10 Tips for Beginner Witches

Are you just beginning your witchcraft practice? Do you feel overwhelmed because you don’t know where to start? Well, then, you don’t want to miss out on this post! 

Being a beginner witch can be hard. You’re excited to embark on this beautiful magical journey, but there is so much to learn! Before getting into it, you should know that you’ll have to read a lot. Using one book as reference is not enough. Mainly because there are different authors who differ on their view of certain topics, and you may get confused. So, first, I suggest picking up two or three books on the same topic (the more, the merrier). That way, over time, you can figure out your own perspective of things.

I also understand that seeing all those advanced witches doing cool things makes you want to reach that level as soon as possible, but remember that the key to success is taking it slow and trusting the process. Don’t run before you can walk. Here are some tips that will be useful as you start your practice (and even when you’re an advanced witch!).

But first: 

• You don’t have to know what type of witch you want to be right off the bat. What’s great about being a beginner is that you can have a little taste of everything and then decide on what you’d like to stick to. Your path can also change throughout your journey, and that’s okay too! A witch’s journey means evolving (in all aspects of the word).
• Your practice is yours, only yours. The following tips are just a guide to get you started, but you can take whatever resonates with you or even change them to fit your needs or desires.
• Practicing witchcraft doesn’t mean spending tons of money on materials. That’s why we’re giving you ideas of tools that cost zero to little money.

1. Meditate

Meditation is one of the most basic exercises in a witch’s life. You don’t necessarily need to sit cross-legged and close your eyes. Meditating means focusing on the present moment. It’s what connects you to the Universe, energetically speaking. Every witch has a different way of meditating: breathing in and out, painting, dancing, bullet journaling, singing, doing skincare… You can do anything! Whatever connects you to the present and helps you connect with your Higher Self.

2. Practice Visualization

This technique goes hand in hand with the previous tip. During your meditation, you can imagine you’re in a place you feel at ease and whole. It could be the beach, a cabin in the middle of the woods, or even a non-existent place. Visualizing a white-glowing bubble surrounding you, for instance, will be useful when you want protection. You can also use visualization for cleansing or charging an object. You can do so by imagining a light in a color that corresponds to your intention (more on color correspondences below) and picture that light encompassing the object. Moreover, if you want to manifest something, you can picture yourself achieving your goal.

3. Set up an Altar

Not every witch has an altar, sometimes due to having little room for one or being in the broom closet. It doesn’t have to be big and fancy. You can have a hidden altar (in a box, for instance) or just display the basic elements: candles that represent the Elements, a tablecloth and protection symbols (the ankh, the pentacle or whichever symbol goes with your beliefs). Having an altar helps to settle the energy in one area, although you can practise anywhere. It’s advisable, though, to always do your spells or rituals in the same place (your bedroom, your backyard, your living room, etc.).

4. Use Color Correspondences

Colors are associated with different intentions and you can wear them to attract what you want. For example: yellow for happiness, green for abundance or health, purple for peace, red for passion, and so on. You can use colors to represent the elements or to connect with their energy: green for Earth, yellow for Air, red for Fire, blue for Water, and white for Spirit.

5. Use a Pendulum for Divination

This is one of the most beginner-friendly tools for divination, since it’s easy and quick to interpret. You don’t need to buy a crystal pendulum, you can make one yourself by using a needle and thread or a necklace and a ring. What matters is that it has some kind of weight on one end and it swings. Program your pendulum to give you yes/no answers. You can do so by either asking it to move a certain way to represent each answer or asking the pendulum to show you the movements that represent the answers. For example: back and forth means ‘yes’ and left to right means ‘no’. Remember to ask the Pendulum to show you what an answer such as I don’t know is like.

6. Use Crystals

Crystals are stones with magical properties and they’re very witch-friendly! The following  crystals are perfect for beginner witches, because they’re easy to find and inexpensive: Rose Quartz (love), Amethyst (healing), Black Tourmaline (protection), Red Jasper (grounding), Crystal Quartz (mental clarity), Citrine (abundance), and Selenite (cleansing and channeling). 

Don’t forget to look up information about how you can cleanse and charge them, make sure you’re using a safe method for each of them. For instance, there are crystals such as Amethyst, Rose Quartz and Selenite that can’t be under the sunlight, because they may lose their color. Some others aren’t waterproof, like Pyrite, Malachite and Selenite. To obtain their power, you can simply ask them to assist you with a certain property.

If you don’t feel like spending most of your disposable income at the mineral shop, you can just get a few Black Tourmaline tumbles and some Clear Quartz points. Clear Quartz can hold onto almost any intention (with the exception of relaxation and rest) and Black Tourmaline is a protective tool that can absorb any excesses of energy and negativity.

7. Get some Plants

Plants tend to be fascinating for us witches. We nurture them, we hydrate them and we talk to them. Rumor has it that plants are great listeners. And they also absorb negative energy! If you see that any of them have withered, they may have absorbed any type of negative energy that was directed toward you.

8. Find Out About Your Natal Chart

Witchcraft is a self-discovery journey, and astrology will be your best ally for that. Zodiac signs are the epitome of different characteristics or behaviors, and finding which and how many of them appear in your natal chart will give you a hint of introspection. If you’re interested, you can do your chart here.

9. Find Your Witch Name

This isn’t mandatory, but it’ll come in handy. Names are powerful, they’re (along with your natal chart) your energetic DNA. It’s easier for someone to hurt you when they have your real name. So, many practitioners decide to have a “witch name”, which’s like a pseudonym or pen name. It’s meant to protect your real identity and energy. How do you get your witch name? Usually, witches are named after crystals or herbs, but the truth is that it can be whatever you want! You can either choose it yourself or let your guides give you one. As a general rule of spiritual protection, refrain from telling people your middle name or your birth data, as your full name and birth chart can be used against you by some ill-intentioned practitioners. 

10. Use Music to Communicate with Your Guides

This may sound weird, but I promise it’s fun and effective. Spirit guides don’t always communicate with us through our psychic senses, sometimes they choose mundane means of communication. And this is a method I love to use! I open Spotify (you can use any app of your preference) and close my eyes, I ask my guides a question or just to send me a message and then I open a random playlist and hit “shuffle”, the song that starts playing is my answer. Now, the answer can either be in the title or in a very specific line from the song. That’s why I wait until it’s over to reflect upon what I’ve heard and whatever resonates with me is the answer to my question. For example: when I first started working with one of my guides, Rowan, the song that came up was A Whole New World from the Aladdin soundtrack. It was hilarious! I understood that my guide was telling me that we’d have an amazing journey together.

I hope you found these tips useful to get you started. Remember, the key to success is taking it slow. So, don’t get frustrated if you don’t seem to get it immediately. Practice makes perfect! Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried any of the exercises I presented to you or if you have any other tips you can share. I wish you all the best in your magickal journey!

Andrea Valeri

Andrea Valeri (also known by her witch name, Andina Silvermist) is a Content Writer at Aquamarine Content. She’s a Scorpio and highly interested in Tarot and other Divination practices. She loves to read and learn new things. She’s majoring in English-Spanish Translation. She reads and reviews books of various genres, including Witchcraft related, on her Instagram account @lluviadelibros15. She also teaches English as a foreign language on Tik Tok (@andinasilver). Her favorite crystals are Black Tourmaline, Selenite and Amethyst, and her favorite Tarot card is The Death card.

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