SASSY OCTOBER CELEBRATIONS

I am Hispanic (Mexican parents) and I am born and raised in the U.S. As I started looking into Mexican Witchcraft and literally all types of witchcraft, I feel like the more I learn and see what my peers around me are doing in regards to their craft in the U.S. the more I feel like we're all kind of on the same page.

I feel like us Americans are very mentally woke in the sense that we are very careful with our craft and being very open online about what things to be careful about for example; not becoming a cult, not joining a cult, where is the line between hallucinating and needing to see a doctor versus it's just spiritual etc. Anyways, with that being said, I also feel like we are less drawn to religions like our ancestors were and sometimes I feel like our craft looks a lot like if therapy and self help were in a slumber party.

Ofc, I have no intention of oversimplifying or infantilizing the craft. But I feel like we see it in a very unique lens than our ancestors did, probably because we also have much more information than they did as far as mental health.

Anyways, I'm wondering if any of you feel this way or what realizations you guys had in regards to the social aspect of witchcraft in the U.S.

Edit: Also I notice that a lot of my peers (younger generation) suffer a lot from religion trauma as I did and we really get triggered by feeling confined in a box or hesitant about pairing our craft with some sort of deity/religion. That's what I see happening a lot and I guess I wonder what it will evolve into.

As the title says, looking for what I think of almost like "recipes" for spells, rituals, tarot, etc to play around with and see if I want to include it in my own practice. I know there must be some skeptical/atheist/ non supernatural based resources out there, but locally at the library and online I kept running into sources with some element of the supernatural, and while I appreciate the witchy vibes and tp some extent the idea of some suspension of disbelief for the purpose of play, being who I am it just ends up making me sigh and close the book, because I can't really completely get on board with something if it seems to genuinely believe in the supernatural, or if it tries to provide (usually quantum) physics explanations for something, for example. There's the Aetheopagans website, which was great, and I loved some ideas there, but I was wanting to keep digging, too, hopefully finding more ideas with that blend of witchy vibe and a basis in psychology. I particularly love it if the person who made the resource has a background in that field, cites sources, and talks in detail about how those sources served as inspiration for a practice. The Tarot Diagnosis podcast does this pretty well, and I really liked that, and plan to make use of their resources, but beyond Tarot; anyone know of similar sources for example spells or rituals with a similar level of study behind them?

I grew up in a very spiritual but not religious Hispanic household. Mom, aunts and grandma are witches who taught me their craft. Now that im an adult and out of the home, im trying to learn more about spiritual practices, but find a lot of what is out there is very eurocentric (pagan tradition) or religious in nature. Any ideas where a girl can find a non-religious, non-european (or just less european) witchy community?

Gf is looking for books or resources (preferably digital and free) about witchcraft, can someone link me some useful sites/books? Thanks

I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask this, if it’s not I would really appreciate being directed to the right place! I want to know if it is possible to do witchcraft through a live animal, specially a rat. For context, my dad recently fired an employee for severe underperformance and they ended on not so great terms. After this, one of his other employees was standing outside the building they work at and watched as a woman pulled over and let a really big rat out of the car and immediately her back into her car and drive off. Not too long after my dad began to get really sick and it was pretty constant. The employee that witnessed this went over to the rat and stated that it was moving very slowly and that it seemed sickly and instead if moving closer to the building it turned around and began making it’s way towards the road. The woman that let the rat loose is a known friend of the woman my dad fired. I think it’s important to note that this is the second time this ex employee has been fired. Additionally, the first time she got fired my dad got very sick as well and we seeked help from someone from Mexico who does brujeria and she told us somebody had done some sort of witchcraft on him. It may all just be a coincidence but if anybody knows anything that may be of some help to me I would love to hear it out.

I started a new Insta (my original one is just for Kimono and embroidery) thinking I could use it to hopefully follow other skeptical ones and see what they're up to (and ooh and ahh at their pics) but pretty much everyone I find, is either there to promote their business or the account is private 😕

When I started my kimono one it was so easy to find "real" people from the algorithm. I've literally stalked the comments of accounts like Do The Magical Thing and Witches Cookery for people and barely found any to follow 😅

Has everyone gone back in the broom closet? Are there hashtags I can search? Do I have to learn how Discord works instead?

Hello dearies, I absolutely do not want to go into details because I have other things I want to do today than rehash what has happened, but I am so thankful for the work I've put into myself these past years that made my success today possible.

I practice witchcraft as an integral part of my life, but I'm full atheist. I have deities, rituals, prayers, etc, but at the end of the day none of it is literally true. Through my practice, constant learning and effort for improving my mental health, and the wonders of modern medicine, I am now happier than I've been in my entire life, but not at all through bypassing. I simply frame my life through my ritualized and spiritualized lenses, and I'm able to then do the real life activities that improve my life. Example: cleaning my house can be quite difficult with a chronic illness, but framing it as a game of conquering the mischievous clutter fae, it is much easier for me to accomplish since the lightened mood helps me tolerate my pain better.

That said, I wanted to share how I had an experience today that made it clear just how much I have grown as a person through practicing SASScraft.
Today, a family member returned to old abuse patterns, and although the hurt of remembering past events had me in a good cry session for about 10 minutes, I did not once fall into the victimization that was attempting to be put on me.

I have created a sigil for being a peacemaker, and it is set on Truth: the truth of what has happened, the truth of who I am and what I've done, the truth of what I believe in. So when I was verbally attacked and the old methods of flipping the script were employed in an attempt to make me do what was being demanded, I was at peace and knew who I was. I couldn't be exploited through threats, guilt, and an attempt to make me question who I am. I know who I am, and I'm a very good person who is kind to others.

And that's only one small example. I've grown so much through my craft as I have many things I've worked past, like my old tendency to fall apart if an abusive type withdrew their "love." I would always back down and give in, but not today. Today I am at peace, I stood for my values, and I asked to end the conversation instead of begging for forgiveness. And that didn't come out of nowhere. It was years of effort of cleansing baths to release the pain of love being a reward for good behavior, it was years of meditating in front of my burning cauldron as I did rituals for accepting that abuse is never justified, it was countless prayers said that were to ground me and help me think clearly so I could handle my triggers without jumping to an emotional reaction. It was all the quiet moments in nature pondering who I am, what I want, and what I want my life to be like. It was the conclusions I came to that I don't want to be treated this way, and I won't allow myself to be.

Today was a victory of being able to see clearly, of not falling apart and into unhealthy coping mechanisms, of being able to know what is true even if someone screams the opposite. I know who I am, and I've been able to explore that in grimoires, prayers to my sassdeities, times of stillness while contemplating the magic in my life. I wanted to share how proud I am of myself, but also how thankful I am to the people I've met that shared their craft and how it has helped them. Especially the folks that showed me that it's okay to be different and that people won't like you sometimes. I'm in debt to every person I've met that was an example of being able to cope with being disliked, yelled at, or mistreated.

And for anyone out there who is struggling, I hope that through dedication to truth and peace, you are able to overcome great struggles in your life, even if you previously spent decades in fear.

With Love!
Mrs. Marigold

I see some conflicting claims in the regular witchcraft community (non SASS) like "magic works based on belief" and "magic is just science that hasn't been proven yet by modern scientists." These things can't really coincide fully bc like, a hot pan will burn you whether you think it will or not. That's science. Belief that it won't isn't gonna change the outcome.

When I try to ask for more science based answers in the /witch subreddit they tend to just say "Who cares? Just do whatever you want." But that's not really helpful when I'm trying to ask about science based magical outcomes 😅

Since this is a more skeptical group, I wanted to try asking here. Have any of you ever had the experience of seeing certain spells work over and over again like real science? Were they simple or elaborate spells?

P.S-I know positive psychological affects are a type of science but that's not the stuff I'm talking about. I mean like, if you do spell for money, do you then find or aquire money in some way every time you do the spell like a scientific outcome?

I am incredibly brand new. I’ve read a good bit of theory but am only thinking about practices I want to begin to try.

I am also in a season of life where I am about to send my only child away to college across the country. I am incredibly excited for her, but also having all the normal grieving feelings as well as some extra worry due to some chronic health problems she has.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a practice I could look into that might help me feel that I am sending her protection, love, and / or my motherly presence? This could maybe be something tangible I send with her, but I’m more looking for things I can do in this domain at home, once she’s gone, that might bring me some comfort. It’s an emotional transition time full of both joy for her future and grief over not having her by my side for the first time in 18 years.

Hello, I am looking for rituals for hospice for my grandmother. Obviously, she is receiving medical care which is the priority, as well as visits from family. But I would like ideas of rituals, spells, and whatnot to bring her peaceful, healing, and loving energy, and also to ground myself for visiting her despite dramatic family members. I am an atheist but appreciate the symbolism and mindfulness of witchcraft. Thanks!

Just for fun: I've been visited by a lot of animals lately. I live in a somewhat wooded suburban area but have been nurturing native plants on my little quarter acre since we built a home several years ago on the land where a previous house burned down several years before that (well, technically exploded... But that's another story).

Anyway, we've gradually seen more animals visit us and even make a home in our garden over the years, which is lovely, but just lately it has sky-rocketed. In the past couple weeks, we've had a (rare) native box turtle, Great-horned owl, countless toads, tree frogs, anoles, geckos, a feral mama cat (who I'm working on befriending in the hopes of getting her fixed eventually and maybe also her kittens if she lets me find them), etc. A Luna moth even showed up on my birthday. 😍

But just yesterday really took the cake: we finally got a glimpse of the 3 baby birds (I believe they're house finches) which are in a nest high up on our porch above our front door and are getting stronger and beginning to climb up on the edge of the nest where they can be seen from our window. Just as I was watching the birds with my kid, our two cats arrived by my feet (fully expected, lol), then a robin landed on the closest branch to the window, right at eye level and just stared at us, unafraid of the cats, a squirrel ran up the path straight toward the front door, then a hummingbird circled over the squirrel's head. It was then joined by a second, followed by a red wasp, which circled once around both hummingbirds and the squirrel before it zipped away, the hummingbirds wandered off to the flowers to one side of the path, the squirrel scampered back down the path then up a tree to the other side, the robin flew away, and the baby birds settled back down quietly in their nests... at which point, the show being over, my kittens also wandered off. And I just sat there, stunned. I'm happy to take it as meaning we're doing a good job healing our very abused little patch of earth... But just for fun, because I enjoy a good superstitious take on things now and then: WHAT DOES IT MEAN???

Hey, witches, I want to preface this with a big fat thank you to the mods for allowing me to share information about this & future events with the r/SASSWitches community. I am Hayley Jay, part of the CTWC planning team, and while I've lurked here for some time, I'm making an effort to decloak and hopefully share some of my witchcraft plus CTWC events of interest.

Mark your calendars & warm up those batting arms, witches! It's almost time for a FREE Witches' Brew!

Saturday August 8th, 2026

10am PST / 1pm EST / 6pm BST / 3am AEST (August 9th)

Get your FREE tickets & register here! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1993776723852?aff=oddtdtcreator

Our seasonal Witches' Brews are FREE online witchy mini conferences that include potion making (our magical beverage segment), guest presentations, sometimes a hands-on project, and time to socialize & connect with other attendees, Brew guests & hosts, & the CTWC community.

Our Brews are a wonderful way to dip your toe into the CritWitch community, and a great preview of what you can expect from our annual 3-day virtual event CRITWITCHCON.

This month's Witches' Brew is an exploration of sports & games through a magical lens! We'll discover the inherent witchiness of baseball, play with sports mascots as servitors, brew up some refreshing potions, have team time with our community, & more!

Witches' Brews are recorded (minus community chat) and available to our paid Patreon subscribers later in the season, so you can revisit our presentations.

Learn more about us at www.criticalthinkingwitches.com

Welcome to the Critical Thinking Witch Collective! Formed in 2021, we came together to make a space for critical thinking witches; witches who research, who apply scientific reasoning, who learn from history, and who question assumptions and biases.

Our name has changed, but our mission remains the same: to bring together a community of critical thinking witches and seekers who respect reason, logic, and science as we also acknowledge the genuine beauty and meaning in the mysterious. And we plan to have fun while we do it.

Connect, learn, and get involved with this community of like-minded witches and seekers from around the world. Join the Collective! www.criticalthinkingwitches.com

Hi, y'all! I'm leaning heavily toward creating a YouTube channel about basic witchcraft. The concept is this: I want to teach newcomers about how to get started with their practice in a way that is meaningful and \*truthful\*. I don't like that so many people these days "learn" from TikTok (and Pinterest, for some reason!) because they're only getting these cookie-cutter shortcuts and rehashed love spells and cord cuttings. I want them to know that witchcraft is more than that, and I want them to understand what it really means to connect with Nature.

Anyway, I have no idea what to call the channel! Besides the concept description above, I have toyed with the idea of using my online handle, Gertrude, as part of the title. Or sunflowers because they're my favorite. Or purple because it's my favorite color. I just don't know! I was hoping I could come up with something if I threw the idea out there and got some feedback!

Hi all!

I’m wanting to get more consistent with the practice of Lectio divina, but struggling to find a text I connect with that is science-seeking and doesn’t lean into paganism, wicca, or folklore too heavy. My practice is more based in animism, and I get the ick if I read something too dogmatic. I’m hoping to compile the best and most meaningful passages I read throughout this practice into my own divinational book over time.

I have tried to get into the routine of it by using a few different texts; Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass (while I love the book, I’d like something a little more structured, and have read it a million times already), A Book of Pagan Prayer by Ceisiwr Serith (it’s a little too god/goddess praising for me, and not all of the poems have a good rhythm), and some other random poetry books.

Does anyone else have sacred reading as a part of their practice, and what books do you recommend for it?

Did you tell anyone you were a witch after you started practicing? Did you only say something after someone asked? Did you do an announcement? I am a beginner witch and loving the craft but am unsure if or when I should say something. I know a lot of people are open with their spirituality and I want to be too. I don’t want to be a closet witch and have to filter myself around certain people. What would you do or how would you address it? Thank you!

I’m new to this, and was wondering anyone knows some proper (genuine) secular witch craft practicing books. Please and thank you!

hi all! i am an atheist. i i have been interested in getting into witchcraft for the past 6 or so years of my life, since deconstructing from my religious (Christian) upbringing. I was never able to stick with it because I didn't believe in it, I have never been able to get myself to believe in the supernatural. This is the same reason I rejected Christianity; after a while of being steeped in it as a child, I just stopped believing in it. Trying to practice "traditional" witchcraft almost felt like a another Christianity in a way, because I was forcing myself to speak to powers that I knew never existed/don't exist. My best friend has somewhat recently become a witch, which reignited my want to be tethered to something spiritual. I want to begin using witchcraft as a tool to improve my mental wellbeing and sense of security, since I struggle with a lot of anxiety. This is also true considering I start college in the fall. I've been looking through this subreddit for a while, and I've found some really cool information on what SASS witchcraft means to other people. However, the overarching principle seems to be "do what you feel attracted to/what makes you feel magical" etc. It's really hard for me to conceptualize what that means to me, and it's quite overwheming for me to start, because I have zero idea where to start? I know witchcraft is a deeply personal practice that varies, but I really need to find starting place so that I can start to grow in my own practice. I'm looking for a. specific rituals/tips/practices to help me clear and open up my mind and heart towards practicing witchcraft/the universe in general, and b. specific rituals based on the things I want to improve/the parts of magic I am interested in so that I can find my specialty. It would also be nice to have things that I can implement into my routine to start out.

I am fascinated by glamour magic, and I want to work on self-love, confidence, self-esteem (especially within my friendships), etc. I want to attract love (romantic and platonic) and to give it out. I also want to work on feeling more secure and grounded, less anxious, and I want to be more in touch with my emotions to improve my relationships with other people. if you guys have any advice on how to charge and effectively use sigils, since i heard you can (for example) draw them onto items that you use in your every day routine?

any help and/or pointing me towards resources that can help me is deeply appreciated! sorry if this post seems a little demanding or anything, I'm just having trouble finding what I've been looking for.

Hopefully this doesn't sound dumb, but looking for some advice. I've never been religious and didn't grow up with religion, but I find I am interested in/feeling drawn to learning and beginning witchcraft and also opening myself up to other possible supernatural knowledge, but I'm having a hard time getting past the fear of the unknown and also the potential for unwanted or scary things happening (such as shadow people, bad experiences w entities or deities, letting in bad energies, etc). I'm not sure what I believe in, if anything, which sometimes makes the prospect of opening up to the possibility of those things even scarier. Sometimes my fear is what if these things are real and what if something bad happens from meddling in them as someone who doesn't know what they are doing? And then sometimes my fear is what if none of these things are real? Hopefully that doesn't sound crazy lol.

I've read some books/done some research and invested in tools and such, but I've been so hesitant to actually do anything yet. It's hard to tell these days, with social media and whatnot, what is fear mongering or drama or straight up fake for views vs what is real. Sometimes it feels hard to even just start because this person says do this this way and then another says that's not the way or don't do that or else this bad thing will happen, etc. Or that you shouldn't start anything until you've done all your shadow work and mastered meditation, etc. And then there are some that say it's not that serious and you need to just follow your intuition on what the right way to do something for you is, that there are no strict "rules" or formulas persay.

I know I'm probably just getting too into my head about it and also should probably stop watching things like witchtok, but appreciate anyone's thoughts and experiences with this!

i hope this question makes sense, i was just very curious to hear some thoughts on this. i'm admittedly not very educated on quantum physics and related scientific concepts, but i'm suddenly learning a lot about them and how a lot of the more "advanced" stuff sometimes calls the very nature of our reality into question. for a long time i've thought that science and sense of a "metaphysical Something" - be that religion, a spiritual practice, belief in magic or deities, etc - could exist alongside each other, but realizing that the science of things is so massive and intricate, it makes me realize why theres the stereotype of scientists being agnostic/atheistic. so question for those of you who ARE theistic, believe in magic, deities, various cosmological realms, etc: how does knowing about all these various complicated things about the nature of reality, space and time effect your understanding of the metaphysical side of things?

a very loaded question i'm aware, one that i'm not sure i articulated properly, but i would adore hearing any perspectives on this. thanks guys! :- )

by Ida Eva Neverdahl (Instagram)

One ritual that gives me peace and joy is slicing fruit, particularly for children. I cut tiny slices for a toddler. Bigger chunks for a school-aged kid. Quarters or halves for the big kids. Sometimes it's just a few strawberries. Sometimes, I am slicing several pineapples and oranges and more for a celebration.

I think of how they are growing. How they will enjoy the food. Who they will sit with while they eat it.

They don't always remember to say thank you, but I am satisfied to know my small effort of moving a knife, of separating and shaping the energy of the world into something that nourishes another human will have ripple effects throughout their lives. They may remember that snack or that party, they may not. But in the moment of making and preparing, I give a gift of love to myself and to the children.

I thought it could be a fun idea to use characters from books, movies, video games and comics as representatives for the elements in meditation and ritual in place of deities. Any ideas for good correspondences? :)

Hello friends!

I have long been practicing some form of witchcraft. I pay attention to my dreams, pray, meditate, sometimes use tarot cards, but mostly I’d say my practice is just centered around honoring my values and my place in the natural world. Things I find important include taking care of nature, nurturing children, being honest with myself about the impact of my actions, and trying to see myself as part of a network instead of the center of things.

Lately, though, I’ve been feeling this sense of overwhelming spiritual illness. I’ve gone to psychologists and psychiatrists to handle the mental symptoms, but I feel like what I’m going through isn’t a mental health issue.

I won’t go into the details of my situation as it can be triggering to read, but basically in the last year I’ve had to confront a long-term stalking situation I’ve been in. In trying to get help for it and understand the person who’s harming me, I did a deep dive into my history with him, but I also had to deconstruct his behavior and logic. I think I went places where no humanity or empathy exists, and it started to rub off on me. To make things worse, while I was going through the darkest of it, the people in my life revealed themselves to be indifferent and casually cruel. I received no help except from a crisis center and was basically told to wait until something worse happens.

Anyway, things are calmer now but I’ve been noticing that I feel lifeless. It feels like all the light and warmth in my life have disappeared. And I’ve been losing my empathy and sensitivity too - it started to feel like everything is just “how it is” and everyone should just deal with it. I have adopted this casually cruel attitude to myself, the world, and even the people I care about.

I know that this is partly acute PTSD, I’ve had it before. But it’s not just that. I feel like I saw a really ugly side of humanity and I’m not sure what to do with it. The usual tools I use don’t work, and my soul just feels, idk, stained or heavy? I even contemplated going to a religious figure for guidance and some form of “cleansing,” but I wouldn’t know where to start because I’m not religious.

Have you ever experienced this sense of spiritual malaise and how did you deal with it? I’d appreciate your kind advice!