Hello! Do You Have Resources On Beginning Witchcraft? I'm Latinx And My Grandma Practiced Brujeria, But

Hello! Do you have resources on beginning witchcraft? I'm latinx and my grandma practiced brujeria, but I'm no longer in contact with her.

I AM SO SORRY, I DID NOT REALIZE THIS WAS SITTING IN MY ASKBOX STILL!! Please forgive me T_T

Okay, so I'm going to recommend you handle this two headed beast from both sides: 1, general accessible witchcraft, and 2, connecting to an ancestral practice.

Firstly, and foremost, I do have a post on what I recommend for newbies, as found in my larger research post. Hint hint: it always starts with a trip to the library. It's only even a little bit outdated too. (Goodbye, Witchvox!)

It is easier now than ever to find a path to a spiritually-driven path forged of your own hands and research. Of course, not all sources are equal, but still, there is treasure in trash and fool's gold in glittering mines. My two recommended books to start are @orriculum's Witchcraft and Whimsy, and then later, after a time settling into a routine, @breelandwalker's Grovedaughter Witchery. I have wondered if I wanted to change these recommendations up a bunch of times, but they consistently are the only two books that I know of that are not only beginner/seeker friendly, but have a very sturdy stance against cultural appropriation. The books are also in a very reasonable price range and available on Amazon. If you're looking for something free, I recommend not only the dubiously illustrious witchblr blogs at the bottom of this linked post but also Bree NicGarran's Free Books post! Hope you like Middle English!

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Secondly, however, comes connecting to a culture you're not presently in the domain of, and that is a completely separate pickle to juice. Presuming the metaphor here is the pickle juice. Anyway. You got two options. I suggest taking them both because only one leads to an imbalance of the sort of information you find...you’ll see what I mean. 

Social media is a help and a hindrance, but there are likely brujería social media accounts and instagrams and facebook groups and all the like just like there are for other groups of diasporic practitioners looking to connect with each other. Some networking and speaking to lots of people, checking out the appropriate tags etc. will net you people to follow online. Other humans will be invaluable in this scenario. Not everything in a practice is written down. Culture is passed from hand to mouth to hand to hand to mouth... It won’t all be in a book. Network. Reach out. Unfortunately I personally do not know too much about brujería (being non-latine), but you can probably get a boost from @witches-ofcolor if you ask nicely. Visibility is what it is.

But BOOKS! Books are good for you too! If you know the approximate location where your grandmother grew up, you can look up books on her local superstitions and culture. Anthropology and sociology books will be your bestest friends in the whole world. This post goes into the process more effectively, but basically, you’re going to want to avoid more contemporary “witchcraft” books and focus more on nonfiction aimed at a more academic crowd. It’s good to have practitioner’s voices, sure, but there’s a kind of...sameification that can happen if you’re in the general witchcraft crowd sometimes. It’s not amazing.

Other than that...yeah. I’ve had Mesa Blanca by Florencio Guevara recommended to me as well as Luz y Progreso by Sancista Brujo Luis, both books that...I believe were in English when they were recommended to me? But Mesa Blanca has some bizarrely racist stuff in it that I was not expecting at ALL which made me majorly suspicious about the perspective of the author. I never read the other. Anyway. I want to emphasize that you have a lot of opportunities available to you, and a lot of places to look towards. Don’t worry. You’ll make it somewhere as long as you keep walking.

I hope this finds you well! Sorry it took me so long, but once you open the ask to see it the notification goes away, and I knew this needed a really thorough answer...yadda yadda. Before I knew it this ask was new to me again.

Best of luck on your journey, and my blessings!

tips from the merciful haha

no because this is so true… people will tell woc who are light skinned or have a small nose that they’re white passing or have ‘eurocentric’ features as if those features are exclusive to only white people and aren’t naturally found on other ethnicities all the time

Imagine worshipping Aphrodite while being a terf. That’s embarrassing.

🔥🔮🕯😂🙌🏼👄🥰👄🙌🏼😂🕯🔮🔥

a high energy emoji spell.

may your week have the most positive vibes.

only highs. no lows.

like to charge. reblog to cast.

Want to Witch But Not Sure What to Witch? - College Edition

Try…

Upgrading your spice collection for dorm kitchen witchery 

Cleanse your laptop and textbooks 

Draw sigils in your notes

Make literal “lucky charms” for exams using necklaces, rings, pencils, shoes, jackets, etc. 

Charge your bed to repel stress and hold onto relaxation

Create a Pinterest board with your career/personal goals, and include sigils for manifestation. Great for future visualization exercises. 

Bless your car with good fortune, that you will always find a parking space

Pay it forward in the coffee shop, as an offering to a deity or to add more gratitude into the universe

Make something for your roommate and bless it before giving it to them

Take a walk around campus and scatter birdseed on your way

Get lost in the library and make friends with the ghosts. 

Draw sigils/incantations for glamour/confidence/power on mirrors in dry-erase markers

Charm a stuffed animal/favorite hoodie/fuzzy blanket with good vibes and take a well-deserved nap 

(via)