In the fifteen months since this blog began, I have had the pleasure of reviewing several books on an array of Pagan, witchy, wellness, and history related topics.

Writing each of those posts and sharing my thoughts on various titles with all of you has been a wonderful joy.

However, no book review post shared here thus far has been quite as meaningful, happy, or exciting an experience as this entry.

The Modern Witch’s Guide to Magickal Self-Care was penned by my dear friend and fellow witch, Tenae Stewart.

I had been reading Tenae’s blog (The Witch of Lupine Hollow) for quite some when our paths first directly crossed on Instagram a few years ago.

Aside from being passionate witches with a desire to support others in their own magickal journeys, Tenae and I quickly discovered that we had much in common (including, under different circumstances, both losing homes in devastating fires).

A friendship struck up quickly and for a time, I had the pleasure and honour of being a guest writer for Tenae’s site.

As Tenae’s focus shifted somewhat online, that position ceased organically. Happily, our friendship only continued to flourish and when Tenae shared with me that she would be writing her first book, I was elated for (and very proud of) her.

Released in the autumn of 2020, Tenae’s inaugural book is a beautiful, insightful, and highly informative journey into the connections and overlap inherent to the realms of self-care and witchery/spirituality/magick.

Self-care is a topic that is very near and dear to Tenae’s heart and which she had been writing about online for some time prior to this book’s release.

To my mind, she was a truly natural fit for a book like this. The end result (which I will review here before sharing ten interview questions that I recently asked to Tenae) is a by far one of the most helpful and engaging on the market today about this important area of wellness.

Book Specs:

Name: The Modern Witch’s Guide to Magickal Self-Care: 36 Sustainable Rituals for Nourishing Your Mind, Body, and Intuition

Author: Tenae Stewart

Page count: 240

Publisher: Skyhorse

Binding: Hardcover

A welcoming, knowledgeable exploration of Magickal Self-Care

Before I hop into discussing The Modern Witch’s Guide to Magickal Self-Care, I want to emphatically state that my friendship with Tenae did not in any way influence my review or the rating I assigned to this book.

Nor did the fact that I had the honour of being asked to read this book before it went to print and, in turn, to pen one of the review statements provided on the back of The Modern Witch’s Guide to Magickal Self-Care.

Rest assured that no matter if someone is a total stranger, a close friend, or anywhere in between, I will always provide wholly unbiased and honest reviews.

One of the first thoughts that struck me when I finished reading The Modern Witch’s Guide to Magickal Self-Care was how it was hard to believe that this title is “just” 240 pages long.

Let me be clear, I am saying that as a very positive thing.

This book, which is divided into ten different chapters, is solidly packed with insight, guidance, support, journaling prompts (such as those pictured below), and a vast array of knowledge pertaining to spirituality and self-care.

While Tenae is a fellow witch and this book has definite witchy/Pagan currents running throughout its whole. However, I did not feel that it was glaringly or overpoweringly witchy to the point of not being of potential interest and benefit to those who may be more broadly spiritual or who beliefs lie elsewhere.

In The Modern Witch’s Guide to Magickal Self-Care, Tenae guides readers through some of the steps they may wish to take as they start (or deepen) their self-care practice.

Rituals and spellwork, astrology, divination, nature (including the phases of the moon), The Wheel of the Year, and kitchen witchery are amongst suggested ways to embrace self-care in your daily life.

The magickal self-care methods set forth in this book are not overly complex or challenging. They have a friendly, approachable, down-to-earth quality that makes them both accessible and appealing.

Tenae encourages readers to take inspiration, if so desired, from her suggestions, but encourages us to create our own unique and highly meaningful spiritual self-care practices.

And not only that, but she acknowledges that life is not always sunshine and roses and that, sometimes, it can be downright difficult (if not impossible) to make self-care and/or our spirituality the number one priority in our life.

This is something I feel witchcraft/Pagan authors sometimes fail to address in their books, which can then have a tendency to make it seem as though most witches spend unending amounts of time fully immersed in the witchiest of activities ever invented, rarely if ever putting the wand and herb jars down.

In reality, this simply is not true for most folks. By addressing the fact that we will have off days, down times, rough patches, and hardships to handle in life our lives, Tenae’s suggestions and guidance become all the more grounded in both real-world flexibility and practicality.  

Her tone is wise and empathetic, understanding and supportive. At times Tenae shares elements of her own life and spiritual path to highlight the self-care approaches she lays out.

Much as with the gorgeous colour photos of Tenae herself that are peppered throughout this book, so too are these intimate connections with the author a welcome and inspiring element of The Modern Witch’s Guide to Self-Care.

How The Modern Witch’s Guide to Magickal Self-Care rates with me

Self-care is something that I believe in deeply and happily promote whenever possible.

I am no stranger to books on self-care, be they of the magickal/witchy or more mainstream variety and have read quite a few titles in this field over the years.

The Modern Witch’s Guide to Magickal Self-Care stands out amongst the pack.

Approachable and teeming with diverse, inspiring, genuinely useful ideas to help you build your magickal self-care practice, this book stepped up to the plate and hit a home run straight out of the ballpark.

If self-care as it pertains to your spirituality, or really, even just in general, is something that you make a point of focusing on or want to become better-aquainted with, I highly recommend picking up a copy of The Modern Witch’s Guide to Magickal Self-Care.

I’ve read this book three times already, taking Tenae’s well-informed insight and handy suggestions to heart each time I connect with this title, and am sure I will continue to revisit The Modern Witch’s Guide to Magickal Self-Care often in the months and years to come.

Working on a scale of 1 – 5, with five being the highest possible rating, I would give The Modern Witch’s Guide to Magickal Self-Care 5 stars out of 5.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Interview with witchy author, spiritual coach, and self-care expert Tenae Stewart

Recently, I posed ten interview questions pertaining to the topics covered in The Modern Witch’s Guide to Magickal Self-Care with Tenae.

Her answers, much like her book itself, abound with terrific insight and attainability and drive home all the more why Tenae is one of modern witchcraft’s brightest leading lights.

In your own words, could you please describe who you are, a bit about the path that led you to witchery, what areas of witchery/Paganism you are currently focused on, and the witchcraft-related world that you’re built online?

My name is Tenae Stewart and I’m a practicing cottage witch, an astrologer, a spiritual coach, and a published author.

I started practicing witchcraft about ten years ago, although I had been interested and read a lot about it before that. My magick has always been very grounded in the seasons and moon phases, but as a cottage witch, the center of my practice is my home, sanctuary, and sacred space.

Creating spaces that feel magickal, that honor the seasons, and that express who I am is a cornerstone of my witchcraft and self-care practices.

I also work with astrology, tea and herbalism, oracle cards, spirit guides, and a few other modalities of magick and healing. 

In my work, I help modern witches embody simplicity in their magick, rituals and self-care practices so they can create rituals that fit effortlessly into their real, daily lives. I really believe that when we can simplify our practices and focus on what is most fulfilling to us, that we can have the magickal experiences all the time that many of us desire – and that we deserve.

Time, space, and energy are major obstacles to many witches who wish they could practice more consistently and confidently. I help them find the time and space within their real lives to have that, without sacrificing any of their obligations.

I work with modern witches on many different aspects of their practices but the core of what I do is focused on the seasons, moon phases, and astrology, as well as intuitive practices like dream work and divination.

When did you really start to make self-care a key component of your life and magickal journey? 

I think that it always was, although I didn’t really have those words to describe it until the past few years. But the key moment was after I lost my home in a wildfire in late 2015.

I had actually not been practicing witchcraft for about two years at that time, as I had given it up when I transferred to university, thinking I no longer had the time or energy to practice, (something I hear so often from my clients and community).

But after the fire I realized that I really needed that spiritual anchor once more and that I needed a soft, supportive, nourishing practice to carry me through the grief and trauma I was navigating at that time. That was when I recommitted to my path, reclaimed my inner witch, and started on the path that led me to doing this professionally.

To your mind, what are the core pillars of a successful self-care practice? 

I work with five essential core pillars of a magickal self-care practice, what I call the Pillars of Divinity because they incorporate elements of both the divine masculine and divine feminine. These pillars are the mind, body, intuition, nature, and devotion and they’re designed to help us create self-care practices that are holistic and that nurture all aspects of ourselves.

A well-rounded practice includes elements that nourish our mind and mental health as well as our physical body, which are both sometimes left out of spiritual practices. Simultaneously, it also includes practices that help us connect with our intuition, (which might be divination, dream work, meditation, etc), and that help us connect with nature through the seasons, herbalism, getting outside, etc.

Finally, one of the most important elements is devotion which is where we reflect on what matters most to us in life and in our spirituality and then be sure we are taking regular, intentional action on those things. This might be the worship of a deity, which is what a lot of people think of when they hear devotion, but it might also be health, self-love, activism, a relationship, or anything else that really lights you up. 

I also believe that shadow work is an essential component of both magick and self-care and always recommend witches start there when beginning a new practice or ritual!

Astrology is very near and dear to your heart, and it figures extensively throughout your book. Is there anything pertaining to self-care/self-love and astrology that you’d like to share here, which did not appear in the book?

I did touch on this in the book but it’s always worth emphasizing – one of the most important parts of your chart for understanding your self-care needs is the moon.

Your sun sign is the sign you probably know easily off the top of your head and it is an important part of who you are – in fact, it’s the source of your joy and that makes it an important part of your self-care too. But the moon represents your inner self, the part of you that you don’t always share with others and that can feel very personal and private.

Understanding the sign and house that your moon activates will help you create a self-care practice that is deeply nourishing, not just surface level. 

Why do you think that some people have an aversion to the concept of self-care? Do you feel that, as you touched on in the book, a modern sort of “bubble bath” mindset that the media has perpetuated in regard to self-care is part of the reason why self-care is off-putting or seen as too “woo-wooish” to some folks?

I actually think that the “bubble bath” mindset has made self-care somewhat appealing to the general public but less so in spiritual communities because it seems surface level or inauthentic. Sometimes in the spiritual community, whether that’s specifically witchcraft or more “woo” in general, we have a tendency to think that if it’s not deep, dark shadow work or an outright confrontation of society, that it’s not worth doing.

There has been a big backlash in recent years against the “love and light” folks who have committed some really rampant and harmful spiritual bypassing. And it is true that just taking a bubble bath is not going to solve anything in the larger scheme, nor is it necessarily inherently magickal.

However, I do think that there is a balance to be struck – as long as we are also doing the shadow work and taking the bigger actions, then pampering our bodies and finding truly deep relaxation are going to support those larger goals as well. 

In your book, you often address those who are newer to self-care and/or may be struggling on this front (and/or with their spirituality in general). This is awesome, of course, and will be of help to many people. What advice or suggestions would you give, however, to someone who is a self-care veteran and who is presently doing great from a spiritual standpoint? 

This is a great question! I think that we have a tendency as self-care veterans or as advanced practitioners of witchcraft to think that we always need to be learning and growing and, of course, there is some truth to that.

It’s important to always be learning new things and not to get stagnant. And yet, I think there has been a bit of a capitalist infiltration of our thought process in this way, because if things are going great, we don’t always know how to believe or accept that. We both doubt ourselves and our own fulfillment and think we always need to be productive.

I know that when my rituals have been at a place where I’m being super consistent with them and they feel really inspiring, sometimes I don’t really know what to do with myself because I think I need to be always figuring something out.

So for those who are veterans and who do feel great about their spiritual and/or self-care practices, I would encourage you to really revel in it – relax into the peace instead of trying to fight it. There will always be time to shift and learn something new in the future!

While your book has not been out for very long yet, a tremendous amount has changed in the world since its publication. If you were writing the book today, in the midst of the pandemic, would have changed anything or included information that isn’t present in this edition? 

Yes, I finished the manuscript just a few weeks before the pandemic lockdowns began in my area, so the book really is not informed by the current state of the world. Although, I do think the timing of its release could not have been more serendipitous with so many people in need of more self-care and mental and emotional support than ever.

I don’t think I would have changed anything, per se, but if I were writing the book now, I would certainly speak to the added challenges of shared spaces, isolation, and how those things can shape and influence both our need for and ability to practice self-care. 

And to that end, what advice would you give to fellow witches and spiritually focused individuals in general as we continue to face this ongoing global challenge? 

The biggest thing is just that we need to continue to be gentle with ourselves, to remember that we are living in unprecedented times, as much as we are all a bit sick of hearing that.

Our self-care is extra important right now but sometimes it’s also self-care to skip your rituals for a week and to just forgive yourself for needing that time and space. 

Where do you see the field, so to speak, of self-care going in the next five years? What about in twenty-five years from now?

I think we’re going to continue to see a lot of growth and focus on self-care, especially as we begin to emerge from the pandemic, with all the conversations going on right now about maybe continuing to work remotely and the changing landscape of work and healthcare.

I think we’ll see more and more intimate opportunities to connect with one another and to nurture ourselves socially, as we’ve all seen how detrimental isolation can be, even when it’s absolutely necessary.

Twenty-five years from now… if we continue on the trajectory of the last five years, I think we could see self-care, spirituality, and intuitive work taking the center stage alongside traditional mental and physical healthcare, especially for women+ and femmes. 

Can you share five simple, effective things with us that most people could do right now to incorporate more self-care into their daily lives?

1. Reflection. We cannot create effective practices unless we know what is currently working for us and what is NOT. 

2. Light a candle. Candlelight adds so much magick and softness to any ritual, no matter how small. 

3. Look up at the moon. An awareness of the cycles of the seasons and the moon phases is an ancient, natural way of tracking our own cycles. Looking up at the moon and noting what phase she’s in is such a powerful way to also check in with yourself. 

4. Track your time. Knowing how long it actually takes you to get ready in the morning or how you can best utilize your lunch break, for example, is so helpful in creating practices that fit into those in-between moments in our lives. 

5. Plan for changes. No one practice is going to be effective forever. Plan to adapt your rituals and practices on at least a seasonal basis, even if they seem perfect right now – things change! 

Thank you very much for sharing your time, insight, and magick with us, Tenae. The spiritual community is blessed to have you and your work in our midst.

If you would like to get to Tenae further or to work with her in a professional capacity, you can connect with her via:

–Website: The Witch of Lupine Hollow

–Podcast: Empowered Modern Witches Show

–Instagram

–Pinterest

–The Empowered Modern Witches Facebook Group

And, as a final and very exciting note to cap off this book review + author interview post with, my heart is once against overflowing with happiness as I share with you that Tenae will be writing a second book.

The Modern Witch’s Guide to Natural Magick is slated for release in the spring of 2022.

Rest assured, dear readers, that you can bank on me – a devoted practitioner of nature magick – being amongst the first in line to read and, hopefully, review this title as well.

I can hardly wait!

Have you read The Modern Witch’s Guide to Magickal Self-Care? How does self-care factor into your spiritual path?

The post Author Interview and Book Review: The Modern Witch’s Guide to Magickal Self-Care by Tenae Stewart appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

“There are only four kinds of people in the world. Those who have been caregivers. Those who are currently caregivers. Those who will be caregivers, and those who will need a caregiver.” – Rosalynn Carter

These words – succinct and starkly true – spoken by a former First Lady touch on a subject that many of us will have firsthand experience throughout our lifetime.

I’ve worn the shoes of each of these four roles at various points in my own life and I know that I am far from alone on that front. A good number of us are in one or more of those very roles at any given moment.

No matter how fiercely independent and self-reliant I am, as a multiple severe chronic illness warrior (a topic that I touched on recently in my detailed post Tips on How to Handle Social Isolation from a Long-Time Multi-Chronic Illness Fighter), there is always a degree of needing a caregiver involved in my own life.

To what extent that need exists has varied and changed many times over the years, but it is ever-present and I am profoundly grateful to those special, compassionate souls in my life who are able to provide me with assistance, support, understanding and care.

I’ve also had quite a few times when I myself was also a caregiver. It’s a position I’ve been experiencing again recently, as my husband has been contending with some serious health issues of his own pertaining to his kidney health.

In February, he underwent an emergency operation in Vancouver that left him virtually bedridden for quite some time, followed by another surgical procedure for the same issue a few weeks later at a hospital closer to where we live here in the interior of British Columbia (our small town itself does not have a hospital).

Tending to my honey is a meaningful honour and something I do with a heart full of love and every ounce of energy I can devote to this important job. However, be it nursing Tony or anyone else that I’ve looked after throughout my life, I know firsthand how difficult being a carer can become and the toll it can easily create on those in this rewarding, yet often challenging, position.

In this post, we’re going to explore self-care tips for caregivers coupled with some magickally and spiritually centered ideas for those who take it upon themselves to look after others in this capacity.

What is a caregiver?

While it would be easy for me to wax poetically about what it means to be a caregiver and how we shine our light, love, energy upon those we are deeply connected to, for now, I will get down to brass tacks and give you a more prosaic definition.

When we’re speaking in terms of nonprofessional and (often) unpaid individuals, a caregiver is a person who provides care for another human or animal (today’s post will focus on carers who tend to other people, though the same points largely apply to those looking after the health and well-being of animals).

There are countless possible scenarios in which one may become a caregiver and nearly as many different people that may be in need a carer themselves.

Some of the most common people that others (again, in a non-professional capacity) care for include:

-Infants and children

-Life partners and spouses

-Parents

-Grandparents

-Siblings

-Other relatives

-Close friends

Generally speaking, individuals who are not paid for the care that they provide are referred to as family caregivers or informal caregivers.

I’m not too keen, literal though it may be, on the latter term though, as I feel the word “informal” somewhat invalidates or diminishes the time, energy, effort, work, emotional, physical, and mental impact involved with caring for another person. As such, I will not be using that term from this point onward.

How many people are caregivers?

Globally, that is next to impossible to determine, but it’s safe to say that the number is sizable. A 2013 Pew Research study found that 36% of US adults provided unpaid care to others in the previous year.

With an ever-increasingly larger number of people above the age of 50, there is a high probability that we’ll a continued rise in this number throughout not only America but in many other parts of the world as well.

Who can be a caregiver?

The answer to this question is not as straightforward as it may seem on the surface.

While research shows that the highest percentage of caregivers are women, those of all genders can – and do – take on this role as well. Being a carer is by no means the exclusive domain of women.

Sometimes people volunteer to be caregivers, at other times, this position may be thrust upon them – potentially out of the blue (for example, if a loved one suddenly developed a serious medical problem, was in an accident, or while they’re recovering from surgery).

Unplanned or unexpected caregiving can be especially tough, at least initially, but all caregiving comes with challenges both for the patient and the carer alike.

Many people find caregiving, including unpaid caregiving, to be a rewarding and beautiful act, but that doesn’t mean it can’t simultaneously be difficult, stressful, demanding, exhausting, and life-changing.

Going into the myriad of potential challenges that being a caregiver can entail – from potentially needing to take time off from (or even quite) one’s job to managing another’s finances to providing hands-on medical treatment is beyond the scope of this post.

However, I want to acknowledge the incredible, compassionate work of those who are currently, previously have been, or may become carers in the future.

While looking after someone briefly may not be the toughest thing you’ll ever do, longer, more serious care may very well be one the most challenging and difficult roles you will ever take on in your lifetime.

It can feel and/or be thankless at times. If no one has said a heartfelt thank to you lately for your hard work and compassion, please accept a very sincere one from me here today.

Casual or part-time vs full-time caregiver

As these terms imply, being a casual or part-time caregiver usually means that this role is not an all-consuming, around the clock activity for you. While you may be someone’s ongoing carer for a long period of time, doing so is generally not something you focus primarily all day every day.

Fulltime caregivers generally provide extensive care on daily (or nearly so) basis, often for multiple hours of the day – if not throughout the entire day itself. This role can, and often does, become a full-time job with little to no monetary compensation.

Both part-time and full-time caregiving can be demanding and take similar tolls on those involved in this loving act, but those who are fulltime carers may, naturally, be at an even greater risk for experiencing health issues of their own as a result of caring so extensively for one or more people in their lives.

What is caregiver stress?

Even people who have a natural affinity for nursing, looking after, and otherwise tending to the needs of others are, at the end of the day, only human and like all humans, are apt to experience a limit to what they’re able to reasonably handle and cope with.

Caregiver stress – which, especially if it becomes an ongoing part of one’s life may be called caregiver stress syndrome – is characterized by extreme exhaustion that may lead to burnout.

This exhaustion can be physical, emotional, mental, and even spiritual. It may lead the carer to shift too much of their attention toward the person (or people) that they’re looking after and in turn neglect their own fundamentally important health and well-being.

Feeling overwhelmed, overworked, overburdened, extremely drained, pulled too much in multiple directions at the same time, unnerved, anxious, depressed, upset, frustrated, irritable, scared, alone, helpless, worrisomely uncertain, or stretched too thin are amongst other common signs of caregiver stress.

As well, some people may struggle to admit that they feel these kinds of ways and/or to reach out and ask for help in their role as a carer. This only stands to amply the issue and may lead to a person hitting the dangerous point of burnout even more quickly.

It is not uncommon for caregivers to develop new health problems of their own and/or to have existing medical issues flare-up, worsen, or otherwise become more problematic.

In many instances, caregiver stress can be managed and reduced when it is acknowledged, addressed and dealt with in a frank and open way.

Yet even when this is done, caregiver stress can still be a substantial ongoing challenge and one that carers and their loved ones need to be mindful of and routinely tackle headfirst as much as is realistically possible.

The suggestions that follow in this post are some ways that may help to counterbalance, at least to a degree, the very real impact of caregiver stress and burnout.

What are the signs of caregiver stress?

On top of those just mentioned, the following are some of the signs that a person may be experiencing caregiver stress.

-Cognitive difficulties including, but not limited to, experiencing brain fog, short-term memory troubles, having a hard time concentrating or remembering information, difficulty focusing, and struggling to multi-task as effectively as you could prior to becoming a caregiver.

-Changes in mood and state of mental health (depression and anxiety are both common amongst caregivers and may themselves help contribute to serious medical problems such as stroke and heart disease), including mood swings, crying more often or more easily than usual, and difficulty moderating one’s temper or other strong emotional states.

-An overwhelming and/or frequent sense of helplessness, uncertainty, and/or isolation brought on from the act of being a caregiver.

-Changes in sleep habits, particularly in terms of insomnia, nightmares, and broken or restless sleep. Live-in caregivers or those who look after people during the night may find that their sleep quality is poor and sleep itself sporadic, particularly if they wake up to tend to the needs of the person they’re caring for.

-Decreased immune system health. Weakened immune systems are a well-established hallmark amongst many caregivers. This is largely due to the impact that focusing so much of one’s energy, strength, thought, and emotional resources on another has on the human body.

-Changes in eating habits, including overeating, undereating, stress eating, or the development (or worsening of existing) eating disorders.

-Excessive or abusive use of alcohol, prescription or illegal drugs.

-Engaging in, or thinking excessively about, self-harm or harming others.

-Putting your own well-being and needs on the backburner all the time, possibly with associated feelings of resentment, frustration, anger, sadness, anxiety and/or depression stemming from doing so.

-Withdrawing from your usual actives, passions, hobbies, and social activities either due to extreme exhaustion, your own medical reasons, or feeling that you simply cannot leave the person you’re caring for in order to take some immensely needed time to focus on your own health and well-being.

-Feeling like you’ve lost (or are losing) control over your own life and (possibly) not knowing when or how you’ll regain control again.

-An increase in headaches, high blood pressure, colds, flues, other viruses, and spikes in existing medical conditions, often brought on due to a weakened immune system, serious fatigue, poor sleep and/or diet, stress, and mental health concerns.

Naturally, these symptoms can be caused by a wide host of sources as well, but if you’ve started to experience them or are experiencing them more severely since you became a carer, it may be possible that they’re the result of caregiver stress syndrome.

Seek medical help and address these serious health concerns as quickly as possible. It is dangerously easy for carers to soon find themselves in need of being cared for if they aren’t proactive in terms of taking care of their own health and well-being.

Is caregiver stress the same thing as caregiver burnout?

Full-on caregiver burnout often means that a person has reached a point where they are no longer able to care for someone else and potentially may struggle to meet their own basic care needs.

It is extreme form of caregiver stress and one that is apt to require some serious recovery in order to hopefully regain a greater sense of health, wellness, balance, emotional wellbeing, and positive feelings in one’s life again.

Ideally, caregiver stress should be minimized as much as is realistically possible and caregiver burnout should try to be avoided in every safe way possible.

If it does occur, it needs to be addressed and properly managed as swiftly as can be – especially is serious mental health challenges, such as severe anxiety and/or depression are involved.

Taking care of another person’s life should not put your own in jeopardy, no matter how much you love and want the best for that individual.

Please note: I am not a medical professional. If stress or burnout of any kind is a serious issue in your life, please seek advice and support from a doctor or other trained medical professional.

Ways to help manage caregiver stress

-Accept that no person is an island unto themselves and that we all need help, support, and encouragement at times. If your family and loved ones are not able to provide this, for whatever reason(s), speak to a medical professional, join a community support group for caregivers, seek support from those in your coven (or circle, grove, etc) if you belong to one, and/or, if financially possible, hire a professional health care worker to periodically look after the person you’re caring so that you can get a vitally needed break.

-Acknowledge and allow yourself to feel proud of your accomplishments and the hard work you’re doing as a caregiver. If needed or desired, write own three or more compliments to yourself and read or speak them aloud multiple times until you feel the impact and truth of their words.

-Shift the focus onto what you are able to accomplish instead of focusing (excessively) on what you may not be able to do or feel that you’re not doing well enough. If possible, delegate some of the areas that you’re struggling with, unable to do, or not able to do as much as you’d ideally like to one or more people. This can help you a lot because it means you’ve still addressed the situation, you’re just not the person who is actually carrying out the activity in question.

-Be kind to yourself and do all that you realistically can to take care of yourself, including eating healthily when possible, spending time outside, exercising (if feasible), engaging in calming activities, giving yourself well deserved chunks of “me time” on a regular basis, engaging in low-stress hobbies, and keeping in mind that, at the end of the day, we’re all human and that means none of us is perfect or immune to stress.

-Find and use, when possible, medical aids and supplies that help make things easier for both yourself and the person you’re looking after. It’s just amazing what alleviating or reducing a few caregiving challenges can do for the psyche, emotional and physical well-being of both parties.

-Do not lose complete touch with your usual social circles and activities. Let others, when appropriate, know about what you’re going through and why you may not be as present or active as usual due to the fact that you’re currently a caregiver.

–Connect with other family caregivers. Chances are plenty of people have been in, or may currently be in, similar situations to your own. Even if they haven’t, they may be able to relate broadly to the difficulties, stresses, concerns, challenges, and heartaches of being a caregiver.

Sometimes just having someone say that they sincerely understand your situation, as they provide a compassionate ear, can make a world of difference, restore some of your hope and energy alike, and give you the strength to keep going when things get extra rocky.

-Set realistic short, medium, and long-term goals for both the care of the person (or people) you’re looking after and yourself.

-Keep lists, update them as often, and consider periodically providing yourself with small rewards for completing a predetermined number of entries on your lists. This could include things like an hour of “do whatever you want online” time, getting a manicure, taking a hike, going to the movies, or, if possible, sleeping in on a non-workday, for example.

–Ensure that your own health does not fall completely to the wayside. Try to keep up with – or establish a new – healthy living routine, see your doctor regularly, exercise and eat cleanly when possible, get as much sleep as you can (easier said than done, believe me, I know!), make time to focus on serene activities, and try to find ways to engage with your spirituality on a regular basis.

-Knowledge is power and empowerment alike. Research, though, ideally, not to the point of obsessively, the health challenges of the person that you’re providing care for.

Read relevant books and magazines, visit blogs and websites on the topic, join Facebook groups, follow relevant hashtags on social media, follow boards and create your own on Pinterest pertaining to the health issues at hand, talk to experts in the field, and fellow caregivers of others with the same or similar health challenges – as well as other patients themselves.

-If possible, discuss your concerns in a caring, nonjudgmental or hypercritical way with the person you’re looking after. Naturally, this is not always feasible.

Infants, children, those who are unable to speak, sign or otherwise verbalize; people with memory loss, some brain injury patients, and others who are not able to currently carry out a responsive conversation or who are too young to be put in the position to address and respond to adult concerns will not likely be able to do so, of course.

People who were caring and loving before their health challenges arose or got worse may still be the same way now and as much as you’re worrying and stressing about them, they may similarly be concerned for you.

If you feel doing is appropriate, talk to the person you’re looking after, express some of your inner feelings and worries, and work together to come up with viable ways to address and tackle the points that you’ve just chatted about.

-Utilize some of the terrific self-care apps that currently exist, such as those on this list of 16 caregiver apps you should use in 2020.

-Accept help from others who offer it. Assuming the person in question is competent and realistically able to provide help in a way that is suitable for you and the person you’re looking after, jump at the offer. We all need breaks, days off, and a helping hand sometimes.

Though modern society in many parts of the world no longer operates on a small tribe, community or extended family basis of individuals who support one another and share the collective load of managing life’s many needs, some of us are blessed to still have one or more people in our lives who want to help us and who may offer (or say yes, if asked) to step in and shoulder some of the work involved with being a caregiver.

Keep in mind that help doesn’t have to necessarily mean that the other person looks after the individual you’re caring for. Help can come in many different and diverse forms.

It could mean someone prepares a week’s worth of meals for you, walks your dog, cleans your health, picks up the kids from school, gives you a reiki session or massage, offers to be your workout buddy, lets you know when they’re going to the grocery store and asks if they can pick anything up for you while they are there, makes you a care package, send you a “thinking of you” or “just because” card or gift, cut your grass, babysits for a few hours so that you can have some massively needed downtime, picks up your dry cleaning, wraps your holiday season gifts, drives you to and from place of residence of the person you’re looking after, or any number of other compassionate, thoughtful gestures.

-Accept and address the fact that if and when the time comes that you are no longer a caregiver, you will likely need to go through a period of adjustment, healing, connecting all the more with yourself again, and possibly grief, too (especially if the person you’ve been looking after has passed on).

-Establish a healthy self-care routine that you assess and adjust as needed on a regular basis.

What is self-care?

Though the precise specifics of what constitutes self-care will vary to a degree from one person to the next, broadly speaking, self-care means that you consciously acknowledge what you need on physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels in order to be as happy and healthy in realistically feasible ways and that you make focusing on those things a priority in your daily life.

Self-care asks that we each take charge of our own well-being as best we can. That we own our limits, make ourselves priorities, and learn to feel less negative about focusing on ourselves and what we require in order to feel positive about who we are and how we function in this world.

It is safe to say that self-care does not come naturally to everyone and even when elements of self-care are intuitive, we do not always choose to listen to what our inner dialogue is telling us we need.

Self-care invites us to make ourselves a priority, to address when we need a break or some help or simply a bit of time to ourselves.

As well, self-care is about empowerment and autonomy. The more we are able to be responsible for our own well-being and happiness, the greater quality of life we stand to experience and the less we’re apt to see ourselves as being helpless, not in control of our lives, or as victims of our circumstances.

While self-care has become something of a hashtag and buzzword de jour and not everyone shares the same opinions on what it entails and means (which is 100% okay, of course!), at the end of the day, no matter who you are, what your spiritual journey entails, and what elements comprise your daily life, we all need to look after ourselves in various ways.

Whether you choose to call this self-care or not is up to you personally. Just, I implore you, please make sure that you do take time to focus on your well-being on a regular basis. To honour your spirit, to heal, to recharge, to be calm and centered, and to make yourself as much of a priority as you would you most treasured loved one.

Self-care for caregivers

There are many different ways to practice healthy self-care. While we all share certain universal needs in order to stay alive and as healthy as possible (e.g., clean water, enough food, adequate sleep), what constitutes effective self-care can vary from person-to-person.

In this instance, we’re focusing on approaches that may be realistically doable for some caregivers. I acknowledge and understand that the complexities, difficulties and realities of self-care at the best of times, let alone when has taken on the role of being somebody else’s caregiver.

Please be kind and compassionate to yourself. Look for small, meaningful ways to fit self-care into your day (objectively, many of us could get in more self-care if we cut down on the amount of time we spend most days watching TV and being on our phones, tablets, and computers).

Aim to be at peace with the fact that your self-care routine does not need to look like anyone else’s and that you do not have to justify or explain your approach to self-care (assuming it is legal and does not harm yourself or others).

Experiment, find what presently works for you, routinely update your self-care regiment, and try not to obsess too much about self-care as that can quickly become counterproductive to what you set out to accomplish in the first place.

And remember that self-care is a bit like one of those trifold mirrors with a larger central panel that is flanked by separate, often smaller, panels on both the left and the right sides.

Self-care – can reflect and address certain elements of our past, it focuses substantially on the present, and it helps to set us up in a stronger, better equipped, more positive way for what lies ahead in the ethers of tomorrow.

-Listen closely to what your body is telling you that it needs. Sleep, more (or less) food, fresh air, medical care, more time to rest throughout the day, a chance to finally do yoga or read again for the first time in weeks or months?

If you don’t listen to the whispers, chances are they’ll grow louder and louder until they’re full-on screams that may prevent you from going about your normal daily routine until they’ve been addressed – or worst still, potentially until you’re rundown, sick, or genuinely burnt out.

-Make sure you stay hydrated. Simple as it may sound, drinking adequate amounts of water and other healthy beverages (e.g., green tea) is a key component to one’s overall health and well-being, while also supporting daily energy levels, gut health, and the condition of your skin.

-Engage in mindful breath awareness for 5 – 10+ minutes daily.

-Laughter really is an amazing medicine and it’s a wonderful component of self-care to boot. Letting yourself laugh, smile, and feel positive – even if those feelings are fairly short-lived – can have glowingly lovely impacts on our psyches, emotions, and daily lives.

Watch funny movies and TV shows, follow some humorous blogs, Facebook groups or Twitter feeds; catch a live comedy show, play humour based board games, call up a friend or relative and relive a funny event from the past, read a book of jokes – you name it! Smiles and laughter are the aim, how you get to that point is up to you.

-Relax, unwind, and help to combat stress by listening to guided meditations (apps such as Calm are wonderful for this), ASMR (which abounds on YouTube and can be found elsewhere online, too, including on the Tingles app), and soothing music.

-Get creative! You don’t have to sew the biggest quilt, paint the most impressive picture, or carve a stunning sculpture to connect with your artistic and creative sides. There are countless ways to practice mindful creativity, from adult colouring books to rock painting, whipping up paper flowers to baking, macramé to jewelry making.

Being creative is liberating for the soul and mind alike. It allows us to experience the process of birthing something new into being, lets us channel our energy and focus onto a positive and rewarding task, and is, hopefully, just plain fun.

-Put together a playlist of music that helps to foster positive moods, aids you to unwind or sleep, or conversely, pumps up your energy. Edit periodically, if needed, and don’t be shy about updating it either.

-Attend to your personal care and hygiene needs. When you’re in the throes of looking after others, it can be really easy to let these areas slide onto the backburner. They’re important though, no two ways about it, and can help you to feel more like your usual self.

-Just say no! So many of us – myself included – often struggle when it comes to saying no to other peoples’ requests at the best of times. If we’re already stretched thin, taking care of ourselves, our families, and one or more ailing loved ones, chances are we don’t have a lot of free time or energy.

Learning to say no in a straightforward, cordial way to requests that we can (realistically) turn down without feeling guilty about doing so is one of the most incredible, liberating, and empowering acts we can do for ourselves and our loved ones alike.

The challenges of being an empathic caregiver

I want to take a few moments to address the fact that those who identify as empaths, HSPs (Highly Sensitive People), Earth Angels, and other forms of extremely sensitive, compassionate, and caring people may experience their own added challenges when they take on the role of being a caregiver.

Empaths generally feel the pain, stress, emotions, fears, anxieties, and stresses of those we encounter in even the most casual of settings and relationships.

When we’re caring for someone that we hold especially dear to our hearts, these feelings are often amplified all the more and they can quickly and easily become profoundly overwhelming or all-consuming for the highly sensitive individual.

We have an innate desire to help, support, care for and look after those in need, in pain, and who are struggling in any way. Often, we want to alleviate someone’s suffering completely (or as much as possible).

The fact of that matter is, however, that frequently the kind of medical challenges that require a caregiver are beyond what even the most empathic of empaths to ever walk the earth is possible of alleviating from another person and this point can cause us great internal strife, stress and difficulty.

As well, medical settings such as hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, and doctor’s offices that not only have patients who are battling health issues in them at present, but which also house the lingering energy and emotions of scores of past patients, can be staggeringly challenging for empaths at times.

I am an empath myself and I always engage in serious shielding, grounding, and releasing work whenever I visit such a setting, whether I was there for the sake of my own health or someone else’s.

On top of the suggestions laid out in this post, it is vital that empaths routinely create shields and barriers of pure white light or energy around themselves, that they take time to ground and decompress at least once a day (if not more so), that they set boundaries for themselves with the person or people they’re caring for, that they allow themselves to feel and experience the full extent of their own emotions, that they ensure they have someone or someplace (e.g., a journal) to express their own feelings and thoughts in, and that they not be afraid to ask for help or time off, when needed, from their role of caring for another person.

Magickal approaches and handy tips for caregivers

Up until now, a lot of what this post has focused on has been quite broad and applicable to most of the general population.

As I know many of my readers are fellow witches, Pagans and similarly spiritually focused individuals, I’m going to share some of my top tips and magickal ideas for caregivers.

-Listen to your intuition. This is sound advice at all times, but when you’re in the position of being a caregiver, it can become all the more important because that wise inner voice may be telling you things not only about what you and your own body needs, but what the person you’re caring for requires as well.

I am not, in any way, suggesting that you go against doctor’s orders or decide to get all Florence Nightingale on things if you’re not a health care professional. Not in the slightest. I simply mean that sometimes our intuition will help to guide us as we care for others, aiding us in anticipating needs, reminding us of critical information, and supporting us as we make a wide array of decisions – not all of which will be a cakewalk – throughout the course of our time as a caregiver.

-Cleanse yourself, both literally and spiritually, on a regular basis. It is darn near impossible to be around anyone who is unwell in any capacity and not absorb at least a degree of the strong, often emotionally charged energy that they are giving off. You need to part ways with that in order to help keep your own spirit strong and healthy.

Smudging, cleaning baths and showers, moonlight cleanses, anointing yourself with charged (skin safe) oils, energy healing, and mindful chanting or drumming to help free stagnant and negative energy are just some of the ways to achieve personal cleansing.

-Start and actively use a gratitude jar. I firmly believe that gratitude is a worthwhile and beneficial aspect of life at all times, both when the chips are up and down alike. So often when things are getting extra rough, stressful or challenging, it can be easy to forget to give heartfelt thanks for the positive in our lives, as the negatives or problems often seem to overshadow them.

In reality, most of us have countless things to be grateful for. It can do our minds, hearts and souls a world of good to take the time on a regular basis to acknowledge those points that we gladly give sincere thanks for.

If a gratitude jar isn’t your cup of tea, try a gratitude journal instead, or simply make a point of giving thanks aloud (or in focused thought) to the universe, Spirit, any gods and/or goddesses you work with, or anything else that feels right to your path.

Cultivating gratitude and opting to look at life with an appreciative heart is, I firmly believe, one of the best gifts we can ever give ourselves.

-Create an altar, or devote space on an existing altar, that focuses on healing, hope, positivity, strength, and both life and death. While, hopefully, the latter will not come calling anytime soon, the reality is that death is a natural part of the cycle of existence for us all and it need not be seen as the ultimate fear or end to everything. The more comfortable one becomes with death, the easier it may be to accept when it does occur to someone we care about.

-(Yet, by the same token, try to… ) Do things that foster life. When you’re routinely focused on serious medical issues – be they your own or someone else’s – it can sometimes feel like life has gotten stagnant or worse, as though we only see the dark sides of existence.

Yet life, in the broader sense at least, continually renews itself in countless ways and the energy of these new starts and vibrant existences is a mighty force in our witchy self-care arsenal.

This could be anything from tending to verdant houseplants to watching for baby birds or other animals throughout the year, spending time on activities that benefit your health to launching a new project, blog, side hustle, community group or anything else that fills your spirit with that unmistakable thrill of life and the possibility of what tomorrow holds in store.

-Perform health positive magick for the person you’re a caregiver to. Magickal workings pertaining to health and healing are highly personal areas. I am a firm believer in keeping things relatively general on this front in most cases, unless someone has specifically asked you to perform a particular working on their behalf.

When such is not the case, I focus on workings that ask for the best health and least pain/suffering/discomfort possible.

While I do think that there is merit to healing magick, I tread lightly here as I know firsthand that there are innumerable medical issues that are extremely unlikely to vanish solely on the basis of even the most potent magick.

The last thing I’d ever want was to create false hope in either myself or, moreover, the person I was preforming the working for by claiming healing magick could miraculously cure or alleviate a serious medical issue (because, the fact of the matter is, that’s unlikely to happen in a lot of cases).

-Work with crystals that promote healing, serenity, rebalancing, strength, and stamina. Many different crystals and stones fit this bill, but broadly speaking, some strong picks across these different areas include clear quartz, rose quartz, angel aura quartz, celestine, turquoise, pink calcite, amethyst, blue lace agate, jasper, pyrite, selenite, citrine, desert rose, black tourmaline, larimar, and danburite.

-If you look after someone in a different location than your own home, consider carrying a small travel altar with you to work with when feasible. If you’re away from your house and usual sacred space for a good chunk of the day, a travel altar can be a wonderful and fulfilling way to connect with your spirituality and to possibly perform certain types of magickal workings.

Remember that anything you bring with you is apt to pick up energy from the environment, so be sure to cleanse, bless and charge your travel altar (and/or anything else of a magickal nature that comes with you) on a frequent basis.

-Work with your ancestors. A lot of the time, when we’re providing caregiving to others, it is focused on a member of our family (biological or self-formed). Who better to call on for support, guidance, love, and external energy than our ancestors?

Do not worry if you don’t have a family tree so chocked full of names that you know it could give Queen Elizabeth’s a run for its money. Whether we know our ancestors’ names or not, they know ours and you can connect with them all the same by calling forth those who came before you by words such as “my ancestors” or “the ancestors”.

Sometimes, you may find that in doing so names are presented to you in various ways. It’s okay if they are not, so long as you still feel or sense the energy of their presence, you can often work effectively with the departed.

-Nourish yourself with kitchen magick. Energy depletion is a very real component of being a caregiver. One way to help replenish some of what we lose is through the food we eat and the beverage we drink on a daily basis. By making kitchen magick a part of our meal preparation, we can help to recharge both or physical and spiritual energy levels at the same time.

-Share your concerns, fears, and other emotions with nature. While talking to humans is undoubtedly important and I’m not suggesting that nature alone could meet all of the ingrained needs that most of us have for person-to-person interactions, you might just be amazed by how incredibly empowering, uplifting, and beneficial it can be to speak openly about what you’re going through and feeling at the moment with nature.

While you can do so in a generalized way while outdoors, you may prefer to direct your conversation towards a particular facet of nature, such as the moon, a visible planet, a particular tree (possibly one with ties to healing or serenity), a beloved flower bush, a hearty herb plant, a favourite boulder, a meandering river, the sand on a beach, or another natural setting that feels right to you.

When you’ve shared all that you have to say with this natural setting and allowed yourself to experience the range of thoughts and emotions that doing so may have brought for (as well as any reply impressions or signs that you receive in turn), give heartfelt thanks to the area for listening to you and consider leaving an offering in the process (such as lovely stone, leaf, piece of fruit, or feather).

-Ground often. And speaking of nature, for the love of all that is magickal, if you’re caring for someone else and absorbing their energy, you will want to try to ground on a very frequent basis.

Grounding means to release negative or otherwise undesirable energy from your own body and soul into the earth, which is believed to be able to absorb and dispel this energy easily and effectively.

There are numerous ways to ground, but one of the most straightforward and commonly practiced is to visualize roots stemming from your feet and reaching into the ground beneath them. These roots allow the negative energy that you direct to exist your body and be absorbed by the dirt (or sand, etc) underfoot.

However you choose to ground, it is vital to unpack negative energy and invite serene, positive energy into your life. A buildup of toxic, detrimental, heavy energy rarely serves anyone well and is certainly not apt to allow you to feel as strong and positive as possible when it comes to carrying for both yourself and others.

-Use divination to help give you a clearer picture of your life and your abilities as a caregiver. From runes to tarot, scrying to reading tea leaves, connect with the divination method that feels most natural to you in the context of your role as a caregiver and engage with it on a regular basis.

-Look for, and implement, small, meaningful forms of everyday magick. I’m huge on everyday magick – indeed, I generally do far more of it than highly elaborate workings (it helps me to witch more effectively and enjoyably on a daily basis).

There is no limit to the number of ways you can work everyday magick. Numerous books have been penned on the subject (and no doubt more will be in the future, too), many blog posts and website articles cover it, and it’s an increasing popular topic on social media as well – all for good reason.

Look for, research and create your own personally significant everyday magick and allow it to bless your life and give your spirit added strength as you go about your daily routine.  

Being a caregiver witch

Nearly all of us embody multiple roles at any given time. We are witches and Pagans, and this part of who we are can be enormous or it can be more of a supportive player. That is up to each individual and their own respective path, plain and simple.

At the same time, we likely have roles within a family, our job or education, our social circle, perhaps within the community (e.g., as a volunteer), possibly in a coven or other spiritually focused group, those that relate to our passions and interests, and various other heading that we fall under.

Generally speaking, while many of us may prefer to identify ourselves by certain roles more than others, I think that a lot of the time, it is important to not let one or two completely overshadow all of the others – even if they’re roles we feel very positive about.

Just as when we ourselves are dealing with serious health issues, it can be easy to let the role of caregiver eclipse much our lives and begin to feel like it is dominating a huge part of who we are.

By continuing to engage with our spirituality – as well as other aspects of our lives – we can help to counterbalance this to a degree at least.

We can also find strength and meaning, comfort and hope in our spiritual paths, and that can be invaluable as we care for someone who holds a special place in our heart.

The duration that one may be a caregiver will naturally vary widely. It might be a week or two, a few months, multiple years or longer still.

The road will not likely be easy or straightforward. There will be times of tears and celebrations of the tiniest positives imaginable.

You will be tired and stressed and uncertain. You may feel helpless some days, but I sincerely hope that you also have many times when you feel empowered and capable, when you lean heavily on the strength of your own magickal abilities, your spiritual journey, and the interconnected energy of the entire universe.

Take things one day, one hour, one minute at a time, if needed. Be as kind and understanding with yourself as you are with the person you’re caring for, and remember to always tend to your own needs as well so that you can provide for others in as healthy, positive and empowered a way as is realistically possible.

The post Magickal approaches and self-care tips for caregivers appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions. Never have been, doubt I ever will be. If the need to resolve or change something in my life is present, I’ll start putting in the effort, leg work, time, intention, and supportive magickal workings to implement that change at any point in the year.

I can see the value in New Year’s resolutions and are not dissing them or saying they don’t hold merit. I firmly believe that they do for some people, but for those of us of a witchy ilk, we know that we have the ability to change, grow and transform our lives within us 24/7.

One of the best ways to help support ourselves, our spiritual paths and our magick all year round is to ensure that we make these things an important focal point of our lives.

Today, I’m going to be sharing twelve effective ways to help you create a more magickally focused year.

It doesn’t matter if you’re the witchiest witch who has ever witched, a complete witchy newcomer, or anywhere in between. We can all continue to add to, finetune, and hone the ways in which we actively and consciously work to foster magick in our lives all year through.

1. Stop comparing yourself to others, both inside and out of the witchy/Pagan community

This is a subject that I’m passionate about. If you follow me on Instagram you may have heard me talk about it in depth there before, as it’s something that becomes all the more crucial to me the older I grow.

You are you, plain and simple. When and why this stopped being not just “enough”, but “good enough” is up for debate.

The fact of the matter is that many of us currently live in a world where we are under more pressure than possibly ever before in human history to “live our best life” 24/7/365 and to make sure that every Tom, Dick and Harry on the planet knows about it.

Enough. Seriously, enough.

Free yourself. Let go of impossible standards, of factors that comprise other peoples’ lives not your own, of the sense that you’re failing, when chances are, you are not.

Own who you are. Accept who you are. Love and nurture who you are.

Take that energy, that worry, that thought, that anxiety of comparison and transform it in creating a life and spiritual journey that you yourself adore with all your heart, regardless of if it will ever generate a single social media like.

This can be easier said than done, I know, and may not occur overnight. However, you owe it to yourself to start now. Literally right now. Just think about the progress you may be able to make come this time next year.

2. Eat well. Really well.

As adults, we’re usually free to eat whatever our budget, health and taste buds permit. There are pros and cons to this, and in the latter camp is the fact that it can be dangerously easy to eat food that barely warrants being called as much.

You’ve likely heard the classic adage before that our bodies are temples. They truly are, but moreover, they are machines and like any machine that we want to have function at the best level that it possibly can, we need to take care and treat our bodies with love and respect.

One of the best and most effective ways to do this is to eat as well as we can on a regular basis.

The better you eat, the healthier you stand to be, the more energy you are apt to have, and – depending on your own personal diet – the more you may be able to help the planet in the process.

Aim to eat clean, whole, healthy, nutritious foods as frequently as possible. Build (or further cement) loving, mindful relationships with your food. Try to eat on the run as little as you realistically can. Turn off the TV, set the table and eat your meal mindfully. Create and partake of food with those you care about.

Weave kitchen and cottage witchery in your meals. Grow, if possible, some of your own food. Learn about the magickal properties of what you’re putting into your body. Share some of your food as offerings to the deities, ancestors, spirits, fae, etc that you work with; use food as part of your sabbat activities, stop eating anything that makes you feel poorly.

3. Tie up loose ends and ditch clutter

You know that mountain of junk mail and old bills on the dining room table or kitchen island? What about those spells you started on your altar, didn’t get immediate results with and just sort of let peter out over time? How about the closet cleanout you’ve been promising yourself you’d do ever since you read Marie Kondo’s book?

Yep, that, all that and so much more weighs on us in ways both subtle and more perceivable.

Anything that steals joy, impacts your mental, emotional, physical or spiritual well being, causes you undo stress, and takes away from time and/or mental focus that doesn’t have to be a part of your life needs to go.

Trust me, you’ll be surprised how much having a clutter-free dining table impacts your happiness levels and how renewed you will feel when you can look around your house, your sacred spaces, and your life as a whole and know that you’ve unburdened yourself from things that serve no meaningful purpose any longer.

4. Set limits on the amount of time that you spend online – especially on social media

Our time is one of the most precious, sacred and limited resources we will ever have. There is no getting a moment back. As soon as it has passed, it becomes part of the collective memory bank of the universe.

This year, why not set daily limits on the amount of time that you spend online, including on social media, which is one of the biggest time sinks of modern life for countless people the world over.

Personally, while the amount of time I spend on the web varies most days, for about two years now, I’ve maintained strict limits on the amount of time I spend on social media (which for me, primarily consists of Instagram and Pinterest) each day.

I set the cap at three hours all total per day, but do not feel that I must “use up” all this time. I also intentionally have 1 – 2 social media free days per week and at least one wholly internet free day each week.

I set my own cap at three hours, because that is just over 1/10^th of the total number of hours we all have in each twenty-four day. I’m presently okay with allocating that much of most of my days to this activity, but I have no desire – or need – to live on social media around the clock.  

My time, just like yours, is invaluable and while I enjoy many aspects of the web and social media, it is vital to me that I spend ample quantities of time focusing on off-line activities as well.

From going outdoors to working at my altar, enjoying time with our dog, reading books, creating craft projects, doing spellwork and rituals, meditating, writing snail mail letters, and much more, it is imperative that the online side of my life never eclipses my offline one (believe me, I’ve been there before and I’ve long vowed to never let it happen again).

Only you know what is good amount of time to spend online and on social media is in the scope of your own life.

You may find that a 2 – 4 hours per day feels right for you and still allows you time to focus on other areas of your life (while continuing to do the things we need to accomplish in our days, such as working, tending to our homes and families, and making time for our spiritual well being).

Or you you might prefer 30 minutes, 5.5 hours, or zero time at all. Social media may be exceedingly commonplace, but it that does not mean that it has to be a part of your life. Not for a moment.

5. Read non-witchy books to foster your witchiness

I’m the first person to delve into a great witchy book and am not, in any way, advocating that you don’t read such titles.

Instead, I encourage you to also read about other subjects that will foster your path, deepen your knowledge, broaden your mind, and provide you with knowledge and/or helpful skills that you can put to work in your spiritual journey.

Nearly any non-fiction book could potentially relate to at least one person’s path, but in general, some topics to consider reading more about are:

-The history and environment of where you live (all the better to know the genius loci in your area by)

-The history of countries that you have ancestral ties to

-Forest bathing

-Forging

-Wildcraft

-Traditional ways of living

-Candle making

-Religions/faiths/spiritualities other than your own

-Cooking and food history

-Astronomy

-The weather

-Earth science subjects

-Animals and insects

-Mycology

-Cemeteries and the broader subject of death in general

-The history of the Burning Times and the persecution of witches in general

-Cunning folk

-Alternative medicine

-How to make your own personal care and/or beauty products

-Herbology

-Substantial living

-Arts and crafts

-Personal growth

-Living mindfully

-Time management

-Paranormal topics

-Philosophy

-Psychology

Reading doesn’t have to mean a physical book either, though many of us do prefer this classic information delivery method.

Audiobooks and ebooks are great options, too, and countless titles abound in both camps.

6. Be grateful and count your blessings

You know the fact that you’re currently alive? Do you happen to know what the astronomical odds of that happening are? (About 1 in 400 trillion.)

Start with the miracle of your existence and then take time on a regular basis to reflect on the blessings in your life and to give thanks for the positives that you are fortunate to have.

I know that this can be tricky at times, especially if your life is in turmoil right now, but that is often when it is even more imperative that we focus on whatever good/positive things are part of our current reality.

Being grateful doesn’t mean that you’re accepting your current lot in life and throwing in the towel.

It means that you acknowledge those rays of light that are still managing to shine through the darkness of this bleak and difficult time.

No matter if things are going well or not for you right now, consider creating an altar or designating part of your existing altar (or other sacred space) specifically to giving thanks, keeping a gratitude journal, or meditating on your blessings.

You might be surprised to realize just how many blessings and reasons to be thankful there are in your life already.

7. Cleanse on a regular basis

While it is a good idea to shower or bathe regularly, in this instance, I’m talking about your home.

Whether we live on our own, with a partner, or ten other people, a certain amount of energy naturally accumulates in a house over the course of time. Some it is good, some of it, well, not so much.

The lingering energy of stress, medical challenges, arguments, heartbreak, bad news, and conversely, yes, even the OTT exhilaration of special events and important milestones can all impact the energy flow and levels of where we reside. As do all of those seemingly mundane things, from cooking to putting the kids to bed, that fill our daily lives.

If you’re not already cleansing your home on a regular basis, consider doing so once a month (or more often as needed – though if you need to do so on a highly frequent basis, you may need to deal with the root issues that are calling for a cleansing in the first place).

You can smudge, use incense (always ensure fire safety when using any lit item), sweep with a broom or besom, use purposely created cleansing sprays, singing bowls or drum beating, salt, charged water, essential oils (ensure you either wipe them away after or use oils that are safe for pets and children, if there’s any risk of little ones coming in contact with the essential oil you’ve used), crystals, or whatever method suits your needs.

Remember after every cleansing to allow the negative/stale energy that you’re riding our house/living space with to escape by opening up a door or window and directing the undesired energy out of that opening (otherwise you stand to have it linger in your home, potentially rendering the cleansing ineffective).

8. Set, and complete, small spiritual-related goals on a regular basis

A lot of times people experience spiritual burnout or begin to feel disconnected from their practice because they think that they need to turn every spell, BOS writing season, sabbat, full moon and visit to their altar into some grand, elaborate production that requires copious amounts of time.

While I believe that it’s important to devote larger swaths of time to spiritual-related workings, when realistically possible, if one feels inclined, I also believe that it is vital to engage with our witchery and/or Paganism on a regular basis.

Look for ways that you can set and keep spiritually focused goals that don’t require heaps of time or larger goals that you can break down into smaller, easier to tackle pieces.

Examples of small, meaningful goals could include things like doing one spell that requires 30 minutes of time or less a week, planting a some herbs in pots on your deck or a window box, spending 15 minutes three times a week outdoors to mindfully connect with nature in your area and grow more familiar with how each season and type of weather looks and behaves where you live, performing a five-minute tarot or oracle reading, scrying for a few minutes, changing up your altar, creating a no-cook or no-bake dish for a sabbat or other spiritually important event, creating a witches jar or bottle, or putting your crystals out to charge.

There is so much positivity, happiness, sense of accomplishment, renewed energy, and mental clarity – not to mention, creativity and inspiration – that can come from setting, carrying out and completing goals.

Honour yourself and your practice by experiencing these wonderful benefits, while focusing on your spiritual journey at the same time.

9. Figure out what actually works for you and ditch the rest

No matter when you began your magickal journey, chances are that along the way, you’ve added things to your repertoire that you thought you needed to do (or be), often because just about every witchcraft or Paganism or Wicca 101 book told you to do/be/practice/believe/buy those things.

Even if you were born into a family of witches/Pagans already (aka, hereditary witchcraft), it’s highly likely that there are still things you picked up from others along the way that don’t actually jive with your own unique spiritual path.

And sometimes, the things that once did the job for us, may no longer serve us in the ways that we want and need them to function in our lives.

This is totally normal and perfectly okay.

When we’re just starting out with something that we enjoy and feel passionate about, it’s practically part and parcel that we throw ourselves (and often our pocketbooks, too) into trying and buying all manner of things relating to that area of interest.

As time goes on though, we may find ourselves doing or holding onto practices, beliefs, and physical items out of habit or the fear that we won’t appear “witchy enough” we don’t do or own certain things.

This, I can wholeheartedly assure you, is not the case. In fact, I would argue that the more you concentrate on those areas of your practice that feel most align with your heart and soul at the present moment, the greater your power, energy, and spirituality stand to be.

So if you’ve been pulling tarot cards and just not feeling it, no matter what you try, or you’ve been meditating like it’s going out of style but feel like you’d rather have a root canal instead, try stepping away from those things and focusing your attention on the areas of your practice that spark joy and which you’ve had success with instead.

10. (If you celebrate them… ) Get to know the sabbats better

While there is no shortage of witches, Pagans, and even a percentage of Wiccans who do not actively observe some or all of the eight sabbats that comprise the Wheel of the Year, plenty of us do.

If that includes you, why not make this the year that you learn even more about the history, traditions, correspondences, changes in nature, foods and other elements that comprise Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lammas, Mabon, Samhain, and Yule?

Humbly, I consider myself pretty well versed on the sabbats at this point in my life. I’m the first, however, to actively seek out further information, particularly when it comes to the historical roots of these days that are a sacred and integral part of the lives of many 21^st century witches and Pagans.

Think about ways to put the knowledge that you acquire to work in your practice, use them to help you connect all the more with the sabbats, and let them support your magickal workings all through the year, not just on these eight highly meaningful points in the year themselves.

If you do not observe the sabbats, consider learning more about, and deepening your connection, with the days that you personally hold as sacred instead (including, if applicable, the key lunar cycle stages).

11. Hone your intentions

Chances are you’ve heard or read that intention is at the heart of most successful magickal workings. I don’t generally disagree with this statement, but I think it is important that we approach intention knowing clearly and concisely what it is that we’re being intentional about in the first place.

Just as a recipe wouldn’t be overly successful if someone told you to just add any six ingredients together in whatever proportions floated your boat, so too do magickal working operate most effectively when we lay out specific perimeters in terms of what we want and how we’re going to help make those things happen.

It is important to be as specific about our intentions as possible. Be mindful of what it is you truly want and need, what steps you’re going to take to try and make those things happen, what you wish to manifest in your life, and how you’ll respond if things do or do not go as you’d hoped or intended.

12. Be kind to yourself and others

If there’s one thing our world is in serious need of as we enter this new decade of human history, it is more kindness. Towards our planet itself, toward one another, towards animals, towards ourselves.

There are many scientifically supported benefits of being kind. I personally think that there are scores of spiritual benefits that stem from kindness as well.

Kindness is a gift that we have the ability to source from a never-ending well inside ourselves.

This doesn’t per se mean that we should spend every second of every day focusing solely on kindness (taking this approach can potentially backfire and cause burnout or even a sense that one is being taken advantage of), but rather that we have it within ourselves to be kind in a multitude of ways all throughout our lives.

Whether one personally believes in the Threefold Law or not, generally speaking, we tend to experience positives in return when we’re kind.

Can doing something nice come back to bite us in the behind? Sometimes, yes. That isn’t fair, but it’s life. Thankfully though, for most of us, such occasions are the exception, not the norm.

Acts of kindness are a vital part of life. I firmly believe that we’ve made it this far as a species and a planet in no small part because of kindness. It is a fundamental building block, part of the glue that holds society together, and just a flat-out lovely thing to give of yourself.

And speaking of yourself, be sure to extend kindness your own way throughout the course of your daily life.

We’re often our own harshest critic and toughest taskmasters. We let our inner monologues say things to us that we’d likely never sit ideally by and take on the chin if someone else said the same words to us.

In many other ways, we can be unwittingly or unintentionally harsh on ourselves, too. Find methods to be kinder to yourself, such as listing at least three things a day that you did which you’re proud of yourself for, engaging in acts of self-care, carving out time to focus on your deepest passions, ensuring that you’re spiritual needs are being looked after, connecting with nature, making your health a priority, and doing things that are just plain fun.

How to stay magickally focused this year (and beyond)

Much like with New Year’s resolutions, which are notorious for starting strong and fizzling out long before the intended goal was reached, it is possible to head into a brand new year with the aim of making it a more magickally focused one and quickly lose steam.

To help prevent this from happening, I encourage you to be realistic. You do not need to do all of the entries on this list, nor do you necessarily need to do more than one of them at a time (though some do have a natural degree of overlap).

Start with the one(s) that speak to you most powerfully or which you’ve already been meaning to incorporate into your spiritual path to a greater degree. Consider approaching some now and others later in the year.

If, as the year progresses, you feel overworked, overwhelmed or like you do not have enough time, scale back, but stay mindful of ways to apply the guiding principles that appealed to you in the first place to your life and magickal workings.

Consider keeping track (journaling, social media posts, book of shadows/grimoire entries, etc) of which approaches you’re currently engaging with and what sorts of results you’re experiencing.

Use these ideas as jumping-off points for other ways that you can continue to make this one of your most meaningful and magically focused years.

And remember, to have fun, be realistic, never stop growing and evolving, and to celebrate each day that you’re blessed to draw air.

Here’s to 2020 and all of the magick it holds in store for each of us!

The post 12 ways to live a more magickally focused year appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.