If you are new to Wicca and/or spellcraft, there are a few things you will want to have when you go to work at your altar. First and foremost is openness and a sense of deep curiosity. Second, a basic understanding of cause and effect. Thirdly, a notebook or other record-keeping system will be extremely helpful.
Beyond that, it’s all window dressing or assistive tools. If you are working or training in a specific system or Tradition, you will have additional physical items, most likely, but those will be defined by the approach you choose to follow.
Having tools and needing tools are different things. Look at it this way: to make pasta you can buy a $300 pasta-making machine, put eggs, flour, and oil in it, and get out pasta. Nice tool. Alternatively, you can pour out flour on a surface, add eggs and oil, mix with your hands, and shape the pasta manually. EITHER WAY, YOU GET FED. Same with spellcraft. Tools may HELP, but it’s the witch that makes the magic. Try to not get too hung up on the aesthetic.
As an aside, I want to address the conflation of Wicca and spellcraft: they are separate practices that are often worked together but are not mutually exclusive. One can practice Wicca without spellcraft and spellcraft without Wicca. Many current sources conflate Wicca (a specific subset of pagan practices) with Witchcraft (a subset of magical practices) and while the history and evolution of both are intertwined in many ways, they are not one and the same.
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