The Journal

A single lit candle glowing in the dark
Yule and the Longest Night: How to Mark the Winter Solstice at Home
What Yule is, where the winter solstice traditions come from, and simple ways to mark the longest night at home. Read more...
Parcels wrapped in kraft paper beneath soft lights
Spiritual Gifts for Him That Aren't a Joke Mug
Spiritual gifts for him that he'll actually use: dark crystals, backflow burners, steel tongue drums, singing bowls and gongs. Read more...
Chestnuts and a warm drink on a table in autumn
A Halloween That Survives November: Witchy Decor Worth Keeping
Witchy Halloween decor that stays out after 1 November: cast iron cauldrons, stone skulls, ritual candles, backflow burners and tarot. Read more...
A tarot deck fanned out in both hands
How to Choose Your First Tarot Deck
How to choose your first tarot deck: what's in 78 cards, why illustrated minor arcana help, tarot vs oracle, and good first decks. Read more...
Quartz points and tumbled stones arranged on a pale background
The five crystals worth owning first
Most beginner lists run to twenty stones, which rather defeats the point. Five cover sleep, calm, courage, love, and cleaning the other four. Read more...
An incense cone burning on a metal dish
Incense Sticks vs Cones: Which Should You Actually Buy?
Sticks burn slowly and gently, cones fast and strong. Which suits your room, plus backflow cones, rope incense and resin. Read more...
Lit candles in a stone alcove
How to set up a Samhain altar for the turning of the year
How to set up a Samhain altar for 31 October, step by step: the cloth, candle, incense, crystals, ancestor offerings and a simple ritual for the night. Read more...
Flat parcels in kraft paper tied with twine and dried flowers
Witchy gifts: a gift guide for the witch in your life
Witchy gifts for every budget, from £1.49 incense to tarot sets and crystal balls, plus ideas for tarot readers, altar witches and crystal lovers. Read more...
Hands holding a wrapped gift with a ribbon
Spiritual Gifts for Her That She'll Actually Use
Spiritual gifts she will actually use, from rose quartz and crystal candles under £20 to tarot sets and silver jewellery. Read more...
A small parcel wrapped in kraft paper and twine
Crystal gifts under £20 that don’t look cheap
The budget is the easy part. Making twenty pounds look considered rather than apologetic is the rest of it. Read more...
A plume of incense smoke against a dark background
Why your backflow burner isn't working — and how to fix it
It is almost always the cone, the draught, or the hole. Three things to check before you decide the burner is faulty. Read more...
Handpan and steel tongue drums on stands in a room
A Steel Tongue Drum Has No Wrong Notes, and That's the Point
What a steel tongue drum is, why it's so hard to play a wrong note, which size to choose and how to start playing. Read more...
A brass singing bowl with its wooden mallet
How to choose a singing bowl you cannot hear first
Size, metal and finish tell you more than any product description will. Here is what actually changes the sound, and what is only marketing. Read more...
Assorted rough mineral specimens laid out on a white surface
How to tell what you are actually buying: five tests you can do at home
Dyed howlite, glass sold as opal, reconstituted turquoise. None of them survive five checks you can do at the kitchen table. Read more...
Hands playing a card game around a wooden table
Tarot was a card game for three hundred years
Divination came late. For most of its history the deck was played rather than read, and the trumps were simply trumps. Read more...
A wooden tray of loose incense resins and powders
Masala, dipped or resin: what you are actually burning
Three different products sold under one word. The difference is in how they are made, and it is the difference between fragrance oil and actual tree resin. Read more...
A simple home altar with candles, stones and a wooden tray
Your first altar: what to put on it, and where to start
Every tradition sets one up differently, which tells you something useful. Start with a surface and four things you already own. Read more...
Two open hands holding a set of small polished stones
Crystals for anxiety and calm: what to hold on a stressful day
Five calming crystals to keep close on stressful days, how to use a palm stone, and a small evening ritual to go with it. Read more...
Salt being poured from a wooden bowl onto a dark surface
What Water, Salt and Sunlight Actually Do to Your Crystals
Which crystals are safe in water, salt or sunlight, which ones fade or dissolve, and the gentle ways to cleanse a mixed collection. Read more...
An antique astronomical clock face showing the zodiac
Zodiac crystals: the stones for every star sign (and birth month)
The crystals for every star sign and birth month, why the lists disagree, and how to pick a zodiac stone as a gift. Read more...
A pile of palo santo wood sticks
Is Palo Santo Endangered? No, You're Thinking of a Different Tree
The palo santo you burn and the endangered palo santo are two different trees. How to tell them apart, buy good wood and burn it well. Read more...
Close-up of a raw amethyst geode
Why is amethyst so cheap compared to other precious gems?
Amethyst once sat alongside diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald. Here's why it's so affordable today, how Brazil changed the market, and how to choose a good piece. Read more...
A three-card tarot spread laid out on a tiled floor
Three cards, and why the positions do all the work
The same three cards say different things depending on what you asked each position to hold. Decide that before you shuffle. Read more...