Well, as far as ‘catalysts’ go, you can use just about anything that helps you focus your intention. Convention would say anything you can definitavely point at something (daggers, wands, feathers, fingers, etc) but idk why you can’t just use whatever you’d like :) Witchcraft is pretty freeform and individual to what works for each witch in their practice. Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably trying to sell you something.

I definitely agree with you on combining science and magic/harmless superstition! There was a reddit community I really miss called r/SASSwitches that was all about that. SASS stands for Skeptical, Agnostic, and Science-Seeking, I believe. It still exists if you wanna check it out, I just don’t use reddit anymore. It was basically dedicated to all the really great evidence-based stuff you can find in witchy communities, like the power of ritual and meditation with intent, while nixing some of the more woo and out there stuff like minerals having inherent power. Nothing to knock those types of witches of course, that type of practice just isn’t for me.