Austin witches create community at witch markets, tiny home agrihood
One natural witch lives at Green Gate Farms’ tiny home agrihood, where she feels safe to openly practice her craft.
By Emily HernandezFeb 25, 2024
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FWW said the animals that live at Green Gate Farms, like this goose named Goldie, have been an important part of her daily connection with nature as a witch.
Emily Hernandez
Though you may not be aware, a vibrant witch community is thriving in the heart of Texas. It's a community full of magic practitioners who may just entrance you with their welcoming lifestyles and curated spellwork.
Despite a general lack of knowledge about such alternative spiritualities in the U.S., many witches in the Capital City told MySA that Austin feels situated to become a safe space.
“(Witch) is a word that some people don't feel comfortable being described. It's very loaded,” Jessica Beaver, a self-described natural and folk magic witch, told MySA. “In a lot of other countries, witchcraft (is) literally the word for bad, evil, greedy magic. But it is something more in the Western world, more in America, where witchcraft itself has been reclaimed as something that does not equal (evil magic).”
Beaver is the owner of Yarrow & Sage, a metaphysical shop that sells magical offerings like runes, tarot cards, crystals, herbs, and other ritual tools. She also runs the Austin Witches Markets, which have evolved since their founding in 2015 to become a space for all kinds of magic practitioners to source ingredients, connect with like-minded people and grow their small businesses.
Though you may not be aware, a vibrant witch community is thriving in the heart of Texas. It's a community full of magic practitioners who may just entrance you with their welcoming lifestyles and curated spellwork.
Despite a general lack of knowledge about such alternative spiritualities in the U.S., many witches in the Capital City told MySA that Austin feels situated to become a safe space.
“(Witch) is a word that some people don't feel comfortable being described. It's very loaded,” Jessica Beaver, a self-described natural and folk magic witch, told MySA. “In a lot of other countries, witchcraft (is) literally the word for bad, evil, greedy magic. But it is something more in the Western world, more in America, where witchcraft itself has been reclaimed as something that does not equal (evil magic).”
Beaver is the owner of Yarrow & Sage, a metaphysical shop that sells magical offerings like runes, tarot cards, crystals, herbs, and other ritual tools. She also runs the Austin Witches Markets, which have evolved since their founding in 2015 to become a space for all kinds of magic practitioners to source ingredients, connect with like-minded people and grow their small businesses.
Shea Curtis, a vendor at the February 3 Austin Witch Market, sells handmade artwork filled with pressed flowers and paper insects from her shop Dark Whimsy.
Emily Hernandez
Amanda Aguilar, one of the vendor’s at the Austin Witches Market, offers customers oracle readings and connects people with their spirit guides by working with deities, ancestors, and guardian angels through her business Runic Rose Oracle.
“It’s just been very accepting and loving, and I’ve noticed that that translates to the customers because they feel accepted…which is really important, especially if you’re navigating the spiritual journey,” Aguilar told MySA.
Amanda Aguilar, one of the vendor’s at the Austin Witches Market, offers customers oracle readings and connects people with their spirit guides by working with deities, ancestors, and guardian angels through her business Runic Rose Oracle.
“It’s just been very accepting and loving, and I’ve noticed that that translates to the customers because they feel accepted…which is really important, especially if you’re navigating the spiritual journey,” Aguilar told MySA.
Austin Witch Market vendor Tiffanie McKinnie and her son sell crocheted oddities from her shop Knoddities at the February 3 market. Emily Hernandez
Market vendor Tiffanie McKinnie sells handmade crocheted anatomical hearts, Baphomets, and cryptid lovies from her shop Knoddities. As both a Christian and a magic practitioner, she believes everyone is a witch in their own way.
“If people think that prayer isn’t a form of magic, I mean, come on!” McKinnie told MySA.
“You’re talking to a God and it magically somehow sends it up to him,” her son added.
Another witch who has sourced spell ingredients from the witch markets is FWW, who goes by her spiritual pseudonym. As someone who comes from a long line of witches, she feels the magic running through her veins daily.
“I try to live my life as acutely aware of the magic that is around us naturally,” she told MySA. “Even just this morning…I saw two hawks, which happen to be my spirit animals. Whenever I see a hawk, or especially a peregrine falcon, I know that it's going to be a good day.”
Market vendor Tiffanie McKinnie sells handmade crocheted anatomical hearts, Baphomets, and cryptid lovies from her shop Knoddities. As both a Christian and a magic practitioner, she believes everyone is a witch in their own way.
“If people think that prayer isn’t a form of magic, I mean, come on!” McKinnie told MySA.
“You’re talking to a God and it magically somehow sends it up to him,” her son added.
Another witch who has sourced spell ingredients from the witch markets is FWW, who goes by her spiritual pseudonym. As someone who comes from a long line of witches, she feels the magic running through her veins daily.
“I try to live my life as acutely aware of the magic that is around us naturally,” she told MySA. “Even just this morning…I saw two hawks, which happen to be my spirit animals. Whenever I see a hawk, or especially a peregrine falcon, I know that it's going to be a good day.”
Natural witch FWW sits on a couch in the community farmhouse at Green Gate Farms, where she lives in a tiny home agrihood.
Emily Hernandez
FWW describes herself as a natural witch who lives in a tiny home at Green Gate Farms agrihood— which is a residential neighborhood centered around community farming. Since moving to Austin in 2016, she feels like she finally has a place to put down roots and openly practice her craft in her witchy cottage. She also found that she has two familiars on the farm: the barn cat Millie and a gray kitten.
Growing up in Massachusetts, FWW said she couldn’t really come out of the “broom closet” because of close-minded attitudes about alternative spiritualities. However, she started her journey when she was 13 under the guidance of a magic practitioner she affectionately calls The Seeker. She recalls a time when he taught her how to summon air.
“I put my hands out, and I really felt it and summoned it. I watched this pile of leaves literally start to spin upward like this up to where my eyes were and then it went the opposite way down back,” FWW said. “I was sold immediately. I'm enjoying reliving it actually.”
Her daily rituals include meditation in her loft and grounding, which FWW describes as touching the earth and imagining that she is taking in energy she needs and pushing her roots deeper into the ground to solidify her connection with the earth.
“Depending on my mood, I will go full out and do the full circle and all the candles and all the chants and all the things,” FWW said. “And then other times when I'm doing spellwork, if I find a seed that lands in my hand, I'll put my intention into that and let it go to the wind and plant itself.”
For her, following a specific deity isn’t necessary to feel fulfilled as a witch.
“For certain days of the year (like) solstices and Sabbots, I will reach out to Goddess as a whole, and God as a whole, and then the Universal Spirit that comes around that,” FWW said. “I use the pantheons as a guide more so than worship. Because nature is the worship.”
Feb 25, 2024
By Emily Hernandez is a Dallas native who graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She covers trending news about the Capital City’s culture and beloved Austin staples. She has interned with The Daily Beast, The Texas Tribune, KUT News and the Austin American-Statesman, writing on topics ranging from the church of Scientology trying to silence rape victims to white nationalism within the 2022 Texas gubernatorial race.
FWW describes herself as a natural witch who lives in a tiny home at Green Gate Farms agrihood— which is a residential neighborhood centered around community farming. Since moving to Austin in 2016, she feels like she finally has a place to put down roots and openly practice her craft in her witchy cottage. She also found that she has two familiars on the farm: the barn cat Millie and a gray kitten.
Growing up in Massachusetts, FWW said she couldn’t really come out of the “broom closet” because of close-minded attitudes about alternative spiritualities. However, she started her journey when she was 13 under the guidance of a magic practitioner she affectionately calls The Seeker. She recalls a time when he taught her how to summon air.
“I put my hands out, and I really felt it and summoned it. I watched this pile of leaves literally start to spin upward like this up to where my eyes were and then it went the opposite way down back,” FWW said. “I was sold immediately. I'm enjoying reliving it actually.”
Her daily rituals include meditation in her loft and grounding, which FWW describes as touching the earth and imagining that she is taking in energy she needs and pushing her roots deeper into the ground to solidify her connection with the earth.
“Depending on my mood, I will go full out and do the full circle and all the candles and all the chants and all the things,” FWW said. “And then other times when I'm doing spellwork, if I find a seed that lands in my hand, I'll put my intention into that and let it go to the wind and plant itself.”
For her, following a specific deity isn’t necessary to feel fulfilled as a witch.
“For certain days of the year (like) solstices and Sabbots, I will reach out to Goddess as a whole, and God as a whole, and then the Universal Spirit that comes around that,” FWW said. “I use the pantheons as a guide more so than worship. Because nature is the worship.”
Feb 25, 2024
By Emily Hernandez is a Dallas native who graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She covers trending news about the Capital City’s culture and beloved Austin staples. She has interned with The Daily Beast, The Texas Tribune, KUT News and the Austin American-Statesman, writing on topics ranging from the church of Scientology trying to silence rape victims to white nationalism within the 2022 Texas gubernatorial race.
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