Practicing Magic
The Text Edition
There’s also a video version of this post.
Magic is a called a practice. Even the greatest book on the Craft ever written uses a form of the word; Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham.
Well, you know how I am about words. I have to delve deeply into them. There is a constantly-playing orchestra playing in my mind, and my thoughts are its conductor. As I am speaking, musical notes float up into my consciousness until one is a perfect match to the thought I want to convey. It happens faster than instantly. It seems to happen a few words in advance, actually, when it’s going well.
So the word “practice,” and in this we mean as a verb: to practice means to do something repeatedly for the purpose of becoming good at it. (I’m nut shelling.)
As a noun, a practice is the usual or customary way of doing a thing, or the continuous exercise of a profession.
So practicing something is doing it frequently, and a practice is doing the thing you do in a given way and on a regular basis and/or professionally.
Good. We’ve got the wording clear. So what is our practice of magic, and how are we practicing it?
How are we practicing our magical skills?
The more we practice a thing, the better we become at doing it. This is true for everything from cooking to writing to playing a musical instrument to speaking a new language. Practice makes perfect.
I was thinking about this, and thinking how often I actually do a full on spell. It’s usually only when I need something, or when something awful is looming or has happened. That’s no time to practice. That’s the time when we want to have practiced. We want our skills on point when the chips are down and the magic really counts.
So how can we practice our magical skills?
By doing magic more often. Don’t stop reading yet, I have a way to do this that won’t take up more than 5 extra minutes a day.
Here are some practices. Try incorportating one of these into your daily routine
Morning Alignment + Magic
5 minutes or less
I already enjoy a morning moment of bliss before I start my day that I’ve called a morning devotional, but I really don’t like the term. It’s more like a morning alignment. When I first get up, which is sometimes in the wee hours, I step outside (or if it’s very cold, stand in front of glass door so I can see outside.
Standing with feet at hip-width, inhale while raising arms out to sides and upward, pausing in Goddess position—arms a crescent moon, chin tipped slightly up to acknowledge the receptive energy Divine—then continuing all the way up until palms are nearly touching. Feel the energy pulsing between your palms. Then turn palms outward, and exhale, lowering the arms slowly to the sides. Repeat three times, and after the third exhale, bring the legs together, arms at sides, then cross the arms over the chest, and lower the chin a little, taking the God position to honor the projective aspect of the Divine.
So I’m already doing this. It takes like two minutes. Adding some magic to morning two minutes would make magic part of my daily routine. But it should be something simple, quick, and powerful.
So for this one, add this one simple step.
Resume the Goddess position, feel the forces of earth and sky energy flowing through you from below and above. And state simply your intention for the day.
Today I enjoy every job I perform, and am well-rewarded for them.
Today I write three amazing scenes in my story.
Today I encounter kind, smiling faces everywhere I look.
Today the I am surprised and delighted by something wonderful.
Today, the flow of abundance increases.
A Quick, powerful burning spell
2 minutes
You need a scrap of paper, pen, lighter, and a flame-proof bowl.
Write down your top intention for the day in the shortest, simplest words you can. Always try to simplify your magical goals, and the reasons you want them. Phrased in the present tense. For example, “I hate my job and want to quit” becomes, “I am fulfilled and well-rewarded for doing work I love.” Write that on the paper.
Hold the paper in your hand, and conjure the feeling of having the goal. If you have experienced that feeling in the past, recall that time to mind, and re-feel the feelings here.
When you really are channeling the feelings of having the goal, crumble the paper in your palm as you push those feelings into the spell.
Light the edge of the paper with the lighter, and as the flame grows, drop the paper into the cauldron or flame-proof bowl.
This is the peak of the spell where you release the raised energy, so drive it home. Hold your palms over it, and say powerfully:
Fiery flame transform, create!
Thought to words to fire to fate!
Watch it burn until it finishes entirely.
Give thanks to the energies of air and fire for their assistance in your spell.
I always take the cauldron outside if I’m not already outside and toss the ashes into the wind. (Be sure the wind is blowing away from you, and not back into your face.)
A Breakfast Spell
Time: 0 seconds
Every morning, I make my warrior woman breakfast, a savory bowl or greens and mushrooms thickened with oatmeal. If I didn’t eat another thing all day, I’d have everything I need from this meal. I discuss it on my foodie blog, and I’ll leave a link for that.
The key to cooking magic is all in the stir. You have to stir the food clockwise to stir magic into it, and chant the spell while you do, pushing So you will want to write your spell ahead of time, but it can also be composed on the spot. Like this one:
Nourish me and make me strong,
Fill my cells with nature’s song,
All my work today is blessed
All success it manifests
All I touch and all I see,
Beam light and love, so mote it be!
That’s all there is to it. I am always casting while cooking, infusing every meal with love, thriving health, positive energy, and timeless vitality.
Of course, you would contradict the magic by doing it over dead animals or junk food. It’s most suitable for natural plant foods, whole grains, fruits, legumes, berries, nuts, raisins, that sort of thing. This way the benefits of the meal match the goals of the spell. We always want the vibration to match.
To me, death in the pot brings darker energy that would negate the positive spell, resulting in a neutral outcome, meaning nothing changes at all. Every item used in a spell needs to be similar, energetically, to the goals of the spell.
A Magical Life
I don’t think we have to set aside time to do magic. I think setting aside time for meditation, and for rituals on the holy days, or for alignment, are special times when we do set aside the time.
But for everyday magic, my life is my practice.
When I’m doing housework, I always clean counterclockwise, and bless my cleaning tools and water. When I clean in the corners, I jingle some bells to break up old, stale energy. I waft a little sage around the place every so often after finishing a cleanup session.
I never separate my husband’s laundry from my own. One or two things get washed by themselves, but by and large our clothes are washed and dried together. Washing clothes separately creates space between you.
Everything I cook is imbued with love, light, and thriving health.
I set my goals and even plan the segments of my day in a very magical way. Things I don’t feel like I have time to do or don’t want to do, go on one list, under the heading, UNIVERSE. I write the things I can hardly wait to do on another list with the heading, ME. Then I hand the Universe’s list to it, leaving it on the mantel or in a special wish box I keep upstairs, and I proceed to do the things I am eager to do.
Somehow all the things on the list always get done. The stuff I don’t want to do gets taken care of. Sometimes the situation changes so a task I was dreading is no longer necessary. Sometimes it gets done by someone else. Sometimes I wake up feeling eager to it and when that happens, I tackle it myself.
I pay attention to the signs and omens in nature. It’s not that the animals are trying to tell anyone anything. It’s that the energy that’s out there, reaches all beings, and sometimes the animals are reacting to that energy. They don’t know why. We humans tend to ignore our instincts and the subtle energies around us, so we don’t react to them. We’ve dulled our senses. by paying attention to those who have not dulled theirs, we can sometimes pick up on vibes we might otherwise miss. If you’re lucky enough to live where there’s wildlife, pay attention to is. Know what’s normal behavior so you’ll know when something is unusual.
Two times I noted a heads-up from nature
Three days before 9/11, a vulture landed on a fencepost right outside my window. As I watche him, she opened her wings so wide they reached to the next fencepost on either side of her, which were four feet apart, for an 8-foot wingspan. She was huge. (I have this on VHS tape, and I need to get it digitized so I can share, and hope the date stamp remains.) She was facing west, away from me, but kept looking over her shoulder toward me as I filmed her. The way she opened her wings toward the west reminded me of how we open the Western Gate in the Craft, to welcome the energies of water. The Western Gate is the passage between life and death. We open the gate in funeral rites to symbolically allow the dead to move through. (I believe it happens instantly, but symbolism and ritual are important.)
Another time, a dying red fox dragged itself onto my porch, crying out in distress. The animal was clearly sick and had to be put down, and the area disinfected. I looked up fox symbolism in my most used reference book, Animal Speak by Ted Andrews. Fox energy is powerfully connected to mothers and daughters, particularly redheads. I had a reheated daughter with a lump in her breast, so I was immediately worried. But it was my mother, not my daughter, reflected by the dying fox’s energy. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer a short time after that fox’s visit.
When you’re in tune with nature, there’s great wisdom and information to be found. Everything’s connected to everything else. Every vibration is a ripple in the water of creation. If you pay attention, you’ll discover a whole new source of knowing.
Start the new year with a new practice
I intend to do a little bit of magic every single day, even if it’s nothing more than whispering a wish and wafting it off into the universe with a wave of my hand, or a wiggle of my fingers.
And if I keep practicing, then by the end of this year, I’ll be a force of nature. Literally.
Please give this post a like, and consider a free or paid subscription. Every Sunday post is free. There are several ebooks, lessons in magic, and deep dive posts for paid members. Either way, I am incredibly grateful for your presence here. Thanks for playing along!
