A Witch on the Move- Traveling with Your Craft!

General Discussion
#1

Warm greetings to everyone!

As a witch who often moves from place to place (often with a single suitcase or only my trusty backpack!), I have had to be increasingly creative in bringing my practice with me :airplane: :crystal_ball:.

It seems like thereā€™s never enough room in my luggage, but I usually try to bring:
-a few pieces of purified jewelry with my favorite crystals :gem:
-a small sachet with dried herbs :herb:
-a few pieces of my favorite incense :fire:

  • Have any of you traveled? If so, where have you gone? :world_map:

  • Did you take your practice along for the ride, or leave it at home? :house_with_garden:

  • Do you have any tips or tricks to share about practicing magic on the road?

I canā€™t wait to hear about everyoneā€™s adventures! :heart_eyes: :sparkles:

Blessed Be! :sparkling_heart:

6 Likes
Travel Altar and travel tips
#2

Hi Brianna :blush:
itā€™s nice to meet you!

I usually travel quite a bit, especially to Asia (which right now is unfortunately a bit difficultā€¦). What I always take with me wherever I go is my pendulum. Iā€™ve had it for a long time, and itā€™s a quick way for me to connect to the divine during my trip if I need/want to :dizzy:
Iā€™ve actually thought of taking some dried herbs with me before, but Iā€™m always scared I might get in trouble at the airport if the security personnel thinks Iā€™m trying to smuggle drugs :joy: did you ever encounter problems like that?
But in general I have to say that I usually donā€™t do any spells or elaborate rituals while on a trip, but rather find magic in exploring nature or temples etc., and being grateful that Iā€™m able to do so :blush: An example would be Koyasan in Japan, itā€™s an old temple village in the mountains. Walking through the foggy woods and seeing the shrines and temples was really magical!

5 Likes
#3

:laughing: LOL Once I was traveling with a friend and we were about to cross a border (between Costa Rica and Nicaragua) and he bought a fruit cone (a cone filled with tropical fruit!) at the bus terminal.

The guy who sold it to him gave him a tiny ziploc bag, it was sealed and filled with a suspicious-looking white powderā€¦

drugs

When I saw it I started freaking out! They are trying to set us up! Throw that away!!

We decided to taste itā€¦ it was sugar!! We were supposed to put it on the fruit cone!! :laughing:

6 Likes
Travel Altar and travel tips
#4

Thatā€™s hilarious :rofl: definitely wouldā€™ve been my reaction as well!

2 Likes
#5

Hahaha oh my goodness, @Francisco! It must have been scary in the moment, but it sure makes for an excellent story now! :rofl:

Itā€™s very nice to meet you too, @christine4! :two_hearts: Luckily Iā€™ve never had an issue with the herbs- but one time in the Beijing Airport I almost had a small bottle of maple syrup confiscated. It took trying to explain using charades to 4 airport security guards before one of them finally recognized the word ā€˜pancakeā€™ and let me and my travel bottle of syrup go :sweat_smile: :pancakes:

A traveling pendulum is a great idea! I imagine you could wear it as a necklace too- for ease of travel and to keep it with you. Brilliant- Iā€™ll look into it! :star_struck: :+1:

Youā€™ve been to Koyasan!!! I was there almost 7 years ago, and yes- itā€™s just like you said. The long way through the peaceful graveyard up to the sacred temple in the ancient forest! Ohhh, it was truly magical. Did you get to see the hall of lanterns at the top? Iā€™ll never forget the energy there- Koya is truly a special place :mountain_snow: :two_hearts:

Where else in Asia have you adventured, @christine4? If you made it to Koyasan, I bet you know Japan pretty well! I love traveling, but Japan will always be my most favorite spot :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

4 Likes
#6

Koyasan is truly something else! We spent the night at one of the temples there, and in the evening did a tour guided by a monk through the graveyard. When we arrived at the hall of lanterns he did a little meditation and chanting with us - really an amazing experience :relaxed: :star2:

I actually lived in Japan a couple of years, so I know the country fairly well! What always intrigues me about it is the mix of tradition and modernity. Even in the busiest part of Tokyo you will find little shrines in between skyscrapers :shinto_shrine: :cityscape:

When it comes to Asia apart from Japan, Iā€™ve been to South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. I was actually planning to go to Japan and South Korea this fall, but that is a bit uncertain at the moment with everything thatā€™s going on :sweat_smile:

What are your favorite places that you have travelled to so far?

3 Likes
#7

Hi!

Iā€™m from nyc but I go to Europe every few months and I donā€™t actually bring any of my witchy stuff with me BUT I do lots of research before going- on witch stores in the city Iā€™ll be in and I always go and buy things to be back. I especially buy crystals and herbs. I love having all my crystals from different trips bc I feel it makes them extra special! I especially did lots of shopping in Edinburgh, Scotland which was my favorite place to shop for witchy things! If you donā€™t already- you should definitely look up witch stores for your future travels (thereā€™s way more than I expected)

4 Likes
#8

Thatā€™s great! How do you typically find them?

I sometimes try searching ā€œmetaphysical shopā€, or ā€œoccult storeā€ on google, but it can be hard to find them! Sometimes itā€™s just book stores that have all the cool stuff!

1 Like
#9

Ahhhh I also love this aspect of Japan! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: Seeing the little shrines, small offerings to various gods or spirits, and the delicate and tasteful incorporation of nature even within the big cities makes Japan a very unique destination!

Thatā€™s so exciting you got to spend a few years there! :two_hearts: I taught English in Shiga-ken for a bit and did volunteer projects in Okayama, Tokyo, and Yugawara. I studied in Osaka for a bit too- so my experience in Japan is mostly in the central area. Did you ever make it up north to Hokkaido? :cloud_with_snow: I always wanted to see the rugged nature up there- and especially go to the huge snow festival! :snowflake:

Youā€™ve been to so many amazing places!!! Ahhhh!! :heart_eyes: :+1: In Asia Iā€™ve lived in Japan and South Korea, and visited Malayasia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. What did you think of Indonesia? I almost went, but ended up back in Thailand instead. Itā€™s still on my to-visit list (along with a billion other places- the wanderlust is real! :laughing:)

I really hope things clear up soon and youā€™ll be able to travel again this Fall! :sparkling_heart: :world_map:

3 Likes
#10

Hello @saige!

Ahhh I just saw your other post about your gorgeous candles and how you travel around and visit witch stores around the world- so amazing!!! :heart_eyes: Crystals are such a meaningful, useful, and powerful souvenir- I bet you have quite the impressive collection! :gem: :sparkles:

Thatā€™s a really good point about researching and finding good shops beforehand- and it sounds like youā€™ve found some really great shops! Usually I go wandering in a new city and see what I find along the way :laughing:. Do you do blog posts or consider having a guide on witch shops for the cities youā€™ve visited? Iā€™m sure many traveling witches would be interested in a guide- I know I certainly am! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: :world_map:

3 Likes
#11

Haha wandering is always so fun too though!!! Thatā€™s how you find some of the most unexpected/ best spots. No I donā€™t have one but thatā€™s a good idea!!! I donā€™t have the time to keep up with one but Iā€™ll deff make a list and post them here! If you have any stores too lmk!

2 Likes
#12

Yeah itā€™s so true! I search the ones you said and I even just type witch store- sometimes they come up. Sometimes when googling all those- blog posts come up as well and I go through them and then they mention the stores as well. Itā€™s a lot of digging lol

2 Likes
#13

This reminded me of a previous post Roxanne started: Making a travel altar

I actually have a travel altar! But since I put it together not only we canā€™t go anywhere because of the pandemic, but also the flight I had was canceledā€¦

Travel-altar-2

Hopefully Iā€™ll get to use it next year!

2 Likes
#14

Thank you for sharing the post about travel altars- Iā€™m so inspired to make my own! :grin: :sparkles:.

Where were you planning to fly to? :airplane: And yes, itā€™s a shame, but it looks like all travel plans are on hold for the time being. I suppose on the optimistic side, that allows for more time to build up resources and work on altars at home! :house_with_garden: :smile:

1 Like
#15

I had tickets to travel with my wife to visit my family in Argentina!

Next year it will be! :pray: :airplane:

2 Likes
#16

Thatā€™s lovely- I hope you and your wife have a successful and fun trip to Argentina next year! :grin: :airplane:

2 Likes
#17

:face_with_hand_over_mouth::sweat_smile: how did I not see this??!!! Oh my goddess! Thatā€™s funny but at the moment, it must have been so scary! Iā€™m glad everything worked out!

2 Likes
#18

:rofl: Hahah thatā€™s why sometimes I hesitate about carrying salt around!!

2 Likes