10 Ways to Embrace Your Inner Hipster Witch

Do you scroll Pinterest looking for altar ideas?

Ever wanted to deck out your fixie bike just like the one the Wicked Witch rode in the The Wizard of Oz?

Is your bookshelf lined with vintage tomes on the occult?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you, my friend, may have a little hipster witch in you.  It’s okay.  I ain’t mad at you.

The truth is, most artistic, creative, adventurous people have a little bit of hipster in them, and we witches are no exception.

I say, embrace it.

1.  Store your dried herbs in Mason jars.

I know, I know.  Mason jars are so mainstream these days.  But they’re still way more chic than plastic bags you keep your herbs in now.

2.  Use coffee as a ritual spice. 

Whole coffee beans make great additions to spell bags for creativity, energy, meditation and fresh insight.  Just make sure to get them from an independent coffee shop, amiright?

3.  Go to the farmer’s market for fresh herbs & kitchen witch ingredients. 

“Shop Local!”  The savvy urban hipster chants.  Well, she’s not wrong.  Shopping locally, especially for food, sustains your local economy, the global environment, your health and last, but not least, you taste bud experience.  Expect to find the freshest, finest in-season local herbs for rituals, pagan crafts and ceremonial food or Sabbat recipes.

4.  Drink craft beer during your Cakes & Ale ritual. 

The millennial generation got this one right.  I never cared for beer before my first trip to Germany, where beer is like a sacred serum lol.  Then I came home.  And I found that while mainstream American beers still tasted as gross as I remembered them, American craft beers began shortly thereafter to appeal to the more discerning drinker.  Now I love them as much or more than a good bottle of wine.  Choose seasonal craft beers to compliment your Sabbat and ritual festivities for a decidedly indie flavor.

5.  Search the thrift store for ritual and altar items. 

Thrift stores brim with altar tools way cooler than anything available in the current market.  Look for candle holders, glass and crystal jars for herbs, jewelry and statuary.

In particular, I found many gorgeous cálices in thrift stores, where they are nearly always available (usually, they are left over from wedding ceremonies—I always like to make sure there’s no name or letters engraved).

Need some inspiration?  Here are some examples of my finds.  You can walk into almost any thrift store in the country and find something similar.    I love the last one, which was actually two cups shaped like two wonky heartshapes that fit together.

6.  When it comes to spell casting, get crafty. 

They don’t call it the Craft for nothing.  Go to any pagan festival and discover hoards of creative spirits, from the Pinterest-happy homemaker to the serious artisan.  Try your hand at pagan-specific crafts to bring the best of the hipster spirit into your witchy experience.  Over the years, I’ve detailed dozens (hundreds?) of craft ideas in my section, Pagan Crafts.

7.  Show up at a paranormal investigation . . . with a “real” camera. 

Got a film camera or Polaroid?  Many paranormal investigators swear by analogue technology for picking up orbs and other phenomenon with a camera.  Your hipster peeps agree.

8.  Explore “off-beat” travel to destinations with a pagan flavor. 

I only recently began to explore in depth the pagan travel angle.  If you like little known travel destinations, or simply a weird take on a more well-known destination, combine it with your love of the witchy life and go plan a road trip full of haunted locations or pagan festivals.

Here are a few pagan travel guides to start you on your way.

9.  Put together vintage ritual garb. 

Full disclosure:  Half the time, I walk out of my house looking a little like a cross-country trucker on a midnight run.  But I love to put together looks for photoshoots and stuff using exclusively vintage pieces for that hipster vibe.  Do the same next time you go to ritual or a festival using the challenging rule that you can only use items 20 years or older.

10.  Get the tarot deck no one’s ever heard of. 

I admit it:  I cannot stand the Rider-Waite deck.  It’s just soooooo overdone.   Artists all over the world create crazy beautiful cards with every imaginable reader in mind.  When you find “your” deck, it will feel like it was made for you.  Get the deck no one knows and wait for everyone to say, “Ohhhhh . . . what deck is that?”

Then you can tell everyone you liked it before it was cool.