I’ve been a practicing witch since I was around seven or eight years old. I can already hear the comments on this statement, ranging from “Witches are real,” to “She was definitely too young to be practicing the craft at that age,”. Witchcraft just sort of found me. I don’t truly have an explanation for why I started practicing the craft or how I even figured out that it was real. When I tell people that I’m a practicing witch, it usually takes a bit of explanation before they realize that I don’t fly around on a broomstick, wear a pointy hat, or make potions in a cauldron. Most of the craft I practice centers around manifestation, small spells, and the ability to use my surroundings to my advantage.
I’m a solitary witch, meaning that I don’t practice the craft with a coven of other witches and most of what I have learned has come from books, social media, or the internet. As I get older, I realize that there are a lot more people like me out there; people who’ve found witchcraft but don’t really know how to start practicing or even if they want to start practicing.
Think of this article as a guide of sorts. I will list various ways that you can apply the craft to your life and you can choose to do with this information as you choose. One does not have to be a witch to practice witchcraft, but one does have to practice witchcraft if one wants a more magical, spontaneous life.
1.) Find a type of witchcraft that best suits you, your personality, and your needs
Whether you plan on joining a coven or being a solitary witch, like me, it’s smart to pick a focus for your witchcraft. When I first started practicing, I was most fascinated by necromancy-based witchcraft and talking to spirits (pretty heavy stuff for an eight-year-old, but I was a weird kid). But I find myself today as an eclectic witch, which just means that I blend many different types of witchcraft in order to better suit myself.
There are tons of different types of witches out there, and most of you who are reading this might find yourself as “baby witches.” Being a baby witch just means that you’re starting out practicing witchcraft and haven’t really developed yourself into a specific type of witch yet. Like I said earlier, I’m an eclectic witch, but other types of witches include crystal witches, green witches, house witches, and even sex witches. Just do some research into the different types of witches, find one you connect with, and start practicing and doing research around that type of witch. Remember, you don’t have to practice only one type of the craft and you can always try something new later.
2.) FAMILIARIZE yourself with your astrological signs
If you’ve ever been on a dating app before, you’ve probably seen someone with a bio that says their sun, moon, and rising signs. I myself am a Leo Sun, Libra Moon, and Capricorn Rising. While astrology doesn’t necessarily dictate your personality or other things about you as a person, knowing your signs can seriously help with focusing your energy, they can aid in your manifestations, and they can help you figure out what spells might best suit you and your astrological needs. If astrology is something that interests you, you could even look into practicing cosmic witchcraft.
Don’t know your sun, moon, and rising signs? That’s okay! I didn’t know mine for a very long time, but then Snapchat came out with a feature where you can enter your birthday and the time you were born and it will tell you all of your signs. It even tells you your planetary signs, from Mercury to Pluto! I can’t recommend enough trying out this feature on Snapchat. You might even learn a bit more about yourself in the process.
3.) Familarize yourself with the different planetary retrogrades
Similar to knowing your signs, knowing which retrogrades are happening at any given moment can be extremely useful to the craft. Most people know about the Mercury Retrograde, and how when it’s happening it usually brings on bad luck or misfortune. What most people don’t know about are the other types of retrogrades, such as how Venus’s Retrograde can bring good fortune to your love life or how Neptune’s Retrograde is a good time to reflect on your dreams and ideals. Retrogrades are good to know about as they can help focus your manifestations and spells.
Searching for “planetary retrogrades” is a good way to find about about current and future retrogrades. But to get you started, here’s a list of current and future retrogrades for 2022:
- Mercury: December 29 to January 18, 2023
- Venus: None for the rest of 2022
- Mars: October 30 to January 12, 2023
- Jupiter: July 28 to November 23 2022
- Saturn: June 4 to October 23 2022
- Uranus: August 24 to January 23, 2022
- Neptune: June 28 to December 4 2022
- Pluto: None for the rest of 2022
4.) Begin keeping a spellbook
As a witch, there will always be times when the craft works and doesn’t work for you. Sometimes spells fail, manifestations don’t work, and that’s okay. Spellbooks or grimoires can help you to keep track of your witchcraft, and they’re the perfect place to store information, recipes, spells, manifestation methods, etc. There’s no such thing as the “perfect” book to turn into a grimoire, just find a book that you won’t easily lose or forget about.
Don’t know where to start when it comes to finding spells and manifestations? The internet is a great tool, just make sure that the information you’re getting is coming from a real witch and not some random journalist. It’s also helpful to invest in a spellbook written by someone else. I recommend The Goodly Spellbook: Olde Spells for Modern Problems by Dixie Deerman (Lady Passion, High Priestess) and Steven Rasmussen (Diuvei and High Priest). This spellbook is super easy to follow, and you’ll find spells that can fit any of your needs or your experience level.
5.) Try manifesting something
Manifestation can often be seen as the easiest form of witchcraft, which is one of the many reasons why I practice it so often. But what, exactly, is manifestation? Manifestation is when you attract and believe in something enough for it to come into your life, i.e. thinking something into reality. It’s very simple to manifest something. For example, you can try saying what you want out loud in order to speak your desire into the universe. One attraction method that I really like is writing what I want down on a piece of paper, putting it under my pillow, going to bed, waking up, tearing up the paper, then throwing away the paper with the belief that what I desire has been dreamt into reality.
Funnily enough, TikTok actually has a lot of good videos regarding manifestation does and don’t, methods of manifestation, and just general manifesting advice. Many of the manifestation methods I use today came from TikTok. There’s a type of manifestation for any of your desires, whether that be love, success, or even clear skin. Once you find a manifestation that works for you, write it in your spellbook! Also, be patient. Manifestations rarely work overnight, and it will usually take a bit of time before you get what you desire.
What Now?
I’ve given you the basics on how to apply witchcraft to your life. It’s up to you to decide how to want to move forward with this information. You can simply finish reading this article and decide that witchcraft just isn’t for you, you could decide that you want to become a full-on witch, or you could be somewhere in the middle. Whatever you decide, just know that this article will be here whenever you need it. Remember that anyone can practice witchcraft, whenever or wherever. Now go forth and live out your dreams of being the witch you’ve always wanted to be!