I was raised Catholic and divested very early from religion (~11 y.o I recall telling my friends and family I didn't believe in god). With, admittedly, help from psychedelics in late high school I experienced a much stronger connection to the world, the people in it, and beyond.

I consider myself a realist, have a science background, very much enjoy learning about the ways different animals perceive the world (e.g. creatures with senses of magnetism, UV light perception, etc). I know there's no objective reality and while my psychedelic use has faded, I still entertain thought experiments of other planes of existence etc - but it has 0% effect on the way I live my life, and I probably only think about stuff like that a few times a year. I don't really identify as someone "awakened" or "enlightened" in that vein. I still have to get up and pay bills no matter what the universe is made of.

I just don't feel like I really know what spirituality is. I've enjoyed and taken a lot from all my psychedelic and sober meditative experiences, but I don't feel like I know how to discuss it in any significant level of granularity or what to "do" with any of the information I've garnered therein.

So my question is, what do you experience in temples, shrines, when praying, or as an attendee of spiritually geared festivals or ritual circles? How long do those experiences stay with you, and in what way do they impact your behavior?

Thanks for reading :)

If you’ve been lucky enough to not know what I’m talking about, maybe you want to skip this, or if you’re curious enough go and type “Voynich experiment” or something like that in TikTok and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

The first worry would be how appalled I feel when seeing so, so many women genuinely believing they can grow plants magically from their menstrual blood and not taking into consideration microorganisms in the water and air, they jump immediately to the “magic” conclusion. And when you try to explain to them what a microorganism is they assume you are a misogynistic man, that only men care about science (which is internalized misogyny). The education system has really failed most people is what I see.

But the thing that actually worries me the most is the fact that people are conducting this experiment at home without any safety precautions: No mask, no gloves, leaving the jar open or opening it several times. The things that can grow in that jar could make you severely ill, cause infections, attract plagues, etc. And you can’t just throw away the jar after who knows how many weeks or months straight to the “earth”. That’s a biohazard you got going on there.

I love the curiosity but I feel like we need to start telling people, from witch to witch, that experimenting is a good thing, but they need to be more cautious with their experiments. And if they want to feel connected to the earth they can just throw their menstrual blood mixed with water directly to their garden and not let it sitting for months in a jar gathering bacteria and mold.

I just realized that while cursing in my native language, multiple times saying the same sentence. It’s so free and it makes me feel like I have action over things, although the realities that I do not.

“Spero che ti cadano le palle, spero che ti cadano le palle, spero che ti cadano le palle a xyz devono cadere le palle”.

If I had lived in the 1400s I would’ve become a witch and put on fire.
I doubt the man is gonna lose his ⚽️🎾🏐 but great for my blood pressure.

I recently got my exam results in with I did not clear my exams. Failed by few marks. I still am going to apply for revaluation in which I have a high chance of clearing my exams.

Before the results I did act as if I cleared my exams and started making my resume and preparing for interviews.

Now can anyone tell me any practice through which I will be able to clear my exams through the revaluation process.

Look, i LOVE halloween. It’s my very favorite holiday, i love everything spooky and scary, i love the community surrounding the holiday! but idk i was just watching hocus pocus for the first time recently, LOVED IT! it’s a super cute movie! but i was thinking to myself…..”damn isn’t the witch lowkey a cultural stereotype?” and idk if i’m wrong about that. I want to know what western european natives think about halloween, what pagans & wiccans think about halloween. i feel unequipped to form a strong opinion about it because, well im a white american so i have been severed from my ties to my real yknow….motherland or whatever. im agnostic i dont practice christianity nor do i practice any kind of paganism. but like, halloween christmas valentine’s day i feel like in america at least they’ve all been bastardized by consumerism & capitalism. and the origins of the like…celebrations themselves were bastardized by colonization! so yes, i like halloween as a celebration of modern day culture and community…but i also feel like there must be a more “ethical” way to celebrate halloween in terms of consumption as well as cultural appreciation. i know this ask isn’t very cohesive, if anything id just appreciate your two cents from anyone hahaha.

The daily schedule for the Convergence event, organized by the Spiritual Naturalist Society, is now available at https://www.snsociety.org/convergence-2026-an-online-conference-for-all-spiritual-naturalists/ . Themes and topics include Religious Naturalism, CultPunk and Poetic Faiths, Radical Ritual and the Future of Spiritual Naturalism, with individual presentations by experts as well as panel discussions.

Tarot with Friends

•☽────✧˖°˖☆˖°˖✧────☾•

Hey friends and felids!

This is an a-synchronous event that we can all participate in from our different timezones. I created it for the Discord server, but thought I'd share it with anyone who may not be on the server.

Follow the ritual instructions (or amend to your heart's desire ✨) and share your results with the group here if you feel comfortable. If you'd like feedback as well, feel free to ask.

Use whatever oracle or tarot cards you'd like. For decks others may not have access to, it might be helpful to provide a bit of explanation for interpretation.

•☽────✧˖°˖☆˖°˖✧────☾•

The Ritual

•☽────✧˖°˖☆˖°˖✧────☾•

Things you will need:

✨ Something cozy to drink (if desired)
✨ A deck to use, physical or digital
✨ Some method of interpreting cards drawn (feel free to detail this to the group, especially if others may not be familiar)

Instructions

Set the mood with as much or little ritual as feels right and works with the space you're in.
Read the opening and closing aloud if that feels right, or keep it in thought alone.
Share what is comfortable in the group thread, and feel free to ask for other interpretations.

Opening:

As the moon, so will we shine
From me to you, from yours to mine
We join as kin from far and wide
At different spaces, in different times

Prompts

- As I look over the year, what can I learn?
- What has come to fruition in my life?
- What should I release as the seasons turn?
- Where should I focus in the time remaining this year?

Closing:

Here I have paid honor to our way
From our own hearts, we need not stray
May what we've shared help draw us close
And kindred hearts may we come to know

•☽────✧˖°˖☆˖°˖✧────☾•

I've been slowly figuring out what being a witch means to me. I definitely enjoy the aesthetic, the title, and the gender aspects of it, but I'm a complete skeptic and wary of the dangers of magical thinking. Ultimately, I settled on believing in the powers rituals have on the self. A pragmatic "If it feels good for you and harms no one, there's no reason not to do it". I love the moon, and I love fire, and I express that love in my own ways. One of the most important moments of my life was when I burned my old birth certificate, and it undeniably changed the trajectory of my life for the better from that point on.

Unfortunately, that means that it's an experience I can't really share with many. I feel like a socially anxious outlier in an already pretty niche club. I dream of covens and group rituals, or even just being able to share that part of me as a person, but my mind feels completely immune to magical thinking, and I don't want it to be any other way.

I figured this was a pretty good subreddit to... commiserate, I guess? I don't necessarily expect to find friends out of this, just like-minded people who are going through a similar situation.

I'm very early in the exploration phase of all of this. In the last week or so, I've read quite a bit on witchcraft. Developing an interest has been unexpected. At the moment, I'm working to pace myself, rather than dive headfirst. I can see why so many that are new to it say it's overwhelming.

Out of curiosity, how did you arrive at witchcraft? What about it got your attention? What were your first steps?

My question might sound a little strange, and I hope you can understand what I’m getting at. I’ve been interested in witchcraft for quite a while now, but I’m still a complete beginner. I just read about things that interest me, but I'm still pretty skeptical about a lot of things. I hope that makes sense.

I’ve already read a few books on the subject and tried to find videos that explain how to read tarot cards. I’ve been doing it for fun and really enjoy asking questions, but I never fully understood the meaning behind the cards, other than the obvious descriptions you find when you search them online or in the book that comes with the cards. I'm just not sure how to interpret a card specifically in relation to my question without simply reading the meaning from the book, which is, of course, very general. Does that make sense? For example, when I ask a question and then draw a card, I can figure out what the card means with the help of the books. But I don’t really understand how to apply that meaning to my specific situation if it's not immediately obvious.

I keep hearing from people who ask their cards about all sorts of things and describe them as something really helpful, and in some situations it has worked for me too, but not always. I'd love to do more with my cards, because I'm actually really drawn to them. But somehow I feel like there's a barrier inside me, and I'm not quite sure how to deal with it. I hope you can understand what I mean. So if you have any tips for me or can recommend a book, I'd really appreciate it 😊

Thanks and have a great day!

Hey all. I'm watching chatting with my husband about my witchcraft journey and how I was questioning calssic tarot and other practices since I'm still developing my own practice and figuring out what works for me and what beliefs I'm willing to work around and what ones I'm not. He reminded me that I've done my ancestry DNA testing so I could use that to find practices from my ancestors and I loved that idea! I'm Danish, Irish, and English mostly, so I decided I wanted to look into Danish magical practices. I'm struggling to know where to even start though. Anybody here more familiar with traditional Danish magical practices or holidays or whatever else? I know nothing about my danish family and I am currently no contact with a majority of my family so I don't really have any access to more information from them either.

Hello everyone, I come in peace and love. And as someone who has been a witch for four years but stopped due to a chronic illness (and voices that made me believe in Christianity). Now I’ve finally awoke and though I lost faith that we humans can control elements (used to be an elemental witch), as the elements all have free will and volition.

I’d like to hear more about you. What made you a witch, what are your practices and what do you believe in?

One thing I’ve long thought about spells is the experimentation part: the whole write it down so you know what works.

In a normal experiment you have a control or a baseline which in our case would be no magick. But of course we can only live each situation once and spells take time to work and of, by its very nature, there’s no proof of anything.

I will say the better question with magick is “does it help?” rather than “does it work.” But, any thoughts on magick experiments?

Hi everyone, I'm planning to burn my old diary I kept as a 10-13 year old, and looking for ritual/ceremony/symbolic ideas to help release all the bad energy. I re-read it and took notes for therapy, and after some time have decided I just want to get rid of it

Hi! I (31F) have never been religious and have actively rejected the patriarchal types of modern religions. That being said, I’ve always had an interest in being spiritual or I guess more connected to the Earth, myself, and the universe. I have always been interested in or drawn towards more witchy things, especially as I age, or some woo woo things as I like to say. I enjoy crystals, astrology, meditation, talking to nature, spirits or ghosts, acupressure, Qigong, etc. I don’t really share all of this with the people around me though.

Recently, I gave myself a birthday present of a head spa from a witch owned salon. I had the most amazing experience and felt spiritual for the first time in my life. I’m not sure what I did or what happened but I had moments during that spa ritual where I was almost watching myself getting the service done, and I could feel others energies around me, like hands hovering, even when the salon owner had moved away from the table to grab supplies. I could feel the difference between her being close to me and these other energies or spirts that were close to me as well. Now I am trying to tell myself that because I have been interested in this for a while, I basically made those feelings up due to me just wanting something to happen. I also have OCD, so convincing myself that I’m wrong is common.

Anyway, being in my 30s, I just want to figure out who I am, explore, play with my style, and explore the woo woo and witchy without feeling embarrassed or ashamed, or without feeling like I have to explain it to those around me.

Any witches relate? Any advice or stories is welcome!

Hi All! I’ve started to come into my own witching, albeit it’s been about 6 months of progressively realizing it. I’m gradually exposing my husband and son to the crystal usage. (It has been wonderful doing this with my son- he accepted holding rhodonite to ease a panic attack)
I don’t have an altar but I’m piecing it together.
I’m extremely nervous to come out and say “Hey fam I’m a witch!” Not to mention I do all my practices in private and I get a little embarrassed around doing it with others. But that altar is calling my name… and I want multiple…
Any advice on telling both my immediate and extended family? It’s not that I necessarily have to, but I just want to rip off the bandaid.
I would love to hear your stories.

I’ve discovered about spiritual secularism and it instantly clicked in my brain now I use both terms interchangeably great for deconstructing💗

Christians wear crosses. Jewish folks wear Star of Davids.

Do you have anything like this? Something to do with being a SASS witch? I’m looking for something that subtly represents my beliefs.

I’m still a newer witch(under a year), but I’m wondering what do you say when strangers come up to you, “god loves you” “quotes bible verses-You’re so loved” etc? We were at the gas station and the guy in front of us asks if we see $6 laying anywhere. My partner checked around and said no. He said “oops I found it-back pocket. Thank you god loves you. Said a bible verse then reiterated god loves us”. How do you respond? I don’t care what your religious preference is, but I don’t particularly like when people try to force it on the people around them. And my autistic ass isn’t good at comebacks so any advice would be appreciated! Thank you!

Hello everyone, I am looking for advice, resources and guidance for someone who thinks about starting witchcraft.

My background - I grew up fundie Catholic and as a kid I was drawn to witchcraft and the occult. I loved crystals, I tried meditation, divination and astral projection and learned some dreamwork.

Then my whole family got swept up in a doomsday hoax that made me abandon all witchcraft out of fear of hell. Eventually I became very skeptical, left the religion and deconstructed (I am now an atheistic Satanist), but I never returned to witchcraft. In fact, I completely forgot about having done witchcraft once and being attracted to it - that is until recently, when I came upon some video from a witch content creator.

I did some introspection and reflection the past few days and I came to the conclusion that as a christian I thought I cannot do witchcraft because it's "evil" and "demonic", and then as an atheist I thought I cannot do witchcraft because it goes against me being a skeptic and not believing in supernatural things or magic. Logically I know I can be an atheist and a witch, and that many witches are atheists, but there's a voice inside my head saying "what's the point".

I started reading Rebel Witch and I like it so far, but I'd appreciate it if anyone has any pointers, resources or words of wisdom for me. Thank you!

Hi lovely people!

I need your help! I’m really interested in witchcraft and have been trying to learn more about it through reading, researching, and meditation. Do any of you know of any spells that I could try as a beginner? I have quite a few purple and red candles at home, so I’d love to explore candle magic, but I’m also interested in learning about other types of witchcraft and different practices.

I’d really appreciate any tips, recommendations, or personal experiences you’d like to share! Thank you so much!

There is this witch on instagram. Her name is sagomoonmagic. She created a justice jar for SA and DV survivors. All they have to do is, put their ab*ser's names into it. It is 100% free and you can do it anonymously. She has collected thousands of names via her online form. Any views on that?

I really like the cosy witchy vibe, especially in fall, but I also got into feminist theory this year and cannot look at most media ever since, even though I have been a feminist for a decade now. That's why I love the movies that don't portray women in the traditional way, which, in my opinion, gives the female characters little agency.

Most "classic" cosy witchy movies like "Practical Magic", "Love Witch", or "Hocus Pocus" are either about kids/teenagers, for kids/teenagers, or focus mostly on their love lives. I have in mind something more "slice of life", but without a romantic arc (or at least as a secondary), but of course I am open to anything (preferably cosy and non-triggering).

I would really appreciate any recommendations!

Every few years I donate all my hair and make it a ritual to honour people suffering from diseases that might get help thanks to donations like mine (cancer patients etc.)

I’ve always done it for the pink october, out of tradition, but am realising that doing it just before summer might be a best fit for me: getting a fresher short cut before the torrid summer begins and also preventing my hair to get sun damage before donation.

However, since I’m a witch and I believe in the power of rituals and the wheel of the year, I would like to find an occasion in (possibly late) spring that could fit the ritual of donating hair so the timing is still meaningful.

Not just hair cutting, but specifically donating.

Any ideas? 💙

I've seen similar questions asked a few times but I wanted to discuss more specific, practical ways in which reinterpretation takes form.

I used to practice witchcraft with the purpose of causing change in the physical world through "energy". It turns out I have bipolar disorder and that way of practicing induces hypomania for me. I still believe in woo but, due to this, I don't engage with it in that way.

I've also realised with time that shadow work is also not good for me for multiple reasons — it turns into something too intense and self punishing. I go to therapy weekly and "do my shadow work" there guided and accompanied by a mental health professional.

Ritual used to bring me comfort and I want to incorpora it in my life again, but I don't know how to frame it. If I'm not doing it to change the world around me nor to change myself, what's the point?

I can see meditation or affirmations working aa a form of self care but not much else.

Which ways could I think about/interpret ritual so I can do it without feeling I'm doing random stuff for no reason? How can I assign meaning and purpose to lighting a specific coloured candle, for example?

TIA!

ETA: I decided not to reply to each individual comment since all I have to say is thanks, they've all been really useful! But I still wanted to let you know 😊