Tips & Tricks to Survive the Broom Closet: Those who hide their true magickal identities from friends & family are known as dwellers in "the broom closet". Many who work with magick and witchcraft feel the need to constantly hide their practices, of...
I'm sorry if some are a bit obvious or "duh I knew that!" but these are my rules for staying in the broom closet. Try to follow all of them all of the time!
Rule 11 has saved me more times than I'd like to admit!
1. Prepare everything in advance. Anything you do, plan ahead. Look for when you'll be alone, look for opportunities to get ingredients, etc.
2. After you're finished, make sure everything is back the way it was as soon as possible. Tidy up everything as soon as you are finished.
3. Make sure you have valid excuses for things. i.e. for collecting crystals, say you really like geology or it was for a chemistry project but you got hooked? If you put your crystals out on the windowsill to cleanse in moonlight, say you moved them in order to clean dust off them. If you want to wear a pentacle as a symbol of your faith, say you're a Supernatural or Mortal Instruments fan (their logos are pentacles). It helps to have a genuine interest in science, space and the solar system, so no one bats an eyelid when you're keeping up with the moon phase or planet positioning. It also helps to have a genuine interest in ancient mythology. Read the Percy Jackson series, and watch the Thor movies to make it look like you got into Greek and Norse mythology that way. Edit 26/3/19: I've recently discovered that an interest in DnD (dungeons & dragons) can be a valid excuse for looking into spells, mythical creatures, etc. Being a fan of Harry Potter can also help when someone asks why you're looking at spells and incantations, and some of the merchandise can double up as witchy tools.
4. Hide everything, and change the hiding spot at regular intervals. This applies to your digital resources too. If your BoS is on your computer, keep a separate folder for it. I choose to save it in a folder on Desktop, and I don't have Desktop items showing (this is so it doesn't show up when I browse my Documents folder, in case someone is looking over the shoulder). Obviously, save this folder's name as something inconspicuous, like "Homework", "Other", "Photos" etc. Save the actual document's name as something inconspicuous too, I just have mine as "BoS".
5. Backup everything. Have a digital version of your BoS in case the physical one is found (or don't have a physical one). If you have a digital version, make sure you have backups of it on an external hard drive, USB, or a cloud.
6. Use incognito mode for anything occult/magick related. It's best to keep a non-incognito mode window open simultaneously that has YouTube or something open so you can flick to it quickly (Use Alt + Tab). You can also click the bottom right hand side of the screen which immediately minimises everything. Using incog mode means that no trace is left behind of you doing anything, so if your computer breaks, has a virus, or you have nosy relatives, you don't have to worry about someone reading your internet history.
7. Make sure you keep up appearances with your family and have a good relationship with them. In other words, act like everything is normal and do mundane things regularly. This is a given, you should have good relationships with your family anyway. But because you're in the broom closet, it's even more important to keep up good relationships with your family so they'll be more tolerant in case they accidentally find out, or when you decide to come out of the closet.
8. Try to read ebooks rather than physical books. Physical books are harder to hide. I definitely recommend reading actual published books because they are the least likely to contain fraudulent information, but please try to find the ebook versions of them. In the previous part of this BoS, I have listed a few links to ebooks I've found that you can read for free. It's also worth having a look for a book on www.pdfdrive.com or https://b-ok.cc before considering buying the physical book.
9. Try to only use temporary altars. If you have a permanent one, make sure it just looks like a decorative shelf and not an altar, if that makes sense. See the pic below for ideas:
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If you have a temporary altar set up, try to put it in a place in your room not many people go to, and a place that isn't visible when people walk by with the door open. If you have to leave the altar unattended, cover it with a piece of dark/grey clothing like a hoodie and arrange it so it looks like it was just dumped there. You'll be surprised how no one notices a hoodie lying around randomly.
10. Try to keep your time away from a temporary altar at a minimum. You never know when someone is going to use the room it's in. If you must leave it unattended, always cover it with something.
11. When you're doing a Tarot spread, or any form of divination, always take a picture of the result on your phone as soon as you've laid the cards out, then you can pack them away and analyse the cards on your phone. This minimises the total time the cards have to be out for. This way, if someone walks in on you, your cards will already be put away and you don't worry about forgetting which card was where.
12. If you cleanse your crystals by moonlight, only select a few to cleanse at a time. When your collection grows large, putting them all out in the moonlight can look really suspicious. Luckily, the moon's light can cleanse and charge for 3 days (a day before the full moon, and a day after) so you can have time to cleanse most, if not all, of your crystals over 3 days.
13. If you cleanse your crystals by moonlight, get up early in the morning to pack them away before someone enters the room. This is a good practice anyway, since sunlight can fade crystals like amethyst.
14. Keep your room tidy. It's a good habit to get into regardless, but it also deters other people (i.e. parents) from coming in your room to clean up and thus minimises chances of them finding your magickal stuff.
15. When viewing something occultist on a computer/mobile device, keep the screen's brightness as low as possible (or buy a privacy screen protector). This means people usually can't see what you're reading if they're more than a metre away, or looking at the screen from an angle. It also saves battery life! You can buy 'privacy screen protectors' for phone, tablets, and laptops that make it impossible for anyone to see what you're looking at unless directly in front of the screen.
16. Tell no one of your magickal studies, even if you trust them. Unless they themselves also study magick, I suggest you don't tell anyone.
17. If you hide something under your pillow, don't forget it's there. Remove it as soon as possible; hiding stuff under your pillow is not a good permanent solution.
18. Keep the most valuable things in a bag and have it on you at all times. Keep the things that you can't obtain easily in secret/hidden pockets. People are less likely to be able to snoop around your things if they're on you all the time.
19. Thrift stores/Charity shops/Antique shops are your friend. Always shop in thrift stores whenever you can.
If you have any additional rules for staying in The Broom Closet, please tell me and I'll add them to the list!
I also have Broom Closet Tips scattered throughout this BoS.
