While I have great respect for the unknown, I myself have only a cursory education in the occult. For this post, I had to dig a little deeper and consult my local witchy friend- a crystal toting, tarot reading Blackfeet indigenous person with a penchant for spirits. These are the most useful and meaningful items we came up with for your occult inclined friends, with multiple price points to fit your abilities, and ranging from beginner to expert witch vibes.
A note on ethics. If you aren’t being respectful, if you aren’t sourcing your ingredients ethically, if you aren’t being mindful of nature and the people around you… What is the point of the ritual? What kind of magic are you doing?
Runes
Let’s talk about runes. It isn’t future telling which is a skill I’m sure you would have to be born with. Instead you ask a question or hold an issue in your mind and let the runes guide you to resolution. For a beginner, a guide book would be helpful. You can include one of the below rune sets as a gift set as well.
I have it on good authority that you can carve runes into just about any material you like- stone, wood and for our spooky, diy witches- bone. The best runes, however, are typically made from one of these three stone types: Amethyst, Jasper or Hematite. This is an extremely affordable gift that combines the general love of geology and crystallography with a specific use: pagan divination.
This incense burner has a really cool waterfall effect. It has gotten some mixed reviews, but we thought it was pretty cool. Be sure to pay close attention to the instructions to maximize the cool effect and your witchy friend’s house will have that extra mystique they always are looking for.
Comes in other colors but I like the red personally.
Crystals
We can’t talk about witches without acknowledging one of the most basic tools of their trade- raw crystal. They can be imbued with healing power, made into a talisman for luck, used to honor your patron gods or goddesses, guide astral projection, channel or divert streams of energy around you, manifest change, or simply decorate.
Best ethical crystal sources coming soon!
I love Fae everything, and this beautiful artsy tarot deck is no exception. It’s serving cottage core, it’s bringing fae vibes, it’s giving moonlit forest.
Above is a picture and link to my favorite basic tarot set. As you can see it includes quite a bit more than just the cards- it also has a guide, a set of chakra crystals and some lovely bells among other useful and decorative elements. Great for beginners!
To the left is my friend’s favorite round tarot deck. This is great for a little more advanced tarot readers too because again, the tilt of the card can change the meaning if you know what to look for.
This might be my all around favorite tarot deck, and it comes with a book. For your modern femme witches, we have the modern goddess… fitting, if I may say so.
If your witch friend hasn’t quite gotten around to starting their own grimoire, you may want to get them some practical spells to work off of. While writing your own spells is technically possible, it flows easier when you have some ingrained sense of magic in the first place. For those of us who don’t have innate creative writing skills, this deck is a good start.
Tread carefully when buying clothing items for your friends. But if they are needing a witchy cloak, this is a good quality, if a little pricey one. Practical for cold weather, this woolen cloak comes in multiple colors and lengths. Your cottage core type witch may like the fawn colored cape, but most of the witches I know would choose black without a second thought.
Witches have secrets the way haunted houses have secret passages. Abundant, and close to their hearts. Of the ways to keep secrets, perhaps this one isn’t the most covert- but it is the
most dramatic. Maybe only keep the ones you want discovered in this though. 😉
For your selenite witches, sleeping under the moon is ideal, but this will work in a pinch. Bring a little bit of the moon to them with this moon lamp, with it’s soothing gently-red toned light for all night comfort, blue toned if you want to stay awake instead. Tap to turn it on for magical effect.
Candles may seem like a fairly basic gift, but if your witchy friend doesn’t seem to have a metric boat load lying around already, they may actually want more. Elaborate candle sources coming soon- for now, this beautiful set is a good start. With varying patterns and scents, from lavendar to lemon to pine- this set is both affordable and expansive.
Wax and wick has some really lovely minimalist, black and white candles with traditionally masculine scents- but really these will do for any of your witchy friends. I love the crackle of the wood wick, and that the candles are vegan.
For your artsy witch friend. Satan-summoning circle not included.
Witchy parents and guardians need a good caffeine potion every now and then… and a good handheld cauldron to put it in! Caffeine not included… but check out our list of best caffeine sources if you would like to include a good brew.
I love these for just about anyone, because who doesn’t need holographic stickers? But yes, they are specifically occult themed so maybe don’t give them to a christian…
Even witches need bags- at least they can enchant them to hold a massive volume of things in the void… (Do not try at home lest you invite void monsters into your bag.)
Cooking is basically alchemy and transmutation, make sure your kitchen witches are covered with this funny steam releaser. This little friend aids in keeping your stove magically clean.