Ten years ago, I embarked on my spiritual journey. I bought books. I got back into tarot (I got my first deck in elementary school at a toy store with money I saved from doing chores). I was fortunate enough to connect with a couple of teachers and one of those teachers ended up being my Iyanifa in Ifa up until recently.
While I’m grateful for the discipline Ifa taught me, the lessons I learned, and the many blessings it provided, I realized that not having my own spiritual development practice in conjunction with being a devotee impacted my ability to trust my own intuition without the validation of my Iya or consulting Ifa.
Now as a solitary practitioner not connected to any specific religion, my goal is to learn how to trust my intuition and deepen my own spiritual practices. I encourage anyone interested in spirituality to do the same whether they practice a major religion (Christianity, Ifa, Santeria, Islam, Judaism, etc) or not.
A lot of people ask where they can start on their spiritual journey? Honestly, starting can be as easy and simple as praying at least once a day to connect with God and/or your ancestors or to give thanks or to ask for what you need/what.
However, if you want to know what type of spiritual practice is right for you – that’s going to be a combination of knowing your options and respectfully experimenting to see what works for you. You may even be engaging in certain practices and not realizing it.
Let’s get into it!
Note: I’m using the term witch to describe different magickal practices but you don’t have to identify as a witch. You can be a mystic, sage, mage or even just “spiritual”. I also use spiritual and magickal interchangeably. Whatever words resonate, just take the meat and leave the bones. This is intended to support you as you go on your spiritual journey.
Types of Spiritual/Witchy Practices
There are so many different types of spiritual/witchy practices. This article has 45 different types alone but I want to highlight a few:
Cosmic Witch: A witch who focuses on astrology and the placement of planets, stars, and moons when practicing their craft. This includes Lunar Witch: A witch that heavily uses the cycles of the moon to do nearly all her magical work.
Crystal Witch: A witch who focuses heavily on crystals in their magic.
Eclectic Witch: A witch that incorporates many different traditions into their craft; slightly similar to the chaos witch, but they may follow strict guidelines if desired.
Elemental Witch: A witch who works with the five esoteric elements: earth, air, fire, water, and spirit. (This witch can also work with specific elements rather than all five, earth witch, fire witch, etc).
Tech Witch: A witch who does most of her work digitally or with some form of technology; this will become more prevalent over time in modern witchcraft.
Folk Witch: “Cunning Folk” ; hereditary witches who follow a path similar to British witchcraft and used their magic and skills for practical purposes which were passed down through generations; *not common* (Folk magick is in all cultures, not just European cultures)
Hearth Witch: A witch who focuses on magick in the home.
Hereditary Witch: Unique to each family, a hereditary witch learns from their ancestral line.
Kitchen Witch: A witch who focuses on magick at home, especially the kitchen.
Hedge Witch: A solitary witch that holds both kitchen and green witch attributes, such as making healing potions and brews in the kitchen; think of the old women in the woods archetype.
Sigil Witch: Also known as Word Witch, these practitioners use sigils and words weaved into their magic
Solitary Witch: A witch who practices alone rather than in a coven.
Other types of witches and magick that were not mentioned in the article are:
Coven Witch: Someone who practices in a group setting, usually 13 people, and is connected to Wicca.
Green Witch: Someone who embraces nature by drawing on the energies from the earth and of untamed things.
Sex Witch: Someone who combines the art of witchcraft with sexual energy to manifest desires, heal, and transform. The two people I see talking about sex magick online most often are Gabriela Herstick and Sophia St Thomas.
Glamour Witch: Someone who engage in spells and magick that changes how they are perceived by other people
Christian Witch (yes, they exist): Witches who love Christ and the Craft. You can listen to a podcast episode with Rev. Valerie Love, a Christian Witch here.
Dragon Priestess: Witches who use the powerful influence of dragons in their work, practice and life. This one is VERY new to me BUT they exist! I actually spoke with a dragon priestess who goes by Kali Walker Toro.
Traditional Witch: Individuals who traced their lineage back to some of the earliest practitioners of these old ways, according to Lilith Dorsey’s book Tarot Every Witch Way. This includes Ifa, Hoodoo, Santeria, Slavic folk magick, Strega Italian folk magick, etc. Some of the religions and spiritual paths mentioned are closed practices and involves initiation.
Creative witches: Witches who use different art forms in their magic. This includes Art Witches, and Word Witches (I think Word Witches will love the book Literary Witches and anything by Lisamariebasile)
There are also Music Witches who use music as the medium of their magic. Since I didn’t find one page with a breakdown of music witches, here are a few videos depicting different types of music witches.
TikTok
Yourfavoritewitch1: If you know how to rap and sing…
Shontel_anestasia: Words are spells, money magic
Instagram:
Bootz Tarot but here’s a link to his music that he plays during his social media lives
Honorable Mention:
Although I haven’t heard her confirm if she identifies a witch or mystic, I’ve heard people reference Jhene Aiko’s music as Witchery, especially since she uses sound bowls / singing bowls. You can check out a video of her here.
Didn’t see anything that resonated?
Aly Kravitz aka BronxWitch and founder of Witch Work has a whole podcast about different types of Witchcraft and spiritual practices called Better Witch if you want to explore more topics.
The Importance of Practice
Even if you do not identify as a Christian, faith without works is dead! If that doesn’t resonate with you, as my friend Melissa Danielle mentioned to me, “ Information without Implementation is entertainment.” I am hoping to do more than entertain, so if you feel called to a specific type of path, practice safely.
If you have family members who practice and are willing to teach you family ways, even if they don’t identify as witchy, please learn their practices and utilize their knowledge!
If you don’t, that’s OK too. It just means you have to do a higher risk assessment for yourself.
Personally, if you do not have a teacher, I suggest you NOT start with deities unless they are showing signs they want to work with you, and if it’s happening to you, you will know! Lol.
I still don’t recommend interacting with a deity on your own, but I know people are going to be people and experiment anyway, so please use discernment, Google basic safe ways to work with said deity, and do your best to find a teacher you can trust.
Whether you have a teacher or not, it’s important to both research and practice. It doesn’t have to be an intense practice. It doesn’t even have to include a deity. You can start with a small goal.
Structure in your practice
If you want a little structure, Patti Wigington wrote a great article called OKRs for Witches: Aligning Magic with Long-Term Vision that breaks down ways you can start and keep track of your magickal interests.
For example, if you want to learn how to interpret your dreams, you can listen to this podcast with Elhoim Leafar and start reading his book, Dream Witchery: Folk Magic, Recipes & Spells from South America for Witches & Brujas.
You can also keep water underneath your bed (this may cause very vivid dreams); a journal to track what happens in the dream; and reflect in the morning or evening to see if any correlations happen during the day for 7 days. This can help you start your own dream interpretation book for future reference.
Notice I didn’t start off with a spell as an example. Contrary to popular belief, not all people who identify as witches or spiritual cast spells. So, find what works for you and see who you become on the otherside of your newfound journey.
Please Respect Cultural Practices Different From Yours
Safety is gonna be different for everybody, so this experiment is at your own risk. I am not responsible for any magickal practice you try. This is your own decision that you made on your own accord.
Whatever you choose to explore, make sure you are respectful of that cultural and stay away from closed practices, which includes initiator practices.
For example, if you are a white person, I recommend you stay away from practices like Hoodoo. I strongly suggest you look into folk magic related to your cultural background. It will do the same thing, but it’ll be more aligned with your energy.
Please listen to this podcast episode with Mawiyah Bomani and Aly Kravitz as to why that is a strong recommendation. The point is beautifully articulated as to why feeling entitled to other cultures spiritual practices is problematic without you feeling like you are your problematic ancestors.
Everyone’s Path is Unique
Whichever path you may take or not take, everyone’s path is unique. Listen to your own intuition, be honest about your needs and learn how to take helpful direction. This journey can be a lifetime or a short time but make it a good time.
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