Folks out there act like there isn’t any intermediate and advanced witchcraft content available to them. Even 20 years ago most of what is easily available now was not at your finger tips. Because of all this availability it seems like people don’t realize what is basic, intermediate or advanced. Spoilt with everything available, they wonder what advanced even is. Everything listed down here can be found online, in distance classes, and in books that are for sale at modest cost:
The basics are knowing the major neopagan holidays, how to cast a circle, cleanse, ground, shield and follow spell and ritual instructions for simple goals like attracting prosperity, inspiration and a little luck. Easy to follow and clear cut ethics. The instructions for learning visualization. You can start elsewhere than neopagan but there will be similar basic practices, and there are hundreds of books of the same basic content and lots of sites and blogs too.
Intermediate material is setting up a daily practice, getting good with a divination method, getting very familiar with herbal, tree, stone or animal lore, writing your own spells and rituals using correspondences and standard patterns, some study of myth and folklore. Thoughtful understanding of gray area ethics and honor. A lot of self exploration and strengthening. Instructions for out of body experience.
Advance material will be communicating with various spirits and/or deities. The specialization in the arts of a particular path or role like priesthood, tool making, bardic storytelling, writing your own grimoire or copying your tradition’s book of shadows. Initiation into that path and optionally coven practice. Confidence in astral travel. More specific and targeted spell craft and ritual based upon your compiled experiences and those shared with you by teachers and peers. Ecstatic practices during ritual and spell work. Deep self knowledge, facing difficult demons and shadows and acting in full accordance with your own ethical compass.
Post advanced: learning the specialities of more paths perhaps becoming a leader, teacher, warrior, writer, or mystic in your tradition. Learning more depth and self knowledge through teaching or leading or even through deeper life dedication. It is not every person who has gone through the levels duty to teach, it takes extra talents outside of the craft like writing ability, pedagogy, and even the luxury of time and space to provide for others.
It all comes down to your own personal level of dedication and amount effort you can or will put in how far you can go. And one can have a very meaningful and impactful practice at any level dependent only upon satisfying their own drive for self knowledge and wisdom and truth of the spirit world, deities and/or nature. Everyone’s advanced path will look different though intro paths can be fairly similar, they all are unique too.
Let these Tumblr witches know! Just to add…truly advanced spiritualists do not disclose everything they do. There’s a spiritual decorum to be followed. Of course you use your healing abilities to assist those in need, but we don’t share every detail of our practice. I guess it’s a habit for people on here to share everything for validation. OP’s post is gold ✨
..I didnt realize I was advanced..thank you much for this! I was feeling mad insecure!
It feels good to actually look st what is out there and realize what there is to learn and what you have already learned. Gives you a sense of self knowledge.
Quick idea I had and need to note down before I forget it:
a witch bottle designed not to harm the incoming energies (like most witch bottles seem to be with their nails, thorns and black pepper) or block them (like the protective witch bottles I’ve seen with rosemary and basil), but filter and transmute.
Somebody throwing bad luck at you? Great, you’re giving me energy, I’ll filter it and change it into a blessing.
“When life gives you lemons” sort of idea, inspired by a post I’ve seen floating around about that witches shouldn’t ground bad energy, but filter it and transmute it, because earth can only take so much negative.
one word
charcoal
seriously, charcoal filters, man
maybe also mussel shells? since they’re filter feeders? hmmmmmm…
You could crochet a net wrap around the bottle or paint a “net” around it.
Bury it in a pot of geraniums or add persimmon seeds, for change and transformation.
A sand trap works well like this to. I posted an adapted spell by Cunningham a while back like this.
Friendly reminder to NOT USE AN ESSENTIAL OIL DIFFUSER IF YOU HAVE CATS.
It doesn’t matter how well-ventilated the area is.
Cats probably can’t understand to leave an area if they’re feeling ill.
Their livers physically cannot metabolize essential oils and it can easily kill them.
Also, while I’m at it, Young Living and DoTerra reps are in no way educated experts and are not required to learn anything about their essential oil products other than what they think will sell it.
Also never ingest essential oils or put them on your skin without a carrier oil.
Can we please get rid of the idea that you can’t buy your own tarot decks?
When burning anything always keep a glass of water near you, unless you are working with burning oils, then keep a fire extinguisher or baking soda on hand.
When working with essential oils(EO), do not burn them they are highly flammable
Never leave anything burning unattended, be it a burn bowl, candle, incense. DON’T LEAVE IT!
Please remove anything flammable such as paper or string from the candle, it will ignite and you will be alarmed.
Make sure that what you’re burning your candle in is fire safe, metal and cast iron are good bets. Do NOT burn in a glass, if you have to put it out and dump water on it, it will explode.
Make sure you tie back loose hair and don’t have any floppy sleeves or necklaces to get in the way.
When putting out a candle it is best to use a candle snuffer and do not use water.
Don’t burn kitchen sage, it gives off a toxic smoke. Not something you wanna inhale.
Essential Oil Safety
Please, please dilute them properly. I have a chemical burn scar I can never get rid of due to undiluted cinnamon bark oil. The proper dilution is one drop per teaspoon.
Never ingest EO, there are some that are now generally recognized as safe by the FDA, but the quality of EO are not regulated. Who knows what a bad quality EO could do to your internal organs, not something I wanna test.
Essential Oils are photosensitive, meaning they deteriorate in light store them in a dark area to prevent them from spoiling.
DO NOT put them near on your skin and get in the sun or a tanning bed, especially citrus oils, they will blister.
Water will not dilute essential oils, only other oils(canola, olive, sweet almond, olive will all dilute). If you want to use them in a bath it is one drop per a teaspoon of oil.
Please seek medical attention if anything seems off after using EO, they seem harmless but can be very dangerous
Pets can be very sensitive to essential oils(particularly cats) and it is almost impossible to cover all my bases here. The sources provided below have some great resources.
Always go by the scientific name, German and Roman chamomile are very different products.
Kitchen Magic Safety
Wear shoes if you’re doing anything, I nearly lost a toe the other day cause I dropped a knife. I got lucky I was wearing boots.
Wear correct clothing, and tie back hair. No matter if you have a gas, electric or induction stove, I’ve caught a lab coat sleeve on fire thanks to a torch while making a creme brulee.
Use your knives correctly, learn about the pinch grip and use the correct knife for the job. Using a paring knife for chopping potatoes is asking for trouble. There are tons of videos online, I like the ones from Alton Brown and Jamie Oliver.
As a side note use sharp knives, a blunt knife will do more damage than a sharp one.
Don’t leave knives in the sink, someone could begin to wash dishes and cut themselves.
Watch the steam. Steam can give a worse burn than dry heat, open pot lids away from you and don’t stick your face and phalanges in steam.
Don’t leave food products unattended.
Use your damn pot holders, they protect you and your counters.
Store raw meat on the lowest shelves, and never store cooked meat on the same shelf
Wash your hands before, wash your hands after handling raw meats, wash your hands after.
Don’t leave food that is meant to be cold or hot out for more than 2 hours, this is to decrease foodborne illness.
When using the store turn handles in, to keep yourself from bumping them off the stove.
Cook meats to proper temps(there is a chart in the sources)
If you are using herbs be sure to use kitchen grade herbs, those that are not kitchen grade are not held up to the same purity standards and could have more pesticide residue.
Herbal Safety
Please be aware a lot of herbs can work against prescription medications, or should only be taken in very specific doses( St. John’s Wort I’m looking at you.) Check in with your doctor or a licensed herbalist or naturopath before ingesting herbs.
Crystal Safety
Identify your crystals, some are water solvent some are not and it matters
Some that aren’t safe in water include malachite and selenite. They have copper and if aren’t sealed they can become toxic. There is no way to know for sure if it was sealed or not keep -ite crystals dry as a good rule of thumb.
Some crystals fade in sunlight like rose quartz, amethyst and citrine, in order to prevent fading try cleansing them with sound, flower petals, moonlight and energy.
may the bridges I burn light the way 