Normally, I write for the Pagans and witches of the world, but today I’d like to share a blog for the allies, family members, and Pagan-adjacents. It’s holiday shopping season, and gifting a witch can be…well…a little challenging. I’ve been the recipient of some very well-intentioned but misguided gifts, and I want to give you some help. There are some supplies that pretty much all of us use, and go through, that can make wonderful gifts. So, if you’re struggling to think of what to get your beloved witch, I have some ideas for you. The vast majority of these items can be found at your local metaphysical store (and PLEASE support your local metaphysical store), or online if you don’t have a shop nearby.
First, things not to get your witch or Pagan:
Books. Not unless you know 100% for sure that this is the exact book by the exact author that your beloved witch wants. We have a problem with book quality in the Pagan world. Mass publishing figured out that Paganism and Witchcraft sell, and let’s just say that the quality of texts marketed to us is…highly variable. And, some of those lesser quality books still have good reviews online because bots are a very real thing. So, no books. Not unless your witch told you the specific book they want.
Divination tools, especially Tarot and Oracle decks. Like books, the exception to this rule is if your beloved witch told you the specific deck they want. Divination tools that include graphic art are incredibly specific to taste. Once upon a time, all of us had basically the same Tarot deck because there were only a handful available. Now? All the available Tarot decks couldn’t fit onto one moving truck. They no longer all follow the same system of correspondences (ask me sometime about the swords/air vs wands/fire debate) and some Tarot decks can really only loosely be described as such due to the liberties they take with the system (what wands? we’re using porcupine quills!). So, the upshot is that the likelihood of choosing a deck that will not only aesthetically appeal to your witch but also match the divinatory structure they need is very low without specific guidance. “Oh, they really like pumpkins! They’ll like this deck, it has a pumpkin theme!” is not enough.
Okay, Irene, what should I buy then?
Any one, or a combination, of the items below.
Small taper candles in multiple colors. We go through candles, some of us at a rather alarming rate. We use them as part of our prayers, for spells, as offerings, and often just as illumination/ambience. If you see witches offering to “light a candle for you,” it’s not an allegory. We literally get up and fire up a candle on the altar. And, we love being able to choose a candle whose color fits the need. Most metaphysical shops carry small tapers. They’re sometimes called “chime candles” and they do look a fair bit like little wind chimes. The reason these generally work better than candles in jars is because we can inscribe sigils and symbols directly into the wax of the candle, anoint the entire candle with oil, and a small taper burns down relatively quickly. They’re perfect when we have an hour to work on a spell, but not a whole day to monitor a burning candle.
Chime candles are inexpensive, so snag your beloved witch as much of a set as is an option for you. When I load up, I get the full rainbow, black, white, and any metallics my metaphysical store carries. And I use ALL of them over the course of a year or so.
Make it fancy: get hand-dipped tapers instead. Some local metaphysical stores carry those, too. Specialty candle stores and historical shops often have them as well.
Small bottles and jars with stoppers or latching lids. Witches are gatherers of small objects – leaves and flowers, cat’s claws and thorns (don’t ask – you really don’t want to know), seed “wishes” we pluck from the air, water from specific places, feathers, small shiny pebbles…just think of us as crows in human drag. We need places to store all those treasures until we use them. On top of that, we use bottles and jars for spells as well – it’s a great way to hold all the ingredients for a particular Working together. Get a combination of containers for your witch – a few bottles with corks and narrower necks and a few small jars with latching/sealing lids with wider necks. That way we can definitely fit that awesome rock we found into one of them.
Make it fancy: Bottles with corks come in beautiful colors and shapes. Flashy glass perfume bottles can be a great option here as well.
Fireplace matches. The other kind of candles a lot of us use are jar candles. Many jar candles are tall, which means once the candle burns down a fair bit, getting to the wick to light it is a real pain in the patootie. Most of us will choose matches over one of those practical fireplace lighters simply for ambience. There’s nothing quite like pulling out a red plastic clicky lighter to wreck the mood during a ritual. Fireplace, hearth, or long-stick matches are a great tool that many of us don’t buy ourselves because it seems a little frivolous, but we love them.
Make it fancy: Some metaphysical stores and a fair few online retailers sell fireplace matches in beautiful jars or boxes. The more unusual ones come in different colors and some are scented.
Simple scarves in different colors. When witches are working on a magical goal, we approach that in a few different ways. Some of us make altars, some of us do spells, some of us use correspondences and adjust what we wear, etc. Nearly all of us have a use for a collection of single-color scarves. They can be used as altar cloths, wearable items, containers, the base for a spell, ritual attire, or even as decoration in our homes. Focus on simple, single-color fabrics here. I’ve found that Goodwill and other thrift and secondhand stores are great places to find inexpensive scarves. Try to avoid tassels and fringe – remember, most of us will use these as something to cover the flat surface we’re working on.
Make it fancy: Get silk scarves. Silk has metaphysical correspondences that are incredibly useful, especially for those of us who practice divination.
Casting cloths with matching bags. I’ve only seen these a few times, but they’re super cool if you can find them. Portals, one of my local metaphysical stores, carried matched sets of a divination-tool sized bag and square cloth. These are great for any witch who uses pretty much any form of divination. Most of us have more than one divinatory tool, and most of the containers divinatory tools come in…kind of suck. So, a bag or pouch with a matching cloth for spreading out that divinatory tool is a fantastic addition to the magical tool set.
Make it fancy: Commission this from a local artisan. You’ll be able to customize the fabric exactly to fit your beloved witch’s preference for colors.
And speaking of bags… Another tool a lot of us use is small fabric pouches in different colors. We use these to make sachets or spell-pouches of different kinds that can then be worn, carried, or hidden somewhere. We love natural fabrics for this – think 100% cotton, linen, or leather if your witch is cool with animal products. The pouches that have built-in drawstrings or ties are generally the most useful for us. Consider a combination of permeable and semi- or impermeable fabric. Some sachets include scented items that we like to be able to smell even after the sachet is sealed. Pouches can be anywhere from a couple inches wide to large enough to fit a coffee cup.
Make it fancy: Spell bags are available in velvet, silk, and other fancy fabrics. You can find them embroidered with different designs like animals, moon phases, and knotwork. There are so many possibilities here!
So, those are my six suggestions for no-fail witch gifts. Witches, what are yours? What did I forget? Hit me up in the comments and let’s help those who love us choose stuff we’ll actually use.
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