#31daysofwitchcraft – Witchy Tag Part One

#31daysofwitchcraft – Witchy Tag Part One

So there is this #31daysofwitchcraft tag going on over on Youtube, related to Witchcraft Practices. I’m a little bit bored with my shop closed and the restrictions on outdoors activities (thanks Covid-19!), so I’m just gonna give it a shot in a form of a couple of blog posts. That way by the end of it, you’ll known a little more about my own Witchy Path and I’ll have spent a few hours busy.

🌿 Is your witchcraft secular, spiritual or religious? How does this influence your practice?

Beside being a gateway to express my animist view of the world and my connection to Earth, my Craft is very much oriented on personal well-being and Spiritual Growth. I don’t believe in or worship any kind of deity, nor am I interested in joining any form of organized religion. Witchcraft is a Sacred Practice to me, but I’m pretty much the only one involved (if you put aside non-human people, I mean).

🌿 Do you work with any specific deities as part of your practice? Why, or why not?

Well, I guess I already answered that one. You could find any reason why I don’t involve deities in my practice; I didn’t hear the call, or I wasn’t open to it, or whatever. I did try at some point, but from my own perspective, it’s just something that don’t belong in my worldview.

My Craft is deeply rooted in the Earth and the awe-inspiring beauty of the Living World. And that’s enough for me, because it is an infinite source of Spiritual Reverence in itself. I’d rather bow to the majesty of an Ancient Mountain and loose my sense of self to a Starry Night than feeling a bit silly talking to an invisible concept or entity (no offense here, that’s just me).

🌿 What area of your practice are you currently focusing on, if any?

Right now, I’m working a lot with the Ogham. I’ve practiced Divination and Magic with this system for a good decade now, but I recently felt that my use of it needed a little bit of a makeover. So I’m strengthening my foundation as well as trying a lot of new things in this area, and I enjoy it very much.

Does having a regular Daily Practice with Tarot count as a current focus too?

Ogham Basics - Book of Spells - #31daysofwitchcraft

🌿 What is your favourite element to work with? How do you work with it?

My favorite element – period – is Fire. But it’s not necessarily the one I work with the most, because it does come so organically that I don’t really need to put in any effort with it. On the other end of the spectrum, I have pretty much no affinity with Air, but I have a lot of practices and rituals involving it, because in doing so, I’m learning much more than if I were to go the easy way. Does that make sense?

Anyway, it also depends on the season. I kinda balance it this way, favoring one over the others at each turn of the Wheel, so that I can be sure that I spend enough of my time and energy deepening my connection to each of them during the whole year. Obviously, it doesn’t mean leaving the others on the side of the road altogether; but if I can frame and write my spells by taking the elemental association of the season into consideration, then I’ll certainly do it.

🌿 Have you had a teacher in the craft? Have you ever taken a course or classes to help you learn witchcraft? What were your experiences? If you haven’t, what are your thoughts and feelings on such courses? 

I’ve never had a formal teacher, but there’s been some people in my life who had some influence on my path and Craft, planting the seeds of new ideas and ways of practicing, without them really knowing about the impact they made.

As for courses and such, aside from a couple of free resources found on Youtube, I’d say no too. I’m not sure why really; it may be the format that doesn’t attract me very much, or the fact that I find myself learning more efficiently on my own. However, when I’m digging into a topic of interest, I like a good practical book, packed with exercises to try and challenge yourself. A few that come to my mind right know: Tarot for Yourself by Rachel Greer, The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook by Caitlin Matthews, Psychic Witch by Mat Auryn.

🌿 Do you incorporate environmental consciousness and sustainability into your craft?

Of course yes. I mean, don’t we all Witches at least try to at this point?

Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not perfect in that area, far from it. It’s a constant work in progress, a journey in which I’m making conscious decisions and try my best to do better each time. As I was saying earlier, my Craft is very much rooted in Earth, Nature, the environment. More than that, my Witchcraft is local, place-based so, yes, you bet environmental consciousness does matter a lot to me.

🌿 Do you work with a specific animal spirit? If so, which animal and why? If not, is there one you would like to work with? 

I work with a lot of them, primarily the species that I’m getting to know in my local area. Now that I think of it, I’m not sure that I have the same definition of Animal Spirit as stated in the question, but that’s not the point right now.

If I had to name one in particular though, it would be Black Bear. I’ve had an affinity with this one for as long as I can remember. It’s the one that I have the most profound relationship with, and it showed up in a lot of my workings and experiences as a Witch. And now that I actually live in Bear Country, it is just getting better and better and I’m always sooooo excited about that!

Wooden Wildera Lenormand - Bear Box - #31daysofwitchcraft

🌿 Do you refer to yourself as a Witch? If not, why not? If so, what does the word mean to you?

At this point, I think we’ve already established that yes, I call myself a Witch. Others called me Witch even before I did, so there’s that. It’s been a journey for me to actually reclaim the title, and I’m glad I did.

As for what it means for me, a small paragraph won’t be enough to cover all of it, for sure, and it’s an ever-shifting thing anyway. I’m not Witch today the same way as fifteen-year-old-me was, if that makes sense. So for now, I’m just gonna leave you with a definition that I found the other day and liked enough to keep it in a corner of my planner.

She was in the beginning the counsellor and consoler of man, the genius of domestic arts, the treasury of knowledge, and the inspiration of belief. She was the prophet, priest and king of paganism, and her territory was the world.

Ian Ferguson – The Philosophy of Witchcraft

🌿 How do you use witchcraft in your day to day life?

Over the years I came to realize that Witchcraft is kinda like coffee to me: I can’t expect to start my day properly without it. And once the flavors and aroma have been released from brewing and pouring it, it pretty much infuses the rest of my day and activities.

At the time being, almost every morning starts with Tarot and a little bit of Mindfulness Meditation, and almost every night ends with some time spent at my Altar. In the hours between, there’s probably been a dozen unnoticeable practices included in the different activities I engaged with. I do dedicate a couple of hours from time to time to perform a full-on ritual or spell, but I usually prefer the small gestures, those which are easily overlooked but are packed with so much potency.

🌿 Do you follow any set rules in your personal practice, such as “harm none”?

I don’t follow any hard dictated rules. I need plenty of space to be creative in my Craft, I like to explore and try new ideas, to push boundaries and learn from what happens outside of the Well-Worn Path. I also have a bit of a rebel spirit that makes me wanna go in another direction as soon as I create rules for myself, so I had to learn to get along with it over time.

With that being said, I do have a set of Strong Values that guide my journey in life, and thus my Witchy Practices. You know, balance, integrity, growth, curiosity, knowledge, … that kind of things.

🌿 Do you believe in the concept of the threefold law of return?

No. Shit happens regardless.

🌿 Do you have a separate witchy name? Why, or why not?

I do have a public Witchy Name, yes, which happens to also be my Artist Name, Mòrwenna Artio. No big surprise here, the two are very closely tied together in my world. Creativity and Spirituality go hand in hand to form my Craft, I can’t separate them from one another.

🌿 Do you write your own spells, use pre-written spells or do a mix of both?

When I’m in a slump or lacking a bit of imagination and creativity, I will look for inspiration in the workings of other Witchcraft Practitioners. For the most part though, I write my own spells. I learned very early on that it is actually part of the spell itself, the whole research and crafting of it, and I enjoy the process very much. So much that I have a whole Book of Spells dedicated to it, in which I write, draw, and paint the rituals I’ve performed – using Walnut Ink of course, prepared in a very special way.

Book of Spells - Pentacle - #31daysofwitchcraft

🌿 Do you believe in fantasy creatures such as dragons, fairies, unicorns etc?

I used to when I was a kid, but so did I believe in gods and angels. So nope, not anymore. It makes good memories though, of whimsical scavenger hunts with my sister, looking for a sleepy golden dragon in a mushroom cave near our house (turns out, there was only tiny bats in there).

And I still possess plenty of books about fairies, because I love the work and creativity that many writers and illustrators dedicate to these inspiring creatures. I remember drawing them a lot when I was younger (dragons and fairy, not the other ones), and I’m glad I did, as it made me progress a lot with my art skills.

Also, hippos are the true unicorns of this world.

🌿 Are you a solitary or part of a coven? What do you think are the pros and cons of each?

Solitary forever. I’m a Hermit Bear, and I require a lot of solitude and intimacy in my Personal Practice. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a coven, I’m pretty sure you do learn a lot there, benefiting from the experience of other practitioners and the momentum given by the dynamic of the group. I just know that it’s not a thing for me. Witchcraft is what gives me strength and energy, and I really need my own time and space to recharge.

Besides, I don’t do well with large groups of people in general – on a scale from Introvert to Extrovert, I’m 99% leaning to the I. And even in a smaller comity – which I tried in the past – I would question everything and end up too self-aware and disconnected from the group flow to be able to experience anything as powerful and effective as what I get from my Solitary Path.

In the end, you just do what benefits you most, right?

All right, that’s enough of me for today, but I hope you enjoyed this #31daysofwitchcraft tag as much as I did. See you soon for the second half of the questions!

You can find Part Two of the #31daysofwitchcraft tag here,
where I answer 15 additional questions and
talk more about my Witchy Practice.

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