Just the sounds from a crackling fire and the wind moving through the treetops. And no specific dancing at all, at least nothing with intent going into it. It becomes what I feel like, connecting my inner state to the now very limited existence around me.
Basically, do whatever moves you. I was fully clothed and just spinning in circles with my arms out on a deserted golf course the time I did it. I didn't use music or anything, but you could have some if you wanted
That's always a good time if you can find a good space for it! Honestly, even dancing around fully clothed under the full moon can be super exhilarating, haha.
Probably set up my meditation circle with rocks in the woods beside my house when I was a teen just getting into witchcraft. At that time, I would also squirrel away branches my mom pruned from her trees and sand them down into wands. I had a crepe myrtle wand that felt so soft and good in my hand :')
I took my little hot glue gun and glued a quartz I had found onto the tip lol. It wasn't the prettiest, but I loved it.
As an aside, that's part of why the meme trend on lemmy right now about women not understanding how cool sticks are makes my inner witch hiss. That and it just being an extension of the stupid girls-are-dumb-boys-are-quirky thing ๐
Edit: also! I made myself a fertility shrub this past summer (Google what shrubs are, they're delicious and some of the earliest drink mixers). Basically made a ginger-peach shrub that I meditated over and dedicated to Aphrodite. They have to ferment for a few weeks for best taste results, so every day I'd shake the bottle and repeat my spell/meditation until it was ready to drink. I'm now 16 weeks pregnant with our son :)
Of course, we were using fertility tracking techniques as well, but incorporating magic into the processโfor meโcertainly made things feel more fun and, idk, intentional I guess?
Well, as far as 'catalysts' go, you can use just about anything that helps you focus your intention. Convention would say anything you can definitavely point at something (daggers, wands, feathers, fingers, etc) but idk why you can't just use whatever you'd like :)
Witchcraft is pretty freeform and individual to what works for each witch in their practice. Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably trying to sell you something.
I definitely agree with you on combining science and magic/harmless superstition! There was a reddit community I really miss called r/SASSwitches that was all about that. SASS stands for Skeptical, Agnostic, and Science-Seeking, I believe. It still exists if you wanna check it out, I just don't use reddit anymore. It was basically dedicated to all the really great evidence-based stuff you can find in witchy communities, like the power of ritual and meditation with intent, while nixing some of the more woo and out there stuff like minerals having inherent power. Nothing to knock those types of witches of course, that type of practice just isn't for me.