Venus is retrograde from October 3 to November 13, 2026. It starts in Scorpio, backs into Libra on October 25, and overlaps Mercury retrograde for three weeks. Here are the exact dates and times, the shadow period, what the retrograde asks you to look at, and a simple Friday ritual.

A small besom broom of natural palm fiber with a gold witch charm hanging from an iron hook beside an open cottage door, next to a shelf with a lit candle, a bowl of salt, and lavender and rosemary

Besom: The Witch’s Broom, Its History, and How to Use One

Spirituality for Beginners

A besom is a round broom of twigs bound to a wooden handle, and in witchcraft it sweeps a space clean of unwanted energy rather than dust. Here is where the besom came from, why witches ride brooms, how to use one to cleanse a home, the history of jumping the broom, broom folklore from around the world, and how to make your own.

Ouija board on a wooden table with a lit candle and a triangular planchette resting in the center, surrounded by herbs on the right.

Ouija Boards and Spirit Boards: History, How They Work, and How to Use One

Spirituality for Beginners

A Ouija board is a talking board printed with the alphabet, numbers, yes, no, and goodbye, read with a heart-shaped planchette that moves under your fingertips. Here is where the board and its strange name came from, why the planchette moves, what the churches and the scientists say, the three rules, and how to open and close a session step by step.

A Santa Muerte statue in a red robe with a scythe, hourglass lantern, and owl on a home altar with red roses, apples, a glass of water, and a lit red candle

Santa Muerte: Who She Is, What Her Colors Mean, and How She Is Honored

Ancestral Wisdom & Earth Traditions

Santa Muerte, Our Lady of Holy Death, is a Mexican folk saint who personifies death, and an estimated 12 million people ask her for protection, love, healing, and justice. Here is who she is, where her devotion came from, what her robe colors stand for, how devotees keep her altar, and why the Church opposes her.

A small black cast iron cauldron with a wire handle on a slate altar tile, holding sand and a charcoal tablet, its lid beside it, with tongs, a lit white candle, and a bowl of frankincense resin

Witch’s Cauldron: Meaning, Uses, and How to Use One Safely

Spirituality for Beginners

A witch’s cauldron is a small cast iron pot on three legs that holds fire, smoke, and water on the altar. Here is where the cauldron came from, the myths behind it, what practitioners use it for, how to burn incense and petitions in it safely, how to choose a size, and how to keep cast iron from rusting.

Pair of copper dowsing rods with sleeve handles and ball ends on a wooden garden bench

Dowsing Rods: What They Are, How They Work, and How to Use Them

Spirituality for Beginners

Dowsing rods are two bent rods, one held loosely in each hand, that swing together or apart in answer to a question or a place. People have walked fields with a rod for five hundred years, looking for ore, water, and answers. Here is what dowsing rods are, the kinds, what makes them move, what the tests found, what the churches said, and how to hold, calibrate, and question a pair step by step.

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