To believe in magic is to choose to see the world around you in a certain light—one that helps, encourages, and supports you. If I have the choice between a daily grind with no common thread, bigger impact, or glimmer of mystery, or a life that feels synchronistic, connected, and playful, I will always choose the latter.
Magic invites us to entertain a change in perception and thought. Changing the way we talk to ourselves, the way we approach our needs, or how we interpret events can create shifts in our lives that sizzle with possibility—for our internal life and our communities. Magical living gives us an opportunity to claim our power, make the changes we seek, and create a life that lights us up. And the best part is, we already have everything we need within us at this very moment.
Self-care is the practice of treating yourself well. It can look different for everyone, but the heart of true self-care is knowing who you are and what you need, and honoring that while being kind to yourself. Magical self-care is the practice of using rituals and tools that might be considered mystical, witchy, or esoteric to identify and address your needs. It requires being inquisitive, diving deep, and trusting yourself and your instincts. It’s a process of self-care that combines the earthy and the spiritual for personal evolution and healing.
This book compiles all the practices and tools that I’ve tried, studied, and grown to love over the past decade of my life. These tools are the pillars of my self-care routines and rituals, but it’s vital to remember that the most important and hardest aspect of self-care is how we treat and speak to ourselves. I’m still nowhere near perfect at this, but these practices help me ground my thoughts and come back to kindness. Hopefully this book can help you along your healing adventure and add a little more fun, kindness, and magic to the process.
Self-care
The phrase self-care actually makes me a little uncomfortable. There’s a certain air of privilege or woo-woo around the concept that a lot of people roll their eyes at. Some think they’re too busy, tired, or low on funds to take part in it, but self-care belongs to everyone—and it’s especially important if you feel stretched thin. Self-care is typically portrayed as the surface-level stuff that you can spend money on. There’s nothing wrong with serums, massages, green smoothies, or whatever else you buy when you want a pick-me-up, but a lot of these things don’t help us feel the way we want to feel at our core.
Real self-care is about what we do little by little every day to nourish our bodies, minds, and spirits so we can show up as the best version of ourselves. It’s the practices, activities, and habits aimed at making us feel good at our core and bringing us back into balance. My foundational habits for self-care are: Hydration, eating well, getting enough sleep, practicing meditation daily, and connecting with others in-person. Boring, I know, but without these things, none of the other magical practices in this book will be as potent.
Magical self-care
Magical self-care is about creating a better relationship with yourself through curiosity, awareness, and intention. It requires deep trust in yourself and discovering what’s best for you on a holistic (physical + mental + emotional + spiritual) level. It’s about unlocking your own personal brand of intuition and magic by getting you in touch with yourself, your worth, and your power. Before we get started, let’s jump into some terms used throughout this book.
Witchy is a term for all things mystical, spiritual, and magical. While Wiccan and Pagan religions are very influential in many witchy rituals, you don’t need to be a part of them to consider yourself a witch. Conversely, you can be a witch and adhere to any religious beliefs you want. Having a witchy and magical self-care practice is deeply individual and all about finding what resonates for you.
A witch is someone who recognizes their abilities and magic and uses them to create change in their life. They trust their own power and wisdom—especially if it’s contrary to convention and the patriarchy—and they act on their intuition from a place of self-trust and trust in the universe.
THE UNIVERSE
When I say the universe in this book, I’m referring to a higher power that connects us to something bigger than ourselves. You can substitute it for Goddess, Love, Mother Earth, God, Divine, Spirit, Creator, Nature, or whatever strikes a chord with you.
CORE SELF
I refer to the core self throughout this book. It can also be called the true self, authentic self, highest self, or soul self. I like to think of it as the essence of who we are and who we were brought on this earth to be. It’s like a pearl within the oyster—something beautiful and unique contained by our outer shell. Our outer shell protects the core, but this tough exterior is built up over time by outside influences and societal conditioning. The shell has a purpose but often prevents us from showing who we truly are to the world.
The more we can see glimpses of the core version of ourselves through intuitive and witchy practices, the more we can access it to share its wisdom, open-heartedness, and magic.
INTUITION
This is the “just feels right”/niggling sensation you get. Intuition is much quieter than your typical brain/ego voice that’s loud, fear-based, and worried about what others might think. The ego isn’t bad, but it’s often misguided and programmed by things outside of us, so it doesn’t always align with our core self. We want the two to work together with intuition in the management role, leading the way. The most important part is starting the conversation with our intuition.
Magical self-care encourages us to start asking, listening to, and following our intuition, and every modality—from Tarot to manifestation—is a different way to approach this wisdom within us. Let your intuition guide you throughout these pages, helping you choose and create the right rituals for you.
RITUAL
Rituals are activities with meaning and intention behind them. Different than a routine, these can be things we do regularly or once in a while for the purpose of leading us into a more present awareness. Through a small series of actions that make up a ritual, we can ground ourselves in the moment and connect to ourselves in a way that’s enjoyable and purposeful.
I suggest plenty of rituals throughout each chapter, but I also walk you through creating your own ritual for each of the self-care tools. A ritual you conceive for yourself using your instincts is the most powerful because it comes from your wisdom and gifts (aka your magic). Building your own ritual is one of the best ways you can practice working with your creative magical energy, and it will help shape the unique way you’ll work with these tools for your own self-care.
CULTURAL SENSITIVITY
An important aspect of using magical tools is awareness. I aim to be conscious when buying and using magical tools. If I use something outside of my cultural heritage, I research it and make sure I’m as respectful as possible. If you choose to use tools like Palo Santo from South America or white sage from North America, be aware and respectful of the cultural backgrounds that these things come from and make sure they are responsibly sourced. We all deserve healing, but it’s important not to take something from a heritage that isn’t your own without honoring and acknowledging the history and significance that precedes you—especially if you’re of white European descent. Be thoughtful about your choices and seek out tools that belong to your personal heritage, too.
SETTING INTENTIONS
Intention is everything. For the practices within these pages, as well as many things in life, having an intention or purpose behind what you’re doing can help you get the most out of your experience. The point of an intention is to get to the heart of what you want and why.
A few questions to guide you to your intention could be: Why do I want to do x? How do I want to feel? What would help me feel that way? What am I trying to heal?
Different to goals, which often focus on getting something tangible, intentions are about having things feel a certain way. An intention is something that can anchor your practice or a cycle and help you remember your why. If you can get clear on your intention before creating a ritual, spell, or project of any kind, your experience will be richer and the result more powerful.
HEALING
Healing is a way of coming back to who we are at our core in an emotional and spiritual way. Healing is an ongoing process of learning to love all parts of ourselves and live in alignment with our core self. It can look like letting go of regret, resentment, or past hurt and welcoming in more love and acceptance of ourselves and others. Healing is a difficult process, full of contraction, expansion, heavy emotions, and realizations, but it’s the single most rewarding gift we can give ourselves. We’re all at various states of healing at all times, and may never be fully healed, but learning how to become consciously engaged in your own healing is when magic starts to happen.
How to use this book
Most of us don’t have the time or the means for a complicated 2-hour morning routine that includes every crystal, tonic, and exercise. Instead, I offer these ideas to you in ways that are easy to include in your life and don’t feel forced. They aim to be:
Quick: Most of these exercises and practices will require 30 minutes or less of your time and can be made shorter or longer depending on what you want. The Jump In sections are there to help you take action when you feel inspired to start using a modality in the moment.
Adaptable: If something doesn’t work for you or feel quite right, skip it. The Create Your Own Ritual sections will encourage you to make it your own. Take what you like, and leave the rest. Learn as you go and don’t take on too much at once.
Affordable: There will be some things that you might have to buy if you’re interested in using them, like a Tarot deck, herbs for making infusions, or a candle here and there—but most items used in this book will be relatively inexpensive or free.
Think of the chapters and the practices within them like a menu for you to choose from in different seasons of your life and throughout the year. These methods and tools are intended to help you on your magical self-care journey, not to overwhelm you. There’s no need to work through the book in order or do everything in it. There’s likely one or two things that will really intrigue you—start there and keep an open mind to the rest.
A few other things I’ve included for each chapter:
RECIPES
Our intuition lives in our body, so when we hydrate and feed our bodies well, we nurture our intuition by extension. I’ve included wholesome, nourishing recipes in each chapter to ground magical rituals in something physical and to support our connection to our core self.
Our power is rooted in our sense of worthiness, and one way we can practice self-worth is to lovingly prepare meals for ourselves. Magical food is food made with intention that brings you joy and satisfaction. My hope is that you will cook things you love (whether that’s my recipes or something else) as part of self-care.
TAROT REFLECTIONS
The three-card Tarot spreads included in each chapter serve as a point of reflection that can help us deepen our understanding of a subject or how we can work with it in a more personal way. Simply shuffle your deck and think of each question while you pull a card. Write down your responses and initial reactions to each card and how it relates to your question. Listen to and explore your intuitive responses. If Tarot isn’t your thing, these questions can also be used as journaling prompts.
RESOURCES
This book is a jumping-off point to help you find and dive into the practices that are the most beneficial, healing, and magical for you. The resources section on pages 139–140 is full of teachers that I’ve learned from. It can help you learn more through books, online courses, podcasts, Instagram posts, newsletters, and more.
My intention for this book is that it supports and guides those interested in awakening to their power, cultivating a kinder relationship with themselves, and choosing to see their lives as successive moments of magic.
