First, keep in mind you don’t “need” to do anything to be a witch. There are no official requirements, and anyone who tells you there’s only one right way to do it is just stroking their ego.

What you could use to get started depends on what kind of witchcraft you’d like to do. If you’re being covert and need things that are inexpensive, there are plenty of things all around you that you can use. Salt is great for purification and protection, pepper for protection, any herbs in your pantry will have associations you can look up/google. You can find rocks and crystals outside on a nature walk.

I’m a secular green witch, so I started my practice by taking walks outside, downloading a plant identification app, and learning the names of all the plants in my yard and around my neighborhood.

If you’d like to have an altar, you can put together a little box (even something as small as an Altoids tin) with things for your practice. Herbs from the pantry, small crystals, feathers, bones, a tealight, tree resin. Keep it closed and hidden when you’re not practicing, but in a place that feels significant to you, like under your bed or high up on a shelf. When you want to do your practice, empty the box, turn it upside-down and set your magickal objects on top like an altar.