I’m here to tell you that not only can you start your witchy practice today, but that I will be here along the way with any questions you may have.

First, let’s start with some of (what I consider to be) the foundations of witchcraft or spellcraft.

Here are 9 fundamentals that I’ve also included in a printable (download here via Google Drive), but (as always), you should feel free to completely customize these based on your own practice preferences.

* Personal Empowerment: Cultivating inner strength, self-awareness, and confidence. Believing in your own power to create change.

* Nature Connection: Developing a relationship with the natural world, including the cycles of the moon, the seasons, and the elements.

* Meditation and Visualization: Practicing techniques to focus the mind, enhance spiritual awareness, and visualize desired outcomes.

* Energy Work: Understanding and manipulating energy through practices like grounding, centering, and shielding/protecting.

* Ritual and Ceremony: Performing structured rituals to mark significant events, honor deities, or manifest intentions.

* Divination: Using tools and methods like tarot or rune readings to gain insight and guidance.

* Spellcraft: Using prayer and/or spells to influence reality using tools you feel drawn to.

* Sacred Space Creation: Establishing and maintaining a dedicated space for spiritual work, such as an altar or special surface.

* Ethics and Responsibility: Adhering to ethical guidelines such as harming none and taking responsibility for one's actions and consequences.

The Willows East Spellcraft Vow

The printable also has the Willows East Spellcraft Vow which is an altered version from my great-great grandmother’s spellbook that I hope you brings you some focus and guidance on your journey.

A few notes about these basics: I can’t stress enough that your pagan practice is completely customizable. I know many people who consider themselves witches who don’t practice divination or who don’t study herbalism, etc. Personally, I consider myself a mix of a House Witch, a Script Witch, a Victorian old maid, and a 90s rockstar. I’m multi-faceted. ;-)

So, I’ve built my craft based on the fundamentals above and my own love for Celtic mythology, divination, and writing. AND I continue to build it as I learn more, and my practice grows as I do.

But Where Do I Begin?

Great question! Start by thinking about (and/or writing down) the things that you love to do and are good at or are striving to be better at. These things might offer some clues about where you’d like to begin your journey, but feel free to shift direction at any time. This is your spiritual world, and it’s a safe space to explore and change.

I found it helpful to research my genealogy to learn about pagan practices of my ancestors. Then, I bought and borrowed library books to help guide me and to find deities and historical figures who inspired me.

You don’t need fancy spell supplies to start a spiritual practice, either. You can start by saying a simple prayer to spirit or God and/or Goddess or your own higher power (the subconscious side of you that wants you to live up to your highest potential). The prayer can be as simple or complex as you’d like. You can write it down or just say it to yourself or out loud. For example:

“Dear Goddess, I would like to begin and expand my spiritual practice. Please guide me on this journey so that I may grow spiritually and bring more light, abundance, and positivity into my life. So let it be.”

I believe that you’ll begin to find that, with each effort you put into your practice, you’ll get rewarded tenfold. Sometimes you’re rewarded with strength or lessons or abundance, but it’s always in the realm of positive growth for your best self.

When I began my witchy practice, I started aligning my spells and prayers with the phases of the moon to draw on the energy of the waxing/waning/full/new moon. I began recognizing the solstices and their effects on me. I would celebrate those days with a meal with family and journal about how the season was changing and how I was changing with it.

I like to honor the other pagan holidays, but the truth is that I often celebrate quietly the ones that resonate most with me. I don’t do elaborate spells that require lots of money, and I don’t like to use spell items that I end up having to throw away. (It’s more about my own superstition than being wasteful.) For example, though it’s common practice to discard spell supplies when the magick is ‘over,’ I can’t get the image out of my head of throwing the work in the trash. I feel that image negatively affects me and my thought process and therefore my spellwork.

So, most all of my spellwork is done in writing with a simple candle that I keep and use repeatedly (for the same spell theme, like my green candle for abundance). Then, once I feel that my spell has worked, only then do I dispose of it. It’s completely unnecessary but simply one of my witchy quirks.

The point is: you can light a candle and ask your higher energies today what you’d like to bring forth into this world. And they will work with you to make that happen for your highest good.

I hope this inspires you to dive in, to research, to search up “simple Italian pagan rituals,” for example, or “candle color correspondences” and, above all else, to make your craft your own.

Wishing you all the best on your journey to search, gather, and grow.

Disclaimer: My AI Assistant, Oscar, helped me compile this list of spell-craft foundations. Oscar works for ChatGPT. ;-)

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