I was raised in a Pagan family. Every year we celebrated Samhain as well as Halloween, with candlelight and midnight dancing, tequila on the kitchen table for the adults, no bedtime for the kids. I learned the relationships between colours, planets, stones, elements, emotions. I learned how to feel at home in the forest, and I learned how to let go. I was taught that animals are friends, not food, and I still believe that now. I became a person who wants to make everything around her more beautiful. Someone who is kind, I hope. Magic was such a huge part of my upbringing, a way of living; so much less about ritual than simply a way of interacting with the world. As a result, people often misunderstand what I mean when I talk about magic. To me, magic is in the way certain people always know just what you need, or in the way they can bring any dying creature back to life. Science is magical, and magic is not unscientific. Magic is just pure creation. It is influence and control over ourselves, not over others. It is cherishing the earth; something most of us have forgotten how to do.
I do many things to bring more magic into my life. I grow plants in my home. Having living things around me, growing and flourishing and being born over and over again helps me stay in tune with the seasons and with the needs of other life forms. It reminds me of the cyclical nature of life, and of my eventual insignificance, and simultaneous preciousness.
I draw a tarot card when I get up in the morning, or sometimes I pluck a book off my shelves, close my eyes and point to a sentence at random. Whether you believe in the Tarot or not, doing this will bring things from your subconscious into your conscious mind, allowing them to be processed and worked through.
I make a ritual bath. By this I don't mean just throwing in a bath bomb or two, but of course you can do that! What I tend to do is think of what I want to achieve (do I want to feel sexual, calm, safe, to get a good night's sleep?) and then work synesthetically around that. I use colours, scents, flowers, products, and temperatures that work together to change my physiological and mental state.
I try to stay in tune with the phases of the moon, with Pagan festivals, and on a wider scale, the seasons of the year. You can do this with an app, an almanac, or even a good daily diary. Eventually it becomes a habit. I've always been a moon-worshipper by nature and I look to her instinctively on nights when I feel happy and alive, to give thanks. I'm also guilty of screaming "THERE'S BLOOD ON THE MOON" at the slightest wisp of red.
I enjoy reading my horoscope, but not every witch does. I personally don't think you have to believe in astrology for it to bring you inspiration. A good astrologer speaks like a philosopher, and can trigger realisations without faith. For an in-depth monthly forecast, I go to Susan Miller, and for weekly poetic insight I check out Madame Clairvoyant. Refinery29 and Teen Vogue also do cool horoscopes.
I write down my dreams, and use them in my writing and in my art. During stressful periods of my life, I suffer with sleep paralysis, which causes intense lucid dreams and hallucinations. I try to view them as a creative gift, rather than a curse, and just a part of my own personal magic. I draw, write down, or even come up with a photograph to record what I saw in my dreams.
I chat to other witches. If you don't know any who live near you, why not set up a WhatsApp group or online Coven? Having that support and understanding is invaluable and can help you learn so much, just by asking questions and sharing your experiences with other witchy people. Try filling your Twitter feed with magic too; I recommend Audrey Kitching, Anastasjia Louise, and The Hoodwitch for starters.
Dancing, lastly, is one of the most vital ways I stay in touch with my power and with myself as a woman. Whether I'm doing it on stage, in private, at home, on a dance-floor or in a field, through dancing I can work myself into a trance-like state where I feel most free and uninhibited. That's where the magic happens.
