You don't have to be an expert on queer community to see that LGBTQQIA2SP+ people, especially trans people, live in disporportionate amounts of poverty. That means that a lot of books about witchcraft (even those aimed at beginners) aren't a good fit. Those books strongly suggest buying certain things or starting a loop of unending reading and research that is both overwhelming and expensive. Even later in this book, my correspondence lists do include stones, herbs, and the like that you might want to buy. This isn't necessary for a holistic witchcraft practice though, and it's not even the most common or visible way witches are doing magick anymore.
The aesthetic of the DIY movement and the aesthetic of queer culture are almost interchangeabe. DIY stands for Do-It-Yourself and brings to mind things like zine making, handmade pronoun pins, and t-shirts that say “Hex the Patriarchy” that your friend ran off in her garage. There's a punk rock look to the whole thing that's appealing even when you're an introvert who would rather listen to pop music. That appeal comes from the look and fuck-the-man attitude itself, but it also comes from the connection of having handmade, community-focused things by your side. That's a type of spell too, keeping mementos from your community close by and it's a starter point into DIY witchcraft.
DIY witchcraft is essentially my same basic principle that everything is magick, but more formalized and reigned in for specific spells. It can pull from the DIY movement and punk rock feeling that we've been talking about, but it can also be something that incorporates a shell you found on the beach or a potholder that your great-grandmother knitted. It's not an anything goes movement, per se, because there's still an art and a learning curve to it. Anyone who says witchcraft has to be a certain way or a certain thing is full of it, and you shouldn't listen to them, but there does need to be a consistency with your practice. In the above examples, shells are still associated with water. That potholder is still best used for kitchen and ancestral magick. Yet DIY witchcraft does rely much more on personalized understandings of symbols, connections, and interpretations, which makes it a ready-made witchcraft style for queer people.
A lot of times the tried and true symbols that bring straight and cisgender people a lot of success in our society mean little, or worse, mean something triggering or harmful to queer people. In the tarot (which can also be used for spellwork), the Hierophant is traditionally a Papal figure that represents a teacher, leader, or healer. For a queer person coming out of a strict Christian upbring, which so many of us were, this figure is harmful no matter how many positive vibes we are told to associate with it. While it makes sense to read that card to be about leaders in the queer community, there are tons of other cards that those leaders can be ascribed to too. Trying to force someone to see this symbol of Christian supremacy as something positive won't work. A lot of symbolism and tools used in witchcraft work the same way. Symbols meant to protect the home could remind you of an abusive upbringing. While I love and thrive in money attraction magick, a lot of queer people who are hurt and disadvantaged in our monetary system might see dollar signs carved into their abundance candles as hypocritical or even harmful to their goals. Instead, they might create a sigil that represents having stable housing and enough food to share, or find charms that represent those things to them. That's DIY witchcraft, which you were probably doing all along.
The most obvious case for creating DIY symbols and therefore spells comes from the prevalence of what I call womb worship magick. Womb worship comes from the idea that the womb or vagina is somehow a magickal powerhouse that connects you to goddess energy and the Earth itself because it can create life. This type of magick is used in everything from the aforementioned money magick to sex magick and love spells to, inexplicably, workings meant to create a more just and equitable world. This is a really damaging point of view.
For starters, we all hold our magick in different places. Some of the most feminist and cisgender women I know frown loudly at the idea that their strongest magick is held in their reproductive system. In some ways this is anti-feminist, because it says that their greatest value resides in the baby-making parts. Cis women's hearts, brains, arms, stomachs, and so on, are just as strong and magickal and hold just as much value as their uterus and for some cis women, more so. None of this even touches on the idea that this is a dangerously transphobic idea and one that excludes nonbinary people and queer, effiminate men at best and seeks to eliminate them at worst. Some of the most magickal women I know do not have vaginas. Some of the most Goddess-inspired practitioners I know have penises.
Womb worship also doesn't factor in that some people also deal with trauma and angst around their genitals. For people with vaginas who are survivors of sexual assault, who have body dysmorphia that disconnects them from their body entirely, who are struggling with gender dysphoria, who struggle with medical trauma or have lost children, or who have shame and fear around their reproductive system, this kind of magick is never going to serve them. In trying to root them in their vagina or uterus, this kind of witchcraft can push them further away from spirituality that they could easily have full access to. Gender lives in the heart, mind, and soul and so does our witchcraft. There is no need to root it in sexual organs and doing so damages the idea of witchcraft for countless already traumatized and oppressed people.
I could rant about womb worship forever but why it's so relevant in DIY witchcraft is that our mythos and philosophy are so shaped by how prevalent this practice is, that to move away from it and come into our power differently we almost have to move to a DIY inspired practice. Symbols, charms, and tools that represent our gender to us, that represent where in our body we feel like our magick is stored, and that represent the goals of the workings we are doing, is the way out from under prescribed, transphobic writings. Unfortunately, because there aren't a lot of gender rebels writing witchcraft books, we have to create it for ourselves. You can do that, though, and in rewriting your own connection and history to your body you are rooting yourself in your spiritual practice.
While there are very few gender and sexuality rebels writing about writing your own witchcraft books, we do know there are common symbols and representations that we can incorporate into our spellcraft. Here's a list of common queer culture symbols, ideas, or subversions you can include in your witchcraft and how I see some magickal correspondences. If my correspondences don't work for you, don't stress. Make your own. If you have an open distaste for anything I list, that's fine, too. Ignore it, and work to include things that represent your own gender or sexuality into your work. Use this as a jumping off point.
Before you continue with this chapter and book, take a few moments and take out whatever tools you're using for your exercises in this book. Take a deep breath if you're physically able to, and close your eyes. Where in your body do you feel like magick is stored? Take a few notes about what your body is telling you, and then do your deep breathing with closed eyes again.
This time, ask what symbols represent those parts of the body to you? What images does feeling your magick in that part of your body bring up to you?
Now, think about your next couple of sets of magickal intentions. How do you see those represented? What symbols, images, or spiritual allies pop into your mind for them?
Take all of these notes and remember that things change. Gender, sexuality, and how our bodies speak to us may all be fluid, so check in with yourself every so often about this, especially if you feel like something has changed or feels blocked in some way.
DIY Witchcraft is also perfect for those looking to connect with their ancestors or those they love who have passed on. While things like tombstones and flowers are relatively universal, nothing relies on a personal touch quite the way working with dead people does. Doing spirit work or death work means acknowledging each soul as an individual, so your tokens, pictures, and offerings will probably look wildly different than your best witch friend's. That's how it's supposed to be. Whether you are doing a spell to call on those spirits or are setting up an altar to honor those you love, go through your belongings. What heirlooms or personal gifts from those people to you can you include? Did your college mentor or close grandparent have a favorite cookie? Make a batch of those. Eat some, and leave some out as an offering.
As a white person, I am very aware that not all of my ancestors were good people. For me to be here, in the United States, they had to be colonizers and therefore relatively unscrupulous. Part of my work with my ancestors is recognizing this unscrupulous behavior and using it as motivation in my anti-racist and pro-Earth workings. It's my job to reconcile and to try to make right the things that my ancestors did that weren't great. I'm also an optimist when it comes to the afterlife and how souls come to terms with their behavior here on Earth, and I think my ancestors know now that moving here and taking this land and doing who even knows what else was not okay. I think they're trying to use me as a tool to right their wrongs, and that's a responsibility I think white people in general need to take seriously if they're going to work with their familial ancestors. As you're building a relationship with those ancestors, should you choose to, you'll need to find symbols, images, or tools that speak of reconciliation and anti-racism to include in your work. Like our sexuality and gender magick, that often has to come down to DIY practices because there's not a lot in our witchcraft canon that speaks to those things.
Most people have people in their family tree they aren't proud of, even if your ancestors weren't colonizers. Statistically speaking, we probably all have a murderer, a sexual assaulter, and a handful of abusers if we go down our family lines far enough. There's a couple of ways to work your ancestral magick here. You can actively choose not to work with those spirits, especially if you're concerned with letting that energy into your home. You can work instead with those ancestors that you feel called and closest to. You can work with those ancestors to try to understand and make up for what they've done by figuring out some DIY things to place on their altar. You can also work with those ancestors, using that anger and rage but funneling it into productive things like taking care of our Earth or protecting your trans siblings. All of that will require you to find your own way in terms of calling in and representing those energies.
Ancestor work does not always mean our literal, immediate ancestry though, and assuming it does leaves out those who have been adopted or the countless queer people who are estranged from their families of origin and wouldn't be able to get the information about literal ancestors that they would need for this kind of work. For those people and anyone else who wants to look at ancestry through a DIY lens, there are the chosen ancestors. These can be queer radicals and fighters like Harvey Milk and Marsha P. Johnson. They can be specific people from your hometown who fought conservative city councils to open up gay bars or spaces for BIPOC. They can be the ancestors of people in your chosen family that you have a really solid connection with. I have a high school friend who's also a lesbian now who had an aunt that I really believe saw and loved us both for who we are. I consider her my ancestor too, and her ancestors are ones I'm willing to work with. There are friends who were like family to me that have passed on that I revere as ancestors even though I knew them personally and intimately. That personal connection is not a hindrance to your craft at all, and in fact, sits right in the center of ancestor work.
Using ancestor work and therefore DIY spellcraft also means deciding what kind of workings you're doing with those energies, because that changes the DIY elements of your craft, too. Are you directly calling those spirits into your home or circle? That means you most likely want a picture or personal belonging that the spirit or ancestor touched or has direct connection to. Do you only want to call on a queer or radical ancestor's energy to inspire your own fight? For that you don't need a personal element, but you do need things that represent the fire and the fight that you're hoping to take on.
I've primarily talked about specific, common forms of DIY witchcraft, because they are the kinds of magick that almost always require us to use DIY principles. This type of witchcraft is also accessible and useful for any spellwork that you want to do, and I cannot emphasize that enough. Almost all of the witchcraft I do is centered around personal items and DIY designs, and the bulk of my work is successful. Think about your next few rounds of magickal intentions, and use the worksheet below when you feel the time is right. That will be used to help you build your own spells, available in the next section.
1. How involved of a spell do you feel ready to pull together? Full circle, multiple elements, and some gods? Or something simple and easy?
2. What is your next or most recent magickal intention? Are you sowing seeds? Making big wishes? Improving confidence? Healing?
3. To you, what images, tools, or symbols represent that intention? It should be totally personal, not something researched and regurgitated.
4. What personal belongings do you have that you could either charm with your spell's intention or use to amplify or build your spell?
5. Is there anything else you own that you want to add? Look over where we've been in this book thus far. What else will help aid your magickal intention?
6. Pull all of those things together in a space where you can safely and comfortably work some magick. Now that you're seeing them all together, is there anything that you want to add or take away? Do that.
7. I want you to have a concrete list of personal correspondences you can rely on. Think about the main kinds of magick that you plan on working with. Examples include money magick, sex magick, attraction magick, protection magick, healing magick, and so much more. Take a few minutes to jot some quick notes about things you already own that you associate with those spells or ideas. Take your time. Come back to this.
The worksheet prior to this section should have given you the time and space for brainstorming to help you build your own spells, but I know for a lot of starter witches or even those like myself who are experienced but just like having formulas to work with, it's not quite enough. Below is a formula you can use exactly as is to create your own DIY spells with some ideas from chapter 1 thrown back in. You can also tweak this formula to do what works for you, since that's the whole purpose of this chapter. Don't get caught up in the specifics I outline, but do know what your own specifics will look like. Intuitive practice is intuitive and personal, but that doesn't mean it's not also a practice that requires learning, patience, and sometimes, repetition.
1. Decide what energies you're working with in this spell. Are you working with gods? Faeries? The Moon? The guardians of the watchtowers of the elements? Your great-great-great-great grandfather's spirit? You can use as many of the spiritual entities that you're familiar with that you want too, but for beginners I do recommend keeping it to three or fewer to start (with the understanding that the watchtowers, your ancestors, the faeries, and a number of other energies may be used as a single element or energy—or not).
2. What represents those entities to you? What do you already own that would call on those energies and spirits?
3. Decide based on the above two steps what kind of spell this will be. Is this a kitchen spell that will require some baking and attention? Is this a circle spell that requires mantras or chants? Is it a simple mantra and a charm stuck in your wallet? What do you feel ready for and called to for this spell? Build the rest of your spell accordingly. Look over the types of spells in chapter 1, or read ahead to get some new ideas.
4. Is there anything else that you feel like you really need to acquire for your spell to work? If you don't have any money, is there a way to acquire it? Perhaps you can borrow from a friend or find one naturally outside. If you can't acquire it otherwise, get creative. Why do you feel like you need this, and is there an easier substitute? If you do have the money, please do buy whatever you need to, but there's usually a cheaper way if you're willing to research.
5. When you feel like you have everything you need, start writing your spell. Put everything in a logical order and list out the steps you'll need to take. If you're doing a circle and a poppet while you're in the circle, put that in a logical order. If you're doing an outdoor spell, make sure to note when and where so you'll be undisturbed by passersby or law enforcement. If your ideas change as you write out the spell, that's okay. Flexibility is key for witchcraft and sometimes we have to let our subconscious mind call the shots.
6. Sit on the spell for a few days. There's no wrong way to do a spell, especially a DIY spell, but you do want to give it space to evolve.
7. Come back to it in a few days. Make any tweaks that you feel are necessary. In that moment, plan a time and space for that spell.
8. Perform the spell!
9. I do strongly recommend tracking your spellwork somehow, be it in a journal or official grimoire or Book of Shadows. If you're not a writer, a quick sketch of the spell will suffice, or even just scribbling out some basic words that will jog your memory. You'll love looking back at your work later, but writing it out is also a form of strengthening the spell and giving it a permanent space to keep working long after you blow your (literal or metaphorical) candles out.