I practice an animist witchcraft, or folk magic. So what does that mean?

To put it very simply: I believe that all things that are magic, be it ritual or spellwork or folk tradition, are the work of spirits. It may be allied spirits; it may be gods, or ancestors, or divinity or divine currents; it may even be my own spirit. But for me, there is functionally no difference between magic and spirit work, to the point that I rarely call what I do “magic.”

For me, almost all of magical work is the development, deepening, and maintenance of relationships with these spirits.

For example, take the spirit of rosemary. (There is the spirit of an individual rosemary plant and then there is the spirit of Rosemary, which is a distinction for another time.) Rosemary has many skills or powers, which we may come to know through cultural knowledge or personal gnosis, but how can we as practitioners access these skills? The animist answer is to have the spirit work on your behalf.

In short, if an object magically heals or hurts or changes, that is because its spirit is conducting that operation.

There are a lot of nuances to this, and spirits of a specific nature are going to behave according to their nature no matter what you do. But the work of animist witchcraft is to build that relationship: Introducing yourself to the spirit, pursuing gnosis about and alongside the spirit, making offerings and agreements with the spirit, and developing deeper knowledge of its nature. When I work with rosemary, I do not think of it as a line item on a list of spell ingredients, but as an active participant in the work.

Animism is not limited to living things (flora, fauna, and fungi). Every thing has a spirit, from lands, natural features, and rock formations to houses, roads, and manmade items.

This can make my work look very different from formulaic spellwork. I would usually rather do work with one or two well-known and familiar allies than herbs and stones I’ve never introduced myself to before. It’s also easier to deepen some relationships than others; I have more opportunities to organically develop a relationship with plants that will grow in my backyard garden in the Appalachian Piedmont than plants that will only grow in the desert or the jungle. (There are ways to develop these relationships without literally growing the plant, but I’m sure you can appreciate the advantage.)

Relationships can be unpredictable. Sometimes a friendly stranger can change the course of your life. Friendships can ebb and flow; they can be “for a reason, for a season, or for a lifetime”; you may be close companions, or have only a few things in common. On the other hand, some people will simply not like you or not get along with you for little to no reason. Some people won’t like you because of the company you keep. All of this goes for spirits as well. The key is to understand these nuances and conduct yourself mindfully.