SpellWork: The Practical Magic of Using Charms in Your Daily Life
You might already be a witch. You could have enough spells to fill a grimoire of your own! But because you don’t believe in magic or—worse–yourself, you don’t maximize your power.
SpellWork is a direct reflection of my witchcraft practice. I’m not a traditional witch, and belong to no coven—think of me as a lone hedge witch.
You might already be a witch. You could have enough spells to fill a grimoire of your own! But because you don’t believe in magic or—worse–yourself, you don’t maximize your power. I see this all the time.
Using Magic Without Realizing It
Do you like necklace pendants, charm bracelets, keychains, bag charms, or figurines you keep at your work desk? You could also have a clear phone case and keep cards or photos on the back. Or you could have a car or computer decorated with stickers. Maybe you had a favorite stuffed toy when you were younger. Do any of these sound like familiar habits?
When you hold on to something with no real purpose for days, weeks, months, or years, you create a vessel for your power. I’ll put it another way—if you choose a bag charm because you think it’s cute, and it cheers you up when you see it every day and are reminded of how you find it cute, it becomes a vessel that captures that feeling. Here’s the shortcut: You find it cute, which makes you happy—so every time you see it, it helps you manifest happiness. It’s a relatively harmless spell that is recreated over and over without the realization that magic’s involved.
Going from “Because It’s Cute” to “Because It Has a Purpose”
But what if you could use the same idea to manifest other, more specific, things? That’s witchcraft, babe.
How Do You Choose Your Charms?
Let’s say your favorite keychain reminds you of a specific event. You don’t actually find it cute, but you like being reminded of that event because it was fun and exciting, and you hope to have more experiences like that in your life. That keychain helps you manifest more of those experiences simply by being part of your day-to-day life.
Why Do You Keep Them Around?
Sometimes, you keep things around not because you find them beautiful, cute, or interesting but because they are reminders. My favorite example of this is my key to my childhood home—no longer useful because I live in a different country, but it’s still on my keychain. I keep it on me to remind myself that I can always come home to myself—as long as I recognize myself in what I’m doing.
Creating a Framework for Your Magic
Starting with charms is an excellent way to start your practice or expand it beyond the usual lighting of candles, display of crystals, and reading of tarot cards. You don’t even need tools to start working with charms—all you need are the objects. If you’re not big on figurines or “cutesy” charms, try starting with your jewelry. When you wear your favorite earrings, how do they make you feel? Explore that feeling and the connection it has with your earrings.
That’s really all there is to it. I could go on and on with this kind of magic. I have a turtle figurine that sits right in front of my work screen because it reminds me to take things slow because there is no hurry, and I can do things at my own pace. I associate specific scented candles with rituals I create around transitioning from workdays to personal time, doing my skincare, and reading recreationally. Just smelling the scent puts me in the mood.
What about you? You must have some spells of your own. Tilt your head, squint, and look at your own habits—one of them must look like a spell to you.
Photo by Kathyryn Tripp on Unsplash
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