Witchcraft Is A Skill: Reminders

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A diy pendulum paper I made to use until I get a board 🌿 my green witch heart is vibin

100 ways to incorporate magick in your daily life. 

I understand that these are not exactly all witchy but this is about intergreting your everyday life in your practice and appreciating as well as finding magick in the most mundane and simple things that we often miss out on. ♡

1. When you wake up, before grabbing your phone or getting out of bed, take a few seconds to breathe, and stretch all your limbs.

2. Say ‘’thank you’’ to your god/goddess/deity, or simply to acknowledge how lucky you are to live another day.

3. Open the window regardless of the weather and take a big breath of fresh air. This will not only cleanse the room but also your body. 

4. If it’s raining outside or snowing, take a minute to admire the beauty of it. 

5. Pick wildflowers (please don’t pick any endangered flowers or toxic ones, do your research).

6. Dry said wildflowers and put them in your Book of Shadows or any book or journal you are using.

7. Go for a walk in nature during the day and during the night as well. 

8. Sunbathe.

9. Moonbathe.

10. Light lots of candles.

11. If your room needs a cleaning, try to make your own household products naturally using your favorite scents and clean your room with them. 

12. Change your bed sheets and pillowcases.

13. If you have a clothing line, hang your clothes, blankets, sheets, comforters, pillowcases, underwear outside. Visualize the wind cleansing them. 

14. Grow your own favorite herbs. 

15. Buy a succulent. 

16. Dry your herbs and save them for bath magick, spells, teas or rituals. 

17. Sweep the floor and visualize yourself sweeping off all negativity out of the room. 

18. Sprinkle sea salt over areas that you feel have a negative energy to purify them.

19. Make your own purifying/cleansing spray. 

20. Take a hot, soothing bath. I am a sea witch so I find this particularly helpful when I miss the ocean/the beach. (Don’t forget to add herbs, essential oils, sea salt, flowers, crystals, or anything that has magickal properties for a magickal bath)

21. Sip a cup of your favorite herbal tea.

22. For kitchen witches, try brewing your own tea, and cooking meals with intention and magickal ingredients.

23. Make charm bags. 

24. Water your herb garden by hand. 

25. Show the people you love that you love them.

26. Show some love to your pets and spend a few extra minutes with them. 

27. Light up your favorite incense.

28. Keep a small bag of your favorite herb (for example: lavender) in a drawer, so when you feel stressed, just pop the bag open for a deep breath of calming aromatherapy. 

29. When you take a shower, visualize the water neutralizing your energy and washing off all the bad stuff. 

30. Bless your morning coffee or tea.

31. Keep a daily journal, whether it’s a Book of Shadows, a daily planner/organizer or a dream journal. 

32. If you wanna be low-key and discrete about your craft, draw small sigils all over everything. Your school notebooks, pencil cases, journals, shoes, etc. 

33. Read lots of books about magick and form your own opinion/path/views/beliefs.

34. If you read fictional stories, allow yourself to get lost in them and let your mind wander and escape. 

35. Put on your favorite clothes, makeup, shoes, or whatever little thing that makes you feel fabulous, even if you’re staying in. 

36. Be proud of your body.

37. Practice self-care.

38. Take time to unplug and spend time with yourself. (that includes smartphones, iPads, laptops, tablets, desktops, and all electronics/little gadgets we lug around on a daily basis.)

39. Go to the beach

40. Go to the forest.

41. Go to the desert. 

42. Go to the mountains. 

43. If it’s warm outside, make a bonfire and admire the flames. If it’s winter and you have a fireplace, light it up. 

44. Go somewhere you’ve never visited before. 

45. Go camping if you can, by yourself or with friends. 

46. Stargaze.

47. Breathe.

48. Dance.

49. Dance in the rain.

50. Sing.

51. Go outside in a snowstorm (but don’t drive and most importantly know if it’s safe or not. Be careful.)

52. Plant a vegetable garden, even if it’s just a pot of tomatoes. 

53. Walk barefoot and feel the earth under your feet.

54. Pull weeds.

55. Adopt an animal from the shelter.

56. Practice yoga.

57. Eat healthy, but if you wanna eat that last piece of cake, do it. Life is short.

58. Exercise.

59. Start a new hobby.

60. Mix your own perfume.

61.Make your own candle.

62. Make your own essential oil.

63. Make your own soap. 

64. Lay down and listen to your favorite music. (Mine is video game music, it’s just soothing for me.

65. Take a day just for you without answering the phone.

66. Pick dandelions and make a wish.

67. Carry crystals/stones with your in your pocket. 

68. Learn how to do tarot readings.

69. Collect rain, sun, snow water.

70. Plant lavender or rosemary for protection and luck. 

71. Bless your kitchen utensils, such as spatulas and wooden spoons, that all the food you make with them will promote healing and love. 

72. Charge your crystals under the full moon. 

73. Have tantric sex with a loving partner. 

74. Carve sigils into the sand at the beach and let the tides release them into the universe.

75. Re-arrange your altar. 

76. Keep track of your sleep and menstrual cycles and moods to see how the moon phases affect you.

77. Be open minded to the retrogrades.

78. Go outside on any phase of the moon and take in all its beauty. 

79. Keep your pendulum with you as a necklace so you’re always ready to do a little scrying. 

80. Burn sage or cedar first thing in the morning to start your day off fresh.

81. Look for constellations and learn them. 

82. Paint sigils on your mailbox.

83. Hang wood chimes, or a silver bell on your front door knob for luck.

84. Tuck a sprig of lavender under your pillow before bed to promote peaceful sleep. 

85. Watch a meteor shower with someone you care about.

86. Buy new candles. 

87. Water your plants in your garden counterclockwise to banish negativity from the space.

88. Paint your nails a color associated with the intention of your spell or ritual before you begin so that your hands become your wand. 

89. Plant red geraniums by your front door as this is a traditional sign of witches.

90. Bless more than water and crystals on the night of the full moon: set out your essential oils, nail polish, or a special bottle of champagne too. 

91. Dry your vegetables or plants and incorporate them into a charm bag. 

92. Wash your windows with moon water for extra clarity.

93. Use sun water when you brew tea for a magickal experience. 

94. Stir sugar into your tea or coffee with intention, willing sweetness into your day and life. 

95. Draw sigils or write a brief protection spell on the inside of your dog or cat’s collar.

96. Soak in a milk bath (or just soak your fingers in a bowl of warm milk) on the full moon to embrace the feminine energy. Plus you’ll come away with silky, soft skin. 

97.Hang up palmistry and astrology charts in your home for easy reference and pretty, witchy decor. 

98. Line your windowsills with protective crystals. 

99. Make censing sticks for the seasons, using chamomile buds for spring, lavender for summer, sage for fall and pine for winter. 

100. Just be you and love yourself. Don’t forget you are made of stardust. You are magickal and amazing.

Four beginner witch tips that ~aren’t~ basic

If you can’t get a lot of candles to seal your spell jars, melt crayons and use them! They’re wax as well and believe you me, it works. (Lowkey this tip has been saving my life)

Warding doesn’t have to be complex- tape up sigils around your space, draw an evil eye talisman, sprinkle around some salt, whatever.

Your grimoire can be whatever you want it to be. I tried to have a journal grimoire, but now I’m switching to a typed grimoire and a separate BOS which i’ll transition into two binders. (This is going to cure my scatterbrain)

Sigils can be whatever you want them to be as well. Decorate them, make them gorgeous and intricate, make them look like doodles, whatever you want. Sigils are an expression of your personal intention

If this post does well I can do a part 2! Comment your beginner witch tips!

Blessed be!

Witch Tip:

Get a copy of the map of your area. Not a country map, a state map, or even a county map. Your area. You can print off a Google map if a commercial version isn't available.

Take the map with you everywhere you go. Make notes on it of things you notice - does one area feel different to you? Does a tree live among many dead ones? Do you see the same cat sitting on the same fence post at the same time every morning? Where do bees live? What crossroads catch your eye? Is there a cemetary?

Once you've filled the map with your observations, keep it in your grimoire for reference.

Ground yourself.

Here are some super easy grounding methods : 

Drink some strong herbal tea.

Eat some raw, organic fruits and veggies.

Take a long bath with some bath salts, herbs and oils.

Carry a grounding crystal on you, cleanse it beforehand.

Walk barefoot in the garden or at the local park.

Bury your feet in the ground and meditate.

Drum or dance, anything with good rhythm.

Practice yoga or tai chi.

Do any of these when you’re feeling drained.

3 : The Empress

🌕 Nurturing, harmony, the start of something great

🌑 Dependence, stagnation, loss of unity

Gentle witch little things

Simple things you can do to bring more love and positivity into the world:

enchant the bus or train you’re on, so that everybody has a pleasant day or a safe travel home

paint protective sigils in the misty windows of buses or shops when it rains, and leave words of encouragement and praise on public bathrooms’ mirrors

bless passing ambulances and firefighter trucks with speed and safety for their patients/destination

wear an enchanted lipstick/gloss for your smile to brighten the day of everybody you meet

enchant your spare change so that it gives luck to the beggars you donate it to; they need it, don’t they?

actually, just enchant your money, so that retail and low-wage workers can have a better day when they serve you

leave blessed acorns and harmless trinkets in various places like buses or waiting rooms; give other people something to wonder about and make their day, and kids an item to roll in their hands mindlessly

bless food and leave it for stray animals; let birds be messangers of hope and miraclous event for everybody that sees them

whisper encouragement to trees and grass you pass by; let them know someone cares, someone sees their beauty, and awaits their bloom

smile at children and pets; provide them with the positive energy that the world is trying to kill in them

leave motivational notes, praise and silly drawings charged with love and hope on post-it notes as you go; they can brighten the day of those that find them

Fighting Consumerism in Magic

aka, little things to distance your craft from capitalism

Let’s all just admit that buying stuff is fun. That said, there’s a big issue of consumerism within the witchy/pagan scene. As magic work and the pagan “aesthetic” becomes more of a commodity in the mainstream, there’s a mounting attitude of needing All The Items in the highest quality (even if we’re not certain we’ll use them,) and big corporations mass-producing cheap stuff to make a buck off of a growing trend. Here’s some things you can do to help detach your practice from that and support other people in the craft:

Go outside. Check your backyard or local park for local plant life, waters, roots, etc. If your work involves things from nature at all, you can probably find a lot of your supplies… in nature. It takes a little more time, but it’s free and then you’ve gathered stuff yourself! 

Make stuff. This one is pretty straightforward. There may be key items to your practice that you can make yourself instead of buying it! That said, I know sometimes spending money is inevitable so I won’t dwell too much on this… let’s talk more about shopping:

Shop mindfully. The price of a lot of items will skyrocket once it has a pentacle or other symbol engraved on it. For example, little mortars and pestles can be very pricey in witchy shops, but you could probably get a bigger one that’s actually food safe for less at a nice grocery store. Antique stores and international markets are now your new best friends.

Support small businesses! Things are cheaper on Amazon, but the extra money goes to support real people, likely other practitioners. If you can, supporting small, local, independent shopkeepers and crafters does a ton of good. It also helps build and sustain a local community. 

Shop based on need. Don’t get something “just in case” (unless it’s banishing or hex breaking stuff; those are decent to have on hand.) It’s tempting to impulse-buy a ton of niche items and ingredients, but unless you have a reasonable idea what you’re going to use them for in the near future, it’ll probably just create clutter for you to deal with later.

Prioritize effectiveness over aesthetic. Ultimately your practice has to work for you, not just look good. I think making your work aesthetically pleasing to yourself can be an important part of really connecting with what you’re doing, but don’t make that desire burn a hole in your wallet and distract you from what brought you to this path in the first place. Altar envy is a real thing. 

Recycle/Upcycle. Use old clothing fabric for an altar cloth. That old trinket dish makes a great offering dish. Enchant jewelry you already own. That jar of strawberry jelly you just finished off will work just fine for that spell. Things can be re-purposed and made into new things.

Analyze your offerings. Special occasion wine isn’t a special occasion if you do it every time. Not every offering needs to be a grand gesture, regular maintenance is more important generally.

Organize trades. Have any pals that also practice? See if you can help each other! You could trade different goods (that old mini cauldron you bought and never used for that abandoned tarot deck, maybe?) but also services. A protection spell for a luck charm. A reading for a reading. You help them with the laundry and they cook you a meal one day. 

As always, the goal is to foster a local community of individuals doing honest work, and shedding the consumerist mindset society taught us to make us spend more money. Take up the idea that you can do magic completely on your own with what you already around you, and if you do want to spend money, see if you can do it in a way that helps the world a tiny bit.  :) 

Kitchen Witchin’

Kitchen witchery evolved from the ancient concept of the hearth as the sacred center of the home. In the ancient world the hearth, the place where food was prepared and warmth was created, had great importance and was treated with reverence. Humans have always inherently understood that the kitchen is a special place where magic happens.

For modern witches, the kitchen is a great place for everyday magic. Here are a few ways you can infuse some magic into your food.

Magical Cooking Techniques

Begin by taking a moment to clear your mind and focus your energy. Just like any other magical activity, kitchen magic is best performed in a focused, spiritual headspace. This doesn’t have to be anything elaborate (although, if you want to cook with incense and candles burning, more power to you). It can be as simple as taking a moment to close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and focus on your intention.

Set the mood. One of the simplest ways to put magic into your food is to infuse a dish with a certain energy or emotion. Let’s say you want to make a dish infused with the energy of happiness, so that everyone who eats it gets a little bit of those good vibes. The easiest way to do this is by making sure you’re happy when you cook it! Put on music that makes you feel happy, dance around your kitchen, and pour all of that happy energy into the food as you prepare it.

Enchant your ingredients. You may choose to layer ingredients with different magical purposes in order to create a stronger spell. For example, if you’re making a meal infused with protection magic, you might include some ingredients for physical protection, some for strength, and some for mental clarity. You can accomplish this by enchanting each ingredient individually as you add it to the food. Your enchantment can be as simple as thanking the spirit of the item, and asking to help you accomplish [insert intention here] in your spell.

Use numerology. Numerology is the idea that numbers have an inherent spiritual nature. There are many different systems of numerology, so it’s important to use what makes the most sense to you — this includes bringing in your own associations for numbers! You can use numerology in your cooking by adding a certain number of an ingredient based on that number’s magical value. For example, I might add nine shakes of salt to symbolize completion and the granting of wishes, or add three bay leaves to symbolize creativity and collaboration. Just make sure you’re not adding so much of an ingredient that it overpowers the other flavors in the dish!

Stir ingredients clockwise to bring blessings or counterclockwise to send away unwanted energy. This comes from an old Irish tradition that states that moving “sunwise” (clockwise) brings blessings while moving against the sun (counterclockwise) brings curses or banishes something. When you’re mixing your food, stir it clockwise to bring in desired energies, like love, joy, or peace. Stir it counterclockwise to cast out undesired energies, like sickness or stress.

Draw or carve sacred symbols on your food. I talked about runes and sigils at length in my last post so I won’t repeat myself here, but you can also use magical symbols in kitchen magic! You can carve runes or sigils into vegetables and charge them before slicing them up, use your spoon to trace them in the surface of a soup as you stir it, or draw the symbols in the air over your food before you serve it. If you’re drawing a symbol with a name, you should speak the name out loud or in your mind as you draw it. If you’re drawing a sigil, speak the intention behind that sigil out loud or in your mind. These symbols are like batteries for magical power, so they’re a great way to add a boost to your kitchen magic.

Use blessed water. If you make moon water during the full moon, try adding a few drops of it to the next thing you cook and see how much more energized you feel after eating it! Making moon water is an easy way to get blessed water, since all it requires is leaving a jug of water out under the full moon, but there are other kinds of blessed water you can use as well. Some Catholics sprinkle holy water (water that has been blessed by a priest) into their food or drink. You can create your own “holy water” by speaking a blessing over a jug of water — it can be a general blessing for peace and good fortune, or can be more specific based on your intent. You can also use water that has been infused with edible plants based on their magical associations, but this will of course change the flavor of your food.

Speak an incantation. The spoken word is a powerful source of magic. Write an incantation or statement of intention based on what you want to accomplish with this magical food. Speak this incantation aloud at some point during the cooking process — I like to say it when I’m mixing all the ingredients together. This can be as simple as, “May [insert food here] bring me [insert benefit here],” or can be long and elaborate. If there are words from another source, like a poem or song lyrics, that feel like they fit your intention, you should absolutely feel free to use them as your incantation.

Pray over your food. Saying grace before a meal is another way of blessing it. You don’t have to pray to a certain deity or higher power. Instead, you could simply thank the spirits of the plants and animals that died so that you could be fed, or you could thank the planet for providing this nourishment to you. Of course, if you do want to pray to a higher power and thank them for the food, that’s also a great way to bless your meal!

Magical Correspondences for Some Staple Foods

Another way to do kitchen magic is to work with the correspondences of your ingredients. Here’s a quick correspondence guide for some staple ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.

Grains and breads correspond to abundance, health, and security. Historically, these foods were associated with the autumn harvest, and they are still sacred to harvest deities. Bread is a common offering to house spirits and to gods of hearth and home.

Milk, cheese, and dairy correspond to the nurturing aspect of motherhood, love, sustenance, and abundance. Cows are sacred in some cultures, such as in Ancient Ireland, where offering someone milk was a form of blessing.

Eggs correspond to fertility, hidden mysteries, and the feminine principle. In several different folk magic traditions, such as those of Appalachian America and of Italy, eggs are used to detect or remove curses.

Salt corresponds to protection and purity, and can be used for grounding. Salt is useful for banishing unwanted energies, as well as for putting up protective barriers. Blessed salt has many uses in magical rituals and in a magical kitchen.

Rice corresponds to money, good luck, and fertility. You might be familiar with the tradition of throwing rice at weddings — this is a good example of rice’s magic associations. Rice also absorbs negativity and, like salt, it can be used for protection.

Onions corresponds to healing, prosperity, and protection. Onions are said to prevent and dispel illness, and are sometimes associated with love and lust.

Garlic has similar associations to onion, but is also strongly connected with protection, banishing, and curse-breaking. I add garlic to all of my protection and uncrossing spells, and it can also be handy for banishing unwanted spirits.

Sugar corresponds to love, affection, and attraction. Sugar is used in American folk magic to “sweeten” situations, making them more favorable. It can also be used to attract positive energy or positive outcomes.

Honey corresponds to health, happiness, love, wisdom, and stability. Like sugar, honey can be used to sweeten a situation or to attract positive energy. Some witches believe that honey works slower than sugar, but brings longer lasting results.

Vanilla corresponds to love, romance, and sensuality. It’s also a very comforting scent, and I’ve even seen one author claim that the smell repels negative spirits (although I’ve never used it for this purpose). Vanilla is perfect any time you want to conjure love, whether it’s self-love or love between people.

Hopefully, this list gives you some ideas for magical recipes. For example, if you want to conjure luck and abundance, you could make a risotto (a rice dish) with lots of Parmesan cheese, butter, garlic, and basil (not listed in this post, but strongly associated with wealth). If you want to create a stronger sense of self-love, you could make vanilla cookies with sugar and honey. If you need to kick a common cold, a soup with lots of onions and garlic will probably do the trick. You get the idea.

Make sure that the magical food you prepare is actually something you’ll want to eat! Just because an ingredient works with your intention doesn’t mean you should always include it. If you hate vanilla, you shouldn’t add it to your love brownies. Leave things out or make substitutions to ensure that you enjoy eating the finished product.

On a related note, you can substitute vegan products for milk, cheese, eggs, etc. but the magical correspondences won’t be exactly the same. Almond milk, for example, has the magical associations of almonds (prosperity and wisdom). This is similar, but not quite the same, as the correspondences for cow’s milk. Likewise, soy milk, coconut milk, and oat milk all have their own correspondences that will affect the energy of your spell. If you plan to keep your magical kitchen vegan, it’s a good idea to look up the magical uses of the plants your food is made from and use those as a guideline, rather than just substituting coconut milk for cow’s milk and expecting the exact same result.

Resources:

Wicca: Kitchen Witchery by Lisa Chamberlain

A Green Witch’s Cupboard by Deborah J. Martin

Where the Hawthorn Grows, Brigid: Meeting the Celtic Goddess of Poetry, Forge, and Healing Well, and The Morrigan: Meeting the Great Queens by Morgan Daimler

Utterly Wicked by Dorothy Morrison