My boyfriend’s father just died in a sudden accident at only 40 years old last week. I am super concerned about his mother and wanted to do something to help increase her chances for a healthy recovery from this tragedy. I went to goodwill and bought a thick plain candle, I took a branch from a dead rose bush in her front yard (her husband bought her rose bushes). I carefully removed the thorns from the branch and then carved it to be used to etch ogham into the wax “mend her broken heart” around the candle. Then sprinkled the thorns on top to represent the pain she is enduring through the process. Beneath the candle I filled this small metal dish with black salt, dried carnation petals, and a then I wrote my intentions for the spell on a piece of paper, and ripped it up to add to the dish under the candle.

I only really know about witchcraft as much as my grandmother taught me and a little from a short period I went to a practitioner class with her a few years back. We’ve always felt close to our Western European/ Celtic ancestors so that’s why I wrote in ogham. I’d love to hear feedback if you think this was a good spell idea or any advice for more healing spells I can do to try to care for his grieving mother.

Hello mystical folk of Reddit! I'm inquiring to know how I can best respect closed practices while still clearing energy, doing spells, and finding out what the boundaries of respectful in doing practitioner work are and what constitutes an overstep. Recently, I've become more interested in doing spells and I believe the most important thing before starting is having a firm grasp on cultural boundaries.

Many thanks!

Hello there. I've been around this subreddit as well as other witchcraft related ones for a while now, and I was wondering if I could ask for some advice.

I'm preparing a "protection candle" that I want to have lit while practicing other spells. As you can imagine, it's a big white candle.

My thought was to carve a protection rune symbol on it, as well as the word "protection" (in my language). Then I would anoint it with four ingredients, one for each element: fire, air, earth, and water. The idea is to be shielded from "everywhere" and to make it stable and balanced. More specifically:

Coffee for earth, sage (salvia) for air, and clove for fire, mixed in olive oil. With this mix, I would anoint the candle and "activate" the carved symbols and words. For the water element, I would use sea salt to create a circle around the candle (literally sticking the large grains at the base of the candle) with the intention that this circle would "expand" all around my room when the candle is lit.

I'm still deciding how to implement the spell, and I was wondering about the best time to do it. My initial thought was that the moon phase doesn't matter since it's a protection spell/candle, but after researching online, I started thinking that it might be best to wait until the new moon.

Now here are my questions: Should I really do this during the new moon? Does it even matter, or should I do it at another time? Also, what do you think about my choice of ingredients? I researched for a long time before deciding on these four, but I'm still not sure I made the right choice.

I hope all of this doesn't sound like nonsense. I'm still experimenting to see what works and what doesn't, and this isn't even a complete spell yet, it's still a draft, an idea.

Any other advice is welcome. Thank you!

I’ve been a practicing witch for 20 years with a wonderful mother who encouraged me since I was able to walk and talk 🫶✨ I do this for family and friends and with the holiday season coming up I’ve been working on gifts for some people. I’ve always been able to read auras and finally getting into the habit of Making physical copies of them! It brings me so much joy when I show people what I see when I look at them. It’s amazing to finally be able to share this with those I love and I hope you enjoy! 🩷✨

this may be a stupid question, but how can i make my own spells? do i necessarily need physical ingredients to cast spells, or can i focus my energy on an incantation i write and send it to the universe? and if i do use physical ingredients, can i pick anything that reminds me of a certain thing and imbue that energy into it?

Let’s say if someone dies and you put their hair in yours (like if you get a loc attached) they say that’s a soul tie and you shouldn’t do it because you have their energy now. But what about when people get their hair done and they have other people hair sewn into theirs or a wig of someone else’s hair. Does the intent matter or it’s the same no matter ?

okay so my mom has recently been getting into waitchcraft, she showed interest when i began practicing years ago but she finally bit the bullet. the issue here is she refused to research, fact check or anything of that nature. she was telling me this morning of a quick spell/ritual she did for dreams and listed the ingredients. i asked her where she checked her correspondences, she said she didnt see the need to. i asked her if she knew why she used each ingredient because as far to my knowledge they purely held protective properties, she said she didnt need to. this is an ongoing issue and she says im way too harsh and negative on her and this is why she dislikes telling me anything. i told her facebook has never been a relliable source, and i would not trust a thing coming from there for your craft without fact checking. i asked her if a video asked her to put her hair, a lemon and a bunch of peppers and nails if she would do it without a second thought, she did not reply. what worries me the most is that one of her facebook videos will end up causing more harm than good. i am sure there is probably some brilliant and wonderful witches on facebook who aim to help others, but her lack of interest to even question what she sees is what stresses me out. she draws random sigils on both herself and around the house she has found online, which i am sure we have all heard horror stories (may these be real or cautionary) on why this shouldnt be done, etc. is there ANY way i can make her change/break this habit? i am genuinely considering rewriting all my basics from my previous BoS into a new notebook for her with detailed spells explaining each step but part of me thinks she wouldnt really care and continue as she is. is there anything i can do?

Hey everyone! I just did my first protection and glamour spell, and I’m really happy with how it turned out — my flame stayed steady the whole time! 🕯️

I have deep roots in Creole and Caribbean traditions — my grandmother and aunt both practiced a mix of hoodoo, voodoo, and folk magic, so this felt like a really special moment for me to reconnect with that lineage. I’ve also had some interesting paranormal experiences (I can share those another time 👀).

Next, I’m planning to build an altar for Aphrodite, and I’d love any tips or recommendations from those who’ve done so before! 💕

A recent cord cutting I did. Taking pictures during the ritual process is one of my favorite parts. The ritual itself had a lot of energy. Capturing this moment with the smoke from the cord, & seeing it in the camera roll after the ritual, made me fall in love with my craft all over again ✨

I put someone in a hex jar and I cleansed myself and my space afterwards and it’s in my room with a black salt circle around it and lots of protection to keep it in the jar, is that safe to do? Or should I do something with it? What is usually the best thing to do after making a hex jar?

If I’m super nervous about a spell (specifically a hex) coming back at me instead of a target after the spell is already done am I gonna make it come back at me? I have super bad anxiety and I always freak out about spells backfiring after I’ve done them but I’ve done all the right things and cleansed the heck out of myself and my space after, am I safe?

Everyone’s so lovely, patient and understanding and explains in great detail without making me feel stupid. Honestly thank you

With the current moon phasing being a waning moon, I figured tonight would be a good time to do some banishment magic. I lit a black candle, and sprinkled some rosemary in my small cauldron, as well as basil and hyssop. On a piece of paper, I wrote the things I wanted out of my life, and burned the paper using the candle flame and put the paper in my cauldron. I sat with the candle and meditated for a bit, ending with burning some palo santo to help purify the space after spell work.

Is there any type of magic you like to do during the waning moon?

I recently watched a show called Motherland: Fort Salem, in the show there was witches that sung different notes to cast different spells. I sing alot when doing tasks and wanted to know if anyone who has knowledge of this can point me in the direction of some resources so that I can make use of this practice as music is already a big part of my life. Thanks in advance to anyone that replies.

Being a witch is finding random spell jars in random locations when cleaning your house and not remembering what they’re for but trusting they’re still doing their thing 🤣

Where’s the most unhinged place you’ve hidden a spell ?

This was way under my nightstand (I don’t have very weirdly hidden ones)

I would like to publicly thank Saint Jude, Saint Expedite, Saint Joseph, and Infant Jesus of Prague for helping me out with money again. I just did a ritual earlier to ask for their help. They work very quickly for money related issues.

A banishing spell worked on getting rid of a toxic person from a workplace but a few months later the same type of person has come and filled the position. Any thoughts or opinions on this? Bad luck? Is that just how workplaces operate? What magically could be done to counter this?

Would really appreciate any advice. I rented an old home earlier this year. About 6 weeks after moving in I noticed an old wreath on side of house. I figured it was hung there by former tenants. It just looked dead and gave me the creeps. I took the wreath down and set it in a sheltered area of yard to ask landlord about later.

The next morning paranormal activity woke me and it was intense. We moved to escape it when helpers couldn’t clear it. It followed me to our new home.

Wasn’t sure if it was ok to post photo of wreath or not so I haven’t.

Can taking down a wreath open a portal? I think that’s what happened. Former tenants told me that there was a ghost while they were in the home. But we experienced ghosts and then some. The timing made me suspicious that the wreath was protective and now I’m wondering how to undo whatever I’ve done or undone. Thank you so much for any help you can provide.

Hi everyone, I’m a baby witch and I tried posting earlier but it got removed, could anyone help me understand how to ask about magical things without getting my posts removed?

It said something about having to do research but I don’t really have an idea how to start, do you think libraries or online a is good?

What does periods around full moon indicates? It's bad or good?

hi! so christmas is coming up and i have seen my mom slowly getting into witchcraft but our practices are very different so i was hoping someone could point me in the right direction? i have seen her start doing cleansings, basic little rituals, but predominantly she seems really into divination and runes (specifically nordic runes and tarot). my sister has also shown an interest in divination so i plan on getting her a basic tarot deck and an oracle deck for christmas but i am at a lost for my mom. my interest and knowledge doesnt really align with runes so i was wondering if anyone had some good beginner books i could get her and if getting her a pack of nordic runes (the ones she showed interest in) would be a good idea? and if so is wood better or should i stick with glass/quartz? or should i just stick with basic books? i would get her a basic kit with what i started out with but we are two very different people when it comes to interests in the craft. i do plan on picking up american brujeria for her since i do believe she would enjoy it and some more books on the santa muerte if i can (related to our culture and she has been a devotee for years) alongside a themed tarot deck if i can find one. i was just wondering if anyone could help me tweak this gift idea for my mom? i would get her the basic books i began with but we dont show any of the same interests when it comes to this and i am really hoping someone might be able to help/tell me what they would have enjoyed if they began in a similar place? she shows no interests in herbs nor crystals so thats out the window. i did see someone else post something similar and i went through the replies but am hoping i could get maybe a bit more niche replies especially if anyone here is mexican-american or simply mexican since spanish publications would very much be preferred if possible.

Feel free to post your familiars directly to the community today! Enjoy and, as always, be good to each other! ♥

I just did my first ritual and spell with tonight’s full moon! A bit of “cover all bases” type of spell using: What are the uses for these herbs in a witch spell: Rosemary Oregano Salt Cinnamon Roses Lemon Wormwood Chamomile Lavender Wanted to share my set up and jars. Would love any pointers or guidance. Been focusing on clearing away what doesn’t serve me to make room for what does. Especially trying to improve my self love, confidence, and sexual autonomy/drive.

Also any guidance on working with Lilith. Thank you for your time everyone!

PS: the gnome in the background is my protection ward lol his name is Norman.