In memory of my mother. Much of this is by rights her work. I'm coming to this from a perspective of a solitary Witch Misconceptions cleared up here and here (no, my Mom was not a Witch), and an intro to Witch Culture, and that is where I got a lot of my experience. This is not intended to be dogma, but I hope it provides a springboard for exploration and continual improvement. 4/29/22 I think it's pretty important to tempt people into goodness somehow. Hopefully this page helps, but if you can help with this effort it might do a lot of good in the long run. Mainly because telling people "do this, don't do this" instead of tempting them to do so out of self-interest and a craving for pleasure doesn't seem to work. Yeah... I'm pretty misanthropic in general. But not towards younger generations! I've been pleasantly surprised by them!
Be honest with yourself. Some ways of doing this include sitting alone in deep contemplation, practicing dealing with unpleasant truths by dragging them out into the open regardless of personal comfort, and finding out the hard way that you don't like a given person, place, thing, or situation. This is the most important thing in any spirituality because if you can't be honest with yourself you'll be in a prison of your own making.
To thine own self be true, because no matter how much you might suffer as a result, it's never going to be as bad as it would be if you betrayed yourself and your own principles and deepest self. Therefore, hard drugs and self-delusion are a hard pass. Since society is crazy, often lots of people concoct lives they never wanted with personalities built on blind obedience to something other than themselves, with constant reinforcement of the whole house of cards from both outside and from within. Know that you can walk out of this self-imposed prison any time you want. One simple way of starting to do this is to do the weird. Something random, anything random. Dance around. Open and shut a cupboard. Imagine pink elephants. Sing the song of your people (make it up). Free your mind, free yourself to do stuff other people might call you crazy for, free yourself. Edit 9/1/22 this only seems like madness from one perspective. Another is this: you know how there's a bar in every town? You know how alcoholism is a huge problem? I think maybe if acting in an original and unorthodox, bizarre way, aka "mad," was more socially acceptable, beyond the confines of being boozed up, alcoholism probably wouldn't be as big a problem. After all, there's that crazy kid in all of us, just wanting to scribble on the walls and screech at the top of their lungs. Improv is one way of letting it out, and so is having a party, no alcohol required. And so is being really, really weird.
12/16/22 Here's a couple things that my Mom was really into. First, the Golden Rule. There is a version of it in every culture, creed, and religion. The version of it that makes most sense to me is "do not do what is hurtful to yourself to anyone else." Secondly, the peace prayer found on Peace Poles, which often has other languages on it and the English portion goes "May peace prevail on Earth." I am not like my Mom, but I'm trying to be more like her. I think everyone could use a little of that in their lives tbh.
Beware of every spiritual practice where something supposedly "speaks to you," regardless of if you called on God, or Jesus, or anything else. Ditto the whole "speaking in tongues" thing. That is channeling done by someone untrained in the proper methods of spiritual protection and any old spirit could speak to you - ghost, fairy, demon. Anyone who claims that Jesus speaks to them is admitting to opening a channel to the spirit world and essentially being a human Ouija board. No, no, no! Don't do that! You need years of training in order to do that safely and most kinds of mainstream religion do not have it. In my experience if you want answers to prayers, simply pray them (direct them to All That is Good in the Universe, or to All That is Sacred, if you don't know who to pray to) and they will be answered through your life circumstances. Also, anything in another religion or spirituality that is normally considered magic or Witchcraft but is considered awesome and miraculous, such as faith healing, is actually Witchcraft/magic and mainstream religions do not have the proper training or precautions to do any of it right - do NOT do any of that unless you have been trained. Just don't. It gets messy.
Strive to be good. As good, positive, and kind as you can possibly be. Every minute of every day! It's impossible to control the world, but you can (usually) control your mind. And if you can do that, then you can do anything, and be anything.
To assist you in the above, you might want to have a mantra you repeat to yourself to remind you what's important to you. Mine is "kindness." But I bet you could think of something that suits you best.
Think really carefully about what you know deep down in your heart to be sacred. This process can take you years - it took around 3 to 7 years for me, give or take. Is love sacred? Compassion? Goodness? Think about it. Ask the hard questions, possibly out loud to the Universe. This is difficult; you may want to ask the Angels, out loud, for help in figuring out what is truly sacred to you, and then finding the perfect spirituality for you. Once you know, then everything else about your spirituality can be built around it, but without this foundation, you've got nothing but outward trappings.
The one ironclad rule in Witchcraft is "do not harm the innocent, OR ELSE" with the "or else" being karmic consequences. Experience will teach you that this applies to everyone of every religion. Even if you miss out on external consequences, what would happen to your personality and internal life would not be pleasant.
Blind hatred is evil. If you hate anyone or anything without even knowing them, you're a bad guy. There are no exceptions. Do not be evil. A pretty good example of why this is important is cancel culture. The original cancel culture. Back in the day, it was called racism, bigotry, sexism, and other -isms perpetuated from parent to child, hatred passed down the line for no other reason than vehement blind, perfect faith in something. Back in the day, cancel culture was good old-fashioned hatred. Picture this: if the Arab League got what they wanted and Israel ceased to exist because Israel is supposedly evil, I wouldn't exist. My parents wouldn't have. My grandparents would also have been killed. This website would not exist. Is that what you want? There are plenty of other living creatures out there that provide benefit to you. Other people also. Maybe don't leap to conclusions about them either. You don't know their stories, and you don't know the details. It's been my experience that whenever I speak to someone wearing an armband and a chip on their shoulder, whenever I try to humanize the other side, they don't want to hear it. I am willing to hear their own arguments as long as they're logical, but they never seem to provide me with any. They want to believe these things, because otherwise that would mean everyone they love is evil, or they aren't as great as they thought they were, and they can't face that. Don't you become like that yourself. Don't ever do that to yourself. It's one of the few true ways to become a lost soul. "But I only do this to the people that deserve it" are you sure? Well, when it comes back around as karma, at least have the honor to admit it.
How to meditate without physical effort: Close your eyes, breathe, and allow your thoughts to float past you without identifying with any of them. Even if you do this for a few seconds, it's fine, but if you manage to hold out until you achieve a state of calm, that's even better. Generally 30 seconds to a minute is plenty.
How to meditate without a focus: Set a timer for five or ten minutes. Sit comfortably in any position that works for you. You don't have to sit with your legs crossed or full lotus or whatever; in a chair is fine, as long as you keep your back straight. Close your eyes, rest your hands on your thighs, and relax as much as you can, physically. Let your mind rove wherever it wants to but keep in mind the intention to relax the mind and let it float in nothingness. Let the thoughts and emotions float by like clouds as you breathe. Remember that this is to give yourself a break from thoughts, mental busyness, and overwhelming emotions and let your mind rest. Eventually the thoughts will cease and you will feel different, but in a good way. Then, the overwhelming emotions will start to chill out a bit. Let yourself feel them and think them, but also let them pass you by and let them go. Practice makes perfect, so try to do this at least once a day, every day. It has significant benefits. You can do this when you're stressed, during work breaks, while traveling on a bus or plane, or anytime. The Headspace app and Netflix series can help you with this.
How to meditate with a focus: Same deal as above, but focus intently on something, such as a positive ideal like peace, self-love, or compassion.
It is recommended to meditate outside every day possible. Be sure you wear bug spray, but other than that, it's probably the best way to chill out while getting in touch with nature. You might want to try this: find a spot out there you really like and sit with your back straight in any position you can manage. Imagine the boundary between your skin and the outside world melting. Then imagine the boundary between your inner self and the outside world melting until there is no "you" anymore. If this spooks you, you can always pray to a higher power for protection as you do this or ask your guardian angel to protect you. Guardian angels exist for everyone regardless of religion. They're a thing.
Guided meditation: This can be basically anything that you guide your mind through. It is best to keep it simple. You can write your own guided meditations for anything at all; the only limit is your imagination. Here is an example: In the same position as above, imagine that you are on a beach, listening to waves. If you're game, then record yourself on your phone or another device with a meditation you walk yourself through.
Meditation while in action: Use meditation with or without a focus as you go about a simple task, such as washing the dishes or taking a walk. Actually, it is possible to do this so often that your life becomes more clear-cut and you generally feel less hazy about your reasons for doing things. This cultivates your awareness.
Creating a shrine or sacred area: Quick! What's sacred or super important to you? Got it? Create an area in your living space dedicated to it. Done.
Once you have defined what is sacred to you, then logically you should defend it. If it's nature, become a treehugging nutcase like me. If it's something else, do what you must, but don't hurt anybody.
You may wish to, after the pandemic, go get a hug from Amma link out. I did a while back and nothing was ever the same. I'm not sold on most of her teachings, but she taught me compassion, and that's enough.
My fiance is from Texas and says that in Texas you are raised to do someone a good turn every day. He says that he tries to do something good for someone three times a day: at work, at home, and on the road.
Journaling: At the end of each day write down anything you want to remember. Every month or so, go over the journal to monitor your way of thinking and day-to-day conditions. Then you'll see if you can change your thought patterns for the better, or change your habits or life in some way.
Make a list of things that make you feel right at home and happy. Then whenever you're lost, look at the list and try to bring more of those things into your life. You can also make this into an art project or collage.
NEW 5/19/21 it appears that following a version of the Ten Commandments helps you live a life that is good and improves your luck. However, I interpret it like this: I see the "God" referred to in the Bible as infinite love, goodness, mercy, and perfection only, not any jealous scary God or even necessarily a human-like Deity at all, and interpret it like that; also I interpret the injunction against idolatry as being against all that is not actually Divine (the Hebrew Bible has different terms for the Divine including male, female, and plural. I'm serious; the term is Elohim) such as money, that which gives you power but no morality, etc. The others mostly seem to be karmic law spelled out to prevent people from amassing bad karma or hurting themselves. Also, some of the commandments in some circumstances would cause extreme harm and suffering if followed all the time, so I don't take them as they're written. No, I don't take the Bible that seriously; it isn't my religion plus it's mistranslated. Why bother putting this in here at all? Because if people actually bothered to follow the Ten Commandments in a way that works for them instead of telling/forcing everyone else to "follow" them, we wouldn't live in such a terrible world. Also I was serious about the good luck. Atheists can use this information too.
How to figure out morality and ethics: Well, you could take a college class on it or check out a bunch of books from the library. This of course is a splendid idea. But if you never had that opportunity, then consider watching a whole awful lot of Star Trek. It's instructive without being dogmatic and hopefully will help you think about the issues yourself. Another like this is every Gundam series except for G Gundam, which is awful, never watch that. The Chronicles of Narnia is also fantastic and I honestly think it changed me for the better; all of its books are worth the read for ethical considerations. Strangely, it's supposedly (at least according to the author) a play on the Bible, but it is notorious for being well loved by Pagans like me and a lot of other folks. Another morality story series: The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Many video games have moral and ethical dillemas within them as well. A few notable examples include Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy VII, Mass Effect (all of them), and... Kingdom Hearts.
Most people run around scared of being creative at all, and spend their lives running away from their own creativity. Why? Well, in a lot of places you're threatened with all kinds of horrible consequences for deviating from the "norm" (whatever that is) even a little. But that isn't any way to be free. So try to foster your own originality, imagination, and creativity by just being weird, by just being creative, even a little, whenever you can. You won't be crazy. You'll be living.
Daydream a lot, to try to foster that.
How to run an experiment to see if anything spiritual is even remotely based in truth: Find something to prove or disprove to yourself. Maybe a guess about something in the universe or something other people devoutly believe in. Once you've picked the subject of your experiment, spend time studying and analyzing it. If it's safe, interact with it, reach out to it, try to observe it, play around with it. Then run an experiment using the Scientific Method. If you're lucky a pattern will emerge. If you're not, well, tough.
Several things worth running an experiment on in your daily life: 1. Does a loving Creator actually exist? 2. Does karma exist? Both are very difficult to set up quantifiable experiments with but you can certainly try it for yourself. I have had interesting results with these experiments, so I recommend it.
Learn Logic
Experiment to see if the right thing to do always hurts less than the comfortable thing to do. It's usually a whole lot scarier but man, when you at least try to do the right thing, at least you can look back and be proud. In my whole life, that has been my experience every time but try it for yourself.
Foster skepticism. For just about everything. Without it there is no freedom.
If there is a nondenominational religion accessible to everyone, it's love. Even if no Deity exists, the existence of love is more evident. If anyone's ever shown you real love, then chances are you understand that religion, an All-One-Love-Faith. Love IS religion, true religion. Not the kind of love that's nothing more than a glorified addiction, and not the kind of love that is unkind or unethical. Just something as simple and as profound as real love, in all of its forms. The common assumption that we as humans know what every kind of love is, is incorrect, because English only has one word for love, the Greeks had a good half dozen, and we are now left with simply a choice between romantic, filial, and platonic love because it's been programmed into us that's all there is and since it's experiential, we are missing out on a lot of different variations of it. For instance, how do you describe the love you feel for a sunset? The innocent trust between two friends as children, versus the same bond when they become adults and fast friends for life? Self-love? And did you know that no two love stories or loves are alike? Well, why not consider love sacred? If this idea appeals to you then why not put that as the centerpoint of your spirituality and ethical system, learn as much as you can about the different kinds of it through experience and trying new things, and see what happens?
The heart of many religions is getting the believers to experience infinite love as much as possible. That infinite, pure love is what people call the Creator, or the Divine, etc. It has many names. Once you truly experience it, you will never, ever be the same. In my own religion, where we often refer to a Divine Feminine, there's a saying, "She changes everything She touches, everything She touches changes." This is why people become "born again," or "open their hearts" to a Deity. It works for any religion and it must be done. A personal connection to Infinite Love is not the same at all as saying you are a part of a certain religion because you follow all the outward trappings. This is so important, and religion is worthless without it. A simple way of getting started with this is meditating while thinking about Infinite Love, or the Deity of your choice (monotheistic, a Pagan Deity, whatever). Opening your mouth and asking, out loud, "All that is truly Sacred and Good in the Universe, please help me to understand Infinite Love" is another good thing to do. If you are part of a religion, then you can also ask for that with the addendum, "and how it applies to my own religion, _."
Probably the weirdest thing to hear from people in religions is the constant claim that people understand the Divine, and they've communed, and they really "get" their religion and their Deities. Then they turn around and are the most hateful, angry, judgmental pieces of shit you've ever seen. Thing is, you actually have to try, really try, with all your might, to actually get in touch with the Divine if you're serious about it and maintain skepticism but persistence. This doesn't have to be a Deity, in fact even getting touch with the vibe of pure Goodness is all you need, maybe of goodness, wholesomeness, all that is pure and perfect - what is sacred to you? - You have to knock on that door for years, focus hard, work hard at trying to get it; plus once you've experienced this there's no guarantee you'll fully "get it" and all of a sudden become enlightened, fostering a relationship with the Divine is usually something that's not that easy, after all it is a relationship. And once you experience knowing for certain that you have felt the presence of the Divine or the Sacred, you will know that is exactly what you've felt and you won't need to lie to yourself about it, it'll be like knowing that the sky is blue and that apple pie tastes good. Moreover there's a good chance you will still be super skeptical and have a real struggle with any kind of faith. In fact, once you've experienced the Divine Mystery (and this is really in any religion), of infinite love and compassion, or of infinite goodness, hearing other people talk about it and then try to force their religion down your throat is quite like hearing virgins brag about their sexual experience while you're happily married. Or worse, about their exploitative sexual experiences. After all, who would want to worship or idealize anything that is not 100% Good, pure, wholesome, nontoxic? This is just my experience, take it or leave it.
Other nondenominational spiritual practices anyone can do
Some specific folk charms for energetic protection
The purpose of this section is to help those poor sods out there who are known as 'sensitives' and pick up on negativity easier than the rest of humans. Kids are generally more sensitive than adults to this kind of thing as well. A lot of this sounds absolutely crazy, really bonkers, but if you're willing to suspend your disbelief and try it out, see how it feels, you might be shocked at the difference. Sources include Psychic Attack by Draja Mickaharic and Psychic Self-Defense by Dion Fortune, plus a good deal of experience. I'd recommend you avoid reading those books if you have a tendency to paranoia or self-hate, at least until you are in a better place mentally. They are Occult classics though and probably worth the read, if you take 'em with a grain of salt. And uh, FYI, they are not Wiccan, they're not Pagan, these books were actually written by extremely devout Christians.
Beginner's Hoodoo for (almost) everyone
If you are a Hoodoo rootworker or similar I bet your eyes nearly popped out at that. Apologies. For those of you who don't know what Hoodoo is, it is a system of spirituality and magic (the intentional or unintentional manipulation of natural forces) that anyone who is not evil or sociopathic/narcissistic/dark triad can use without training. Why learn magic at all? I wasn't going to bother putting this in here but unfortunately, those who don't use swords can still die by them, and thus those who misuse magic can easily attack people who do not use it. In other words, I'll teach you a little so you can defend yourself. If you follow these directions, your life won't change for the better overnight but you'll avoid a whole lot of bad and provided you put in the necessary work, things will change for you. You might be wondering at this point, what's the difference between Hoodoo and Witchcraft? Well, Witchcraft isn't a religion, it's a job - you WILL wind up working your butt off to make life better for yourself and those around you, and it really isn't for everyone. Witchcraft (and most other kinds of magic) is a practice of actually imposing your personal will onto the world around you, and it requires rules, training, devotion to the Powers That Be, etc. let's just say it's the boot camp of religions because if you decide to demand the wrong thing out of life you will promptly get your ass handed to you. Unfortunately this can cause a big mess in other people's lives too, hence the bad reputation. Hoodoo is a practice of opening the door for the Divine (or all that is good in the universe, or whatever you think is Sacred and good; seriously this isn't a one-religion's-size-fits-all scenario) to come into your life and work magic on your behalf. They are not the same. You do not require training to work Hoodoo, nor do you need to be of any religion. All you need is a pure heart, sincerity, and an open mind. You also don't need to believe in it at all, just suspend your disbelief and give it a fair chance.
***A note on the good, the bad, and the confused in the Occult: generally speaking Occultists of all persuasions fall into one of those three categories. The third is the most prevalent because of the amount of crappy information drifting around. Good Occultists are the second most prevalent but are rare. Bad Occultists are the least prevalent and the most famous; where all of the bad reputation comes from. I have noticed something very distinctive about the few bad magic workers I've met in my life: they are never satisfied. Ever. Nothing makes them happy, they're always searching and seeking and scrabbling for more, more, more! It is not a good way to live life. Don't do that.***
Some religions, such as Judaism, would view all of this stuff as explicitly forbidden. Thankfully, all religions that forbid magic have good ways of protecting their devotees from bad energy and bad magic, and these include attending all religious services, daily prayers, prayers for specific situations, and the entire tradition of that religion. Just do everything in your religion if your luck isn't that good, really throw yourself into it, learn about its more obscure traditions and all of the random stuff in there and do all that too, and everything should turn around with time. Ask a clergyperson in your religion for advice if you're really struggling. You can also ask the Angels for help and your Guardian Angel. Just address them, respectfully and out loud, for help in general and specific help for your situation. Karma is also a factor in a lot of luck, believe it or not, so if you're not doing right, you might want to fix that. Good self-esteem and a strong, healthy instinct to define and defend your boundaries is also a must for good luck. Therefore therapy and working on your mental health is important.
There are five major things you must do if you wish to get started in Hoodoo:
1. Light a candle to the Ancestors of Hoodoo before you even start, and thank them for creating Hoodoo. The Ancestors of Hoodoo were the slaves in the South, Native Americans, and very poor Southerners in general who had to create magic in self-defense in the most dire situations. Respect them. As time goes on, you should create an altar to the Ancestors of Hoodoo in your home and light a candle to them every day, offer them a glass of cool water every day, and keep that altar clean. Have it face East. Never do Hoodoo without paying respects to the people who created it. That's not right.
2. Establish some kind of relationship with your physical ancestors. No, I don't mean call up the dead and ask them for things and bother them, no no no. (In fact never do that - edit 3/9/21 UNLESS you are certain it is both correct and that they and the Creator would be okay with it, then you can pray to the Creator to send a message to them; don't do it directly.) Look through their things, think about the kind of lives they lived. Visit their graves and clean their tombstones. Put their pictures up in your home and remember them with pride. Tell their stories. If you believe in a higher power, pray for them, and ask your higher power that if it doesn't bother your Ancestors in any way, for your higher power to send them a message from you that you appreciate them and what they did for you. Do this every day.
3. Firmly state, with all your heart, "Of my own free will, I align myself with all that is truly good, now and forever. I am a force for the good and only for the good now and forever." You'll need to say this statement long before any magic work unless you want to ruin your life. Edit, 5/11/23: If you want to take this a step further, you can also add: "I ask with all my heart that all that is truly Good always ensure I never do evil and also violate my free will to ensure that I do not do evil, if it becomes necessary. This is my Will, so be it." I added this for myself out of a serious mistrust of human nature, including my own. Please note this isn't an indictment of darkness, death, and the darker sides of life. Evil is not the same as these by default.
4. Ensure you are mentally well and that you regularly use techniques to keep yourself that way. If you don't yet know how, then learn all you can until you can say with confidence that you are in a balanced mental state. Also see: Mental Health
5. Beware "the stupid." Many tragedies on Earth are committed out of stupidity; possibly more than those committed out of malice. As bad as it is to make a dumb mistake in your mundane life, in spiritual work like magic there is actually zero room for error. I mean it - zero. Therefore from now on you have to be on your guard not just of being unethical or giving in to things like the Seven Deadly Sins in excess, but of being dumb. There's no such thing as common sense (it varies from culture to culture and is often straight-up unethical and wrong) and neither smarts nor wisdom come to you without you working for them. Start working to get smarter, wiser, more ethical and don't stop.
Let's say you've done those five things. Now you'll need to cultivate a genuine spirituality of some kind. If you are already a part of a religion and are very satisfied with it, then you'll need to start taking it completely seriously. No more half-assing it or skipping observances or holidays. Dot the i's and cross the t's. If you are only going through the motions then you need to ask yourself why you are even in that religion and if it really suits you. Choose a spirituality, philosophy, or other outlook that is absolutely perfect for you. Find what you consider sacred (if you don't know, just go with "all that is sacred in the Universe,") and - this is important - ask, out loud, for it to help you find your path. Then dive into that path 1000%. You cannot half-ass spirituality if you want to work any kind of magic. Most importantly, you'll need a personal one-on-one relationship with whatever you believe is sacred, even if that's science or skepticism. The point is that it has to be your own personal truth.
Hoodoo is very explicit about what its magic is. Prayers, especially traditional prayers from religion (such as Psalms), are treated as magic spells in Hoodoo. Here is how to make them work as spells instead of merely speaking: Ask for them sincerely, without putting your personal energy into it or willing it to happen. Don't just speak the words; hope that your Higher Power will bring about what the words say. These have to actually be prayers; requests to a Higher Power, not affirmations. This is not you creating magical change, but opening up a pathway for the Divine to come into your life and help you. This is kind of like what a lot of people call "high magic" or "religious magic." Whatever. It works.
There are ethical considerations even when using prayer magic. For instance, never EVER harm the innocent. That's a recipe for disaster for everyone involved. "Harm" includes changing someone's mind without their permission so no, you may not pray or do a working for someone specific to love you. Yes, I just said that praying for the wrong thing is bad. For the purpose of this argument we'll say that you're an innocent so don't harm yourself either ok. Other things to keep in mind: You are NOT a Deity. You will not become a Deity, and it is not the goal of your life to become one. Avoid hubris. If it doesn't feel completely right and comfortable, don't do it. Be respectful. Ensure the only changes you make are positive ones. Be honorable and on your best behavior. Better to not do a working or say a prayer than to say the wrong one or do the wrong thing. Don't delude yourself or lie to yourself in any way because if what you're doing doesn't check out logically or conform to any kind of common sense, well, oh dear. Follow these rules or believe me it'll start to suck in short order.
Once you have done these things and understood the ethical considerations, then you can start to study Hoodoo in earnest. I recommend avoiding Cat Yronwode's books (she's a Satanist) and going with Starr Casas's work to start. I wish I could give you more than one resource here, because in my experience if you want to learn anything it's best to find at least three teachers or resources, but to be honest she's the only "real deal" I've found in Hoodoo books. Most of the other ones are cash grabs that culturally appropriate and blend together everything into a great big mess. Her work has a very Christian bent but keep in mind that you do not have to be of any particular religion. Paraphrase the Bible verses or make your own "asks," and direct them to Whoever you believe in, or to all that is Good in the Universe, or to any Divine Being, and remember to ask, not demand. (For the longer and more involved Bible verses, you might have to find equivalents in your own religious tradition (argh!) and this could take years, so start now on reading the verses and finding equivalents; you do not want to have to need a verse only to have no available equivalent in your own religion. Because reading Bible verses when you are not in that religion sucks, sucks, sucks. It'll work, but it sucks.) I believe the Divine does exist regardless of if you believe in it or not, but all that you really need here is suspension of disbelief. If you are broke or have no discernable access to information then open up your mouth and ask any Higher Power, or all that is good in the Universe, to bring you the resources that are correct for you. Just do it. No one is going to have the same path through this work but I just opened the way for you. Good luck.
1/16/23 Several other interesting notions straight from my Mom (and me)
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