way - If I encounter anything resembling "this is the only TRUE way," the book's going out the window. The more so if the author is citing their personal opinions or UPGs as fact.

Insistence on Gendering Everything - If a book insists on assigning a binary gender to everything (outside of citing a historical context), or is boomboxing ~*SACRED WOMYN'S WOMB MAGYCK*~ throughout, or even if it's just overly preoccupied with fertility and childbearing as part of the "natural" life cycle, I'm immediately putting it down. (This is more of a personal one, in a way? But it's a red flag for TERFy things too.)

Lack of Sources - If there's no bibliography, no works cited, no recommended reading, or just a really flimsy list that's rife with internet links or problematic titles, that's not a good sign.

Green Flags:

Inclusive Language - If the author refers to the reader or an unidentified person as "they" or "them," that's a good sign. Double points if it's in a context that you'd normally expect to see gendered elsewhere. There's always room for gendered language when it's appropriate, but to me, it's refreshing when an author doesn't assume the female identifies as female.

Health and Safety Warnings - If there are notes for safe handling or harvesting of potentially harmful herbs, or warnings about health hazards (i.e. keep this away from persons who are pregnant or nursing), or reminders to be careful with fire and glass and the like, this is a good sign. To me, it means the author has a practical mindset and is at least keeping real-world limitations in mind.

Lots of Sources...and GOOD Sources - If the book has a nice fat bibliography, especially if there are mundane sources as well as magical ones, and if those sources are solid? A+. Double points if there's an index or footnotes and citations throughout the text.

Lack of "Guru" Mindset - If the author encourages the reader to take what they've learned and continue to do research on their own, that's a good sign. Encouragement of critical thinking is excellent, and also the admission that there is more than one way of Doing The Magical Thing. (Hi Lee)

Good Formatting - A book should be visually appealing, but it should also be easy to read and formatted properly, in a way that makes sense. I like to see clean margins, good spacing, and clear text. Page decorations and pictures and fancy title fonts are fine, so long as they don't make the book difficult to decipher.

(Okay, your turn!)

I like to listen to interviews on podcasts to get an idea of the person behind the book. Do they take themselves too seriously? Do they avoid certain questions? Do they seem like generally nice people? How do they handle criticism?

I know some people aren't into this, but I do enjoy some personal stories in books my magical folks. It's all well and good to read lists of spells or concepts, but I'd like to see how that looks in someone's personal life and practice to see if it is useful to me or could be.

I'm sure I have more of these so I'll have to circle around and reblog when I think if them.

Ways To Be A Garbage Witch

Look everyone, in These Trying Times we can't always afford things so we gotta make do with what we got. So here's some hot tips to help you become a garbage witch:

An alternative name for this: how to be a crow

Hey what's with the call out?

Both pop culture media and New Age spirituality has made me realize that more people need to get a lot better at recognizing "racist trope, but applied to a magical/alien being."

Witches don't owe you mundanity, actually.

Discussions about "mundane before magic" are important. I'm not against them.

When I was working full time, for half of the year I woke up before sunrise, worked all day indoors, and drove home after sunset. Being able to experience the weather felt like a truly magical event. Feeling the sun on my skin felt like a kiss from the gods.

And it's very handy for there to be awareness that, no, Apollo wasn't calling to me to be a devotee because the one day I was really stressed in December the clouds broke and it was sunny in the outdoor seating area.

Clouds just move sometimes.

But I am against people's need to come into conversations which are specifically about real magic that is happening, and say, "hold on! What if it's not happening, though? Rule out mundane first!"

For heaven's sake. If you cannot comfortably exist around magical conversations without assuming that everyone else is engaging in irrational thinking, you are the problem.

Conversations about developing discernment of mundanity itself are very good and healthy.

But these talking points do not belong in every single conversation. Much less in personal posts where a person is just sharing cute photos of spells they did!

Look, practitioners do not owe you mundanity.

Practitioners do not owe you an explanation of the mundane shit they've done in conjunction with a spell.

Practitioners do not owe you an explanation of the mental health counseling they've received as part of their spiritual journey.

Practitioners are not obligated to tack on lip-service "mundane first :3" disclaimers onto posts that are clearly discussing the reality of magic within their own paradigm.

Magical practitioners do not owe you mundanity.

Please, make your own posts about mundanity discernment. Do research, ask practitioners, make well-rounded masterposts. Share and reblog these posts. Link them when appropriate. Be a part of the conversation that highlights these important issues and discernment skills. Contribute resources when people ask for help with their magical discernment.

But don't think that walking into any random post and asking OP why they assumed they had a magical experience is helpful in the slightest.

at this point it would be less of a liability for elon’s lawyers to just kill him and take their chances on a murder trial

this is why elon suddenly hired a praetorian guard

The Ides of March is almost here, and I have this great idea for how to celebrate this year!

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— Margaret Atwood, Eating Fire: Selected Poetry 1965-1995 (via bibliophilebunny)

Come in, babe Across these purple fields The sun has sunk behind you Across these purple fields Winter Solstice Sunrise - Android Jones, 2015

How does this work? How does this technique -work-?

Is a fundamental question that every spell caster should spend time on. Because understanding that, allows you to disregard other aspects of that.

You could say Spell A works because Red vibrates on the Power of the Umbrella Scale. Red is the most "open" of the umbrella scale - so it's a receptive vibration - Red here is not a "color" but rather a vibration. Therefore you must match everything in your spell to the umbrella vibration of Red. Including yourself. So that means you need to hum a specific musical note, while casting.

Spell B which is built on the framework that Strawberries are the essential fruit for all spell casting. You must speak with the strawberries, sacrifice your longest fingernail to the strawberry plant and then pick the strawberry at the right moment (2 days after fingernail clipping) in order to achieve what you want. The clipping must be buried in the proper way in the proper time, so as to not disturb the strawberry plant.

The fact that the strawberry is Red (vibrationally) does not matter to Spell B because the framing and framework is different. Spell B makes no use of the color (ephemeral) of the Strawberry - only the fruit and plant (physical).

Just because Spell B technique (of working with a strawberry) could work in Spell A's framing (assuming the strawberry is indeed, RED, at picking), does not mean Spell A's framework is universal. Because Spell B is doing something else, entirely. Spell A would have to reframe the connection between the Strawberry's "essential fruit status" to the Vibration of Red. Which is adoption / adaption of Spell B to Spell A's technique.

And in my argument, that is a completely, fucking, new spell. :)

Extending this metaphor even further.

Let's say we have Spell C Technique that agrees with Spell A - the color Red is important (tm). So an apples to apple - ephemeral to ephemeral thing.

But Spell C says - the reason Red is required for this spellwork is because Red means that you are Striving forward! Energetic! Powerful! That's what Red means! Because that's the personal association that Spell C's Spellcaster has with Red. Of course Strawberries (red) are essential fruits is because they are Energetic! Powerful! All Red Fruits Are! (agreeing with Spell B [but ignoring that Spell B said nothing about other fruits] but for totally different reasons than B or A) The fact of the matter is, the reason Red in Spell C versus Spell A -what the purpose of the Red within in the spell - are two different things.

All these spells are doing different things, but they all have an opinion on the "right" reason for that spell working.

Like this post here is an addition to a larger consciousness stream (even larger than these two I'm linking here) on spell techniques involving correspondences and symbolism in spells:

https://www.tumblr.com/asksecularwitch/685333651218743296/but-again-this-is-all-to-say-you-may-not-even-use https://www.tumblr.com/asksecularwitch/685333281395359744/like-the-fact-ive-had-can-i-call-it-even

But here's the thing, is that "online" or offline, this is very standard behavior because unfortunately the spell caster community is very poor at communicating. Meaning can only be derived, Understanding can only be made at a certain level. So the reason that I am capable of slicing into this nuanced discussion about techniques is not because I am just... reading the "obvious" subtext (no one said I was but I'm just reinforcing the frustration here that it's hard to understand wtf is going on), but rather because I've spent a lot of time deep diving into spells. Like I really enjoy spells, they are my favorite, and really the only thing older in my practice THAN spells is pendulum divinations. Which is my other, secret love.

I digress, getting into the weeds a bit, circling back up to this. People expect you to understand "how spells work" because they expect you to already have a base knowledge of what they are talking about. A lot of that is because there was this historical expectation that you'd "do your homework" aka you'd be in a group (or you'd know someone in a group) and then you'd do readings. And it would be specifically this form of High Magick / Transcendental Magic that used the Renaissance ways of art and thinking and what not. So everyone who was "worth anything" clearly would have read all these papers, these documents, be down with Hermetic Order Golden Dawn Occultism, etc. You'd need to "think real hard" to understand basically, so that's why things were not explained. Period, end of story. Gnosis only comes to those who are willing to put the effort in. Do. The. Homework. Type deal. Then came the like witch-in-town folk magic users who'd try to kind of sort of adapt into the meanings of the HOGD stuff, so using terms like correspondences etc to give themselves a sense of legitimacy (because again the High Magick we're talking about here is very Gate Keepery and very Elitist, and Low Magick is Fake, Folk Magic is Fake. Thamaturgy is Fake.). So that when they published materials they'd be "talking the same language" - even though that's really not at all the same language. It's the same words, but they mean very different things in different people's hands. So I totally empathize with you that there's just this /lack/ of educational standing on spell techniques. And I'm here to confirm your worst fears - it's entirely intentional! You know, the Four Powers of the Magus / Four Powers of the Sphinx - oh sorry, we're supposed to pretend like that's a "witchy" thing and not a Hermetic thing - uh uh uh uh the "Witch's Pyramid"? That's the common citation for most people who don't want to explain things. To be Silent (tm) is to prevent anything from escaping your grasp. I mean to be fair, there's a whole bit in certain folk magic that to SPEAK of your magic or to impart it to someone else, is literally to give it to them. To fill them up. And to EMPTY yourself.

If you need a visual or a metaphorical example - think of how the Giver (from the book) gives memories to the next generation to hold. This is how I think of it. So how does it come to pass that you learn to break down spells, for me, it's years of trial and error. I don't have any good examples of ways to do it. You can see some of my ability to break it down in my Nanowrimo project from last year, and dig into the techniques a bit more. And I'll be repeating that this year. But the whole point for me is you just gotta get good at recognizing that someone's following a pattern. And sometimes the patterns overlay on top of each other and require nuance to pick them apart - but there's definitely patterns to spellwork. It's always NEAT to find a new pattern,

So yeah, once you look at a large number of spells, you see more and more patterns, more and more the way people weave their magic. And then it becomes easier to talk about the individual slices of the techniques. The specific core pieces. And the way the spell caster may be considering magic. But my recommendation is. if you've got a live human being on the end, fucking ask. after all, ask is in my screenname [though my inbox is closed right now due to the weird messages being sent around rn]. I advocate for everyone to pick up post, reblog, ask questions. People are here. Maybe you'll get the wrong answer FOR YOU but maybe you'll get the key to an answer for later.

I hope this helps, and I'm sorry I don't have a good way for you to learn to do the thing that I do. :(