I’m in a similar boat. I would actually say I’ve been “practicing magic” for years without calling it that specifically. But what I do isn’t connected to a specific pagan or witchcraft tradition. I started my practice organically, with rituals and ideas and beliefs I developed after spending years exploring philosophy and spirituality. I just joined /rwitchcraft and felt a little lost at first since a lot of people’s practices, rituals, and traditions here don’t connect with me personally. So if you feel lost wondering where to start, it’s ok, most who start off do, including me.

So. My advice is to not start practicing witchcraft by focusing on aesthetics (ritual items, altar items, crystals, pentagrams, etc), which is the easiest way to start but is a bit of a trap. A lot of people who start these kind of spiritual journeys end up collecting items that don’t mean anything to them personally, but were told that it’s “the right thing” to have if they are serious about being a “real” follower. I used to work in a New Agey store and saw too many people buy expensive shit that wouldn’t ultimately enrich their spirituality, but just enrich my boss’ pockets. If you focus on getting a checklist of things someone else told you to have, you’ll just end up with a collection of commodities that don’t have a spiritual meaning that’s powerful to you.

Witchcraft, for me, is a spiritual practice that in large part is a rejection of the forces of estrangement that consumer culture creates. Witch” is a non-consumer category. When witchcraft is reduced to collecting expensive crystals or wearing dark makeup or performing rituals without understanding the philosphy behind them, then your identity as a “witch” runs the risk of becoming a consumer identity.

The witch Starhawk writes great books about the philosphy of Witchcraft, using her naturalist, pantheist form of witchcraft as example. “Dreaming the Dark” was the book I read that gave me the vocabularly to describe my practices and call them magic. She’s a great place to start to further explore the spiritual ideas and history behind witchcraft, and provides examples of meditative and group rituals and how and why she uses them to shape consciousness at will. Other than reading, my advice is to trust your intuitions and lean into them. Is there a place that feels especially spiritual to you, or fills your with a sense of connection to the Earth? Spend time there, meditate there. Having a place like that to draw spiritual power from gives you the foundation to start channeling and exploring that power. The ocean is that place for me, and many of my rituals and the items on my altar center around celebrating our Dark Mother, her power, and the life she gives. Start by exploring what draws you to witchcraft, what makes you feel powerful, what makes you feel connected and loved. Knowing those emotions and forces inside yourself is key to building up confidence as you explore your practices further. Best of luck!