Welcome to Advanced Witchcraft
Advanced Witchcraft isn’t about mastering one specific skill or learning a particular spell—it’s about stepping into a deeper understanding of your own path. Here, the focus is on your evolution from knowledge to wisdom. You’ve moved beyond the basics, and now it’s time to expand your practice, seeing it not just as a series of techniques, but as a way of life that weaves through everything you do.
Witchcraft is a personal and experiential path. It means your experiences are unique to you, and no book or mentor can fully capture what you’ll encounter. That’s why this space is dedicated to helping you explore, experiment, and grow without needing to conform to rigid definitions or expectations. It’s a place for those who’ve found themselves questioning, seeking, and recognizing that their answers lie within.
This isn’t about teaching you what to think but offering tools and insights to help you refine how you think. Expect to face new challenges that ask you to trust your instincts and question your assumptions. You might have already learned that not every practice comes easily—some skills unfold naturally, while others demand time, effort, and patience. And that’s exactly where the work lies: embracing the process, not rushing to the end result.
We know that with deeper practice comes the realization that language often falls short. Whether it’s the subtle shifts in energy during ritual or the indescribable nature of mystical experiences, words can fail to fully convey what you feel. But that’s the beauty of it: some things are meant to be lived, not explained. Here, you’ll find space to explore those experiences and refine your understanding, knowing that others may resonate but never completely mirror your path.
As you move into this level of practice, it’s not about power over others or gathering knowledge to prove your expertise. It’s about recognizing your power with the energies around you, and how to work with those forces responsibly. True mastery means knowing when to act and when to hold back, when to speak and when silence carries more weight. It means understanding that while every spell and ritual has its place, the greater work is in how you live your practice daily.
Advanced Witchcraft asks you to live in multiple worlds at once—balancing the practical and the mystical, the personal and the cosmic. It requires you to take a step back and examine everything, from your tools to your relationships, through a new lens. Your practice becomes a constant process of revisiting, questioning, and refining. It’s about finding the courage to question what you’ve always accepted, even when that means sitting with discomfort.
Here, you’ll find guidance and resources that aim to deepen your connection to the Craft while honoring the space you’ve carved out for yourself. You’ll encounter perspectives from others who’ve walked this path, but remember, the goal is not to follow their footsteps exactly—it’s to learn from their experiences while staying true to your own. In this advanced space, there are no rigid rules—just the principles that resonate with you, and the freedom to build upon them as you see fit.
So as you step through this threshold, know that this is where the real work continues. It’s not about achieving a final destination but refining your practice every day. This is where Witchcraft becomes not just a practice, but a part of who you are.
Advanced Witchcraft – The Energy of Food
What we put into our bodies has a profound effect on our minds, emotions, and spiritual well-being. In witchcraft, where we work with energy daily, what we consume can either amplify or block our ability to connect with the subtle forces around us. Food isn’t just fuel for the physical body—it’s also an energetic exchange. Whether we realize it or not, we absorb the vibrations of the foods we eat, including the emotions and experiences tied to how that food was produced.
You may already be aware of how different foods feel after you consume them. Lighter foods like leafy greens, fruits, and vegetables tend to leave us feeling clear, uplifted, and mentally agile. These foods vibrate at a higher frequency, allowing for greater psychic receptivity and an easier connection to spiritual realms. Heavier foods, especially meats and processed items, tend to ground us, pulling our energy closer to the material plane. While grounding can be beneficial in certain rituals, consuming heavy, dense food regularly can dull your spiritual awareness, making it harder to access intuitive or psychic insight.
It’s important to find balance. If you frequently feel disconnected from your magic or experience mental fog, consider how much “heavy” energy you’re taking in through your food. You may discover that lightening your diet with more plant-based foods can help raise your energetic frequency and improve your connection to the unseen.
The Karmic Impact of Meat Consumption
Another layer to consider, especially when it comes to eating meat, is the energetic and karmic ties that accompany it. Many spiritual traditions, including those we draw from, believe that when we consume the flesh of animals who suffered during their lives, we are also consuming the fear, pain, and trauma those animals experienced. This is not just metaphorical; it’s energetic. Everything has a vibration, and the vibration of suffering is one of the lowest and most difficult to transmute.
By eating meat from animals that lived and died in torment, we run the risk of carrying that energy within ourselves. It can manifest in subtle ways—restlessness, anxiety, emotional instability, or even blockages in your magic. Many witches find that by reducing or eliminating meat from their diets, they are able to increase their sensitivity to the energies around them and work with clearer intention.
It’s also important to understand that eating animals involves a cycle of karma. In various spiritual texts, it’s said that harming other beings creates a karmic debt. In the case of meat-eating, this debt is particularly poignant. The animals we consume in this life, especially if they were harmed for our benefit, may claim an energetic repayment in future lifetimes. This is not a warning of punishment, but rather a reminder that all actions have consequences, even those as routine as what we eat.
Mindfulness in Eating
In our practice, we strive to act with intention in all things, including what we put into our bodies. This doesn’t mean you need to adopt a strict or rigid diet overnight. Instead, consider the energy exchange in the food you consume. If you do eat meat, can you source it from animals who were treated with respect? Can you offer gratitude to the spirits of those animals, acknowledging the life that was taken?
If you choose a more plant-based approach, consider how those foods affect your energy. You might notice increased clarity in your magic, more balanced emotions, or a deeper sense of harmony with nature. We are not here to judge anyone’s dietary choices, but rather to encourage mindfulness. Whether it’s a bowl of grains or a piece of fruit, every bite is an opportunity to connect with the energy of the Earth.
The ‘Heaviness’ of Foods and Magical Receptivity
As you continue to work your magic, you’ll likely notice the relationship between what you eat and how you feel—both physically and energetically. Some foods feel light and expansive, making it easier to tune into the subtle energies required for divination, spellwork, or deep meditation. Other foods, especially processed ones or meats, can make you feel dense and sluggish, pulling your energy closer to the material plane.
Here’s a general guide to how various foods may feel energetically, from lightest to heaviest:
Leafy Greens and Fresh Vegetables: Energetically light, they support psychic clarity and spiritual receptivity.
Fruits: Naturally high-vibration foods that cleanse and raise energy levels.
Grains (Wheat, Rice, Quinoa, etc.): Grounding, but still light enough to keep the energy moving.
Nuts and Legumes: Heavier but rich in energy, offering a stable foundation without dragging your energy down.
Dairy Products: Dense and grounding, dairy can be comforting but may cloud psychic work if consumed heavily.
Fish and Seafood: Lighter than land animals but still grounding.
Poultry: Heavier, grounding.
Red Meat (Beef, Pork, Lamb): The heaviest of all foods, red meat can anchor energy but may also inhibit spiritual connection when consumed.
Each of us responds to food differently, and you may find that what works for one person may not work for another. Experiment with your diet and pay attention to how your body and energy respond.
The Mind and Body Connection
In magic, the mind must be sharp and focused, free from distractions. What you consume plays a significant role in maintaining that clarity. Drugs, alcohol, and processed foods, while enjoyable in the short term, can cloud your ability to access the deeper layers of consciousness required for magic. Cutting back or eliminating these from your diet can help you reach greater mental and spiritual clarity.
Ultimately, balance is key. We’re not here to tell you what you must eat, but we encourage you to be mindful of how food affects your body, your emotions, and your magic. By treating your body as the sacred vessel it is, you’ll find that your magic flows more freely.
Advanced Witchcraft – Magic and Mysticism
When you reach a deeper stage in your practice, your perspective shifts. It’s not just about sensing magic around you—it’s about realizing you are the magic. You start to see the threads connecting deities, spirits, nature, and time, all woven through your daily life. It’s no longer about fitting witchcraft into your world; it’s about seeing how you naturally fit within it.
This shift comes with a sense of peace. You might even find yourself letting go of the chase for material things, focusing more on spiritual clarity. But, that doesn’t mean the chaos of life disappears. Stressful days happen—your car breaks down, work piles up, and kids push your patience. The difference now is your ability to tap into that inner calm, using meditation, grounding, and connection to your deities to find your balance again.
Magic and mysticism often overlap, but they aren’t identical. Magic is about directing energy—whether through a spell or ritual—to achieve a specific result. Mysticism is more about the quest for unity with the divine, seeking a deeper connection beyond the visible world. As an advanced practitioner, these two start to blend. You sense energy moving through you, grounding from the earth and rising from your rituals. It becomes a shield you carry daily, a quiet confidence that isn’t easily shaken.
This energy flow is not something that always needs to be “grounded.” Instead, it becomes part of who you are, a natural rhythm that guides you. Drawing down energy from the divine, you channel it through the elements, shaping it into physical form. Just as easily, you can reach up through meditative states, accessing knowledge and insights that were once out of reach.
Witchcraft is often called a “mystery practice” because understanding comes through experience, not just reading or instruction. It’s a path where true insight unfolds when you walk through it yourself. Think of it like a great tree. Its roots anchor you, representing ancestors and the lessons they’ve passed on. The branches stretch out into possibilities, your future, and the practices you reach for. You are at the center, able to travel between these worlds, learning and growing with each step.
In advanced practice, challenges or distractions act like those branches. They test your commitment, but they also offer new perspectives, forcing you to adjust your path. Sometimes, that means retracing steps, approaching old lessons with new understanding. It’s not easy work, but the sense of completeness it brings is worth it.
We’ve all been sidetracked during a deep meditation or spirit work, tempted by a friendly spirit or a stray thought. These moments often teach us more than the straightforward path ever could. They show us hidden facets of ourselves and our practice, helping us grow even when we least expect it.
In the early stages of your journey, you might have seen your life in two parts—Before Witchcraft (B.W.) and After Witchcraft (A.W.). Maybe you even marked this shift with a self-dedication ceremony, setting aside a year and a day for deep study. It’s a common way to recognize that shift from curiosity to commitment. It’s also a reminder that the path forward is rarely smooth.
During those early months, you got glimpses of what lay ahead—challenges, doubts, and fears that would test your resolve. You might have felt those fears as intense emotions, your mind’s way of giving form to your uncertainties. Facing them required your full attention; no one else could do it for you. And then came the initiation—a ritual that transformed your understanding and introduced you to the concept of the “terror of the threshold.”
Once past that first initiation, many of us assume the hardest challenges are behind us. But as you dig deeper into your studies—perhaps starting your Second Degree—you discover new thresholds and more demanding tests. Each one comes with a question: Can you face the next challenge? And what happens if you don’t?
In the early stages of your journey, you might have seen your life in two parts—Before Witchcraft (B.W.) and After Witchcraft (A.W.). Maybe you even marked this shift with a self-dedication ceremony, setting aside time for deep study. It’s a common way to recognize that shift from curiosity to commitment. It’s also a reminder that the path forward is rarely smooth.
During those early months, you got glimpses of what lay ahead—challenges, doubts, and fears that would test your resolve. You might have felt those fears as intense emotions, your mind’s way of giving form to your uncertainties. Facing them required your full attention; no one else could do it for you. And then came the initiation—a ritual or practice that transformed your understanding and introduced you to the concept of the “terror of the threshold.”
Once past that first initiation, many of us assume the hardest challenges are behind us. But as you dig deeper into your studies, you discover new thresholds and more demanding tests. Each one comes with a question: Can you face the next challenge? And what happens if you don’t?
Obstacle or Ally?
The terror of the threshold is that obstacle—sometimes a guardian, sometimes a block—that stands between where you are and where you want to be. It could appear as something familiar or something deeply unsettling. In meditation or pathworking, you often meet these guardians. Their purpose? To ensure you truly desire what you’re reaching for and that you’re ready to receive it.
You’ll encounter them each time you step into a new level of practice. And these challenges aren’t confined to ritual space—they show up in everyday life too. Sometimes they take the form of a difficult conversation with a friend or an unexpected roadblock at work. Other times, they appear in dreams or during spirit work, testing your commitment. They can come across as fierce or gentle, but they all serve the same function: to see if you’re willing to push through.
The key is recognizing these guardians as part of your path. They might block your way initially, but they also want you to succeed. When you understand their role, you can transform them from obstacles into allies.
Navigating the Thresholds: Practical Challenges
As you grow more comfortable in crossing these spiritual thresholds, it’s important to remember that each step forward can attract new, unseen challenges. Not all of these will be direct tests of your will. Some will come in the form of unexpected energies that follow you back into your everyday life—what some call astral nasties or unmanaged thoughtforms. These aren’t full entities like elemental spirits or human discarnates, but lingering energies that can cling to you if you’re not careful about closing the portals you open during your workings.
It’s easy for beginners to overlook the importance of closing these portals properly. But failing to do so can attract unwanted energies—like unformed thoughtforms or energy remnants—that linger around your home and disrupt your peace. These beings might be benign, even curious, but they’re often a distraction at best and a nuisance at worst. They can feel like a constant presence, reminding you of the need to take control of your space.
Facing the Unseen: Lessons Learned
For most unwanted energies, the solution is simple: a firm command to leave. Repeating it three times, with conviction, is often effective—drawing from traditions where the number three carries power. Using ritual tools can help reinforce your intention, but the real power lies in your determination. If you’re not clear in your command, the energy may linger nearby rather than leaving entirely. Visualizing the path you want it to take can ensure it returns to where it belongs.
These experiences aren’t just about dealing with the minor annoyances of spiritual practice. They’re part of a broader lesson in self-control and awareness. Just as the threshold guardians test your readiness, these unwanted energies challenge you to maintain clear boundaries between the worlds you explore and the life you lead.
Staying Vigilant: A Few Key Reminders
Close the Door Behind You: Always make sure to close any portals you open during your workings. Visualize the pathway sealing shut and feel the separation between your space and the spiritual one.
Recognize the Signs: If you sense a lingering presence or feel out of balance after a journey, it may be a sign that something followed you back. Address it promptly with a clear command.
Use What Strengthens You: Ritual tools can help reinforce your intent, but know that the power lies in you. Use whatever makes you feel most confident—whether it’s a crystal, laughter, or simply your voice.
Learn from the Challenges: Remember that just like the threshold guardians, these energies align with your level of growth. The further you advance, the more capable you’ll need to be in managing what comes your way.
How Many More Guardians Can There Be?
The answer is simple: as many as you’re ready to face. The universe is vast, and the challenges it offers are infinite. But each one is an opportunity to grow—if you meet it with honesty, sincerity, and respect. The secret to turning a challenge into an ally lies in your willingness to confront it without fear, to speak truthfully even when you’re unsure of the outcome.
Not every encounter will be a test, but every test can become a lesson. When you approach these challenges with the right mindset, even the most daunting obstacles can become a part of your growth. And as you climb the branches of your own spiritual journey, you’ll find that those who once stood in your way become guides, helping you reach the next level of understanding.
From the moment you began your journey into witchcraft, you sensed there was more beyond the everyday reality—the whispers of other realms, other dimensions, the astral plane, and hidden inner landscapes. These realms aren’t just abstract concepts; they are places where magic breathes and thoughts take form, where deities dwell, and where other parts of yourself might linger, unaware of each other. Understanding these worlds and your connection to them is vital as you deepen your practice and explore the vast reaches of your magical potential.
Advanced Witchcraft – The Worlds Beyond: Mapping the Mysteries
How Many Worlds Are There?
It’s not as simple as three, four, or even seven worlds. Some traditions speak of three main realms—upper, middle, and lower—while others expand this to four or more. What’s important is how you visualize these layers, how they overlap, and the unique map you create in your mind to navigate them. Your understanding will shape the way you interact with these realms, how you access them, and what you take from each journey. There’s no definitive answer, only perspectives that expand as you gain experience.
The idea of three worlds often traces back to Anglo-Celtic practices, with a sacred triad: an upperworld, home to deities and ancestors; a middle world, mirroring our physical reality; and an underworld, the domain of fae, spirits, and forgotten energies. Similarly, Norse traditions describe Yggdrasil, the World Tree, connecting nine realms, from the celestial halls of Asgard to the shadowed depths of Hel. These cosmologies give structure to the otherwise infinite, offering ways to access divine energies or confront inner shadows.
The Four Worlds: A Deeper Perspective
Some witches explore the concept of four worlds, each representing a different layer of existence and consciousness:
The Spiritual World: Where divine beings and guides reside, and where you connect most deeply with higher wisdom.
The Mental World: The realm of thoughts and ideas, where intentions are shaped and where our minds touch upon the vast web of existence.
The Astral World: A vivid, ever-changing space where visions unfold, energies take form, and you can encounter spirits and magical beings.
The Physical World: Our tangible reality, where the work of the other realms finds form, and where magic manifests into our daily lives.
These worlds interweave like threads in a complex pattern—none is truly higher or lower than another. They exist alongside one another, accessible through intention, meditation, and magical practice. As you navigate them, you’ll realize that thoughts born in the mental world can ripple through the astral, gather power, and eventually materialize in the physical plane. This flow is the core of how our magic manifests.
Traveling the Worlds: Astral Projection
To move beyond the physical, most witches start with guided meditations. These offer a map, guiding you through each step into the astral and beyond. But as you become more advanced, you might seek to step beyond the script. This is where astral projection comes into play—a technique to send your consciousness beyond the bounds of your body, allowing you to explore these realms directly.
Don’t be discouraged if you find this challenging. Many witches mistake the early signs of success for failure, believing that they’ve fallen short because they still sense their physical body while exploring the astral. In truth, recognizing both worlds simultaneously is a step toward mastery, not a setback. It means you’re working within an alpha state, a lighter trance where awareness of both the physical and astral realms coexists. With time, you may reach deeper states like theta, where the physical self fades, and the astral world becomes your primary focus.
If standard methods like visualizations or chakra work haven’t worked for you, don’t worry. There are many ways to step beyond the veil, from imagining yourself as a shadow slipping through the cracks between twilight and night, to mentally shifting your consciousness into a mobile form. Your path to the astral is unique, just as your experiences in these worlds will be.
The Infinite Cosmos: Beyond Linear Thinking
Western traditions often teach a linear view of existence: Heaven, Earth, and Hell—a one-way journey from life to death. But in witchcraft, we recognize that time is not a straight line, and the worlds are not stacked like rungs on a ladder. Instead, think of them as overlapping dimensions, all woven together. You don’t need to pass through one to reach another; they intersect with our physical reality, accessible through intention and energy work.
This concept extends to the Akashic Records, a repository of knowledge existing beyond time, where every thought, action, and life is recorded. It’s often perceived as a vast library or a projection of images, and accessing it allows you to glimpse past lives, current patterns, and even potential futures. In this space, the past, present, and future are happening all at once, reminding us that reality is more fluid than we often perceive.
Finding Your Path in the Realms
As you grow in your practice, you’ll find yourself spending more time exploring these worlds and less time relying on the physical tools of magic. It’s essential to build a clear map of the cosmos in your mind, even if it differs from the ideas of others. Your faeryland might be another’s plane of thoughtforms, and your world of the divine could overlap with their unknowable realm. What matters is that your understanding serves you and that it evolves as you do.
These worlds hold knowledge, power, and connection to forces beyond ourselves. They are the roots of our magic, and each journey through them brings new insights and deeper relationships with the energies and beings you encounter.
Advanced Witchcraft – Understanding the Many Selves
When you began your Craft journey, the self that mattered most was your physical body—how to tune it, train it, and make it work with the teachings you encountered. But as you deepened your practice, you began to understand that the physical self is only a fraction of who you are. You encountered the astral body and learned it could slip through the veils between worlds, carrying part of your consciousness into different dimensions.
Those early forays into the otherworld might have been challenging, or maybe they felt like second nature. Either way, you quickly realized that more of your being existed beyond the physical form. As your understanding of time, self, and reincarnation expanded, you began to ask the inevitable: Just how many versions of me are there?
This question echoes through history, even in the teachings of spiritual figures like Paramahansa Yogananda, who once said, “The soul, when identified with the body, is mortal. But when it becomes conscious of its identity with the divine essence, it knows itself to be eternal.” Yogananda’s words hint at the layers of our existence beyond the physical. They suggest that there are many aspects of the self, each experiencing different realms of time, space, and consciousness. How many of these selves exist across various dimensions? Are they aware of you, as you are of them? Can you reach them, learn from them, or even merge with them?
Navigating the Many Selves
As you move forward in your path, you’ll encounter different perspectives on the nature of these many selves. Some traditions teach that we have four primary selves, each connected to a different aspect of existence. Here’s a brief look at these layers:
The Physical Self: This is the vehicle for your earthly experiences, the body that grounds you to the material world. It’s your anchor in the here and now.
The Astral Self: Close to your physical form, this self is what allows you to travel between worlds, slip through the astral plane, and connect with beings beyond our realm. It’s often what you glimpse when you observe an aura.
The Mental Self: This self resides on the plane of thought, where intentions take form before they manifest. It’s the seat of visualizations, where your magical workings start to crystallize.
The Spiritual Self: Often associated with the higher self, this aspect connects to the divine, linking you to greater wisdom and spiritual insight, often through the crown chakra.
Understanding these selves is crucial, but the journey doesn’t end there. Advanced practice also means reckoning with more elusive aspects, like the shadow self, the co-walker, and the fetch. Each brings its own lessons, challenges, and revelations.
Meeting the Co-Walker, Fetch, and Shadow Self
The Co-Walker is a spirit ally, a double that moves alongside you through the astral world. It can be a guardian, a guide, or simply a presence that reflects your deeper instincts and intuition. Often described as a protective figure, the co-walker might feel like a guardian angel or an intuitive nudge that keeps you on your path. It’s a subtle guide, existing just beyond physical sight, but always ready to assist when you reach out.
The concept of the fetch appears across various witchcraft traditions, often with nuances that reflect each tradition’s approach to life, death, and the spirit realms. It’s typically regarded as a spirit or double that emerges as a harbinger of death, linked closely with the realm beyond life. Unlike a co-walker—a kindred spirit that exists alongside you in the living world, offering guidance and protection—the fetch is bound to the Land of the Dead, stepping into our world only when the veil between life and death thins for an individual.
In many traditional witchcraft circles, particularly those influenced by Celtic and Germanic lore, the fetch is seen as a kind of death-messenger, akin to the Ankou in Breton folklore or the Doppelgänger of Germanic traditions. Its role is not malevolent, but its presence can be unsettling due to the gravity of its message: a reminder of the natural transition that awaits. It serves as a spiritual escort, ensuring that the soul does not become lost or trapped between realms—a role that echoes the psychopomp figures like Anubis or Hecate, who guide spirits to the afterlife in other mythologies.
The Shadow Self represents the parts of you that lie beneath the surface—elements of your psyche that are often hidden but are integral to your wholeness. Meeting your shadow self requires you to let go of ego and confront your truest nature. The shadow is not evil or dangerous by nature; rather, it reveals your full self, stripped of the stories you tell yourself. Encountering the shadow can be daunting, but it’s also a gateway to deeper self-awareness and spiritual growth. As you come face-to-face with this self, you can discover hidden strengths and confront inner conflicts that hinder your growth.
Reincarnation and the Web of Lives
Reincarnation is a foundational belief in many branches of Witchcraft, offering the idea that our essence experiences many lifetimes. Yet, in advanced study, the question isn’t just whether we live multiple lives but how those lives coexist and intersect. When we accept that time is not linear but omnipresent, the possibilities expand: What if all your lives—past, present, and future—are happening simultaneously?
This concept challenges our understanding of time and reality. It suggests that each choice we make might spin off a new version of us, living in a parallel world. It means that lessons learned in one lifetime can ripple across time and affect the others.
Exploring Past Lives for Wisdom
Accessing past lives is a common practice for many witches seeking to understand the roots of current struggles or to gain wisdom from experiences long past. Yet, the advanced student’s task is to discern whether the visions are actual past life memories, reflections of archetypal stories, or even psychological insights dressed as memories. The distinction might not matter much if the lessons learned resonate and bring clarity to the present.
If you choose to explore your past lives, create a safe, intentional space for the journey. Enter a deep meditative state, and let yourself fall into the void between moments, calling forth memories that hold relevance for you now. Set an intention to only receive what will benefit you, and be prepared to come back to the present quickly if the visions become overwhelming. Trust your inner wisdom to guide you, knowing that the insights you gain can help you make amends for past mistakes, understand recurring patterns, and guide your spirit towards growth.
The Many Selves, the Unified Soul
As we journey deeper into the Craft, we must acknowledge that our understanding of these concepts will shift. Are we truly separate beings across these selves, or are they facets of a single soul exploring the vastness of the universe? Whether we lean towards theories of individual reincarnations, or the idea of an oversoul experiencing many lives at once, or believe that all existence is a manifestation of a single consciousness, the choice of belief shapes how we approach our practice.
Advanced Witchcraft – Warding & Psychic Self-Defense
In the beginning, you learned that your magic and rituals could attract beings from other dimensions, drawn to the energies you raise. You also encountered people who drain energy—those referred to as “psychic vampires” who can deplete your energy reserves faster than a thief siphoning a gas tank.
You learned how to build basic defenses against these intrusions. You practiced placing yourself in an egg of light, crossing your arms over your solar plexus, and visualizing yourself as a large mirror, reflecting back negative intentions.
As you advanced in the Craft, your methods of self-defense grew more refined. You could create a spell jar or sigil to safeguard your space, and perform house blessings to ward off astral beings that might have followed you from other dimensions.
But as your skills deepened, so did the complexity of these challenges. The entities drawn to your energy grew stronger, and psychic vampires could sense you from afar.
True psychic attacks remain rare, but a wise Witch always maintains her defenses—never leaving an opening for trouble in the dimensions of magick.
Locating Portals Between Dimensions
A common challenge for a Witch is dealing with pesky astral beings or spirits that trail back from a journey through other dimensions. Sometimes, spirits may pass in and out of your space through natural portals—points where the barriers between dimensions thin.
These portals are especially common in older homes, particularly those that have undergone significant changes, like moved doors or windows. These now-hidden passageways can become entry points for ghosts or earthbound spirits slipping between dimensions.
You might identify a portal by noticing a spirit behaving oddly, as if following a route that doesn’t match your home’s current structure. For instance, I once heard about a house where a spirit repeatedly moved up and down a staircase that no longer existed in the physical space. The homeowner discovered that decades earlier, a staircase had occupied that exact spot before being removed during renovations. The spirit seemed to be walking along the remnants of that path, still tethered to a different time’s version of the space.
Pets that become fixated on specific areas or appear to watch unseen figures can also be indicators of a portal. If you’re sensitive to energy, you might sense areas in your space where the barriers between dimensions feel thinner or where spirits already come and go.
What to Do When You Find a Portal
Before closing a portal, ensure that all astral beings and unwanted spirits are on their own side of the gateway. Trapping a spirit in this dimension could create more trouble than allowing its free passage ever would. An agitated spirit might disrupt your home, unsettle pets, or even lash out with what energy it has. The level of chaos it can create depends on its strength and awareness. Some astral entities fade over time, while more conscious spirits may resist banishment if their path back to their dimension is sealed off.
When you’re sure your home is clear, cleanse the area of the portal with an infusion of mugwort and rosemary, or smoke cleanse with sage or frankincense. As you do this, visualize the thinning between dimensions becoming solid, sealing the passage.
Use the Triangle of Creation—formed by pressing your thumbs and forefingers into a triangle at your forehead—to focus your energy. Project this energy toward the portal, envisioning a blazing pentagram that seals the gateway shut and guards it. This ward will remain in place, but remember to recharge it monthly to keep it strong.
While reopening a portal is possible by reversing this process, doing so is risky. It can expose you to any entity that wishes to cross over. For this reason, it is rarely advisable to open such doorways without the safety of a properly cast circle.
Solar Plexus Armor
The solar plexus, the energy center near the diaphragm, is particularly vulnerable to psychic interference. Sensitive Witches might notice fine threads of energy attached to this area after astral projection or contact with other dimensions. These can be severed and cleansed through visualization, using methods like imagining the threads being cut and burned away.
For protection, visualize a shield of reflective surfaces over your solar plexus, bouncing back any energy that seeks to connect to you. You could also use the image of a flaming pentagram over this area, mirroring the techniques used to seal portals. Strong visualizations keep these barriers in place and maintain their power.
The Checkered Box
When protecting your home or sacred space from psychic attack, you can use a technique known as the “checkered box.” This method draws upon the energy tension created by a pattern of alternating black and white squares—similar to the Masonic floors used in ceremonial spaces for centuries. It helps create a defensive barrier around your space, aligning with elemental energies.
To begin, face a direction your tradition associates with the deities. For many Celtic Witches, this is west, though any direction can serve. Visualize a wall of black energy covering one side of your home, extending from the ground to the roof, and say, “To the west, black.” Turn clockwise to create the other walls: “To the north, white,” and so on, until your space is fully enclosed.
Raise your arms and declare, “Above me, black as night,” then press your palms to the ground and state, “The floor below me, white with light.” This completes the protective box. Make sure your visualization is vivid and strong.
The Witches’ Foot
The Witches’ Foot, while sometimes misunderstood, is a powerful protective talisman, designed not to harm but to shield. It operates similarly to a witch bottle but targets specific threats.
To create one, gather wire and prickly materials like thorns or briars, binding them while focusing on protecting your space from harm. Visualize the foot tripping up those who seek to cross into your space uninvited, both from physical threats and entities from other dimensions. Place it where it won’t cause harm to anyone innocent but will ward off unwanted intruders.
Advanced Witchcraft: Offensive Magic and Gray Areas
Warding is often taught as a purely defensive practice, using incenses, washings, and visualizations to maintain the integrity of your space. Yet, there are moments when the lines between defense and offense blur—where direct action is required to protect yourself and those you care about.
Recognizing when it’s time to go beyond the passive and use offensive magic is part of walking the advanced path. In these situations, the distinction between right and wrong can shift, requiring careful judgment. A Witch must know when to hold back and when to act decisively, using all the tools of advanced witchcraft to navigate the intricate dimensions of magic and life.
Advanced Witchcraft – Shamanism and Witchcraft
For many witches, shamanism might not have seemed connected to witchcraft initially, especially when considering shamanic traditions from cultures outside of Western backgrounds. Yet, shamanic practices have roots that stretch across continents, including those that echo through ancient European traditions. The essence of the shaman—someone who walks between the worlds, channels messages from spirits, and aids in the healing of their community—often parallels roles that witches have held in their own communities throughout history.
The Path of the Spirit Walker
It’s essential to recognize that shamanism has deep roots in various Indigenous cultures across the world. The term “shaman” itself originates from the Tungusic peoples of Siberia, and its practice is woven into the traditions, beliefs, and community life of many Indigenous societies. For those of us coming from Western backgrounds, it’s important to approach shamanic practices with respect, acknowledging that we are engaging with concepts that are sacred and specific to the cultures from which they originate. Rather than adopting the label of “shaman” or claiming those traditions as our own, we can explore practices that draw on similar themes of spirit connection, healing, and journeying in ways that align with our own cultural heritage. At the same time, it’s important to recognize that some among us may have ancestral ties to these practices, and we honor each practitioner’s journey in navigating their relationship to these traditions.
Shamanic Practices and Witchcraft: Common Threads
Shamanic practices and witchcraft intersect through the ability to engage with the spirit world. Shamans are often seen as spirit walkers—they navigate hidden realms, commune with ancestors, and serve as intermediaries between the living and the spirits. For those of us who work with familiars, spirit guides, or deities, this concept is familiar. In mythological stories such as the Lady of the Lake gifting Excalibur to Arthur or the warrior woman Scathach teaching Cuchulain, we can find echoes of shamanic themes: spirits bestowing gifts that guide and empower those who are open to their teachings.”
In advanced witchcraft, understanding the power of a true name—whether it belongs to a spirit, deity, or place—can grant deeper access to the unseen. This mirrors shamanic practices, where naming a spirit or learning the hidden name of a place allows a unique connection with those forces. It’s a reminder that words hold power, and that our magic draws from these ancient understandings.
Soul Retrieval and Healing Beyond the Physical
One of the profound aspects of shamanic practice is soul retrieval—a method of healing that focuses on reuniting lost parts of the soul. In the shamanic worldview, trauma or severe life events can cause fragments of the soul to become disconnected, leaving a person feeling incomplete or disoriented. The shaman’s role is to journey into the spirit world, retrieve these missing pieces, and restore the individual’s wholeness.
For witches, this concept may resonate when considering the effects of psychic attacks, curses, or deep emotional wounds. We know that sometimes healing requires more than physical remedies—it calls for a return to our spiritual essence. Soul retrieval, like practices of grounding or shadow work, serves as a reminder that true healing often requires us to address not just the body but the spirit as well. And while we recognize the importance of modern medicine, integrating these spiritual practices can offer a more holistic approach to healing.
Navigating the Realm of the Dead
The relationship between the living and the dead is central to many shamanic traditions. In cultures worldwide, shamans guide the spirits of the deceased, ensuring they find peace and preventing wandering spirits from disrupting the living. This often involves rituals, special burial practices, or maintaining certain taboos around the dead. Some cultures bury their dead with care, facing certain directions or surrounded by herbs to ward off malevolent energies, while others avoid speaking the names of the deceased, or call upon ancestor spirits for guidance and protection.
In advanced witchcraft, working with ancestors or the spirits of the departed can deepen our connection to the past and provide insights that shape our path. However, unlike some traditional shamanic practices, there is often a hesitance to engage with the spirits of those who died by their own hand. This reflects the belief that these spirits may carry unresolved pain that prevents them from offering guidance. As witches, we might honor this perspective by focusing our spirit work on those who have found peace or by helping guide troubled spirits toward healing.
Beyond the Physical Sacrifice
The idea of sacrifice is present in both shamanic and witchcraft traditions, though its form has evolved over time. In many ancient cultures, sacrifices were physical—animals, objects, and even people. Today, witches often work with symbolic offerings—time, energy, and acts of devotion. We understand that our work in advanced witchcraft is a reciprocal relationship with the energies we draw upon, and that true sacrifice is about giving something of ourselves without causing harm to others.
This approach aligns with the principles of “harm none” that many of us hold in our practice. It’s about honoring the old ways while adapting them to our modern values, ensuring that our offerings, whether of service or sacred items, remain a meaningful exchange of energy with the spirits and deities we work with.
Balancing Tradition with Personal Path
Shamanic practices are as varied as the cultures they originate from. While some of these methods might resonate with us, it’s essential to honor their roots and recognize that our practices don’t need to replicate them. Instead, we can draw inspiration from these traditions while focusing on what is authentically ours. Engaging in practices like hedge riding, connecting with spirit guides, or exploring dream incubation can allow us to access similar spiritual states without overstepping into traditions that are not ours to claim.
This way, our path as witches remains both grounded in our heritage and open to the wisdom that shamanic traditions offer.
Animal Allies and Shapeshifting
Animals have long been revered in spiritual practices, offering guidance and messages to those who pay attention. As you build relationships with these beings, you’ll come to see that their energy is not higher or lower than ours but exists on a different wavelength—one that can teach us if we’re willing to listen.
It’s important to treat animal allies with respect, recognizing their autonomy rather than assuming ownership over them. When they appear to you in dreams, meditations, or the physical world, it’s an opportunity to learn from their presence and allow their messages to unfold in their own way. Each encounter is unique, and the guidance offered by a hawk soaring above or a fox slipping through shadows may differ from what’s written in folklore or tradition.
Meeting Your Power Animals
Engaging with a power animal can be a meaningful part of your spiritual practice. The term “power animal” comes from traditions where certain animal spirits are seen as guardians or guides, offering their strengths, wisdom, and characteristics to those who connect with them. While the concept originates from Indigenous traditions, many practitioners integrate it into their own paths, recognizing the universal idea of animals as carriers of deeper meanings.
Power animals are not the same as familiars, though they share some similarities. In European witchcraft, familiars are spirit allies that assist witches, often taking the form of animals like cats, owls, or toads. Familiars are seen as companions that work closely with a witch, aiding in rituals and magical work. Power animals, on the other hand, represent archetypal energies and wisdom, helping you navigate challenges and offering insights into your spiritual growth. Think of a power animal as a temporary teacher or guide, while a familiar is more like a trusted partner in your everyday practice.
Often, connecting with a power animal involves entering a meditative state or using astral projection to invite an animal spirit that has wisdom to share. Some animals may become long-term guides, while others might appear only briefly to assist with a particular situation or question. If you’ve not yet explored this practice, here’s a simple guide to get started:
Create a Meeting Place: Visualize a space where different environments converge—a forest, a meadow, a mountain, and an ocean. This place offers room for many types of animals to approach you in their natural surroundings.
Greet with Respect: When an animal appears, treat it as a guide rather than a pet. Allow the interaction to unfold naturally, without trying to control or impose your expectations.
Listen and Follow: The animal might communicate through words, thoughts, or gestures, or it might guide you on a journey. Trust its wisdom, even if it seems unconventional. If you need help, don’t hesitate to ask for it.
Return with Guidance: Once the session ends, make sure the animal leads you back to your starting point, ensuring the journey is properly closed.
As soon as you return to your physical state, take time to record the details of your experience. Insights that seem unclear now may reveal their meaning later on as you reflect.
The Purpose of Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is about more than changing forms—it’s about understanding the world through different perspectives. In advanced witchcraft, shifting into the spirit of an animal can reveal new insights or allow you to access aspects of yourself that might otherwise remain hidden. It can serve a variety of purposes:
New Perspectives: Embodying the essence of an animal can help you view challenges from a fresh angle, seeing through the keen eyes of a hawk or the patience of a turtle.
Adaptation and Defense: In times of danger or stress, shifting into the spirit of a protective or swift creature can help you navigate both physical and spiritual challenges.
Spiritual Initiations: Sometimes, deities or guiding spirits may test your ability to adapt and change, pushing you to explore new facets of your power.
As you grow more experienced, you’ll find that your ability to shift and adapt in different situations becomes second nature. It’s less about achieving a physical transformation and more about changing the way you interact with the world around you.
Forms of Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting can take many forms, both in the physical world and in the astral. Here are some of the types you might encounter:
Astral Shift: Your consciousness takes on the form of an animal or mythical being during astral travel, experiencing the world through its senses and instincts.
Spirit Body Shift: The essence of a power animal merges with you, often as a way of drawing closer to a specific deity or spiritual lesson.
Mental Shift: This is when your senses become heightened in a way that mirrors an animal’s abilities—like seeing with the sharp vision of a hawk or hearing with the precision of a bat.
Auric Shift: Your energy field takes on the essence of an animal, often during times of danger or stress, allowing you to project strength or speed even if your physical form remains unchanged.
The Magic of the Shapeshifter
The heart of shapeshifting lies in the understanding that “when you change, everything around you changes.” This fundamental lesson is about the power of perspective—learning to adapt to whatever is needed in a given moment. This can mean embodying the resilience of a bear in a time of challenge or the playful curiosity of a fox when you need to explore a new path.
In the astral realm, shifts happen at the speed of thought, allowing you to move quickly between different forms. But just as with any aspect of the Craft, the real work lies in practice and patience. The more you explore this skill, the more you’ll learn to recognize when and how to change, letting each new form reveal its wisdom to you.
The art of shapeshifting, like all aspects of advanced witchcraft, is deeply personal. It’s a practice that encourages you to trust your instincts, listen to the world around you, and let the spirits of the natural world guide your steps. As you develop your connection with your animal allies, may their wisdom help you find new ways of navigating the seen and unseen, adapting with grace to whatever comes your way.
Advanced Witchcraft – Working with your Daimon Self
A daimon is not a demonic entity, and it’s crucial to make that distinction clear. In witchcraft and folklore, a daimon is a completely different concept. It doesn’t come with the sinister, fear-inducing associations that surround demons. Instead, its roots lie in ancient Greek philosophy, where daimons (or daimones) acted as intermediaries between humans and the divine. Think of them as guiding spirits—neither good nor bad—existing in a space that touches both the light and shadow aspects of life. The word “daimon” itself means “divine power” or “spirit,” free from the negativity that religions later tied to demons.
In the context of advanced witchcraft, a daimon is like an inner spiritual ally. Unlike a spirit guide that might offer reassurance, a daimon pushes you to confront the things you’d rather avoid. It’s the voice that challenges you, the presence that compels you to dig into the hidden layers of your being. This makes the daimon a key player in shadow work—those practices where you explore the parts of yourself that are often ignored or repressed. A daimon makes you face uncomfortable truths, revealing desires, fears, and impulses that you might prefer to keep out of sight.
But the influence of a daimon goes beyond personal introspection. It can also act as a link to ancestral energies, embodying the experiences, struggles, and wisdom of those who walked before you. In this way, a daimon might reflect patterns that have been passed down through generations. It may challenge you to confront inherited behaviors or energies, urging you to break old cycles or find a place for these elements within your own identity. It’s not an outside force working against you—it’s more like an internal mentor. This guide doesn’t just suggest growth; it demands it, often by pushing you through tough lessons.
As your advanced witchcraft practice deepens, working with a daimon can lead to more profound spiritual insights than those found in simple affirmations or manifestations. These spirits guide you through resilience, self-examination, and the willingness to navigate the less comfortable corners of your soul. Embracing the concept of a daimon can allow for a fuller understanding of both your light and your dark, bringing you closer to balance and self-awareness. It’s not about the easy path; it’s about the path that leads to a more complete understanding of yourself.
Why Work with Your Daimon?
Uncovering Hidden Truths: Daimons are excellent at exposing the desires, fears, and motivations that you might keep hidden from yourself. Their ability to bring these elements to the surface can be a powerful tool for self-reflection.
Protection through Discernment: When you face challenging spiritual situations, your daimon can act as a protector, urging caution or questioning your motives. This can be particularly useful when dealing with potentially deceptive spirits or navigating the astral plane.
Balancing Light and Shadow: While it’s tempting to focus solely on light and love, true balance requires acknowledging and working with your shadow side. Your daimon helps bridge the gap between the light aspects of your practice and the darker, more mysterious corners of your psyche.
Engaging with Your Daimon
Meeting your daimon for the first time can be a startling experience. They may appear to you during deep meditations, in the shadows of a ritual space, or in the symbolism of your dreams. Unlike your power animal or spirit guide, who often feels like a friend, your daimon might appear as a figure that is harder to accept or understand—sometimes monstrous or unsettling in appearance. This is because they mirror aspects of yourself that you may be reluctant to face.
To connect with your daimon, begin with a meditation during the dark moon, a time when introspection is naturally heightened. Light a single candle to symbolize the light you bring to the darkness. Focus on inviting your daimon to reveal itself. Be clear in your intention to meet it as an ally, not an adversary.
When your daimon makes itself known, engage with it as you would with a wise but stern mentor. Ask it questions about your fears, your hidden desires, or challenges you’ve been avoiding. It may not provide direct answers, but instead, offer cryptic guidance or imagery that you’ll need to interpret.
Don’t be surprised if your daimon places challenges in your path—these are tests of your resolve, meant to refine your spiritual willpower. Accept these lessons as opportunities to learn more about yourself, even when they come with discomfort.
Ethical Considerations: Harm None
One of the most important aspects of working with your daimon is remembering that their loyalty lies entirely with you. Daimons are fiercely dedicated to serving your interests, sometimes to the point of disregarding the impact on others. You must remind your daimon of the rede of “harm none,” as they are not inherently concerned with the well-being of those around you. Their drive to fulfill your desires can sometimes lead to actions that might unintentionally cause harm or create negative ripple effects for others.
This intense focus on your self-interest is one reason daimons are often associated with the negative aspects of the advanced witchcraft. It’s not a form of love or care that we typically recognize. Even those who want the best for us know that it’s not ethical to take from someone else to achieve our desires. Your daimon, however, isn’t naturally programmed to understand this distinction. Its determination to serve your will is a strength but also a potential weakness. Use the daimon’s guidance wisely, but be sure to curb its overzealousness when needed.
Remember the old adage: “Be careful what you wish for, or you just might get it.” This holds especially true when working with your daimon, as their unwavering focus on achieving your desires might lead to unintended consequences. Approach this work with caution and a clear understanding of your own intentions.
Integrating the Daimonic Wisdom
The key to working with your daimon lies in understanding that their tough love serves a purpose. They don’t simply want to obstruct your path—they want you to question your intentions, to understand the depth of your desires, and to grow through these challenges. While they might seem relentless, their ultimate aim is to bring you closer to your true self and your spiritual goals.
Just as a daimon can be a valuable guide, it can also be overzealous in its attempts to steer you away from what it perceives as harmful. Remember, you are in control of your practice. While it’s wise to listen to the daimon’s warnings, you should always apply your own judgment. Your path is ultimately yours to walk.
Use your daimon’s guidance to integrate the light and dark aspects of your personality. Reflect on its lessons and write them down in your grimoire. By tracking these encounters, you’ll see patterns that reveal where your spiritual strengths lie, as well as the areas where you need to grow.
Like everything within this space and on this path, practice personal discernment. There is never any pressure or requirement to engage with ideas or practices that don’t feel right or true for you. Part of this path is ultimately becoming your own teacher. We are simply sharing ideas and practices—take what resonates, leave what doesn’t, and continue to shape your own unique journey.
Your daimon may not be the companion you expected, but maybe they are the one you need for this stage of your practice. Their presence can be a source of deep insight, as long as you’re willing to face the truths they reveal and accept the challenges they present. In embracing this part of yourself, you become more complete, and your practice deepens beyond the surface-level understanding of light and shadow.
Advanced Witchcraft – The labyrinth and Maze
As a more advanced practitioner, you may find the archetypes of the labyrinth and maze essential tools for deepening your spiritual work. These configurations represent two distinct pathways: one that guides you through a winding journey of discovery and the other that tests your resolve with challenges and obstacles. Understanding their unique qualities and applications can enrich your practice, whether you work alone or with a collective.
The Labyrinth: A Path of Introspection and Spiritual Cycles
A labyrinth, with its single spiraling path, is a representation of the cycles of life—creation, death, rebirth, and spiritual awakening. Walking a labyrinth is not about solving a puzzle but about embracing the journey inward. This inward path allows you to quiet the mind, focusing on the purpose of your ritual as you move toward the center, which symbolizes reaching the heart of spiritual understanding or the divine. The return journey outward mirrors bringing the insights of the inner world back into the physical realm.
For many, a labyrinth is a tool for introspection and healing. Its spiral design mimics the natural patterns of life, echoing the ancient rhythms found in the spiral of a seashell or the whirling galaxies. It offers a way to experience the sacred within the simplicity of the path itself, whether used for seasonal rituals, personal meditative journeys, or moments of profound spiritual need. Even if you don’t have access to a physical labyrinth, you can trace or visualize its patterns during meditation, journeying within your mind to access the same depths.
The Maze: A Test of Will and Spiritual Challenge
Unlike the straightforward path of a labyrinth, a maze presents a series of choices—some of which are dead ends. This structure symbolizes the spiritual challenges, trials, and the hero’s journey we each undertake. The maze represents the obstacles that stand between you and a deeper understanding of your spiritual path. To navigate a maze is to accept the process of confronting distractions, false starts, and moments of uncertainty. It is a trial that sharpens your intuition and deepens your resilience.
Working with a maze allows you to engage directly with the lessons of the “inmost cave,” a term from mythological studies that symbolizes the deepest part of the self, where the greatest tests reside. Unlike the passive flow of a labyrinth, the maze demands active engagement with each turn, and a willingness to embrace mistakes as part of the learning process. It’s a dynamic mirror to your internal struggles, offering a chance to confront and overcome personal and spiritual challenges.
Integrating the Labyrinth and Maze into Your Practice
For many, the decision to work with a labyrinth or a maze depends on what is being sought. The labyrinth offers a space for healing, renewal, and deep contemplation, ideal for moments when you seek to align with the cyclical energies of nature and spirit. The maze, on the other hand, offers a structured challenge, demanding focus and problem-solving—perfect for times when you need to confront the trials within yourself or the path ahead.
Labyrinth Rituals: Consider using a labyrinth during initiations, allowing a new practitioner to symbolically walk the path to spiritual awakening. It can also be used for healing rituals, with the center as a place of focus and transformation, or for seasonal rites like the equinoxes, reflecting the passage between light and dark.
Maze Rituals: The maze can be set up physically or entered through visualization, providing a space to confront inner doubts and external challenges. It’s particularly effective for working with shadow aspects or during personal quests for deeper understanding. Envision the figures of myth—guides, challengers, or guardians—appearing along your journey, offering riddles, challenges, or insights as you navigate your way to the center.
Discernment in Practice
As with any spiritual tool, using a labyrinth or maze requires personal discernment. There’s no obligation to engage with these practices if they don’t resonate with you. The key is to approach them as methods to explore and expand your own understanding of the self, the divine, and the space between. These tools are offered as possibilities, not prescriptions. Your spiritual path is yours to shape—embrace what feels right, leave what does not, and remember that you are your own best teacher.
Labyrinths and Mazes in the Inner World
If you lack the physical space for a labyrinth or maze, you can enter one through guided meditation or astral work. Visualize a labyrinth carved into the earth of a sacred mountain, a maze hidden deep in an ancient forest, or a spiral traced on a windswept beach. In the inner world, you have the freedom to shape these tools to suit your needs, allowing you to connect with the rich symbology of these archetypes no matter where you are.
Advanced Witchcraft – Tree Spirits and Their Insights
When you first began your studies in advanced witchcraft, you likely explored the world of trees alongside herbalism, learning how certain plants contain both healing and harmful properties. You might have discovered that willow bark holds the salicylic acid that makes aspirin, and the foxglove plant contains digitalis, crucial for heart medicine yet deadly in the wrong dosage. Maybe you also explored the magical aspects of trees: which woods are best suited for different types of magic, and how leaves, barks, and berries can amplify specific spells. It might have seemed like tree lore was boundless, but you hoped that by the end of your initial training, you’d be able to walk into any forest with a sense of familiarity.
As your practice matured, however, you found that the world of trees had even more layers to reveal. You began to appreciate the subtleties of tree spirits and their many connections to mythology and folk traditions. You learned of the World Tree—a central symbol in many traditions, like Yggdrasil in Norse mythology, which connects the realms, and the magical trees of Ireland’s provinces, each representing different energies like wisdom, warfare, and abundance.
As you deepened your advanced witchcraft studies, you likely realized that respect for trees spans across cultures and centuries, even when modern societies forget their ancient reverence. You found that cultures worldwide hold a deep spiritual connection to trees. For example, in Judaism, the festival of Tu B’Shavat celebrates the “new year” of trees, a tradition that involves planting trees and honoring their fruit.
You also discovered that trees aren’t just passive observers of the world. They harbor guardian spirits—some friendly, some capricious, and others protective in ways that might seem harsh. You learned the importance of building a respectful relationship with these beings, understanding that every encounter with a tree spirit requires patience and care. Above all, you learned never to take anything from a tree without first asking permission.
Why Trees?
Trees are more than just a source of comfort—they are vital to our existence. Our relationship with trees is symbiotic; they breathe in carbon dioxide and release oxygen, while we do the opposite. The long lives of trees, their mirrored branches and roots, and the wildlife they host create a sense of timeless presence. Trees may stand for centuries, witnessing generations of human life, their wisdom growing as deeply as their roots.
As you progress in your practice, you might find yourself connecting with trees in new ways, seeking their ancient knowledge. While the basic magical properties of trees may come easily to you—like which trees are best for certain spells or rituals—there’s a deeper knowledge that comes from direct communication with the trees themselves. This wisdom, gathered from their spirits, is often unique to you and your connection with the tree, making it more personal than any general correspondence list.
Gaining Deeper Knowledge from Trees
Approaching a tree with respect is the first step in seeking its wisdom. Bring a small offering—a bright ribbon, a coin buried at its roots, or food for the animals that live nearby. Approach with a simple greeting, letting the tree know you come with good intentions and will do it no harm. Acknowledge its ancient presence, even if it’s a young sapling. While younger trees might take longer to share their insights, they still deserve your respect and acknowledgment.
Sometimes, a tree might be hesitant to share its knowledge with you, especially if it has experienced harm in the past. It might take multiple visits, offering small gestures of kindness, before a traumatized tree spirit begins to trust you. But most trees are more open to communication, especially when approached with genuine intention.
When seeking answers from a tree, keep in mind that the knowledge it shares is often subtle. It may not speak in clear words but through images, sensations, or symbols. Pay attention to any intuitive flashes or synchronicities within the 24 hours following your interaction—this is often how trees communicate their messages. For instance, you might not receive an immediate answer to a question about the properties of a tree’s leaves, but a book or passing comment later that day might reveal the information you seek.
The Power of Names and Trust
Names hold a special significance in witchcraft. Discovering or being given the true name of a being or spirit grants a certain power over it, and trees are no exception. If a tree shares its true name with you, treat that knowledge with the utmost respect—don’t share it lightly. This exchange is an act of trust, and honoring it keeps the relationship with the tree strong.
Working with trees goes beyond simply knowing their properties; it’s about building a relationship, learning their stories, and respecting the unique wisdom they hold. While you may find that many of the lessons trees impart are personal, keeping a record of these exchanges allows you to track your own growth and understanding. This is how knowledge transforms into wisdom—by living, experiencing, and integrating what the trees teach you.
Advanced Witchcraft – Divination
When you first started, you probably encountered a variety of divination methods like tarot cards, runes, scrying, and the I Ching. Whether you fully understood their mechanics or had worked with them before didn’t matter much. Early in your Craft studies, you were guided to select one method that resonated with you the most, making it your primary divination tool. The goal was to build a strong foundation and achieve reliable readings before diving deeper into other practices.
There aren’t exact numbers to show which divination methods beginners gravitate towards, but many start with tarot. The symbolism within the cards is rich and varied, offering insights that stir both imagination and intuition. With the multitude of decks available, it’s easy to find—or even create—one that aligns perfectly with your needs, beliefs, or aesthetic preferences.
As you progressed in your advanced witchcraft studies, you likely explored other methods, perhaps even creating your own interpretations. While you may have a few favorites that consistently provide clear readings, you also recognize that your unique perspective influences how you interpret the ancient symbols of divination. It’s natural to develop personalized meanings and insights, shaped by your own experiences and connections.
Now, as you step into the realm of an advanced witchcraft practice, it’s time to expand further. This involves looking to the natural world around you, using the tools you’ve honed to access deeper layers of insight, and seeking a more direct connection with the divine.
The Art of Augury
Augury often gets confused with other forms of nature-based divination, but it’s a specific practice. It isn’t just any divination using elements of the natural world; each method has its own name:
Apantomancy: Reading signs from animals or creatures that suddenly appear.
Aeromancy: Observing wind patterns.
Austromancy: Listening to sounds in nature.
Botanomancy: Working with plants and trees.
Capnomancy: Reading the shapes and movements in smoke.
Hydromancy: Using water as a divinatory tool.
Pyromancy: Divining through fire.
Zoomancy: A broader term for divination involving animals.
Birds, Shapeshifters, and Otherworldly Guides
Augury, as practiced in Witchcraft, places special emphasis on birds and their behaviors—this is known as ornithomancy. Observing their movements, sounds, and how they interact with their environment can provide significant insights. This practice also incorporates other techniques like reading weather changes (meteoromancy) or understanding the trees and plants a bird chooses for perching.
Historically, augury has roots in Roman traditions and was adopted by the Anglo-Celtic practices that traveled to the New World. Even today, bird omens and interpretations are part of the cultural fabric in regions like Appalachia and the Ozarks.
Birds often symbolize shifts between worlds in mythologies. A character transforming into a bird or a bird appearing after a ritual often represents a shift to a different state of awareness, not necessarily a physical departure but a transition to a higher plane.
The specific tree where a bird lands can also change the meaning of an augury. Consider a bluebird, typically a sign of joy, perched in a yew tree. The yew, associated with death and the otherworld, might indicate that this happiness has uncertain roots or that it needs deeper grounding. Alternatively, if the same bluebird settles in an ash tree—a symbol of interconnectedness and balance—this could mean that your joy is aligned with both material and spiritual realms.
Interpreting Bird Omens: A Practical Approach
For those who wish to immerse themselves in augury, keeping a detailed record of your observations is essential. Track the birds you encounter daily, their behaviors, and any notable dreams or visions they appear in. This should be done over the course of a year to understand which birds are seasonal visitors, which are year-round residents, and how their behaviors change with the seasons.
To gain accurate insights, record details such as:
Species and subspecies
Gender, if discernible
Unusual behavior or markings
Time, date, and weather conditions
Moon phase
Where you saw the bird and its perching spot
Nearby birds and animals
Personal thoughts, emotions, or significant events on that day
Each region has its own native bird species, and their meanings can differ based on local legends or your personal experiences. For example, a crow might be seen as a messenger of transformation in one culture, while in another, it could signal a warning. Trust your own experiences as you develop your interpretations.
Power Animals and Personal Meaning
While many animal symbols are consistent across different traditions, slight variations exist. Delving into the mythologies that align with your practice can reveal these subtle differences. Personal encounters also play a crucial role. If you were bitten by a dog as a child, your perception of dogs in divination might lean towards caution or aggression, whereas another person might view them as symbols of loyalty.
This individual perspective is what makes divination unique. It’s not about rigidly following a prescribed meaning but about understanding how each symbol speaks to you. A spider might represent creativity and weaving connections, but for those with a fear of spiders, it might carry a message about confronting inner anxieties.
Congratulations if you made it all the way to the end of this post!
You might also be interested in learning how to become a witch, understanding the terminology of witchcraft, discovering the best crystals for dreams, exploring beginner witchcraft practices, trying out protection spells for beginners, or using house plants for spiritual protection in your space.
- For those curious about the evolution of Wiccan beliefs, the Principles of Wiccan Beliefs by the American Council of Witches offers a foundational perspective on modern practices and philosophy. You can explore the text here
- If you’re looking for a deeper dive into witchcraft’s historical roots and rituals, the annotated bibliography on the Internet Book of Shadows covers a range of texts, including traditional rites and modern adaptations. You can find more details here