Herbalism is one of those things that is so inexorably tied up with witchcraft that it's hard, if not impossible, to imagine anyone with a magickal practice who doesn't have at least a passing interest in herbs. There are few places on our world that don't have plants, and the potential to use them to create changes in our lives, warding off the unwanted and helping us to attract what we desire, is something that has enticed humanity throughout the ages. Even within medicinal herbalism, there is still that feel of mystery and magick surrounding the herbs and the gentle results they bring about. 

Herbalism, both magickal and medicinal, is a multilayered modality that accommodates both beginner and expert alike, with a simple approach being just as feasible and rewarding as more complicated clinical herbal research. There is, perhaps, a greater simplicity in magickal herbalism than medicinal herbalism, but it can still seem no less daunting of a field within which to get started and learn. In no specific order, here are ten tips to help you on your way to becoming a magickal herbalist.

Witches are, traditionally and historically, spirit workers. It is one of the fundamental, and inescapable, elements of witchcraft and gives credence to the idea that witchcraft, as we know it, is part of the indigenous shamanic practices of pre-Christian Europe and its peoples*. Spirits exist in a wide variety of forms, although most people tend to think only of the dead (i.e. ghosts, spirits of deceased humans and animals.) While necromancy (working and communicating with the dead, specifically dead humans) is a part of witchcraft and does play a significant role in many witches practice, there are other forms of spirit work that are much more benign and, thus, overlooked that do make up every witch's practice. This is due to the nature of those spirits and the fact that they are very often not considered as spirits (which they, very rightfully and truthfully, are.)

As a new witch and/or Pagan, there is a lot of information to sort through. So many people, books, and websites offering helpful advice, telling you how to do this, how to do that, everybody saying what you should do, but what about all of the things that you should not do? In no particular order, here is a list of 7 things to utterly avoid doing when you’re new to witchcraft and/or Paganism.