Personal Lessons in Witchcraft

My main problem at the moment is that there is not enough time or privacy for my daily practice. So I look for ways to incorporate magick into the mundane. And when I finally get a spare moment alone, I work hard at improving skills.

This is my pendulum. I've used pendulums in the past and I really enjoy them. I found a ley line in my backyard with a pendulum. They are wonderful tools for discovering if the energies in your environment are in harmony. Pendulums are also good divination tools. You can use them to communicate with spirits, to uncover past lives, to reveal the future, and to find items. Eventually, I would like to be able to find water. Think of a movie where someone was walking back and forth across a field with a forked stick until the stick plunges down in the ideal spot to dig a well. Same thing, just with a stick instead of a pendulum.

Like anything else, there's a learning curve. I've been trying to improve my skills by searching for cards. I pull one card out of a deck, study it for a few minutes, then shuffle the deck. I hold the pendulum over each card until I find the one I'm looking for. This is not a 100% accurate process. Sometimes I am searching for the 5 of hearts and I get a positive hit on the 5 of spades. I'm keeping notes of each attempt to see if things like moon phases or holding the pendulum with my left or right hand makes a difference. I like using the cards for practice because I know what I'm looking for is in the deck somewhere. It helps to have set parameters when trying to find something. I'm pretty sure if I keep at it I'll eventually become very proficient.

The other lesson I'm currently working on is using magick in my sewing. I've made sewn items that were enchanted, and I've made items with a certain purpose that were started at auspicious times, but I haven't really found a good formula or ritual that I could use each time I sew. I'm starting to think of sewing projects as manifestation spells. I have a long way to go before I will be satisfied with the results, but I am enjoying myself immensely because I love being a Witch.

I see both these lessons are part of Kitchen Witchcraft even though neither involves cooking. I was reading a discussion on traditional Witchcraft which stated that while magick had been used around the home for thousands of years, there is no generalized Kitchen Witchcraft Tradition because every Kitchen Witch has a very unique practice that fits her life. I like this idea. It describes me, and it gives me the freedom to be myself but still gives me a place in a practice that has been around as long as there have been homes and kitchens and Witches.