Vincent Higginbotham - How Witchcraft Saved My Life: Practical Advice for Transformative Magic

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

How Witchcraft Saved My Life: Practical Advice for Transformative Magick 2021 by Vincent Higginbotham.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the publisher is a violation of the authors copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.

First e-book edition 2021

E-book ISBN: 9780738766775

Book design by Samantha Peterson

Cover design by Kevin R. Brown

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Higginbotham, Vincent, author.

Title: How witchcraft saved my life : practical advice for transformative magick / Vincent Higginbotham.

Description: First edition. | Woodbury, Minnesota : Llewellyn Publications, 2021. | Summary: Author shares personal stories and advice to help struggling Pagans, seekers, and Witches. Contains journal exercises, practical advice, and resources for professional and spiritual helpprovided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021005090 (print) | LCCN 2021005091 (ebook) | ISBN

9780738766638 (paperback) | ISBN 9780738766775 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Witchcraft. | Magic.

Classification: LCC BF1566 .H54 2021 (print) | LCC BF1566 (ebook) | DDC

133.4/3dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021005090

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021005091

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publishers website for links to current author websites.

Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

Contents

by Martha Kirby Capo

: Laying the Foundation

: The Spirits around Us

: Magickal Senses

: There Is No Wrong Way to Witch

: Protect Yourself

: Tarot Is a Tool

: Mundane Work Is Spell Work Too

: The Pillars of Witchcraft

: To Keep Silent

: To Dare

: To Will

: To Know

: There Is Magick in Gratitude

: Witchcraft Saved My Life

Content Warning

This book deals with sensitive topics including molestation, suicide, child abuse, drug abuse, prostitution, conversion therapy, and homelessness. While I have done my best to portray my experiences in a tasteful and respectful manner, these subjects may be troubling for some readers and inappropriate for others. Discretion is advised.

Disclaimer

If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or any of the situations discussed in this book, please know there is help available. No one should suffer for who they are. Here are some nationwide hotlines in the United States that can connect you to safety. Please reach out for assistanceyou are worth it and you deserve the magickal life you were meant to live.

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender National Hotline: 1 (888) 843-4564

Department of Defense (DOD) Safe Helpline for Sexual Assault: 1 (877) 995-5247

National Runaway Safeline: 1 (800) 786-2929

ChildHelp National Child Abuse Hotline: 1 (800) 422-4453

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Helpline:

1 (800) 950-6264

Foreword

I n 2019 I heard from a Witch seeking to write for Patheos Pagans The Agora. He wrote, Im interested in telling people how I fail, where I learned something, and my personal take on the witching world in general. I feel like there isnt really a voice out there saying, Hey Im human and I mess up too. But check it out; I kept trying and these are the results I got.

Vincent Higginbothams voice is unique among Pagan writers. His is a story of personal and magickal perseverance in the face of setback upon setback. With unflinching candor, Vincent shares his journey as a Witch in search of and finding his power, from his time as a child raised in an abusive home to his adolescence spent in foster care to his experiences of homelessness as a young gay man.

Vincents essential message is not so much one of transcendence as it is a story of deep knowledge of who he is as a Witch, of understanding and working with the materials of his experiences to conjure the life he knew he wanted to have. In this book he lays everything on the tablethe good, the bad, and the sometimes very uglyand shares with his readers the magicks he employed to harness the energies around him so that they worked to his ultimate benefit.

Throughout these pages you will find tips and teachings to help you deal with many of the stumbling blocks life can throw your way, and the magickal workings you can manifest to address them. Each spell is explained in easy to understand steps and utilizes elements that are very affordable and easily accessible. Above all, these spells make magickal senseyoull not only learn how they work; youll be able to understand why they work.

If youre looking for pretty potion bottles and a high-gloss Hollywood Witch vibe, this is not the book for you. This book is gritty. Its practical. Its transformative. Its about a Witch who failedfailed so many more times than onceand yet never gave up on himself or his Craft. He persisted, and he achieved the results he wanted.

This is an extraordinary book about how witchcraft changed one mans life, and in its pages you will discover how magick can change your life as well.

Martha Kirby Capo, Editor of
Patheos Pagans The Agora

Introduction

M agick in real life isnt all circles and rituals. It is often acts of desperation, performed out of need rather than want. Magick is used to protect ourselves, to heal, and to understand the world around us. It is a tool to improve our lives. In this book you will be provided with the information I wish Id had when I was going through my trouble. This is practical knowledge that, had I known it then, could have improved my outcomes and averted the issues that followed.