She turned back to her shelf, grabbing a half-empty bottle of cheap whiskey. She took a swig, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and belched loudly.

Mira stopped grinding. She looked at him. Her eyes were lined with smudged black kohl, and her hair was a tangled nest of dark curls held up with a sharpened pencil.

The primary hallmark of the Vulgar Witch is the democratization of the "sacred." While traditional occultism often demands specific, expensive tools—imported incense, hand-forged silver, or ancient grimoires—the Vulgar Witch works with what is at hand. Their altar might be a cluttered coffee table; their "incense" might be a cigarette or a stovetop pot of boiling vinegar.

Mira didn't have time for mortar and pestles made of polished marble. She used a coffee mug and the end of a heavy candlestick to crush the beetles into a fine powder.

Early lexicons of English slang from the 18th century often grouped "common" people and those labeled as witches together, documenting a culture that was considered "vulgar" by the elite.

She poured the sludge into a small, unassuming amber vial and corked it.