Witches: where to begin?

[an anarchist]

Hello witches of RF.

My partner has been talking to me about being a green witch since we started dating.

Can someone give me a "being a witch for dummies" if you will?

What exactly does being a witch entail? It doesn't involve flying around on a broom (or does it?).

Green witchcraft is using nature as magic (right?). What does this mean? Does nature have magical properties? What exactly is magic anyways?

Where does one begin if they want to explore witchcraft? What are some of the basics to know? Any general rules of thumb?

I know next to nothing about witchcraft. would like to show my partner this thread so they can get a general idea where to start.

Tagging the witches I know of
@VoidCat @Viker
What does being a witch mean to you? And what kind of witch are you, and how does it differentiate from others forms of witchcraft? Thanks in advance :^]

 

[vulcanlogician]

Just out of curiosity, does your friend weigh as much as a duck?

 

[an anarchist]

Just out of curiosity, does your friend weigh as much as a duck?

Yes

 

[Heyo]

Hello witches of RF.

My partner has been talking to me about being a green witch since we started dating.

Can someone give me a "being a witch for dummies" if you will?

What exactly does being a witch entail? It doesn't involve flying around on a broom (or does it?).

Green witchcraft is using nature as magic (right?). What does this mean? Does nature have magical properties? What exactly is magic anyways?

Where does one begin if they want to explore witchcraft? What are some of the basics to know? Any general rules of thumb?

I know next to nothing about witchcraft. would like to show my partner this thread so they can get a general idea where to start.

Tagging the witches I know of
@VoidCat @Viker
What does being a witch mean to you? And what kind of witch are you, and how does it differentiate from others forms of witchcraft? Thanks in advance :^]

I'm not a witch, nor do I believe in witchcraft but I know a few witches. What they have all in common is a belief in magic of some form and a vague connection to a "tradition".

 

[ChristineM]

Hello witches of RF.

My partner has been talking to me about being a green witch since we started dating.

Can someone give me a "being a witch for dummies" if you will?

What exactly does being a witch entail? It doesn't involve flying around on a broom (or does it?).

Green witchcraft is using nature as magic (right?). What does this mean? Does nature have magical properties? What exactly is magic anyways?

Where does one begin if they want to explore witchcraft? What are some of the basics to know? Any general rules of thumb?

I know next to nothing about witchcraft. would like to show my partner this thread so they can get a general idea where to start.

Tagging the witches I know of
@VoidCat @Viker
What does being a witch mean to you? And what kind of witch are you, and how does it differentiate from others forms of witchcraft? Thanks in advance :^]

Im not a witch (though i have been called one on several occasions;-), however the advice i can give you is never let a Christian know.

Many of them don't like the idea of other people calling to a higher spirit
Exodus 22:18

I believe a branch of my ancestry goes back to the Devices of Pendle witch fame. My mother is proud of this link to history and tells me witches magic was not hocus pocus but wisdom and knowledge of the land in which they lived

Edit. A few books I've noticed.

 

[Sirona]

Hello witches of RF.

My partner has been talking to me about being a green witch since we started dating.

Can someone give me a "being a witch for dummies" if you will?

What exactly does being a witch entail? It doesn't involve flying around on a broom (or does it?).

Green witchcraft is using nature as magic (right?). What does this mean? Does nature have magical properties? What exactly is magic anyways?

Where does one begin if they want to explore witchcraft? What are some of the basics to know? Any general rules of thumb?

I know next to nothing about witchcraft. would like to show my partner this thread so they can get a general idea where to start.

Tagging the witches I know of
@VoidCat @Viker
What does being a witch mean to you? And what kind of witch are you, and how does it differentiate from others forms of witchcraft? Thanks in advance :^]

Well, without knowing anything specific about your friend's worldview, I can only make general statements, but most of the books sold with titles like "witchcraft" or "magic" deal with Wicca, a truly "new religious movement", which was first published in 1954 and which claims to represent / restore the "Ancient European Religion(s)" before their before their supersession by Christianity. Most Wiccans believe in a God and a Goddess (I'd say the Goddess is the part that is more important.) The Goddess is "triple", she's "Maiden" (color: white), "Mother" (red) and finally "Crone" (black). Wiccans celebrate the 12/13 (?) full moon nights of the year which called are called "esbats" and which are related to the goddess, as well as 8 male/Sun related holidays called sabbats. (link: Wheel of the Year - Wikipedia).

The motto of Wiccans is: Do what you will, so long as it harms none. Many use the pentagram, using it as a symbol for their religion.

Many Wiccans have an altar to the Goddess and God as a place for magical rites. The basic Wiccan technique is the invocation of a magical circle of protection, which is intended to ward off evil spirits/thoughts, and which is dissolved at the end of the ritual.

For more details, please ask your friend, as I don't know if (s)he is actually a Wiccan.

 

[Viker]

I'm a Diabolist, meaning I practice darker more forbidden forms of witchcraft and magic. Specifically, I practice what my coven calls Déofolcræft (that's fancy old old English for Devil's Arts). It's a broad range of practices not bound by convention. The ultimate "bad guy" form of witchcraft, the kind your old timey pastor warned about I suppose. It entails everything else you'd find in modern witchcraft practice and then "black" magic. It's composed of divination, spell work, herbalism, necromancy, demonography and more. I've always been drawn to darkness, the macabre and what others believe may be evil. I don't entirely agree with that last one. Black magic or sinister witchcraft is not about harming others, it is about a just reciprocation and retaining balance. It is also about improving oneself, maybe helping others cared about along the way.

Witchcraft is a very broad thing and most don't come into compact with demons or Satan. Myself, I reject the common concept of Satan anyhow. What I mean by Devil or Devils is forgotten/forbidden dark gods that I believe are muses and forces in both human and non-human nature. These forces can be seen as either sentient or just inherent within and around. Working with these agents is part of the craft. But working with spiritual essence is also what I do. I don't believe it is confined to any one religion, owned definition or branding.

It's a nature based work of art and magic anyone can approach. Some of it will have religious implications some will step outside of religion.

For the non-spooky stuff I like this video for beginners. It's from a Wiccan point of view but that doesn't matter. It helps for starters.

 

[Heyo]

Hello witches of RF.

My partner has been talking to me about being a green witch since we started dating.

Can someone give me a "being a witch for dummies" if you will?

What exactly does being a witch entail? It doesn't involve flying around on a broom (or does it?).

Green witchcraft is using nature as magic (right?). What does this mean? Does nature have magical properties? What exactly is magic anyways?

Where does one begin if they want to explore witchcraft? What are some of the basics to know? Any general rules of thumb?

I know next to nothing about witchcraft. would like to show my partner this thread so they can get a general idea where to start.

Tagging the witches I know of
@VoidCat @Viker
What does being a witch mean to you? And what kind of witch are you, and how does it differentiate from others forms of witchcraft? Thanks in advance :^]

All you need to know about witches can be found in Oh my gods!

 

[Soandso]

I couldn't comment on green witchcraft, but rune magic or sigil magic was something I dabbled in. Austin Osman Spare wrote several books on the topic, but I find that if you are looking more for a good starting point, 'practical Sigil Magic: Creating Personal Symbols for Success' by Frater UD is a good place to start if you are more academically minded.

As for rune magic, 'FUTHARK: A Handbook of Rune Magic' by Edred Thorsson (Stephen Flowers) is a great place to start. Rune magic tends to be more nature based than sigil magic, which seems to be more mental in nature. They both intertwine with eachother beautifully, I find

 

[Quintessence]

I identified as a Green Witch long before I felt comfortable identifying as a Druid. I still do identify as a Witch; I didn't stop being one just because I joined a Druidic order. I can go more into my background as needed, but let's leave it there for now.

You ask a lot of really good questions that can be explored at great length. I can tell you what I did, when I was starting out, to answer this question: I devoured everything I could get my hands on. I approached it like a cultural anthropologist might, observing the subject to appraise it without judgement. It's a very academic method, and it has limitations because fundamentally, witchcraft is a practice. It is something you do so eventually you need to start doing. Witchcraft is the practice of magic, or spellcraft. And spellcraft is about using esoteric methods to facilitate change.

Because spellcraft facilitates change, in many respects witchcraft is about self-empowerment. Throughout history, it has had an element of rebellion or counterculture to it; it's a tool people use to change their lives when many other such tools are taken away by those with power. It is a way of reclaiming your power and using it for your own aims. No wonder those with an interest in controlling the masses have tended to fear and shun the practice, eh?

Beyond that, what being a witch entails varies tremendously. There are many schools of magical practice, many metaphysical philosophies of what magic is and how it works. Sometimes it is a full-fledged religion, sometimes it is a component of that person's religion. And yes, there can be brooms or flying involved. Also knives, cauldrons, incense, pentagrams, herbs, divinatory tools, precious stones, and more. Or none of these things at all.

Green witchcraft can refer to a couple different things. It can refer to a more all-encompassing religion (or spirituality of you prefer) that focuses on reverence of nature, and/or it can refer to a magical practice that prefers to utilize natural materials. There are probably some other meanings that it has to others in the community as well.

As for what magic is, it's a word that works far too hard in the English language and means far too many things. Within the context of witchcraft, it typically means one of two things. It either means the practice of magic, what I prefer to call spellcraft for clarity. Or it refers to auras, energy, spirit, or numinous aspects of existence that dwell within all things. Outside of witchcraft, it also refers to anything from that which inspires awe and wonder to that which is inexplicable or miraculous to sleight of hand tricks. Like I said, the word works too hard in the English language.

 

[The Hammer]

Im not a witch (though i have been called one on several occasions;-), however the advice i can give you is never let a Christian know.

Many of them don't like the idea of other people calling to a higher spirit
Exodus 22:18

I believe a branch of my ancestry goes back to the Devices of Pendle witch fame. My mother is proud of this link to history and tells me witches magic was not hocus pocus but wisdom and knowledge of the land in which they lived

Edit. A few books I've noticed.

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Raymond Buckland's book is one of the first I read. It is a pretty good treatise.

 

[syo]

Hello witches of RF.

My partner has been talking to me about being a green witch since we started dating.

Can someone give me a "being a witch for dummies" if you will?

What exactly does being a witch entail? It doesn't involve flying around on a broom (or does it?).

Green witchcraft is using nature as magic (right?). What does this mean? Does nature have magical properties? What exactly is magic anyways?

Where does one begin if they want to explore witchcraft? What are some of the basics to know? Any general rules of thumb?

I know next to nothing about witchcraft. would like to show my partner this thread so they can get a general idea where to start.

Tagging the witches I know of
@VoidCat @Viker
What does being a witch mean to you? And what kind of witch are you, and how does it differentiate from others forms of witchcraft? Thanks in advance :^]

Just read whatever appears.

 

[Witches_Element]

I couldn't comment on green witchcraft, but rune magic or sigil magic was something I dabbled in. Austin Osman Spare wrote several books on the topic, but I find that if you are looking more for a good starting point, 'practical Sigil Magic: Creating Personal Symbols for Success' by Frater UD is a good place to start if you are more academically minded.

As for rune magic, 'FUTHARK: A Handbook of Rune Magic' by Edred Thorsson (Stephen Flowers) is a great place to start. Rune magic tends to be more nature based than sigil magic, which seems to be more mental in nature. They both intertwine with eachother beautifully, I find

 

[Witches_Element]

I wrote a wonderful audiobook of three teen witches that are an example of what pure innocent Wicca Witches would be like. I hope you get a chance to see the audio book movie because it has actual spells in it to show the sacred creation you are. True magic does not make people bow down to you, but is the magic of a smile, a gentle touch, an acknowledgement that you are special and deserve to be here in this beautiful world of ours.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2WYGH7r5CLqyHucRzlhPpbXRJTO4Mklz

 

[River Sea]

I wrote a wonderful audiobook of three teen witches that are an example of what pure innocent Wicca Witches would be like. I hope you get a chance to see the audio book movie because it has actual spells in it to show the sacred creation you are. True magic does not make people bow down to you, but is the magic of a smile, a gentle touch, an acknowledgement that you are special and deserve to be here in this beautiful world of ours.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2WYGH7r5CLqyHucRzlhPpbXRJTO4Mklz

I thought I'd share this video that I frequently listen to because hearing Isis' name in your first audiobook (even if Isis is a teen name for one of the characters) made me think about how I like connecting things, because I remember this song when I hear the name Isis. I hadn't finished the first audiobook yet, but whenever I hear the name Isis, I think of this video that I listen to frequently.

Goddess Invocation by Chris and Sheree Geo

 

[Brickjectivity]

What exactly does being a witch entail? It doesn't involve flying around on a broom (or does it?).

I'll go ahead and toss in a question that's been nagging me for a long time. Is nudity important in witchcraft and what about orgies? Are they important?

I encountered a book about witchcraft, and it had some nude pictures in it with a bunch of girls naked. I've also encountered anonymous online discussions and various attributions to the important of nudity, getting nude in nature or something like that. Is this important in witchcraft?

 

[VoidCat]

I'll go ahead and toss in a question that's been nagging me for a long time. Is nudity important in witchcraft and what about orgies? Are they important?

I encountered a book about witchcraft, and it had some nude pictures in it with a bunch of girls naked. I've also encountered anonymous online discussions and various attributions to the important of nudity, getting nude in nature or something like that. Is this important in witchcraft?

Nudity is not needed in witchcraft tho some folk use it in it. And I know very few witches who've had an orgy