Actual Witch Tips

I'll be honest: It’s getting more than a little annoying to see everything get called a “Witch Tip” now a days- even completely mundane things, no matter how helpful they are; it feels almost as if the phrase “Witch Tips”, at this point, has basically gone the way of the concept of “Life Hacks”.

“Life Hacks” were supposed to be legitimate "corner-cutting" methods that made a task easier- especially for impaired or disabled individuals who struggled with normal tasks on a daily basis (we're going to ignore the fact that its cooption was ultimately abelist for this exact reason) ... But eventually it got to the point where now, people are literally just making nonsense up left and right. Half of it didn’t even work (sometimes intentionally by creator design), and the other half is almost always far more complicated than just doing it the normal way; the entire idea of a “Life Hack” became completely meaningless because no one was “hacking” anything anymore.

“Witch Tips” are going much the same way, in that “Witch Tips” are supposed to be things which are directly relevant to actually doing, performing, or otherwise improving your Witchcraft itself. They’re not supposed to be completely normal, non-magical, or mundane things that are only vaguely related to it by proxy of either being done by a Witch, or to some kind of Witch’s tool, or “through intent”.

So in the spirit of Witch Tips that will actually help you grow in your practice, and mature into a better Witch, I present these three tips about "Witch Tips", and some tips to correct them a bit:

⮚ 1/3rd of “Witchcraft Tips” like “put homemade wrapping paper dusters on your hardcover books” aren’t “Witchcraft Tips” at all. They’re just mundane actions; most of the time they’re “good vibes” spiritual romanticism (bad). At most they will probably brighten your day and improve your general mental health (which is good) by making you tune into the small joys of life (also good, too).

When practical they can definitely be legitimately useful things that can preserve materials, and so on. This is absolutely true, and it shouldn't be discounted as useless advice. But at the end of the day they’re still completely mundane things that have literally nothing at all to do with Witchcraft in the slightest.

Flat out: Something as mundane as putting homemade wrapping paper dusters on your hardcover books- even if the books being covered are Witchcraft Books- may be good advice which can help improve the longevity of your books on your shelves, and it may be good practice as a result ... But something being done by a Witch (you) doesn’t miraculously make it magic or Witchcraft. To legitimately progress you need to learn to tell the difference and stop treating them as one and the same.

⮚ 1/3rd of “Witchcraft Tips” like “Stir Honey into your Tea Clockwise to Sweeten Your Day” aren’t “Witchcraft Tips” either, so much as they’re halfassed excuses for putting any kind of legitimate effort into one’s magic. And these are ideologies that were ultimately born out of a complete misunderstanding and misrepresentation of both technique and of the meaning of "magic" and "ritual".

Yes, you can get some minor magical results out of things like this. But any results you get are typically going to be minuscule at best compared to something that you actually put real effort and time into; the actual benefits of these sorts of actions are far more in line with the first 1/3rd of so-called “tips”: Mundane over magical.

Whether you like it or not: Magic is much more than just the skin deep “intent” and “good vibes” promoted by the New Age movement and its influence on Eclectic NeoPaganism. And in order to progress you have to understand the difference, understand your particular system and how it works, and learn when to actually apply what rather than treating it all as the same ... Because while little daily rituals of intent can have some good impact at times? Overall you're often still better off saving your energy for a handful of slightly more complex actions less often that will get you better, broader, and more realistic results- rather than wasting your energy and stretching yourself thin through dozens of constant small ones that won’t.

⮚ 1/3rd of “Witchcraft Tips” like “Layer your Wards” and “You Don’t Need A Guidebook to Read Tea Leaves”, again, aren’t “Witchcraft Tips”, either ... They’re bare minimum, bare basic, complete 101 / beginner things that you’d’ve actually been taught anyways if you’d actually have paid any legitimate attention (and read better teaching materials) --- instead of spending all your time locked into your own echo chambers listening to people who are effectively other “Baby Witches”, and actively sneering at practically everyone whose ever tried to tell you better (like so many people often do).

Full offense, no offense: The foundation of The Witch’s Pyramid of the modern Witchcraft Revival is set with the stone “To Know”, and “To Learn” is our most fundamental spiritual command, for a reason; in order to truly progress you need to stop white-knuckle gripping your ego and pride, and letting your studies be as shallow as your interactions with others (but especially with your Elders). You also need to be more discerning with the materials you learn from- and more importantly, you need to start paying better attention to the material within them in the first place.

⮚ The tiniest number of “Witchcraft Tips” out there- like “If you can’t use freezer spells, then write it on a piece of toilet paper and flush it down the toilet instead”- are legitimate tips ... If you listen to anything, or share anything, then it should be these ones.

Again: The entire purpose of "Witchcraft Tips" is to be directly relevant to actually doing / performing / improving your Witchcraft in a legitimate way that wouldn’t otherwise have been considered or possible, or which potentially makes it easier in generally difficult or abnormal circumstances.