Witchcraft: Where Do I Start?

An Informed Opinion on Divination as a Starting Point in Magic

How do I get into witchcraft? Where do I start if I want to practice magic? I want to do spells, but how does one become a witch?

I normally give an easy answer to friends and strangers that ask me these things: Tarot cards, runes, or tea leaves.

That’s the short and simple version… But the much longer version has far more value for those looking to start on the path of a magician. I believe a great place to start our journey is to seek the truth and decide if it’s ours.

As most of us know, divination is not exactly a way to see the future. Rather, it is a way to interpret and understand the right now. It shows us our place in the plans of the world and the universe. It uncovers things that we are hiding from ourselves or have not yet noticed. When beginning a journey into magic and witchcraft, the practice of divination teaches very valuable lessons.

The main reasons I would argue that divination is the right place to start for young witches is that it requires and teaches some important aspects of the craft: Intuition, synchronicities, journaling, and discernment.

Intuition

Divination teaches us to look at our spread, look up resources, and look into ourselves. When I first started tarot, I wasn’t memorizing cards right away. Like most of us, I was looking up their meaning when I flipped them over. It wasn’t long before I noticed that there were cards I didn’t know the meaning of that would jump right out at me with meaning.

I would start to sense meaning without having to look it up (or in addition to looking it up) and it taught me to be confident in my intuition. It helped me to understand that there is a vast network of information here. All humans have the ability to access that with focus. I realized that there were parts of the information I had collected over the years that were lying dormant in my mind until I needed them. It taught me to feel truth in my body as well as in my mind. It was my introduction to “knowing” something before I had learned it.

That powerful feeling is everywhere in witchcraft. When we practice divination regularly we learn what serves us and what does not. We build our trust in ourselves and receive insight into the universe.

When I looked up the resources online, they were spot on. Even now that I know a lot of the card meaning by heart, there is often an extra layer of communication. Divination practices grow with their reader. They take on personalities and patterns. It is a joy to start to understand the tone of a card or to hear a name in your mind while divinating.

Discernment

Not everything that is true will be true for everyone and being able to separate the bullshit from the good shit is necessary. Divination is a good place to learn to make these kinds of choices. The further you go into the realms beyond Earth, the more evident it becomes that Good vs. Bad is not what it once seemed. We realize that the truth of reality alone is enough to corrupt and destroy people if they are not careful.

If you start your walk into witchcraft with divination, you can start learning magical discernment when the stakes are much lower. Deciding if those tea leaves like a skull or a pretzel is a little less risky than deciding to put a curse on your boss, right?

Discernment is also a lesson of humbling. I can get the two of wands over and over again in a reading and not realize until the end that I was ignoring an interpretation that didn’t suit my wants. I can ask the wrong questions and go down the wrong path in my readings.

But it’s not just about what options we look away from. It’s also about what we look toward. There are traps in the books and resources online because they were created by humans. They are tainted with biases and interpreted with personal filters. That doesn’t make them wrong or bad, but it can accidentally lead you down a path you weren’t meant for.

Online content is often written to sell a service, promote a product, or keep posts on a website consistent. Even books, which may look more trustworthy, can be written solely for money or ego. This will test your intuition but you must not forget that you have to make real-world choices with logical, tangible information.

Don’t ruin your life. Make good choices.

Synchronicity

Synchronicities are the magician’s way of perceiving a coincidence. They are a sweet part of magic that can sometimes feel like the most tangible. Everyone experiences synchronicities in their everyday life but once you start to turn up your awareness and communicate with spirit, they start feel extra amazing.

Divination is a good first step for a young witch because it teaches us the language of these divine coincidences. The moments of “accident” during divination will often reveal themselves to be much more. The nonphysical rhythms of the world cannot exactly be expressed in words, but the universe will show you with patterns and symbols.

Out in the world, it can be easy to see a feather and not think much of it. In the throws of a divination with some candles and receptivity, we get to set aside the distractions and practice the awareness of otherworldly signs and communications.

Journaling

There are many online translations for every kind of divination but sometimes you might comb through them and be left with more questions. However, if I leaf through my journal and see an old interpretation from earlier, it clicks immediately.

This has taught me the value of keeping a journal for reference. I take notes during all of my readings and sometimes just free write when I’m out and about. I write down my experiences with a spell or an altered state of consciousness so I can look back later. All of these things are colored with my personal interpretation and perspective which make them especially powerful.

Sometimes referred to as a book of spells or grimoire, magic journals track our thoughts and knowledge in a way we can tangibly reflect on. While it might not be initially evident, journaling while divinating to record your interpretations sets the tone for your journey in witchcraft.

This small act of discipline ripples out and will inspire you to record and reflect regularly. They call it practicing magic because it takes repetition, discipline, and action. Simply performing spells and reading signs will yield results, but the true value is found when you are remaining in a place of magical awareness and checking in with yourself and your journey.

When I look back at old readings, I become inspired and grateful. These are two powerful energies that make journaling especially worth the effort.

Witchcraft is not a toy or an aesthetic. It has consequences in this world and with the help of a strong relationship to divination from early on in your practice, you might be able to navigate the mysteries a little more safely. Beginning with spell work or communicating with the dead right away can be a lot for a newbie to handle. Safety is a part of navigating the technology of magic. There are centuries of lost traditions that we are piecing together.

Fair divination!