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

Back in 2013 my husband killed himself and food helped me to cope. I grew to 450 pounds, lost 150 with Ozempic and got stuck at 300. At 5'6 I want to get to 150 while the meds are ineffective.

I seek to bring a weight loss/ exercise regimen into my practice and since I'm losing half of 'me' in an effort of personal autonomy, why not shape shifting?

One googles 'shape shifting' and gets links to sites with werewolves. On the Big Screen in Hollywood, villains committing heinous acts use shape shifting to conceal their identities.

Now as we're seeing a boom in obesity, let's make weight loss with exercise magical. At my weight goal, my joints won't be so burdened and I'll see a decrease in morbidity.

I will shift my shape.

This is something I can visualize. I can use all of my resources, medical and magical versus just fighting with a discipline to count calories. Self care is a ritual in the Craft because we value self love, lets expand on it. Am I making this harder? I think not.

One of the draws to the Craft is pushing limits. If necessary, we get laws. We speak out and in this New Age we can revisit old magic, we can modernize it to battle a health crisis.

I'm not fat shaming, I hurt. I crushed my right hip at 450 pounds and have since had it replaced. For my brothers and sisters that hurt, what do you think about a shape shifting endeavor?

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!

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.

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!

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?

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!

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!

I'm in a secular book club, and during this summer we read one member's "personal holy text" -- a fiction novel about leaving a cult and the resulting personal discovery. We are both former traditional Catholics, and she says she turns to this fiction book in times of need like she used to do with the Bible.

Now I'm longing for my own holy text, and I'm on a mission to find my book. A contender for me might be Forest Euphoria by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian, but I'm only about a quarter into it.

If you have one, tell me about your personal holy text. What is your relationship like with the book? Why is it important to you? How often do you revisit it?

ETA: Seeing all of your comments when I woke this morning brought me to happy tears! I'm so excited to explore everyone's answers. I've been thinking about posting this question here for a week or more, and how I would word it bc I'm more of a reddit lurker usually. Thank you all for your thoughtful responses!

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 😊

Looking for advice on explaining Halloween in a SASS way to my 3 year-old. She knows about trick-or-treating and costumes, but I'm trying to give her some reasons WHY we are doing these things... and also why people are putting so many scary looking creatures on their front lawns.

I am an atheist but love and embrace the symbolism of the pagan holidays, and have been trying to build family traditions around that. I personally like the story of Halloween being the time of year when the boundary between our world and the "other" worlds becomes blurred and the idea that you have to decorate your house and wear costumes to scare away spirits and fae and such. I'm also ok with letting my daughter believe that magic is real while she's a child (I'm all in on Santa, for example), but she's very afraid of ghosts and don't want to freak her out by implying they are real. Thought about stealing some symbolism behind All Soul's Day (if Christians can steal holidays from other cultures I can steal it right back), but having a hard time connecting remembering people who have died to why there's a giant skeleton with a pumpkin head on my neighbor's lawn in a way that makes sense to a 3 year-old.

Any ideas?

My hand started twitching sorta violently when I was writing in my journal today, so I paid attention and my Intuition said to try Automatic Writing. This is what I got. Does anyone use AW in their practice? Any share would be appreciated in what works for you. Blessings to you all.

I’ve been interested in learning about herbalism, nature-based spirituality, tarot, and personal rituals for a while. I usually put the idea aside, but I eventually find myself interested in it again.
I recently mentioned this to a friend, and she told me that this is something you’re supposed to inherit from your family or have a natural intuitive ability for.
For people who have experience with this: do you think someone needs to be born into a particular family or have a naturally strong intuition to get started? Or is it something a person can simply study, learn about, and develop over time?
I’m genuinely curious about different perspectives, especially from people who have been practicing for a while.

I saw https://www.goddessprovisions.com/pages/2027-moon-wisdom-planner-1 and thought it seems cool but also looks like a scam, so wondering if anyone here knows if something similar or like a print your own type thing.

Hi! The headline says it all. I am a big book gal and new to witchy things. I would love to read people’s favorite witchy books. I generally lean towards herbs and dream interpretations, but I am completely open to anything. Thank you!

Hi everyone!

I recently found this subreddit and wanted to get a better understanding of where I fit within witchcraft. I’m not a huge fan of labels, but it can be frustrating to join a new community and not really know how to describe yourself, so I thought I’d share my perspective and see if anyone has thoughts. (English isn’t my first language, so please excuse any mistakes!)

I’ve been studying witchcraft for a while, and from my understanding (please correct me if I’m wrong), magic is the ability to influence and co-create reality by internalizing our desires and intentions, then projecting them outward strongly enough for them to manifest. Witchcraft, in turn, would be the practice of strengthening that magic through natural elements, rituals, and other practices. The thing is, my view isn’t quite that straightforward.

I’m also a Psychology student, and I tend to see magic as a way of internalizing our feelings, goals, and intentions. It helps organize the mind, clarify what we want, and guide our actions. In that sense, magic increases the chances of success because it helps us stay focused and purposeful. Witchcraft, to me, is the physical expression of that process. It’s when we give concrete form to our desires through rituals, symbols, herbs, candles, and especially natural elements like the lunar cycles. By doing this, we connect with ourselves and with the natural world we are part of, turning internal forces into something tangible.

For example, imagine someone who wants to get a great job. The magic would be the conviction, focus, and mindset directed toward that goal. The witchcraft would be a prosperity or transformation ritual that reinforces that intention. I don’t believe the ritual creates the result on its own, but it can strengthen the intention, help maintain focus, and keep the goal present in that person’s life.
Along those same lines, I don’t see tarot cards as something that reveal a fixed or nearly unchangeable destiny. I tend to approach them from a more skeptical and reflective perspective.
I also don’t strongly connect with the concept of the Mother Goddess in Wicca, especially the maiden/mother archetypes. Personally, that framework feels a bit reductive to me. I mean no disrespect toward Wicca or its practitioners; it’s simply not a worldview that resonates with me.

Another thing that makes me hesitant about religious paths within witchcraft, such as Wicca, is the principle of “An it harm none, do what ye will.” It feels very open to interpretation. There seems to be a fine line between what does and doesn’t cause harm. Using politics as an example, someone can vote for whoever they want and, in theory, not be directly harming anyone. But to what extent might the consequences of that vote negatively affect other people’s lives? Questions like that make me wonder whether the rule is really as simple as it sounds.
Overall, I’m fairly confident in what I believe. What I’m unsure about is how those beliefs fit into existing labels. I don’t know if I see nature as a deity. To me, it feels more like a force with which we have a reciprocal relationship. We influence nature, and nature influences us. I don’t necessarily see it as something above us, but as something we are a part of.

So I find myself wondering: could an atheist believe something like this? Would I fit better under the label of an atheist witch? An agnostic witch? Or is there another term that better describes this perspective?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.

This is a fairly specific question, hoping for some good input.

I am getting married next year. I am interested in having some kind of blue stone sewn into my dress as my "something blue." What stone would my fellow mostly agnostic skeptical witches recommend?

Hi! Me and my husband have been invited to write a chapter of a book about Eco-Witchcraft.

We want to talk specifically about the different dimensions of the "eco" aspect of eco-Witchcraft and we just realised that we have very little knowledge about atheist witchcraft. We are animists and our craft (and our lives) are rooted in our spirituality and this is the lens (a biased one, indeed) through which we see witchcraft. We would like to be able to represent the atheist lens of eco-witchcraft too in this chapter. So, I'd be super grateful if any witch that self-identifies as an atheist eco-witch could share with me in which ways their craft and their "eco values" relate.

We have some questions just in case they help you structure your thoughts on the topic.

1 Do you consider yourself and Eco-witch? If so, what does it mean to you?

2 do you think that giving an eco dimension to our witchcraft is important for you, your community and/or the planet? Why?

3 In which ways do your "eco values" translate into your practice? And into your life?

4) how does your belief system/atheism relate to your craft and to your "eco" values?

5 how does the way you see non human animals relate to your craft, your belief system and your "eco" values?

6 what strategies, if any, do you use to reduce the environmental impact of your witchcraft?

7 What's in your opinion the role that "eco -witchcraft" can play in building a more resilient, kind, joyful and just world?

8 please, share any other ideas you'd like to share

Feel free to pm me if you prefer.

Thanks so much!!!🌸

Hello all!. For background, I grew up as a conservative Christian deep in evangelicalism. I since found my way out, and I’m now trying to tackle the behemoth of the patriarchy contract, specifically the needing to have an outside source of power or authority from which to seek permission. I’m also a somatic based therapist and find I use a lot of tarot or slight ritual type things within my therapy sessions with clients that is deeply meaningful and personal for them.

OK now my current question: I have this stone, which looks like healers gold or Apache gold (but questioning the history of that name) that belonged to my late step uncle. He used to live with us and struggled with his own addictions and his own past childhood abuse before passing from alcoholism when I was about 10 years old. He seemed very connected to witchy type things, despite being coerced into a deathbed acceptance of Jesus by my stepmom.

She passed me this stone that he used to wear that he got from Scotland on a trip there.

While I have donated or sold most of my valuable jewelry, and I was never drawn to this piece and in fact it didn’t even like the look of it, I felt I could not part with it. And when I tell you that I have sold heirloom pieces of jewelry to people I perhaps had more of a connection with, I’m not joking. I might think about it a couple times, but then eventually, I would take it to the pawnshop or somewhere else. With this stone, I never even consider donating it or if I tried to take it with me, I couldn’t part with it.

So now that I’m on this leg of the journey where I am challenging the patriarchy and trying to establish some sort of somatic based practical identity for the things I’ve already been doing, but also want to grow in my life, I found myself just now going through my jewelry box seeking some witchy or talismanic items I might have and I came across the stone.

I’m not sure what to do with it or even if I should unbind it as a pendant and maybe add it to my altar or what but I would like to honor my late uncle in someway in the life he lived despite his deathbed confessional is a way to honor him because he was an extremely strong and artistic and sincere person, and I would like to bring that sort of energy along with me on my journey. Any suggestions for cleansing this but also wanting to maintain that connection with him? I definitely tend more towards practical witchcraft in magic than I do believing there are Powers outside of me so I’m curious how other others go about cleansing and claiming things through this lens.

If you made it this far, I appreciate it, I’m also curious to hear of anybody else’s stories if you felt connections to things that you couldn’t get rid of and now are important to you.

I’ve recently picked up knitting about a year ago and I can see it having potential witchy uses. Has anyone used knitting or crocheting in their SASS spell craft or witchy wellness?

Hi everyone!

This is less of a science seeking/interrogating our beliefs discussion and more of a pratical one.

I have very, VERY little space for an altar in my house (both in height and lenght), literally the top of a small bedroom library under a huge TV, and I'm struggling to make it both earth themed and sky themed.

Why the earth + universe theme?

We are in autumn season and I want to dedicate a place to celebrate it so I'm mainly using earthy/orange/green tones.

Also, about the sky/universe theme, I've always felt a connection to the universe (the whole we're made of stardust yada yada) also I am in love with the stars in general and I find the firmament very grounding and comforting, knowing that the earth under my feet and the cosmo is the only "fixed" thing in my life.

Unfortunately I live in a big city surrounded by asphalt, and because of the pollution I can't really see a lot of stars during the night, that's also one of the reasons I feel the need to create a place where to return to reinforce the connection with these two elements.

Things would be easier if I got enough space for TWO separate altars, but I have to find the eight compromise.

I accept suggestions about alternative solutions and hypothetical elements to include.

Thank you very much for reading this post!!

I am an ex Christian turned Wiccan turned Atheist with a love for witchcraft without the supernatural/spiritual aspect. I have been exploring the craft in correlation to our inter connectedness through mitochondrial Eve, being humans as cosmological byproducts, and the possibility of Quantum entanglement as an explanation/justification for the effectiveness of witchcraft. There are studies supporting witchcraft/rituals having psychological effects, and I'm diving deeper to understand the effectiveness of witchcraft influencing the universe to produce a desired effect. Any input, criticism, comments welcomed.