A Different Way For Witches And Pagans To Start

I am going to suggest a different way to get started in Witchcraft/ Spiritualism. When people ask “Where do I start?” common answers tend to be external. Protection, get to know plant/ animal allies, the elements, and so forth. None of these are an issue, but those people can still feel overwhelmed and not know really where to begin. There is a different approach we can take though. One that I think prepares us better for the wider journey of skill development and carving out our own path.

red candle floating in water — picture by Esa – Water and Fire Magic

Ancestral Soul

When we start with the Ancestral Soul, you do not need to worry about protection, stepping on someone else’s toes, doing the “wrong thing” and all the things that create fear in this process. Every memory, skill, and life contained in the Ancestral Soul is a part of you, a part of your soul, and one you are contributing all your growth in this life to.

It is not all your Ancestors. It is only the lives that are yours and you, so all you will experience is what is in yourself. Not all of our ancestors or family members are great. It seems to be the top reason I hear why people do not want to connect with ancestors. With Ancestral Soul you never have to worry about running into them (unless they were you in another life, and then you need to listen to their story and heal).

By connecting to our Ancestral Soul we are able to start accessing the skills, abilities, and knowledge it possesses, thus you already possess laying in wait for you to awaken it.

Starting at the place of the Self and of the Ancestral Soul gives us a sense of comfort and a unique kind of freedom in exploring your own path.

Conversation with the Soul

Divination is a great way to start bringing the Ancestral Soul to the surface and learning from it. Water and Mirror scrying is one divination method that can be done but also requires a lot of practice. I personally think tarot is the best tool to begin the conversation – and one deck specifically, The Dreams of Gaia deck .

The Dreams of Gaia tarot holds the same number of cards, is broken into different elements/ suits similar to, and has major arcana, but the meanings between the cards are completely different. This deck was constructed specifically for self-growth and talking with the soul. It holds the cycles of life, growth, and nature. Yes, you will have to use the book until you get to know them because it is completely different from those aligned with traditional tarot meanings, but it is so worth it! It is the only tarot deck I recommend for the conversation with ancestral soul, but choose as you will.

Think of questions you want to ask your ancestral soul. Where should I focus first? What skills do you possess but I am not using? Tell me a story about your life. You can use path spreads or create your own spreads, or you can not use any and just let the conversation flow.

I often start with one question or “tell me a story” (Tips and Tricks here ). It generally will just lead me to the next question or going deeper into one aspect/ card that I want to know more about. It becomes a back and forth conversation. The important thing is to listen. Listen to anything you hear, feel, or see. Keep a journal of all of it so you can use it in reflection work.

picture of the seperation of body and soul and where they connect — The Triplicity of the Soul – Temple Crane

Mediation- Trance – Frequency

You can work on all three of these at the same time. The more you learn in one area, the more expanded understanding you gain in the others. The work we are focused on first is the alignment of our body- soul – mind, what we think – what we feel – our actions – bringing them into harmony and balance with each other. This way we are moving and living in the Whole-Self, the Authentic Self.

Frequency

Learning about frequency, how it affects water, the state of the brain (brain waves), and holds keys that will help you unlock all the potentials/possibilities within yourself and in this life. It is believed that frequency is the center of everything. To know it and understand it, gives us the power to create. At the end of this article I am going to list some links to get you started, or dive deeper into, if you are interested.

Meditative practice

Nope, I am not talking about quiet sitting and clearing the mind meditative practice. I am talking about a practice that equally involves the body – soul – and mind. Some example are Tai Chi, Qigong, Yoga, belly dancing, and so much more. All of these combine slow and purposeful movement – awareness and oneness with your breath – and the right brain waves to connect to the energy within you and around you. None is more right or wrong, just different ways to achieve the same result. I even know people who have created their own.

Pick one or create one, then make a point to start doing it at least once a week. Not with a chore mindset “I need to fit this in/ get it done?” but with a mindset of abundance “I get to take some me time, and focus on me, my growth.” How you approach it (mindset) will determine how quickly you progress and how deeply. This isn’t something to check off a checklist but something you are doing for yourself and where you want to go.

Trance

As you learn about the brain waves, you will learn different perspectives of what state our brain is in during them. It helps to show from a biological standpoint what is happening when we enter these states.

Trance is the space between meditation and spirit walking (astral walking). It where we are both here and there at the same time. It gives us the ability to have full on conversations, face to face. It is a place where the soul can share it’s stories by showing you, but without losing full awareness of this world.

You can achieve trance state in many ways. The easiest one I have found to get people there quickly is the mala technique. If you want to know more, I wrote a whole article on it and how to do it.

Self Care/ Self Worship

Many people come to this path because they are searching for something. In witchcraft many are looking for change in their lives. Pagans and Spirituals are looking for belief and a place they feel like they are a part of. This type of approach points outwards, to the things outside of us. What if we took in the inward approach? Starting within ourselves, knowing ourselves, our value, our sovereignty.

The Self being first is not a selfish thing – it only becomes selfish if we are intentionally taking from others to satisfy ourselves. Our Body is Temple for our Soul in this life. It deserves to be seen and treated as we would any other space sacred to us.

The way we talk to ourselves is changing the shape of the water within us (watch the Dr Emoto studies below). It is shaping who we are and what we project out to others about us. We feed this vibration and frequency to our whole self. So are we feeding it in positive ways or are we degrading it?

Self Spells

Most people that start in witchcraft want to do spells. It is part of what drew them and is a practice of action. We want to do something and experiment. It is also a very tactile way to experience the energy around us and gives us space where we can melt into the magic.

Start with Self Spells. Spells that are directed specifically at you.

Do you have difficulty with change and experiencing change right now? Do a spell for courage and strength.

Are you confronted with a difficult decision? Do a spell for clarity, one that helps you to see all sides so you can make the best decision you can.

Are you lonely? Do a spell of self love. The more you love yourself, the more that will radiate from you and want people to be near you.

Glamour magic can be useful in healing and showing your inner beauty on the outside.

The great thing about self directed magic, is that is shows us what is working and is not. It is a way to easily gauge the power and effectiveness of your spells. Giving us the confidence to experiment yet without the worries of someone else getting hurt or going bad for you – they will work or they won’t.

Celebrate the Self

It is important that we celebrate the self – all our small little wins. Because we are changing and growing all the time, every day. We will make mistakes, we will hurt someone at some point not meaning to, and these are the growing pains of growth. We have to forgive ourselves and know we have learned from it. We don’t forget the bad but we don’t live in it either.

Often we focus on the negative aspects of us, what we have done wrong, our mistakes. If we do this more then we celebrate the good parts of us, our mind will only focus on the bad things. If we focus on celebrating our wins, all our small little wins, we are reprogramming the mind to focus and live in our accomplishments and growth. Celebrating the Self is a wonderful thing that many people rarely do, yet it can change everything else in your life and how you perceive it.

When people are talking about visualizing abundance as something that already is – the above is what we are talking about. If you are focused more on what is lacking, you train your brain and the frequency within you to predominately seeing the lacking, thus always feeling the lacking, and then creating the lacking in your life.

It isn’t about envisioning your future of abundance though – what it is like. This is about focusing on the abundance that is already present in your life. Seeing all the small and wonderful things that create the feeling of abundance. Through this being your primary focus, you are training your brain and frequency to abundance – not just attracting it but living it.

Self Altar

You hear a lot about Deity, Ancestor, a specific traditions way of setting an altar but what about a self altar? This is an altar dedicated to you and the ancestral soul that is you. It is a celebration of the self. It is a way to bring visuals that you want to manifest in your life. It is also a great place to do all your self spells!

There are no rules here. You are building it with the things you see that represent you. That you are drawn to and that make you feel spiritual, powerful, magical. It changes as you grow and change. An outward symbol of the transformations within yourself.

Have fun with it. Create an effigy, or repurpose a statue to represent yourself. Put your prosperity/ money bowl/spell there. Bring in symbolism of the things you want to attract into your life. Put the elements you are draw/connected to and ones you want to connect with.

Ending Thoughts

Starting your journey from a place of self, allows us to work from a rhythm of inward to outward. A natural cycle. The more we know about ourselves, the better we can determine the right actions for what we really want.

The stronger we become in our abilities. Developing, honing, and discovering skills that are already yours. Finding what your magic is and letting soul guide you on the journey.

It eliminates some of the core worries people come in with such as doing something wrong – taking from a practice – getting hurt – inviting unwanted things into your life, etc.

I geared this to people more starting out, but I have met many long time practitioners who have not done this kind of work. They are concepts we don’t really talk about in books, and most people will say “read and learn” because books have the answer, but I feel we only truly experience our full power, our whole self, until our body-mind-and soul are aligned. To do that requires us to know ourselves, love ourselves, and have access and control of all that is in us.

We heal through this type of self journey. We move into a place of living in our true authentic soul, because we harmonized within our whole self.

When a new person approaches me from now on, I am not going to say the usual lines – I am going to point them to this work – this kind of journey. I have no doubt anymore that going through this path heals all of our wounds – we become the most powerful version of ourselves – and to heal us in the sense of community, bringing us together yet not having to be the same.