The Witchcraft Behind Asphalt Coven: Inspiration, Research, and a Whole Lot of Making Stuff Up
One of the questions I’ve been getting a lot since Asphalt Coven came out is: “How much of the witchcraft in the book is real?”
The honest answer? Some of it. And the rest I made up because it sounded cool.
But the real stuff gave me a foundation I’m genuinely proud of, and I thought it would be fun to pull back the curtain on where the magic in Asphalt Coven came from: the movies that inspired the vibe, the books I used for research, the real witchcraft traditions I borrowed from, and the parts where I just went full fiction goblin and invented whatever I wanted.
The Movies and Shows That Started It All
I can’t talk about writing a coven story without acknowledging the holy trinity of witchy media that lives rent-free in my brain.
The Craft (1996) was probably the single biggest tonal influence on Asphalt Coven. Four young women, outsiders and misfits, who discover real power together? That energy is baked into the DNA of this book. I loved how The Craft made witchcraft feel dangerous and seductive and messy, and I wanted my coven to have that same edge… that feeling of stumbling into something powerful before you’re ready for it. The difference is that my women aren’t teenagers. They’re adults with jobs and bills and ex-husbands, which makes the “what do we do with this power?” question hit differently.
Practical Magic (1998) gave me the found family blueprint. The Owens sisters, the aunts, that kitchen full of love and chaos; that’s the emotional core I was reaching for. I wanted readers to feel the warmth of Topaz’s messy apartment and pizza nights the same way they felt the warmth of the Owens house. The sisterhood in Practical Magic isn’t just about blood; it’s about showing up for each other. That’s everything Asphalt Coven is built on.
Charmed was my long-game inspiration. Three (eventually four) sisters discovering their powers, learning spells from a Book of Shadows, fighting evil together. Sound familiar? Charmed showed me how a coven story could sustain itself over time: the monster-of-the-week tension, the interpersonal drama, the gradual escalation of stakes. I especially loved how Charmed balanced the magical with the mundane. My characters still have to go to work and pay rent even after they discover they’re witches, and that contrast was something Charmed nailed.
The Books That Built the Magic System
Here’s where I have to be upfront: the magic system in Asphalt Coven is largely fictional. I invented the specifics of how my witches’ powers work, the elemental affinities, the way spells are structured, and most of the grimoire’s contents. But I didn’t invent it from nothing. I did my homework first, and then I took creative liberties. Lots of them.
Three books in particular shaped how I thought about witchcraft for this story:
The Beginner’s Guide to Practical Witchcraft by Lyra Blake was my starting point. It covers the history of witchcraft across different cultures, the tools practitioners use (athames, wands, chalices, crystals), and how rituals are structured. What I loved about this book was how it explained the why behind witchcraft practices; the intention and focus that makes ritual meaningful. That concept of intent being as important as the spell itself made it directly into Asphalt Coven. When Darby tells the coven “our intent is as important as the spell itself,” that came straight from my research.
The Green Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock was essential for Darby’s character specifically. Darby’s affinity is earth and plant magic, and Murphy-Hiscock’s book is all about the connection between witchcraft and the natural world: herbs, flowers, essential oils, and the energy of living things. The idea that a green witch draws power from the earth and feels a bond with every growing thing shaped how I wrote Darby’s magic. That scene where she walks through a park and suddenly feels every plant reaching toward her? That emotional connection to nature came from reading Murphy-Hiscock.
Hex-Proof by Selene Briar was my go-to for protection magic. Briar’s book focuses on warding, shielding, and spiritual self-defense, which became hugely important as my coven learns to protect themselves from the Torch Bearers. The concepts of salt circles, protective wards, and the idea that you can layer different types of magical protection, that all came from reading about real protection traditions. Of course, I then took those concepts and cranked them up to eleven with spell grenades and magical force fields, but the bones are real.
Real Tools, Real Herbs, Real Traditions
When Darby and the coven visit The Serpent’s Garden (the occult shop in the book), the supplies they buy are all based on real witchcraft tools and materials. I had a lot of fun researching what an actual practitioner’s shopping list might look like:
Athames are real ceremonial daggers used in witchcraft. Traditionally double-edged but unsharpened, used for directing energy rather than cutting. When Darby picks one with a moonstone in the pommel, that’s me having fun with the details, but the tool itself is legit.
Grimoires are real too; they’re personal books of spells, rituals, and magical knowledge. The concept of a Book of Shadows (which is basically a personal grimoire) has been part of Wiccan tradition since Gerald Gardner popularized it in the 1950s. I loved the idea of my coven finding an ancient grimoire with handwritten notes from previous witches, because that’s essentially what grimoires are: living documents passed down and added to over generations.
The herbs and materials the coven uses – frankincense, myrrh, mugwort, yarrow, rosemary, sea salt, black salt, selenite, clear quartz, moonstone, obsidian – all have real associations in witchcraft traditions. Frankincense for purification, black salt for protection and banishing, mugwort for divination, rosemary for cleansing. I tried to match the herbs to their traditional magical correspondences whenever possible, even when the spells themselves were invented.
Glamour spells, the illusion magic the coven uses to disguise their appearances, have roots in real folklore. In Celtic and fairy traditions, glamour referred to a type of enchantment that made things appear different than they really were. I took that concept and turned it into a practical spell my witches could cast on themselves, which was one of my favorite bits to write.
The Real History of Witch Balls
Okay, this is the part I’m most excited to talk about, because witch balls are real and their history is fascinating.
In Asphalt Coven, Darby discovers witch balls in the grimoire and uses them as vessels for protection wards; filling handblown glass spheres with magical energy that can trap hostile magic and deflect threats. She eventually turns them into something like spell grenades. That part? Totally made up. But the witch balls themselves are rooted in centuries of real folklore.
Witch balls are hollow spheres of blown glass that date back to at least the 17th century in England. They were hung in cottage windows to ward off evil spirits, witches’ spells, and bad luck. The folklore says that evil spirits would be attracted to the beauty of the swirling colors in the glass, and when they got close enough to touch the sphere, they’d be drawn inside and trapped in the delicate glass strands within, like a spider’s web catching flies. Once trapped, the spirits were supposedly dissolved by daylight.
Sound familiar? That’s almost exactly how Darby’s witch balls work in the book, except I replaced “evil spirits” with “hostile magic” and gave her the ability to actively weave magical containment structures inside the glass rather than relying on the strands alone.
Witch balls were especially popular with superstitious sailors and in coastal communities in England. They were traditionally green or blue, though they came in all sorts of beautiful swirling colors. The tradition traveled to New England with British colonists, and they remained popular well into the 19th and 20th centuries.
Here’s a fun fact: those silvery gazing balls you see in gardens today? They’re descended from witch balls. And some historians believe modern Christmas ornaments may trace their lineage back to witch balls too – decorative glass spheres hung in the home for protection that eventually became purely ornamental.
When I stumbled across witch ball history during my research, I immediately knew I wanted them in the book. The idea of these beautiful, fragile glass objects being vessels for powerful magic was too perfect to pass up. I just… gave them a significant upgrade.
The Parts I Completely Made Up
And now for the confession: most of the magic in Asphalt Coven is invented. The elemental affinity system – where each witch has a specific element she resonates with (earth, fire, air, water, electricity) – is fiction. Real witchcraft traditions do work with elements, but the idea that each witch is born with one specific elemental connection that defines her power is my invention.
The way spells work in the book, spoken incantations that channel magical energy, with glowing lights and visible force, is pure urban fantasy. Real witchcraft practitioners would probably laugh at the idea of green light shooting from an athame. (Or maybe they wouldn’t. I don’t know their lives.)
The coven bond – those golden threads of energy connecting the five witches – is fiction. The Torch Bearers as an organization are fiction (thankfully). The Michigan Conclave that shows up at the end? Fiction. The idea that witch magic is inherited through maternal bloodlines? A common fantasy trope, but not really how modern witchcraft works.
I wanted to be honest about this because I have a lot of respect for people who actually practice witchcraft. Asphalt Coven is entertainment. It borrows from real traditions, but it’s not a guide to actual practice, and I never wanted anyone to mistake my invented magic system for the real thing.
Want to Explore Real Witchcraft? Start Here
If reading Asphalt Coven made you curious about real witchcraft traditions, here are a few books I’d recommend. All of these are available on Kindle Unlimited:
- The Beginner’s Guide to Practical Witchcraft by Lyra Blake – The best starting point for absolute beginners. Covers history, tools, and basic practices.
- The Green Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock – Perfect if Darby’s plant magic resonated with you. All about nature-based witchcraft, herbs, and connecting with the earth.
- Hex-Proof by Selene Briar – If the protection magic and warding in the book intrigued you, this is your book. Practical, modern, and grounded.
- Wicca for Beginners by Lisa Chamberlain – Lisa has an enormous catalog of beginner-friendly Wicca guides on KU covering everything from candle magic to crystal spells to keeping your own Book of Shadows.
The Best Part of Research
Honestly, the research phase of writing Asphalt Coven was one of the most enjoyable parts of the whole process. There’s something deeply satisfying about falling down a rabbit hole of witch ball folklore, or reading about the magical properties of mugwort and thinking, “How can I use this in a scene?”
The challenge (and the fun) was always in the balance: taking enough from real traditions to make the world feel grounded and authentic, while giving myself permission to invent freely when the story needed it. Because at the end of the day, Asphalt Coven isn’t a book about real witchcraft. It’s a book about five women who find each other, find their power, and refuse to let anyone take either of those things away from them.
The magic just makes it more fun.