Many years ago, before the famed Grimoire Spread post became popular, my most well-known article was my Potato Salad article. You’re welcome to go read it if you like, for context. In that article, I shared my revelation that where witchcraft was concerned, differing paradigms of practices were very similar to differing potato salad recipes. In a potato salad recipe, the only hard and fast rule is that there should be potatoes in it, and the rest is your own trappings.
The same is certainly true of witchcraft- like potatoes, witchcraft is a real and reliable thing in the world. And like potatoes, witchcraft doesn’t solve everything, but it is certainly a staple in many people’s diets.
Related to that subject, if one were to extrapolate from this metaphor, and decide that potatoes are a metaphor for magic, then it should be noted that not every potato dish is potato salad, and similarly, not all forms of magic are witchcraft. They do all seem to share the one fundamental rule established for potato salad, though: in a potato dish, there must be potatoes. In a magical paradigm, there must be actual magic.
There are many ways to go about beginning spells and rituals, from complex rites to simple methods such as casting a basic circle. Often there’s very little discussion of personalizing an opening rite. Instead many of us use a preset ritual or simply follow along with whatever opening rite is included in the spell we’re currently working.
While this can and does work for many people, designing your own personalized pre-spell ritual has many benefits. As with all aspects of the craft, personalizing it to match your own beliefs and priorities allows your power to flow through the ritual more smoothly, there is no disruption from going through the motions on aspects of a ritual that seem extraneous or tedious to you.
Creating continuity and stability in your craft can also be useful, along with allowing you to find a kind of ease in this aspect of your spell work it can serve as a mental and energetic “trigger”. Repeating the same ritual every time you perform a spell will build a habit that will allow you to switch quickly from any mindset into your magic working mental space. For many witches trying to perform magic when you’re “off” in some way can prove rather frustrating and giving yourself a switch can prevent these frustrations and streamline your spell work.
When writing any sort of personal ritual the first thing you must do is clarify your intentions. Ask yourself, what do you want out of your pre spell ritual? What do you need? Your ritual should not only meet your personal beliefs and sense of aesthetic but also your functional needs and style of spell casting. A poorly designed ritual will quickly become a nuisance and end up cast aside.
The first thing to consider is the desired length of your ritual. Will it need to be short and succinct so that you can perform it quickly before small spells? Or do you prefer to have more preparation and solemnity about your spell work? How long does it take you to prepare mentally to perform a spell? Keep this in mind as you assemble the pieces of your ritual, too many or too few steps and you could find yourself with a ritual that doesn’t suit your needs appropriately. If you’re unsure of what you may need in this area start small. You can always add to your ritual as you become more comfortable with it but starting with a mammoth of a ritual could very well end in you abandoning the ritual altogether.
In addition to the length, the complexity of your ritual should be carefully considered. Are you interested in using lengthier incantations or will you be performing wordlessly? If you want to be able to memorize it then you should only make it as complex as your memory will allow. If you will be performing the ritual from your grimoire every time you use it then feel free to create something more elaborate.
Will you be needing tools for your ritual? Tools can be exceptional additions to any spell but they can cut down on the portability and spontaneity of your spells. If you don’t often perform spells spontaneously or away from your main work space then tools can add a more tangible feel to your ritual which many people find helpful.
How many people will be involved in your ritual? If you work alone then this is simple and you only need to consider your own desires when building your pre-spell rite. If, on the other hand, you work in a group or coven you may wish to consult the other members of your circle or even build this ritual with them.
Now that you have an idea of the general kind of ritual you’ll be creating it’s time to start adding in the individual components. All of the following suggestions are excellent additions to an opening rite but you can elect to use only a few of them or none at all if your imagination and inclinations draw you to some other form of ritual. These are simply some of the basic building blocks of opening a spell.
CLEANSING YOUR SPACE AND SELF
Cleansing is a regular part of most ritual openings. It removes any stagnant, stuck or unhelpful energies that might get in the way of your spell work as well as ensuring that the room is properly prepared in more commonplace, earthly terms. There are two types of cleansing that should be considered for your ritual: cleansing your space and cleansing yourself.
Preparing your space may seem like a mundane task, tidying up isn’t necessarily the most magical act, but it can be incorporated into your ritual. Cleansing your workspace, both physically and energetically can be an important first step if it isn’t something you take the time to do otherwise. Energetic cleansing removes stuck or unwanted energies from the space, ensuring a clean slate for your spells.
There are many ways to cleanse a room in this manner, for example, you could sweep your ritual space with a besom, cleanse the room with burning herbs or incense, tidy your altar, or even create a crystal grid to cleanse the room over a period of hours if you like. Other ideas include sound clearing with bells or singing bowls, visualizing white or gold light filling the space, or opening windows to allow fresh air in.
In many traditions cleansing yourself before performing magic is an indispensable step. Smoke cleansing may also be used for this purpose but other methods to consider include ritual bathing, washing the hands, feet and/or face, changing into clothing reserved for your spell work, performing meditations, using crystals or even taking a ritual meal or drink.
SETTING THE TONE
This part of your ritual is largely for aesthetic purposes but it can absolutely have an effect on your personal sense of power in your ritual. When setting the tone there are many ways to go about achieving your desired feel; music, candles, incense, the level of lighting and the decor of the room you’re in all play a part in setting the tone for your ritual. If you aren’t picky about this sort of thing you can eschew this step altogether or simply leave it as a blank space to be filled based on your current whims. If it suits your practice you may also consider changing your ritual aesthetic based on the seasons, moon phases or holidays.
Building energy for your spells and rituals is an act that isn’t always included but it is one of my favorites. This step gets you thrumming with energy, unlocking channels in yourself and in your surroundings that may stay stagnant the majority of the time. In many circles this is achieved with drumming, chanting or other kinds of music. You can also draw up energy for your rituals using dance, guided meditations, visualizations or releasing energy from charged objects.
Consecration is a ritual step for religious witches. It’s the process of dedicating your tools and/or magic work space to your gods, should you have any. This process can vary greatly depending on your religious leanings and which gods you worship or work with so I won’t be giving much detail on this. Some witches choose to consecrate once, some choose to consecrate on a regular basis (every full moon/solstice/etc) or on an as-needed basis at each ritual. If you do involve gods in your witchcraft and would like to learn more about consecrating I would suggest looking into the specific traditions associated with your particular gods or deities.
In the same vein, invoking your gods may be an important part of an opening rite however, if you aren’t religious invocation may still play a part in your ritual. Often spells may include spirits or energies that need to be summoned (or perhaps politely invited) to your ritual. As an example, calling the four corners involves invoking the elemental energies of fire, air, water and earth and their corresponding cardinal directions. If there is an energy, spirit or being that you work with regularly this is the time to call it to your aid. Often an offering may be appropriate as thanks.
PROTECTING YOUR SPACE
The act of protecting your ritual work space is perhaps considered one of the more important aspects of designing your own opening rite. Casting a circle is certainly the most commonly known form of protection but there are many other ways to protect your ritual space.
There are many ways to cast a circle, in some methods the circle is physically drawn with salt or a cord, in others the circle is denoted with four candles or other markers denoting the cardinal directions, in some the circle is only held in the minds eye. Typically the circle is cast by walking the perimeter clockwise three times, speaking a protective incantation or perhaps simply using your will to create a barrier against unwanted energies coming into your space. Your protective circle may also be used to keep anything in your circle from getting out depending on what sort of magic you have planned.
Other forms of warding are equally effective, my personal preference is using a guardian (add link) to protect my space. With this form of warding I include an offering to the guardian in my opening rite.
When deciding how to protect your ritual space you should decide what you will need from your wards. If you are working by yourself they can be quite simple, working with a group may call for something more complex or even multi-layered. For example, you may wish to protect your ritual space against the emotional baggage of other members of your circle, for this you could erect a ward designed to “hold” these energies outside of the circle until the members leave again.
Another consideration is whether or not your wards should be permeable and to what degree. Perhaps a designated “door” in the ward might be prudent to allow members to leave for the bathroom or in the event of an emergency without breaking your circle. Would you like certain spirits, gods, or energies to be able to come and go at will? Your wards can be designed to allow this to happen.
In many practices it’s considered an absolute necessity to ward your ritual space in some way. There are no grand rule makers in the world of witchcraft though. You are the witch. You hold the power. You make the rules. If this practice feels too rigid, doesn’t speak to you, or doesn’t serve your personal purposes then omit it. No one can decide what you should or should not be doing in your craft except for you.
When you have chosen what you wish to include in your ritual it’s time to start fitting the pieces together. The order I have presented these ideas in is not necessarily the ideal order for your ritual. Play with your opening rite and rearrange it as you see fit, a smoothly flowing ritual is a beautiful thing and well worth the time and effort it takes to create.
Hey everyone! I’ve moved all of my best witchcraft resources to my new blog, many of my old posts now have downloadable upgrades and new information added. I’ll be posting new witchy material over there weekly, if any of you have topics that you’re particularly interested in learning about let me know!
✨ Hi everyone! By popular request, I’m going to be covering the topic of psychic/spiritual gifts and how to fully utilize them. Before I get into it, I want to clarify that EVERYONE has these abilities but not everyone is aware of them. Some people have easier access to their gifts, much like how some people struggle at math while others naturally excel (lmao not me). Like any skill, psychic abilities can be strengthen and exercised through dedication, consistency, and patience. You won’t instantly wake up as fucking Jesus. Another note, being ‘psychic’ isn’t as wild and whimsical as it sounds. It can be at times but don’t expect to start seeing ghosts popping up on every corner or fairies chilling out in your bedroom. It doesn’t work like that! The energy is much more subtle and takes time to understand, much like learning anew language. Anyways, lemme shut up and get into this shit….🔮🔮
1. Be conscious of you health & drink tons of water!Your body is a vessel for your spirit and, if it’s not functioning at it’s fullest capacity, it will limit your connection to your higher-self. Water is also a cleansing/charging tool for the body, mind, and spirit. When you’re doing readings or energy readings for other people it can be extremely draining for your soul. It’s important to replenish through water, high-vibrational foods, and keeping the energy circulating with exercise. For those of you with chronic illness or physical limitations, it’s okay if you can’t do intense exercise everyday. Do as much as you can within your given situation! Respect your body, it takes good care of your soul and is the vehicle for all of your spiritual work!
2. Meditation + meditation + meditation. I feel like this is the dreaded tip because so many people convince themselves that meditating is hard! My suggestion is to sit or lie down for five minutes after you take a shower in the morning/night. Be still and take a few breaths. It’s completely normal for thoughts to pop into your head. Don’t try to push them away! Instead, acknowledge them & then set them aside. Keep focusing on the stillness. Move your attention into your body. Is your breathing natural and rhythmic? Are your shoulders tense? Is there any discomfort? Keep breathing deeply until all of the tension evaporates. Next, try to extend your awareness to the energy around you. What does the energy of the room feel like? What are you hearing? Are you smelling anything new or unusual? Can you physically feel energy? Keep expanding your energy during meditation until you feel connected to the space that you’re in. You should finish feeling a buzzing energy flowing through your body. This is called a receptive or psychic state. Learn how to reach and hold this state because it will increase the clarity of your intuition x100!
3. Be present.Realize that these gifts are with you 24/7 and you can practice them whenever, all you have to do is live calmly in the moment. If you’re not actively listening then how are you ever going to receive messages? Psychic energy usually comes in gentle, subtle waves which means we have to be attentive if we wan’t to feel it. Focus is also necessary. You can’t fully receive info from your intuition while also thinking about a million other things!
4. Listen to high-vibrational music!I’m a hoe for rap music and alternative-pop artists with lyrics that are either depressing af or kind of trashy haha. While music is awesome, it also carries a vibration that can influence our own state of being. The majority o music being made now produces a lower vibration which blocks some of our receptivity. In order to boost your vibration again, listen to about 5 minutes of 528hz or 432hz beats at the end of the day! 528hz & 432hz are described as restorative, healing frequencies that help us get our energetic shit together. I always feel 100x better after five minutes of listening! I’ll link some of my faves!
5. Journal & then journal some fucking more! Write down predictions so you can check them later, record any spiritual experiences, and possibly try some automatic writing. To tap into my intuition, I like to just as a question and write down the first things that come to mind. Don’t worry about rather or not they make sense, literally DO NOT THINK ABOUT IT. When you feel like you’ve written everything you need, read over what you wrote and see if any of it connects. Look for an answer within the random shit that came to mind. 9/10 you’ll find what you need! This teaches you to trust that little voice in your head or the visions that come to your minds eye.
6. Practice, duh. Ask your friends if they’re okay with you trying to read their aura or pull some cards for them! Think of your psychic abilities as a muscle, in order to strengthen them you have to actually put in the work. One of my favorite exercises is a guessing game involving cards. You can use playing cards, tarot cards, UNO cards, whatever! Place the deck face down and, before you pull from the top of the deck, try to guess what card you’re going to flip over. Then do it again and again until you’re damn near 100% accurate. Or until you’re wrist is exhausted form flipping over cards all night. Whichever one comes first! Another wonderful exercise is psychometry which is the act of reading an object. It’s easier to start off with an object with tons of energy such as a wedding ring, anything metal, a beloved stuffed animal, or a crystal. Try to find the story behind the object and really feel the energy behind it!
7. Get yo self some crystal babies! I’m obsessed with crystals. I seriously can not live without my children! Crystals hold energetic properties that can help us align with out psychic nature and enhance our gifts. There are tons of options but some of my personal favorites for intuitive + psychics are amethyst, clear quartz, black tourmaline, labradorite, rose quartz, and fluorite.
8. Leave your house and go out in nature. You don’t have to live near an abundant forest or breathtaking mountain to reap the spiritual benefits of fresh air! Mindfully spending time in nature is a refreshing form of meditation and brings us closest to our own intuition!
9. Sage + Incense!Clear space = clear mind. Spoke cleansing and burning incense allows us to remove any blockages in our surroundings. Before reading for a client, I always burn some sage or light up the incense. For those of you in dorms or are hush hush about your spirituality, use Florida Water! It’s a liquid household cleansing and spiritual cleansing tool that I adore. You can buy it as a spray or in a bottle.
10. Visualize.Practicing visualization stimulates your third eye, allowing you to receive vivid and powerful clairvoyant messages. There are a hundred different ways to practice visualization but I recommend visualizing your third eye/pineal gland, located between your eyebrows, opening up. As you imagine it opening and glowing, you may even feel a slight tingle on your forehead. This is a sign that you’ve actually opened your ‘third eye’ chakra. From there, simply have fun visualizing whatever you want. Imagine a tiny pink dinosaur flying over your wall or something lmao. This just warms up the psychic muscle!
Once again, these gifts require effort and consistency. Your psychic intuition is not an accessory to play around with. It should be taken care of with hella respect and gratitude! At the same time, don’t stress too much of none of this comes easily to you. I’ve worked incredibly hard to get where I am, incorporating every single one of these tasks + more & I still have way more to grow! If I can make sense of this weird psychic shit, you can too haha. Start applying a few of these tips and you should see improvement within weeks. Now go out there are slay the spiritual game of life bby! ⭐️⭐️
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my Disclaimer for more info.
I don’t know about you but between going to classes, blogging, writing books, and keeping up with my social circle my life is BUSY. While I’m absolutely in love with the direction my life is heading right now, it does pose a bit of a problem on occasion: I don’t have a lot of time for actually doing magic! This can cause some problems when I run up against a situation where I really need a spell or ritual so I’ve started using a method of delaying my spells. This spell delay lets me stockpile inactive spells so that I can call on the magic at a moment’s notice.
Now there are several ways to do this, spell powders and enchanted objects can both be used this way. I won’t be touching on either of those methods today (although if you’re interested in spell powders, Bree NicGarran’s new book Pestlework is the place to go!). No, today I want to talk about the use of delay triggers in your spellwork.
What is a spell trigger?
A spell trigger is a placeholder created within your spell that, instead of activating the spell immediately, holds all of the components and energy of your work in place until the final piece of the spell is initiated. This trigger can be anything you like, it can be a word, a hand gesture, any quick and easily performed action can be used as a trigger in a delayed action spell.
This trigger system allows you to have complex spellwork at hand and ready to use at a moment’s notice. You can throw up wards, perform a curse breaking, use healing spells or call on an anti-anxiety spell with nothing more than a word. This form of spell casting can also be useful for spells that are intended to be activated at a particular time or place. Have a spell that needs to be performed while you have eyes on the target? Cast the spell in private, insert your trigger and activate the trigger when the opportunity arises. The uses for this technique are endless!
How to Create a Spell Trigger
1.) Decide on your trigger
The first step in creating a spell trigger is going to be choosing the trigger itself. You should pick something fairly quick and easy to initiate such as a word, a phrase, a hand gesture, a series of notes hummed or whistled. This trigger action that you choose should also probably be subtle, having to stomp your feet and roar at the heavens might seem like a cool way to activate a spell but it’s probably going to attract quite a bit of attention and cause questions to be raised. Keep things simple, discrete and easy for you to remember (you can’t activate the spell if you forget the trigger!).
2.) Perform your spell
Next, you’ll simply perform your spell as usual, follow all of the steps outlined in your spell right up to the release or activation point in the spell. This is key, you’ll be replacing the release of the spell in order to delay it so be sure to mark where in your spell this release or activation occurs.
3.) Insert your spell trigger
Inserting a spell trigger can be done in a number of ways. You can verbally set the intention of the trigger (i.e. “I bind this spell, may all its power and purpose be held until such a time as it is released by my signal”) after which you perform the trigger action (saying the word, performing the gesture, etc) in order to connect the now bound spell and the trigger. You could simply perform the gesture or speak the phrase while holding the intention that the spell will be bound for later release. You could speak the intention while holding the trigger word or gesture in your mind without performing it. Any of these methods work, the important consideration is that you choose the method that feels most natural to you. Most of us are not used to stopping the flow of energy short, wrapping it up and saving it for later. Typically the idea is to release or activate the magic at the time of its casting so this process can feel stilted or uncomfortable the first few times. Experiment with which method you prefer to help mitigate any discomfort you might have with such a stark change in method.
4.) Activate the spell trigger and release the bound magic
At the appropriate time, either when needed spontaneously or at the predetermined moment, activate the spell by performing the trigger action with intention. The intention is important. Accidentally stating your trigger word or phrase in conversation won’t release the spell and likewise, you likely won’t release the spell if you offhandedly perform the trigger without reaching for the magic connected to it.
Now, this method can require a lot of personal tweaking, both to become comfortable with the process and find a way to make it work for you, and to possibly adjust spells to have a clear activation or release point where you can insert the trigger. Many spells are designed in such a way that the energy and intent of the spell is continuously released throughout the casting, and those spells can be particularly tricky to insert a trigger into. You may also find that casting circles is helpful in this kind of spell crafting. A circle can serve to contain the energy and intention you’re building so that it can be bound instead of allowing it out into the world during the casting.
Don’t be too concerned if the first few times you try this it falls flat, with the exception of very new witches this can be a serious detour from your usual spell crafting methods and require a bit of retraining to perfect.
As I mentioned before, there are also simpler ways of achieving this delay. If you’re finding this method particularly challenging or daunting it might be helpful to start with a slightly less complex method. Spell powders are a fantastic way to get your feet wet in the world of delayed activation spell work.
Pestlework: A Book of Magical Powders & Oils by Bree NicGarran is an excellent introduction to the world of spell powders and their many uses. With Over 200 original recipes, tons of helpful tips, safety information and an easy to understand format this book is the best place to start if you’re looking to get your feet wet with this kind of magic.
Can you think of any ways that spell delays could be useful in your craft? Tell me about it in the comments!
If you can develop the ability to enter and remain in a state of relaxed, free-flowing awareness before or after sleep, images will come. You can simply observe them as they rise and fall, or engage with one of these images or scenes and enter into what may be a full-fledged lucid dream journey.
Experiences in this twilight zone are very similar to those of psychics when they “open up” and let impressions come, and of creative people when they enter a flow state. Indeed, both psychic discoveries and creative breakthroughs come almost effortlessly in the half-dream state if you are willing to let them come – and (of course) to catch them and use them.
Sunny here, bringing you a crash course on one of the most critical parts of being a successful and safe spirit worker – discernment.
This was originally supposed to be a post on my spirit shop’s blog – but it closed unexpectedly. I have been requested to post this on my own blog, instead, since a lot of people liked it.
Humans have this peculiar habit of seeing what they want to see. You start looking for something, and suddenly you see the thing everywhere – it’s like when you buy a new car, never having recognized that car before, and suddenly it seems like every car on the road is the same model as yours. These ordinary things were there all along, but, now that you’re more aware of them, everything seems magical – and this is even more true when entering a new field of practice where things really are magical, like witchcraft and spirit work. This is why the key skill of discernment is so critical – to be able to separate the mundane from the otherworldly. When it is so easy to trick your brain into seeing the supernatural, how do you know when it’s really happening?
What’s that big word mean?
Discernment: the ability to evaluate information or situations to determine the underlying truth, the “real” from the “fake”, the “right” from the “wrong”. It is centered around an acuteness of judgment and understanding (x, x).
Okay, now you know what it technically means – you’ve got the dictionary definition under your belt. But why is this important for spirit work?
In the context of spirit work, discernment is used to define whether or not your experiences are “real”. It also plays a part in determining whether or not the spirits you are working with are safe or whether or not they are telling the truth. Discernment is also a critical component of vetting – verifying the identity of the spirit over the course of several months.
Though this may seem opposite to the entire point of discerning, I have personally found that strengthening my discernment skills has made it easier to notice when a spirit is attempting to interact with me. Since I have trained myself so heavily into seeking out all worldly explanations first, I have learned how to distinguish a spirit much more clearly – because sometimes there really is no worldly explanation for what happened. By teaching myself how to tell when my brain is just tricking me, I’m much more capable of determining what’s real.
This is something gained through practice and experience and is, in my opinion, a massively undervalued skill. It takes patience, practice, and time. So much time. This is why it can be so difficult to learn, and, more often than not, you end up learning the hard way why it is so important.
How can I tell if the “spirit” is just something ordinary?
Have you eaten enough? Have you had enough water to drink?
Did you take your medication, if you have any?
Did you get enough sleep?
Do you have any mental or physical illnesses or disorders? Does the “sign” you’re receiving from the spirit correspond to one of your symptoms? Do some personal evaluation!
Is there any physical explanation outside of yourself for the sign you have received? Ask questions like: Is the radio on in the other room? Is your neighbor outside mowing the lawn? Is this animal that I am “suddenly” seeing a lot of and interpreting as a sign actually just more active this time of year? Did someone just walk by wearing way too much perfume?
Do things happen when you think of them? If so, it’s possible you might be placebo-ing yourself into believing a spirit is causing this. Spirits act of their own accord.
If your answer to these questions after investigations was a firm “no” across the board, there could really be a spirit around. This is not a guaranteed way to tell, but the first step to spirit work is to remember that not everything is a spirit – sometimes it’s just your grandmother sneezing in the other room. You need to entirely rule out the mundane before assuming the supernatural.
Okay, I proved that it’s not something “normal” – but how do I learn how to sense and discern?
This is a difficult question to address, because sensing and discerning spirits varies so greatly from individual to individual. The only way to really tell if what you are experiencing is a spirit is through a lot of experience and trial-and-error.
Some simple pointers:
Investigate the “signs” you are receiving. Is there a pattern? If you ask for a specific sign (ex: “Show me three [animal that is not commonly seen in your area] in three days.”), does it show? Write everything down. Signs do not always appear within a few days – they could play out slowly, over a period of months, and you could miss them entirely.
Are you able to distinguish the difference between your own internal mental chatter and the voice of a spirit? This takes lots of time and practice, but it is a major component of spirit telepathy. Learn your own speech pattern and mannerisms – an actual spirit’s speech patterns and mannerisms are not likely to match up exactly to your own. Try this: listen to what a spirit is supposedly saying to you, and then attempt to repeat it exactly. Does it come out sounding garbled or feeling off? It might have legitimately been a spirit. If you are able to replicate their voice, tone, and words exactly, it may have just been your own brain trying to trick you.
Focus on learning how to differentiate energy signatures. A spirit may be able to change their physical appearance, but it is incredibly unlikely they will be able to change their entire energy signature – these are as unique as a fingerprint and equally as difficult to cover up. Check out this energy work FAQ, and read up on energy signatures – try out this worksheet, too. Here’s another post about how to read energy (and some expectations when you do it). Here’s some ways that energy can be sensed. Look up some exercises. Practice this as much as possible.
Attempt to communicate. This will also take lots of practice – keep going!
Use different methods of communication (telepathy, tarot, pendulum, scrying, astral travel, the list goes on…) to verify what the spirit is saying. One method is not enough. Cross-reference the spirit’s answers across the different methods used and see if everything lines up. If it does, you’ve got a real spirit on your hands. If everything seems jumbled and reads almost like gibberish, the spirit may not be present, but they also may not be communicating.
How do I determine if a spirit is telling the truth?
This is something that comes mainly through experience. No matter the species, energy alignment, or affiliation, spirits can and will lie to you.
Any spirit who is interested in working with you (or with any human) should be patient and understanding about the fact that you might have a little trouble believing if you are really hearing them – communicating to a physical being while you’re on a non-physical plane can be tricky, after all. If they really want to work with you, they’ll be willing to wait through the vetting and discernment process for you to properly detect them, get to know them, and determine if they are safe and honest about who they are and what they are capable of.
In addition, even if they are telling the truth, they may not have the best intentions. Evaluate what they want out of the working relationship. Does it make you uncomfortable? Does it seem realistic and achievable? Are they attempting to use you as a way to advance themselves or get out of a bad personal situation?
Educate yourself on manipulation tactics. There are a lot of techniques out there. Gaslighting is very common. People write and publish books on the art of influencing and manipulating people for all sorts of purposes. Social engineering and mindhacks are very real. The more educated you are on the techniques used, the more you’ll know what to watch for, and the more likely it is that you’ll avoid toxic people or groups.
If a spirit came to you and claimed that they’ve known you your entire life and had secretly been guarding and guiding you, would you believe them? Would you immediately trust a spirit who randomly appeared and started claiming to have been your best friend, partner, or mentor in a past life? The answer should be no – every single time, without fail. It’s very important to remember that spirits are not all-knowing, all-powerful beings. Do not trust blindly. Do not just “take [their] word for it”. Consider: why is the spirit coming to you, and why now? They could be telling the truth, but you do not want to rush things and assume. If they are truthful, they’ll be patient. Spirits could mislead you, and they could use your blind belief and trust in them to manipulate you. If a spirit shows up in your house and acts like you are destined to be friends and you enthusiastically accept their offer, you could be setting yourself up for much more danger than you know. Malicious spirits are not always outright malicious.
Take. Your. Time. Do not rush this. Jumping to conclusions and rushing the vetting process – which discernment is a major part of – can give a spirit the opportunity to trick you. It’s easy to put on a disguise and pretend to be someone else for a few weeks; it’s much harder to keep that act going for several months. When communicating with a spirit, it is also very important to avoid having a god or hero complex, thinking you will be the “best” for the spirit and by working with them you are “saving” them – and it’s important to not allow them to have that same mentality about you.
Doubt is healthy. Doubt can prevent a potentially traumatic spirit-related experience. Don’t be afraid to have a normal amount of doubt.
How does this apply to vetting and conjuring?
Are you a conjurer and/or a spirit companion shop owner? Great! This section is for you.
You, the conjurer, the shop owner – you are responsible for the safety of everyone who works through you, both human and spirit. This is very important to know before you even open your conjuring service. You need to be willing to put in the work – and this does not mean giving it the bare minimum. Your discernment skills need to be sharp, and your vetting needs to be intense. Any spirit who is truly willing to pursue companionship will be willing to go through this process – but you need to be insistent on making them go through the extent of it. If someone is meeting their future companion through your service, it is entirely on your end to do all of the discernment before they even leave you. Do not rush a spirit out – this could take months, or even years. It will be worth it. Take your time.
And the thing is, you shouldn’t be rushing spirits out. If you’re so impatient to throw up the listing of a spirit that you can’t fathom taking the time to get to know them for three months then I have to question how much you actually care. It might seem mean, but a shopkeeper should be willing to wait months and even years to match the spirit with the perfect person. By the time you post the listing of the spirit, you should be close friends with the spirit yourself. How else are you going to know what would truly be best for the spirit if you barely even know them past superficial friendships? And how else are you going to ensure that the spirit is safe if you barely took the time to get to know them?
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But we also need to talk about an excuse that’s cropped up before in opposition to intensive vetting methods and that is how intensive vetting “hurts the spirit’s feelings”. If a spirit objects to undergoing a long vetting process then that should be taken as a red flag, not as you hurting their feelings. The intensive vetting is a necessity in assuring that the spirit is safe and when a spirit won’t agree to that then it’s easy to assume that the spirit wouldn’t be safe. Also, as mean as it sounds, the spirit’s feelings on whether or not they’re vetted shouldn’t matter. You have a responsibility to your customers to make sure that the spirit is fit for companionship, shirk that responsibility for any reason and you could very well be putting someone’s life in danger.
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You are putting a spirit in someone’s inner wards, usually a beginner’s inner wards, and they’re someone who trusts you when you say that the spirit is safe. Don’t take advantage of someone’s trust in you just because you don’t want to put in the effort for an intensive vetting process when you chose to be a spirit shopkeeper.
(Read this post. Incorporate this into your practice. You should be settling for nothing less. If something happens that should have been discovered during the vetting process, it is your fault and is a sign that your process and practice has failed your client.)
Spirit work takes time. Vetting and discernment take a lot of time. If you are willing to learn and build a relationship with a spirit, and if you want to stay safe and avoid being someone’s lunch, you will need to be willing to put in the time and effort. Do not trust without questioning, even several months down the road of vetting. Take notes, and check everything the spirit says against those notes. Are there any discrepancies, or does their story just not make sense?
Leave no gaps. Take no shortcuts. By the time the vetting and discernment process ends, you should know the spirit well enough to call them a close friend.
Further Reading
Some of these are not specific to spirits, but these techniques, mindsets, and practices can also be applied to general spirit work.
This post is one of many out there about discernment. I heavily recommend, as I always do, to read more than just this post and the ones linked. I tried to branch out while researching, but I do have several favored blogs that I referenced – you should look for sources outside of these. My experiences, opinions, and views are not the only way that discernment is defined and my methods are not the only way to do it. Take everything I say and read further to form your own opinions. This post is not comprehensive and does not cover every possible method and definition of discernment. Remember, the posts linked above (and this post, too!) are people’s personal experiences and individual research, and, while there is major benefit to reading other people’s own original posts about the subject, you can never learn better than by learning on your own.
Substitutions in magick and spellwork is where you replace an ingredient for a spell with another due to lack of the listed ingredient. This is often done when a witch does not have specific plants, herbs or crystals on hand for when working a spell. This is a very common practice especially when individuals are on a budget or are still “in the forest” so unable to get specific ingredients. This is also done when a spell calls for an obscure or hard to find or even endangered herb/plant such as white sage, mugwort, nightshade, wormwood, wolfsbane and other harder to come by plants that one could not normally find in a store or local gardens.
General Substitution:
White Candles for any candle color
Rosemary for any herb/plant
Table Salt for any salt
Tap Water for any water
Clear Quartz for any crystal
Black Tea for any tea
Rose for any flower
Tobacco for any toxic herb/plant
Sage Incense for any incense
Olive Oil for any oil/carrier oil
Frankincense for any gum resin
Lemon for any citrus
Apple for any fruit
There are things in each “category” of ingredients for spells that are used for general over all substitution. Though these ingredients below can substitute for anything in their given category it does not mean that they are the best items to use for substitution in every spell. Why is that? Simply because each ingredient has different correspondences and though these items are “general” they have their own correspondences which can very much be different from what the spell is corresponding to.
An Example: Rosemary corresponds with protection, love, lust, mental powers, exorcism, purification, healing, sleep, youth. If you are using it in a spell for money it may not work as well as it would to substitute the missing herb with another herb that corresponds with money, wealth and prosperity. This is why the list above is simply for if you are in a pinch and you have absolutely nothing else to substitute in for it.
This is why it is better to go with intent based substitutions, for they tend to correspond better with the spell and are more likely to be successful. It is very easy to figure out other ingredients that work with a spell by seeing if the ingredient corresponds with the intent, such as does this crystal correspond with love in anyway? If so it is a good substitute for a love spell, if it doesn’t then it is a poor choice. This part is where you need to research yourself to ensure you are substituting things properly. Research the correspondences of what you have and see if they match with the spell you wish to find a substitute for.
Reworking
Reworking is the process of changing the actions, procedures and steps of a spell to cater to either one’s own situation or to work with ingredients that have been substituted or are missing. Reworking works hand and hand with substitution. The reason this is, is because sometimes when we substitute ingredients we can no longer use the same processes done in the spell. This is common when we substitute something such as a water safe crystal with a non-water safe crystal for a potion or substituting an edible plant with a toxic one in an edible spell.
Here is an example scenario that will show us both the process of standard substitution and reworking.
A Spell for Protection requires you to have a bowl of water and some aloe. The process of the spell is soaking the aloe in the water for a short time then rubbing the herb on your wrists and forehead. You wish to do this spell but you have come across the problem of having no aloe. Below are some examples of how to substitute with this spell and how to rework it when necessary.
Solution Example: You happen to have mint which also corresponds with protection. Mint is a non-toxic plant and it is good for your skin as well as smells quite nicely. So you easily replace the aloe leaves with mint leaves instead and go about the spell as the steps instructs. This is an example of substitution that does not require any sort of reworking.
Solution Example: You have blueberries which correspond with protection that you can use though you would rather not rub blueberries onto your skin leaving a sticky stained mess. This is where reworking is required. Blueberries are edible so instead you soak the blueberries in the water and instead eat the blueberries and then use the water to anoint yourself.
Solution Example: You have wolfsbane but it’s highly toxic and should definitely not be soaked in water, rubbed on your skin or ingested. This is a prime example of absolutely having to rework the spell for safety reasons. In this case it would perhaps be best to have the wolfsbane in a bowl and use its energy to mentally anoint yourself. This requires most likely reworking most if not all of the spell.
Reworking actions in witchcraft without substituting ingredients. This is most common due to a person’s situation or location making certain spells difficult to do. A very common example of this type of reworking would be reworking a spell to not have a burning process due to the witch being unable to use fire or burn objects due to their situation such as apartment or dorm living, lung sensitivity to smoke or having their own doubts about being able to work safely with fire due to one reason or another. Below are some suggested reworking actions for common things that some people are unable to do for one reason or another.
Substitutes for Burning: tearing/shredding, soaking in water (if safe), burying (if safe), pouring ink onto, scribbling out, erasing, crumpling or crushing, painting over, pouring wax over, cutting up via scissors, taping up
Substitutes for Ingestion: water soaking, meditation with item nearby, energy work via harnessing the item’s energy, burning (if safe), touch/holding (if safe)
Substitutes for Speaking/Chanting: thought/mental chanting, written word, gesture/sign language, listening to music with lyrics that correspond with spell/intent, air writing with finger
Reworking for Spoonies
Often spells can be too draining for those with “limited spoons” to use. In these cases, reworking a spell may often become necessary to make it easier on the witch casting it. In cases of this, certain gestures or steps may be too draining or difficult for the witch to perform due to physical or mental health. First off, this is nothing to be ashamed of, it’s okay if some things make you too uncomfortable or are just too difficult for you to do. There’s no reason to feel like you can’t do spellwork because of it. You can still do the spell by reworking the areas that you have difficulty in.
An example of this could be that a spell requires a lot of movement, gestures and chanting to do. As someone with limited energy you may not be able to exhaust so much of it by moving around like that. Instead you could examine the spell and see why that part may be required, if it is a spell to bring energy or motivation it may be added as a step to help encourage and invigorate the caster but making it difficult for you. Instead you can in this case find something that you find gives you a bit of a “pep in your step” that won’t exhaust you as much. An example may be music, listening to exhilarating and upbeat music can get the energy flowing instead so removing the chanting and dancing with loud energy filled music playing as you cast the spell is an excellent solution.
Another example may be that a witch has some lung and breathing difficulties making it very difficult for them to burn things or use incense due to it affecting their airways. In this case, the witch can examine what the spell is having them burn such as a spell for money having them burn basil and chamomile. Instead this witch can choose to soak the herbs into water or place them in a bowl near an open window to let the breeze spread their energy. Or even simply turning the spell into a sachet or jar spell instead of a burning one.
Personalization of Spells
To personalize a spell is to put your own personal touch onto it. This may include adding an additional step, adding ingredients or substituting ingredients not out of necessity but out of personal preference.
Examples of personalizing spells:
Adding the extra ingredient of rice to a money spell because you see rice as very closely related to money in your own personal practice
Adding a chant to a silent spell because you prefer chanting to get into the “witchy spirit” of the spell
Changing the spell’s written language because it is not your native one/you prefer using a different language for witchcraft
Changing the sigil in the spell to one of your personal sigils that you have a better association to the intent with
Replacing clear quartz with citrine for an energy spell because you prefer the energy of citrine over clear quartz
There are many ways to customize and personalize a spell to make it so it works better for you on a personal level. It is something that you will find easier to do with time once you have discovered the ingredients and methods of witchcraft that you prefer doing.
*note: reworking/personalizing a spell does not make it fully yours. If you wish to post this reworked/personalized spell please link it to the original or source the original seeing it was someone else’s work that you modified here and there for your own needs. It’s just polite to credit people for their work.
Navigate the web of your soul across the ends of this earth or, if you’re determined enough, beyond it.
This has to be one of my oldest rituals and as such, has quite a bit of history attached to it. It’s conception was all based around my desperation to completely leave my hometown and cut myself out of my own toxic narrative/everyone else’s narrative about me. I tried to leave my hometown for other towns and cities across the United States to no avail. I’d always end up worse for wear, back in Napa California, with all the old dogmas of the people who dwell in that town breathing down my throat. Telling me that nothing ever changes for people born in Napa and nobody will ever leave until they’re six feet in the ground. They said it was a curse that all people born in Napa must burden under. This frustration built up and fermented inside of my mind. Such was my hatred and determination to prove them wrong, cut myself out of the historical path, and paradigm of that town that I petitioned Hekate, She Who Stands at the Crossroads, for guidance. Because I felt truly lost on how to break my chains even if they were just inside my own mind like a million people told me.
It was the spirit of Hekate with dual torches blazing in the darkness that illuminated my mind outside of the box to assemble this ritual. It did not come immediately and was through a process of trial and error which I experimented with/applied my hypothesis. And even now there are still layers on this technique I have yet to uncover. Using this paradigm, with this technique, may you be granted freedom of movement. It was the desire for freedom that inspired this “Verse Shifting” ritual, after all. So if you’re desperate and stuck standing still…if you’d give anything to just leave the world you’re in for a new one of your own creation, keep reading.
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Verse Shifting is your freedom’s wings. And much like Icarus, this one urges caution lest you fly too close to the sun. It will allow you to move through all your possible time lines that you can imagine, focus in on, and create/articulate in your mind prior to using “Verse Shifting”. You are bigger than your body. Your body is small, a node in a complex web which is your complete overall soul. The only barrier is your mind which is housed within your body (and all articulations of it across time lines). Verse Shifting dislodges the mind to allow you to direct your current ego to overlap any node in the web of your soul so that you become the you that you imagined, living in the set of circumstances that you have designed. For if you can think of a version of you and the life they live in, it exists. It becomes true and accessible. It is/becomes the world you now dwell in.
The Earth and the creations that live upon it are always moving through different possible time lines. Unaware. When a major or even tiny change happens in your life or the world at large, it is due to a shift in the web of both the individual and collective time lines of this planet. When you can become fully aware of these time lines shifting and the warning signs pre-shift, you will become aware of how to move with/through/in-between/around/against them and into different sets of probabilities you might not have had access to if you remained casually drifting.
This is why Verse Shifting comes with a warning.
Once you start this ritual, once you begin to travel through your time lines, here be nightmares and dreams! Choose to create your circumstances/time lines wisely. You will ultimately have to live within them. Some time lines may offer no door out until all functions fueling it dissipate. Different time lines shifting are always heralded before and after by great unpredictable change. If you Verse Shift instead of following the regular currents of the time blindly there is no telling what your wings will carry you to or where. Or what will be the sacrifice. Fly with purpose.
To dislodge your mind and gain the wings/movement like angels, Verse Shifting utilizes “doorways”. Areas that feel “thin” or distorted usually house doors…however, that isn’t always the case. Doors are tricky in that they can be anywhere an in-between/liminal space is present.Like sources of water, carnival rides, crossroads, celestial events like an eclipse, the midnight hour/noon hour. Some “doorways” are fixed in one spot. Some doorways move/are only present under particular conditions. Doorways are not always physical places so keep your eyes open for anything that could be considered a liminal space. It could be as special as a birthday party or as mundane as the last/first day of a fresh new month. Doorway locations serve as channels that the invisible worlds of spirit can touch the physical world. They are axis points that they gears of the web of existence turn upon. This is why they are prime locations to use Verse Shifting on. Some doorways naturally connect to certain time lines despite programming your key (mind) on where you will yourself to go to. All doorways have their gatekeepers. Be prepared to face them. Especially on the bigger doors or when Verse Shifting more than one person. Gatekeepers will always show up if you alert their notice and try to get you to stop or leave. Oftentimes, they work through ordinary people. Do well to have a back-up plan handy in case a door is actively guarded by a gatekeeper.
Verse Shifting is dedicated to the Goddess of the Crossroads, Mistress of Magick, Keeper of Keys…who shows the past, present, and future…and is a lantern in the night for the lost: Hekate. She is often accompanied by the presence of dogs. This personal tradition is inspired from her.
Verse Shifting requires offerings. These offerings, if freely given in the manner expounded, will grant you favor from Hekate and if accepted by the Ghost Queen…safe and unfettered passage through the door shall be yours. Proper offerings are as follows: garlic, bread (particularly in the form of old-fashioned loaves), honey, dragon’s blood incense, onion, raw fish steaks like tuna or salmon, milk, red wine, and pomegranate. Offerings of the heart, if genuinely given, trump food offerings. If not given genuinely, there will be consequences. The Goddess of Crossroads does not take false offerings lightly.
Verse sShifting is best done on New Years (December 31/Jan 1) and Chinese New Year. Or on a new moon, strictly during exact noon, or midnight. This tradition calls for the cover of darkness which is the realm of Hekate and the hour of midnight.
But the actual ritual doesn’t begin on the night it’s performed. The ritual begins at the very moment the idea of leaving your time line blossoms in your head. From that moment of conception it is heavily advised that you spend as much time as possible fleshing that idea of your new time line out inside of your imagination. Imagine every detail, from the entire spectrum of significance, and lock on to the feeling/energy of it. More to the point, give the new time line life inside of your imagination, and a set of scenarios that must play out within it. Do whatever you can to ground the concept of that world inside your head into your subconscious. I would recommend you spend an unhealthy amount of time doing this as it secures your passageway to the desired time line. The process of dreaming up that time line not only secures it’s foundation in the sea of infinite possibility, builds your bridge to that time line, but is essential to avoiding a collapsing time line.
A time line can begin to collapse when the set of dreams/actions used to manifest it runs out of fuel. This is why the dreaming process is very critical to this work. With no set of commands from the dreamer, not including the dreams of others, a time line cannot sustain itself.
There are two limitations to Verse Shifting. Moving into a time line that the mind cannot viscerally and fully believe in is, as of to my experience, nigh impossible without sacrificing a certain level of physical or mental functionality. Moving beyond time lines that aren’t connected to your infinite self/tied to earth/consensus reality is asking for your sanity to be ripped from you. The other limitation, or rather just the consequence of Verse Shifting, lies in the fact that variables change with each Verse Shift. It may be small details. It might be the disappearance of a favorite town park or as important as your middle school. It could even manifest as a retro-active change that everyone agrees/remembered happened…except you. Because “you” have overlapped the “you” that they remember. “You” are from a different time line, after all. It could even be the casual introduction of something new, as if it had always been. It will only be new to you. There are many different ways that this consequence can play out and is in no way predictable. Nor can it be fully bartered with. It can only be fully accepted and expected. As the old saying goes: you got what you wanted but you lost what you had. If you cannot let go of what you have for what you COULD have…do not Verse Shift.
There is a trick that comes into play with Verse Shifting that I have tested with some success. You can bend the variables a little in your favor and how they play out by taking objects (assigned to aspects or people in your life that you want to keep in present play) with you during a Verse Shift. These objects could be as simple as a toothpick or a T-shirt. But it must serve as a reminder of what you want to bring over from the time line you leave to where you are going. For further effectiveness, you can enchant these chosen objects, or simply hold them/be near them during the dreaming process prior to the Verse Shift. These totems will serve as hooks in the possibility fish you’re attempting to reel in. They are threads connected to whatever it is that you can’t let go of. In order for this to work, you must have these objects on your person during the Verse Shift ritual! After the ritual, take special care not to lose the objects or have them break lest you run the risk of loosing the hook and what is attached to it. These objects have a tendency of vanishing. Keep in contained storage, out of sight to anyone else but you. The reason being is that said object could drive someone insane with dual-memories or worse (hypothetically) if it is closely linked to them in any way. I theorize that the reason this works is the distortion these now-out-of-place objects have on reality. Their presence alone twists what consensus reality holds true.Totems work because the time line you enter must compensate for the anomaly and create a history for the object. This usually follows the path of least resistance a.k.a. your memories/experiences of it, regardless of what it’s true history was prior to the Verse Shift.
But even this trick cannot fully guarantee anything. There are many aspects regarding the outcomes that one cannot circumvent. Some things in the world are truly mysterious.
Bringing others with you on a Verse Shift is complex in application and potentially a disaster of entangled collapsing time lines. If your partner/s haven’t the vision, determination, faith in self, and where they’ll end up, or discipline to dream in synchronization to your own dreaming…or if they’re inherently on a different mental wavelength, you run the risk of time line division at the very least. One is very vulnerable on the last stages of a Verse Shift and a week post-shift. An unstable time line that lacks an appropriate amount of dreaming prior usually falls apart in a week. Having another person attached to this only makes this worse. At it’s best, strongly synchronized with a partner/s can result in a flawless Verse Shift. If you must choose to bring someone with you, bring only someone who truly shows that they love you. You and your partner must trust in each other implicitly.
I suppose the last bit of advice before we move on to the ritual particulars is what has been underlying in the last two pages…say goodbye. Say goodbye to everything you knew. Once you leave a time line there is no physical way to go back. You can only replicate past time lines going forward.
Verse Shifting is the art of surrender.
The dangers of Verse Shifting are many but if you are unswayed, if you are truly done with your life as you know it, then you must apply this ritual. Follow it to the letter. Timing is everything. This ritual must be done on the midnight hour on a doorway during a new moon under the cover of rain or just before/after it. It must be done completely alone.
The day of Verse Shifting must be spent completely alone and divorced from all social activity in reverence, contemplation, and focus upon the time line you want to go to. This solitude creates a space where this time line’s influence/the will’s of other people are lessened. Throw yourself a party in this space. Meditate on what time line you’ve been dreaming of. Celebrate where you’ve been and where you’re going. Gather up items from this time line that hold you back to offer to Hekate or, if you must socialize, use the day of the Verse Shifting to cut off stagnant connections/people, places, situations that no longer serve your progress into the new time line. Like the dreaming process, which is your foundation, the day of the Verse Shift is the foundation of the ensured success of the ritual. Spend the day dissolving your cumbersome past and fine-tuning the vision of your chosen time line/the “you” that you will overlap. This closure solidifies the ritual.
Spend the day enchanting totems for the journey. When the sun sets, your life as it currently is has ended. This ritual is ready to be acted out physically. Practical and appropriate dress for this ritual is a traveler’s garb. Bring a back pack. Put your totems in the back pack and the offerings for Hekate. A side note about offerings: If you can’t manage everything on the list, a simple red apple with honey on it will do. Also add in old objects that no longer serve you. Additionally, you will need a Road Opening candle, roses of your choosing (they may be any color) and a source of copper like pennies. Don’t forget the lighter.
At 11:30 P.M. you’ll want to approach the doorway/liminal spot. Place offerings somewhere in the liminal spot and pray/petition Hekate to open/reveal the correct path to travel on for your desired time line shift. Immediately after finishing prayers and giving offerings (include old things you don’t want anymore if you have them), turn your back on them. Do not look upon them again. This is very important. Looking at the offerings can undo the entire ritual. At this point, with your back turned away or your eyes averted, take time to listen. Meditate. Focus on the time line that you want to go to and all the circumstances that make up that time line (example: I want a time line where I have more friends, a better job, a life in a new town)
At 11:40 P.M. to 11: 50 PM, you’ll want to focus HARDER on that link that you’ve made to the time line you want to go to. Also, and I cannot stress this enough:
YOU CANNOT LEAVE THE DOORWAY/LIMINAL SPACE UNTIL THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT. I REPEAT DO NOT LEAVE THE LIMINAL SPACE UNTIL MIDNIGHT. DO NOT LEAVE IT. DO NOT.
Use these crucial last minutes to focus solely on that desired time line (that dreaming process I described in the very beginning) Sprinkle some rose petals on your feet. And some pennies. The rose petals at your feet will help your journey into a new time line as they hold the energies of cycles from life to death and rebirth. Add in the copper/pennies at the stroke of midnight and light the Road Opener candle. For one minute, try to visualize that time line and BELIEVE that when you wake up tomorrow, you’ll be where you need to be. Who you need to be. Living in the world you need to be living in.
At 12: 01 A.M. and on the first minute of the new day, the door is opened for you. Leave the liminal space and walk down your chosen path (whichever one you picked) and do not look behind you. DO NOT LOOK BEHIND YOU AND DO NOT CROSS OVER OR RETURN TO THE LIMINAL SPOT AFTER YOU LEAVE DOWN THE PATH. Do not revisit this spot in more than 24 hours after ritual is done. Keep the candle lit in your hands as you walk down the path and let it burn in a safe space in the days after. The ritual has been done now and you are living in your new time line.“
I try not to reblog a lot stuff as I like to keep this space mostly dedicated to my own content, however- the concept of the infinite self, multi-dimensions, and shifting through one’s own infinite timelines has always been a subject of great fascination for me. I’ve done some workings along these lines, but nothing as structured as this ritual, created by a friend of mine from the chaos magick community. I love the term Verse Shifting, I’m definitely adding it to my grimoire.
Find a member of your family whom is seen as “wise” and who knows much of your family tree. It is a good idea to buy a note book and use it only for the names (and characteristics) of the dead.
It is also wise to get both sides of the family, so you may maximize the amount of spirits at your disposal.
If you are “in the closet” about necromancy you can rest assured that all you are doing is collecting names and dates as well as taking notes of what they were like in life. Nothing wrong with that.
You’ll need to mark down their birthdate, date and (if possible) time of death. Ask about stories and take notes on their personality. Ask for photographs of them and ask about their favorite food and drink.
Once you’ve written down all that you can, its time to divide them.
First make two lists,
One female and one male.
Next divide those lists into:
greater (spirits you know the most about) and lesser (spirits you know very little about).
Those lists will themselves be scaling from greater to lesser. The less you know of a spirit the less capable you will be to summon them. Knowing the favorites of the deceased will allow you to create more appealing altars and give your give better offerings during a ritual and knowing the personalities helps you choose what spirit you’d want to work and what to expect.
You should now have four lists, and a notebook full of names and knowledge of the dead. By doing this you have taken the first step into summoning a spirit.
Candlelight-magick 