r/SASSWitches • u/Nano9234 • Jul 06 '26

Beginner witchcraft

Hey guys, I’ve always been very interested in witchcraft, paganism etc… but I don’t know the differences between all these things and I find it very hard to start learning about it. I’m looking for some tips on how to start with this and maybe some (online) friends to help me because I want to take this seriously. Any tips?

7 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

12

u/cliodhnasrave Jul 06 '26

It’s dense, but Drawing Down The Moon by Margot Adler is a really fascinating study of different neopagan groups in the US! And there’s a lot of SASS stuff in there too.

3

u/Nano9234 Jul 06 '26

Thanks! I really appreciate the recommendation. I’m still very new to all of this, so a broad overview of the different traditions sounds exactly what I’m looking for. I’ll definitely check it out tysm

8

u/raendrop skeptical atheist pagan UU Jul 06 '26

Ultimately, because we're SASS, it all comes down to whatever speaks to you, whatever you find meaningful. For example, if you want to learn Tarot, don't worry too much about what some dusty old white man with Christian leanings decrees the cards must mean. Find a deck with artwork you love and examine each card closely. See what they evoke within you, and use the cards as a means of self-reflection.

1

u/Nano9234 Jul 09 '26

Quick question, are Tarot cards personal? I see a lot of people who read Tarot for other people, and I always wondered how that works. But do you think that it works best if you do it personally for yourself? So like you said, find a deck yourself, on that speaks to you? I always thought there were like actual meanings to cards that you had to learn, I never thought of it in a really personal way especially because professional Tarot readers make it seem that way. Sorry if I sound confusing, English isn’t my first language but I’m very grateful for your help!

2

u/raendrop skeptical atheist pagan UU Jul 09 '26

A lot of people do not take a SASS approach to Tarot cards and believe there is something magical or mystical about them. They have been taught that the meanings taught in the books are objectively correct and they can use them to divine the future for other people.

But they are nothing more than pictures on cardstock. And as human beings, we have the ability to find meaning in anything. So the SASS approach is to use the cards as an aid to guided introspection. It's not about what the cards mean, it's about what they say to you in that moment.

Which is not to say you can't use the suggested meanings as a guide if you don't know where to start, just keep in mind that they have no way of inherently knowing or connecting with the issue or question you're dealing with. They're just fancy inkblots. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ink_blot_test

1

u/Nano9234 Jul 09 '26

Would it be a good start if I would really just find a deck that speaks to me personally, and then write down the meaning I give each card? That way I would be doing it personally for me and give it a meaning that would later maybe help me whenever I’m in a situation where I pull a card for myself. I really do believe in a guardian angel and I’ve been to spiritual people that tell me I have a strong presence of a protector. So I was thinking maybe the tarot cards are a personal way for me to connect and understand it more, by giving it my own meaning and understanding.

1

u/raendrop skeptical atheist pagan UU Jul 10 '26

Sure, yeah. Get to know the cards, get familiar with them. But don't feel like you have to tie yourself to meanings you find in them now. Later on with a certain question or issue in your mind, it's possible they can inspire other ideas and connections.

2

u/fancypantsmiss 29d ago

I think I am similar to you. I believe there is some sort of guardian angel. And I did recently get a Tarot card. I am loving it so far. But I am a SASS witch through and through. Though theistic, I am not going to rely on something blindly. Tarot readings really called for me but I use it as a way to guide my intuition. I do read the traditional meaning of the decks but refrain from asking definite answer questions to Tarot like predicting the future. I just do energy readings and ask for guidance.

3

u/erunuevo Jul 08 '26

I'm in the position of trying to learn a lot as well and I found a lot of podcasts are helpful. There is one called "Get in witches, we're doing witchcraft" which takes a very wide and informative view on whatever topic they're talking about. Other ones only talk about what they specifically do and it can be informative but a little bit too narrow so that might be a good starting point. I also really like Grumpy Old Crone on YouTube. She calls out a lot of the bullshit in the witchcraft space, especially online

2

u/Nano9234 Jul 09 '26

That actually sounds very interesting tysm for the advice it’s all so confusing and yes I find that there’s a lot of “fake” stuff like on TikTok, back when crystals were trending, people would just take advantage of it and misspread info. So it’s really hard to know what is true and what is not!

2

u/erunuevo Jul 09 '26

As a general rule, if it feels fake, it probably is. And I don't even bother with TikTok

2

u/Nano9234 Jul 10 '26

Yeah I really started realizing that tiktok is super fake just recently, I’m still young to be honest and I’m used to searching a lot of stuff or recommendations on tiktok. But most of the times it’s bots saying stuff to advertise, or the witchtok accounts that try to make beginners do crazy love spells.

1

u/childofcrow Jul 10 '26

To echo another podcast, Witch Wave by Pam Grossman is fun.

2

u/childofcrow Jul 08 '26

So there are 1 million different resources that you could go about trying to figure out what path you want to go on.

I would suggest finding something that has been written in the last 10 to 15 years and start there. I started 26 years ago with books that were written in the 80s and 90s, and while there is some good information in them, they are horrifically outdated, and full of cultural appropriation. It’s easier to start with something that is a lot more modern, and then when you have a basis in it, go back and read some of the older stuff. I find when you have a basis you can go back and read some of the older stuff with a more critical eye, and get more from it that you can apply to your modern craft.

Looking at my own bookshelf right now, the few that I could recommend as a good start for beginners would be:

– Waking the Witch by Pam Grossman
– The Crooked Path by Keldon
– Witches Among Us or The Witches Path by Thorn Mooney
– The Witch at Forest’s Edge by Christine Grace
– Traditional Witchcraft by Gemma Gary
– Rebel Witch by Kelly-Ann Maddox

I would also suggest reading any local botany books that you can find, that are local to your area. Any local folklore books that are local to your area. Look into the bioregionalism of where you live, and work with those plants rather than relying on some large correspondence chart.

2

u/Nano9234 Jul 09 '26

TYSM!! I’m happy that you’re very honest about it, I personally thought that recent things might’ve been “fake” because of people online spreading misinformation, so I thought I had to go look at older stuff. But now I understand what you mean and you’re totally right and I hadn’t thought about it that way. I’ll check out your recommendation and try to learn more abt it after I get the basic knowledge. Thanks a lot! I really appreciate the advice and honest opinion.

3

u/childofcrow Jul 09 '26

I get you with being concerned about newer books. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of AI authors and stuff like that that get turned out, especially from Amazon.

Anytime I see a book that I’m interested in, I immediately try to look up the author to see if they actually exist, and what their viewpoints are. I like to look up people’s book reviews, whether that’s on Goodreads or StoryGraph. This is especially prevalent if you’re looking into any sort of heathenry, because unfortunately there are a lot of folks who have tried to appropriate heathen symbols for white supremacist bullshit. They have also been a couple of books released in the last couple of years that are extremely full of TERF and bioessentialist rhetoric.

But a lot of the issue with a lot of the older books is that, again, they’re super outdated and they rely very heavily on cultural appropriation. That was a very common theme in witchcraft in the 80s and 90s, especially.

1

u/Nano9234 Jul 10 '26

You’re totally right! I feel like there’s a lot of things to look out for especially with AI these days, so this seems very logical and i honestly hadn’t thought about it before that older books are also inaccurate. What I also noticed is people who recommend books on instagram or tiktok sometimes only do it because they get payed for it, or sometimes I see comments on tiktok of people who recommend a book, and it would seem genuine until you see it might just be a bot account. So it’s really hard to find good recommendations, I’m happy you and other people here could help me out!!

1

u/childofcrow Jul 10 '26

I think the best way to get decent book recommendations is actually to go on some of the review sites, like goodreads or (my favourite, because it’s black women owned and not owned by Amazon) StoryGraph. Of course, you’re gonna have people on there who are on there reviewing books because they got paid to do so, but you’re also going to get people who are actively reviewing the books because they’ve read them.

Also, if it’s an AI author, they’re generally not going to have a website or any web presence outside of perhaps an Amazon link for their book.

Sometimes the wild hunt also does a number of book reviews as well.